“Keep your whores away from my house, or the next time it will be you,” Kerstan warned Luuk.
I watched as he callously nudged Famke’s lifeless body with his shoe before he turned his eyes b
ack up toward me.
“You and Minikin are to stay away from my home and Lieve, do you understand? Don’t send anymore spies to me. You both had your chance and you screwed up. Now you have to deal with it,” he said evenly.
My lips trembled as I looked Kerstan in the eyes. I wanted so desperately to attack him for what he did to Famke and I wanted to attack him for sending us away when we did nothing wrong. But instead I turned toward Luuk and kept my eyes off of Famke so I wouldn’t lose my nerve.
“May I please go outside and get some fresh air?” I asked in a shaky voice.
He nodded. Without hesitation Luuk permitted me the one thing that he had denied us all unless we were stepping outside to get fresh air, fuck someone, and bring money back in.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I walked past them both and out the front door.
I collapsed onto the stairs and began to sob. This was all wrong; Famke shouldn’t be dead. Kerstan shouldn’t be here and Minikin didn’t deserve this life of sexual slavery.
A pair of strong hands grabbed me by the shoulders and I looked up through a veil of tears to see Kerstan’s most trusted Grandmother pulling me to my feet.
“Come quickly, Betje. We came for you and Minikin; where is she?” the old woman asked me.
“She’s still inside!” I replied frantically.
“Then she must stay,” she said pushing me toward Kerstan’s waiting car. She opened the backdoor and ushered me inside instructing me to lie down while she hid me beneath a blanket.
My heart was racing. I was terrified of what would happened if I was discovered and even more terrified of leaving Minnie behind, but if Amity was still alive, I knew that she would come in person to retrieve her and Luuk wouldn’t be able to deny her. Not only was she beautiful, but she was cunning with her words and would be able to strike a bargain for Minnie.
The car door opened and closed.
“Drive,” Kerstan’s voice said. “I’m sorry about your friend Betje, but she deserved it for her transgression. I will take you back to Lieve and somehow I’ll get Minikin back too. But I want you to know that I don’t do this for either of the two of you. I do this for Lieve.”
I closed my eyes as the car drove away from the House of Luuk back to the House of Kerstan. I felt myself become less afraid because I knew that Amity was at the other end of the drive. I let out a sigh as I fell asleep the rest of the way back.
Six
“Wake up, troublemaker,” a voice gently said.
My eyelids fluttered and I turned on my side. The voice sounded so familiar but if it was true then it would be a dream walking through my nightmare.
“Wendeline, my little German brat,” the voice said affectionately brushing a hand over my hair. “Wake up.”
I groaned as I turned on my side and forced my eyes open. I blinked a few times to get them to focus and I turned my head slightly.
The kindest face, the brightest blue eyes, and the most genuine smile greeted me. It was her. It was Amity; her hair was no longer completely blonde, but it was her.
I sat up and wrapped my arms tightly around her, crying into her chest. She laughed kindly and hugged me close. Neither of us said anything further, we just held each other until I was done crying like a lost child.
“I’m sorry about your friend.”
I pulled away from Amity slightly and saw Kerstan suddenly standing behind her, his arms crossed over his chest.
“You killed her!” I shrieked jumping up from the bed and trying to claw at him. Amity, however, gripped me around the waist and pulled me back down onto the bed.
“It was either her or you, Wendeline,” she said quietly. “Kerstan didn’t have a choice.”
My head started to spin and my temples started to ache. What the fuck was going on? Why was she defending him? Had that much changed since we had been given away?
“We have to get Minnie out of there as soon as possible,” she said to Kerstan.