“We?”
Who else was here? Where were they?
And where the hell was I, for that matter? What was Blackchurch? It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t think right now.
How could he not know where he was? What city or state? Or country, even?
My God. Country. I was in America, right? I had to be.
I felt sick.
But water. I’d heard water when I woke, and I perked my ears, hearing the dull, steady pounding of it around us. Were we near a waterfall?
“There’s no one here with you?” he asked, as if he couldn’t believe that I was really standing here. “You shouldn’t be so close to us. They never let the females close to us.”
“What females?”
“The nurses, cleaners, staff…” he said. “They come once a month to resupply, but we’re confined to our rooms until they leave. Did you get left behind?”
I bared my teeth, losing my patience. Enough with the questions. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, and my heart was pounding so hard, it hurt. They never let the females close to us. My God, why? I retreated toward the staircase, moving backward, so I didn’t take my eyes off him and started to descend as he advanced on me.
“I want to use the phone,” I told him. “Where is it?”
He just shook his head, and my heart sank.
“No computers, either,” he told me.
I stumbled on the step and had to grab the wall to steady myself. When I looked up, he was there, gazing down at me, his lips twitching with a grin.
“No, no…” I slid down a few more steps.
“Don’t worry,” he offered. “I just wanted a little sniff. He’ll want the first taste.”
He? I looked down the stairs, seeing a canister of umbrellas. Nice and pointy. That’ll do.
“We don’t get women here.” He got closer and closer. “Ones we can touch anyway.”
I backed up farther. If I bolted for a weapon, would he be able to grab me? Would he grab me?
“No women, no communication with the world,” he went on. “No drugs, liquor, or smokes, either.”
“What is Blackchurch?” I asked.
“A prison.”
I looked around, noticing the expensive marble floors, the fixtures and carpets, and the fancy, gold accents and statues.
“Nice prison,” I mumbled.
Whatever it was now, it clearly used to be someone’s home. A mansion or…a castle or something.
“It’s off the grid,” he sighed. “Where do you think CEOs and senators send their problem children when they need to get rid of them?”
“Senators…” I trailed off, something sparking in my memory.
“Some important people can’t have their sons—their heirs—making news by going to jail or rehab or being caught doing their dirty deeds,” he explained. “When we become liabilities, we’re sent here to cool off. Sometimes for months.” And then he sighed. “And some of us for years.”
Sons. Heirs.