Page 87 of Retribution

He leads me out of the room quickly without any further discourse.

‘Where is Thomas?’ he asks one of the men standing outside the door.

‘He had to run to the bathroom, sir.’

Sauvage glances at me and snorts. He leads me down the corridor to the elevator I came up in, his two other men following.

We go down. When the door opens, it’s at the same level as I started from, I think. I follow him out, his men behind boxing me in, but he takes me in the opposite direction. Down a dingy cement hallway, he opens a door that leads into another room with a large, square hatch in the floor and gestures with his hand.

I look at the hole and then at him, trepidation creeping in.

‘An oubliette?’ I ask.

He laughs loudly, seeming genuinely amused. ‘Not yet,petite fleur. I will go first if you wish.’

I nod and he descends some stairs. I hear him flick a switch and light glows up from below.

I peer over the edge and see that it’s not as deep as I feared. I go down the steps carefully, my leg aching worse than it was earlier from the Stinger’s intense zaps over the past couple of days.

I need a decent night’s sleep and some food. But I doubt I’ll be getting anything until I’ve proven my worth to the Frenchman.

At the bottom, I see a small foyer and another door, which leads into a gleaming white lab.

My gasp is audible.

‘It’s beautiful,’ I whisper, limping around the space slowly.

It’s easily twice as big as the lab in the club. Everythinglooks new and shiny. There’s a pill press in one corner that looks like it’s top of the range.

‘Everythinga chemistneeds is here,’ Sauvage says, emphasizing the word chemist for some reason and gesturing at the cabinets.

I nod. ‘Give me ten to twelve hours. The first batch will be ready by then.’

‘We shall see,’ Sauvage says with narrowing eyes.

He turns to his men. ‘You two stay in here with her in case she tries to destroy my lab as well.’

I frown. ‘I told you it wasn’t me who did that stuff.’

They all ignore me and the men nod. Sauvage doesn’t spare me another look, just leaves me in the lab with his two goons, who watch me impassively from either side of the door.

‘Is there a bathroom?’ I ask.

One of them points at a narrow door opposite them in the lab. I slide it open and find a clean toilet and a small sink on the other side. I finally get to do my business. As I wash my hands, I glance into the small mirror. I’m taken aback by my appearance. I’m thinner. Dark circles ring my eyes. I look pale and sickly. Lu was right. I do look like shit.

I re-enter the lab and get to work, hoping that the end result of this is a decent batch of Envy and a crime boss who gives me the time of day. For once, I don’t have a Plan B.

If this doesn’t go well, I’m fucked.

MAV

‘What the hell do you mean, I’m not allowed into the lab?’ I snarl at Sauvage’s guy who’s waiting in the hotel lobby this morning to tell me to leave as soon as Iget there.

‘Mr. Sauvage says that the space is being cleaned. You can come back tomorrow.’

He gestures to the door. ‘He invites you to leave.’

I stare at him.