Page 44 of The Lost Zone (Dark Water #3)

“Given the nature of the deception I perpetrated upon you, I can understand that. Nonetheless, I’m the only one who can enlighten you, so you might as well ask.”

He had a point, but still, Alex gazed at him mulishly.

“Come now. Why not ask me the question you most want the answer to? I can guess what it is, and I’m happy to answer it.” Gideon finished his scone and dabbed a speck of jam from his lips.

“Very well. Explain to me why Tyler sent me here. What did he expect from your services?”

“That’s not the question you most want the answer to, but I’m happy to answer it anyway, as I know this subject has been on your mind a great deal during your time with us.

” Gideon put his plate down and leaned back on the sofa.

“Mr Tyler contacted me very suddenly and asked if I’d take you immediately.

He said only that you’d been very expensive, knew nothing, and weren’t prepared to learn.

He wanted you broken in to being a good servant, and he expected me to send you back as precisely that.

We do receive unusual requests from time to time and are equipped to provide specialised training to difficult personalities.

I don’t usually accept a commission on such short notice, but he was prepared to pay ten times our usual fee, so I made an exception.

We were lucky to be between courses with the Christmas break looming, so we were able to accommodate Mr Tyler’s request. Although…

” Gideon paused, his lips pursed angrily.

“I was not expecting to receive an IS in such poor condition. That’s never happened before.

You were a wreck when you arrived, both physically and mentally.

C was very concerned about you. We all agreed that we’d do nothing with you until you’d recovered.

I was very unhappy about proceeding at all.

I even discussed it with my houder. She usually allows me to run Belvedere without her interference, but she counts Mr Tyler as a close personal friend, and it was she who recommended us to him, so she insisted we proceed. ”

“I wonder if she’s really a ‘close personal friend’, or whether he has blackmail material on her, like he does on so many,” Alex prodded.

“I won’t question Miss Madeleine,” Gideon snapped. “She’s been nothing but kind and generous towards me.”

Alex was noticing a pattern here. Anytime he said something negative about Gideon’s houder, he reacted angrily, and leapt to her defence. He clearly placed her on a pedestal, worshipping her with an almost religious fervour.

“I note that you chose not to report my condition to the authorities, despite your so-called concern,” Alex said drily.

Gideon smiled; he seemed not to mind personal criticism, as long as his beloved houder wasn’t involved.

“Of course not. Belvedere has a reputation for the utmost discretion. Nothing that happens here leaves these walls, and all the houders who approach me know that. I insist that my staff are known only by initials, and students only by numbers, to preserve their anonymity. Nobody should ever be compromised in any way by their association with Belvedere.”

“Except you. You gave me your name,” Alex said.

“I’m the one exception. Belvedere is my responsibility, but I won’t have anyone trying to track down either an indie or a member of staff they met here when their contract is over.

It’s far better if nobody knows names. Even privately, I maintain the naming protocols.

None of my staff knows anyone’s real name except mine. ”

“So, you’re a control freak.”

“Now that I will admit to.” Gideon inclined his head. “I’ve poured my life into this place to make it the shining success Miss Madeleine deserves. It’s my greatest achievement, my gift to her.”

“So, Tyler asked you to turn me into the perfect servant – but he didn’t explain any of our history, or why I was in such bad shape?”

“No. He did, however, inform me that you are a compulsive liar and manipulator who uses your undeniable sexual allure to get your own way.”

“Ah. Right. Of course he did.” Alex gave a tight smile.

“We took note of what he said, but C and I prefer to make our own assessments. It didn’t take long before we came to suspect that Mr Tyler might not have been entirely honest with us.

” A flash in Gideon’s eyes betrayed a certain contempt.

“After spending time with you myself and hearing your story, I formed the opinion that you were not the liar. In fact, it might have been easier for you if you were more accomplished in the arts of deception, but you are actually rather na?ve in many ways. A result of your sheltered upbringing, I’d suggest.”

“You’re probably right.”

“One thing I would like to make clear. I would never have asked you to give sexual favours to F.” Gideon’s lip curled in distaste.

“I was merely intrigued as to whether you would offer such a thing in exchange for an easier time – as Tyler had suggested you would. I was very surprised to find you would do for a friend what you would not do for yourself. That was quite a turning point for me. I found it a very noble gesture. I’m certain it wasn’t pleasant. ”

“It wasn’t, but it’s nothing I haven’t done before,” Alex said wearily.

“I’m sure. I’ve met many unusual indies over the years, and some houders who’ve made extremely strange requests, but you are by far the most interesting of my students. It’s been a pleasure getting to know and understand you, Alex.”

“The pleasure is all yours,” Alex retorted. “I’m just surprised Tyler didn’t specify precisely what he wanted when he handed me over to you.”

Gideon gave a little laugh. “Prostitution and blackmail are illegal. Tyler knew I wouldn’t compromise his position, given his friendship with Miss Madeleine, but he could hardly openly ask me to clap you in irons and beat you until you gave in.

Nor would I have agreed.” His lip curled in distaste.

“We could already see you’d been badly abused when you arrived.

If that kind of treatment worked, then he’d already have what he wanted from you.

It clearly doesn’t. There really isn’t an indie training facility in the country that would agree to turn a recalcitrant IS into a willing sex slave.

However, I can see why you were so confused when you first arrived.

No wonder this wasn’t what you’d expected. ”

“I was puzzled about that for a long time, but what you say makes sense. So, you were watching me the whole time?” Alex glanced at the monitors.

“Of course,” Gideon replied. “We always keep an eye on our indies, even on the regular courses, but when we do a bespoke training assignment, it’s imperative that we understand what we’re dealing with.

Most difficult indies merely need to be understood.

Only then can they be helped to accept their situation and adapt to it.

In my experience, they won’t speak honestly to anyone who isn’t an indie.

That’s why we go to such lengths to ensure we fully know their personalities and stories.

I also believe that’s why we have such a good reputation.

It looks like a miracle when we return a difficult but expensive indie to their houder fully trained and willing to embrace their situation in life, but it’s our painstaking attention to detail that sets us apart from our rivals.

There hasn’t been a single IS we haven’t managed to turn around and set on the right path. ”

“Except me,” Alex pointed out.

Gideon laughed. “Oh, my dear boy, you are my greatest success. Look at how you were when you first arrived compared to now. We even managed to teach you how to cook.”

Alex had to give a grudging smile at that. Then he fell silent, stirring his tea absently. “So, you know all my secrets – what now?” he asked eventually. “Where does that leave us?”

“I don’t know all your secrets,” Gideon said softly. “In fact, you are what I would call a type-three personality.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Well, most people are type-ones. They’ll give a certain amount away and keep a certain amount back: usually the things they are most ashamed of or traumatised by.

However, in time, with coaxing and the right amount of pressure, they’ll tell you even their darkest secret.

The type-twos, on the other hand, are a little rarer.

They hide all their secrets, refusing to give away any part of themselves.

They protect their core self. But once you’ve breached their armour and gained their trust, they’ll tell you everything. ”

“And the type-threes?”

“Rarer still. At first, they seem like the type-ones. They give themselves away very easily. They offer their stories, their friendship, and their sexual favours, seemingly without any qualms at all.”

Alex flushed at that, remembering the clumsy advance he’d once made towards Two.

Gideon leaned forward. “I’ve found that those people – superficially so easy to understand and manipulate – are the ones who will never, ever tell you their most important secret – the one thing, at their very core, that they would die to protect.

You can never truly know and understand them.

Because there’s that one thing you can’t factor into your calculations about how they will behave. ”

“And you think that’s me?” Alex snorted. “I think I’m an open book. I’ve told you everything.”

“No, you have not.” Gideon looked him squarely in the eye.

“There is a black hole at your centre, Alex. C and I have discussed it at length. Oh, I don’t expect you to tell me now.

I doubt you ever will. Yet it’s there, eating away at you – your secret, the one that’s key to your whole being, the one that you will never share. ”

Alex stared at him. “There is no secret,” he said firmly.