When Demons Are Redeemed: The Dominant's Muse

One Hundred and Nine - Inquisionist's Guilt

ONE HUNDRED AND NINE

Inquisitionist’s Guilt

“Need anything?” Donovan asks Tristan, a minute after the latter has rejoined his men in the hallway outside the playroom and not a word has been exchanged yet, not a one has broken the peculiar silence that has accompanied his return, which made both Donovan and Logan question their decision earlier on not to follow him into the room.

“No. Same old, same old, when dealing with . . . Just another traitor,” Catherine’s master evenly replies.

Despite that even tone, the eyebrows before Tristan must nevertheless be careful to remain perfectly still.

“She put on ultra-dimwitted, ultra-stupid female behaviour, and . . . I . . . I suppose that I’m disappointed that I . . . ” Tristan stops mid-sentence, as words refuse to be at his service.

Silence.

“Vivian escaped with the old man’s body, when it was removed from the grounds. We speculated before, but now we have evidence,” Donovan then updates Tristan, as it is what he would normally do.

“His ex and his kids will never know who he really was. What he really was,” Tristan clearly imagines Catherine asserting, stressing in response.

He winces some at the odd intrusion in his mind.

More silence consequently follows.

“Any news about the old geezer’s wh-re?” Catherine’s master then inquires. “Any chance that she escaped with the body as well? Would Vivian have risked jeopardizing her own escape by looking after her? If that bi-ch had to fend for herself without Vivian’s help and we still can’t find her, then we seriously have to rethink security at our events.”

“We didn’t find any evidence that she escaped with the body as well, so she has to be somewhere on the grounds,” Donovan replies.

Since all three men are aware of just how extensive the grounds in question are, that fact, as well as how demanding the search of such a vast area is, require no mention. Before Vivian’s escape, agents from the masters’ personal security details had combined to insure that no one gained access nor egress from the grounds and had furthermore collaborated to secure a perimeter band around the mansion itself, but additional forces from the Taliano fold had quickly spread out everywhere else, following their rapid arrival and insertion, in order to capture Vivian.

“Having a mix and match of security f--ks up everything more than anything else. But every master feels safer knowing that some of his own men are on the job and in the loop,” Donovan reminds Tristan, who himself would never be out anywhere without at least a handful of his own men.

“Vivian wouldn’t have wanted the wh-re to set off alarms, so how was she controlled? If she was in the tunnel when Catherine and Vivian were, that should be considered her launching point as well,” Tristan considers out loud, after his eyes have acknowledged his top guy’s words.

“We’ll find her,” he reassures him. “She has to be on foot. No other vehicle left the grounds.”

“And no security detail would help her because they’d all know that it would be suicidal to . . .”

“Like Catherine should’ve known that it was suicidal to lie to me?” Tristan cuts off Logan.

Silence.

“The truth is that most females here would kill their master, if given the chance, wouldn’t they? It’s just how it is. How they think. How they don’t appreciate a thing and get hung up on ridiculous expectations and emotions that they just shouldn’t have,” Tristan then states.