Black Riders. Samuel I Sinclair

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СКАЧАТЬ you are only here to counsel me and make me feel at peace, then just go, Miss Christine,” he said, composing himself.

      Without another word, he knocked on the door and left the room. Christine still inside.

      5

      He had barely left the main entrance when he heard the ward’s doors open and a familiar voice calling out to him. He didn’t want to deal with anyone at the time, but out of respect for her and what she does.

      “What is it that you are going to try on me now, Christine?” Adrian said in annoyance.

      “I brought you a way out.” She panted, clearly having rushed to follow him.

      “And what way out would that be?” he asked.

      She held out a small glass vial. It was filled with a clear liquid.

      “Drink this and you will fall into a permanent slumber,” she offered, still smiling.

      “Where did you get this?” he questioned.

      Her eyes darted left to right as though she was trying to make certain she wouldn’t be heard.

      “Can I tell you a little secret?” she finally whispered.

      He nodded.

      “I work for someone better and stronger than anyone you could possibly imagine.”

      “Who?”

      She smiled.

      “That is something that I cannot say. At least not right now. So do you want it?”

      He hesitated, taking the time to consider her offer.

      “I cannot make such a decision so quickly. Give me until tomorrow to contemplate.”

      “A cautious answer, but this is the only time that I can offer you this.”

      He sighed and felt a pain in his chest.

      “Perhaps you could pray for me when I go then.”

      She did nothing but smile.

      “I thank you for granting me peace and passage.”

      “I will need to collect the vial so that royal guards don’t learn the formula.”

      Adrian was suspicious about this until he had a thought that would make someone he knew very happy.

      “If this is the way to complete peace and a chance at safe passage, then let it be done.”

      Christine gave him a look of satisfaction.

      “But not here,” he added, looking around the area. “I want to be surrounded by my favorite music and favorite drink when it is done.”

      Christine nodded.

      “Quite respectable. I have no other engagements for the rest of the evening, so we may do as you please,” she replied, hiding the vial in her sleeve.

      “Then please follow me.”

      6

      He led her to the monorail station, to which they traveled back to the East Residential District in complete silence. They remained this way until they reached his home.

      “Here we are then,” he said wearily. “The last time I will ever come here.”

      He heard Christine mumble something under her breath, something that to him sounded like “So you think.”

      But that was probably someone else passing by he hadn’t noticed.

      They entered his home.

      “Oh my,” Christine said. “You have a lovely home.”

      “It is eclectic, but I find harmony in the chaos,” he replied with a slight grin. “Now, please get comfortable while I prepare a drink.”

      “I would like to point out that this is tasteless, so it wouldn’t ruin you drink.”

      She held out the vial.

      He went into his kitchen and fixed himself a drink, adding the vial’s contents into it, and looked back at Christine. He raised the glass and gave a toast.

      “To the adventure.”

      “And to your new life,” Christine added.

      He was about to drink when he stopped a moment and looked back at her.

      “How rude of me,” he said, putting his glass down. “I neglected to pour you something.”

      “No need,” Christine replied, clearly anxious about him stopping. “I have something for myself.”

      She removed a flask from her other sleeve, opened the lid, and took a drink.

      I can’t get her off her guard, he thought. There will be no way for me to get her relaxed enough to make her Izac’s next plaything.

      It was during these thoughts that he felt another pain in his heart; this one more intense.

      I haven’t any choice anymore, he thought. I am a failure and cannot let him suffer any longer.

      He lifted the glass to his lips and drank.

      7

      The effect was almost instantaneous. He felt at peace, but something was wrong. He could hear laughter. He brought his eyes up to look back at Christine, but for some reason, as he did this, he felt so exhausted that he wanted to sleep for a decade. He realized he was still in his home, and Christine was looking at him with a grin he knew all too well; the grin Izac made when he was having fun.

      He tried to speak but had such little strength that he collapsed to the floor.

      Christine stopped laughing and looked down on him.

      “Now the fun can begin, my pet. So get up,” she said in a cold and seductive voice. He felt his body move without his command, as he rose to his feet. “Good. Now, tell me your name, darling.”

      He resisted the mind-numbing effect that her voice had on him until he felt her slap him across the face. This was no ordinary slap, though; the pain he felt from it was almost unbearable.

      “I said, tell me your name,” she said in a cold and calculating voice.

      “A-Adrian Flinch.” He obeyed.

      “Good, good. Now, tell me what it is that you do.”

      “I am an alienist with a…a passion for…for…understanding the mind of the insane and unbalanced.”

      “That isn’t all that you do, though, is it?” Adrian tried to resist but had no strength to stop himself from shaking his head. “So what СКАЧАТЬ