“Yellow!” Ophelia crowed. “Professor Sorenson was right—putting the two of you together under the light of Lady Moon is working!”
I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Was I really getting closer to some strange state of hyper-fertility like they all seemed to think? But no—that was crazy, wasn’t it? I tried to push the idea out of my head, but somehow, it was getting harder to do.
Next, it was Jake’s turn. But Ophelia wasn’t taking any chances with him. Before she un-cuffed him, she made sure to put the silver ropes around his arms again—though at least she kept his hands in front of his body instead of behind this time. She used the same cuffs to lock me to the bed where Jake had been and also held a gun on him—presumably the same one Tainer had been using the night before. She handled the gun with a skill and competence that made my heart sink and kept Jake in her sites the whole time he was in the bathroom.
When he came back, she cuffed him to the bed—sitting up this time with one cuff on his right wrist and the other cuff around the thick wooden strut of the headboard, which appeared to be solid oak. I was free again, but where was I going to go? I wasn’t leaving without Jake and I didn’t feel brave enough to rush Ophelia while she was holding that huge gun on us. Still, maybe I should try to work up the nerve…
“Jake,” I muttered, while she disappeared for a moment down the attic stairs, promising to bring us some “brunch” in a moment, “Maybe I should rush her when she comes back up. She seems to be alone in the house—maybe Tainer and Sorenson are at work or something.”
“No! You’re not taking any chances with that gun she’s got,” he muttered back.
“She won’t shoot me,” I argued. “She thinks I’m ‘Royal.’ She won’t dare.”
“She might not try to shoot you but a lot can go wrong when there’s a loaded gun involved,” he argued. “I don’t want you to risk it, Ani!”
“But if she’s the only one in the house—”
My speculation was ruined by the sound of heavy tramping coming up the wooden ladder. Tainer’s balding head appeared and then his thick torso and I saw that he had the gun this time.
“Well, well—Ophelia tells me you two are gettin’ close to fuckin’ already,” he purred, coming over to the bed. “And who could blame you, after sleepin’ buck nekked together last night.” He leered at me as I tried to cover myself. Then he turned his attention to Jake. “Tell me, boy—did you slip it in her? Just a little bit? Nobody would blame you with a fine piece of ass like that!”
“You sick fuck, she’s my sister,” Jake growled. “And you’ll stop looking at her if you know what’s good for you.”
He pushed me behind him—as much as he could—and shielded me with his body.
“Fine then.” Tainer smirked. “Ophelia’s bringin’ the two of you some kinda ‘lovers’ brunch’ she whipped up. After that, we’ll see if we can’t get that yellow box on the pee stick to turn orange—or maybe even red.”
I felt a shiver of unease go through me. Where was Ophelia? And where was Sorenson, for that matter? Though he was clearly the mastermind of this crazy cult, he also acted as a moderating influence on the big hillbilly. I hated to think of what Tainer might get up to without anyone to tell him “no.”
My thoughts were interrupted when Ophelia appeared again, this time carrying a heavily laden tray. How in the world she managed to get it up those steep stairs without spilling anything, I had no idea. But somehow she brought the whole thing up into the attic without a single spill.
“All right now,” she said, her brown eyes brimming with excitement. “We’ve got Eggs Benedict and some yummy waffles, orange juice, coffee with cream and sugar, some maple syrup…”
She went on like that, naming off things on the breakfast tray and I thought again that she reminded me of someone working in a high-end boutique hotel. She was treating Jake and me like a couple on our honeymoon and she was so excited to make this a “romantic” experience—as if kidnapping and forced breeding could be romantic.
Once she finished explaining the tray, she set it carefully on the bed between us and clasped her hands together under her chin.
“Now, you two have a wonderful brunch! Is there anything else I can get you?”
“The key to these handcuffs?” Jake said, deadpan.
Ophelia made a reproving face at him.
“Now, you know we wouldn’t have to cuff you if the two of you would just do your duty! Eat up—you’re going to need your strength for the breeding to come.”