Livia Lone (Livia Lone #1)(96)

Lone glanced at Redcroft, then at Skull Face. “Well, what do you think. Should we tell her? It seems unkind not to.”

Skull Face smiled at that. But Redcroft’s amused expression faded, replaced by something closer to . . . concern. Livia didn’t know what it meant, but she didn’t like it.

“Well, Livia,” Lone said, “what happened was this. Your sister Nason was supposed to join you on that boat to Llewellyn. My brother was going to foster you both. But you did a stupid thing. You made Chanchai very angry.”

Chanchai. His name was Chanchai. Not Kana, as Tyler knew him. But to her, he would always be Skull Face.

“And . . . Chanchai went a little too far. But he knows that. He apologized for it. Told me everything. That’s part of why we’re friends. Because we trust each other. Isn’t that right, Chanchai?”

Skull Face nodded. He was smiling, clearly enjoying watching Lone torment her.

“Now, Chanchai asked Fred and me how we wanted to handle things, given your sister’s . . . condition. That is to say, we couldn’t very well have my brother take in a little refugee girl who was that traumatized. At a minimum, she needed special care. I have to tell you, initially I was not happy at the news. Nason was supposed to be mine. Plus, how was Fred going to manage you without a sister for you to worry about protecting?”

He rubbed his brow and looked down for a moment. “Ah, it’s making me miss him. Anyway, Fred said, ‘We’ll make do. As long as I just tell her I’m trying to find her sister, and eventually that I know where her sister is, it’ll be almost as good.’ And he was right, wasn’t he? He always was the clever one. It’s why he stayed in business while I pursued politics. Although, in the end, I suppose we both did all right.”

None of it was surprising. It all fit what she had already pieced together on her own. But it was still agonizing to hear. It was as though his words were ripping away scars and probing the wounded tissue underneath.

“Fred actually thought we should get rid of your sister, given her state. But honestly? I thought that would be a waste. I thought she sounded interesting. So I told Chanchai to find a way to bring her to me. I wanted to meet this zombified little girl. Maybe I could help her.”

Livia could feel the dragon, its ears flattening, its eyes glowing, its breath getting hot.

Not yet. Not yet.

“And Chanchai, good man that he is, knew it was the least he could do following the momentary lapse of professionalism that had caused the problem in the first place. So he brought Nason to me. And I entrusted her to the care of Matthias.”

“I think you’ve told her enough,” Redcroft said.

“No,” Livia said. “Please. What happened to Nason? Please.”

Lone smiled and glanced at Skull Face. “Chanchai, she really does want to know, doesn’t she?”

Skull Face nodded and looked at her, his expression burning with hate. “Yes. She wants that. Yes.”

“Well, is there anything she could do that would persuade you to fill her in on the rest of the story?”

Skull Face smiled. “Yes. I think so.”

He stared at Livia. “You were so fun on boat. So fun. Maybe you be fun again, we tell about your sister.”

Livia shook her head. The dragon was struggling now, straining.

Skull Face raised the gun and pointed it at Livia’s face. “No? Two choice. You be fun now. Or I f*cking kill you.”

Lone gave her a sad smile. “Why don’t you make him happy, Livia? You know what happens when he gets angry. And really, I think he missed you. The way he talked about you . . . you were special to him. I want to see what was so special. I want to watch. And then, if you make him happy, I’ll finish telling you about Nason.”

The dragon was practically screaming inside her now. She’d never felt it so huge before. So undeniable.

Skull Face pointed the gun at the carpet, then aimed it at Livia again. “Knees,” he said. “Like on boat. You so fun on knees.”

Livia got to her feet. She was trembling. Skull Face saw it and nodded with satisfaction. He thought it was fear. In fact, it was effort. She was doing all she could to hold back the dragon. She didn’t think she could contain it much longer.

She stepped closer to him. This would be her best chance yet, maybe her only chance, for a disarm. Just a little closer.

But Skull Face retracted the gun, holding it closer to his body. He knew her too well, and she’d hurt him too badly. He wasn’t going to take a chance.

Skull Face pointed to the carpet with his free hand, his gun hand keeping the pistol trained on her. She didn’t have a move. Not yet. She was going to have to do this.

She got on her knees. She could see how hard he was. He moved closer and pressed the muzzle of the gun against her temple.

“Pants,” he said. “You open.”

In her peripheral vision, she could see both Lone and Redcroft lean forward in their chairs. Probably out of anticipation and interest. But with Redcroft, the posture would create quicker access to the waistband holster at the small of his back.

It didn’t matter. She couldn’t fight the dragon any longer even if she wanted to.

And she didn’t want to.

She opened Skull Face’s pants. He pressed the gun harder. The muzzle bit into her skin.

He moved aside his underwear, exposing himself.