“I woke up and you were not—” He paused halfway across the room, concern suddenly flooding his face. “What is wrong? Have you been crying?”
“No,” Sarita snapped, and then rolled her eyes with irritation. So much for her attempt to look normal, she thought, but added in a calmer voice, “There is nothing wrong. I was just . . .” She turned, gesturing to the open cupboards and frowning at the jars.
“Ah . . .” Domitian continued forward to stand at her side, his face grim as he looked over the jars. “I saw them earlier.”
“I didn’t,” Sarita responded, her voice hollow.
“Then this must have been a shock,” he murmured, slipping a comforting arm around her shoulder.
Sarita didn’t respond. She also remained stiff under his arm, unable to relax. It wasn’t because of the jars, though. It was that damned letter and his not telling her about it, and her worry that Dressler already had contacted Domitian somehow.
“My uncle said that one of Dressler’s men mentioned a host of creatures on the island,” Domitian announced now. “Fish people and bird people, and a centaur I think.”
“What?” she asked with disbelief, but then she glanced back to the fetus with the fish tail between its legs before letting her eyes slide over the other mutations. She shook her head. “I didn’t see anything like that on the island.”
“Perhaps they are kept in the labs you mentioned,” Domitian suggested.
Sarita nodded slowly. “There were several buildings. I only saw the front room of the first building, though. I suppose he could have had any number of people and things locked up there.”
“Speaking of locked up, Dressler did leave you the combination to the padlock on my chains,” Domitian announced suddenly.
Sarita stiffened up just a bit more. “Oh?”
“Si. It is around here somewhere.” He glanced around the floor briefly. “It was taped on the inside of the refrigerator door. It had the combination on the outside and a brief note on the inside saying the blood was unsullied and he would contact us later to tell us what he wanted from us.”
Turning back, Domitian grimaced and admitted, “I meant to tell you about it, but when you came down in that little red-and-black nightgown I am afraid I forgot. I can find it, though, if you want to read it. I think I tossed it on the floor somewhere.”
“No,” she breathed and felt herself relax. He’d meant to tell her and got distracted. That was all. He hadn’t been hiding anything from her.
“He is a monster.”
Sarita glanced to Domitian to see that his attention was on the jars again. She peered at them herself, and felt a lump forming in her throat. These creatures Dressler’s man had mentioned must be his successes, the mutations that had survived. Fish people and bird people, and a centaur? Why would he create such beings? What kind of life could they have in this world? Not that he was allowing them out into the world. At least she hadn’t encountered any while on the island. She wouldn’t be surprised if they were locked up in his labs, probably being dissected and experimented on just like the immortals.
Suddenly unable to bear it anymore, Sarita stepped forward and closed the cupboard door in front of them. The moment she did, Domitian began to close the others to the left of it and she started to do the same to the ones on the right.
“We have to leave here,” Domitian said quietly as they worked together.
“Yes,” she said simply.
Once the last door was closed, he moved back to clasp her arms and turned her to face him. Peering down at her solemnly, he said, “Thank you. For the blood. And for covering me. For taking care of me.”
“It was nothing,” Sarita said, shrugging his hands as well as his words away and turning to lead the way out of the room. And it really had been nothing. It certainly hadn’t been taking proper care of him in her book. That would have included staying to feed him bag after bag until he woke up and then making sure he was okay. Not just popping one to his fangs and leaving. But she’d been too angry to do that, angry and suspicious about the letter and his not telling her about it.
No, that wasn’t the truth, Sarita acknowledged. She had been angry, but it had been because his not telling her about the letter had frightened her. She’d feared what it might mean. She’d thought they were a team trying to escape together up to that point, but the letter had raised doubt in her, and fear. Most anger was based in fear, she knew.
“The sun will be setting soon. I think we should collect some bottled water and some canned goods and leave as soon as possible,” Domitian said quietly once they were out of the old lab.
Sarita paused and turned back to point out, “He’ll see what we are doing on the cameras and might send men to hunt us down.”
“There is nothing we can do about that. We will just have to be quick about gathering things and hope to get out before he can get men here to stop us,” he said firmly.
When Sarita frowned and looked uncertain, he pointed out, “We either take a chance and leave now, or wait here for whatever he has in store for us next. What do you prefer?”
“Leave now,” she said without hesitation. Putting it that way rather made it obvious that it was the only choice.
Domitian smiled and relaxed a bit. “I am glad to hear it. I was not happy at the thought of having to knock you out and drag you out of here like a caveman.”
Sarita snorted and turned to start upstairs, saying, “Knock me out? In your dreams.”
“Trust me, in my dreams knocking you out is the last thing I would do to you,” Domitian assured her, following. “Unless you count—”
“Don’t say it. Don’t even think about it,” Sarita warned, knowing he was thinking about their postcoital faints.
“It is difficult not to think about it when I am following your perfect behind up the stairs in that ridiculous swimsuit,” Domitian assured her. “Why do bikinis no longer have a back on them? Why even wear them at all, if all it is, is a strip of cloth up the crack of your bottom leaving your cheeks on display?” he complained, and then added, “Do not mistake me, it is a beautiful behind you have, but most distracting and—”
“Domitian?” Sarita interrupted as she stepped off the stairs and into the office.
“Si?” he asked.
“Stop looking at my butt,” she ordered firmly.
He remained silent as they left the office, but as they entered the living room, murmured, “As you wish.”
The words made Sarita whip around to eye him suspiciously. The last time he’d said that was in response to her lecture about no kissy, kissy, no gropey, gropey, and no sexo. And look how that had ended. She suspected the man wasn’t as agreeable as he’d like her to believe, and that “as you wish” from him didn’t mean what it would from everyone else. She just hadn’t figured out what it did mean from him yet.
“Why do you not go take a shower and change into something a little less distracting? I will prepare a picnic for us while you do and we can eat out on the beach,” Domitian said loudly, adding a wink in case she didn’t understand that he was trying to buy them some time before Dressler would realize they were making an escape attempt.
“Sounds good,” Sarita said just as loudly, but turned toward the kitchen instead, adding, “I’ll just grab the first aid kit so I can put some antiseptic on the cuts on my legs after I shower.”
“There is a first aid kit?” Domitian asked, following her.
Sarita nodded. She’d spotted it on one of her earlier searches through the kitchen. There was a sewing kit too, and she decided she’d take that to the bathroom with her as well. Sewing a sheet onto herself might be the only way for her to have something that would help her cover up against mosquitos and the other bugs here. She wasn’t running through the jungle in a bikini or one of those ridiculous negligees.
“All set?” Domitian asked when she straightened from collecting both kits.
“Yes.” Sarita headed for the door adding, “Can you throw some bottled water in the picnic too? I’m pretty dehydrated after spending all afternoon in the sun.”