Chapter 11
177
“The Silence Call Missing
Ares moved across his lavish study, his feet muffled by the expensive Persian rug covering the floor. The room, with its dark mahogany shelves filled with leather–bound volumes b, radiated classic elegance.
As the evening light sank below the horizon, large windows were enclosed by heavy velvet drapes creating deep shadows. The room smelled of polished wood and aged paper, evidence of years of well chosen knowledge and money. Ares gripped his smartphone in hand; despite his repeated attempts to bring it back, the screen stayed blank. Once more his thumb poked the power button, but the gadget stayed unresponsive.
The only visible indication of his growing irritation was a muscle in his jaw tightening. He had been waiting for Victor’s call, now hours late. The quiet was awful; every minute that passed increased his discomfort. Victor was never late; his consistency was like that of the tides. There seems to be something wrong. Ares’s thoughts flew, each darker than the next. Had Victor been exposed to compromise? Was his situation dangerous? Still worse, had he betrayed him? The uncertainty bit Ares, a merciless hunter devouring his calm. He launched the dead phone across the room with a frustrated growl. It hit the wall with a loud bang, plastic and glass bits flying like shrapnel over the spotless floor. The gesture provided a brief solace to the storm roaring within of me. Selene watched the spectacle from the doorway with an inexplicable face.
Her thin frame was covered in a silk robe; her porcelain skin stood out greatly from the deep emerald fabric. Her delicate yet strong face was framed by dark hair falling in wild waves over her shoulders. Her eyes, a sharp blue tint, fixed calm attention on Ares. Her voice calm and steady, slicing through the tension like a dagger through silk, “Breaking things won’t get you answers.” Ares turned to meet her, his eyes ablaze with a mixture of desperation and wrath. Then tell me the damned truth, Selene.
She fixed his attention, uncompromising, then entered the room closing the door softly with a gentle click. The stillness that followed was dense, loaded with unstated statements and secret motives. Selene walked elegantly to the middle of the space, her motions flowing and under control like a predator weighing up its target. She stopped at the broken pieces of the phone, then looked momentarily at the trash before backtracking to Ares.
“You’ve always had a flare for the dramatic,” she said, a trace of entertainment coloring her voice. Ares’s hands tightened at his sides; the knuckles whitened under the effort.
This is not a game, Selene. I need responses; Victor is missing. She raised a precisely sculpted brow, her lips barely smiling. And you wonder whether I have them? Ares shot back, his voice slanted with accusation, “I think you know more than you’re letting on.” Selene’s smile grew more like a predator showing its teeth.
Possibly. But Ares, knowledge has a cost. Are you able to pay it?‘ He moved forward, the distance between them getting to be only a breath. Tension permeated the air, an electric charge setting the hairs on his rear of the neck on end. “Name your price,” he said, his voice low and lethal. Selene’s eyes glittered with a predatory brightness, the excitement of the hunt clear in her stare.
“All in good time, dear.” First, though, let me go over the terms of our… collaboration. Ares battled to keep control, his jaw tightened and the muscles under the skin worked. “This isn’t game time, Selene.” She slanted her head to look at him, amused yet curious. “Oh, but it is. The players are all in place; the stakes have never been more. Are you ready to play? That is the question. Ares’s eyes closed, mistrust blazing down their depths.
What do you want?” Selene’s smile was deliberate, slow, like a cat taunting a mouse. “I desire Ares what I have always
wanted. power. Force. You too. The words, loaded with innuendo, hung in the air. Ares experienced a cold run down his spine as the weight of her stare dropped upon him like a tangible force. He stepped back, needing space between them, to help him to relax. But Selene pursued his withdrawal with predatory grace, persistent. She said, “Don’t run from me, Ares,” a seductive whisper.
