10  Intoxicating, her presence

“You may now open their rooms and retrieve them,” Odin lazily flicked his fingers at each of the guards watching over Adonis’ and Sam’s areas. A small contingent of personal guards trailed some feet behind him, stopping a respectful distance behind him as he stopped to pull out his phone, leaning on an alabaster pillar. He used his left index finger to push his clear-rimmed glasses further up his nose bridge. He squinted down at his phone, held in his right hand, and began tapping at a furious rate on the screen, trying to answer multiple emails before his guards reemerged with the prisoners.

Aspen stood off to the side awkwardly, as she was forced to come along, and held herself rod-straight, clasping her hands in front of her stomach. Her wrists hovered slightly above her gown, which today was a floor-length cut with a champagne bodice as well as tulle sleeves and skirt that flowed around her legs like water. She fidgeted with her cuticles and wished she had a phone to distract herself. However, Odin had long ago redacted her phone.

She glanced anxiously to the right and relaxed when she saw the view of the valley through the wide front windows. The sight entranced her; the sun gilded the distant houses and flushed them with color; the dusting of snow painted a surreal picture of too-bright highlights and shadows that blended and faded into nothingness. She yearned to jump from this balcony and escape to the world beyond. Her feet carried her to the banister and she leaned over it, planted her elbows on it and cupped her chin with both hands. A bittersweet smile spread across her face, sweet because she was humbled by nature’s art, bitter because she could not go the one-hundred steps it would take to be able to walk amongst the richly colored landscape.

The dreamlike spectacle captured her attention so intensely she did not notice the chained and ragged-looking Adonis, the quietly concerned Sampson patiently waiting behind her, nor did she notice Odin’s eyes staring at her wavy tresses that cascaded along her spine.

Jeff motioned again to one of the guards in his entourage. In her ear, he murmured, “Go fetch a helper. Tell them to stay with Lady Aspen until she is ready to leave, but that they are not allowed to disturb her until she does so of her own free will. Catch up with us afterwards in the library. Thank you.”

She hurried off, hastily seeking a maid to fulfill his orders. Odin clicked his tongue twice, the same as you would do to an old mare. He twisted back to the direction he had come from and began leading the group. The pack of guards and Sam and Adonis trailed after Odin silently. Sam did not get a chance to speak with Adonis, nor did Adonis have time to fit in a single word, but they managed to share a glance between them, a fleeting second that accomplished displaying all of the exhaustion from last night pressing upon them.

Just as they rounded a corner to the stairwell, Adonis fought to look over his shoulder to see Aspen one last time. She stood slightly hunched, elegantly balancing her face with the railing and one hand, and twisting the other hand into her hair. Her eyes lit up, matching the wan smile playing on her lips as she continued to observe the outside. In all ways, she exuded an independent confidence, pushing an aloof air that read she did not need anyone other than herself; and yet Adonis still felt a tugging urge to turn around and join her dreaming at the railing.

The guards jerked him forward as he lagged, continuing shoving him towards the spiral stairs, and a pristine, alabaster column blocked his view. His view not of snowy trees and bright houses, but his view of tumbling hair and a glimmering champagne dress.

---

They continued to tromp to the library, the guards’ boots clicking loudly on the clean floor and Sam and Adonis’ socks gliding silently. Even with all the help Francis provided, he still had not managed to pilfer shoes for them. Their hands were again bound behind their back, but unbeknownst to Odin, they were fake cuffs this time.

Sam glanced at Adonis, catching his hollow eyes. He mouthed, Are you ok?

I’m fine.

Sam looked away, wholly unconvinced. He faced Adonis again: I don’t believe you. He angled his face slightly downwards, the intensity in his eyes doubling. And I’m always here for you.

Adonis just smiled, blushing slightly. Even though his night had been rough, even though he felt as though he deserved nothing in life, even though he was certain he was a disappointment to all, his self-loathing was placated by Sam’s determination to stay by his side.

“Welcome to my pride and joy,” Odin said, throwing his arms wide and pacing backwards to face the prisoners and chaperones. “The library.”

“I should think that a rather modest description, your grace,” Sam said with a smirk, attempting to bow. The guard yanked his hands, forcing him to straighten and cuffed the back of his head.

“Hm,” was all Odin grunted, peering at them through his glasses. He turned away.

The library spanned all the levels of the house except for the basement. Watery sunlight suffused the tall chamber, filtering through an arched glass dome that was similar to the one that capped the foyer. The sunbeams were splotchy today, broken up by the random patches of snow laying on top of the tempered glass. By the time the glow reached the bottom floor, it was reduced to dusky beams due to the despotic dark oak shelves that demanded precedence. The rich maroon carpets absorbed the rest of the leftover luminance. The shelves lined the walls all the way to the top as well, only broken up by the occasional inset ladder. Each ledge overflowed with ubiquitous books, the covers creating a cornucopia of muted pigments, all with varying widths and heights. Where each floor of the house should have been, alcoves were sporadically placed, each pocket having bone-colored hanging chairs and small stringed lights.

Adonis gaped at the collection, aching to dig his bibliophile fingers into the pages and get lost amongst the inked words. He already recognized many of the selections at the bottom layer and he remembered the adventure each of the familiar titles had brought him in to.

“Are these all yours?” Adonis inquired, his voice full of wonder and awe, briefly forgetting that he was being held captive by this man. “Your collection is vast.”

Jeff’s cockiness faltered. “No actually, I don’t particularly enjoy reading, unless it is science papers. Most of these belong to my wife, Aspen-Fauna, who I believe you saw earlier,” he answered in a low tone, made slightly uncomfortable by Adonis’ interest.

“Is the bottom layer all fiction? Are each of the levels sorted by genre? What are the other levels’ genres?” Adonis asked, a spark returning to his eyes as they darted around the room, unable to focus on just one thing.

“I-uh…yes they are sorted by genre. The bottom is fiction, floor two is sci-fi and mysteries, third is history, and the top two are sort of random,” Jeff answered haltingly. He was focused on the floor and scratching the back of his neck. Adonis bounced on his feet slightly and grinned, enthralled by all the stories waiting to be read around him.

Sam coughed. “Why did you bring us here? Just to flex your wealth?”

“No, I have another purpose for you,” Odin lifted his head, returning to himself. “The agency is practically begging for an update from their beloved spies. Although I have emailed them multiple times saying it is going well, not to worry, they don’t seem to trust the word from their new hire. It’s been what, two, three weeks since they sent you? From now on, I’m going to have you call them three times a week to inform them of progress and keep them off my back.”

“Ok, but why do we need to be in the library? I don’t understand,” Sam asked, still suspicious of Odin’s intentions.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Odin spat. “But I will. I picked the library simply because I think it is likely the quietest place in my manor.” And there’s nothing they could glean information from in here, he thought to himself.

He clearly has some other purpose for this. And poor Adonis is gonna have all these books tempting him without being able to read them.

“Your explanation for today is that I, Jefferson, have been a sitting duck in the forest, monitoring you and assisting you with tech. You both have been so busy with interrogating the other houses about my manor that you simply had no time and kept forgetting to update Selena, or whoever answers the phone. You still have a couple more houses to question, but so far, it seems as though there is no bomb threat and you do not need backup. You plan on getting into the targets’ manor, that is, my manor, within the next week or week-and-a-half,” Odin explained to them very slowly, talking down to them as though they were naive children.

“What if we refuse to follow through with your plan?” Adonis asked, the new twinkle fading from his eyes. “What are you going to do, kill us?”

“I wish I could. However, if you don’t follow through, you will be given a higher dose of the drug we gave you when you first entered my manor.” Odin smiled. His glasses’ lenses glinted a bright beam, completely obscuring his emerald eyes. “Yes, yes, judging by your faces I believe you remember how unpleasant it was the first time. Soreness, unexplainable weakness and swelling, am I correct? But this time, in addition to sore bones and weak muscles, the drug will be strong enough to make you also experience hallucinations, nausea and diarrhea for days.”

Dread jolted through Adonis’ and Sam’s stomachs, widening their eyes and making their jaws go slack. Adonis had lost his father when he was thirteen due to an accidental morphine overdose, and had since been scared to take any kind of drug, medicinal or not. Sam hated being ill, and the mere thought of throwing up or having a fever terrified him. Their fears trapped them, and they meekly nodded, agreeing to go along with what Odin proposed.

The guards, six in total, split into two and four. Two walked to a heavy desk and dragged twin rough-hewn chairs out. The other four each seized Sam and Adonis, one on each arm, and guided them to the chairs then forced them to sit. Adonis and Sam allowed themselves to follow with no resistance; Odin’s willingness to poison them still shocked them. The guards dispersed and lined the walls, standing about ten feet away from each other, creating a semi-circle wrapping around the room.

Odin dialed the number on his phone. He put it on speaker. It rang three times. Selena answered.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Neither Sam nor Adonis spoke, as both were still detached from their surroundings.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Odin’s eyebrows pulled low on his eyes. He angrily gestured between Adonis and Sam.

“Oh sorry! You cut out there for a second, haha,” Sam offered, forcing cheerfulness into his voice. Odin’s brows relaxed. “I also have Adonis here-

“Hi!” Adonis chirped.

“-and Jeff as well,” Sam finished, lifting his cool gaze to meet Odin’s fiery one.

“Hello, Selena,” Odin said in a perfectly polished voice, neither friendly nor standoffish. Clean, oiled, his voice held no trace of guilt from the horrible threats he had just wagered.

“Good! What kept you guys so long? What info do you have so far on the situation?” Selena quiered, relieved that she was finally hearing from her favorite team.

Adonis looked askance, forcing out in the most convincing voice possible, “ah, sorry about that. We hoped Jeff’s emails would be enough to not worry you, but we have just been so busy up here we simply had no time to call you.”

“So far, we’ve questioned lots of the other houses about the…the subject manor. It doesn’t seem like there is any real threat, but we’ve been very careful with our questioning so the master of the manor does not hear about us,” Sam said, still holding his stare with Odin, his voice coming out slightly choppy.

“It doesn’t seem like a bomb threat, though. It seems more like-” Odin thrashed his hand through the air, warning Adonis to not say any more. “-more like just an overall weapons concern? I think the batty old guy has a huge stockpile.”

“Oh, do you guys want any backup?” Selena asked, concern permeating her question.

“N-no we’re fine. That’s just a guess. We don’t really know why there were reports of a bomb threat yet. But, uh, we’ll keep you informed on whether we’ll need backup,” Adonis rushed out, slightly panicked.

“And from now on, we plan on calling three times a week or so. I think we are going to make a move on the manor in the next week. Hopefully, we will finish this up within the next four weeks, at most. I can’t see us needing to be up here any longer,” Sam finished, a convincing performance, except that his words came haltingly.

“Sorry, love, we are going to have to go right now. There is a noise coming from outside our van, and I don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to us,” Odin leaned over the table, hovering his finger over the ‘end call’ button.

“Alright, I’ll let you guys go. You seem like you have this under control. Keep up the good work,” Selena said, and she hung up.

Silence settled over the room, a thick and tangible silence, a blanket so heavy it sucked the air out of Adonis’ and Sam’s lungs. Odin pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyebrows.

“You are an asshole, Sampson,” Odin hissed through clenched teeth, cracking the calmness.

“What did I even do?” Sam asked, hiding a grin. He knew exactly what he had done. By saying that they would be back in four weeks and no later, Sam had clearly messed with whatever pre-set timeline Odin had thought of. He was forcing Odin to rush his plans, to work with four short weeks, unless Odin wanted a concerned agency wandering up into his domain.

“Guards, take them back to their rooms,” Odin grumbled. Directing his attention back to the pair again, he said, “we will do this again in two days. This time, you had better follow the script more carefully, lest you want to suffer the consequences.”

Odin swirled and stalked out of the room, two guards hot on his heels and the two closest to the doors struggling to open the doors before Odin reached them. He planned on seeking out the guard he had sent looking for a maid, and if he couldn’t find her, to look for Aspen. He stormed down the hall, his swift footsteps fading quickly.

The leftover guards, stepped to the agents, jabbed their arms under Sam and Adonis’ armpits and harshly pulled them out of their chairs. They hobbled and tripped over their feet, hurrying to catch up with the guards’ eager pace. They traversed the hall again, the guards’ echoing boot sounds and soft slide of the agents’ wool socks being the only noise. Seconds before Adonis and Sam split to go into their rooms, they strained their necks to glimpse each other and share a mischievous smile. The guards noticed, and Sam’s guard yanked his cuffs again. Adonis’ guard grabbed his neck and forcefully pointed him forward.

They each walked into their rooms, heard the locks snick behind them, then slipped off their handcuffs. In unison, they rubbed their wrists and each spotted a small package resting upon their televisions. Each grabbed the gift, unraveled the scratchy twine tying it together. A small metal rod rolled out and dropped into their palms. A small scrap of paper trailed after. The papers had a heart scrawled on them followed by ‘A-F.’ Adonis bounced the small stick in his palm and studied his note, which still had a small champagne-colored sequin sticking to it. Realization crossed Sam’s face and he walked to his door and slipped the metal into his doorknob. The knob clicked and the door swung slightly inwards. He gasped and shoved the door shut again, locking it hopefully before the posted guards noticed what he had discovered.

Sam hid the small metal piece under dirt in his plant pot, next to the knife. Adonis tucked it between the folds of a hand towel on his bathroom counter.

Adonis expanded over his bed, staring into his comforter and playing some cooking show on his television, wishing he could use his key to get out of his room. Even though the idea of sneaking out to meet Sam allured him, he logically knew that there was no way that he would be able to leave his room right now without the guards noticing.

Maybe I could figure out when they rotate, slip into Sam’s room, and switch back when they rotate again, Adonis thought while yawning. His sleepiness was finally catching up on him. He tightened the furry blanket he had wrapped around himself, turning into a cocoon of warmth. A small shaft of sunlight turned the fine hairs on the blanket to a golden syrup. He curled himself into a tight ball and drifted off into peaceful rest, allowing his mind and body the necessary time to revive themselves.

His dreams wandered, flitting from one setting to another with little notice. A lazy, comfortable smile rested on his face, staying until the last ten minutes before he woke up. His dreamscape was perpetually punctuated with loud steps and yelling. He slowly roused himself, at first believing he had imagined the sounds, but after he stretched out of his blanket-cocoon, he realized that the clanging and other ruckus was actually happening. He jolted over to his entryway, pressing his ear up against the doors, hoping he could overhear what the cause of the commotion was.

I hope this isn’t because Odin found out about Aspen smuggling us lockpicks. She better be safe, Adonis wished fiercely. If the help that Adonis received came at Aspen’s expense, he did not want it. Next time I see her, I’m going to tell her to stop risking herself for us; we can handle ourselves.

He stopped distracting himself with thoughts and resumed listening to the outside. In the distance, he thought he could make out Odin’s voice yelling “Where is she?” multiple times over. As he continued listening, he heard Odin’s voice getting closer and many jumbled footsteps following. A woman’s panicky voice joined the clatter and Adonis pressed his ear into the wood harder, straining to hear what she was saying.

“Enough, Cassie! I don’t care what you have to do to find her, I need her back immediately!” the woman, presumably Cassie, was cut off. Adonis also thought he heard the smack of flesh colliding and wondered if Odin had slapped her. “Guards, open the prisoners’ doors right now! Make sure they aren’t holding her!”

Adonis yanked his ear away and back-pedaled across his room, lunging for his fake handcuffs and fumbling to slip them over his wrists. He writhed on the floor, struggling to latch his hands together while holding them behind his back and hearing the posted guards fit the keys into the locks.

The bolt slid out of place.

This damn latch won’t hold!

The door cracked open.

Adonis accidentally pinched the skin on his wrist, drawing blood.

Odin kicked open the door the same second Adonis flicked himself into a criss-cross sitting position. Adonis tucked his arms behind himself, hiding the fresh stripes drawn on them from his nails scrabbling to close his cuffs.

Neither man said anything. Odin’s chest rose and fell quickly, and his face was a storm. Adonis steeled his eyes, challenging Odin’s glare while also trying to hide his own labored breathing.

“Where is she,” Odin commanded in a deathly silent voice.

“I haven’t the faintest,” Adonis responded cooly, cracking his neck while talking.

“I know you know where she is! I know she wishes to talk with you!”

Adonis froze for a millisecond, considering whether Odin really knew they had talked or if he was guessing and perhaps hoping to make Adonis flustered. He fell back into his rug and answered while staring at the ceiling, “I have no idea where ‘she’ is. I barely even know who you are asking about.”

Odin huffed and turned out of the room, grabbing the edge of the door and slamming it behind him so hard the walls rattled. Adonis breathed out and relaxed when he heard the bolt click back into place. Through the thick door, he heard the same interaction happen between Sam and Odin, then silence reigned yet again when Odin decided to take his rage elsewhere. Adonis undid the clasp and chucked the handcuffs over to the door.

I think, just in case, I should check whether Aspen left anything else in here that could frame me or her if Odin decided to do a room check. I mean, I doubt it. She’s pretty smart; surely she wouldn’t leave anything too big or obvious behind? Adonis pondered, but a heavy weight settled in his gut. Something foreboding pressed on him, weighing down his shoulders and filling his heart with dread. He clawed up from the floor, using the bedpost to stand. He then grabbed his sheets and flipped them back, checking nothing was stowed in his bedsheets. He looked under the pillows and bed, then inside and under all the potted plants.

Okay, nothing here, just as I- he glanced at the floorboards right in front of the plant he was examining. A small, nondescript, black hair tie caught his eye.

Oh no. That’s not mine. He bent to pick it up, then slipped it over his hand to wear as a bracelet. He stood still for a moment, staring at the hair tie; then panic took over. She might have left something else in here too if she left this! He lurched to the bathroom, one of the last big areas he had not yet searched. He shoved the shower curtain open: nothing. Underneath the toilet: nothing. Nothing inside the toilet paper holders, tucked inside a towel, resting in the sink, hanging around the back of the mirror. He pulled open the cabinet doors and rummaged through the bottles of chemicals.

Nope, nope, nope nothing behind the glass cleaner, or the scented spray. He continued digging, reaching to the very back of the cabinet till his hand smacked the thin plywood back. He knocked into a tub of disinfecting wipes, and when he reached to right it, a small glint caught his attention. He grasped the source and pulled out the object. A pair of shining heels dropped into his lap. Nausea, triggered by his fear, rose in his throat. You have got to be joking.

He carefully rose to his feet again and slowly ambled back to his main room. I think the only place left is my bureau. He let the heels slip from his fingers and clonk to the rug. He numbly pulled on the first drawer; nothing was in it besides the few shirts Francis gave him as well as the borrowed socks. But…but a pair of my socks are missing…. Adonis groaned and pushed the drawer shut again. He leaned his forehead on the edge of the dresser and pulled out the second drawer, which had three sweatshirts and two pairs of sweatpants. This time, there were only two sweatshirts and one pair of sweatpants. When he unfolded the sweatpants to double-check that there was only one pair, a lovely, shimmery, princess-esque tulle dress slipped out and floated to the rug, joining the matching heels.

Adonis stood still in the center of the half-circle of incriminating objects before him. His head felt like it swam amongst the clouds, and he knew he should drink water or eat something, but he only lethargically turned about himself, staring with glazed eyes first at the simple rubber band encircling his wrist, then at the strappy, almond-colored shoes, then at the elaborate gown fanning across the plush rug. He snapped the rubber band to his wrist twice.

How in the hell am I going to hide all of this?

And what on earth kind of trouble are you getting into now, miss Aspen-Fauna?