Page 37 of Broken Empire
It was filled with hair products and appliances.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“Your buyer has requested a change in hair color for your upcoming video,” she said.
I felt as if she’d wedged a shard of glass between my ribs. “The video where they kill me, you mean,” I said in a hollow voice.
Her lips tightened, and she lowered her gaze to the case. “Please take one of the chairs from the dining area and put it in the bathroom,” she said. “I need to get started.”
“What if I say no?”
“You’ll only make it harder for both of us,” Freya replied, looking up at me again. “Please just do as I say.”
With my stomach churning, I went over to the dining area and dragged one of the chairs into the bathroom. Freya followed a moment later and covered the white vanity with several sheets of tin foil, some clips, a comb, a black container with a pungent-smelling bleach mixture, and a highlight brush.
“I think you’ll look nice as a blonde,” she said as she sectioned my hair with the comb. “Although, with that pretty face and bone structure, you could probably get away with any hair color.”
I stared back at her in the mirror, upper lip curling. Did she expect me to thank her for that compliment when she was only dyeing my hair so I could match a set of image requirements given to her by a man who intended to kill me within the next twenty-four hours?
I think not, bitch.
I lowered my gaze and sullenly stared at my lap. “You know what’s going to happen to me, don’t you?” I said.
Freya dipped the highlight brush in the bleach and lifted it to the top of my head. “It’s none of my business,” she murmured.
“Obviously it is. You’re here, aren’t you?” I said, narrowing my eyes.
“Yes, I am.” She painted a section of my hair with the bleach and wrapped it in foil before speaking up again. “I meant it’s none of my business what happens to you after you leave here.”
My forehead wrinkled. “Leave?”
“Your buyer has requested a change in scenery for your video. After I’m done with your hair, you’ll be taken elsewhere.”
“Do you know where they’re taking me?” I asked, heart pounding again. A change in location meant a chance at escape.
Freya shook her head. “No. But if you’re thinking you can get away from them, think again. There’ll be several handlers accompanying you, and the new place will be locked down the whole time you’re there. So don’t bother.”
My shoulders sagged. “Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?” I muttered sarcastically.
A guilty expression stole across her face. “I just meant… you probably shouldn’t get your hopes up about an escape plan,” she said softly, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “I’ve seen it happen before, and it never works.”
“How many times have you seen it?”
She lowered her eyes to my hair. “Quite a few.”
“How can you do it?” I asked, voice rising. “Seriously, woman to woman,how? Doesn’t it make you sick to know what these assholes do to people?Realpeople.”
“The organization responsible for my employment has just as many women as men,” Freya replied. “Not all women are capable of solidarity with others. A lot of them are just as bad as the men.”
“But you aren’t like them. If you were, you wouldn’t have looked and sounded so guilty a minute ago,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “You feel bad about this, don’t you?”
She didn’t reply for several beats. “It doesn’t matter how I feel,” she finally muttered.
“It does.” I grabbed her arm and squeezed it. “You can help me.Please.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I… I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“You can. We can figure out a plan. Make it look like I overpowered you and escaped.”
