Page 90 of Ronen
I felt Matty give a nonchalant shrug. “Among other languages.”
My brother then spent the next five minutes cursing the man in no less than five of the seven languages he spoke fluently.
Matty was talking and switching dialects so quickly, even I had trouble keeping up with him. Or maybe I was still feeling the effects of the chloroform.
Show off, my honey badger sniped, and I bit back a laugh, because I also spoke every language Matty was rattling off at breakneck speed. I just didn’t usually speak the languages unless I needed to. Like on vacation, or if there was someone who didn’t speak English.
This was no time to start laughing, but really, this viper had no clue that when he had taken us, he had signed his death certificate.
“Enough!” the man bellowed, and Matty stopped his detailed description, in Mandarin, of the slow, painful death he had planned for him. Not that I believed the snake actually spoke mandarin to even understand the truly inventive way my brother planned to murder him.
“This man murdered my father!” Another hiss of clipped, angry words.
“Did he? Are you sure?” Matty asked, sounding bored, but there was a slight shortness of his breath that wasn’t normal for him.
I could feel his back against mine, his chest moving up and down rapidly, like he was having trouble breathing. “Doesn’t sound like something my dad would do.”
What had they done to him? Had they used chloroform on him too? Was he having a reaction to it?
Or had Matty put up one hell of a fight, and he had a broken rib or a punctured lung even?
All kinds of scenarios raced through my head, and I tried to gather as much information that I could remember on treating either.
Like my brother, I was a certified genius, though Matty’s I.Q. was higher than mine. Unlike my brother, I did not have a nearly photographic memory. While Matty retained nearly every word he read, I only retained information I cared about or interested me. If I didn’t like a subject, or found it boring, I couldn’t be bothered with it. And neither could my brain.
While I wasn’t interested in medicine, I was interested in extreme sports, where injuries were a given. I had a workingknowledge of first aid.
“I’m very sure,” Snake Eyes–that’s what I had decided to call him–inhaled sharply, then let the air in his lungs out noisily, clearly trying to keep a grip of his temper. “Imagine my good fortune when I happened to spot his doppelganger in Heathrow Airport a few weeks ago.”
Flexing my fingers, I gauged the strength of our bindings without letting it be known that I was conscious. They were snug, with barely any pull to them. Not helpful, but I might be able to eventually work one hand free. One hand was all I needed.
“They say everyone has a twin.” I didn’t have to see Matty’s face to know his lips were tilted up in a crooked smirk.
“Or a lookalike son,” Snake Eyes sneered. “It was very easy to change my flight and board yours. I watched you the entire flight, hardly believing my good fortune. I was finally, finally going to exact my revenge. Then I watched, and waited, planning every detail. I couldn’t bring my men with me, they would have drawn too much attention. What good fortune I had finding a den of rattlers who will do just about anything if the price is right. They did all the dirty work for me, guaranteeing I wouldn’t be spotted. Watching you, watching your fathers, watching your younger brother. Learning your habits. They were quite helpful and informative.”
“Ahhh,” Matty drug the word out and I noticed he was putting more of an American accent into his words now. “Let me get this straight. You think I–we, because I assume the person I’m tied to is my brother–are the sons of the man who killed your father? And you kidnapped us for what? Some kind of revenge plot? Ransom? I mean, we are pretty rich, so that tracks. You wouldn’t even need to add in this whole‘You killed my father’schtick to collect some serious cash.” Matty shook his head, the movement jostling me. “This isn’tThe Princess Bride. Dude…you watch too much television. Our dad owns a kink club. Has for over twenty-five years now. He’s probably into a whole lotta things I don’t want to know about–you caught the kink club thing, right?–but he’s not a killer.”
Matty put so much skepticism in his voice, even I almost believed him, and I knew better.
“You don’t know your father very well,” the man replied, sounding more in control than he had a few moments ago. “He used to work for your government, and he murdered my father. My grandfather was locked in prison for the rest of his life because of your father.”
“Yeah, I think you’ve got the wrong guy,” Matty laughed, sounding unconvinced. “Let me repeat; our alpha dad owns a club, and our omega dad is a children’s book author. Pretty boring stuff. Well, I mean the kink club isn’t, but honestly, Dad hired a manager years ago and doesn’t spend much time there. And between you and me, I wouldn’t mind checking it out, but who wants their dad seeing them being well…all kinky and shit. Ick. But sounds like maybe your family weren’t the best sorta people. You really want to continue in their footsteps?”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough exactly what kind of man your father is, won’t we.” Snake Eyes moved to the doorway, and through my barely opened eyes I saw him take a key out and use it in the lock.
“Ah,” he hissed, moving to stand in front of me, “you’re awake.”
Grabbing me by my hair, he forced my head up to stare me in the eyes.
“Such defiance this one has in his pretty eyes.” Still holding me by my hair, he traced a finger from his other hand down my cheek, almost caressing me. “Your brother is going to die a slow, painful death. I’ll let you watch as I kill your father, and then I’m going to sell you to the highest bidder.”
Matty rattled his chair, shaking it and pulling on my arms. “Don’t touch him!”
Snake Eyes smiled, though it was cold and menacing. “Yes, please, keep moving around like that. It will make the venom travel to your bloodstream much quicker.”
“I will kill you before that ever happens,” I spat out.
The man, unperturbed by Matty’s outburst, laughed, moving close to my ear. His free hand pushed against my softlyrounded belly and I felt sick. I wanted to get away from him, from his touch on me, on my child, but I had nowhere to go.
