Chapter Two
Bargain With the Phantom
Trinity gently pushed him away from her shoulder. He had enough injuries without her shoving him to the hard flooring.
"I am not positive where we are. I can almost say with certainty that we are in the very bottom of some ship. From what I heard they plan to use you on the ship. If you work out they may keep you. If not there is always slave trade or Davy Jones' locker. As for what their plans are for me that information is being closely guarded at the moment."
"I did not ask for a long narrative. A simple sentence was all I needed."
He may be a handsome devil and right now he is definitely surly. Well considering he had to be in a lot of pain he might be forgiven his testiness. For now anyway.
"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine?"
All she got in response was a grunt. At that moment he sounded more pig than man. Hopefully his disposition would improve when his pain lessoned. That unfrotunately could be days.
"How often do they come to check the hold?"
"I have no idea. When they brought you down that is the first I saw of anyone since they tossed me in here. I know there are others but I can't see anyone. No one answers when I call out. I guess they have their own problems.
God will the woman never shut up? His head was pounding as if several sledgehammers were banging away inside his skull. Nothhing had gone the way I planned. I never thought I would have to actually cut the rope and drop the chandelier. I had thought Christine would be mine. When she sang the words I wrote she sang them to me. She looked at me. Saw only me. The passion was in her eyes. I did not imagine that. When I held her against me I felt her tremble. The heat in her eyes proved it was not all from fear. I still find it hard to believe my Angel, my Christine would betray me in that way. Did she not see the guns held by the gendarmes? To keep the pain from killing me I convinced myself she could not have known how desperate they were to capture or kill me. I had to believe she just thought they would take me into custody and hold me until trial. She could not have gone through with this kowing it could end in my death. Not my beautiful Chrisiten. Me heart. My love.
If she had not weakened me in the end with her kisses she would be with me. I would not have sent her away with that confounded boy. We could be on my estate I bought for her and I to share. In my arrogance I had let myself believe she saw the man I am not the monster who looks back from my mirror. My need for someone had driven me to the point of insanity.
Shaking these thoughts from his mind he concentrated on what he remembered after leaving the burning opera house.
He had spent the night of the fire in an alley a couple of blocks from the opera house. Last night he had gone into a tavern to purchase a meal and drink. The proprietor looked quite unsavory. With all Paris looking for him who was he to pass judgment?
He should have paid more attention to the whispers and secretive looks from the proprietor who served his meal and a table of men looking at him. The one who looked to be the leader of the band of men whispered something in the man's ear nodding his head in his direction.
If he had not been thinking of his broken heart he would never have trusted that slimy man when he offered to fill his glass at no charge. When had he ever been given anything other than the whip on his back or the the back of someon's hand? He now realized the drink had been laced with some type of drug.
He remembered his head seeming to whirl and the room beginning to spin. He saw the men coming toward him. He had stumbled to his feet and fought as hard as he could but there were too many of them and he was at a disadvantage. The last thing he remembered was a powerful blow to the back of his head.
The next thing he knew he was being thrown onto the floor hitting not hard floorboards as he expected but a very soft shoulder instead.
Her flowery perfume still clung to the inner lining of his nose giving him a faint scent of her with each breath. She smelled like what he imagined a flower garden would smell like when in full bloom in the spring and summer. It was a soothing scent. Perhaps if his head did not feel as if half a dozen mules had kicked him he might have had amorous visions.
Glancing quickly around he saw no one in close proximity to them. He always carried a knife in his boot as many men did. He unlike others also carried a lock pick set. Small little instruments he used to gain access to the shops when Antoinette Giry could not run his errands. It had been useful in the last few months as he needed his privacy to prepare things for Christine. Her dress he had taken from a bridal shop. Naturally it was not to his expectations so he had altered it to suit him. He knew it would look beautiful on her.
Thinking of her threatened to put him under. He needed his wits in order to escape. It would have been better if he were alone. If he was to escape he had no choice but to bring the magpie with him.
In the back of his mind he knew he was being cruel in his thoughts of her. His pain and humiliation being too fresh to dull the ache he could not be lenient with others. He sure as hell had never had any leniency given to him in his entire life. Every day was a struggle just to survive. A struggle to claim his place among humanity that had wanted no part of him.
Pulling his foot toward him he stuck his hand in his boot to retrieve his kit. The small pouch was only about three inches from top to bottom and side to side. Small enough to hide and also big enough to carry what he needed.
He had learned long ago in his travels it paid to have his picks close at hand. To many intolerant ignorant people wanted to cage him. The worst had been the damn Gypsies that had caged him for three long torturous years from the time he was seven until a young Antoinette had helped him escape after he had strangled his keeper Javart.
Persia had reinforced that lesson again after the demon woman who tried to steal his worthless soul and imprisoned him in her dungeon torturing him with the threat of execution daily. That maniacal woman did not know that he would have welcomed death. He had courted the Grime Reaper for most of his life begging for him to end this hell God placed him in. Half a face did not endear him to anyone other than as a curiosity. An odd freak of nature.
Nadir had helped him after he had released himself from his chains. A long torturous journey in the hold of a ship had taken him to France. He had not left his hidden little area behind the tons of items heading for other countries. He had stayed holed up until he had heard his first words spoken in French in two years.
Now he must escape capture again. He had never had a traveling companion nor did he wish to have one now. After they were safely away he could always hit her on the head and leave her at a church. That would be more desirable than what the traders in flesh had in mind. She would be some man's pleasure until he tired of her or she grew too old to please her master. He had seen too much of that in Persia.
Of course Persia was not the only country clamoring for light skinned women. Even in France there were places one could purchase a woman. Each time Erik had been tempted to relieve his tortured body with feminine flesh something always held him back. His only source of release had been his own hand. Shamefully he had committed that act more frequently than he would like. It only proved that his body had the desires of man even if his face convinced everyone he was a demon. The Devils' Child as the Gypsies had liked to call him.
His mother had many names she called him. None he cared to repeat even in his own mind. He was known as The Phantom of the Opera or The Opera Ghost at The Paris Opera House. The employees of that establishment had many names for him. None of those bore repeating either.
"If I can get out these chains can you be quiet?"
"If you get me out of here I'll stuff my stocking in my mouth if it pleases you."
He went to work on his locks. Her whispered words stilled his hands.
"Me first. Haven't you heard it's ladies first? Not that I don't trust you but we have not really been acquainted long enough for that amount of trust. How do I know you won't release yourself then leave me here to rot?"
"Because I give you my word. My word as a gentleman."
"I'm sorry but that's just not good enough. I have known gentlemen who would slit the throat of there own mother if there were a profit to be made. You must forgive me if I don't wish to put all my faith in your word. A complete stranger."
"Who will stop me from releasing myself then just leave you to your own devices? It is not as if there were anyone to hear you bellow down here."
"I do not bellow. Besides if you do not release me first I shall not give you back your knife or the purse with your money."
She showed him the knife and tossed the little pouch containing his emergency funds in the palm of her hand. He lunged forward to grab the items. The little thief tossed them behind her. He shoved her down and stretched out along her body trying to reach them but his chains kept him just bare inches from his prize. The vulgar little tart had the nerve to laugh. Obviously she did not know who she taunted.
Another realization took precedence over his lost items. His body lay on top of her much softer one. He became aware of the differences between his body and hers. He was also acutely aware of how well they fit together.
His traitorous body reacted to her feminine curves and sweet fragrance without any real thought from him as he scrambled back so fast she more than likely believed he saw a rat or a snake close by. He prayed she had not noticed the aroused state he was in. He desperately hoped she had not felt him harden against her.
Damn if he hadn't spent the last year in a constant state of arousal over Christine. God that young woman had crawled into his heart, mind and soul leaving nothing unclaimed by her.
Erik was glad of the lack of light. His face was burning. He could not ever remember in all his life when he had been embarrassed. Hurt, angry, insane, enraptured by music, beguiled by the mere thought of Chrisitne but never embarrassed.
"So do we have a deal? It won't be so bad, promise. I do not bite. Well not until I know you really well and then only if you ask politely. What do I call you anyway? We have not been introduced. My name it Trinity Hardcastle. Yes I know what you are going to say. Are there three of me? No, I have two brothers and my odd mother thought it would be so much fun to saddle me with this curse of a name. The third child forming her triunity."
"At least your mother named you. Mine left it as the obligation of the priest who blessed me. My name is Erik. I have never had need of a last name and my mother never saw fit to enlighten me. I suppose I must give it some thought now that I am no longer employed at the opera house."
Later Trinity would recall his words giving them further thought. For now she was much more intrigued by the new composer. "You worked at The Paris Opera House? Tell me. How did the performance go last night? Was the new composer a success? I do wish I had gone as planned."
"Believe me Mademoiselle Trinity you were lucky not to be in the audience last night. The composer brought the whole damn house down."
He had no wish to fend off questions about his statement. He silenced her with a hard look from his frosty green eyes. It was meant to frighten her. She thought he looked passionately smouldering. Eyes like that could convince a young woman to leave her virtue behind or rather lay it at his feet. Trinity was still a virgin. Not so much by desire to save herself as she had never met anyone she considered worthy of giving that most precious gift to. His body on top of hers had given her quite a few that would have her grandmother rolling over in her grave and her father and brothers boarding her up in her bedroom.
"Enough of your prattle. Give me a few minutes. I can have us out of here in no time. These are simple locks. No challenge at all really."
"You sound almost as if you wished for something more complicated. I for one am grateful for small favors. The sooner we are out of here the better I will feel. What about the others? We can't just leave them here."
"Did I not ask you to stop your prattle? One more word and I will take my chances and to hell with you. We do not have time to release everyone. They could come back at any time. They are rounding up others so they will be coming back."
"I do not prattle. Say that again and I shall hit you as my brothers showed me. Believe me it will hurt you more than me."
With a last assessing glance he returned to the task of releasing their chains. This time tomorrow he would be halfway to his estate. Safe and sound. Nadir would be there waiting for him. Nadir had not been pleased when he heard what Erik had planned. He had huffed and argued eventually giving in and searching for the perfect home for a newly married couple.
A couple would be arriving. Just not the couple Nadir expected and crtainly not what Erik wanted. He could still knock her out and leave her at a church. That option had more appeal than dragging her along with him.
A quick twist this way a turn that way then a click. The chains were unbound. Freedom beckoned.
