Corin Campbell couldn’t decide if her adrenaline levels, increased heart rate, and rapid breathing were lessening or multiplying the effects of the drug. All she knew was that her world had become like a stone skipping over water, ever closer to going under.
She was a protector; that was the way she was built. She needed to do something. A man was about to lose his life. But her body wouldn’t cooperate.
Her gaze traveled from screen to screen and then over to Dr. Derrick, who sat in front of the looking glass, a sadistic little smile across his face.
She had to do something. She forced her arms to move, to grab the rails and propel the wheelchair toward Derrick. Forcing herself forward a few feet felt like climbing Mount Everest. Finally, she bumped into the back of Derrick’s chair, but he merely turned back and winked.
“This is the best part,” he said.
“Please,” she whimpered. “Spare this man. You have the power to show him mercy. You’re our universal ruler. Do it for me. I can make it worth your while.”
“And how would you do that? What could you give me that I don’t already possess?”
“I could start being a good wife to you.”
Corin glanced over her shoulder at Sonnequa, whose face was curled up in a hateful snarl, and then her gaze returned to Derrick. She said, “I could be your number one wife. Your First Lady. Your Empress.”
“I’m fully aware of your potential, my dear, but I still don’t see how letting this man live helps you realize that destiny.”
“Consider it a wedding gift to me.”
With a wistful and almost compassionate expression, Derrick paused and seemed to consider her offer. Then, turning to his brother beyond the viewing glass, Dr. Derrick Gladstone, like a tyrant of old, held out his arm with the thumb pointing down.
The giant in the mask nodded and walked past the salivating but patient canines.
Corin said, “Please, Derrick. Please, you can save that man.”
“Yes, I could, darling. But this is business. Our clients have paid a lot of money to see a show. I can’t simply pull the plug. Especially not when the Diamond Room’s big finale is coming up tomorrow night.” Rotating his chair toward Sonnequa, Derrick said, “Turn on the red lights, and ring the dinner bell. The boys have earned their supper.”
“No!”
Ignoring her, Derrick turned back to the glass, waiting for the show.
With a reverent nod, Sonnequa touched the surface of her iPad. A distinct buzzer sounded, and all the lights in the Diamond Room changed to a nightmarish shade of red. The hellhounds came alive, flowing toward the center of the room like a tidal wave of sinew and teeth.
Corin closed her eyes against the tears. She didn’t want to see what was about to happen. Unfortunately, covering her ears wasn’t enough to block out the snarling and the screams of torment.
Over her own sobbing, she heard Derrick say, with a gleeful edge to his voice, “Dogs are actually red-green colorblind, so the hellhounds can’t perceive the change in the color of the lights. But I think it adds something, and the viewers love it.”