Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“They had eyes on you all the time,” Harlow guessed.
“Yes.” Shabina inclined her head. “We moved every few days, and it wasn’t like before with Salman Ahmad and his tribe. This was only a small group of Scorpion’s paid soldiers.”
“Do you think those men knew Scorpion’s true identity?” Raine asked.
Shabina shook her head. “I know the majority didn’t. He always wore a mask. He had the seven men he referred to as his cabinet members who may have known. They stuck close together, and those men also wore masks. Sometimes I would hear them speak in French to one another. If Scorpion was present, he would always shut that down.”
“I’m sorry I interrupted,” Raine said. “Please continue.”
“They’d throw tents together, and that’s where we’d stay and then move on. That morning, Iyad had taken me for a walk, and Scorpion arrived with no warning. He was really angry. That meant he was at his most dangerous. Even his men were afraid of him when he was like that. He began shouting and cursing at everyone. Something had gone wrong with the money transfer. Unfortunately, at that very moment, the doves took their opportunity to chime in, and it did sound very much like human laughter. I must have smiled. I was so disciplined by that time and always kept my head down and eyes averted from Scorpion, but he must have seen me.”
Her heart accelerated, remembering that moment. It felt as if time stood still. She knew Scorpion would beat her to death. He was more than capable in his blackest moods, and there was no doubt that he was in one of his killing frenzies. She had lifted her chin, determined to goad him into doing it, killing her. Getting it over with. She’d had enough. She was already weak and felt hopeless. Her body was worn out and so was her mind.
Her guard, Iyad, had instantly recognized the danger she was in and what she planned to do. Maybe all the men had. It was that silent. Only the wind blew and the sand swirled lightly around them. Iyad yanked her around to face him, slapped her face, and forced her to the ground, yelling at her to kneel before the sheik. He began to viciously whip her back, over and over, all the while cursing and admonishing her to respect Scorpion. Instantly, in one of his infamous mercurial moods, Scorpion stopped Iyad from beating her and said he knew a better way to teach her manners.
Just uttering those words sent that same sinister chill down her spine. Shabina couldn’t help looking out her windows again. Was he out there watching her right at that moment? Watching her friends? He couldn’t see into her home. She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest.
“To make a long story short, that night, he had several laughing doves killed in front of me and cooked for my dinner. When I refused to eat, he decreed I couldn’t eat anything until I’d eaten what he’d put in front of me. Little did he know he’d given me the perfect out.”
No one could be more stubborn or more disciplined than Shabina when she made up her mind to something. If starving was the only way to escape Scorpion, she would take it gladly. She knew it wouldn’t take long. These men had abused her to the point her body had few reserves left.
“How did you survive?” Vienna asked when she fell silent again.
Shabina had presented her case regarding the laughing birds’ feathers and their connection to her. She didn’t see how anyone would call finding them on her doorstep a coincidence. She hadn’t planned to continue talking about her time with Scorpion.
She sighed. “When it was clear I was going to die and no threat was enough to force me to eat, no beating could induce me to eat, and nothing he did or said worked, in the end, he turned his wrath on my guards. He threatened that if I died, he would give them a slow death, not only them but their families as well. Two of the four guards assigned to watch me day and night had been decent. In a camp that size, two wasn’t many, but they were good men just doing their best to stay alive. Both had risked their lives several times to give me small respites from pain or to give me encouragement. I knew Scorpion meant what he said. He would have taken great pleasure in hurting them, although they’d served him well. I felt I had to live for their sake.”
Shabina was done reliving her past. She forced her gaze to meet Raine’s. “I don’t know why those two men claiming to be from France are here, but I think he sent them. I know he’s still alive because I would have been informed if he had been killed.”