“A nice little whip,” I echoed. He sounded like Jared.
“You ever killed someone, sweetness?” His tone made it clear that he was expecting the answer ‘no’.
“Yes,” I answered honestly and with no guilt. They’d all had it coming – especially the bastards who kidnapped the little kids to sell as vessels, or even as consorts to those who were sick in the head. I hadn’t liked Victor making me an assassin, but one thing I could say for him was that he never gave me a mark that was innocent.
Dawson quickly rephrased, “You ever killed them purposely?”
“Yes.”
“How did that make you feel to kill in cold blood?” He clearly wasn’t happy about my answers so far.
“With all that adrenalin pumping away, I felt great.”
They were a few muffled giggles. Some were from Jared, Evan, and Sebastian, I noticed.
“Ever led a squad before?” he asked, grimacing.
“Yes.”
“Are you saying you -”
I growled. “God, give me strength,” I begged as I looked upwards. “I’m bored with Question Time now, Dickson.”
“It’s Dawson.”
“I know.”
I heard Antonio mutter to Luther in amusement and approval, “She brings life to these meetings, doesn’t she?”
I returned Dawson’s scowl as I continued, “Let’s save us both some time. I was the Chief Assassin for my Sire and I went on a hell of a lot of assignments – some on my own, some with a squad of eight. I always got my target, and I always brought all eight back.”
Sebastian nodded, huffing at Dawson.
“Then I assume Commander Dawson’s concerns are now addressed,” said Antonio. Dawson, a little sheepish now, nodded. Antonio then included everyone as he said, “I agree with Sam that we should capitalize on our knowledge of the surrounding area and attack Bennington’s force before they have a chance to attack us. I trust that you can decide amongst yourselves which squads should concentrate on defending the walls and which should be positioned within the rainforest. I give permission for squads to leave the Hollow walls to train within the forests. That will be all. Thank you.”
Nero gave my hand a slobbery lick which almost seemed like a goodbye gesture as I rose from seat.
“What a flirt,” Evan said jokingly, referring to Nero, as he also rose.
“Well you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” Jared was glaring at Evan again in that weird way.
“Hey, don’t forget to leave the personal files of the recruits on my desk,” I told Jared.
“Sure,” he replied, walking speedily out of the room. I gave Evan a questioning look.
Evan shrugged at his brother’s behaviour. “He never was quite right upstairs.”
“Commander Parker? Sorry, Sam?” said Antonio. “Could you spare a moment?”
“Yeah, course.” I gave Evan a farewell smile, which he returned.
Once the room was empty, Antonio began, “I do not believe you have formally met my Advisor, Luther.”
Luther’s handshake was gentle. “It is a pleasure to meet you at last.” The soft bugger shook the hand that was covered in Nero’s slobber. He wasn’t too pleased about that and wiped it on his grey trousers.
What he had said suddenly sunk in. A pleasure to meet me at last? I hadn’t even been here for seventy-two hours yet. Not really knowing what to say to that, I replied simply, “And you.” His smile seemed to indicate that he had picked up on my confusion.
Antonio’s spoke again, “Sam, as you know, Luther’s gift is precognition. He sporadically has visions. Whenever I appoint someone to have a high position within The Hollow, I offer them a glimpse of their own future. This helps them with either avoiding something or working towards it, which in turn is good for The Hollow.”
“A glimpse of my future?”
“Part of Luther’s gift is that he can allow another person to have a vision of their own merely through touch. He would not see your vision, only you would. And you would not be obliged to reveal anything of what you see. It can be for you and you alone to know.”
Luther quickly said, “Many have decided that they do not wish to know anything of their future. Some believe that having the vision is what causes the event. I cannot comment on that as I do not know for certain. But most of my visions do come true.”
Antonio placed a hand on my shoulder. “It is your choice, Sam.” He said it like a question.
“What kind of vision would it be? I mean, will it be a positive one or a negative one? I don’t want to see my own death, but if I’m going to win the lotto that would be interesting to know.”
Luther smiled, shrugging. “There is no way of knowing.”
Not a great answer. “When you say ‘a glimpse of the future’, do you mean my future or the future itself? I’d rather not see other people’s future, it’d feel like spying or something.”
“The vision may indeed contain other people, but only if they are interlinked with that time in your future.”
“Are the visions clear or more like brief flashing images? I don’t see much point in getting a glimpse if it’s going to be like looking through fog.”
“Sometimes they are very clear, sometimes clear enough, and other times they are so vague that I will be awake all day trying to decipher what I saw.”
Not what I was hoping to hear. “Are we talking near future or really distant future?”
Luther giggled again. “Do you know, Sam, that not one person has ever considered this offer so deeply. You have asked some very wise questions. To answer your last question, I have no way of knowing. I cannot control the content of the visions, I can only guarantee that it will concern your own future.”
One side of me was wondering what the hell I was waiting for – a vision would be brilliant. But another side of me was thinking that things were weird enough right now without throwing something else into the mix. Luther had said that they were not always very clear. I never liked puzzles. Eventually curiosity won over. “Alright, what do I have to do?”
Luther offered me his hand. “It is very simple. You need only hold onto my hand until the vision is over. They are not very long. Thirty seconds has been the longest I’ve ever experienced.”
Nodding, I took his hand. The vision didn’t waste any time coming at me, it was like being sucked into a vacuum and for a moment all I saw was darkness. Then, as if a light had suddenly been switched on, my eyesight was clear.
I wasn’t in that room anymore with Antonio and Luther. I was in a rainforest, alone and yet not. I felt different inside. Like I was...squashed, maybe. But at the same time I felt stronger, so much stronger, so unbelievably powerful, and more alive than I had ever felt. Every nerve ending was buzzing. And in the strangest way I also felt complete and sure of something. I was looking at my hands. They both looked different – bigger, even. In fact, my entire body seemed different. Stockier. Taller. A voice in my head screamed, Sam no!
And then I was back.
I heaved in a breath, treble-blinking with the feeling of being spat out of something. I half expected to find myself on the floor flat on my back, but as much as I felt as though I had done a round trip into outer space, my body had stayed right where it was. I released Luther’s hand and took a second to centre myself.
“Sam? How do you feel?” Antonio searched my eyes. “Dizzy at all?”
“Baffled beyond belief.”
Luther sighed. “Yes...I can sympathise.”
“You really didn’t see what I saw?” I asked him.
“No. Remember that you need not share the vision with anyone unless you wish to.”
“I don’t think I could even if I wanted to,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck which seemed to have a crick in it.