It had taken some doing, getting Robert to come here. The man had grown increasingly paranoid over the last year, moreso than usual, if that were even possible. Even Adrienne, his most trusted and loyal soldier, found herself falling out of favor with him whenever he was in a mood.
The last time she found their fearless leader in a mood, his retaliation had left an angry red mark on the side of her face from the force of the curse rebounded. It had faded considerably, but Adrienne could still feel it. She nursed it like a wounded animal with a grudge. She'd decided right then that would be the last time he took out his fury on her.
After everything she'd done. The Resistance had lost its way, and instead of bringing them to heel, Robert had allowed them to flap in the wind like a loose sail, with nothing to tie them down. Enough. In the end, even the one man (though he was hardly a man) that Bellatrix Lestrange held complete faith in, even he had found a way to disappoint them.
In the end, she'd appealed to his base ego. Men were so easily led by them, even the more powerful ones. 'This man in Vegas has considerable resources, but he wants to pledge his allegiance to you in person. Won't you come?' As they rode the elevator all the way to the top in tense silence, Adrienne should have been contemplating the gravity of her decision, but she hardly gave it a moment's thought. There was no going back. She was Judas, knowingly leading her master to the slaughter.
The elevator dinged open, and the pair made their way down the long hallway that opened up into the main suite, Robert crossing the threshold first with Adrienne trailing dutifully behind. When her eyes fixed on him finally, her heart rate sped up and she had to bite down on the impulse to run to him, feeling like a girl at prayer. The Dark Man from her dreams, whose ideas had captured her heart and soul in a way that not even Bellatrix's Dark Lord ever had. So many dark men in their lives, but there was no one as dark as him, and looking on him now she felt what she had many times before in her sleep.
The darkness inside herself stirred.
"May I introduce Robert Kingsley, leader of the Resistance," Adrienne breathed, the barest hint of an Irish lilt. Robert, who thought the reverence in her voice was still for him only, flashed her a patronizing look before moving further into the room. Adrienne briefly glared daggers behind him. "Thank you for the introduction, Adrienne," the pale faced snake of a man spoke, his words trailing off into something that resembled a low hiss as he regarded the only other man in the room. "And you are?"
Strange, Adrienne thought. Strange that her entire world had been turned upside down by him and she still didn't even know his name.