Then she sits down and waits for me to do the same.
Suspicious, I sit as she expects and rest my hands on the bottle, too cold for London’s weather, but pleasant enough to ease the pain in my hands, which I am now beginning to feel, after the effect of adrenaline has passed and the hatred has eased.
“Do you know how to keep secrets, Valentina?” she begins.
I stand up, startled, but Elinor keeps her serene expression, like someone waiting for five o’clock tea to be served in a dark, gloomy storage room. I swallow hard at my teacher’s senseless question, her clever eyes scrutinizing my soul as she waits for answers.
“What is happening?” I ask.
“Valentina, let us be objective, all right?”
“I do not know what you are doing, or where you are going with this. First, what is this place?”
“
