Darkness Taunts (27 page)

I went crashing to the ground as he wrapped his arms around my body. My wrist cracked hard upon impact. I screamed and tried to roll off of it, but couldn’t get enough leverage. The guy had me pinned down. Tears of pain streamed down my cheeks as more men moved in to hold my flailing legs.

“Get the tranquilizer,” I heard Jerome call out.

A set of black boots stepped into my vision. The man sitting astride my back grabbed my good arm and laid it out straight. I felt the sharp prick of a needle at it was stabbed into it. Curses flew from my lips. Someone gripped my head and ground my cheek into the cement, shutting me up.

My breath came out shallow and fast as I lay there. No one seemed inclined to move off of me. My wrist hurt, but worse than that was the blackened shell of Lucas’ body across the parking lot. He wasn’t moving anymore, though I could still sense his pain coming from somewhere deep inside that mess. I blinked my eyes against the tears, knowing I couldn’t help him. The fight went out of my body with each passing moment as the tranquilizer took hold.

“He’ll kill you all for this,” I mumbled.

“By the looks of him, he’ll be out for at least a day,” Jerome said from somewhere above me. “We’ll have you well hidden by the time he wakes up.”

I couldn’t reply. The darkness came and took me away.

Of all the types of magic I’d sensed in my life, the one thing I’d never come across was someone who could become intangible. Charlie could turn into mist, but you could still see the moisture in the air. It wasn’t the same thing as being invisible and untouchable. I’d have traded every one of my sensor abilities in that moment for the chance to become nothing. Nothing anyone could hurt or take captive.

My eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times against the bright overhead light. I turned my head to follow my shoulder up to my right arm. It was strung up above my head with an IV attached to it. I looked down to find I still wore my dress, but my boots were gone and my ankles were bound together.

They’d taken one end of the rope and attached it to something past the edge of the bed. Maybe the frame underneath. It pulled taut when I lifted my feet a few inches. My left arm rested on my stomach with my wrist splinted. Pain radiated from it, but I suspected the drugs running through my system kept it from being worse. I had to turn my face away when I realized it was bent at an irregular angle. It needed to be set.

I forced myself to focus on my surroundings. Things seemed to blur the farther away I looked, but with effort I could make them out. The ordinary bedroom they’d put me in didn’t have anything in it except the full size bed I lay on, a wooden nightstand, and a folding chair. There was a window across the room, but the heavy red curtains covering it kept me from seeing outside. Only the slight glow of light at the edges let me know it must have been daytime. Where had they taken me? Why hadn’t Lucas come for me yet?

Then the memories came flooding back. Images of him burning up in the flames and me trying to save him. I’d failed. He’d fallen to the ground, writhing back and forth until nothing had been left but a charred carcass. My throat closed up and a heavy weight pushed down on my chest. My breath came in short bursts. He couldn’t be dead. I had to believe that, but I didn’t know how he could have survived it either.

What if he still lay there with no one to help him? I yanked at the rope binding my right arm, but couldn’t get it loose. A scream almost escaped my lips when I tried to lift my broken wrist to grasp the knot. Even moving it hurt. They’d left it free knowing it wouldn’t be of any use to me. I took several calming breaths. They couldn’t keep me like this forever. I’d get free and God help them when I did.

The sound of the doorknob turning drew my attention. Elden walked into the room and shut the door behind him. He moved to stand next to the bed. His eyes lingered on my splinted arm and sympathy filled his gaze. “Sorry about your wrist,” he said. “Our medic looked it over, but he was afraid to set it without seeing x-rays first.”

I turned my head and stared at the wall. He was the only sensor who hadn’t been there last night, but that didn’t absolve him of guilt. I had nothing to say to him.

“Melena, we had to take you,” his voice came out pleading. “The supernaturals were influencing you—forcing you to do things for them. This was the only way we could save you.”

I closed my eyes and tuned him out. It wasn’t hard to do with the drugs. He talked for a while more, but it didn’t sound like anything except an annoying buzz in my ears. I drifted to that place between waking and sleep. At some point he must have left because I woke up in the dark alone. My mind felt clearer than before, but I had another problem.

My bladder was full—too full to hold much longer. Minutes ticked by until I resigned myself to two choices. Pee on myself or ask for help.

“Hey,” I managed to croak out. The IV kept me hydrated, but my mouth felt like it’d been filled with cotton. I cleared my throat and called out louder. “Hey!”

Someone came in the room. The light almost blinded me when he turned it on. I eventually recovered enough to find him hovering over me with his arms crossed. He had shaved dark hair and a medium build. I remembered him standing next to Jerome in the parking lot the night before. In another life I might have considered him handsome, but not now.

“What do you want?” he asked. The smile on his face made me think he was enjoying himself.

I gritted my teeth. Now was not the time to annoy my captors. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Are you going to be a good girl and go without a fight?”

Deep breath. “Yes.”

“Promise not to try and escape.” He gave me a pointed look as if he doubted I could agree to that. “Because the only thing you’ll be pissing in is a baking pan I’ll slide under your ass if you make one wrong move.”

I probably wasn’t in the best shape to make a break for it anyway. The drugs were still in my system, if not as bad as before, but I doubted I could put up much of a fight yet. I could honestly promise not to run—this time.

“Fine,” I said. “I won’t try and escape.”

He reached for my ankles and freed them. I rotated them around in an effort to get the feeling back. He limped to the other end of the bed. This must have been the guy I kicked in the knee the night before. It’d been a solid hit. I watched as he worked at the knot binding my arm. He clucked his tongue when he loosened the rope enough to see the chaffing where I’d had my brief struggle with it.

“I suppose,” he said, “I’d have been disappointed if you hadn’t at least tried to get away. You put up a good fight last night. Where did you get your training?”

“I’m an army of one.” I couldn’t resist mocking the old army commercial.

He snorted. “Yeah, right.”

The rope fell away from my wrist. I struggled to get up one-handed and groaned when I inadvertently put weight on the other one. Damn, I felt like an invalid. It took a little more maneuvering to get my legs over the edge of the bed. The dark hair guy stood there not even trying to help. Amusement glittered in his blue eyes.

I stood up only to fall back on the mattress again. A wave of dizziness hit me and it took a moment for it to pass. I eyed the IV still stuck in my arm. “Is that really necessary?”

He shrugged. “It makes it easier for me to administer the drugs for your wrist and keep you hydrated.”

“What kind of medical training do you have?” With my luck, he had no idea what he was doing and I’d end up paying for it.

“I’m a licensed physician’s assistant.”

Better than I thought, though I’d have preferred a hospital to fix me up—or a vampire.

I tried standing up again and managed to stay on my feet. One halting step at a time I walked with the dark haired guy as he led me out of the room, holding the IV bag for me. We didn’t go far. The bathroom was directly across the hall.

My captor followed me inside and shut the door. I glared at him. “I said I wouldn’t try to escape.”

“I’m not leaving you alone on my watch.” He nodded at the small window over the bathtub. “You could always change your mind and then I’d be stuck trying to repair more injuries after you tried to go through that. Besides, someone has to hold this.” He held up the bag I’d almost forgotten about. At least it had a long reach. A pole to hang it on would have been better.

I stood there for a moment shifting from foot to foot. The set of his jaw said he wouldn’t leave. I was wearing a dress with no underwear on so at least he wouldn’t see much. Grasping the sink counter, I lowered myself onto the toilet and yanked the back of the skirt out from underneath me. It took a minute to relax, but at least the guy had the decency to look the other way.

Once finished, I moved over to the sink and sort of washed my hand. It was trickier than I anticipated with the other one out of commission. Someone had already washed the blood off where I’d slashed my wrist the night before so at least I didn’t have to worry about that. The fact they’d done it while I was unconscious bothered me, though.

After finishing, he led me back to the bedroom, catching me both times when I started to fall. My legs didn’t seem to want to cooperate anymore since the urgency from my bladder had been taken care of.

I stopped at the bed and stared at the wrinkled white sheets. The guy nudged me in the shoulder until I relented and crawled onto the mattress. He grabbed the rope connected to the headboard and wrapped it around my wrist. It galled me to lie there and let him do it, but I had no energy left to fight him. I stared up at the ceiling wishing I was somewhere else.

He stepped out of the room, leaving the door open, and came back with what looked like a medical bag. My lips thinned when he pulled out a syringe and stuck it in a bottle of clear liquid, drawing it out.

“This will help you sleep,” he said, shooting it into my IV line.

I had to fight tears as the drug coursed through my veins. It was putting my body into the same lethargic state it had been in before. I’d hoped to get clearheaded enough to work out an escape plan. Now I wouldn’t even be awake to try. If they kept me drugged all the time I might never get free.

Captivity with Variola had been awful. She’d had her men beat me within an inch of my life, but somehow this bothered me more. You expected evil from vampires, but not from guys who should have been on your side.

~~~

Someone slapped me. I gasped and opened my eyes. Jerome sat on the side of the bed with a hard look on his face.

“Alright you little nephilim whore, time to start talking,” he growled out. “Tell me where you’re really from.”

I set my jaw. That was about the last way he’d get me to talk. How did he know I wasn’t from here anyway?

“Gonna be like that is it? I ain’t got no problem giving a little incentive to help you loosen your lips.” He grabbed my wounded arm and jerked it up.

I cried out before biting my lip. No amount of pain would get me to admit to living in Fairbanks. He’d find Emily and I would not let her fall into the hands of these people.

“We found your purse in that vermin’s car,” he spit out. “Your driver’s license is for California. What were you really doing up here?”

I tried to keep the relief from showing in my eyes. They say procrastination is a bad thing, but because of it I hadn’t gotten around to updating my driver’s license to Alaska. There’d been nothing in my purse that could tie me back to Fairbanks since I’d only put my ID and a credit card in there. Working off my old California tale, I could tell some truths without giving away the most important parts.

“I was asked to come here to help with the demon problem,” I admitted.

Jerome narrowed his eyes. “Elden said a female sensor helped raise you. Didn’t she tell you to stay away from them?”

“Sure,” I said. “But they killed her and they’ve been holding me captive for awhile now.”

Luckily, I had a lot of history to use if I didn’t get too detailed. Maybe I could even get some sympathy if I played my cards right. Not that I really wanted it from a man who would slap me awake. Bastard.

“I had my medic check you over while you slept,” he said. “He’s positive you’ve been sexually active, and by the way you acted the other night I’d say it was with the nephilim. Care to explain that?”

My eyes widened and I looked down my dress. Oh God, did they do something to me while I was knocked out? Nothing felt off, but Lucas had been rough when we were together. I couldn’t tell if the slight ache I felt came from him or someone else. If not for the drugs and my broken wrist, I might have paid more attention the last time I was awake.

“What have you people done to me?” I asked, barely keeping from shouting.

His grip on my arm tightened, making me wince, but I kept glaring at him with the full brunt of my anger.

“What?” he spit out. “Does the little whore think she’s too good for her own kind? Don’t worry. I ain’t gonna let any of my guys fuck you until I’m sure that nephilim didn’t get you pregnant. We gave you something to help with that, but those things aren’t full proof.”

His name calling was starting to piss me off. “I’m not a whore and your guys aren’t
ever
touching me.”

“Oh, they will. Just not before we can make sure any baby you’re carrying ain’t from some nephilim filth.”

Why was he so stuck on that idea? “Nephilim can’t have children.”

He shook his head. “They can’t get humans pregnant, but we’re exempt from their little curse. Didn’t he tell you that?”

“No,” I said. That might explain why he used a condom. I wished I’d had time to ask him about it.

“You really are naïve if you don’t know,” he said, letting go of my arm. “There’s an old story in one of our books that’s been passed down for generations. It talks about a nephilim getting a sensor pregnant. They found the woman alone after she gave birth to the child. The father and the baby had disappeared never to return. She refused to talk about it, but it ain’t hard to figure out. He was just using her to get the child.”

I lay there not knowing what to say. Would Lucas do that to me? He’d never said anything about the possibility of getting me pregnant, but he had to have known. At the same time, Jerome wouldn’t have told me the story unless he believed it.