Tangled Redemption (2 page)
Read Tangled Redemption Online
Authors: Tina Christopher
Numbers were her safety blanket. A safety blanket she had
worked very hard not to fall back on. It meant she left reality and all its
dangers behind. More than once over the years Tanasha or another friend had to
physically shake her to bring her back to the here and now.
Calatrave’s departure had stopped her from sinking into the
zone completely.
That left her still filled with outrage with nowhere to go. It
went against everything inside her to just let Marissa go. The young woman
wouldn’t be able to stand up against two Ferals for long, no matter how
determined she was.
She met the human’s eyes and realized Marissa knew, but
behind the fear was a look Sydney had seen every day in the mirror since the
day she’d killed her husband. The bone-deep resolution to survive. It gave her
hope. Maybe this human could do the impossible.
She pressed her lips together and tried her internal comp.
No surprise it didn’t work. Either a nanite suppression injection or a
dampening field linked to her. She walked along the perimeter of the room. It
was average sized and the synth-metal walls had no give. Marissa settled into
one of the two uncomfortable-looking chairs. It expanded to accommodate her.
She leaned back with a sigh and closed her eyes. Sydney sank onto the free
chair. It adjusted to her size and turned out to be more relaxing than
expected.
“Where did they get you?” Marissa asked.
Sydney turned to the young woman. “I’d parked my shuttle and
was about to head into downtown Parvati when they came for me.” She grimaced.
“They had to have been tracking me. No way they would have found me otherwise.
How about you?”
She tugged on the stained black shirt she wore. “I work at
Lust, a sex club in town, as a server. One of the customers and his friend
grabbed me and dragged me out through the back entrance.”
Sydney’s brows rose. “Doesn’t the club have security?”
Marissa snorted. “Supposedly some of the best. Either it
wasn’t as good as promised or they knew how to circumvent it.” She shrugged.
“Girls had been disappearing from the club, but I know the owner did everything
in his power to improve security. Beside the digital improvements I am sure a
number of his new hires weren’t really bartenders.” She pressed her lips
together. “No matter. It wasn’t enough.”
Sydney reached over and took the young woman’s hand. “Do you
remember the noise and explosions when we took off from that dilapidated
warehouse?”
Marissa nodded.
“I saw at least two people trying to get to us.” She
tightened her grip. “They are coming for you.”
Her lower lip trembled before the young woman returned the
grip. “They’re coming for us.”
Sydney didn’t tell her that she knew too much. Where she was
going no one would find her.
She released Marissa’s hand and sat back. She had tried to
get away when Calatrave and his goons had grabbed her in the parking area, but Calatrave
had been too fast. He’d also been smart enough to drug her. She hadn’t grown
conscious again until he’d dragged her aboard his ship and then she’d been too
groggy to put up much of a fight. She felt grubby and wanted a shower.
The door chimed.
Sydney raised a brow at Marissa and stepped up to the door.
“Yes?”
“Open.” Even through the intercom Calatrave’s smooth voice
made her shiver. She balled her fist to shake off the inappropriate response
and unlocked the door.
Calatrave strode into the room followed by two floating
trays. One hovered past her filled with food. The other carried a stack of
towels and two bowls of water with steam rising off them.
“You’re feeding us and letting us clean ourselves?”
He turned to her, his hands crossed behind his back,
standing as if at parade rest. Relaxed but ready to go at any moment. “Your
smell upsets my system.”
Sydney couldn’t read him. Since nearly dying she’d developed
a near-perfect ability to know when someone lied. But it was as if he lied and
told the truth at the same time. “Then why on Earth would we clean ourselves?”
His expression remained flat. “If you don’t require the
water it is easy enough to send it back to where it came from.”
“No.” Marissa sat up and pulled the tray close. “Please
don’t.” She wet a towel and began to clean her face and neck.
Calatrave looked at Sydney.
She grimaced and strode over to the food tray. “Let me
guess, you’re feeding us so we are nice and juicy for whoever our new owners
will be.”
He remained silent. She pressed her lips together, wanting
to slap that expressionless mien off his face. Nothing rattled him. She wasn’t
sure if he actually felt anything. Unlike the other Ferals she’d met, the ones
driven by their sense of superiority and bloodlust, it was as if he’d pulled
everything so tightly inside himself that nothing but streamlined efficiency
remained.
Sydney wanted nothing more than to grab a towel herself, but
she wouldn’t turn her back on him while Marissa was distracted. “Where did you
get the food? I wouldn’t have thought that a Vampire ship has a food processor.”
His black eyes bored into her as if he could see to her
deepest, darkest core. It was as if a connection of immaterial light stretched
between them. “We were expecting a number of humans for this trip.”
Snap.
The link was gone.
Sydney rubbed her chest that felt as if an elastic band had
bounced off it. At the same time his right arm twitched as if he was about to
move. He didn’t. “We’ll send the trays outside when we’re done. How much longer
is the flight?”
He held her captive with his eyes for a moment longer. “A
few more hours.” He turned as if to move but hesitated and continued to look at
her. When she raised her eyebrows at him the fine lines around his eyes
deepened. With a short nod he left the room. She gritted her teeth, attempting
not to notice his sleek and graceful movements.
“It’s a shame he’s the most dangerous man I have ever met.
If he lightened up he’d be prime man candy.”
Sydney whirled to Marissa, gaping.
The young woman continued to wipe her face and raised her
brows as if challenging Sydney to dispute her words.
Sydney couldn’t and instead burst into laughter. “I wish I
could disagree just out of principle, but you’re right.”
Marissa smiled, put down her towel and waved over the food.
“Funny, this is all vegetables and fruit. No meat.”
Sydney stilled and studied the spread before her. Indeed,
all vegetarian. Her stomach clenched. “They probably didn’t want to have to
give us utensils we could use for defensive purposes.”
Marissa nodded and filled a plate.
Sydney locked the door again. She was glad the other woman
believed her words, because Sydney sure as hell didn’t. For some reason she
couldn’t name she was completely and utterly certain that Calatrave knew she
had been a vegetarian from a very early age. It wasn’t something she kept
hidden, but she also didn’t advertise it far and wide.
He had chosen the food with her in mind.
And it scared the hell out of her.
Nearly as much as the need building deep inside her to be
close to him. A need that was wrong on so many levels. Was she seriously going
to become a victim of Stockholm Syndrome after just a few minutes spent
together? Sydney shook her head and continued to tell herself off for being
attracted to a monster. It appeared her type was sociopaths and monsters.
A glimmer caught her attention. Something had knocked the
oscillating boream light out of sync, which meant the rhythm was off by
probably one or two milliseconds. A fully functional boream light oscillated
half a million times between light and dark in a second, programmed in such a
way that half the cells were light when the other were dark, which resulted in
a steady, if somewhat dim light. Boream was cheap and completely stable,
therefore ideal for space travel. Now that the rhythm was off the light would
have to be recalibrated otherwise there was a danger it would fall further out
of sync and turn into a flickering—
“Are you hungry?”
Marissa’s voice stopped her convoluted thought process.
Sydney mentally kicked herself for wandering so far down the rabbit hole. She cleared
her throat and walked back to the young woman. The food looked delicious, but
her appetite was negligible.
“Yeah, me too.” Marissa sighed and filled a plate with a
couple of spoons of vegetables. “But we don’t know if and when they’ll feed us
again.” She pushed the tray toward Sydney.
“Good point.” Sydney cleaned up as best as she could. Then
she sank into the chair and filled a plate. When the first bite hit her stomach
her appetite returned. She exchanged inane conversation with Marissa and tried
not to think too hard about what awaited her at the end of this trip.
Their conversation turned more and more desultory until
silence fell.
Her vision blurred and she had to close her eyes. Her
husband Marius had used his power of Influence to make everyone believe she had
left when in reality he had held her captive in her own basement. Then he broke
the Naema’s most sacred law and sold her blood to a Vampire, even worse, a
Feral.
Naema blood increased a Vampire’s power, something her
species had kept a secret since the first time it had been discovered. Breaking
this particular law resulted in eradication of everyone involved, no matter
their status. Only a couple of members of the Vampire Council were in the know
and it was in their best interest to keep the secret.
She’d fallen into a black hole after killing Marius. Her
best friend Tanasha and her lifemate Duncan had presented her with encrypted data
they had discovered in Marius’ possession. Data showing who had bought her
blood as well as that of blood slaves. They’d asked for her help in decoding
the files. There was little she couldn’t do with numbers. Sydney agreed
instantly. It gave her the chance to take down the scecxis who had rewarded her
bastard husband for his long con.
The numbers had taken over her life. As soon as she had
recovered from her captivity she spent the last nine months dismantling and
tracing the web of lies and deceit and money her traitor husband had been
involved in.
When she asked for fight training Duncan had hesitated. In
the end he’d given in. At first she’d trained with Duncan, but when he and
Tanasha had to leave, Sydney worked with his men. Duncan and his friends had
also shared some tips and tricks on being an operative.
None of that made
her
an agent.
But Sydney knew that wherever they were going the Feral her
husband had sold her blood to awaited her. He would want more.
And she would kill herself before she allowed that.
She wanted to live. Jade, how much she wanted to live. But
her blood would give the monster leading the Ferals power. And that she would
not allow, no matter the cost.
Her eyes sprang open.
Why in Jade’s name are you so
certain that Calatrave is not the leader, is not the monster behind everything?
She couldn’t answer that with anything but a gut-deep feeling that the Vampire
who had brought them food and given them the ability to clean themselves was
not a monster.
Calatrave was filled with darkness. It seeped out of every
pore. He had demonstrated very vividly that he could and would kill without a
moment’s hesitation. Sydney didn’t know why he worked with the monsters, but
she was certain he did not lead them. She couldn’t decipher his motivation, but
for now he didn’t appear to want her dead.
She didn’t understand where this certainty came from. During
the two weeks she’d lain dying in her basement, when she had realized how many
warning signs she had ignored because it had amused her to taunt her father the
senator with her unsuitable lover, she had sworn to herself she would never be
played again.
And now she wanted to believe in a man who had drugged her
and dragged her aboard a ship that was most likely taking her to her death.
Insanity, thy name is Sydney.
The engines shifted and the ship jerked. They had to be
entering the planetary atmosphere. She sat up. Marissa sent her a grim smile.
Twenty minutes later the door chimed again.
She swallowed and rose. Calatrave waited on the other side
of the doors. For a moment she considered keeping them locked, but Marissa
gently touched her shoulder. “We will survive,” the young woman whispered.
Sydney hoped the human was right. She straightened her
shoulders and opened the doors. If nothing else, she would face her destiny
with her head held high.
Miguel was impressed. She didn’t give anything away and held
close to the chest whatever emotions burned behind her sparkling aquamarine
eyes. Most importantly, she did not smell of fear. The human behind her carried
the acrid stink of panic, whereas Sydney smelled of ice and steel.
He nodded to both of them and turned on his heel. They did
as expected and fell into step. Two of his men followed them. He turned the
corner to find the Ferals lining the walls. All of them apparently wanted to
see this Naema who had killed two of them. It wasn’t unexpected and it would
give him an indication how she would handle a group of Ferals surrounding her.
The footsteps behind him hesitated, but he continued on
without interruption. Fear thickened around the human, but all he felt from
Sydney was a drop in temperature.
Miguel growled when one of the Ferals moved as if to touch
her. The Vampire flinched and clasped his hands before his body.
The main door slid open and he nodded at their welcoming committee.
He led the women to one of the hovercrafts. “They will take you to Nasir.”
“What about you?” Sydney asked as she halted before him.
“Will you be there when we meet your leader?”
He withstood the temptation of her smooth skin and put his
hand into his pocket. “I have things to take care of. Hunting you down took
longer than anticipated.”
She bit her lush lower lip, deepening its red. Her pulse
sped up and became a visible and seductive invitation at her neck. Their eyes
met.
Neither blinked as if doing so would show weakness.
Her lips twitched.
His respect for her grew. Despite the situation she retained
a sense of humor. Not something he would have ever expected. He stomped on the
small part of him that wanted to reach out and explore this impossible
connection. That way lay complete insanity. He had one goal only and no one,
not even someone as appealing as Sydney Radnall, would stand in his way.
Her soft smile faded. It was as if she’d read his thoughts.
She took a step back, her eyes shuttered. “I hope that those chores involve you
falling chest-first onto a sword.” She clambered into the vehicle, the human
right behind her.
Miguel gritted his teeth against the need to climb after her
and gestured to the men accompanying the women. He captured her eyes for one
last look, telling her without words that she had to be strong if she wanted to
survive.
It was as if a part of him had attached himself to her. Her
vehicle left. He shoved the unfamiliar emotions into the dark vault that was
his mind, gave his driver instructions and leaned back against the seat.
He had a very good idea what was happening, but after all
these years of working for Nasir Zwelenki he wasn’t certain if there was
anything left beyond a hollow shell and the ultimate goal.
It would be best if he stayed as far away from Sydney
Radnall as possible.
Miguel looked out of the window without seeing anything. He
didn’t know if he could give up the woman who might be his lifemate in order to
fulfill his mission.
For the first time in close to four centuries he was unsure
if he was able—and willing—to do his duty.
* * * * *
Sydney sat in the vehicle, staring out of the window. The
planet appeared to have a moderate climate. The sky was dark blue, with a low
cloud cover. The vegetation was lush and green, indicating regular
precipitation. The buildings and infrastructure she’d seen so far appeared new,
three or four years at the most. Everything had a pre-fabricated look, as if
the Ferals had just thrown it up out of necessity.
They had to be on one of the outer planets, one that the
humans had declared un-populable and had left to Vampires. It had to be secret
and well protected or the big fish wouldn’t be here.
Marissa had chosen to sit beside her on the middle seat and
not against the wall. Their shoulders touched, reminding Sydney that she wasn’t
alone. At least until Marissa’s buyers turned up and took her Jade knew where.
Moments later they arrived outside what had to be Feral HQ.
Unlike the other buildings this one was made from brick, five stories high surrounding
a thirteen-story tower with a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view. The vehicle
parked behind three of its kind in a circular driveway. They disembarked and
the two Vampires escorted them through a massive synth-steel door into the core
of the building filled with Vampires. Men, women, armed, unarmed, hurrying up
and down stairs, some on sleek stand-gliders, some on foot. The hubbub was
unbelievable. The guards led them through and to a lift, which by her
calculations had to lead to the tower.
Sydney met Marissa’s gaze. The young human gave her a
quivering smile and pulled her into a hug. “Whoever gets out first contacts the
authorities.”
Sydney nodded and returned the hug. “Deal. Remember that no
matter what happens, survival is the ultimate goal. Do whatever you need to
remain alive. I will.” And she would. No way would she allow these scecxis to
win. They might triumph in a battle or two, but she would be victorious in the
war.
One of the guards entered a special code into the lift
control panel and they shot up to the top floor of the tower. When they stepped
out they might as well have been in a different galaxy.
Soft carpet blanketed the floors. The walls were covered
with art, the furnishings luxurious and high end. They walked across the open
entryway and to a closed double door made from rare wood. All of it reminded
Sydney of her father’s reception area in the senate.
The guard entered another code and the wooden doors opened,
but he didn’t step through. Instead he gestured them to do so.
Sydney wished for Calatrave.
She had no idea why because he’d made no secret of the fact
that he wasn’t here to support her. But his presence calmed something inside
her, helped her to keep her back straight and her chin up.
Jade, get
yourself together. You’ve known him less than a day.
She threw Marissa an encouraging smile and strode into the
room.
It was massive. And filled with five Vampires. All male,
sitting together and appearing deep in discussion but surrounded by an
infinitesimal cloud of tension.
She didn’t hesitate. Her muscles tightened in preparation as
she looked around. Conversation stopped.
The far wall was floor-to-ceiling windows, part of the view
she’d seen from the ground. A large desk, made from the same rare wood as the
door, in front of it. Two expensive-looking leather chairs sat before the desk.
To the right was another double door that led to a conference room and a large
rectangular table.
A beautiful katana display dominated the desk. The long
sword lay in an elaborately decorated holder, its blade covered by a simple
black scabbard. Two shorter swords sat beneath the main one as well as a
slender dagger.
Sydney took the time to register all that before she turned
to the men staring at her. For a second she met one Vampire’s gaze. He was
gorgeous. Deep auburn hair, hazel eyes, a body massive even sitting down, and a
smile as big as the galaxy. She had to remind herself he was a Feral. He winked
at her.
She frowned, for a second uncertain how to respond. Then she
crossed her arms over her chest, Marissa slightly to her left. “Someone was so
keen to meet me he dispatched an envoy as a personal escort. You could have
just sent an invitation.” Her mouth was dry, her voice more hoarse than usual,
but she managed to keep her heartbeat steady and her fear corralled deep inside
her.
She opened her arms. “Well, I’m here now.”
“And I’m very excited about that, Honorable Radnall.” The
man rising from his chair was not what Sydney had expected. “I am delighted to
meet such a skilled coder. Nasir Zwelenki, at your service.”
Shouldn’t a monster look like one? Instead the man before
her was tall and slender, clean-shaven, eyes so light blue they were nearly
gray. He smiled. Wearing a handmade suit and razor-sharp-creased trousers, at
first glance he appeared no different from any other lobbyist or
attention-seeker she’d seen in her father’s office.
It was only when she studied him more closely she recognized
the cruel tilt to his lips, the lines around his eyes that were not the result
of laughter. Her stomach rolled. He reminded her of her dead husband Marius.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose.
Sydney counted her breaths.
“Then why am I here?” Marissa stepped beside her, her
shoulder knocking into Sydney’s.
For a second Sydney didn’t understand why the human had drawn
attention to herself until she realized it gave her a moment to gather her
wits. She widened her stance slightly, standing taller. She would not allow
Marissa to sacrifice herself.
Zwelenki didn’t take his eyes off Sydney. “I have no idea
why my time is being wasted with your presence, Food, but we can fix that.” He
snapped his fingers and one of the men rose. He was built like a tank and
covered in scars. “Take the food away and make her shut up.”
Sydney tensed, ready to fight.
“No.” Calatrave’s deep voice echoed through the room.
Everyone stopped as he strode in.
Some of the tension in her shoulders eased, but heaviness
grew between her legs. She cursed her inappropriate response and struggled to
wrangle her body back under control.
“No?” The edge in Zwelenki’s question cut like a knife.
It didn’t seem to bother Calatrave in the least. “We are a
business. We lost a whole shipment due to the human idiot and the morons the
Vampire Council sent to stop us. She,” he pointed at Marissa, “is all we have
to sell, so she will go to her new owners unharmed and unspoiled.” He poured
himself a cup of coffee, its scent filling the room. “If you’re in need of
sustenance or play, go to the pen.”
On the one hand Sydney was grateful that he protected
Marissa, but the lack of concern behind his words about the monster torturing
or killing a human made her want to scream. Instead she waited for Zwelenki’s
response.
The lead Feral tapped his chin and studied Calatrave for a
minute. The silence stretched and stretched. Then he nodded. “Good thinking,
Miguel. Thank goodness I have you to protect my bottom line.”
Sydney wasn’t sure, but she thought sarcasm colored his
voice. His words definitely carried an edge.
“You have a buyer already?”
“Yes. Two of them.”
“Oh, the Dynamic Duo is back for more?”
Calatrave nodded.
Zwelenki laughed. “Delightful.” He turned to Marissa. “Food,
you have no idea what’s in store for you. Those two go through slaves like they’re
going out of fashion.”
Marissa swallowed. “Then it will be even more satisfying to
bring them to justice.”
Zwelenki’s gaze narrowed, his neck corded and his nostrils
flared. “Be careful, Food, or I will ensure you don’t have a tongue when you
meet your new owners.”
Sydney stepped forward until she covered the human and the
monster saw only her. “Why am I here?”
His emotionless eyes made her shiver. “For my personal
entertainment.”
Notification had gone out to all the operatives as soon as
the kidnapping in Parvati happened. The intel had also said that Calatrave was
involved, but when Jayden had asked where the Spaniard was, “dealing with a
problem” had been the response. Jayden had not expected this problem to be a
civilian Naema who had nearly died at the hands of her traitorous husband and
then decided to join their operation to bring down the Ferals.
The pictures he’d seen didn’t do her justice. She wasn’t
traditionally beautiful. From what he’d understood after what happened to her
she’d spent half her time training with the guys, meaning what used to be a
soft body was now tight and very, very fit. The rest of the time she dug
through numbers and financials in an attempt to give them a way to track down
the Vampires involved in the blood slave trafficking ring, either as a smuggler
or a buyer. Her very short blonde hair framed an arresting face and her blazing
eyes reminded him of the water off a sun-filled beach.
She maintained a good façade, but as a senator’s daughter
she’d have been trained from an early age not to show emotions. He would try to
get the details of the human’s new owners and pass it on to Duncan and Tanasha,
but his focus was Sydney. Her skill at dismantling Zwelenki’s financial empire
was unmatched. It was as if she had a power linked to numbers. Even if he
managed to kill Zwelenki, unless all his money was gone or inaccessible his lieutenants
could continue their operation.
Especially if the Spaniard played on their team.
He studied Calatrave from under his lids. Jayden had been
undercover with Zwelenki’s nightmare academy for nearly nine months, but he
still had no clue where the other Vampire stood.
No matter. His mission objective required adjustments.
Now he just had to see how he was going to pull it off.
Nasir was in an effusive mood, but that could change at the
drop of a hat, especially if Sydney continued to defy him. If their fearless
leader’s goal wasn’t the total destruction of the Vampire-Human peace and with
that the existing governments of the galaxy, Jayden could have admired his
tireless ambition. Nasir followed his goals with no interruption or permission
for mistakes.
Jayden had seen him kill men and women working for him
without hesitation or compunction. The first couple of times he’d thought Nasir
was insane to just kill the people who kept all the wheels turning. But Nasir
had a far better understanding of the running of his empire than any
high-flying CEO Jayden had ever seen. He knew exactly who to choose to replace
the people who had made mistakes. Usually things turned out running more
efficiently and effectively than before.