by Mary Martel
Shayne. Just thinking her name causes my chest to ache.
Maybe this has nothing to do with her. Perhaps she became overwhelmed and left the packed room for some fresh air.
Only one way to find out. Making my way across the room through the throng of people I finally reach the exit.
The sight that greets me is not what I expected to see. Collette, Riley, and Brooks stand amongst Fairies and Dwarfs around a figure on the floor with a bleeding hole in his chest. Two Fairies kneel over him with their hands pressed to the Dwarfs chest, around his wound. Pastel light glows from their palms.
“What is going on here?” I demand to know in a sharp voice that echoes throughout the hallway.
My brother turns to look at me with pain filled eyes.
I know.
I fucking know.
Something has happened to Shayne. My beautiful, sweet, innocent, mate.
Where is she?
Brother. Riley voice creeps into my head.
Where is she? Is my silent demand.
His answer is not one I ever wanted to hear and pains me to hear.
Gone. She’s gone.
“Where?” I bark out loud this time, hoping for someone, anyone, to give me an answer. They don’t need me to explain who I am talking about, they all know.
“We do not know, Ian.” Brooks speaks in a quiet voice filled with raw emotion. “We are waiting for Neelan to be healed. Shayne had just stepped out here in to the hallway with the Dwarf for some fresh air and a much needed break from the people in the throne room. She was only out here for a minute before we came to get her and found Neelan with a sword in his chest.”
His pale, tight, features, tell me just how upset he is about this, about not having escorted my mate out here.
He should never have let her out of his sight. Neither Brooks nor my brother should have allowed this to happen. They had one job only. To keep her safe and they failed me.
Shayne. Not only did they fail me but I’ve failed Shayne. Fucking her and marking her made her mine until my last, dying breath left my lungs.
Mine to love. Mine to cherish. Mine to protect.
And already I’ve failed her.
We should have never returned to this place. Why had I brought her to this place? Why had I returned to this place? She was worth more to me than my people ever could be. I had no desire to rule without my mate at my side.
Cold despair cripples me, wrapping my heart in an iron fist, squeezing so tightly I almost fall to my knees.
Goddamn Riley for talking me into coming back to this horrid place. If Shayne is harmed in any way I’ll never forgive him.
Admittedly, I know my brother is not to blame here, but it is easier to place the blame on someone other than myself. And I have only myself to blame. She should have never been out of my eyesight once we set foot in this place.
What are you doing? My beast questions me. We need to find her. Do not give up hope. Do not play the blame game. Go out and find her and bring her home. Stop sniveling, you’re wasting time.
“Roland,” the injured Dwarf lets out a painful gasp. “Roland has taken her. You must find her. Quickly.”
His words bring me out of my self-pitying stupor and I race to the Dwarf’s side. Shoving a Fairy roughly aside, I drop to my knees beside the Dwarf. Taking ahold of his hand I lean in, close to his face.
“What happened?” I ask in a gruff voice, unable to control my emotions.
A small voice inside my head whispers that I am weak, my people will see this and not wish for me to rule as King. They will see me as unfit and weak. They will challenge not only my place but me as well.
I shove the thoughts to the far recesses of my mind. I cannot focus on this right now. My sole focus must be entirely on finding Shayne.
“Roland and his guards came out of nowhere, my true King. I tried to get her to run, but there was…” the Dwarf’s voice trails off. Wet sounding coughs wrack his small, compact body. Blood leaks out past his lips. He blinks once. Twice.
Open, empty, brown eyes stare up at me.
The Dwarf is dead, and my Uncle, who murdered my father in cold blood, has my mate.
A roar, primal, more animal than human, rips out of me.
Chapter 24
Shayne
Cold.
I’m so very cold.
My heart hammers wildly inside my chest, beating faster than it ever has before.
Panic and despair threaten to drag me back down into the darkness, but I fight against it and force my eyes to open.
Absolute darkness surrounds me.
Dampness, moist and bitter seeps into my skin.
I shiver, from the cold or the wet, I cannot be certain. Perhaps a mixture of them both.
Sharp tingles radiate down from arms hanging above me. Cold brick scratches my skin from behind. Metal bites into the skin at my wrists. I flex my hands and the unforgiving metal slices into my skin. Blood pours down my arms, leaking out of the open wounds at my wrists.
Cool air brushes against my bare skin.
Naked.
I am naked and chained to a brick wall blanketed in black.
My heart beats painfully in my chest, threatening to jump out and run away. I can’t blame the stupid organ, if I could run away from this situation I would.
My mind struggles to make sense of my surroundings but I cannot remember how it came about that I got here.
Where am I? How did I get here? Where are my clothes? Where is Ian?
The last thing I remember is being thoroughly questioned by the over friendly Neelan and taking his hand as he lead me out of the throne room. Then…
Oh God.
It hits fast and hard - the memory of seeing my new friend lying on the marble floor with a shiny silver sword sticking out of his chest. Oh God. He’d told me to run and I’d been too slow to escape.
Surely the Dwarf is dead. No person could survive such a horrendous wound, especially not in the chest.
Grief and sorrow eat away at me. That poor man. To die in such a way. All because of me. He’d been trying to help me. If I had just answered his questions and stayed in the throne room this would never have happened. But, no, I had to be stupid and leave the throne room. Now some poor man who’d only tried to be nice to me is dead and I’m shackled to a wall in my freaking birthday suit.
I’m not sure which one upset me more. That some poor man is dead because of me or that I’m probably going to die next.
What was it Ian had said to me? What were his words?
They will not stop until they have you, and once they have you they will kill you. But first, they will torture you for information that you do not have.
That’s what he’d said when I first met him. Then he’d been talking about evil Vampires and creatures much, much worse.
Could this be why I’m here now? Had it been evil, smelly, Vampires or some other scary creature who’d conked me on the head and brought me here after killing Neelan? I didn’t think so. Not after smelling that Sunglasses when he came knocking on my door. He’d smelled like
rancid, putrid, garbage. I’d smelled nothing of the sort outside of the throne room.
I could have been anyone I supposed. I knew, Ian had explained it to me, that going to the estate would be dangerous, that he would have plenty of enemies who would stop at nothing to see him, his brother, and his Uncle dead so they could take the throne for themselves. He told me that being King was like playing a dangerous game, one where you always had to be ten steps ahead of your opponents at all times or they’d stab you in the back when you weren’t looking just as his Uncle had done his father.
I understood this. Still, I’d stupidly argued to go along. I didn’t want to be left behind. My feelings had been hurt that he’d want to leave me behind in the first place after what we’d shared the night before.
Now look where that’d gotten me.
Ian had warned me of the danger. Riley had warned me of the danger. Broo
ks had warned me. Both Reed and Austin had warned me. Even Collette in her own asshole way warned me. The Vampire had been the only one who had tried to convince me to stay behind where Caleb could keep me safe.
I had listened to all of them. But apparently I had not paid close enough attention. Either that or I was just flat out stupid.
I did not want to dwell on my own stupidity, or the fact that because of it I found myself in this horrible situation.
With no chance of escape, the chains that rattle with my every movement painfully remind me I’ve got no chance of escape, I’m reminded of another painful time in my life. A time I do not wish to remember.
A memory of another dark night long ago. Of the girl I once was. An innocent girl whose only crime had been drawing the short stick in life.
I’d been sleeping in my bed in the tiny room my aunt had allowed me to use as my bedroom. I’d always been a deep sleeper. Once out I was dead to the world. My aunt always joked that she could burn the house down around me and I’d sleep right through it. A part of me wonders if she’d really been joking or if perhaps she’d been dreaming out loud.
One night in particular I went to bed like normal. I woke up some time in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. You can imagine my surprise when I realized I couldn’t move because my feet were spread wide in a V, rope tied around my ankles, my wrists stretched above my head, rope tied tightly around them.
I’d always thought what had happened to me that night would be the worst thing I’d ever have to endure. Yet, here I was. At least that night I didn’t wake up naked.
I try to blank my mind from going back to that time. I don’t need to be remembering the past at a time when I’ve got all brand new horrors to worry about. And I’m certain I’ve got horrors to worry about.
Waking up in the dark naked and chained to a wall after seeing someone with a sword sticking out of their chest doesn’t exactly say happy fun times lay ahead.
In a messed up way I find myself almost grateful to Father Ringly and my Aunt. That completely fucked up situation was what was helping me keep my cool in this fucked up situation. It had taught me that panicking would do me no good here.
Yeah, I’d initially panicked, but I think it’s understandable under the circumstances. But panic in the long run would only serve to further cripple me and I did not need that.
Ian would look for me. Of this I’m certain.
He’d told me I’m his and claimed he wouldn’t ever allow anything to ever hurt me again. He’d sworn to protect me. Hell, he told me I was his family even before we’d had sex, and he’d said all this in such a way I knew he meant it. That he believed these things with all his heart.
I have to have faith in him, that he truly meant these things because he’s all I have at this point.
Holding on to this for all I’m worth, I close my eyes and pretend to be somewhere else. Anywhere but where I am.
*****
Their thoughts hit me first. Before any sound of their approach reaches me. Horrible, horrible thoughts that drag me out of my dream. I must have somehow managed to drift off to sleep. All sense of time has escaped me.
Have I been here for hours? Days? I’ve no idea. One things for certain, my arms ache even numb as they are, telling me I’ve been here for quite some time. Not days, but hours and hours for sure.
Violent tremors wrack my body. The metal around my wrists clanks together with each violent jerk. My teeth clatter together uncontrollably.
Cold. I am so cold. How I managed to sleep through this I will never know.
Get it out of her. With any means necessary.
Pretty little thing. I wonder if she tastes as good as she smells.
Too bad she’s already tainted and marked.
My nephew won’t want the girl when I’m done with her. Well, what’s left of her when I’m done with her.
The last thought is filled with a maniacal gleefulness that I can actually feel like it’s a physical, tangible thing.
My body shakes uncontrollably now for an entirely different reason. These men intend to hurt me, I can feel it in their thoughts. I’ve never been able to feel things through hearing other people’s thoughts before.
I did not like this, or appreciate the new ability. I’m already so uncomfortable with being able to hear the thoughts of others. This new development wouldn’t be making acceptance any better, or easier for that matter.
And feeling those emotions, the cold menace, and the pleasure attached to the possibility of hurting me. All of it made me sick to my stomach.
Bile slithers up my throat causing me to gag. Thankfully, by some miracle, I choke it back down. Getting sick all over myself doesn’t really sound all too appealing at the moment. Or ever, for that matter.
Footsteps echo all around me, coming off of the cold, hard, concrete floor. Closer and closer they get.
Once again my heart beats frantically inside my chest at the thought of what’s coming my way.
No. No. No.
I cannot do this. I am not strong enough to handle this. I thought I would be but I was way wrong.
What have I ever done to deserve this? To be chained up like this? Nothing. Nothing at all that I could think of.
Faint light flickers up ahead, and for the first time my surroundings become visible to me.
Horror washes through me.
No. No. No.
Frantically, and entirely out of my control, my head starts shaking from side to side in denial at what I’m seeing. This can’t be real. Maybe it’s all just a dream. A horrible, horrible dream. One I’ll wake up from any second. I’ll wake up and be in my own bed in my apartment. Anna May will be sleeping in her own bed in the room across the hall from mine. No whacked out Vampire ever knocks on my door in the middle of the night and attacks me. I don’t get stuck in a car with two hot Shifters and end up on a crazy road trip around the country. Instead I wake up one morning in my own bed, go down stairs to get my mail and accidently run into my hot downstairs neighbor. He asks me out and takes me on my first ever real date. It’s love at first sight. We move in together after a few months and less than a year later we get married. Years down the road we’re living in cute house sitting behind a white picket fence, we’ve got three beautiful babies and two golden retrievers. His brother comes over on Sunday’s to drink beer and watch whatever game’s playing on our flat screen. The word Vampire never comes up unless we’re watching a scary movie. I never meet a sweet Dwarf named Neelan who instantly befriends me and gets a sword in the chest as a result. Life is filled with nothing but beauty and it stays that way until the day I die.
In a perfect world this is what I would want my life to be like.
But this world isn’t perfect.
And I’m not dreaming.
This is all very, very real.
The things surround me are very, very real.
The men coming towards me, the men who brought me here, the men who want to hurt me, are very, very real.
Metal cuffs, identical to the ones I’m wearing, hang from silver hoops attached to the brick wall all around me. Dark stains are smeared and splattered all over the wall. Blood, no doubt. A long, rectangular, table sits on display in the center of the room.
Things, horrible things, cover the table. Whips, in all different sizes. Some with things attached to the ends. One with a metal ball covered in sharp looking spikes attached to the end of the whip. Knives of all different sizes. Some strange rusted metal device that looks similar to an animal trap slightly larger than my head. Pliers. And many, many scarier looking things.
The light grows closer and closer, brighter and brighter. The footsteps get louder, their shoes slap, slap, slapping against the concrete. The bile lodged in my throat gets harder and harder to keep down.
How many people had been here before me? Whose blood had been splattered against the wall? Would my blood join it?
I could not handle this. I hadn’t signed up for this. I hadn’
t really signed up for anything with Ian. He made all the choices for me. I’d been forced to leave my home because he and Riley claimed it would be too dangerous for me to stay. Yet, I couldn’t imagine anything more dangerous than this.
Would I have been better off had I chosen to stay behind? Maybe. But, then again, maybe not. At least this way I knew I wouldn’t die a virgin.
“Well, well, well. What have we here?”
Stupid question considering I hadn’t magically popped up here and they were surprised to see me.
I felt it best to keep my mouth firmly shut at this juncture. Mouthing off would only get me into more trouble and I was already in well over my head here.
Three men step out of the hallway one after the other and enter this torture chamber. No surprise one of them is the fat man Roland, Ian and Riley’s Uncle.
His beady eyes rake over my naked body. The spark shining in his eyes scares the shit out of me as they travel up and then back down, devouring every inch of me.
I know down to my bones that if this horrible man gets his hands on me, has his way with me, I will never see the light of day again. I will not leave this place breathing. He will rape me. He will torture me. Then, when he’s had his fill of both and gets bored with me, he will kill me. And he will enjoy doing all three. Immensely. I can sense it in the heat of his gaze.
One of the other men wears a similar expression on his face as he, too, molests my body with his eyes.
Filthy, disgusting, pigs.
The third man barely spares me a glance. His eyes hold no emotion I can read other than boredom. Almost as if he’s seen this particular scenario played out a hundred times before and he could really care less what they do with me.
I’m not sure which of the three men scares me more. One thing’s for certain, all three scare the shit out of me, and all three pose very serious threats. But, for some reason, the despondent one scares me the most. He would get nothing out of harming me, yet he’d do it maliciously all the same.