The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as a rage-filled roar ripped through the air. Dust rolled through the dirt field. More cursing. More scuffling just inside the main tent.
The pit of her stomach churned. They’d caught another prisoner, and this one was putting up a hell of a fight. Inside, she cheered him on, willed him to break free and destroy. Outside, she remained quiet. As did everyone else. Waiting. Watching.
If he escaped, maybe she could convince him to break her out so she could get back to Calliope and the other witches. All she’d have to do is turn on the charm and he’d be putty in her hands.
Whips cracked. Chains rattled. Dust settled.
Her shoulders sagged with the weight of defeat. Damn it. She had to get to Calliope before they found her. Assuming they hadn’t already.
Just as she moved to sit back down, it all went crazy again. The back flap of the tent flew open and four men tried to restrain the prisoner, dragging him to the center of the cages.
Bevva straightened, sucked in a sharp breath. No way. It couldn’t be.
Jet black hair. Blood-red horns. Rune-covered arm. Devastatingly handsome face. Enough muscle to make any female whimper and beg for his attention. Any female other than her. She’d refused to give the sexy guardian the time of day.
Looking at him now, she couldn’t remember exactly what she’d been thinking. This being was as sexy as they came.
One by one, the prisoners started cheering on the newest captive, rioting against the madness that encompassed the grounds.
Bevva couldn’t find her voice. They’d taken Thane Adamo. Thane freaking Adamo. Guardians were born to protect the innocent of all worlds, not just their home realm of Saharran. She’d never heard of one being captured. It just didn’t happen.
She’d fought beside him in the battle with the slayers, a battle that had saved both her sister Meera and Thane’s brother, Ghanem, who happened to be the rightful prince of Saharran. Ghanem’s power was impressive. But, hands down, Thane had to be the strongest being she’d ever met. If he couldn’t escape their hold, what did that mean for her?
Thane lifted his head and bellowed at the sky. Thick veins bulged in his neck as he whipped his massive body side to side. The guards held strong, beating him with chains. He wouldn’t go down.
His strength mesmerized her and her heart might have flopped around a little in her chest. She blamed that stupid side effect on adrenaline. The only interest she had in Thane was using him to get out of her current predicament.
So far, they hadn’t been able to get a collar on him. Bevva prayed to the Goddess to give him strength. If she could have used her magick to help him, she would have. A simmering fire licked low in her belly, begging for release. Damn this collar. Until she could figure out a way to get it off, her fire-power was useless. And could prove the death of her. If she couldn’t release the energy, the magick had the potential to eat her alive.
Come on, guardian.
Thane sent one of the men flying with a side-kick. The guard slammed into Grier’s cage. Grier huddled in the back corner, her arms wrapped tightly around her scrawny legs.
Thane head-butted another guard. Blood poured out of the weaker man’s nose, but he kept swinging the chain. Bevva held her breath. The noise coming from the cages was deafening, like monkeys raging against restraints.
Movement on the right caught her attention just as a shadow fell over the grounds. The man she’d vowed to burn strolled toward Thane as if the battle before him was nothing more than children rough-housing in the backyard.
Her gaze drifted to his hand. Her heart fell to her feet. A collar, thicker than the band adorning her neck, swung from between his fingers.
One of the guards took a running leap and jumped Thane from behind. He wrapped his chain around the guardian’s neck and held tight. Thane’s face turned a bright shade of red, his eyes coal black.
“I’ve got him, Eron,” the guard grunted out as Thane slammed an elbow into his gut.
Eron.
Bevva now had a name to go along with the face.
Eron stepped in front of Thane and clamped the collar around his neck. Thane fell to his knees, his body violently trembling as wave after wave of high-voltage electricity shocked him into submission.
Silence fell.
Why? Why were they doing this?
The answer didn’t matter. For as long as the worlds existed, darkness would always creep in and destroy minds, make them power hungry. The war between dark and light would never end.
Eron said something to one of the guards, his fist clenched in the air as if he were calling upon the gods. Bevva strained to hear but couldn’t make out the words.
Frustration got the best of her. She stomped her foot, swore violently under her breath. Thane lifted his head. Dark eyes locked with hers. She gripped the bars so tight, her knuckles cracked. Shock briefly registered, but then he gave a slight shake of his head as they dragged him off, his boots leaving a trail in the dirt. The movement had been so minute she doubted anyone else had noticed. Bevva held quiet, understanding exactly what he’d meant. If these bastards didn’t already know she knew Thane, keeping quiet about it might give her some sort of an advantage.
At this point she’d take any kernel she could get. Her eyes grew hot. She blinked hard. Bevva Brennan never cried.
Never.
#
Talk about a blow to one’s manhood. Thane had to be dreaming. What other explanation could there be for his current predicament? His brethren of guardians would never let him live this one down. A groan of denial rumbled from his gut, lodged in his raw throat.
This was the kind of shit that happened to weaker beings. This was exactly what he razzed lesser guardians about, those who hadn’t yet sprouted horns, those who hadn’t earned their runes. This kind of shit never happened to him.
Metal clanked against metal as someone shoved a bowl of food between the bars. Thane couldn’t move, his body too battered. He’d tried repeatedly to heal himself, but couldn’t summon the energy to sit up, let alone concentrate long enough to mend broken bones. Not that he would eat anything these bastards tried to feed him anyway. Pride, principle, and possible poison, in no particular order.
Eyes swollen, he pulled in a ragged breath and looked toward the man who’d provided room service.
“Eat.”
Thane closed his eyes and waited for the asshole who’d introduced himself as Kevin right before he’d sliced Thane’s knee open with a barbed whip to wheel his food cart over to the next cage. A couple more hours of sleep and he might be able to breathe without feeling like his ribs had serrated his lungs.
“I said eat,” Kevin ordered, banging a steel rod against the bars.
Thane’s head pounded so hard he could feel his brain pulsing. He wondered if the pain came from the blow to the back of his head or dehydration. He cracked an eyelid, mustered enough strength to roll over and give Kevin his back. How the hell had someone, who looked like this tool, manage to get the best of him? The guy had to weigh a buck twenty dripping wet. Thane might as well cut off his own horns and hand them over to someone more deserving. Guardians did not get bested.
Except he had.
If his father ever found out about this…
He could hear the mighty Dominic now. ”You’ve brought shame to our doorstep” and ”This kind of behavior is unacceptable.”
Yeah, as if behavior had anything to do with this messed-up situation. But Thane wouldn’t even bother to take the time to explain. His father never made mistakes, and he sure as hell didn’t permit Thane to either.
“Listen here, guardian—”
“No, you listen,” he said, staring out at the dusty fields, his voice raspy. The sun would be setting soon. He welcomed the break from the heat. “I’m not eating that shit so give it to someone else.” Thane coughed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, ignoring the smear of blood that came away. Probably had internal bleeding. Just on
e more thing he couldn’t heal.
A bowl of slop hit Thane in the shoulder, oozed onto his chest. It smelled like mushed cabbage and urine. Thane didn’t respond, though inside he raged. They could bait him all they wanted. He might be a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. When he was at full strength again, he would fight. He would conquer. And he would destroy. Until then, he would bide his time. Figure out a way to get the fuck out of here.
“Eron says your training starts in the morning. I suggest you scrape that food off the floor and eat it. That little shock we gave you before? Yeah, remember that?”
Thane clenched his jaw so tight the joint popped. He fisted his hands against his chest to keep from yanking on the choker they’d locked around his neck like a fucking dog. The mighty Eron could choke on his own dick. Matter of fact, Thane would figure out a way to make that very thing happen. Once he escaped.
“You listening to me? That’s nothing compared to what we have in store for you. Unless you decide to behave like a good little boy.” Kevin laughed, a throaty noise with more than a little wheeze.
The sound of squeaky wheels told him Kevin had finally moved on. Thane would show him “little boy.” He counted to fifty then rolled back over. Keeping his lids at half-mast, he searched the cages for Bevva. It had been a shock to see the feisty witch. How long had she been here? Why was she here?
For that matter, why were any of them? They’d told him nothing when they’d ambushed him on his way back to Saharran. He cursed his timing to Hades and back. If he’d spotted the portal five seconds sooner, he could have been sleeping in his own bed rather than on dirt in a six-by-six cage under the scorching sun. He didn’t want their pitiful excuse for food, but he’d do just about anything for a sip of water.
Kevin had said training would begin in the morning. Training for what? Whatever it was, Thane couldn’t imagine it’d be enjoyable. At least he’d be out of this cage. If he was out, he could escape.
He slid his gaze around the circle, briefly taking note of all the captives, searching for one in particular. He spotted her crazy red hair first. Bevva’s cell sat almost directly across from his, two down from center. She lay near the front, her fingers curled around the bars, knees pulled up to her chest. He’d never seen her look so vulnerable. It didn’t sit well. What had they done to her? He shoved the possible scenarios playing out in his head to the recesses and willed his over-imaginative mind to reverse its course.
He recalled how they’d fought side by side against the slayers. Fiery. Strong. Badass to the core. He’d admired her technique if not her attitude. Bevva Brennan put the definition of sarcastic to shame.
And sexy. Her body, long and lean, spoke to him on many levels. He’d imagined her creamy legs wrapped around his waist, her fingers sliding up and down his horns. But then she’d opened her mouth and decimated his fantasies with her attitude.
As far as he could tell, Bevva loved no one aside from herself and her sister Calliope. Everyone else could go screw themselves. She’d said so at least twenty different times in twenty different ways in the brief time he’d known her.
Except, he reminded himself, she’d helped her other sister when she’d needed it most, even though she’d let everyone know she didn’t care for Meera. If it weren’t for the witches’ help, Thane and the other guardians might not have been able to beat back the slayers long enough for his brother, Ghanem, to find a way to break his banishment.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Maybe badass Bevva wasn’t as cold-hearted as she wanted everyone to believe.
Now Ghanem and Meera were shacking up, so sick in love hearts practically floated from their eyes. Fuck no and no thanks. Thane had vowed long ago never to dump all his eggs in one basket. Losing his wife had practically destroyed Thane’s father. Dominic Adamo was a hardened shell of his former self. He might have been respected in Saharran, but he sure as hell wasn’t liked. Once upon a time though…
No. Thane would keep on rolling from one bed to another, never allowing one woman to have her clutches so deep in his heart she could rip it out with one wrong move—intentional or not.
Shagging whomever, whenever. That’s the way he rolled. The worlds were full of warm-bodied females more than willing to satiate his needs.
His gaze drifted back over Bevva’s curves and he was surprised to feel his body respond. Apparently, everything wasn’t broken. Unlike other females, she’d refused to offer to share her bed with him. Her loss. He would have showed her a really good time. Maybe replaced that snobby stick in her ass with something else.
The witch was a puzzle for sure.
None of that mattered now. Whether Bevva liked him or not, he had a feeling they’d have to work together again if they wanted to get out of this prison.
Placing his palms flat on the ground, he shoved his body up until he could lean his back against the bars. He watched. Bevva did the same. Good. They’d need to figure out a way to communicate without anyone catching on.
The sooner the better.
Destroying every being who’d dared to enslave him had become Thane’s one and only mission.
#
By the time the food cart got around to her, Bevva had been ready to gnaw on her own flesh. Sunburnt as she was from being exposed to the direct rays all day, she wouldn’t be surprised if she tasted like jerky. Up until now, she’d refused their food. First off, it looked like something that came out of a baby’s ass. Second: she was stubborn. Always had been. Calliope blamed it on Bevva’s red hair. Bevva suspected it went a little further into her DNA than that.
She gagged, but pinched her lips together and forced herself to swallow down the dish of unknown origins Kevin had thrown at her. Her stomach objected. It also objected to starvation. She had to pick her battles. A spoon would have been a nice touch. She almost snorted. She didn’t even get to pee in private.
Keys jangled and her stomach pitched. She shoved her bowl of slop away and stood. Kevin gave her a toothy grin. She’d originally pegged him for one-hundred percent straight up Homo sapien. Perhaps not. His eyes told another story. Depending on the lighting, his pupils sometimes appeared more reptilian than human. Maybe a shifter of some sort? Or maybe he just reminded her of a snake. Whatever he was, the bloodline had been diluted at some point. Even the lowest rank of demons was prettier than Kevin.
Kevin rapped on the bars with his keys. “Step back.”
She inched closer. “I’m not interested.”
“Last night was a one-time deal,” he said, digging in his ear with a knuckle. “You’ll perform tonight.”
Bevva jerked forward, growled in his face. Kevin jumped. Bevva smiled and batted her eyes. A tube of mascara would have heightened the effect, but whatever.
Anger tightened his lips. “Eron said if you refuse to cooperate, I’m to let him know. He’ll be leaving soon. He said to tell you he’d love to add the sounds of a calliope to his little circus here.”
Now Bevva was the one who flinched. She cringed at the thought of Eron touching her sister. Fire sparked through her veins. Fire she could do absolutely zilch with. Bevva stepped back. Her palm itched to smack the cocky smile off of Kevin’s face. As he fumbled with the lock, she looked toward Thane’s cage. Dusk had descended over the camp, casting everything in shadows. She couldn’t make out his features, but had no doubt he watched. Everyone watched.
Didn’t matter that Thane was in the same predicament. She knew what came next and it wouldn’t be pretty. She couldn’t explain it, not without having one of those nasty heart-to-hearts with herself, but she didn’t want Thane to see…
Running far and fast screamed through her mind, but the tiny pulses emanating from the collar killed that thought. She stepped out of the cage and walked to the center of the clearing. Head held high, she stripped and stood naked for all to see.
“Hit her, boys.”
The impact of the water nearly knocked her over. Bevva widened her stance to keep from toppling as th
e high-pressure hose blasted her torso. She looked straight ahead, refusing to so much as glance over her shoulder at Thane. It hadn’t bothered her when the other males had seen her shower. She’d stripped, endured, dressed without shame. She didn’t know them, didn’t care to know them.
Mortification heated her cheeks more than the blistering sun.
“Turn around.”
Bevva did as she was told, her thoughts focused on protecting Calliope. If she could just hold on to that and nothing else, they could do whatever they wanted to her. She would disappear inside herself until it was over.
Slight problem. From this direction she couldn’t help but notice Thane now stood, his fists at his sides, his eyes locked on her body. On. Her. Naked. Body.
Flesh was flesh, she reminded herself. If the stories were accurate, Thane had seen thousands of nude women before. It shouldn’t bother her that he saw hers now. But it did. Very much. And that little nugget of information was something she didn’t want to analyze. She lifted her chin higher, focused on the curve of his red horns.
Finally, Thane’s gaze slid away from her breasts, trailed slowly to her face. Then they stared at one another. She expected to see desire, maybe a bit of amusement. She hadn’t exactly been nice to him in the past. She wouldn’t blame him if he felt she deserved this humiliation.
The vampire in the cage next to Thane’s whistled. The men hosing her down laughed. Thane’s neck swiveled so fast Bevva thought it would turn a full three-sixty. He said something to the vampire who paled, of all things, and retreated to the back corner. Thane turned back to her. A frigid jet of water nailed her in the back and she listed forward before finding her footing again. Fury swam in the depths of the guardian’s eyes. So black. Like midnight on a cloud covered night.
Betrayed: Powerful Stories of Kick-Ass Crime Survivors Page 26