All That Shimmers

by N. J. Nielsen

  The smell hit Tagh as soon as he slipped through the door. He had to block out the stench while he quickly and quietly made his way through the room, which he assumed had been a mud room of some sort. A jumble of boots was piled on the floor and raggedy coats hung from hooks. He didn’t have time to explore the place too much because the pull got stronger with each passing minute.

  “Where are we going?” Lara whispered behind him.

  “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” The next room they entered brought Tagh to a screeching halt. Eric’s dream had been right. The walls were actually glass cages. Most held more than one occupant and, worse, none appeared in good health. Where he stood in the center of the room, a fresh stain on the floor caught his attention and Tagh instantly knew it was blood—and who it belonged to. The one who called to him.

  Tagh sensed the fear at their arrival. He closed his eyes and concentrated, letting his senses lead him to where he needed to be. Tagh came to a standstill in front of one of the cages. He counted no fewer than eight people crammed into the cell, yet his whole focus stayed on the thin man lying broken and bleeding on the floor. A young woman held his head in her lap as she tried to soothe him. The others just looked worried.

  A fury like no other filled him. Tagh placed his hands on the glass wall and stared at the inhabitants. Heat roared through him and the glass under his palms crazy-cracked until it dropped into a pile at his feet. Tagh stepped into the cell. He didn’t have time to comfort the others, some of whom cowered on the other side of the cage. Instead, he went and knelt beside the man.

  “Please, don’t hurt him. Jory has been through enough for one day,” the young woman begged.

  “I’m not going to hurt him, or any of you. What happened to—Jory, did you say his name was?” A coldness descended over him. Again, Eric had been right. Jory really did exist. They had found him. It tore at his soul to see so many people suffering and scared. He wished he knew what to tell them so they knew they were now safe.

  The woman shuddered. “Jory is a favorite of the master. Today, when the master came, Jory said no. He tried to fight back, but wasn’t strong enough. They dragged Jory out to the center of the viewing room and the master had his top guards beat him as a warning to the rest of us. A warning as to what will happen if we fight against the master’s wishes.” Tagh took no notice of the activity around him as he listened to the woman speak. He knew the others would be releasing the captives.

  “What are the master’s wishes?” Deep down, Tagh thought he knew, but he didn’t want to admit it to himself.

  The anger in her eyes he’d expected. “He sells us to the highest bidder for a night or an hour. If one of us displeases the client, food is then denied to all of us. We go hungry more than we eat. No one holds it against Jory for fighting back. He said someone special would come for him and I guess he told us the truth.”

  “What’s your name?” Tagh asked her gently. He didn’t want to think about his mate or any of these people being sold for sex.

  “Silla. I don’t remember my last name. They were stripped from us the moment we arrived. No real identities, because then we didn’t have a sense of worth. He liked us beaten down so we were willing to do everything he asked of us.”

  Tagh was dumbfounded and knew he shouldn’t be. He’d already seen how cruel these so-called masters could be. “Silla, I want you to listen to me. My people are taking you away from here, to a place where you can all get healthy and rest. We can even contact your families if you wish to go home, and we will track down the master and make him face justice. Him, and all of his so-called guards.”

  “How do we know we’re not being taken from one prison right to another one? Why should we trust you?” she demanded. The other prisoners around them all stood nodding in agreement with Silla and waiting for him to answer.

  “Because I am a guild member for our peoples. We came to rescue you all and shut down this operation. This prison will be the first of many. You are all under the protection of the guild.”

  She looked at him confused. “What’s the guild?”

  “The guild,” Tagh began then realized he’d have to explain for the benefit of them all. “We are like a council. We make and uphold the laws. We also punish those who need it.”

  “Why do you have all of those markings over your face? I’ve seen other prisoners with similar markings, but they don’t get to stay here for long. I heard the master once telling Rico, his head guard, that people like you were too hard to control and he had to find them a new home for the most money.”

  “Do you know the master’s name?” Tagh asked, hoping like hell she did. It would make their job a whole lot easier when it came to finding the bastard, because Tagh needed to make him pay for hurting Jory. Pay in the most painful way possible.

  Silla shrugged. “I’ve only ever known him as Max, but Jory told us he has a twin named Ernie.”

  Tagh could hardly breathe as Jory tried to reach for him. He moved the few inches needed so their fingertips met. “You will be with a healer soon, little one.”

  “Need to find Eric,” Jory said moments before his eyes closed once more.

  “Guess you’re not Eric. He’s been waiting for Eric Meyers to show up,” Silla stated.

  Holy shit. It felt weird hearing that Eric wasn’t the only one having dreams. “How does he know Eric?” Tagh asked the room at large. He wanted to double-check that they in fact mutually shared dreams.

  A skinny guy with long red hair answered. “About three months ago, Jory dreamed Eric would come for all of us. He said Eric would protect us. Did he come with you?”

  “No. Eric is waiting for you all to return to our home. He’s organizing the food and any medical help you may need.”

  His words seemed to send a ripple of calmness over the prisoners, which was something he and the others hadn’t been expecting. Tagh pulled his phone from his pocket and called Eric. “Love, we’ve rescued the prisoners. They’re coming to you.”

  “What do you mean they’re coming to me?”

  “Apparently, Jory dreamed about you as well. Get Silla and the others to fill you in when they get there. They are actually Jory’s cellmates. He’s hurt bad, love. We are going to go through this monstrosity with a fine-tooth comb to see if we can find anything to lead us to the monsters who ran this zoo.”

  “Does Jory have blond hair?” Eric suddenly asked. “Are his eyes green? And does he have a scar on the right side of his chest, just above his nipple?”

  Tagh relayed the questions to Silla and waited to see if she could answer, because right now Jory lay on the floor covered in blood and too swollen for Tagh to be able to tell anything for sure. All he did know right now Jory was indeed blond. “He’s blond.”

  “Jory has the scar and the green eyes,” Silla finally answered.

  Tagh told Eric the answers before adding, “He’s our Jory, love. You’ll need to take care of him for a while.”

  “Where will you be?” Eric demanded. “Why aren’t you coming home with him?”

  “Because we’re not done here. I’ll be home as soon as possible.” Tagh intended to search the place and if he found any guards, or better yet, the ‘masters’…

  Chapter Eighteen

  Holy guacamole! Eric felt speechless. He couldn’t believe the sad and softly spoken man from his dreams had turned out to be real. Weirdly, he felt extremely happy about that. For the last couple of months, he’d played a starring role in each of Eric’s dreams—and not in a sexual way, though Eric would have been lying if he’d said he wasn’t attracted to the diminutive man. In his dreams, Jory’s shoulder came to Eric’s armpit, which would have been perfect for cuddling. Yael had called only moments before, telling him they were about twenty minutes away from home. For some strange reason, Eric couldn’t wait to see Jory in the flesh. Tagh had warned him Jory had been beaten to within an inch of his life. There was no way he would let Jory die on his watch. He already ha
d Vance preparing the infirmary. Vance would be getting help from anyone who had an ounce of medical or healing knowledge in them.

  Eric also had some of the others cooking food so they could feed the influx of people about to arrive. He’d put Poppy and Nell in charge of that, knowing full well his friends would love mothering everybody. If things were as bad as Tagh had let on, the newcomers would need it.

  The fact that the captives only wanted to be where he was, seemed kind of daunting. He could understand their need to rely on someone, but why pick him? A demon, or even Tagh as a warrior, would have been a better choice. Eric, a nobody, only just coming into his powers? It seemed like only seconds later Yael phoned, telling him to get his ass outside so that the captives could see he really was there for them.

  Eric hurried through the room, followed closely by Mitch, Claude and Isiah. The captives were huddled beside the vehicles and they were all scared stiff. “Welcome, my name is Eric Meyers.” He sensed the sudden ease descend over everyone as he introduced the others.

  “Jory needs help,” Silla said as soon as she and the others had told him their names.

  Eric knew he didn’t have a hope in hell of remembering them all right now, but given time, he would be able to. He walked over to the back of an SUV where he first saw Jory bundled up in blankets to keep him warm.

  “He needs Vance,” Yael said softly. “He’s been getting steadily worse since we got him and the others out of that hellhole. Jory’s fey.”

  Without thinking, Eric laid his hand gently on Jory and felt the unconscious man relax. In a weird way, it reminded him of the effect his touch had had on Tagh when he’d been beaten up.

  “Would you look at that?” Yael sounded shocked. “I guess you’re going to Vance’s with him. You must be his anchor, as well.”

  What does that mean? Eric only nodded as Orion carefully picked up Jory and entered the house. They headed straight for the infirmary in the Larkos Demons’ den. He wasn’t surprised when seven of the captives peeled off from the rest of the former prisoners and followed them. Eric guessed these had been Jory’s cellmates.

  “Is he going to be okay?” a young woman inquired.

  “Are you Silla?” Eric asked when they placed Jory on the examination table. He did a double take when Vance’s nostrils flared.

  The woman nodded. “Jory is our friend. He knew you would either come for us or you would send people to save us. He gave us all hope that a future for us is possible.”

  Eric watched as Vance crossed the room, returned his jacket from where it had hung by the door and draped it around Silla’s shoulders. The shock, not only on the young woman’s face, but also the rest of them, was profound. Even Orion and Yael stared at Vance. Eric scowled at them as he moved to Vance’s side and again reached out and touched Jory, trying not to cause the poor guy more damage.

  Vance inhaled sharply. “You have two mates.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Eric demanded, even though he didn’t remove his hand from where it rested on Jory.

  “Your touch calms him, just like it did with Murtagh. He’s fey,” Vance supplied, as if that made sense to everyone.

  “What does his being fey have anything to do with it?” Eric wanted answers and he wanted them now.

  Vance huffed, “Being a regent for the warriors, you really need to start learning about all the other species. For instance, fey—and remember that Murtagh, your other mate, is part fey—only their mate’s touch can calm them in times of distress or great hurt.”

  “Tagh’s a Draconian Warrior! He’s not fey at all,” Eric argued.

  “Listen to me. A Draconian Warrior is part of all species. They were bred that way specifically. So yes, in that sense, he is part fey,” Vance Insisted.

  Eric shook his head in confusion. “Let me get this straight. Are you telling me that you think Jory is also my mate? Would he be Tagh’s mate, as well? If so, why wouldn’t Tagh have told me? He called me from the prison. You think he might have mentioned he’d found another mate. Why would he send the kid to me without explanation?” Eric rambled.

  “Have you ever thought he didn’t want to freak you out? Which I can clearly see you are.” Vance sounded annoyed. “Or maybe he assumed, seeing this is the guy you have been dreaming about, that you would have already known.”

  Eric glared at the demon healer. “Yet you seemed to have no qualms about spilling that tidbit of news.”

  “What can I say? If he’s your mate, we have a greater chance of saving him. You can call his soul back if it decides to wander, so suck it up and help me start washing the muck off your mate so I can see what we’re working with.”

  Orion walked over and placed a dish of warm water and some washcloths on the rolling table near Eric. Eric set about cleaning Jory so they could see what needed to be tended to. Eric would have to wait for the man to wake up before he could see if the dreams had been real or only a figment of his overactive imagination.

  Even with Jory beaten to crap, Eric could still tell he was a very beautiful man. He wasn’t sure, but he somehow thought his touch actually soothed the guy in a small way. “Does his face look less pummeled to you?” Eric asked Vance.

  “Your touch is helping his body recover. Mates have a way of speeding up the healing process. Just keep doing what you’re doing and let me tend to what’s needed. Together we’ll work well, and Jory will survive.”

  Eric realized Vance could be very blunt, the worst part being that he probably didn’t even realize it. It was even more evident when Vance turned to his brother and snapped, “Get these people out of here. They need to be fed and cleaned and not necessarily in that order.”

  “Vance! That’s enough,” Eric reprimanded the demon. He waited until Yael and Orion led the others from the room before he continued, “These people have been through enough without you putting them down. If you weren’t needed to stay here and heal Jory, I’d kick your ass and make you go and apologize to those seven individuals. As it is, you’ll do it after you get done here. Words hurt.”

  Eric could sense the shame rolling off Vance at the harshly spoken words. “I didn’t mean to hurt them, but their being in here is a distraction I didn’t need.”

  “You have to remember those seven people were crammed into a cell with Jory. They probably bonded as close as a family could. They more than likely had to rely on one another for everything. They are worried about Jory, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Silla means something to you, or you wouldn’t have covered her tattered clothes with your jacket.”

  Vance stilled. “She’s my mate.”

  Such a simple statement and yet it meant so much. “You know, you’re going to have to take your time with Silla. We have no idea how long she’s been held captive or what she’s had to endure. She’s going to need kindness and not your usual abrupt self.”

  “What if she doesn’t like me?” He sounded so lost.

  “She’s your mate—she’s going to love you. Just take your time to get to know her and show her what a sweet demon you can be.” Eric only half joked.

  A whimper from Jory had Eric focusing on his new mate. “Shh, I’m here. You’re safe now. Come back to us, Jory. Tagh and I need you to get well.”

  His words instantly calmed Jory. “I wonder why they beat him so badly.”

  “Because he told the master no.”

  Eric turned to see a now clean Silla standing in the doorway, still wearing Vance’s jacket.

  “I need to know if Jory is going to be all right. I promise I’ll leave after that.”

  Vance held out his hand and invited Silla to join them. “I’ve administered a sedative to him. If you would like to stand opposite Eric and hold Jory’s other hand, it would be a great help.”

  “Why?”

  When Vance remained silent, Eric answered her question. “Because the touch of people who are close to us, people who mean something to us, is able to tether us to the here and now. Jory might not
be awake right now, but his subconscious knows we’re here for him.”

  “Is that why his pain seemed less when I held him at the zoo? He’d been in so much pain when they threw him back into our cell. I had to make sure he was okay, so I lifted him until his head could lie in my lap. The others all took turns at holding his hands,” Silla asked.

  “Yes, touch goes a long way when it comes to healing,” Vance stated.

  Eric studied Silla for a moment. “Can I ask how long you, Jory and the others were locked up?”

  “I’ve been with the master for the last six years. Before that, I lived with the mistress who ran the place previous to his arrival. She was the one who bought me from my parents. Jory arrived at the master’s a year after I did, but the others were already there. I told Tagh there were warriors like him from time to time, but they always got moved on fast. We were sold for sexual favors and poor Jory soon became the most sought-after of us all.” She shuddered as huge tears silently rolled down her cheeks. “He always came back so hurt. We did our best to make him comfortable, but they always came for him again and again.”

  Sadness flowed through Eric at the mere thought of what his poor mate had been through and all the things he and Tagh were going to have to do to help Jory heal. “Do you know how Jory got captured?”

  “The same as all of us. We were sold into slavery by our families. His mother married a human male after his father died, and his stepfather waited a full year before he had Jory kidnapped and sold. Apparently, he had gambling debts that needed to be repaid and Jory ended up being that payment.” Silla looked up from Jory and stared right at Eric. “His first owner was good to him and treated him like a son, but someone murdered him. Jory wound up in the hands of the killers then sold to the master we were just rescued from.” She blinked. “Do you think they will catch the master, or should that be masters, seeing as there were two? Twins. I never realized that, but Jory did.”

  “If they don’t get caught, I promise I will hunt them down and bring them in for punishment,” Vance growled as he slowly lifted his hands from Jory. “I’ve done all I can. The rest is now up to Jory and his mates.”