“I didn’t listen to Jenna and let this man I didn’t know into my apartment. He said he knew me. He said you caused the accident and then he knocked me out. When I woke up, I was hooked up to a strange machine. I managed to free myself from it and find some clothing and a transporter. I nearly wrecked it on top of a building. I came here as fast as I could. Before … before…” I added a sniff for effect and then a sob.
His hand cupped my shoulder. I tried not to wriggle under his touch.
“Does anyone else know of this?”
I shook my head and blinked the false tears from my sight.
“Oh, dear, that really was quite the story, wasn’t it?”
Oh shit. “Huh?”
“Just what exactly do you take me for?”
“I … don’t understand…” I tried to keep up my act, despite the fear burning in the pit of my stomach.
“Allow me to make it clear for you.” He slammed his fist into the side of my face. The force of the blow knocked me to the floor. Tile hurts when you fall on it. Badly.
“What the hell was that for?” I asked, blinking stars from my vision.
“I can smell his stink all over you,” he spat.
“Who?” I asked.
“That’s no matter. You’ll tell me what I want to know or I’ll drag it out of you with every drop of blood I need to shed. Starting with your precious family.”
His foot came down on my forehead.
Everything went black.
TWENTY-ONE
THE SCRAPING OF SOEMTHING dragging along a stone floor hit my ears before consciousness made me feel it. Just in time to be painfully aware of the stairs I was pulled down. Then cold stone seeped into my skin. That feeling came with a healthy dose of dread. I tried to open my eyes, but it was no use. My lids felt glued together, possibly swollen shut. My wrists were tightly bound by rope. It was from that rope that I was being dragged along. My head hurt. The movement was like being pulled through icy waters. When the scraping stopped, it took a few moments for my body to register there wasn’t any more movement.
A heavy door was pushed open. A muffled voice above me came garbled and gruff. Something to the effect of, ‘here, take her.’ I couldn’t be positive. Then, one sudden, forceful, and final pull of my body came before the door scraped shut. The echo of a heavy lock sliding filled the room, leaving behind a thick silence. Faint shuffling came toward me before the ropes were pulled from my wrists.
Something soft brushed my cheek. I was cradled and rocked in someone’s arms. I forced my eyes open and stared into the face of the one I belonged to with every fiber of my existence.
I opened my mouth. Before I could say a word, he lowered his lips to my ear. “Be careful what you say. We’re being watched.”
“Cor lumen,” I whispered, numbly reaching for his face. He looked like he’d been to hell and back. My heart’s light. Dried blood followed his hair line, matting strands together in thick bands. His cheek was bruised, and he had a split lip. The tips of my fingers gently touched all of his wounds, wishing I could make them disappear.
He squeezed me into him. “You remember?”
I shook my head. He scrunched his brows together in confusion. I could tell the motion pained him. He squeezed me tighter.
“Where’s Justin?”
“I’m here,” he said quietly just behind me.
I tried to turn to see him, but the movement caused a dizzy spell. I leaned into Noah’s chest. “I don’t understand. I know your name, but I can’t remember…”
Noah shook his head. A few days’ worth of stubble caught my hair. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out, mea lux.”
“You’re bothered by it, aren’t you? And as soon as this is over, we’ll be having a nice little chat, just so you know.”
His light smile faded as soon as it appeared. His lip had a small drop of blood pearling from the cut. I reached for it, but he took my hand, slipping his fingers through mine. “It’s okay. Just a scratch.”
“You’re not going to ask me why I came here instead of completing the mission?”
“I’m just happy you’re okay.”
“I’d like to know where the rest of the team is,” Justin said.
Noah shook his head. “Not now. We’ll talk about it later.”
The door opened. A man stepped through, pulling on Noah. He struggled until I shook my head.
“Mea lux, cor meum. Sum vestrum aeternum,” he said as he was pulled out the door.
They’re the words he would always tell me before leaving. The vow we made to each other. A promise I clung to. My light, my heart. I’m yours forever. Each time he’d said them before, I’d known I’d see him again.
I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Justin stared at the door, as if waiting for it to open up again. After a few moments of nothing, he turned his attention to me. “Give them nothing. No matter what. Give. Them. Nothing.”
I nodded. Then someone else came and took Justin. He yanked his arm free, walking through the door willingly. As it closed, a deafening silence filled the room. It not only frightened me but angered me as well.
The time spent alone in that room was an experience worse than waking up in the hospital with no memory.
No sound came from the hall. Nothing to tell how much time passed. Did not hearing anything mean Noah and Justin were dead? I didn’t want to think about that, but my pounding heart wouldn’t keep the thoughts at bay. Trouble was coming. A lot of it.
Then Alexander dared to show himself. He revealed his teeth in a wide, venomous grin. “You have company. Be a good girl and play nicely. You just may get to say goodbye to them before you die.”
“Where are Noah and Justin?”
A gleam in Alexander’s gaze gave away that I just handed him the world’s most renowned treasure. My weakness. “Don’t worry, you’ll join them soon enough.”
That was all the confirmation I needed. While my heart shattered, the tears that blurred my vision ceased. A burning anger lit within me. I didn’t get more than a good fist to the side of his face before he back handed me into the wall. I fell to my stomach, groaning in pain.
TWENTY-TWO
BLUE AND GREEN SPECKS of light littered my vision. I closed my eyes against the vague sense of movement that came over me, making me nauseous. The movement didn’t stop, and there was a sharp pain at the top of my head. My hair was being pulled.
I struggled against Alexander as he dragged me over cold stone and through a series of halls. At one point, I caught the corner, hoping he’d lose his grip of my hair. The maneuver was slightly successful. I lost a chunk of hair. But, he released me and called the men that took Noah and Justin to carry me. One took the upper half while the other took the bottom.
I couldn’t see worth a damn. Only the silhouettes of a room I was taken to then tied to a nice, straight-backed, upholstered chair, situated toward the center of a room.
Alexander kneeled in front of me. “Glad you could join us. Now the game can begin.” He smiled dangerously.
I struggled to focus with the light of the room and a splitting headache. My head seemed to be the most popular place for pain. I watched his form blur and shift through the bright swords of light, blending with more blurred figures around me. From what I could make out, the room was circular with no discernible way in or out, except for the door that was somewhere behind me. Figures moved around me, shifting into a barrier.
“What the hell are you doing to me?” I asked.
“To you?” he asked cynically and chuckled. “Darlin’, I’m not going to do anything to you, except make you watch.”
“Can’t see a thing with the headache I have. One too many injuries to the head,” I retorted, ignoring his attempt at being demeaning with the term ‘darlin’.
“Aw,” he said making it sound like a pout. “Does wittle Elsabetha have a headache?”
His form shifted to a tall table with a lumpy white sheet. He walked a circle around it a c
ouple times, sweeping his gaze to me every so often, just to make sure I was paying attention, I’m sure. I noticed there were three more white masses. He reached out and pulled the sheet off the first while saying, “Say hello to contestant number one.”
I struggled to focus, but the rustling of the sheet continued to echo in my mind. A slight rotation came over me, like I was spinning in the chair. An interesting sensation, considering the circumstances.
“What, don’t recognize her?” Alexander’s voice took on the tone of shock.
“I can’t see, jackass. Concussion means blurred vision along with a massive fucking headache. Apparently your money couldn’t buy you brains.”
“You either have no idea who this is or you’re really stupid to talk to me like that.”
I shrugged. “Whatever, buddy. But don’t think I’m the foolish one. You’re the one that wants me to see this and yet I’m about to lose consciousness.”
I really was. A black rim outlined my vision, closing in from the top and bottom. I was getting a heavy, sinking weight to my body, like I was becoming a part of the chair. Before I got too far under, something was placed to my neck, followed by a prick. A pleasant numbness flowed through me. A nice warmth came in waves.
My vision cleared with each blink. With no unsaid amount of horror, the figures that shifted slightly and formed a wall around us were humans. They overlooked the events with wide stares alight with fear. Fear of both Alexander and of the events they were observing. I wanted to question Alexander for it, but the white masses in front of me captured my attention. The ones I thought were tables covered in white cloth. They were people. I couldn’t guess the names of them without my heart rising in my chest and bile in my throat. Only one of them was uncovered. My mom. Her mouth was gagged with rope and her eyes swollen from tears that streamed down her cheeks.
“Now, I don’t think you two need an introduction, but for our audience, I think it’s necessary. This is your mother, Livian Ellery, correct?”
I shifted my gaze to Alexander. If I could strike him dead with the amount of hatred I had in me, it would’ve happened—ten times.
“Answer me!”
“Yes,” I snapped.
He smiled. “Good.” He stepped to the next person, laying a hand on the sheet. “Care to take a guess on who this one is?”
I glared at him.
“No?” he said then shrugged and pulled the sheet way. My dad. Also bound and gagged by rope. “Contestant number two is the one and only Paulson Ellery, but bad blood between you two has formed a line of separation these last six years, am I right?”
“I don’t remember.”
He held up a finger, wiggling it from side to side. “Careful now. You don’t want to start with that just yet. I still have two more surprises to show you—not that you really have to guess. Well, one maybe.”
My father’s eyes were bright and glistening. He gripped the arms of the chair so tightly his knuckles were white and the tendons were visible in the tops of his hands. Alexander strutted slowly to the next chair. I knew the pattern. Still, Alexander saw fit to keep the audience appeased. They shifted restlessly from side to side, averting their gazes every now and then. Each one of them avoided my glance, preferring to keep their sights on Alexander. He waited until my attention was back on him before continuing his game.
He leaned on the back of the chair then patted the person’s head. “Now this next one, I’m told, was rather fond of you before you went off and got yourself bound, like a slave, to someone else. Even to a species that isn’t yours.” He shrugged again. “Neither is this one though, is he?”
“What is your point, Alexander?”
He smiled. “I’m simply showing the people in this room–humble humans who believe in the greater good–what sort of blasphemy becomes of those who run with the murderous, Nepherium tyrants.”
“You clearly haven’t looked in the mirror today,” I muttered.
He gripped the sheet and roughly pulled it off. The sound of tearing and a moan of pain came from Justin as it was removed. A trickle of blood dripped down his forehead. A patch of hair was missing along where the skin tore. I looked at him apologetically. He shook his head and averted his gaze.
“This contestant, ladies and gentleman, is Nepherium Justin Dobbs.”
Whispers rushed through the wall of people. To hear the fear in the murmured words the people said pained me. As if they had been fed lies until they became truth. I tried to see the room beyond, but the lights above us were so bright, everything on the outside looked much darker and more shadowed than it really was.
“Now, Elsabetha Ehlers,” he dragged out my name, giving it heavy emphasis and meaning, hinting he told the audience something before he brought me in. “Care to guess who the last contestant of our game is?”
“No,” I snapped.
“C’mon, guess.”
“No.”
“Guess!” His voice echoed through the room, revealing it wasn’t much larger than what I could see. Useful information.
“I’m not playing your stupid game. These are people you’ve tied up, you sick, sadistic bastard. It shouldn’t matter if they are human or Nepherium.”
“You will guess, because if you don’t, I’ll extinguish the light of life within them. Starting with your mother.” He stepped behind my mom and stared at me intently. “Now, guess.”
I took in my mom, with tears still falling. She shook her head. I didn’t know what she was trying to convey, but I couldn’t let her die in semi-public humiliation. My father still looked as stiff as before. He also shook his head, very slowly. My attention went to Justin, who remained blank and locked onto the ropes tied to me. I knew what he was trying to do.
“Well?” Alexander asked.
I sighed, resigning for the moment. “Noah.”
“Noah what?” he pressed.
“Noah Ehlers.”
The whispers increased. I didn’t care. I’m not as human as they thought I was.
He chuckled, moving quickly to the chair and pulling the sheet—none too gently—from Noah. His eyes burned angrily. I nearly broke down seeing him still alive, but couldn’t show Alexander or the poorly, misguided people my emotions.
“Just to make things clear…” Alexander said. “I’ve administered a complex poison to all four of our contestants. You get to watch them die slow and agonizing deaths.”
“You bastard!”
He stopped, looking at me with a glance that seemed less than shocked of my interruption, like he expected it. “Unless you answer my questions truthfully. If I believe you, you can choose one person to die quickly.”
“What kind of deal is that, you low life scum of Earth! They’re dying anyway. Why not trade for the antidote?”
“That would leave survivors and that’s not…” he seemed to ponder the correct word, “good for my character. You see, I’m leading a revolution. In order to do that, I must exert a certain level of fear, and that requires delicate handling.”
“A real man wouldn’t sink this low to prove how strong and powerful he was,” I snapped.
He chuckled darkly. “I’ve seen the men you surround yourself with. I’m not impressed.”
“Still haven’t looked into that mirror, huh?”
“Enough!” His words echoed again. “These are the rules of the game. If you don’t play along, I’ll choose for you and you’ll have to suffer through it. Starting with your compar.”
I shifted my gaze to Noah. He seemed too calm sitting there. He wouldn’t look directly at me. But I knew he had a plan. I focused on him for a moment longer then nodded.
“Good. Now tell me, on the night before your accident, where were you?”
I pursed my brows and stared, like he had spoken a different language or quizzed me in math. God, I hated math. His gaze met mine in a look that lacked patience.
“I don’t remember anything like that. I’ve been through this numerous times with you.” I hoped he boug
ht it as truth. I couldn’t bear to watch someone suffer needlessly. Especially in the ways that he surely had in mind.
Just then, Alexander moved his hand to hover over my dad’s. A small burst of fire shot from his palm. My dad screamed in agony. The crowd around us rippled and moved.
“Not so fast,” Alexander shouted at his audience. “Did you really think I invited you to watch a torture and would let you live to walk through those doors, proclaiming the monster that I am? Oh, goodness me! Did I forget to mention? I’m an Aagrarian.”
Loud whispers filled the air. I searched Noah’s eyes for confirmation. He slowly nodded his head.
“Yes, the words of the Nepherium were true. We do exist. Biding our time for when the faith in them would fade enough to give us a leg in through the door. You humans really made it too easy.”
“You staged the murders?” I asked, having connected the dots enough that things started making more sense.
“Elsabetha, I murdered them!”
“But the dinner…” I tried to make sense of the time frame. There was another body found with incriminating evidence at the same time I was supposed to meet Alexander for dinner. The same time Taberious arrived at the club and stopped Justin from giving me answers.
“I killed that human before the dinner, went home, cleaned up, and then went to the restaurant, where you had the gall to stand me up.” His voice never changed in volume but seemed to vibrate through my mind, especially as he stepped closer to me. “Now, for the one you want to die…” He turned to walk back behind the chairs.
Relieved he believed me, I knew exactly who to choose. Whether he accepted it or not was on him. “I choose me.”
He stopped then faced me. “Not a choice, I’m afraid. Although, I do have a very special death planned for you. Here’s a sneak peek … your precious compar will have your blood on his hands. Or should I say, for the sake of our human audience, husband?”
“How is that when he’s dying from a complex poison?”
“You really do irritate me with your incessant questions.” He turned around, stepping behind the chairs. With a bouncing gesture above each person’s head, he said, “Eeny … meeny … miney…” He stopped, turning toward the sound of the door behind me. “I thought I told you not to interrupt?”
Made to Forget (Nepherium Novella Series) Page 10