Captive By Night: A Dardanos, Co. Taken Collection

by Calle J. Brookes

  He was the first Dardaptoan she’d seen to have any type of physical deformity, and at once she knew how he’d gotten it. She’d seen his face in the photographs of her grandfather’s acts.

  This man had been tortured by her grandfather and had lived to tell about it. No wonder he so obviously hated her. How could she blame him? “Welcome home, Equan Black...”

  He stared at her for the longest time, and she knew what he was seeing. She favored her grandfather. The eyes, hair color, shape of her face. She favored him probably more so than any of her cousins or siblings, except for Rand. That had to be hard for someone like this man to see. “Is it? My home? Funny you should call it that, girl. How old are you?”

  “I’m not a girl, I’m a woman. And I’m twenty-nine. I’ll be thirty in February. How old are you?” Mallory refused to look away from him or be intimidated by him. And that was what he wanted to do. A defensive mechanism, or just a natural hatred for all named Taniss? Either one would be understandable.

  “Seven hundred and three. There I have you beat.”

  “Can’t deny it. Aodhan, we need to get inside. I need to see my sister. Make sure she’s ok.”

  The scarred man snorted. “See she’s already pulling your strings, Aodhan. Pity. You used to be a man worth respecting.”

  “Watch it, Nalik. We may have been friends once, but there are lines to never cross, and you know them.”

  “Mmmm. I suppose. I guess you have to care for those lines to even be noticed. But you’d best get your female inside. Hate to see her catch her death...from a chill.”

  Aodhan tensed at the obvious innuendo in the other man’s voice. Mallory put a hand on his arm. It wasn’t a battle worth fighting right then. She shook her head, knowing Aodhan could still see the movement though the night around them was getting darker.

  “Nalik...we will speak more on the morrow.”

  “Of course. You know where to find me, my prison is of my family’s own making. Good night. I’m sure you will enjoy the rest of it.”

  Mallory didn’t know what made her say it, but she had to. To show him that he did not frighten her? Maybe. “Good night, Mr. Black, it was a...pleasure to have met you.”

  “Mmmm. Did you know, girl? You have a sibling or cousin just over there, near the koi grotto, digging in the flowers, humming? Best collect her before she catches a chill. Or the eye of a monster...she looks rather...tempting. One might eat her just to stop the humming, as well.”

  Mallory stepped in the direction of the area where Josey had been attacked such a short time ago. In the light from the hundred rooms surrounding the garden, that was reflected off the pond’s water, she could see the shape of a woman. A girl, really. “Cassandra? What are you doing?”

  “Mallory? Is that you? I can’t really see you.”

  “What are you doing out here? Don’t you know it’s late? Weren’t you listening to Emily at dinner? Someone has threatened us all. You shouldn’t be out here alone!” Emily’s little sister was different then all the rest of the family. More trusting, naïve. She far preferred to spend her time in the gardens on the various properties. She was the one who had nothing to do with TI, had no interest in the company whatsoever. She was also the youngest of the female cousins, and Mallory always felt protective of her. More so than even with Becca. Cass was only six months younger than her sister, but a world of difference existed between the two.

  “I was helping the flowers. They were hurting for some reason. I could actually feel them crying out. Strange, huh? And I wasn’t alone, was I? You were out here. And so was he.”

  “He?”

  “That man. I could feel him watching me for the longest time. I knew I was safe, despite the other...”

  “The other?”

  “The other person. They were watching me, too. Planning something...”

  Aodhan wrapped a hand around Mallory’s arm and pulled her closer. He guided Cassandra to walk in between them. He led them inside where Mallory was able to send Cassandra upstairs to the room she was occupying between Barlaam shared with Jade and Emily with Rydere.

  Aodhan watched her cousin disappear inside her suite, then turned to Mallory with a contemplative and serious expression on his face. “Kitten...when you get a chance, I want you to have your doctor cousin study all the files of your grandfather’s experiments.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I have a strange feeling that Jocelyn wasn’t the only one your grandfather may have experimented on...young Cassandra is different and not in an entirely human way. She’s almost Druidic in nature.”

  “How long do you think they were watching her? Do you think Nalik is planning something? Do you believe him? What about the other Cass mentioned? What? Do you think she’s in danger?”

  “Slow down. There are only so many questions we can consider at a time.” Aodhan pulled her close again. “I do know one thing...”

  “What is that?” She tried to suppress the urge to grab Cass and drag her back to Aodhan’s suite where she could keep the younger girl safely under her watch.

  “If Nalik had wanted to harm your cousin he would have done so. He is not the kind to wait patiently for anything. Even revenge.”

  “Is he the kind who would take out his revenge on an innocent twenty-year-old girl? I hope not, but you would know him better than I.”

  “No. No, Nalik wouldn’t...but this other. I wouldn’t expect anything else. She said they were planning something. We just have to find and stop them first...”

  Mallory looked at her Rajni and saw the determination on his face. The same determination she felt.

  They’d find the answers they’d sought, and they’d do it together.

  Awakening

  The

  Demon’s Queen

  Chapter One

  Hours of planning would culminate in just a few moments, and Rathan Malickus felt the tension and adrenaline coursing through his body. It had been years since he’d had any such adventure.

  “You are sure this is who you seek, then?” he asked the second man waiting upon the mountain that overlooked the small town of Dardanos, Colorado.

  “Yes.” Rand Taniss kept his lupine eyes focused on the headlights traveling away from the town. Only one car was visible on the small highway for many miles. That car was their target. “Jambu said these two are the closest to the king and his advisers.”

  Rathan nodded. “Vengeance is entertaining, is it not?”

  “That’s not what I would call it.”

  Rathan shrugged. He viewed things differently than the once-human Rand. Demons lived for things such as vengeance. That it wasn’t his vengeance, but Rand’s that he sought mattered little. “Ah, but you are Lupoiux, not Demon.”

  “They are getting closer. Do you remember what to do?” Rand smirked, alluding to the running joke between the two about Rathan’s considerable age.

  “Please, this pitifully simple plan of yours is nothing compared to the maneuvers I once orchestrated.” Rathan had been a general in his father’s demonic army until the uprising back in Galveston in 1900. He’d been a displaced king since then. “We are stopping a car, and taking two women hostage. What is so difficult about that?”

  “These are not human women.”

  “Dardaptoan. Still weak compared to my kind.” The women were of the Dardaptos race, an ancient race that had inspired the silly human legends of vampires. Barely stronger than humans, the Dardaptoan women were some of the weakest in the Kind. But the Dardaptoan males, they were a worthy foe for either Lupoiux or Demon.

  It was the male family members of these women that were the true targets of vengeance.

  Two weeks earlier, Rand’s family home was invaded, and four of his female relatives taken by Dardaptoan males. His relatives were defenseless human women in their twenties. They’d not stood a chance against the Dardaptoan king and his three advisers. Rand’s two sisters were among them, and since the Dardaptoans fed on humans, there was no hope to ge
t them back. Rathan mourned the four women more than he’d thought he could. They’d made him a part of their family so easily.

  “So we will meet up in three days, then?” Rand paced in a small circle, the move so canine that Rathan smirked again. Lupoiux werewolves were so animalistic it was a wonder they were considered civilized at all.

  “At the retreat, yes.” The plan was decidedly simple. They each would take one of the women, abandon the car and hike in different directions. They would meet atop Taniss Mountain with their captives three days hence. In the meantime, Rathan was free to do whatever he wished with his captive. That was what he was truly looking forward to.

  Rathan was Incubus, a sub-species of demons who fed on two sources—women’s sexual fantasies, or sex with women. It had been a while since he’d been given free rein to feast.

  Rathan didn’t feed from the women located on Taniss Estate. They were all servants of Rand’s human family, or they were that family and he had made a promise to his friend a decade earlier to never eat from his family. He could occasionally brush against the Taniss women in fantasies, but not full-fledged dine.

  He suddenly felt starved. “Come on, let’s do this then.”

  “Good luck, my friend.” Rand flashed into wolven form, then lifted his auburn muzzle to the moon. A long, undulant howl split the air before the werewolf raced toward the highway.

  Chapter Two

  Kindara rested as the miles passed. Her head hurt from the strain of the last two weeks and her daughter had insisted on driving. Kindara hadn’t the strength to argue with the stubborn child. Plus, Jierra was excited to be taking her first trip away from Dardanos and had wanted to drive. How could any mother have said no?

  This trip could potentially provide so much for the Dardaptoan people that Kindara felt the anxiety close in once again. Her people needed better medical care. They needed antibiotics, sedatives, pain relievers, fever reducers, all of it. For such an advanced species, they’d been unable to create even the most rudimentary medications. Human medications just didn’t work on the Dardaptoans.

  Kindara was her tribe’s chief healer, and the burden rested on her shoulders. A week earlier that fact had become even more abundantly clear when her sister-in-law had been attacked by Lupoiux wolves. With no antibiotics, it had been grim. Only the fact that Josey was a recently converted human who still possessed human antibodies in her blood had made a difference; had she been born Dardaptoan she probably would have died.

  Kindara couldn’t let that happen to her brother. She’d lost her own Rajni, her own mate Iavius, almost twenty-nine years earlier. She’d not want anyone—especially her family members—to experience that pain. She and Jierra were making the two hundred mile drive to Denver to speak with an ancient witch about a possible strain of antibiotics the Dardaptoans might be able to use.

  Her daughter hummed along to a human song playing on the radio, her fingers drumming the wheel. Kindara smiled. This girl was her life, the only reason she’d gotten past her Rajni’s death was Jierra.

  She’d been a squalling infant when Kindara’s brother had placed the newly orphaned Jierra in her arms two years after Iavius’s death. The child’s parents—cousins of Kindara’s—had been killed by the same vicious monster who’d taken Iavius. As the female head of the family, Kindara was responsible for finding homes for any orphans. She’d found one for Jierra the instant she’d touched her. This was her child, and always would be.

  “You have horrible taste in music.”

  “No, I have younger taste in music. Who was the most popular composer in your youth?” Jierra laughed after she asked. “Beethoven.”

  “I preferred Mozart. I heard him play once. It was spectacular.”

  “You look pretty good for your age, then.”

  “Don’t I, though? You’d better watch the road.”

  “There’s no one around for miles, Mother.” Jierra increased the speed.

  “No wild animals, then?” Kindara asked as a howl split the night air.

  “That sounded a little creepy.” Jierra tapped the break seconds before a large dark shape darted in front of the car.

  Jierra jerked the wheel, sending the car into a swerve that had Kindara grasping the handle and uttering a short prayer. Finally, the car stopped and both women dragged in cleansing breaths.

  “Are you ok, Ji?” Kindara put one hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Jierra had never driven a car more than ten miles in any one direction, had never been on a highway after dark. Had probably never seen an animal on the road beside a cat or dog. “It happens; animals dart out all the time.”

  Jierra flipped on the interior light, and Kindara scanned her daughter’s face. Jierra’s eyes, deep amber, were wide and her chin trembled. Her bottom lip was tucked under her top teeth and she swallowed repeatedly. Kindara pushed a lock of strawberry blonde hair out of Jierra’s eyes, the gesture meant to be soothing.

  “I don’t want to drive anymore.”

  “Ok.” Kindara opened her door and slid from the car. She’d feel better driving now, anyway. She heard the other door open just as a man stepped out of the shadows.

  Kindara reflexively went into a defensive pose. “Ji! Back in the car, now!”

  Her daughter knew not to question, but Jierra issued a short scream that had Kindara’s veins filling with ice. The man in front of her laughed as he stepped closer.

  From what Kindara could see in the darkness, he was tall and strong. Equally as tall as her brother, Cormac, who stood six-foot-seven. Equally as strong.

  At five-foot-nine, Kindara knew she was facing a fight.

  He didn’t smell human. He didn’t smell Dardaptoan, either. What he smelled, was evil.

  ****

  The woman he faced was glorious, and he didn’t need his night eyes to see it. She was below average height for a Dardaptoan woman and slim. Pale hair surrounded a delicate face like a halo, making her appear almost angelic in the traditional white tunic of female Dardaptoan royalty. He laughed again. Fitting, then, that she be taken by a demon.

  She must have taken his laugh for inattention for she sprang at him, hands raised to strike. It was pitifully easy to deflect her. He didn’t want to hurt her, and though he sensed she was an experienced fighter it would be easy for him to do.

  He grabbed both wrists and forced her over the hood of the car before using his body weight to subdue her. He cursed when sharp fangs pierced his shoulder. He twisted, harder than he intended. Her head banged on the hood of the car. She stilled for a moment and he wrapped the rope he’d tucked in a pocket around her wrist.

  “Jierra! Run!” She screamed even as she fought him. “Go! Now!”

  “She can’t,” Rathan told her. “The Lupoiux wolf has her.”

  Her struggles were more desperate now and Rathan fought to catch her other hand.

  “Going to play with your toy all day?” Rand’s voice came from the other side of the car. Rathan cursed again when he realized the wolf had had much less difficulty with his own captive.

  “Just having a bit of fun with her.” Rathan ran one hand over the horns on his head, picking up a trace amount of the Mesmus that his kind used to control difficult prey. He covered the woman’s mouth with that hand, ensuring she got a strong dose of the chemical. He leaned close to whisper the command to sleep in her ear.

  Her slim body went slack beneath him and he lay atop her for a moment, relishing the feel of feminine flesh pressed against him. He would enjoy feasting on this one. He straightened, then pulled her over one shoulder, one hand rising to cup a sweetly curved backside.

  Rand circled the front of the women’s car, his own burden in a similar position. Only she was awake. Rathan got an impression of a pretty female with delicate features and large eyes. Terrified eyes. “In three, then.”

  “Yes.” Rathan nodded. “See you then.”

  ****

  Rathan hiked for several hours, the woman’s weight no real burden. He’d shifted her some ti
me before, wrapping her long legs around his waist and arranging her golden head on his shoulder. She slept on, her soft breath kissing his neck with even rhythm.

  When the sun rose, he began searching for a suitable place for the two of them to spend the day. Demons preferred the night hours, so they would sleep during the day and continue walking the next night.

  He found the spot he was looking for, a cave that would be difficult for anyone tracking his captive to find. And he didn’t fool himself, the Dardaptoan king would be searching for one such as this. Would want her back. Most males would just simply want her.

  He wasn’t giving her back; at least, not anytime soon.

  He laid her on the cave’s smooth stone floor, tucking her knees to her chest and rolling her to one side to prevent her from resting on her bound hands. He whispered reinforcement to his earlier command. She’d slumber until he returned, whenever that was.

  It took him less than an hour to find what he wanted and he waved his hand to bind the pine needles together with a small spell. He dabbled very little in the black arts common to witches, but those he used were practical.

  He’d need a soft bed for his captive, especially if he was to spend part of the day hours feasting upon her. He returned to her quickly, casting another small spell to command the pine bedding to trail behind him. Just outside the cave entrance were enough soft weeds for him to do one more thing. Another spell had the grasses weaving together in a blanket. The cave would be around fifty degrees and he knew that would be too cold for his Dardaptoan prisoner. Dardaptoan women lacked the ability to handle colder temperatures, so he must be cautious.