Hunter smiled in anticipation at the battle to come. He’d always loved a challenge, and trying to convince Chantrean men they didn’t need to do all the thinking for their mates was a worthy one. “I hope you all find happiness on your new home. Chantrea and all her bounties await you below.”
Hunter glanced at the contingent of Manruvians, looking for the familiar golden hair of their commander. When his gaze met Mikel’s, his long time friend and ally, he nodded. Once he heard his friend issue the order to stand ready, he turned his head toward the Merman operating the transportation station. “Transport us directly to the coordinates I gave you, Captain.”
“As ordered, sir. And good luck.”
With a tingling in his extremities, the steel gray of the ship disappeared in a blink and he found himself and the other men locked behind titanium bars, in the dungeon of his palace.
“Goddess, dammit,” Taliff shouted.
What else was there to say? The women were gone and their supposed protectors were trapped in an impenetrable prison unable to come to their rescue. Hell, they couldn’t even rescue themselves. And somewhere, the Black Rose and all her followers were crowing their triumph
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Though she shouldn’t have been, Eve was surprised to find her and the other women locked behind the gilded doors of a harem, or what she’d always associated as ‘harem-esque’ anyway. Was that even a word? And why did inane thoughts always flutter through her mind when she should be thinking of more important things? It made her feel stupid.
“Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events.” Eve looked over the group of gaping and flustered women and knew it was time they showed the Chantreans that women were useful for more than procreation and servitude.
“All right ladies, let’s kick some ass. From what I’ve learned about Chantrean males, the women here are kept submissive and so the men aren’t used to strong women. That’s to our advantage.”
The women smiled and nodded amongst themselves. Until the Chantrean men were shown that women could take care of themselves—and others— they’d never be considered equals.
Every woman in the overly decorated red and golden room was aware that this was their opportunity to prove their worth and their usefulness. Female lions on Earth provided food and protection to their pride for a reason, as the Chantreans were about to discover for themselves.
“Any suggestion on how to get out of here, ladies?”
A petite brunette in the back of the gaggle held up her hand. “I’ve an idea.”
“What’s your name?”
“Liana Peterson.”
“Okay, Liana, if you have an idea that might get us out of this room, I’m all ears.”
She swallowed and looked to the other women surrounding her. Eve could feel her nervousness. This omega obviously was unused to speaking her mind. The fact that she’d chosen to do so now, when the others were all watching said strong things about her true character. Once this was over, Eve would take Liana under her wing and teach her some assertiveness.
“If someone managed to leave Earth with some bobby pins, I think I’ll be able to pick the lock. It appears to be of the same variety we used on the bathroom doors at my house growing up. My little brother was forever locking himself in there and needing rescue.”
“That’s a great idea. Do any of you have a bobby pin lodged somewhere in your hair?” After feeling around in her own tresses fruitlessly, she shrugged. “I lost mine during my capture.”
Finally, after several minutes of groping and prodding through their tangled tresses someone shouted. “Ah ha. I found one.”
“Thank God,” someone muttered from the back of the room. Eve agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment. But she couldn’t help but interject a bit of knowledge while they were trapped here. “The Chantrean believe a mother goddess protects and shelters them. The Mother Goddess Alana.”
“Well, at least they got one thing straight on this backward planet. Earth women have always known that God had to be a woman.”
Chortles and snorts erupted from the women as they let the witty comment wash over them and lift their spirits. Seconds later they really had something to laugh over. Liana stood in the doorway, the view of the empty hallway apparent to them all. “You’re a gem among women, Liana.”
Liana’s blush spread as the women surrounded her and began to hug her in appreciation. No matter how much she’d like to hang around and bullshit with the women, they had men to rescue and the Black Rose to capture. For she had no doubt, the Black Rose had something to do with the treachery that put them in this situation to begin with.
“Liana, I want you to close the door for now, but make sure it stays unlocked. When we leave here I want you to lock the door as though we’re still trapped inside.” When she nodded in understanding, Eve turned to the rest of the ladies waiting for their orders.
“I need to try and reach Tal. Maybe he’ll know where he is and where in the hell we are. After that, we can figure out how to rescue them, and figure out what in the hell is going on in the palace.”
Eve closed her eyes, blocking about the muted whispers of her pride. Tal?
Moya?
What the fuck is going on, Tal?
I really wish I knew. We’re locked in the damn dungeon of the palace. We’re still trying to figure out how to get free. There are quite a few pissed off Manruvians in here with malfunctioning weaponry.
Well, if you can tell us how to get to you, consider yourself rescued. We’ve already managed to pick the lock of our hideously decorated prison.
She could feel his laughter through their bond, and knew her inane comments amused him.
What does the room look like, moya? Perhaps, you’re somewhere in the palace.
Hell, I could have told you that. They put us in a red room full of pillows and gold trim. Looks like a harem crossbred with a whorehouse.
Taliff snorted. You’re in the Easers apartments. The sex workers use them to ease our warriors.
I so do not want to know that, Taliff. She huffed in exasperation. Just tell us how to get to you, will ya?
Take the hallway to the left until you reach an intersection that’s split in five directions. Take the hallway farthest to the right and follow it down to the end. It will look like a dead end, but if you face the wall and press the right bottom brick it should release the hidden latch. The dungeons are at the bottom of the stairway.
Hang tight. We’ll be there shortly.
Be careful, moya. There will be opposition. You can count on it.
I’m looking forward to it.
After blowing him a mental kiss, Eve’s eyes snapped open. “Okay, ladies. I know where the men are. Now let’s go save their asses.”
With enthusiastic nods, the woman all fell behind Eve as they silently left their prison.
The halls were empty and eerily silent as they made their way to the five-way intersection Taliff spoke of. Where the hell was everyone? Shouldn’t the palace be overrun with people? Where were the maids, the advisors? Hell, even the sex workers were missing.
“Keep your ears open, ladies. I don’t like the feel of this. All this quiet is making my senses shriek in warning,” she whispered to those next to her, indicating they should pass the word.
If someone told her that thirty-seven women could move together in absolute silence, she would think they were stoned, because everyone knows that you put two women together in a room and silence was impossible. But Eve was impressed with the stealth these women used when the situation called for it.
They were nearly to the end of the corridor where the hidden door waited when they were spotted by a group of Chantrean men dressed in unrelenting black. “Spread out, ladies. Go for the kill, for now. Let’s rescue the men before we take prisoners.”
As though they’d hunted and fought together as a unit for years, the women spread out. The betas paired up with the gammas and omegas…the strong protecting the weak.
Like hell.
Eve’s lips curled in distaste. He wouldn’t get one of his grimy paws on her or any of her pride.
“Why is it evil souls usually wear pretty faces?”
“Are you talking to me, woman? Get on your knees where you belong.”
Eve laughed. She just couldn’t help it. When Taliff said those words, her panties became soaked with need. This creep didn’t even warrant so much as a quirked eyebrow in response. He may be a sexual deviant, but he wasn’t sexually dominant.
“You couldn’t get me to kneel at your feet, even if you had help holding me down.”
She could hear the growl of pure meanness erupt from his throat and knew any second he would try to take her down. He’d never get the chance. “Now,” she hollered.
The men, expecting the women to put up little or no fight, were unprepared for the roars of outrage that shattered the eerie silence. While the men were distracted, the woman went for the kill, ripping the throats out of the rebels with unsheathed claws. Only the leader still lived, though from the amount of blood pooled beneath his body he wouldn’t last but a minute or two.
She squatted next to the dying leader and looked upon him with disdain. “Where is everyone being held? You have to be keeping them somewhere.”
“Go… hell…bitch.” Blood gurgled from his gaping wound until he breathed his last. Less than a minute had passed since she ordered her pride to attack.
“What do you want us to do with the bodies, Eve?” asked Lily, one of the eldest of the women.
“Leave them here. Let the others see for themselves what will happen if they don’t surrender.”
The women quickly backed away from their prey, surreptitiously wiping blood from their clothes and hair. Eve almost snorted. Even when in battle, a woman tried to keep her appearance presentable.
Eve quickly led the women to the end of the hall and pressed the appropriate brick. Once the hidden door swung open, she waited until the last of them entered the unlit stairway before letting it swing shut, sealing them into the musty darkness.
“Okay, ladies. The dungeon is supposed to be at the bottom of this staircase. I imagine it will be heavily guarded. If you have the chance to get the cells open, go for it. It will be easier to defeat the opposition if the men are fighting with us.”
Whispered murmurs of agreement drifted up the stairs, then all went silent as they descended deeper and deeper into the bowels of the fortress. It wouldn’t surprise her to find that all of the Chantrean males that usually roamed the castle were being held in the cells. It was the location of all the missing women they needed to discover. But, first things first.
Once they reached the bottom of the steps, Eve squeezed passed the others. She pulled on the metal door, praying it would open silently. Nothing happened. Dammit. It too appeared locked, and this lock looked nothing like that of their earlier prison. In fact, it didn’t look like a working lock at all. Maybe some sort of decoration. Shit…
“Liana?”
“Yes, Mistress?”
“Oh, please. Just call me Eve. Come here and take a look at this lock. How can we get through here?”
The others spread out a bit to let the petite woman through. Seconds passed as Liana inspected the lock. “I don’t know. I doubt a bobby pin will work on this. It looks like an electronic key of some sort is needed. See?” she said, pointing at the panel mounted on the wall near the door.
“Hmm… that gives me an idea. Did any of you happen to hear where our ship was taken?”
“I did,” Lily piped up. “They attached some sort of tow beam to it and dragged it behind them.”
“So, theoretically, Shoshoni should be above us somewhere.”
At Lily’s nod, Eve reached for her link with her mate. Tal?
Moya, what is it? Is all well?
Just a slight delay. Are you still wearing your communicator?
Yes, though I’m not sure it works since no one has responded to our numerous calls for help.
Try Shoshoni’s frequency. I need her to send a signal that will unlock all the electronic locks in this place.
Minutes passed before they finally heard the nearly silent beep of the lock being disengaged.
Thanks, moyo. We’re on our way.
“Let’s go, ladies. Try to leave two or three guards alive if possible. We need all the information we can get.”
Eve eased the door open, and crept into the dimly lit corridor. The others entered the hallway just as silently. She could see several hallways that branched out from this main one. A lot of people could be held down here. They needed to search them all.
“Split up,” she whispered. “Stay in groups of three or more, if possible, and take no unnecessary chances.”
Like shadows, the women disappeared down the different corridors, careful to move with absolute silence and always on their guard.
Eve, with Lily and Liana, made her way down the main hallway. She could feel the tug of her mate and followed the elusive link down the darkened corridor. Just before they reached the end, Eve spotted another door. She crouched down to peer at the nearly rusted through lock. This one at least appeared similar to one that used skeleton keys back home. “Liana, can you pick this one?”
Liana looked over Eve’s shoulder, and whispered into her ear. “I should be able to. Give me a sec.”
It took longer than a second, but in the end this lock gave just as easily as the one upstairs in the bordello. Liana nodded at Eve and stepped back, fully aware as Alpha, Eve would enter first.
“If you’re in there, Tal, I’m coming in.”
Slowly, Eve turned the handle and made to step into the darkened cell. Too late she remembered that Taliff said that their cell had bars. Perhaps if she remembered sooner, she would have been prepared for the sight that greeted her. But in all honesty, after what Taliff told her yesterday, nothing could have readied her for this discovery.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tal?
Yes, Eve?
Has someone released you yet?
Not yet, but by the sounds coming from the head of this corridor it won’t be much longer. Why, Eve? What’s wrong?
I wouldn’t say wrong, exactly, but definitely unexpected.
What is it, Eve?
What do your parents look like, Tal? Because I swear I’m looking at your brother’s mirror image, or what he’d look like if he were in his sixties.
That’s impossible, Eve.
Well, tell that to the man asleep on this well-worn cot. And he isn’t alone.
Eve approached the sleeping man and his female companion as cautiously as she could. If she were trapped beneath her home for fifteen years without anyone’s knowledge, she’d attack her rescuer if it meant freedom.
She could feel Lily and Liana at her back and hoped they’d continue to watch the door. She really didn’t want them to be discovered by the enemy right now.
Eve reached out to lightly shake the man’s shoulder. Before she could react, he reached out and snagged her hand, pulling her onto the bed. His other hand quickly wrapped around her throat. “Who are you?” he demanded.
When it looked like Lily and Liana would intervene, she held up her hand to stop them. “My name is Eve Roberts. I am Taliff’s mate.”
“Impossible. Taliff and Hunter died fifteen years ago.”
“No,” she croaked. His fingers squeezed her throat tighter at her denial. She needed to speak fast before he killed her. “Are you their father?” She knew the answer but she had to have confirmation.
“Yes, I’m Brantiff Shi’Lan. And this,” he said, dragging his unresponsive mate onto his lap, “is his mother, Lum
a.”
Well, now she verified their identities, but how were Taliff and Hunter going to handle the news? “To them, you drowned fifteen years ago.”
“Haeda didn’t kill them, then?”
“No. But they think she managed to kill you.” His fingers eased up a little and Eve took a gasping breath. “Somehow, she escaped her cell here when you disappeared at sea and took on the role of Black Rose full-time.”
She must have said something that struck him as honest, because he dropped his hand from around her swollen throat. She didn’t waste any time jumping up from the bed and out of arms reach.
“Where are my sons?”
“They’re being held in one of the cells down here. We were trying to find them as well as everyone else that’s gone missing around here.”
“It’s been nearly a week since we’ve eaten. All we’ll do is hold you up. Find my sons.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed. First she’d assess Luma, then they’d figure out how to get the two out of here unseen. “How long has she been in this state?”
“She hasn’t woken in two risings. I fear her life on this realm is drawing to a close.”
“I’m a healer. Let me see what I can do for her.”
Seconds passed and finally he relented, waving her forward with a regal sweep of his hand. Even filthy and near starved this man oozed power and authority, his nobility shining through.
Eve approached the unconscious woman and gently rested her palms on Luma’s torso. With eyes closed, Eve tapped into her inner self, the place where her healer’s warmth flowed, strong and sure. She gathered her power, built it up until she thought she’d lose control if she tried to collect any more and eased it through her body and out through her hands.
A golden light bathed Luma as Eve’s powers seeped into her pores. Minutes passed silently while she willed all her strength into Tal’s mother. She couldn’t allow Luma to die. This family suffered enough tragedy at the hands of Haeda and she’d be damned if Tal would lose his mother all over again.
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