by Brenda Trim
“I can multi-task verra well. I’m ogling your lush bosom while I watch you roll the food.” He reached around her for an empty wrapper, enclosing the cage he had created. She was going to combust from unspent lust. Not even watching him fumble and create a mess doused the flames.
“That looks like a burrito. And, you are invading my bubble. I need space to work, and breathe.”
He shamelessly rubbed the hard length of his erection against her ass. “I’ve got your burrito, a ghra.” Apparently guys of all species were all the same, always thinking of sex.
*****
“Have you had any more specific details on your premonition of impending trouble?” Orlando asked when Elsie rubbed her stomach, again.
She paused, pacing around her desk, and glanced at him. “No I haven’t.”
“Talk to me El, I can see that something is bothering you,” he walked over to her, bumping his shoulder against hers.
She grimaced, in frustration. “I can’t seem to figure out who I should warn, or try to protect. I’m not getting the direction that I usually do. And, the feeling of disaster is becoming more urgent, it’s annoying,” she shook her head and resumed pacing. “I can’t think about that right now. I have work to do. My client will be here in forty-five minutes.”
Orlando watched as she went back to the paperwork she had been trying to complete for the past hour. He knew when her thoughts strayed to Zander, because her emotions became a tangled mess of arousal, grief, confusion, hope and shame. He was not privy to the conversation between them the night before, but given both of their emotions, they had made some progress. He stifled his jealousy. He’d been fighting his attraction to her from day one, but had been unsuccessful. He wanted her beyond what was healthy for him. She belonged to Zander and he needed to remember that.
“I can see that you aren’t able to work with your worry. Try not to let it get to you. You have had a lot going on lately. I have a feeling the Goddess has put events into play—”
His words were cut off as his nostrils flared and he sensed skirm. Within seconds, Kadir and Azazel stormed into the small office, followed by a dozen skirm. They were in deep shit. There was no way in hell he’d be able to fight off so many by himself. But, he would die trying before he allowed her to be hurt.
“Very clever, demon, but you won’t win.” He sprang across the office and flung Elsie behind him, as he slid his titanium sgian dubh from his boot. He didn’t have time to determine how Kadir had discovered the charity. He had to protect her. “El, stay behind me, and call Santi. Tell him to bring the cavalry, we have an infestation.”
“She won’t be calling anyone,” Kadir said. He teleported behind her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell your king that he can have his mate back, in exchange for the amulet.” Kadir waved her cell phone in the air. Orlando yelled and shifted mid-leap. He landed on a skirm and tore into its throat. By the time he lifted his head, she was gone, as were the archdemons. He roared to the ceiling. They would all die and he would get her back!
He gave himself over to his rage as he mindlessly clawed and shredded his way through the remaining skirm. He had lost Elsie. This was his fault. He was supposed to protect her, and he had failed, miserably. As he incapacitated the last skirm, he felt Zander’s presence enter his mind. He could feel the anger and terror emanating from him.
“What, in the bluidy hell, is happening? I felt her fear, then pain, and now, nothing. I doona feel her at all! I canna get a sense of her location, either!”
“We were ambushed at the office, after sunset. Kadir and Azazel arrived with a dozen skirm. They disappeared with her, Z. We will get her back. I am so fucking sorry, you can’t even imagine.”
He shifted back to human form, picked up his blade where he had dropped it, and dispatched the corpses. He contemplated how they could’ve known where she would be. They had to have had help.
He winced as Zander shouted his rage. He was as consumed with fear for Elsie as Zander was. He imagined the havoc Zander was wreaking in the compound, given the spiraling emotions Orlando felt emanating from him. They coalesced into a maelstrom of killing rage.
“Get the FUCK back to Zeum, now. We are going to find my mate! And, you had better start praying to the Goddess that she is found, alive and safe.”
*****
Elsie had never teleported before and felt like she was on a rollercoaster. She was speeding through a dark tunnel unable to see anything around her then suddenly dropping down a steep hill. Her stomach hollowed out and nausea swamped her. The entire situation was disorienting, to say the least.
She stumbled on shaky limbs as they stopped moving. She blinked and the world took on color and texture again. The demon had a tight hold of her arm, and was dragging her across a dirt floor. In the dim light, she could make out the Fae that she had seen outside Confetti, but little else.
Where had they taken her? She glanced around taking in her surroundings and realized she was inside a cave, and she was being drug toward a pair of shackles that were set in a stone wall. She thrashed her body, fighting to get free. No way was she going meekly to her death. If he got her shackled, it was over for her.
Kadir laughed. It was an awful sound, like rock scraping metal. “Don’t waste your energy trying to get away. There is nowhere for you to run. Your vampire will come for you, soon enough.”
Like hell, would she be compliant. She sunk her teeth into his arm and renewed her struggles. “Fuck you,” she spat.
“Now you’re just turning me on. I may have to rethink my plans for you,” Kadir smirked. She cringed when he reached out to stroke her cheek.
A familiar voice interrupted before he made contact. She was grateful for the reprieve while at the same time her stomach knotted further. “No, Kadir. Let me handle this. I have longed to silence her from the moment I first saw the whore.” She looked for the female who spoke and watched as Lena strode out of thick shadows. Elsie bared her teeth at the woman as she grabbed her by the hair.
“How could you be working with these creatures when you know what they’ve done to your people? What they did to the man you claim is yours?” Elsie had hated this vampire from the moment she’d met her and knew right away she was evil, but this was beyond. Elsie didn’t miss the panic before Lena managed to mask it. The woman was smart to be afraid. Elsie didn’t want to be around when Zander found out that one of his own had betrayed him.
“You know nothing, human. I’m not betraying Zander, I’m saving him from your ruin,” Lena snarled as she jerked Elsie violently, shoving her into the damp wall of the cave. Her face smashed against the rock, as cold metal clamped around her wrist. Her heart began racing frantically, now she was completely at their mercy. Mack had taught her to fight with everything she had and to use any weapon available to her. She tried to calm her breathing and settle her nerves to develop a plan. After several seconds, she focused enough to scan the objects close to her looking for anything that she might be able to use. Aside from her body and shoes, she had nothing.
The odd lighting in the cave cast shadows across Lena’s face, making her look as hideous as the demon she was standing next to. She forced her fear to the back of her mind. She had no idea if these creatures could smell fear, but she refused to allow that vulnerability to show. Confidence was a strong weapon in itself. Let them question why she wasn’t cowering in fear. “I know more than you think and I know that Zander will make you pay, traitor. All of you,” she declared, standing tall.
“For the record, letting her handle this is a bad idea. Females have a tendency to be more emotional and lose control.” She whipped her head around to notice the good-looking demon, Azazel, had joined them in the cave.
“I am more than capable of handling a human,” Lena spat in fury then kicked Elsie in the side, connecting with her ribs. Pain rocketed through her, stealing her breath. Gasping, her knees gave out and she fell forward. The cuffs kept Elsie from falling to the floor, but forced her to bend at
the waist. She hung there for a moment struggling for air.
The clack of heels on the dirt floor sounded as Lena paced in front of her, making her stand up regardless of the pain. No way was she going to be seen as weak. “I made a promise to you both that I could get to Zander and I will,” Lena purred as she spoke to the demons. Elsie glared at the vampire through narrowed eyes. “She is the way in. He thinks she is his Fated Mate and would do anything for her. You need to trust me, he will come for her.”
“I’ll give you leeway to do as you’ve planned. You did manage to help us get her here,” Kadir responded. Elsie was not surprised to hear Lena gave them her location and didn’t give it a second thought. What she focused her attention on was a way out of her predicament. She had no doubt that Zander would find her and she wanted to be alive when he did. She squinted in the dark searching for an exit. If she could get out of these cuffs she needed to know which direction to run. She’d only have one opportunity and she needed to be fast to stand a chance of escaping.
“You’re all mine now, bitch. I want you to die knowing that after you’re gone Zander will come back to me. He has for two hundred years,” Lena hissed in Elsie’s face. Elsie wiped her cheek on her shoulder, removing the spit. She stood her ground, ignoring Lena’s delusional ramblings as she continued her search.
“I understand Zander in ways you will never be able to. I am a vampire like him and know his needs. The Goddess is just waiting to bestow our mate marks until the right moment. I hadn’t realized what I needed to do to make that happen, but I do now. No one is better suited to him than I am,” Lena said as she resumed her pacing.
Every fiber in Elsie’s being protested Lena’s declaration and for the first time, Elsie allowed the connection she had with Zander to fill her. A rustling in her chest radiated outward. He’s mine, her mind screamed. Energy surged through Elsie at her declaration and she embraced Zander’s soul. The love that flooded her told her his soul recognized that he was indeed hers. No more denying what she wanted and allowing her guilt to stop her. She welcomed her feelings for Zander and clung to them like a lifeline. It offered a boldness she’d never possessed and the weapon she needed. No matter what happened, this woman would never be able to take Zander from her. He was hers and she was his, nothing was changing that, ever.
“Somehow,” Elsie sneered, certain some of her ribs were cracked, “I doubt the Goddess believes you are what anyone needs. As for Zander, you have never connected with him. You have never seen the real Zander. He reserved that for his Fated Mate…me.”
“Salope!” Lena screamed, kicking Elsie in the head. Everything went black.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
White powder showered down over Zander’s face. His mate had been taken. “Fuck!” he roared. Another chair left his hands, and embedded into the drywall across the room. He was helpless, and losing his mind. He didn’t do helpless. He needed to take action. For all he knew, his mate could be dying.
Angus ducked, as a computer monitor met the door frame. They could be torturing and raping her. She wasn’t without skill. She had fought and killed dozens of skirm. He prayed to the Goddess to help her survive until he reached her.
“I’m going to shred that bastard! He will no’ be able to hide! I will go straight to the doors of hell, if I have to!” he thundered.
He heaved the table over his head. As wood shattered and splintered in a hundred directions, he sought another object to take his rage out on. He hoped to feel better, but the destruction was only making it worse. Besides, he reminded himself that he needed to get control, or he wouldn’t be of any use in searching for his Elsie. That, of course, was easier said, than done. The sole reason for his existence was in the hands of evil archdemons, undergoing who knew what.
Please, Goddess, watch over her, doona let her die. I need her. I canna live without her.
*****
Pain and agony assailed Elsie as awareness pressed back the darkness. Noise became voices, and memories flooded back. She was in a cave, chained to a wall, and that bitch, Lena, had teamed up with the demons. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but not wanting to alert her captors, she kept her eyes closed and remained as still as possible. She wished furtively that she had preternatural hearing, like Zander. He would be able to tell who was in the cave, and where they were. The one thing she had realized before everything went black was that there wasn’t a place for her to run should she manage to get free of the steel cuffs.
Wetness dripped from her temple into the corner of her eyes and her head throbbed with a massive headache. Given how hard Lena had kicked her, she figured the wetness was blood and she prayed that she wasn’t losing too much. With no escape, Elsie was in for a long haul until Zander found her and she needed to keep as much blood in her body as possible.
Wanting to assess her overall condition, she did a quick mental inventory. Aside from her head, her arms ached from holding up her weight and her chest hurt with each breath, otherwise she was in good shape. None of the voices were near her so she slit her eyes and tried to look around. No matter how hard she tried, she was unable to see anything in the eerie glow let off by candles flickering around the cavern. Footsteps echoed and a shining image wavered in her narrowed vision. Black, over-the-knee boots with mile-high-metal-heels stopped in front of her. Her heart raced, making the pain in her chest worse.
“Ah, you’re awake. Good, I was bored,” Lena bent down, and purred in her ear. Elsie held back the cry when Lena gripped her hair painfully, but it escaped when she lost a large handful as her head was yanked around. She was forced back at an odd angle and it afforded a better look at Lena.
Lena’s blond hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail high on her head, and she noticed that her eyes had gone black with anger. Elsie fought against Lena’s hold, rattling her chains. She kicked out a leg and barely grazed Lena’s calf. The laugh that escaped the vampire was infuriating. Elsie wanted to pound her face in and make her bleed all over the dirty cave floor.
“Is that all you’ve got? This is going to be too easy,” Lena taunted. She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, drawing Elsie’s attention to her hair. She reached out trying to grab hold, but the chains stopped her. She cursed under her breath for leaving her dagger at home. She never took the weapon to work with her given that one of the Dark Warriors always accompanied her, but that wasn’t a mistake she’d ever make again.
“That’s easy for you to say with me chained to the wall. Unlock these,” Elsie rattled the cuffs, “and let’s see who is more powerful.” The vampire may be able to kick her ass, but she had skills Lena didn’t and with free reign of movement Elsie stood a chance of surviving.
Lena let go of her hair and shook her hand in disgust, trying to dislodge the mound of hair. Elsie laughed as her curly, brown tresses clung to the vampire, like a spider web. That earned her a rough shove against the limestone wall, which abraded her back through her thin blouse. Elsie hadn’t been in the supernatural world that long and this served to remind her she wasn’t dealing with normal strength. Elsie fought against the helplessness that threatened. Chained and unable to do anything about it, she told herself that no matter what, Lena was going to pay for this.
“Releasing you would only give you a false sense of hope. You won’t be living through this. The demons are using you to get the amulet and once they have it they will eliminate you and I will have my Zander free of your influence.” Lena backed away from her and prowled the room, like a panther stalking its prey.
“And, what makes you think they are going to allow Zander to live? Or you for that matter? You’ve made a deal with demons that can’t be trusted,” Elsie countered. She could see the wheels turning in Lena’s head, but she refused to sit around and wait for her to attack, again. This prey bit back.
She timed her attack to a moment when Lena had lifted her right leg, to avoid a stalagmite and kicked out. A rip, followed by a feminine scream, echoed. She was immediately awar
e of two things. Her grey, pencil skirt had ripped to her hip, and she had broken Lena’s lower leg. A shrill screech filled the cavern. Elsie had pissed off a crazy vampire bent on her destruction. Not the smartest decision, but she refused to go meekly to her death.
It was satisfying to watch as Lena sank to the floor stifling her cries of pain, clutching her leg. She sat glaring at Elsie through narrowed eyes. “That was a mistake,” Lena said as she climbed back to her feet and tested her stance and Elsie noticed she didn’t show any signs of lingering pain. Elsie hated vampire healing abilities right then.
“You were bested by a weak human. That must sting,” she taunted and prepared to kick her again. Lena grabbed her leg as it shot out a second time.
“You’re too slow, cow. That’s all you are to him, you know, food. He couldn’t possibly want you. Not when he has me. You’re pathetic.” Lena’s fist came down hard on her thigh. The snap of a twig reverberated, and it felt as if a hot poker had been rammed into Elsie’s leg. Her vision wavered as she realized her leg was broken. The pain was so intense it trapped her scream in her throat.
She staggered, barely managing to stay upright. Head pounding and ribs protesting, Elsie fought to remain on her feet. The agony made her sick to her stomach. She was forced to rest all of her weight on her good leg. Staggering back against the wall, Elsie fought to remain focused. She was weak and didn’t want to be taken off guard.
Taking stock of the scene, she noted that the demons were watching the fight from the back wall and wondered why they weren’t attacking. Dizziness washed over her as she contemplated her next moves. She wasn’t going to be able to remain conscious long. She wavered and oblivion beckoned, but was pushed off when her stomach finally revolted. The action jostled her broken ribs and breathing became a thing of the past. As the world dipped and blurred, she heard rapid movements and was certain more enemies had joined them.