by Mia McKimmy
A tall figure came toward the bars. The light shown down on a face that wasn’t identical, but strangely similar to Cy’s. Except for the eyes. Where Cy’s were a luminous blue, this man’s were tenebrous, the color of night, merciless and cold. Malevolence radiated from him as if it were a palpable, living being. As realization dawned, Riana’s heart rode up her throat like a taxi with opened doors.
Vind.
His nostrils flared. His sharp inhalation pulled in her rising fear, apparent by the cruel tilt of his mouth that followed.
Riana glared at Mr. Connors. “What is this? You lied about the unconscious guard, didn’t you?” As she turned to leave, he darted in front of her and grabbed her arm.
Alarm turned into panic, and she jerked from his grip. “Mr. Connors, you had better get out of my way!” Her voice boomed inside the cells as if she had screamed over a loud speaker.
“Please, you have to listen to him,” Mr. Connors pleaded. “I’m sorry Miss Martin, but I had no choice. He has my family. He’ll kill them if I don’t do what he says. Please, you have to listen.”
“Stop your sniveling, Connors,” Vind said, never taking his eyes off Riana. “Well, well, you possess a bit of fire in your blood. I’ve watched you and my brother for quite some time. I must say, he definitely has good taste.”
Chapter 22
As Riana stood face to face with Cy’s twin, her knees shook from the surge of adrenaline coursing through her system. He had looked like a boy when she’d seen him through Cy’s memories during their blood exchanges. What stood before her now was a cold, menacing feeder. His dark eyes were proof he’d been an addict for a long time. “What do you want?” she snapped. Her temper was her way of hiding fear.
“I have a proposition for you, my dear.” Vind’s deep voice vibrated and echoed against the walls. He sounded more like a proper English gentleman than the murdering dictator he was.
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”
“You might want to rethink that remark.” Vind glanced at his watch. “Especially if you want Cygan and Ozeas to live for another…oh, let’s say, ten minutes. Cy has returned and is in Ozeas’ office. The two of them are planning my demise, no doubt. Mr. Connors’ nephew is about to deliver them a refreshment. He’s outside their office awaiting instructions as to whether or not he should add a very fast-acting poison to their tea, which instantly stops the heart.”
“There is no poison that will kill us. I’m a doctor, and I am not stupid. They will recover, unless he’s planning to get close enough to remove their head, or drain two deadly Protectors. And I really don’t see that happening.”
“They will be incapacitated long enough to completely dismember them both, if I give him the order. That depends on your actions, my dear. I’m sure you’ve heard enough about me to know I don’t make idle threats.” Vind rocked back on his heels, and crossed his arms. If you refuse to do as I ask, they will both be dead long before you reach them with warning.” He cocked his head to the side. “Just think of it, the man you love, the father you never knew. It’s all very sad. Don’t you agree?”
Heat flooded Riana’s cheeks. She tilted her head up and looked him in the eye. “What is it you want from me?”
Vind leaned in closer to the bars. “I want you, love, what else? You and I will walk out of those gates together. Shortly thereafter, you will become my queen, and give birth to my heir.”
In spite of being scared out of her wits, Riana burst into laughter. “You are delusional. Why would you want such a thing? You don’t love me, and I certainly don’t love you. I never will, no matter what you believe you can force me to do, you…you…homicidal maniac.”
Vind pinned her with a hard stare. “Love has absolutely nothing to do with this, little girl. It will suffice to say, my brother is living a life meant for me. I refuse to allow him to be happy while he does it. He took what was mine. From beneath his nose, I will take what he loves most. His life-mate.”
“That makes no sense,” Riana snapped.
A vein bulged in Vind’s forehead as cold, uncaring eyes bore through her.
“I want an answer now, Riana. I will not argue this with you any longer. What is it going to be? Are your father and life-mate to live, or die?”
“How do I know you won’t kill them anyway?”
“You have my word. As long as you cooperate, they will remain unharmed.”
“And I’m supposed to just take your word for it.” Riana’s eyes darted down the hallway.
Where on earth are the guards? She looked at Mr. Connors’ pleading eyes, and his gaze shifted to the floor. His shame and fear were overwhelming.
“No one is here to help you,” Vind said.”
She stiffened her back and stared the monster in his heartless eyes. She refused to give Vind the satisfaction of seeing fear consume her with each passing moment. Somehow, he knew she would never take a chance with the lives of those she loved. She felt like a child, defeated in a war of wills. But there would be guards and Protectors outside. As soon as they laid eyes on Vind, they’d shoot him. She’d probably die in the process. At least the commotion would stop Cy and her father from being served that tea. “All right, I will go with you, as long as no one gets hurt.”
“I need your word,” Vind demanded. “When we get outside, if you get the bright idea to start screaming, or run, I will simply take out as many innocent people as possible. Do you understand?”
Riana took a deep breath, her face a mask of disgust. “You have my word,” she said between clenched teeth. “If you think I have some kind of pull around here, I don’t. The guards will not allow us to walk out those gates.”
“Do not worry your pretty little head about that. I would have never allowed myself to be captured without the ability to escape. Like I said, I will walk out of here right by your side. By the time they figure it out, we will be long gone. I have very smart people on my payroll. You’ll meet them all soon. After all, you will be their queen.”
Riana’s pulse quickened and bile rose at the thought of being queen to a bunch of murdering, raping, psychopaths.
Mr. Connors unlocked the cell door. “I’m really sorry, Miss Martin. I would never do this, but I love my family.” He desperately searched her face for some sign of understanding, or maybe it was forgiveness. Riana looked away, unable to give him either. Even though his reasons for doing this were no different from hers.
Mr. Connors pulled an electronic device from his pocket and removed Vind’s anti-transport bracelets. Then he removed a clear packet with a white powdery substance and handed it to Vind.
Vind opened the packet and placed the powder under his tongue. “Riana, in about thirty seconds I will disappear. Do not make the mistake of thinking I’m not here and do something stupid. You will feel my hand around your elbow. When we leave here, we will walk straight for the gate. Do not look at or speak to anyone. If you do, I will not hesitate to kill you both. Even if you die, I will continue with my plan to poison Cy and Oz. Only then, it will include the rest of the compound. If I were you, I’d be very careful. Once we’re outside the gate, I’ll transport us to our next destination.”
Riana’s heart pounded in her ears. If she made it out of this alive, it’d be a miracle. Vind began to fade before her eyes. Oh, my God, he really can disappear. She strained to see a trace of his form. A few moments later, he was completely invisible. She started, when he took hold of her hand. An unseen voice near her ear said. “Take off that ring and place it on the cot.”
“No!” She jerked her hand from his grip and squeezed her fingers into a tight fist.
Two incredibly strong hands grabbed her wrist.
“You can remove it, or I can break your finger and remove it myself.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, opened her hand and watched helplessly as her beautiful ring slid from her finger. It flew across the cell and landed on the cot, as if her entire life had slipped from her grasp. He took
hold of her arm and guided her from the building. Her entire body shook from another surge of adrenaline.
“You need to control your emotions, Riana. If you draw attention to yourself and someone stops you, whoever you speak to will die. Their deaths will be on you. No one will know what’s happening until it is too late. To everyone around, it will appear as if they fell over dead for no apparent reason,” he said, as calmly as if he were talking about the weather.
Riana looked around for Mr. Connors, but he was no longer there. She had a bad feeling about his family. Even though he held up his end of the bargain in order to free them, they were more than likely dead already. Maybe he should have sat through a class on the history of their race. Then he would’ve known exactly who he was dealing with.
As they walked outside, Riana willed her knees not to give way.
If I fall, he will kill me. If I speak to anyone, he will kill us both. She glanced around. Only a few students remained, waiting to be taken home. A small group walked toward the courtyard, laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Riana dropped her gaze, afraid if their eyes met, they’d read her fear. She picked up the pace and prayed no one noticed.
Suddenly, Lily’s small form jumped in front of Riana, forcing her to stop or trip over the child.
“Hi, Riana. You sure are in a hurry. Where’re you going?”
Riana’s breath locked in her chest, and her pulse bound at a dizzying rate.
Oh, God, please no. Riana attempted to go around her without saying anything. She’d been around Lily enough to know it wouldn’t work.
“Move Lily, I’m in a hurry!” Riana said in a stern voice. “I have to go into town.”
“Can I come? I want to go shopping with you again, pleeeease?”
She and Cy had taken Lily shopping so she could get used to Riana being around. Lily still intended to marry Cy when she grew up. “No, not today, honey. We’ll go another day. Now run along.” Riana started toward the gate again.
Vind’s grip tightened on her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“Please don’t.” Riana said quietly, afraid he was about to kill Lily. “She’s only a child.”
“I’m not,” he whispered, hot breath hitting her ear. “We are taking her with us.”
“No!” she whispered, turning to look at nothing but knowing exactly where he was. “I refuse.”
His other hand circled her throat and squeezed. “You do not have that option, Riana. You will bring her with us, or you both die. Right here, right now.”
“If you harm her, you’ll never get out of those gates alive.”
“You cannot kill someone who’s not there,” he said, his tone smug. “Now move or you both will be taking your last breath in about two seconds.”
Riana glanced at the puzzled expression on Lily’s angelic face.
“Riana, who are you talking to?”“No one, baby.”
She had no choice. She’d have to protect Lily when everything went to hell at the gate. Vind must not know about the compound restriction. The guards stopping her and Lily from leaving was her only hope.
Vind’s fingers tightened, cutting off her air. He released her arm and reached for Lily.
“Okay, Okay, Okay!” It came out as a high-pitched squeak. Vind released her throat and took hold of her arm again. Riana gasped air into her deprived lungs.
As soon as Riana squeaked okay, Lily’s face lit up. “So I can go shopping with you?”
Riana couldn’t speak, so she nodded to Lily.
Lily did a little happy dance. “I’ll run tell Kyra.”
“No, we don’t have time. I’ll call her on my cell when we get there.”
“Okay,” Lily said, and happily skipped along in front of them.
Riana continued to keep her head down until they reached the gate. “I have to sign out,” she whispered. Vind turned her arm loose while she scanned her ID badge. She sensed him at her back, and hovered over the clipboard to sign them out. Instead of writing her and Lily’s names, she scribbled: “Help us. We’re being abducted by Vind.”
The guard looked at her instead of the sign-out sheet. “Who is escorting you?”
Riana froze, unsure how to respond. She picked up the clip-board with her note and shoved it at the guard.
His face turned red. “Miss, you are not allowed to leave the compound alone. You must wait over there with the other girls until someone returns to take you home.”
The idiot still hadn’t looked at the message she wrote. These guys might have good bodies, but they had the IQ of an orangutan.
Vind grabbed her arm. At the same time alarms sounded from a device attached to both guards’ hips. Vind must have crossed the DNA scanners.
“Get the child,” Vind said. He pulled her through the scanner, and then dragged her toward the courtyard by one arm.
“Stop,” the guard shouted.
Finally, he must have looked at the clip-board.
She jerked from Vind’s grip. Afraid he would strike Lily; Riana bent down and scooped her up to run back toward the guard.
Someone hit Riana in the back hard enough to knock her off her feet. She shifted her body so she wouldn’t land on Lily. As she hit the ground, her head bounced off a hard surface. She focused on Lily lying across her chest with a frightened expression on her little face. White, hot pain lacerated through Riana’s skull. Her vision narrowed and turned gray. Then darkness closed in.
Chapter 23
Riana jolted awake. She struggled to focus through partially obscured vision, like she was surrounded by thick fog. After a moment, the canopy of an elaborate four-poster bed appeared.
Where am I? Intricately carved gray marble posts held the overhead canopy covered in burgundy silk. Her head spun as she turned and saw Lily’s small body lying next to her.
Her heart drummed in her hears as everything rushed back with a vengeance. The last thing she remembered was Vind taking them from the compound. She attempted to sit up. Imminent nausea lurched in her throat and forced her back on the pillow.
“Welcome home, love,” Vind said in a deep, low voice. “How are you feeling?”
He sat in a leather, wing back chair in the corner of the room. His long, dark hair bound with leather at his neck, and a dark gray, silk suit with a blue ascot, completed the picture of arrogance he was evidently trying to portray. With the large brandy snifter in his hand, he looked like he belonged in a soap opera.
Ridiculous.
Riana glared at him with cold, hard eyes. “This is not my home.” She laid her hand against Lily’s neck to check her pulse.
“She’s fine,” Vind, said. “She’s sleeping.”
“What did you do, drug us?”
“I gave her something to help her relax. You hit your head when you fell and lost consciousness. The child thought you were dead. I cannot tolerate crying children, and instructed the doctor on duty to check you both out. He gave the child something to calm her until you came around.”
A lump formed in Riana’s throat, and tears stung her eyes. “Why? Why did you have to take her? She’s just a little girl.”
“Oh, that’s very simple, dear,” he said with calm arrogance. “Leverage.”
As quick as lightning, Riana’s fear flashed to rage. “If you harm one hair on her head… I swear on my life, I will kill you!”
Vind chuckled at her threat. “You see, that is exactly why I brought her. I sensed you cared for her, and would do anything to keep her safe. She’s my guarantee you’ll do as I ask. Soon we will have our own children. It’s up to you if the girl lives long enough to become part of our family.”
Heat burned Riana’s face. “You are delusional. I despise you… you psychotic bastard! We will never be a family, no matter how long you keep us here. We are prisoners, not family!”
“That may very well be, but you are mine now. I am king of my people and you will be my queen. My brother and your father will use every Protector they have in order to save you. T
heir frantic attempt at a rescue before I take your life will make it easy to draw them in. Once I destroy them and the Protectors, I will become king of the entire race. In the meantime, all you have to do is cooperate, and I will not harm the child.”
She wanted to knock that smug look off Vind’s face.
But at the moment, I’m going to be sick. Riana sat up, determined to ignore the accompanying dizziness. “I need a bathroom.” Her hand went to her throat and froze when she touched something metal around her neck. She tugged at the unmovable object, and then shot Vind a questioning glare.
“Oh, that’s a little pre-wedding gift.” He rose from his chair and strolled to the bedside table, took a handheld mirror from the drawer and held it toward her.
“I had it designed especially for you. It’s as functional as it is beautiful. First of all, it prevents you from transporting, but will allow you to move around the castle as I see fit. You may even go outside into the gardens if you like. If you go past the gardens, well, that’s where the second part comes in.”
He handed the mirror to Riana. A choker covered in jewels circled her neck. Every bit as pretentious as the man who’d put it there.
“Beneath each of the three rows of embedded stones lays a cylinder,” he continued. “Each cylinder contains a harmless liquid when separate. However, if mixed, they are highly volatile. If you go twenty-five feet past the gardens in any direction, the row of emeralds will beep. They will glow a gorgeous green as the liquid contained inside that cylinder releases and flows into the lovely diamond encrusted heart pendant.”
Riana tugged on the heart—a secure, inconspicuous bomb.
“If you continue on, when you pass the fifty-foot mark, the row of rubies will react in the same manner. That is your second and final warning to stop. If you choose to ignore it and continue, when you reach one hundred feet, the row of sapphires will release the final liquid into the heart of the necklace. And that, my dear, will be the end of you, along with anyone within fifty feet. There wouldn’t be enough of you left to scrape from the forest floor.”