by Mike Smith
Immensely.
Unfortunately, he fully planned on keeping the promise he intended for her father, not that he was going to tell her that. He wondered what it would’ve been like had they met in another time, a different life, perhaps his old one? He thought they would have suited each other well, both possessing strong traits, with a stubborn nature to match. All that she lacked was his rage, but she hadn’t had the benefit of years locked away in a deep, dark, pit to sharpen that to the degree he had.
“Excuse me?” he eventually responded, allowing a hint of his earlier smile to seep through, knowing it would only infuriate her more. He’d frequently dealt with strong personalities while in the marines, knowing how to use their own emotions against them. To keep them off balance and not give them time to think things through.
“Do you get off on threating people like that, then simply walking away?”
“That’s the second time you’ve questioned my sexuality; it’s becoming a reoccurring theme with you. I’ve certainly no shortage of women in my life, or my bed. Young and old, single, married or widowed, I’m not particular. I turned down several tempting offers only this evening. I looked forward to sampling your charms, but alas it seems that I’ve been outbid by High-Lord Stanton, so I’ll just have to accept the fifty million from your father as recompense.”
“You bastard!” Jessica exclaimed, lashing out at him.
But Alex wasn’t some backwater thief. Easily sidestepping the blow, he quickly darted forward, catching her wrist, spinning her round and pulling her tightly against him. With her arms pinned to her side, he quickly, and effectively, immobilised her.
“Hardly an insult, as it happens to be true,” Alex said quietly. “Now stop and listen for once,” he added as he felt her squirming in his hold while trying to escape. “If I wanted to threaten, or hurt you, I could have done so at any time. Certainly at a more opportune moment than in the middle of a dance floor with witnesses all around. I was actually trying to be sincere with my offer. Talk to your father and explain the situation to him. He’ll be so relieved that you’re unharmed he won’t blink an eye about the money, after all it’s a drop in the ocean compared to what he has. The alternative will be far less pleasant, namely I’ll talk to him myself. Tonight.”
“No. Let me go,” she cried, “Or I’ll rip off your arms and beat you over the head with them.” Alex released her, taking a step away, holding his hands up in entreaty. “You,” she continued contemptuously. “What makes you think my father will ever believe anything that you have to say?”
“Because on this occasion my reputation literally precedes me. Calling to say that I have you in my possession, would be his worst nightmare come true. I wouldn’t even need to make any threats against you, his imagination would supply far worse than I could voice aloud. It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, but I hold your father in high regard. Of all the High-Lords, and I know many of them, he is by far the most honest, decent and trustworthy. I could reassure him until the end of days that you are safe, alive and well, all to no avail, he will still believe the worst. Spare your father the agony and talk to him yourself. If you won’t do it for me, then at least do it for him.”
“I should never have trusted you, when this is all over—”
“Spare me,” Alex interrupted her, “It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. I’ll add your name to an already long list.”
“Fine. Tomorrow I’ll call my father and give him your message. But after I will do everything in my power to find you, but I won’t kill you. Instead I’ll do far worse. I’ll throw you back in that hole that you crawled out of, but this time throw away the key, forever.”
Alex flinched, as if her earlier blow had finally struck home, before giving her a curt nod of understanding. Watching, as trembling with fury, she turned her back on him, stalking away, before being swallowed up by the inky darkness.
Overhead a jagged fork of lightning lit up the sky, followed moments later by a thunderclap that shook the very ground.
The storm had finally arrived.
*****
Jessica hurriedly slammed the bedroom door behind her, so hard that the very frame shook. She turned the key in the lock and then tossed it aside. Safely ensconced in her room, she leant back against the door, taking deep, shuddering, breaths.
What was she going to do now?
Whatever she did she had to do it quickly, as she only had until tomorrow, when she had promised Alex she would talk to her father and demand something of him, which she already knew he didn’t have. Fifty million credits? She felt like laughing out loud. Alex should have asked for the stars themselves. Her family was already in debt to the tune of one-point-two trillion. Alex probably currently possessed more money than her combined family. Sure, her father owned star systems, but he could hardly sell them. All the rest of her family’s wealth was tied up in assets, stocks, bonds none of which could be easily liquidated and, even if her father could, he wouldn’t dare. If the slightest whiff of a rumour that her family were in financial difficulties reached their creditors, they would pull the plug and everything would be lost forever.
Alex was closer to the truth than he ever could have imagined when he announced that High-Lord Stanton had outbid everyone else. For it had been a politically arranged marriage. Once the two families were joined, Stanton would cover their immediate debts. Alex was in danger of jeopardising everything, for without the money he wouldn’t release her, but if Alex didn’t free her, the marriage couldn’t proceed and, therefore, there would not be any money. She found herself trapped in a vicious circle. For one crazy, irrational moment she considered confessing all to him. Still, he would laugh in her face. No money? It sounded pitifully weak, even to her own ears, her father had done too good a job hiding the horrific losses their family had amassed.
No. The only thing to do was to escape, tonight. Straightaway.
She was just about to hunt for the key she’d earlier discarded, when the door handle rattled. She froze. Her heart skipped a beat, wondering if it was Alex to announce that he’d changed his mind and that he was going to call her father tonight, or worse, that he wanted her to do so. Her sensitive hearing eventually heard retreating footsteps and she took a deep breath, thankful for the temporary reprieve. Obviously the bedroom door was now out of the question. She hurried to the windows, opening them wide, but she was on the second floor, a good thirty foot drop to the ground. Not even she, with her enhanced strength could jump that far without injury. She looked around the room frantically, but it wasn’t as if she was going to find thirty feet of rope tucked away.
Instead her eyes fell on the bed and an idea came to mind.
*****
With his fingers on the door handle to her bedroom, Alex hesitated. What was he doing? He didn’t even know if she was in there, but he’d searched everywhere else. He considered knocking, but doubted that she would reply, even if she did it was unlikely to be a warm welcome. Alex smiled faintly, guessing her response. Go screw yourself. Yet, he didn’t want to leave things between them like this, but couldn’t think of what else he could possibly say to breach this chasm that now existed between them. Therefore, he did the only thing he could to remedy this, and turned the handle.
Locked.
Well it wasn’t as if he was surprised and he briefly considered kicking the door down, but that was likely to result in him getting shot, after all, he’d told her to do exactly that. Twice. If he ever tried to enter without her permission.
“Come on boy,” Alex sighed, looking down into Lucifer’s soulful eyes. “Let’s go and get a drink shall we? I think it’s going to be a long night.” Lucifer reached up with his paw, scratching against the closed door, until Alex pulled him away, in the direction of his study.
*****
Staring down into the flicking flames of the fire, Alex still held his untouched wineglass firmly in his hand. Outside he could hear the tempest raging. While the rain hadn’t yet arrived, it
wouldn’t be much longer. The lightning was practically continuous now, the storm directly overhead and the windows rattled continuously from the wind and ringing peals of thunderclaps.
A pitiful whine came from the direction of the door, as Lucifer had been pining there for the past hour, ever since he’d dragged him away from Jessica’s bedroom. He was probably missing sleeping on her bed, as he’d done every night since Alex had left the two of them alone while he’d gone looking for Rifkin. Alex couldn’t blame him, if offered the option of drinking alone in the study or warming Jessica’s bed, he would be pining for the latter too.
Alex took a final look at the contents of his wineglass, before tipping the glass upside down and pouring the contents into the fire. Seriously, Sanderson had the right idea as it tasted like cat piss and he couldn’t stomach the thought of it tonight.
“Come on boy,” Alex announced walking over to the door, opening it wide for Lucifer, who immediately shot through the gap heading back towards her bedroom. “It’s time to dog up and go and face her. What’s the worst that she can do?” Shoot you? The thought leapt to the forefront of his mind, but he ignored it.
Once again he found Lucifer and himself standing in front of her locked door, but this time he knocked, at least if she was yelling at him they would be conversing, but there was no reply. Lucifer meanwhile started to scratch more loudly at the door. Frowning, as she could hardly be asleep in this storm, he knocked louder. But still no reply. Lucifer started to bark, which startled Alex, as he could never remember Lucifer acting in such a fashion. Hammering on the door, he shouted loudly, “Jessica. Jessica? Open this door at once or I’m going to kick it down.”
With still no response from inside, Alex just looked at Lucifer and shrugged. “Well, I did warn her,” and kicked the door with his heel. Once, twice, the third time the door split down the middle and Alex dived aside to avoid the hail of gunfire—which never came.
Peering into the room, two things became immediately apparent. The first was that Lady Hadley was no longer in residence and the second was how she had made her escape. As tied to one of the bedposts were sheets that had been knotted together and led out through the open window. Looking out of the window, Alex could just see the end of the makeshift rope that ended several feet above the ground.
Jessica nowhere in sight.
“No,” Alex snapped, catching Lucifer by the neck as he was already halfway through the open window. “We’ll use the stairs like everybody else. Jessica has been reading far too many gothic horror novels.”
*****
Jessica had barely been gone an hour and she was already having second thoughts about this plan. The wind had picked up to almost hurricane force and she was having trouble even staying on her feet. Added to that the darkness and sudden flashes of lightning sent shadows racing in every direction, causing a strange monochromatic effect on her vision. Some distance back she had obviously wandered from the path and was now completely lost.
“Well, at least if I have no idea where I am, then neither does Alex,” she sighed to herself resignedly. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to keep the thin fabric of her evening dress from whipping in the wind. In hindsight it might have been better to have changed into something more appropriate for travel, especially during a storm, but she’d been so focused on escape and worried about Alex’s return that she hadn’t given much thought to her dress, until now. “Well, at least things can’t get any worse,” she said out loud, forgetting the first rule of life—never jinx it.
With a massive peal of thunder, the heavens opened, literally, as the water didn’t come down so much as rain, but a waterfall. Idly Jessica wondered if they had lakes in Heaven, as she thought that one of them had sprung a leak. Within seconds she was completely drenched, visibility had been reduced to nil and the ground had become waterlogged. She tilted her head up, opening her mouth, taking a gulp of water which was refreshing and very cold.
“At least this will slow down anybody trying to pursue me,” she voiced optimistically. “They’ll never be able to follow my trail in this.” With that she took a step forward. Her sensitive hearing detected a distinctive snap before her nervous system could register the pain. Her abrupt scream was drowned out by the torrential rain and thunder. Landing with a splash in the mud she just had enough time to look up and observe the massive steel jaws of the man-trap wrapped around her ankle before she passed out.
*****
They made good progress for the first twenty minutes, as Lucifer was easily able to pick up her scent, Alex even thought he could catch an occasional hint of it. But then the rain began and their progress came to an abrupt halt. Fortunately, he had brought with him a sturdy jacket from his time in the marines. It was completely waterproof and when he zipped it up it formed an airtight seal with his skin. This had the fortunate side effect of trapping a layer of warm air beneath, which kept him warm, but that couldn’t be said for the rest of him. The rain was coming down so heavily, he would have needed a nuclear-biological-chemical isolation suit to remain completely dry and warm.
Lucifer, however, seemed completely unaffected, Alex observed glumly. Perhaps they didn’t have rainstorms in hell and hence he was simply enjoying the shower? Trying to peer, futilely, through the rain, he intellectually knew that they should turn back, wait for first light and then organise a systematic search. Still, that stubborn part of him which had seen him get through his incarceration and determination to refuse to bow in to despair, gave him the willpower to keep searching for her.
“We’ll keep going in this direction and hope that she hasn’t wandered off,” Alex decided, looking at Lucifer. He was about to take a step forward, but stopped, catching Lucifer before he could do likewise. A flash of lightning lit up the night sky and the light reflected off the steel mantrap, only a foot in front of them. “Stay behind me and watch your step,” Alex ordered. His tenants were expressly forbidden from laying such traps and he knew that they heeded his order. Unfortunately, he’d come across several poachers from the city setting such traps, but none of them had returned. All of his residents, but especially the children, had been warned never to wander from the paths.
Carefully stepping around the trap and keeping his eyes and ears peeled, they pressed on in the direction that she had been taking. They continued on, looking fruitlessly for over an hour and Alex was just about to abandon the search when he first heard the sound, faint as it was. He stopped. Straining his ears, he thought that he had imagined it, when it came again, stronger this time. Turning into the wind, he took several steps in that direction then stopped and listened again. Lucifer did the same, his ears pricked up, then turned round and bounded off into the night. Alex followed close behind, trusting Lucifer’s hearing more than his own.
He would have tripped over them both, had he not been carefully sweeping the ground ahead of him for more traps. He observed the steel jaws of the snare, before her. With her crimson dress soaked through and now covered in mud, it acted as an effective camouflage. He might have missed her completely, were it not for the jaws trapping her leg, exposing a large amount of pale flesh, dripping with blood.
Her pale face turned from Lucifer to stare at him, her expression startled, surprise and shock warring on her face. Clearly she hadn’t been expecting him. Her blue eyes, now obscured with pain, strained to focus on him. She tried to say something, but it was cut off by a low, guttural, moan of pain.
He fell to his knees, as if in benediction that he had found her alive—at least for now. However, he was worried by her pale pallor, the horrific injury to her leg and obvious blood loss.
Again she tried to say something, but it was drowned out by the ferocity of the storm raging around them. Leaning forward, closer, so he could hear her, she tried again. “Sorry, so sorry,” she whimpered, miserably. Alex felt something bubbling up inside of him, trying to claw itself free. Ever since he’d found the window open and her missing, he’d felt the anger growing in
side of him. During their search he had stoked it, adding fuel to the flames until it had grown to a raging inferno inside him.
“Don’t,” he snapped, brushing away a strand of hair that had become plastered to her forehead. “I don’t want to hear any excuses or justifications for this lunacy. You could have died, and still may. I would kill you myself, were it not for the little matter of your father. I’ve had to tell too many parents of the loss of their loved ones, to see something shrivel up and die in their eyes. I can’t and I won’t ever do that again.”
“Cold,” she shivered and her eyes lost their momentary focus as she began to drift off once again.
“Don’t you dare,” Alex snapped his fingers, slapping the ground next to her, sending muddy droplets flying. “Stay awake and focus on me.”
“Sleep,” she slurred listlessly. “So tired.”
“To hell with that,” Alex snarled taking both her cold cheeks in the palm of his hands, angling her head up, using his own to shield her from the rain. He clamped his lips over her icy-cold ones, the shock causing her eyes to open wide and gasp. He took the opportunity, forcing his tongue past her lips, plunging it into her mouth. Kissing her with an intensity and desperation that took even him by surprise. He poured everything he had into her, all the anger, worry and pain that he’d been nurturing ever since he discovered her missing. Trying to tell her the things that he could never voice out loud; that he didn’t care about the money, but her, only her, forever. In his life, his house, his heart. Her coughing brought him at least back to his senses and he opened his eyes, staring into her alert gaze.
“You need to go and get help,” she whispered urgently. “I’ve tried to prise open the snare, but the spring is too strong and I can’t manage it.”
Alex glanced down at the steel teeth embedded deep into her ankle. The spikes were designed to stop an animal tearing itself free, and the twelve inch jaw would have to be forced open to release her foot. Quickly unzipping his jacket, he wrapped it around her, helping to shield her from the rain and give her whatever remained of its warmth. Within seconds his cotton shirt was soaked through, not that he paid it any attention, taking hold of the jaws of the snare and trying to pull them apart.