by Elle Boon
The small apartment was cozy, if you called a prison cozy. A seating area contained a sofa and two chairs with a coffee table and a bible in the middle. The colors were all done in earth tones, all muted browns and taupe. No splashes of colors. Nothing that gave life to the room except a few plants. Even the bedding was done in creams and whites. Thank goodness there wasn’t any grays, Felicity didn’t think she could handle staring at gray walls. They reminded her of being in the hospital, and behind the bandages.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her composure cracking at the lack of sound other than her own heartbeat.
An image of Hal floated to the forefront of her mind. He was so big and strong. The bag with her cell phone had been left in the van. She prayed they didn’t drive the vehicle back to LA or to another destination, making the GPS locator think she was somewhere else. He’d saved her once before and then came back for her. She had to believe he’d come for her again.
If only she had been stronger, Felicity knew, she wouldn’t have been in this situation. She’d be happily making love to Hal, exploring his big body. There were so many things they hadn’t done. She wanted to do all kinds of nasty dirty things with him. Things good girls weren’t supposed to want to do.
She groaned, imagining Hal fucking her wasn’t the smartest thing to do while she was locked away with no idea if she’d ever see him again.
A side door opened and a petite woman entered. She was dressed in an outfit similar to the one Felicity had on, a look of fear on her face. Felicity stood up from the bed, looking for a weapon, remembering her small bit of training. She watched the young woman as her eyes looked around the room, her finger went to her lips before moving to the door. She motioned for Felicity to follow her to the bathroom.
It appeared she was either going to get her ass kicked, or some questions answered, either way the uncomfortable silence was oppressing. Felicity needed to hear another person’s voice, even if that person was a female assassin.
The lady had turned the water in the shower on. “We can speak freely in here as long as we keep our voices down. My name is Myra. I know your name is Felicity, and your mother was a first wife. I am not a threat to you, so please don’t look at me like that. My mother is not one of the Prophet’s wives, nor do we want to be. Some of us are different. We were told you would come and save us. I can help you if you help us.”
Felicity frowned. “How can I help you? I’m a prisoner here. Nobody knows where I am, nor do I have any way of contacting my family.”
Myra glanced out the doorway. “You don’t understand what I’m saying. We foresaw you coming. Not me, but one of our elders saw it. I can heal your jaw. I can see it still aches. I can make it like new if you allow me.”
Had she not been standing so near, she would’ve missed the slight glow that flared over Myra’s hands. “How do I know you aren’t here to hurt me?”
Myra’s eyes tightened. “The only person I want to hurt is the Prophet. That man is not a good person.”
She stared into eyes so blue they rivaled the sky on a clear day. “What else did your elder see? Is there a way out of here?”
“You have to understand her visions aren’t exact. We knew you were coming, but not when or how. We also know that there is a blond Viking coming to save you as well.”
Her heart skipped a beat. There was only one man who resembled that. Hal. “Did she see us making it out of here alive?”
“Let me heal you. It’s imperative you be at a hundred percent. That was something she said I needed to do. I am also to be here when the Calvary arrives. So will you let me?” She held her hands up.
Felicity’s hands flexed and relaxed. “Does it hurt?”
Myra shrugged. “You will feel a slight tingle, maybe some heat. It depends on how deep the wounds are.”
She fought to keep the fear out of her voice. “I can still remember the pain of having my jaws broken, and waking up in the hospital.”
“You will not have any of that, this I swear to you.” Not giving her a chance to think, Myra placed her palms on each side of Felicity’s face.
Warmth spread from her touch all the way down her torso. A tingle followed in its wake. Felicity felt an instant easing in her jaws she hadn’t had in months, not since before her attack. She allowed Myra to hold her hands on her cheeks until the warmth disappeared.
“There, it is done. How do you feel?” Myra asked in a low tone.
Felicity closed her eyes, worked her mouth open and shut. “Wonderful. How long does it last?”
“Forever, unless you get damaged again. Don’t do that, though.” Myra smiled, looking like an angel with her midnight black hair, pale skin and blue eyes. She was gorgeous. Felicity had no doubt the woman was coveted by the Prophet, but for some reason he wouldn’t choose her for a wife.
“Why are you not one of his wives?”
“My mother was able to convince him he doesn’t want me, the same as she was able to convince him he didn’t want her. Only, she got sick and he set his sights on marrying me to one of his council members. Now that the ball has been set in motion, she doesn’t think she can convince everyone that we shouldn’t be married. I had hoped to find my one amongst the men here, but there are so few who are good.” She sighed. “All the young men are shipped off to another section of the compound when they hit puberty, and we don’t get to see them very often. If we form a bond before they leave, we can petition the Prophet, but I didn’t feel that with any of them.”
Sadness for what this woman, and all the others she had yet to meet, filled her. Was this what her life was going to be like? “Are you happy here? Is there any happiness to be found?”
With a shake of her head, Myra looked at the door. “We need to leave this area. Your Viking won’t be able to get to you here.”
Felicity nodded, understanding that, either way, her life was in this woman’s hands, or the man who claimed to be her father. If what she said was true, then they might have a chance of escaping, if not, she would fight with every breath in her body before she allowed any man other than Hal to touch her.
A world of pain and suffering awaited her if she didn’t at least try. Myra held the invisible door open, waiting with a look of hope on her beautiful face. She nodded at the other woman, taking one last look at the space that would have been her prison.
They moved through the surprisingly wide hidden halls. Myra and the other women had dug out passageways that allowed them to travel back and forth, giving them access to each other without the men knowing. The air wasn’t stale, or thin, even though they had to be hundreds of feet below the earth.
Had her mother helped create them? Had she used the secret doorways to visit the other women? It didn’t matter, because she wasn’t going to be using them for long herself.
“Where are we going?” Felicity asked.
“The women’s quarters.”
She didn’t say any more, an uneasy feeling came back in to the pit of her stomach. Something was off, not Myra or her mother’s vision, but she had a premonition of her own. “Myra, when’s the last time you had contact with your mom?”
“Why do you ask?” Her eyes went wide and she stopped in her tracks.
Felicity turned back toward the way they’d come while Myra looked down the long maze. A visible shiver raced down her spine. “I wish there was a way to communicate with her. Damn him,” Myra said. There was no need to say his name.
“Do you want to go check on your mother?” Myra didn’t question why she seemed uncomfortable leaving with Felicity. Everything about the woman screamed extraordinary, and trusting. A trait Felicity herself used to have.
One brow shot up, and instead of turning to walk away Myra brushed past and opened the secret door. When they reached the suite of rooms Myra looked around as if searching for something. She walked into the small bathroom, before changing directions and then went into the open kitchen area. An array of knives sat on the counter.
Myra visib
ly stiffened her spine, selecting a smaller blade.
Unwilling to allow the other woman to protect her without having a weapon of her own, Felicity shook herself out of the stupor she was in. “So we are flying on no visions now, huh?”
“Oh, no. My mother said there were possibly two paths. This was the second. We need to arm ourselves.”
An odd look flashed in those blue eyes, a hint of what was to come. Why was she believing all this woo woo stuff without question? “How old do you think I am, Felicity?”
The question startled her. “Around my age.”
Myra seemed amused by her answer. “How old are you, dear?”
She reached up and rubbed her forehead. “I’m twenty-four. Why?”
Tapping her finger against her lips, Myra smiled. “I’m thirty-one, which is why he is pushing me to marry and grow his flock.”
Shock held her immobile. The other woman looked younger, not older.
For some reason, Myra looked worried. “I promise I’m not lying to you.”
“Oh, I believe you. You are gorgeous.”
Myra ran a hand down her curvy figure, her voice held an odd quality to it. “Thank you, I wish I didn’t look like this some days.”
Felicity wondered what her life had been like down here in the compound. If she had to fight off men on the daily. Were the men allowed to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted? Or was the women’s purity held as an honor for their husband? Gah, there was so much she didn’t know or understand about their world, and she didn’t want to know.
“When I leave I’m taking you with me.” She would knock Myra out and drag her if she had to.
“I can’t leave my mother.” Myra patted her arm. “If anything were to happen to them I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“What did your mother tell you to do?” Felicity asked her.
A single tear fell from her lashes. “She told me I was to go with you and the two big men who came for you.” Myra’s lashes fluttered, her eyes turned so light a blue, and filled with tears, they hurt to look at.
“You don’t understand what will happen to them if I leave, though.”
Damn it, Felicity couldn’t leave here knowing there were women being abused. Of course all that would be a non-factor if nobody came to save her. Time was ticking by and still no sign of Hal and Brax. She assumed the captain was the other big man.
Myra kept a death grip on the small kitchen knife looking toward the door leading out into the hall, while Felicity paced the small area.
“How long do we have to wait?”
Myra frowned. “Shouldn’t be too long.”
* * * *
Brax McCay wasn’t one to believe in fate, per se, but a shivery sensation curled around his heart the closer they got to the first wife’s quarters. Hal and Bodhi led the way, but an urge to push both men back had him shaking.
Keanu touched his arm. “You alright, captain?”
“No. Yes. Shit, I’m getting some weird vibrations in my mind.” His entire body went on high alert the closer they got.
“McCay, gonna need you to do your mind shit on these boys, or we need to kill em.” One of the shifters had turned back into a man, proving nudity was no big deal to any of them. Tattoos covered the man’s back, with more muscles and a few scars Brax assumed came from fights.
One of the Prophet’s men held a gun strapped across his chest. He looked very familiar with the weapon, while the other’s arms were crossed over his wide chest. Both men had the stance of bodyguards who knew what they were doing. Normal humans would be torn apart in an instant, but Hal’s crew was far from the average men.
He wondered why they kept heavily armed men outside a woman’s room, but plowed through both men’s brains, rendering them useless to the Prophet for the foreseeable future. The memories were so unsavory Brax wished he hadn’t been inside their minds.
He and Keanu watched the back, with the fire elemental tossing a fireball back and forth like it was a toy. A low chuckle escaped him. “You really shouldn’t play with fire, you know.”
“Hey, I did not kill Tweety. I think I’ve made that perfectly clear.” Keanu began juggling two burning spheres.
If Keanu was bothered by the hot flames he didn’t show it. Of course, fire was as much a part of him, as was the hair on his head.
The door behind them opened, and then he heard a woman squeal, followed by Hal’s deep voice murmuring words of affection, but it was the husky tone of the unknown female that drew Brax.
God, it was the sound of an angel. He glanced behind him to see a dark haired beauty with milky white skin and eyes as blue as the sky standing behind Felicity. The air froze in his throat. The sound of bees buzzing in his ears stilled for the first time in his life. He always had to work to quiet the thoughts of others, but he couldn’t hear hers.
He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, or a bad thing, that her mind was closed off to him.
“Boys, I think we have company coming,” Keanu said.
The shifter who hadn’t introduced himself blinked, then looked at Keanu. “It’s Slater. He says you better get a move on if you plan to get out. The Prophet knows you’re here and has a plan B, whatever the fuck that means.”
“Oh goodness, we need to go. I need to get to my mother, and the other women.”
Felicity put a restraining hand on the dark haired woman. “Wait a minute. Where are you going, Myra?”
“Plan B means he’s shutting down all entrances and exits. He will then go into high protocol mode. We’ve prepared for emergencies all my life. He has probably set in motion one of these. If he knows you are here, then this area is going to be flooded with poisonous gas, that won’t hit the other parts. It’s his way of protecting the flock in case we were infiltrated by bad people. He has taught us that the Up-World didn’t survive without some damage and those above are deranged. He told us if they ever came down here, they’d do anything to harm us and turn us into slaves like them.”
“You mean like zombies?” Felicity asked.
“I do not know what a zombie is, but if you mean humans who feed off of clean souls like us, then yes.”
Brax frowned. It sounded like they’d used fear and other manner of oppression to keep the people below in line. “How long have you been down here, Myra?”
She looked puzzled. “I was born down here. My mother came down with her mother and my grandfather. They thought they were making a better life for their family.” There was censure in her words.
Keanu stopped him from saying anything else. “I can smell the scent of gas kiddos. We need to get the hell out of dodge, and quickly.”
“Slater has gathered a group of women who are more than willing to leave this hell hole. I’m to tell Myra that her mother and grandmother are amongst them.”
Brax breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the beauty’s shoulders relaxing. He pushed forward, needing to be the one to take her out. The fact she hadn’t raised a brow at the naked men in front of her let him know she was no stranger to men, but he would worry about what she’d been through later. He hauled her to his side with a gentleness that was ingrained deep in his soul.
His hand moved up and down in a soothing pattern on her arm, making her shiver. “We will get you and your family out of here. You’re safe with us. This I swear to you, Sugar.”
There was a sound of running feet and then he saw Slater followed by several women. “Let’s go, let’s go, people. Times a ticking. Pick up a woman and run.” Slater passed them carrying an older version of Myra.
Brax bent to pick up the woman next to him, but she pointed at another woman. “Please, I can run just fine. Carry her.”
His attention landed on a woman who looked to be around seventy or eighty. “Fuck.” Brax hated to release Myra. “You stay by my side. Got me?”
She nodded, running beside him through the winding halls back the way they came. When they neared the lift to go back up, it was surrounded by gua
rds.
“Shit, there’s too many for me to convince them all to drop their weapons. I’ll do what I can.”
“You are able to manipulate minds?” Brax gazed at the woman in his arms. He could easily read the concern in her face.
“Yes, ma’am.” Not taking the time to explain further, he set her down in case he’d need his arms free, selecting the men with the deadliest looking machine guns first. He couldn’t be sure, but they looked like they were holding AK-47s. The Prophet obviously wasn’t all about love and goodness.
Slater and the other shifters moved faster than he could track, flying across the space, shifting in mid-air and taking down several men before any of them could fire their weapons. One of the men had his finger on the trigger of his gun, sending a spate of bullets ricocheting off the walls, and into a few of his own buddies, who all fell dead.
Four men were left on their feet, two of whom looked back and forth between the dead bodies and the men who weren’t holding their guns up ready to fire. More rapid fire bullets started to fly, and the shifters were in motion again, coming at the men from behind as complete chaos erupted, and then all was quiet.
Hal and Keanu had made sure all the women were protected behind them and the concrete walls. Brax looked back and saw everyone was accounted for, but he’d taken a shot to the leg. Blood was running down his thigh, but he forced the pain to the back of his mind.
Stepping back, he picked up his burden, indicating all was clear.
* * * *
Hal knew Felicity wanted to call her parents, but all he could think about was making love to his woman. After they’d gotten out of the compound an explosion had rocked the foundation. They’d only been able to get fourteen women and eleven children out before the Prophet had set his Plan C.