only read about their use at that time, but he applied that knowledge in its practical use, and he was successful in saving Father and Vincent. Now, he had to save his family and friends from this madman, and he knew that he was the only one with the knowledge necessary to accomplish that. Having survived for years alone in tunnels like these as a child before Vincent caught him, Mouse was sure that he could travel around Adrian’s men without being discovered.
Mouse had pocketed a small flashlight from his backpack before he left the cave. He didn’t want to use it, though, until he actually found the explosives. His eyes were accustomed to dark tunnels, and he could see the flickering light from Adrian’s men, who were stationed in several areas around the cavern, and the Tandins who were keeping surveillance on them. Mouse crept carefully from stalagmite to stalagmite, heading for the tunnel opening he needed to pass through, to go looking for Adrian’s diabolical explosives. He finally arrived at the opening and looked carefully around the edges to make sure none of Adrian’s men were in sight in the tunnel. It was empty, and Mouse was relieved to see that this tunnel had plenty of large crevices along the walls where he could duck and hide if necessary. Now, he just had to find the devices.
When Mouse finally located the explosive devices, he was surprised that they weren’t being guarded. He figured that Adrian’s men must have thought that, because they had everyone trapped in the cave, there was no need to keep watch here. Mouse turned on his small flashlight and stuck it in his mouth. Then he began systematically removing the detonator caps, leaving the plastik and relay devices in place. In these dark tunnels, only a very close scrutiny would reveal that the devices had been disarmed. He had just finished disarming the last device and pocketing the detonator cap when he heard an angry voice behind him.
“Get up now, and turn around slowly!” It was one of Adrian’s armed men.
Mouse stood up with the flashlight still in his mouth. He turned around slowly, and the flashlight shown in the man’s eyes, blinding him for a moment. Mouse took that opportunity to try to run past the man, dropping his flashlight in the process, but he didn’t make it. The big man grabbed Mouse with his free hand as he tried to run past and then shoved the gun he was holding into Mouse’s face.
“You aren’t going anywhere!” The ugly man snarled.
In desperation, Mouse knocked the man’s gun hand sideways, and he stomped on his foot. The man howled in pain and then screamed obscenities as Mouse broke free and began running back down the tunnel. Just as the man raised his gun to shoot at Mouse, there was a terrifying roar behind him, and Mouse turned around at the familiar sound. The gunman whirled around, startled, and Vincent pounced on him, knocked the gun from his
hand, and raked him across the chest with his claws. The man fell screaming in agony, and Tanimus, who had been too far behind Vincent to save Mouse, shot the man with his ion-tet stunner, which rendered him unconscious and out of pain. Two large Tandin sentries arrived on the scene, picked up the mercenary, and carried him off to the cave where they had been gradually collecting Adrian’s troops while they waited for their additional Tandin sentries to arrive.
Vincent picked up Mouse’s flashlight off the tunnel floor and looked sternly at Mouse. “You nearly got yourself killed, Mouse! You should have asked Gideon to get one of the Tandin men to come with you. What you did was very stupid, but it was also very brave.”
Mouse smiled at Vincent as he pulled all of the detonator caps out of his pocket. “Fixed them! Won’t work now without these! Still look armed. They won’t know.”
Vincent smiled as he put his arm around Mouse and gave the flashlight back to him. “Can you get back to the cave the way you came?” Mouse nodded his head. “Good, we need to get back to Elisia. We found where Adrian is keeping Diana, and Elisia is hidden in a crevice in the tunnel where she can see Diana. We are hoping that things will not heat up until the Tandin troops can get here to help us.”
Tanimus spoke to Mouse. “I have let Gideon know that you are coming back now and that you were successful in disarming the explosives. Be very careful going back, Mouse.” Mouse nodded, and they went their separate ways.
Back at the crevice in the tunnel, where Elisia was watching Diana through a crack in the cavern wall, she was so focused on what was going on inside the cave and concerned for Diana that she failed to realize that she had been discovered. By the time she smelled the big man, it was too late. He had grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms against her sides. Elisia screamed and tried to reach her ion-tet stunner, but he caught her wrist in a painful vice-like grip. He locked her wrist in the hand of the arm he had wrapped around her body, and then he took her weapon from her holster and put it into his own pocket. He pulled Elisia out of the crevice into the main tunnel, and then he turned her around to look at his prize.
Elisia tried to kick him, but he just pinned her against the tunnel wall with his body and legs. She was very strong for her size, but this ruthless man was nearly three times her weight and size, and she was no match for him. He wrapped one hand around both of her wrists and pinned her arms above her against the tunnel wall. He was breathing heavily, and his cruel lustful intent was obvious. Elisia tried not to show how frightened she was by this vile man.
Elisia cried out telepathically to her uncle. “Uncle
Tanimus, I’m in trouble! Please come quickly!”
Tanimus’ soothing voice reassured her that help was on the way. “Elisia, we are on our way at this moment. I love you!”
The man grinned with evil pleasure and said, “Well, a gorgeous mutant! Who would have thought? I’ve never had a mutant woman before. I’m really going to enjoy this!” Elisia was panic stricken, and she couldn’t help but struggle against him. That just excited him even more. “Oh, that is so good! Struggle all you want to, honey. I like it better that way!”
An instinctive snarling growl escaped Elisia, and she bared her teeth. The man’s attention was arrested momentarily by Elisia’s fangs. Then he caught sight of her slightly pointed ears. She shrank with revulsion from his probing touch, but there was no place to go. Elisia had known only kindness from the men in her life as she had grown up, so she knew that this barbaric man was an aberration. She was aware that true evil existed in the world. She had survived its aftermath as a child when her parents were killed and her twin brother was lost.
However, it was an intellectual knowledge. She had never actually faced true evil in her lifetime, but she could see the horror of it now on this brutal man’s face, and it sent a cold shudder through her entire being.
Elisia was repulsed as the man ran a probing finger over the point on her ear. Then, he lifted her lip and ran his finger over one of her fangs. She turned her head quickly trying to escape his rough examination. He grabbed her chin brutally and jerked her head back, forcing her to look at him. “Well, so I’ve caught a wild little jungle-cat-vampire. This just keeps getting better and better!” He put his hand on her throat and ran it slowly downward as he took perverse pleasure in watching her panic turn to terror.
Behind him, he heard an approaching man’s breathless voice. “Can I have her when you are done with her?”
The man’s expression turned to vicious annoyance as he answered. “This one is mine! Go find your own! You can stick around and wa—”
The man’s grip on Elisia was released as he crumpled and then crashed to the tunnel floor in front of her. Devin was standing over him with Pascal’s pipe baton in his hand, panting from his desperate run through the tunnels to save his beloved Elisia. He said furiously, “She is my own, you moronic pervert!”
Devin held out his hand to Elisia, but she was in shock and just stood there staring down at the fallen assailant. Devin put the baton in his back pocket, walked around the man’s body, and gently picked Elisia up in his arms. She was trembling uncontrollably as she buried her face in Devin’s neck and began sobbing. Devin said softly, “I am so sorry that I didn’t get here sooner, Elisia. The w
orld above is the source of some unspeakable cruelty and violence. I promise that I will never let it touch you
again!”
At that point, Tanimus and Vincent arrived also completely out of breath from running. They were devastated by Elisia’s sobs and their awareness of what had nearly happened to her. Two more large Tandins arrived shortly afterwards and collected this man to put with the others. Devin asked Vincent to grab Pascal’s pipe baton from his back pocket, and Vincent then gave it to one of the Tandins to return to Pascal at the cave.
Vincent looked at Devin. “How did you know, Devin? You had to have left the cave to come here before Elisia was even in danger.”
Devin shook his head. “I don’t know, Vincent. Maybe it was my connection with Elisia. Maybe it was growing up with you. Maybe it was a combination of both. I just knew that she needed me before she actually did. I got Gideon to replace me in the cave with another Tandin and ran here as fast as I could. I barely made it here in time as it was! I wish I could have gotten here sooner.”
Both Tanimus and Vincent put their arms around Devin and Elisia, and they both kissed Elisia. She could feel the combined power of the love these three men had for her, and her shuddering sobs quieted.
Tanimus spoke softly. “Thank you, Devin. We will stay here with Diana. Take Elisia back to the cave with you. Our people have secured the way between here and the cave. She will need to rest now.” Devin started to go when Tanimus thought of Elisia’s stunner. “Wait a minute, Devin.” Devin stopped and Tanimus walked to him and checked Elisia’s holster. Finding it empty, he said, “Apparently, that man took Elisia’s stunner. Ill tell the sentries to collect it off him and return it to the cave for her.” Devin nodded and left with Elisia.
Back in the shallow cave on the ledge, Dresden had his hands full with Jamie. She was restless and pacing like a little caged animal. He had kept her informed about everything that was going on below, but that only seemed to make her frustration more acute. Jamie wanted to be down there helping defend her family, not trapped up here hiding from snipers. He decided to try something different.
“Jamie, show me how to shoot your crossbow.” She turned around and looked up at him in surprise. He smiled down at her. “Please?”
Jamie looked incredulous. “Surely you already know how to shoot a crossbow!”
Dresden shrugged his shoulders and patted his ion-tet stunner. “This is my weapon of choice.”
Jamie paused as she thought for a moment. “Well, all right.” She went to Dresden’s food stash and grabbed an apple. She took it to the boulder where she had treated Dresden’s wound, and she laid the apple on it. Then, she picked up her crossbow and an arrow and went to just inside the mouth of the cave with Dresden following her. Jamie handed him the crossbow and arrow, and he just stared at them. She couldn’t help but giggle at his clueless look. Patiently, she showed him how to load the weapon.
Then, Dresden just looked at Jamie. “Now, what do I do with it?”
Jamie shook her head. “You point and shoot, silly!” Dresden gave her another boyishly charming helpless look and said, “I guess you are just going to have to teach me how.”
Jamie giggled and said, “I can’t believe a big Brute like you doesn’t know how to shoot a crossbow!” Little petite Jamie tried her best to reach her arms around Dresden from behind to show him how to hold and shoot the crossbow, but she was just too small.
Dresden chuckled, “Well, that won’t do at all! Here, let’s try it this way.” He grabbed her hand and led her to another boulder just to the right of the cave opening. He sat down on it and pulled Jamie’s back against his chest, so his arms were around her. Then she showed Dresden how to point and shoot the crossbow. Between them, the arrow went through the apple.
When Jamie turned around to face Dresden and congratulate him, she caught the mischievous delight on his face. “You are just trying to distract me!”
Dresden chuckled again, “Is it working?”
Jamie was thoroughly exasperated. “What am I going to do with you?”
Dresden couldn’t resist. “You want a wish list?”
Jamie blushed, and it made Dresden’s heart flutter. She shook her head and tried to keep a straight face as she snapped. “Oh, shut up, you big Brute!”
As Devin carried his precious Elisia back through the tunnels, she had finally stopped trembling and had relaxed in his arms until he thought that she had fallen asleep. He realized he was mistaken when he heard her soft voice speak to him aloud, “Devin?”
Devin’s voice was soothing as he answered, “Yes, Elisia?”
She spoke quietly. “I’ve never even been kissed by any man before.”
Devin smiled happily as he answered her. “Then, we are equally unschooled, because I have never kissed any woman before.”
Elisia looked up into Devin’s face. Her eyes were huge, and her cheeks were flushed with emotion. “I want to kiss you, Devin, and I need for you to kiss me.”
Devin saw a boulder a few yards ahead. He walked to it and sat down with Elisia on his lap. He returned her love-filled gaze as he said, “Elisia, I am deeply in love with you. Whatever you need is my sole purpose in life right now to provide.”
Sensing her fragile emotional state, Devin waited for Elisia to initiate the kiss. His heart was beating wildly with anticipation as she wrapped her soft arms around his neck, and she gently touched her lips to his. Devin’s eyes
closed with rapturous pleasure as her tender kiss became more intensely passionate. His embrace tightened, and then he heard her sweet voice in his mind as their kiss deepened. “Devin, I love you so much!”
He answered her telepathically. “Oh, Elisia, this is heavenly!”
As they continued kissing, Elisia took Devin on a telepathic journey of the mind. He found himself floating with her locked tightly in his arms, high above the earth, surrounded by clouds of every hue of pink, blue, and purple. It was a sweetly intense intimacy that Devin had never imagined could be possible with a kiss. As he held his beloved Elisia in this passionate romantic embrace, he felt all of the terror and pain caused by the brutality of Adrian’s thug draining out of Elisia’s body. It gave Devin a powerful feeling of masculinity to know that this sensitive feminine little woman he was in love with really needed him, and that he was capable of healing her with the strength of his love for her.
When their lips finally parted, and they were seated quietly on the boulder together, Elisia gave Devin an angelic smile and said, “I’m so glad you gave me my first kiss! That fulfilled all of my fantasies about what a man’s kiss might be like.”
Devin hugged her tighter. “Elisia, that left all of my fantasies in the dust! I never imagined anything as wonderful as that kiss. It is a real treat to be in love with a sexy little telepath!” Elisia giggled. Then Devin asked her, “How is it that a little beauty like you has never been kissed before? Surely, men have been lined up throughout the tunnels all of your life waiting for that opportunity!”
Elisia answered simply, “Not one of them was the man I wanted!”
Devin nodded, “I didn’t know what I wanted until I laid eyes on you!”
Devin stood up with Elisia still in his arms. Elisia was smiling, “Devin, I can walk now.”
Devin gave her an enraptured look. “I’m sure you can, but I am really enjoying carrying you. Is that all right?”
Elisia giggled, “Perfectly all right!” She wrapped her arms around Devin’s neck, laid her head on his shoulder, and nuzzled and kissed his neck. Devin sighed with pleasure as he held her tighter and carried his precious Elisia through the tunnels.
When Devin and Elisia arrived back in the cave, the women, except Mary and Susan, were all kneeled around Catherine’s bedroll, and Sarah was helping Catherine to nurse Little Jacob. Charles was standing guard at the mouth of the cave as they entered, and he looked very relieved to see Devin. “Dev, I am so glad to see that you are OK. Is Elisia all right?”
Elisia gave Charles
a warm smile, and he smiled back as he handed her the retrieved stunner. “Devin saved me, Charles, and I am just fine now!”
Mary and Susan were kneeled beside a bedroll with Joe on it. They had been checking his vital signs regularly, and Mary had a small flashlight with which she had been checking his pupils every hour. Joe was still unconscious.
Gideon then announced, “Our troops have arrived!” Right away, they all heard a furious flurry of gunfire outside the cave in the larger cavern. The gunfire continued for about half-an-hour, and then there was silence. Gideon reported the progress of the Tandins. “All of Adrian’s men in the cavern have been stunned and captured. After our newly arrived troops have eaten, they are going to comb the tunnels and collect the rest of Adrian’s army with the exception of the four guards he has with him and Jonathan Pope in the cave where he is holding Diana.”
Gideon paused for a few minutes, and Father’s people had learned to recognize when he was communicating telepathically with the other Tandins. Finally, he continued. “Tanimus says that he and Vincent don’t feel that it is safe to try to rescue Diana where she is. They say that Adrian has decided to come here looking for Vincent to complete his plans. So, Vincent and Tanimus are now on their way back here. The Tandin troops I originally had are going to shadow Adrian and try to pick off his guards from behind before he arrives here. Then, we will finish our plan to neutralize Adrian permanently.”
Dresden was faithfully providing his anxious little charge with updates as everything occurred. Jamie was tied up in knots while the guns were firing below, and Dresden kept a steadying hand on her shoulder as he stood behind her, while she was watching the battle scene down below them in the cavern from the mouth of the cave. When it was all over, and he informed her that the Tandins had prevailed, she whirled around with a joyful look on her face and threw her arms around him.
Beauty and the Beast Page 32