Dresden hugged her tightly as a thrill swept through his body. All too soon, she pulled away from him and ran out to the ledge to look below.
Dresden stepped outside of the cave and stood beside her. He said, “Vincent and Tanimus are on their way back. The final conflict with Adrian is going to take place here, right below us. They have asked us to keep watch from up here until this is all over.” Jamie gave him a look of fear that wrenched his heart. He put his hand back on her shoulder again. “It will be all right, Jamie, I promise you. They will be safe, and this will be over with very soon.” Then Dresden took his stunner out of its holster and got down on his stomach to watch covertly over the side of the ledge.
Jamie ran back into the cave, came back with her loaded crossbow, and got down beside him to begin the vigil. She still looked worried as she said to Dresden, “I am so glad that Vincent put that Kevlar vest on!”
Dresden brushed Jamie’s hair out of her eyes and
swept it behind her ear as he replied. “Yes, I saw him put that on when you first got here.”
When Tanimus and Vincent arrived, Vincent looked at everyone in the cave. “Tony, please stay with the women and help them protect Catherine and Little Jacob for me, OK?” Tony was bravely trying to control his fear as he nodded at Vincent and kneeled down with the women by Catherine. Then Vincent looked at Charles. “Charles, please continue to guard the entrance here with Gideon.” Charles nodded his head.
Vincent looked at Father and Peter, and Father said, “Well take care of Joe. Please be very careful, Vincent. Adrian is clearly insane to be trying something this desperate when he is obviously outnumbered. It is evident that he isn’t any more stable than Gabriel was. That makes him very dangerous and unpredictable.”
Tanimus looked at Father. “Don’t worry, Father. Vincent will not be in any danger. We have a plan that will take care of Adrian permanently, and no one will be hurt.” Then Tanimus looked at Vincent. “Vincent, just keep Adrian talking and distracted. We will take care of the rest of our plan.” Vincent nodded at his uncle.
Pascal approached them and put his hand on Tanimus’ arm as he looked up at him. “Please bring them safely back to us! I don’t even want to think about what life would be like for us without Vincent and Diana. We can’t lose them!”
Tanimus smiled and nodded at Pascal. “They will be safe, Pascal, I promise you!”
Just then, they heard a loud angry voice calling to them from outside the cave. It was Adrian. “Vincent, I’ve got one of your women out here, and she is dead if you don’t come out here now!”
They all watched in trepidation as Tanimus and Vincent left the cave to face Adrian. Vincent felt a growl rising in his throat at the sight of Adrian. What he was horrified by, though, was the sight of Diana. Now, he understood why Tanimus had taken the position watching Diana through the crack in the tunnel wall, even though he could remotely view what Diana was seeing. Tanimus didn’t want Vincent to see what Adrian had done to Diana. Diana’s face was badly bruised, and her upper lip and cheek were cut and swollen. Her hands were tied in front of her, and Adrian had Diana by the hair with one hand and was holding a gun to the back of her head with the other hand.
Adrian spoke in his usual commanding tone. “You know what I want, Vincent. Maxwell made sure that everything I had built up in America is now destroyed, so I have nothing left to lose here. If you don’t do what I want, this one dies. She should die anyway because of what she did to my brother. I’m willing to let her live, though, if you turn yourself over to me and my men. Your other woman is as good as dead, from what I saw, because of what Gabriel did to her. Well, this one killed Gabriel for you,
and I know you care about her, or you wouldn’t be hiding her here below with you. This doesn’t have to be unpleasant, Vincent. This one will do to produce more of your offspring, and you will both live, if you cooperate. Obviously, when you mate with human women, it produces children who are genetically superior but still look human. That suits my purposes perfectly. Then, I can have my scientists isolate their enhanced immunity factor to market and raise those children to be loyal to me. Their superior intellect will advance and expand my financial empire dramatically. I have a ship waiting to take us out of the country.”
Vincent felt the fury of his avenging Demon rising within him over Adrian’s cruel and brutal treatment of Diana and his callous crude words describing her future fate at his hands. He was growling under his breath, but he also felt Elisia keeping a firm grip on his emotions.
With her help, he managed to maintain control of his Demon—for the moment. Vincent stepped forward as if to surrender himself to Adrian. His eyes were locked on Diana’s, and she showed no fear whatsoever.
Then Adrian raised his voice. “All of you can come out now.” Adrian looked around, expecting all of his armed men to appear and back up his threats. Instead, around seventy-five very big Tandin men appeared, carrying Adrian’s four unconscious guards and Jonathan Pope, whom they then deposited on the cavern floor around him. After putting the men down, they all looked at Adrian.
Adrian gave Vincent a vicious look. What they had not seen until now was the remote detonation device that Adrian was holding in the same hand with which he was holding Diana’s hair. With fury in his voice Adrian said, “Vincent, I have nothing more to lose! All of us will die now!” With that, he pressed the remote device—and nothing happened.
Mouse stepped out of the cave and walked over by Vincent. He pulled the detonator caps out of his pocket and held them up. “No kaboom? Too bad!”
Adrian yanked Diana back against him by her hair and put the gun to the front of her throat as he shouted, “Vincent! I’m warning you—”
Diana had finally had enough. She pulled her roped hands up sharply, knocking Adrian’s gun hand away from her, while at the same time raking the heel of her hiking boot down the inside of his leg and then stomping his foot. Adrian screamed in pain as Diana broke away from him and ran toward Vincent. Adrian raised his gun again and pointed it at Diana. Vincent raced forward, wrapped his arms around Diana as she reached him, quickly grabbed her up, and whirled around with her shielding her with his own body. Adrian shot Vincent in the back, and Diana gasped as she felt the impact of the bullet through Vincent’s body.
Vincent set Diana carefully down, and then he turned around to face Adrian. Adrian took aim again, and Vincent emitted a furious roar and charged at Adrian. He raked Adrian’s arm with his claws which knocked the gun out of his hand, and then he raised his hand to deliver a fatal blow to the cowering man. Vincent heard two women he loved scream his name simultaneously, “VINCENTF Diana screamed it verbally and Elisia telepathically. Once again, their gentle grip on the Beast’s leash was enough. With great effort, Vincent regained control of himself and lowered his hand. He turned around to go back to Diana. Behind him, even though his arm was shredded and bleeding profusely, Adrian’s malicious vengeful look returned as he took Diana’s gun out of his jacket pocket and aimed it at Vincent’s head.
Up on the ledge, Jamie screamed, “NoF She leaped to her feet and took aim at Adrian. Dresden jumped up and put his hand on her arm, and then she was amazed by what was happening below. She lowered her weapon and stared.
A look of absolute horror had come over Adrian’s face. He began shaking, and then he dropped Diana’s gun. His trembling hands dropped to his sides as his mouth dropped opened, and he began screaming. He threw his arms over his face as if trying to shield himself from some unseen monstrous threat. Finally, he collapsed on the floor of the cavern and curled up in a fetal position. He was now sobbing uncontrollably.
Tanimus had already untied Diana’s hands. She had held herself together through the entire ordeal, both here and during the weeks of hiding from Adrian in Father’s
world. Now, as she witnessed Adrian being disabled by utter terror, she was overcome by relief. At the same time, she was sick with worry over Joe’s injury and Vincent’s bullet wound. Diana became dizzy, and
the cavern started spinning. She felt herself falling to the floor when a pair of powerful arms caught her, and then everything went black.
Back up on the ledge, Jamie exclaimed, “Poor Diana!” She gave Dresden a stricken look as she said, “Adrian beat her, and now she has collapsed! Can you ask how she is, and make sure that the bullet Vincent was hit with didn’t hurt him?”
Dresden had picked up Jamie’s hand, and he kissed it as he spoke telepathically with Gideon. Then he looked into Jamie’s worried eyes and smiled. “Gideon says that Diana’s injuries are not serious and that she has only fainted. She will be just fine, and Vincent wasn’t hurt at all by that bullet.” Jamie closed her eyes in relief.
Now that the crisis was over, Jamie was anxious to get back to her family, and Dresden could feel that. He decided to collect his things later, so he could accompany Jamie down the cavern wall. Jamie went into the cave and retrieved her quiver of arrows and was attaching her crossbow to it with the strap Mouse had fitted her quiver with. Before she could put it on her shoulder, though, Dresden took it from her.
Jamie stared at him. “What do you think you are
doing?”
Dresden smiled at her. “I’m not anxious to see you break that pretty little neck of yours trying to climb down with this on your shoulder.” Without waiting for her to give him permission, he shouldered her weapon and began climbing down to the floor of the cavern.
Jamie swallowed the protest that sprang to her lips, and instead, she found herself smiling at Dresden’s gallantry. She waited for him to get most of the way down, and then she began climbing down after him. Jamie was several feet above Dresden, who was now on the floor of the cavern when she lost her footing, and she yelped in alarm as she fell. Dresden whirled around just in time to catch her in his arms. Once more, she found herself looking up into his dark eyes, and she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his mane with relief.
Dresden thought, “Item number one on my wish list; Rescue the princess, so she hugs my neck!” Then Jamie looked into his smiling eyes again, and he just had to open his big mouth as he began walking with her in his arms. “Well, I guess I can carry you, if you insist!”
Jamie snapped back, “Put me down, you big Brute!” Dresden smiled mischievously, but he obediently put her down. Jamie shook her head. “I know! I’m adorable when I’m rattled. Well, I’m going to rattle you until your teeth shake loose, if you don’t stop teasing me!”
Dresden looked positively delighted. “That sounds like fun!”
Jamie was both amused and exasperated as she attempted to look serious. “That happens to be a threat! Some Heathcliff you’re turning out to be!”
With that, she whirled around and stomped off, with Dresden close at her heels, very pleased with himself for provoking another pretty tantrum out of this captivating little creature. He wisely decided, though, that he had better change tactics, or he was going to sabotage his own efforts to keep her interested. He thought to himself, “Heathcliff, huh! So, she likes the sober brooding sort.” Dresden’s long strides quickly put him beside Jamie, and then he asked her, “Where did you learn to shoot a crossbow like that? You really are very good!” As he asked the question, he handed her crossbow and quiver to her, and she put them back on her shoulder.
Jamie eyed Dresden suspiciously, wondering if another onslaught of teasing was forthcoming, but his expression was serious. So, she explained, “When I was growing up in the tunnels, I was always a tomboy.
Vincent used to read us the tales of Robin Hood. I was so fascinated by those stories, that it inspired me to make my first bow and arrows. They weren’t more than just toys then, but as I got older, Mouse made more sophisticated weapons for me. I loved practicing with them.”
Dresden was thrilled with his discovery that Jamie was truly passionate about archery. It wasn’t just a means of defense to her. It was also an enjoyable sport. “Well, all of that practice has certainly made you a force to be reckoned with!” Jamie lit up with pleasure at the compliment, and Dresden thought to himself, “She is such a pretty little thing!”
Then Jamie asked him about his weapon. “Tell me about your weapon, Dresden. I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Dresden proceeded to explain the weapon to Jamie as Elisia had to Vincent. Jamie didn’t have a clue what Dresden was talking about, but she found herself enjoying listening to him explain it anyway.
Diana was brought back to consciousness by the acrid scent of smelling salts administered to her by Peter. When she opened her eyes, Joe was looking down at her as he held her in his arms, while he was seated on a boulder in the cave. She exclaimed, “Vincent was shot!”
Joe smiled at her as Vincent came up to them and said, “I’m fine, Diana. I don’t even have a scratch.”
Tears came to Diana’s eyes as she then said to Joe, “You’re all right! Were you the one that caught me?”
Joe smiled down at her. “You didn’t think I was going to miss out on an opportunity like that, did you? The damsel-in-distress fainted, and I got to catch her so she wouldn’t get a boo-boo!” He gently touched her face as he added with sad regret, “I wish that I could have prevented this too!”
Diana giggled as she sat up on Joe’s lap and hugged him, “My knight-in-shining-arm or!” Everyone had gathered around Diana as she came to. Father began
treating the cuts on her face as she spoke to Vincent. “I know that Adrian shot you! I felt the impact of the bullet when you were holding me. How is it that you aren’t hurt?”
Mouse spoke up and answered Diana’s question. “Kevlar vest! Mouse found long time ago. Vincent wore!” Vincent smiled and nodded. “I had put on Mouse’s Kevlar vest before Tanimus and I went looking for you. It was a good thing that Mouse thought to pack it. I was afraid that Adrian might start shooting. I knew that he was unstable and had no self-control.”
Diana then looked at Tanimus. “What did you do to Adrian? I almost felt sorry for him!”
Tanimus explained, “Before Dr. Vlas left us, he gave us a weapon to use against Adrian, if he ever threatened our world again. Dominik gave us a vision, from his own mind, of the one thing that Adrian is terrified of.”
Diana shook her head as she suddenly realized what that was, “His abusive biological father in Romania!” Tanimus nodded, “Yes, we simply flooded his mind with visions of that horrible man beating both Gabriel and Adrian, just as Dominik Vlas witnessed it happening in Romania, before he rescued the brothers. That was all we needed to cripple Adrian temporarily, perhaps even permanently. The psychological scars an abusive parent leaves on a child last a lifetime.”
Peter then asked, “What are you going to do with those men now?”
Tanimus looked at Joe. “Well, since they cannot be prosecuted and imprisoned without exposing our worlds, we will take them back to our world, and we will make sure that they never bother your world again.”
Diana spoke up at that point. “That’s a relief. Gabriel told me, before I killed him, that prison was a place to get stronger. He said that if he went to prison, he would just rule his empire from there. I’m sure that Adrian would have the same idea, if he wasn’t completely catatonic after this, and he has the means in offshore accounts to do just that if we sent him to prison.”
Joe chuckled as he looked at Tanimus. “Aren’t we under The Bronx now?” Tanimus nodded, and Joe went on, “Well, this is out of my jurisdiction anyway. If your people have a safe way of dealing with those criminals, so they can’t hurt anyone else ever again, then you will be doing the world a favor. What will you do with them in your world?”
Tanimus explained, “It is very rare, but on occasion, we do catch criminals in the tunnels whom we cannot send up top, or our world would be threatened like yours would. We keep them incarcerated in our world, in very comfortable facilities, and we are often able to rehabilitate them using our mental powers. Whether they can be helped or not we will care for those men. They will be blindfolded before being taken to our wo
rld, so even if they ever did manage to escape, they would become hopelessly lost in the maze of tunnels. We have never lost a prisoner yet, though, and some of them are now very productive and happy members of our community. Our prisoners cannot successfully deceive us by pretending to be rehabilitated, because the Tandins can detect changes in heart rate as well as emotional state, and we can smell the distinct perspiration odor of liars.”
Joe commented with awe in his voice, “Boy, what I wouldn’t give to have your people conducting my interrogations!” Tanimus chuckled.
The Tandin troops blindfolded a still-whimpering Adrian and his men, whose wounds had all been treated, and then they went ahead with their prisoners to the Tandin world. Now that they could finally relax, baths and a good meal were the group’s first priority. Then after a few hours of restful sleep, the group began gathering up their things to resume their journey.
Dresden was helping Jamie to put her backpack on when Tanimus came up to the couple. He chuckled as he looked at the completely moon-struck look on Dresden’s face. “Well, Dresden, it looks like you have finally been bewitched!”
Dresden’s eyes danced as he answered. “Isn’t she enchanting, Dad?”
Jamie stared at the two men in surprise as Tanimus replied. “She certainly is, Son!”
Jamie looked at Dresden. “Tanimus is your father?” Dresden chuckled at her surprised look. “That he is!”
Jamie then stated the obvious. “So, Vincent and Elisia are your cousins!”
Dresden nodded his head. “They are! I grew up with Elisia, though. She is really more like a sister to me. In fact, biologically, she almost is, since our mothers were identical twins, and our fathers were brothers.”
Beauty and the Beast Page 33