Checkmate

by Annmarie McKenna

  “You bastard.” Her shout came out muffled. She brought her knee up with the intent to dislodge him and felt the slightest of pricks against her neck. The pressure increased until she realized he held the razor edge of something sharp on her throat.

  “There, there. I knew you’d remember,” he cooed, continuing to fondle her crotch. “I promise to make it good for you.” His tongue darted out and swiped her ear.

  Nikki gagged on the bile rushing to the surface again. She tightened her legs together around his hand, and he pressed her into the wall, cutting off her air supply.

  “Do not make a sound, or I’ll slit your throat.”

  The knife moved away only to be replaced by his fingers in a furious grip around her windpipe, but at least he’d relinquished his hold between her legs.

  He was going to rape her. Nikki’s stomach turned over and that day in the mall parking lot flashed through her mind. She’d gotten away from them, she could get away from him. If only she were telepathic. Eli.

  A small pull on her shirt distracted her. He cut the thick cotton with the extremely sharp blade as if it were the finest of silks. The shirt parted and fell to the sides, revealing her bra-clad breasts, and a puff of cool air washed across her tummy. Goose bumps prickled her skin from head to toe.

  His fingertips caressed her, trailing down from the hollow at her throat to the button on her jeans. The man laughed when her stomach muscles jerked in terror. A whimper of hate and protest burst from her lips.

  “Ah, ah, ah. I told you, no sounds.” He admonished her almost playfully. His fingers continued wandering, stopping at the front clasp of her bra.

  With her arms pinned behind her she couldn’t stop him. A quick flick of his wrist and her small breasts fell free from their confinement.

  “I wish I could see what color your nipples are.” He plucked them in a tight pinch.

  Nikki threw her head side to side. His pinch grew unbearable until she stopped.

  “They’re budding. You can’t control their response. It’s natural.”

  He stood there, raping her, yet talking as if he were her lover. Her mind faded in and out, everything she’d learned leaving as quickly as it formed. She wanted to thrust her knee up into his groin and smash his dick into smithereens. Her feet felt weighed down by concrete blocks. Without her hands, she didn’t have many more options.

  His hand crushed her windpipe until spots swam in her dark vision. His whispered spoutings became background noise.

  In her waning strength, she felt the pressure at her waist released with the rasp of her zipper. His hands fumbled between them as she struggled to get out of his hold. Her body grew numb from the lack of oxygen.

  Never seeing Eli again was a fate far worse than being raped and killed.

  Eli groaned. The floor was cold and hard beneath his cheek. A burning sensation tore through a spot on his neck and he fumbled to wipe his fingertips across the ache. His arms felt weighed down with lead. Where the fuck was he? Peeling his eyelids open was hell but he knew there was something he was supposed to be doing.

  Damn it, what had happened?

  Ever so slowly his senses started firing. He’d been in the car and gotten a call from Morales. Eli blinked in the darkness. Only a tiny sliver of light protruded the black surroundings. It took a few minutes for his wolf’s eyesight to kick in. When it did, he was more confused than before.

  Wooden shelves graced both sides of the narrow space he lay in. Some were shielded with glass, some open. A few spaces were locked with a keypad. Folded white bundles were stacked on one shelf from floor to ceiling.

  Eli groaned again and ran his hands over his face.

  “Son of a bitch,” he bit out. What the hell was going on? “Think, Eli, think.” He closed his eyes and inhaled, relying on his wolf to sense his surroundings. The strong smell of antiseptic filled his nostrils. He froze, fingers dug into his eye sockets.

  One minute he’d been escorting Nikki through the ER, the next they’d been separated. He remembered a sharp poke in his neck and then nothing. His heart pounded in revelation and before he knew it, he’d shifted. Eli snarled at the thick door holding him in the tiny closet. Whoever was on the other side was about to get a show.

  He backed up as far as the opposite wall would allow and with a howl charged the door. Some speck of sanity must have remained because at the last second, he shifted and slammed into the door. The wood splintered off the doorframe and flew outward. Several screams rent the air. Eli ignored the gasps and strange looks, rolled to his feet and scented the air.

  He had to fight to keep his wolf at bay. How many long minutes had they been separated? How long had he been out cold? A quick glance at his watch showed only about fifteen minutes had passed since they’d walked off the elevator. He remembered looking at the time then. Fifteen minutes. They could be fucking anywhere.

  Tuning out the chaos around him, Eli fisted his hands almost unconsciously. His heart thumped in an erratic pattern. Every joint in his body itched to shift, and his skin crawled with the impending change. In a minute he wouldn’t be able to help himself.

  Lungs heaving, he plastered himself to the wall. His nostrils flared with every inhalation. Closing his eyes, Eli focused his senses. Nikki had to still be here. He wouldn’t accept anything else. Drawing on every ounce of his abilities to hunt as the wolf, he searched for her.

  The room around him grew silent, the noise faded to the background until there was nothing but himself and his mate’s fading scent. To his right, which meant she hadn’t gone outside since the door was to his left. Another acrid scent mingled with hers. It smelled of anger and fear. Of course it could belong to any number of the people in the ER, but somehow it seemed to be wrapped around Nikki’s.

  More composed, Eli pushed off the wall. He lifted his nose in the air and followed the trail. He nearly bumped into Caelan as he rounded a corner.

  “Eli, what the hell are you doing? Where’s Nikki?”

  “She’s gone. We got separated. He took her.” Jesus, he couldn’t even form a complete thought. He covered the spot on his neck where the prick had apparently injected him with something. Probably something meant to knock a grown man out for a long time. Bastard didn’t know how quickly a wolf healed, even when drugged.

  “What?” he snarled. “What the fuck happened?”

  Eli grabbed Caelan’s forearms, drawing on the strength of the Prime. “Nikki said she saw someone down here who made her feel weird when she first got here with Tieran…” It suddenly dawned on him. “Where is Tieran?”

  “In her room, with our son. I called your cell and got your voice mail a minute ago. Tieran needed something I have in my car, so that’s where I was heading.”

  “Fuck. Nikki wanted to try and find the bastard again, but the ER got swarmed. She was ripped right out of my hands.” He held them up and stared at them.

  Caelan inspected the area where Eli had fingered his throat. “The fucker shot you up with something,” he growled. His thumb traced the small needle mark and his eyes glowed with barely contained menace. In a minute they’d both be in trouble. All these people would get a good idea of who—what—really lived among them.

  Caelan grabbed Eli’s elbow and moved them in the direction Eli had been heading. “Keep talking,” he barked.

  “It was goddamn fast. By the time I turned around she was gone. He’ll kill her,” he whispered.

  Caelan leaned in close to Eli, detecting Nikki’s scent on him and together they picked up the trail. It ended at a different, locked supply closet. Eli laid his hand on the door. She was definitely in there. Still alive.

  He drew a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  “This is what Tieran meant before, a dark place… Motherfucker. She’s in there with him.” Eli hissed. His ears picked up almost every minute sound.

  Eli stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Caelan, ready to bust through the thick, solid wood door. Together each of them lashed out with a fo
ot. The frame splintered and the door flew inward, slamming into the wall inside.

  Light flooded the dark storage room. Inside a man turned sharply, eyes wide and glistening in the spill of light like an animal caught in a car’s headlights. The sudden illumination must have blinded him because he rubbed at his eyes. He groped behind his back and dragged Nikki-Raine’s limp form to his front and held her to his chest with a choking arm around her neck. Her head fell forward.

  Eli’s heart sank. They were too late. She was gone. A keening sound filled the room and he felt as though his knees would collapse. He lifted the gun he had no recollection of drawing and aimed it at the bastard’s forehead.

  “He’s got a knife.” Caelan’s hand rested on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.

  Eli zeroed in on what Caelan saw. The doctor, still in his scrubs, crushed Nikki to him with his left hand and held the edge of a scalpel just below her ear with his right. Eli’s heart threatened to burst. He clamped his jaw tight and his chest vibrated with a low, fierce growl.

  Nikki’s T-shirt hung loosely open, revealing angry red bruises already forming on her breasts. Her jeans were unzipped and pushed down around her hips to the point where the curly hair between her legs peeked out over the rumpled lace of her underwear.

  At least he hadn’t been able to fucking rape her. Her fingers twitched, drawing his attention. Alive.

  Eli shook his head. His mate needed him now. Needed him sane to get her out of this, not giving in to the rage simmering in his veins.

  Time slowed. Beside him, Caelan raised his own gun, beading in on the same spot Eli had no doubt. There was no more movement, no sound but the harshness of all their breathing.

  A wisp of air near his ear told him someone else had entered the room. Eli didn’t look. He kept his entire being centered on the scumbag who held his heart in filthy hands.

  He and the doctor stared at each other. The killer smiled and broke the tension first.

  “Well, well. It’s seems you’ve caught me.” He stroked Nikki’s cheek with his thumb, leaving the blade pressed against what Eli knew to be the velvet soft skin of her neck. Keeping his eyes trained on Eli, the bastard bent his head and licked the path his thumb had wandered. “Too bad she didn’t live long enough for me to have some fun. So tasty.” He laughed.

  Eli saw red.

  “You’ll never get out of here,” he spat.

  “No, it doesn’t seem likely, does it? Too bad it has to end because some bitch saw me.” His arms tightened around her flimsy body.

  “Let. Her. Go.” An eerie calmness took over, keeping Eli from leaping at the man. Only knowing he might hurt Nikki worse than she was prevented him from doing so. She was no more dead than he was.

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Why not? If she’s dead, she’s no bargaining chip to you anymore.” Damn it hurt to say those words. “Let her go and end this peacefully.” Eli took a step forward. There wouldn’t be any peace in this room.

  “Don’t come any closer or I’ll slit her throat.”

  Eli had to take a gamble. “I thought you said she was dead?” He swallowed before speaking again and sent up a prayer that Nikki couldn’t hear him. “You’re going to slit her throat anyway, aren’t you? You don’t want to be the only one leaving here in a body bag.” His hands shook. “You want her to be your last hurrah.” He took another step.

  “Stop.” The man’s hand tightened on the scalpel.

  Eli caught the metallic stench of blood and even in the gloomy confines could see the drop of Nikki’s blood well up on the edge of the scalpel. He jerked to a standstill, freezing in his spot.

  Inhaling deeply, he hoped he hadn’t pushed too hard, and made a serious error in judgement.

  “Let’s make a deal. You don’t kill her, I won’t kill you?”

  The man laughed again, the sound grating on every one of Eli’s nerves. His wolf howled silently, begging to be let loose. It was harder than anything he’d ever done not to shift and rip out the bastard’s throat. But to do that would be a death sentence on his people. Too many would witness his change and condemn him to a life of scientists and possibly ferret out the rest of the pack. He wouldn’t let that happen.

  “Death is better than prison any day. Life is like a prison, isn’t it? You say I’m a murderer, I say I’ve released all these souls from their prisons.” His thumb caressed her cheek again.

  He was relaxing. Stupid fool. Keep him talking, get him off-kilter and go in for the kill.

  “Wouldn’t you want her to have better than her prison of a life?” he continued.

  Fucking demented bastard. Less than five feet separated them. Eli could take him out, but with how much risk to Nikki?

  “I saw you with her earlier. You had your tongue down her throat.”

  Nikki moaned.

  “Is she a good fuck?”

  With an animalistic growl and superhuman speed, Eli lunged at him. A girlish scream erupted from Nikki’s attacker who’d been unprepared for the assault. He reacted instinctively, just as Eli hoped he would, dropping his hold on Nikki to defend himself.

  Nikki slumped to the floor with a soft whimper. In their scuffle, Eli’s foot connected with something soft and he cringed. They came together, arms raised, grunting with the force of the impact.

  Eli felt the cold steel of the knife slice through his forearm, but didn’t release his hold. They stayed upright, the killer trying to stab Eli, and Eli trying to club him with his gun.

  Caelan yelled. “Get down, E.”

  Several other shouts of “freeze” or “don’t move” penetrated Eli’s one-track mind.

  Out of his peripheral vision, Eli saw someone move closer and drag Nikki to safety. With her body out of the way, the two men found themselves falling in the freed space, like a wall had disappeared.

  Eli tried to gain the upper hand by twisting in midair so the other man would be beneath him. It didn’t work. They landed hard on the ground, Eli on his right side, with a whoosh of air and a groan of pain, neither one of them surrendering their hold.

  Eli’s head hit the concrete with a sickening thud, making him see stars for a split second. The killer took advantage, thrusting his blade upward.

  The knife plunged into Eli’s abdomen with a tight, hot pinch. Someone yelled. Eli fought to bring his gun hand up from underneath the bastard’s body, but it was pinned to the floor.

  Warmth flooded his belly along with a burn that wouldn’t quit.

  Eli heard a volley of shits, and fucks and get-out-of-the-ways. There wasn’t enough room for many other people and certainly not enough to get a shot off.

  His right temple throbbed, threatening to cut off his grip on the world. He lifted his head in time to see Caelan charging closer. The killer raised his arm, anchoring his body off the floor with his left elbow and giving Eli the chance he needed.

  Eli twisted his wrist and squeezed his finger. His ears rang. The man’s body collapsed over him, heavy against Eli’s battered body. The last thing he saw was Caelan standing over them, looking grim.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Grogginess cluttered Eli’s mind and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. Pain wracked every inch of his body. The last time he’d felt like this, he’d been face down on the concrete being accused of killing… Fuuuucckk.

  He inhaled and started to stretch his aching muscles, but stopped short when the strong smell of antiseptic abraded his nostrils. Where in the hell was he? Eli lifted one eyelid to inspect his surroundings, wincing when the dull light from above shot arrows through his brain.

  When the pain dissipated, he tried again. Must be a hell of a hangover. He reached for Nikki, seeking her warm, soft skin, but his arm refused to obey.

  Oh hell, not again. If he was handcuffed to a fucking bed again—

  “Hey, glad to see you’re back amongst the living.”

  Caelan? In his bedroom?

  No. Not his bedroom. They’d been at the hospital
and Nikki had been in the arms of that bastard. He lunged upward, instantly grabbing his side when a knifelike pain radiated through his abs. Eli toppled over onto his back again then rolled and tried to bring his knees up. The movement made the pain worse.

  “Take it easy.” Caelan’s hand landed on his shoulder and aided him in turning back over.

  “Where is she?” Eli gasped. “Where’s Nikki-Raine?” He didn’t care about the pain anymore, only getting to his mate. He struggled to sit up and again Caelan forced him down.

  “She’s asleep, moron, and you’ll wake her up if you don’t control yourself.”

  Eli’s eyes widened. He twisted to see her. She was lying on her side in another bed, facing him, her knees pulled up to her chest, one hand tucked beneath her cheek, the other on the pillow beside her. An ugly bruise stretched across her cheekbone.

  “How is she?” he whispered, wanting more than anything to get up and go to her, shield her from life itself.

  “She’s fine. Better than you anyway. A few bruises on her throat, the one on her face. Doc said her larynx wasn’t crushed, just bruised.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” he snapped, his gaze tracking the skin he could see.

  “He tried to choke her, E. Her throat will be sore for a few days, but other than that, she’ll be fine.”

  Eli reached an arm toward her, ignoring the fire pulling at his side.

  Who cared if he woke her up? He had to hear her voice, to know for himself she was okay.

  “Nikki-Raine, I’m here, baby.”

  She didn’t move and Eli felt a stab of worry.

  “Why won’t she wake up?” he growled.

  Caelan snorted. “Doc had to give her a mild sedative to help her sleep. After she woke up from passing out earlier, she wouldn’t let anyone look at her because she didn’t know how you were. When we’d finally convinced her you were going to be okay, she relented. But only after she demanded to be in the same room as you.” He shuffled his feet and muttered, “Stubborn-ass woman. No one wanted to face the charging bull.”