by Karen Monroe
“Why are you doing this?! You already have the delaphin! What do you need me for?” she screamed, trying to squirm away from him. Kefar chuckled before rising to stand above her. The position she was bound in didn’t allow her see more than his feet. “Ah… The question I’ve been waiting for you to ask. Why me? You probably ask that of yourself a lot. Your life has been full of changes, hasn’t it?”
“Fuck you.”
“Maybe later.”
Marissa snarled. “Answer my question, damn you! Why do you need me?”
“I need you, Marissa, because I’m trying to start a war.”
Air moved past her face as Kefar walked away.
Following him with her gaze, she watched him unfold a metal chair from the corner of the room before he sat adjacent to where she was tied on the floor.
“Do you know how powerful Eritrea really is? We could rule the entire Earth,” Kefar suddenly snapped his fingers, “like that. The Lycans and the Vampires are nothing. Humans are even less. I’m not the only one who thinks this way, my Lady. There are others who share my belief. Yet, there’s only one thing stopping us from taking total control. Do you know what that is?”
Shaking her head, she glared at him. “No.”
Kefar bowed his head, smiling at her as though he was imparting some grand secret. “Your husband, Tylan. He’s more of the peace-loving type. You know the kind. Don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing. I knew it would take a drastic act to push him toward my way of thinking. I have tried many different tactics in the past two hundred or so years. The Dissidents, in their stupidity, were a lovely pawn for a time, but not enough to stir your husband’s rage. When I released the delaphin, and set you toward her, I thought that might be enough. I even went the extra step by taking over Coulter’s mind and staging a raid in Liacin. I had to use outside help for that, but it worked. Tylan’s anger was quickening, and I thought I had him.”
Smacking his lips, Kefar lifted his head, wagging a finger in her direction. “But you threw a little monkey wrench in that plan when you fell in the tank. I knew you were a mernia. I had relied on your intrinsic love of the ocean to help me see my plan through. Hence the reason I beached the dolphins. But you weren’t supposed to fall, Marissa. Why did you do that?”
“I was pushed, asshole,” she hissed, anger working through her body.
“Yes, I know. That’s why I tortured that fool Litchfield. He was as much to blame as you were.”
Marissa wheezed, remembering the horrific image of his body, gutted and mutilated. “You killed Brian?”
Kefar grinned evilly. “Of course. But not before he helped me capture another delaphin. You see, although I can command the lesser beings in the ocean, the delaphin are sacred because they are sentient. They have feelings, emotions, and desires. I could have never ordered one to do my bidding. I can release them at will, but they won’t come to me any longer. That’s why I needed Litchfield to trap one.” He smiled wickedly. “They are so inquisitive. But once his use to me was done, I couldn’t let him live. Yet, you know, I should have thanked him while I was pulling the intestines from his body. His foolishness helped me better than any of the plans I had come up with so far.”
Marissa curled her lip in disgust. “A fool helping a fool. That should tell you something.”
Kefar literally jumped from the chair, causing it to fall with a loud, echoing clatter. His face twisted into a grim sneer and Marissa knew she’d hit a nerve.
“You know what it told me, bilna? That the Gods were smiling on me. Because in you, I now have the best weapon to begin my war.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This brings us full circle, back to the why me question. Yet, I’m surprised you haven’t already figured it out.”
The look Kefar had in his eyes stuttered her heart.
“A pair bond is a glorious thing for a male Eritrean. A woman who fulfills his every desire, shares his mind, and makes him whole. Your death would be devastating to Tylan. Believe me when I tell you, he will bring swift and merciless terror to the culprits.”
Raging, she glared at Kefar, ignoring the fear stampeding in her mind. “And that would be you, right?”
“No, my lovely,” he derided, smiling evilly as he walked toward her. Marissa screamed in pain when he grabbed a hunk of her hair, and twisted her body roughly around, jerking her head forward. “Look. That’s the man who’s going to be blamed for killing you.”
Marissa flinched from the sight of the lifeless figure. Her lungs seized, she gazed at the gaping wound where the heart should have been. Looking up toward the face, she immediately recognized the young Vampire she had glimpsed at the Committee meeting, the one with the harsh expression stamped on his visage.
“Young Draco there, thought to use me to help him supplant his father’s position,” Kefar whispered. “I think he imagined himself a better leader of the Vampires. We were useful to each other for a while, but I don’t think he fully explored his potential till now.”
“You-you’ll never get aw-way with this, Kefar,” she gasped.
“Yes, I will. Once I show Tylan your body, and the man responsible for your death, everything will work just the way I planned. But there is one more thing left on the agenda, and for that I’m going to need your help.”
“Fuck you!” Marissa roared.
“I thought you might say something like that. So, I brought along some incentives to help you make your decision.”
Kefar dropped the hold on her hair, and her head fell back to the floor. Searing pain blurred her vision, but she could hear the sound of his clapping hands echoing harshly in the background along with the muffled noise of clothes being dragged against the floor. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, mixing with the sticky blood on her face.
God! To think she had actually liked Kefar when she had first met him. He had smiled when others had frowned, and she took him on face value. Now, she would rather stand next to all the frowns in Eritrea, in the world, than Kefar’s evil and leering grin. He was nothing but a sick, maniacal lunatic, the type of person who got off on other people’s pain. He took joy in manipulating lives—their futures—because he wanted to start some stupid war. He didn’t care about the destruction, or the death it would cause.
Marissa couldn’t believe how stupid she had been. When she'd seen him at the door to the limo, at first, she couldn’t believe her luck. She'd thought him a friend. But it had only taken a second for his smile to falter, for her to see the cold look in his eyes.
She’d tried to get away, but he'd gagged her, blinded her eyes, and knocked her out cold. She didn’t know what had happened to the warriors supposed to protect her. For all she knew, they were probably dead.
Struggling against the ropes binding her, Marissa tried futilely to free herself. Even when she felt the hot burn in her muscles, she kept trying.
Out of breath, she lay limp, resting against the floor. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, hoping she could use the power of her mind to undo the chords looped around wrists.
She felt a slight tug in the rope, before a hand clasped tightly around her neck.
“None of that, my dear,” Kefar snarled, tightening the knots further. She grimaced as more pain lanced up her arm. “You don’t want to get loose, especially when there are some people here I know you’ll want to see.”
Breathing harshly, she was about to open her mouth to curse him further, when a limp body fell to the floor next to her. Peering into Jon’s pale face, Marissa felt the blood drain from her face.
“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”
“Careful, Marissa. You don’t want to go insulting my parents.”
“You son of a bitch! What did you do to him?!”
Kefar smacked his lips against his teeth. “Nothing. He’s alive. I told you. They’re incentive, Marissa.”
Fear coursed through her veins, her body felt paralyzed. “Jon,” she breathed, willing by the sheer force of her mind to open hi
s eyes.
He blinked at her suddenly, and Marissa sighed in relief.
“Marissa?”
“Yes, it’s me, Jon. Are you all right?” she whispered.
“Y-yes. I think so. Where am I? Where’s Shannon?”
Marissa slid her eyes shut. “God, Jon, please tell me she’s not here with you.”
Kefar laughed, the sound reverberating harshly through her ears. Marissa lifted her lids suddenly. She wished she could spit in his face.
“After all I just told you. You don’t think I wouldn’t doubly hedge my bets? Of course, Shannon is here.”
“What have you done with her?”
“She’s still alive if that’s what you’re wondering. But, the real question is how long she’ll stay that way. How long they’ll both stay that way is all up to you.”
“What do you want from me?” she screamed, tears of frustration, anger, and despair gathering in her eyes.
“I want you to kill the delaphin,” Kefar answered, his voice colder than a frozen lake.
Marissa puffed for breath as she shook her head. “Why can’t you do it yourself?”
“Because she’s afraid of me. I can’t get near enough to kill her the way I want. She doesn’t trust me anymore. But she’ll trust you.”
Marissa closed her eyes, breathing harshly. “You’re crazy. You know that. You’re a fucking psycho.”
“I’m not crazy, Marissa. I’m determined. There’s a difference.”
“No,” a deep, masculine voice intruded. “She’s right, Kefar. You are a fucking psycho.”
Marissa froze, every muscle in her body tensing with anticipation. Blinking rapidly, she lifted her eyes and stared at her unlikely savior.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Marissa frowned at Zaron, unsure if she was actually seeing him or some fanciful mirage. Squeezing her eyes shut, she opened them seconds later, praying the vision would still be there.
He was, and she thanked every saint and deity she had ever heard of.
Running her eyes over his tall, muscular frame the fierceness of his body was relayed to her senses one by one.
Dressed in traditional Eritrean garb, his red jerkin clung to the muscular planes of his body, his tight, black leather-looking pants formed his powerful thighs. He looked ready to kill, or be killed.
“Zaron, I’m glad you’re here. I just rescued the Queen from this vamp garbage,” Kefar said, and though Marissa couldn’t see him, she could hear the slight tremor in his voice.
“Save it, Kefar,” Zaron growled. “I already know what’s going on.”
There was a long pause, before Kefar said, “Then I guess we’ll have to start the war off with two causalities instead of one.”
Zaron didn’t even hesitate before saying, “You’re going to die for your treachery, Kefar. I’m going to see to that tonight.”
Wind whisked by her face rapidly as Zaron jumped across the room. Marissa didn’t even have a second to blink before the clashing ring of swords resounded. Still lying on the floor, Jon next to her, she could only hear the sounds now.
Her heart beating rapidly, she had just begun a silent prayer, when a deafening roar nearly took apart her eardrums and the flurry of beating footsteps whipped the wisps of hair about her face.
“Seize them,” Tylan bellowed.
No more than a moment passed, before the chords tying her body were loosened, and she was lifted to her feet.
Raising her face, she peered into her mate’s silver-blue gaze.
His eyes glowed dangerously, his clothes were covered with splotches of blood, his hair hung about his face in a wild mass of tangles. But, Marissa would swear till the day she died, she’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
She didn’t even think before she wrapped her arms around him, her body shaking with the aftermath of the night.
“I thought I was never going to see you again,” she whispered, her voice thick from trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall.
She felt Tylan nod against her neck, felt moisture against her flesh. “Vala, sena. I-I thought … thought…”
Crying fully now, she leaned back from him to grasp his face in her hands. “I know,” she whispered.
Though there were probably fifteen or more people present, she wasn’t worried about anyone else but Tylan.
Kissing him, she let her lips roam his face, as she rubbed her skin against the curve of his jaw. She breathed deeply, taking his scent—their scent—into her lungs.
She’d never smelled anything so sweet.
His hand came up to grasp her head, and she winced at the pain.
Tylan pulled back from her slowly. His eyes widened, and his breathing accelerated, as he surveyed her face. She knew the bruises were already forming from Kefar’s repeated violence.
Leaning into her, he kissed her cheeks, her eyes, and then her mouth, before whispering against her lips, “Go and wait outside, sena.”
Even though he tried to hide it, Marissa could feel the blazing anger radiating from his pores. The muscles in his arms flexed against her fingertips.
She had no sympathy for Kefar. He deserved all of Tylan’s fury, but turning her head slowly she stared at Zaron, kneeling a scant ten feet from her.
“It was Kefar. Zaron saved me. If he hadn’t gotten here when he did…”
Tylan paused her words, laying a gentle hand against her bruised lips. “Release him,” he said firmly.
The warrior standing next to Zaron lifted the tip of his sword from his neck. The one standing next to Kefar pressed his closer.
“No, my Lord! She’s confused! I was here to help her. It was Draco. He is the one who … s”
“SILENCE!” Tylan roared. “I know all about your plans, Kefar. All about your perfidy.”
Kefar shrunk. “It was for your own good, your Majesty. I swear. I didn’t plan to harm her.”
Marissa wanted to call him out as a liar and a coward, she opened her mouth to do so, but was forestalled when Tylan begin to gently propel her toward Cowan. “Take her outside.”
Cowan nodded, and the gleam in his eye was murderous as he looked at Kefar.
“No,” Marissa begin hotly, shrugging off Tylan’s grasp. “He had help. There were others involved. If you kill him now, you’ll never find out who the rest are.”
Tylan had yet to take his gaze from the cowering man. “I’ll get the information … one way or the other.”
“I’ll tell you anything, my Lord, if you spare my life.” Kefar begin to shake noticeably. “I had help in the senate. Th-there were oth-thers.”
“Cowan?”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“Take her outside.”
“As you will, my Lord.”
Marissa switched her gaze from Tylan’s cold, unyielding profile to Cowan, and then back again to Tylan, watching the muscles in his jaw tick profusely.
Bowing her head, she knew he was set on his path.
Cowan reached forward, taking her hand in a gentle grasp to lead her from the room. Pausing, she pulled free to look around. “Where’s Jon and Shannon?”
“They’re already outside, my Lady.”
Nodding at him, she stayed still for a full minute, her gaze roaming around once more, pausing briefly on the deceased body of Draco lying in the corner. She realized now the place was nothing more than a trailer, like the kind found on the back of a semi-truck.
It seemed strange, the brutality, the death—it all occurred in the back of a simple storage container. Shaking her head, she followed Cowan, accepting his hand.
The warriors inside also exited, leaving Tylan alone with Kefar.
Someone shut the double metal doors with a slam, and seconds later the trailer rocked with force. Looking over her shoulder as she walked away, Marissa remembered Kefar’s words.
Believe me when I tell you, he will bring swift and merciless terror to the culprits.
* * * *
“My God, it’s beautiful.”
“Amazing.”
“Damn! That thing is huge. The bones themselves must weight at least a ton.”
Marissa laughed. She and Jon had been “oohhing” and “aahhing” since their first glimpse of the delaphin. Shannon, it seemed, couldn’t get past the bone structure.
A cool night breeze trailed around her, and the fresh, crisp ocean air wafted through her nostrils. Sighing, she leaned into Tylan’s embrace. Lifting his hand, she ran her fingers across his bruised knuckles.
Kefar still lived, but she knew it wouldn’t be for long. He was already on his way back to Eritrea for further interrogation.
“You never did tell me, how you were able to find me?” she asked, lifting her eyes to gaze at Tylan lovingly.
He grunted. “Draco wasn’t very circumspect. He liked to talk in bed; his girlfriend told us everything.”
Marissa puckered her brows. “You didn’t…”
“No, sena. Omea did.”
Sighing, Marissa knew she wouldn’t get anything else from him.
Turning her gaze back to the beauty of the delaphin before her, she stared at the wondrous creature.
She’d been right, sort of. A fully developed delaphin was as large as a whale. A gray whale. She had figured they grew no bigger than an Orca, but staring at the massive creature in front of her, she knew she’d been way off.
“You’re so lucky, Marissa. You get to live with them, swim with them actually,” Shannon said, nudging her shoulder.
Marissa laughed. “I guess.” Frowning slightly, she looked around the institute. “Still though, I’m going to miss this place.”
“Me too,” Shannon concurred, also looking around.
“You’re leaving?” she asked, perplexed.
“Yeah. Felix still owns it, so there’s no telling what he’ll do. I don’t want to look up and find myself singing the bone song to kids because I need to eat.”
“But what are you going to do?”
“Get another job. I was offered a better position at a museum in New York, but I hadn’t decided to take it till tonight.”
Marissa didn’t ask what event prompted her friend to make the hasty decision. She already knew.
Sighing, already missing Shannon, she leaned over to look at Jon. “What about you?”