The water seemed to infuse some energy into him, and he wondered what he could do with some food.
“I smell piss,” Tyson mumbled.
Connor ignored him. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d been let down, but yeah, he’d made his mark on the wall. Thankfully, they hadn’t fed him anything.
He wanted to lie back down, but instead, he stood. His legs were weak, feeling as though they may give out at any moment. As he stretched his arms above his head, his spine snapped and cracked, reminding him of the sound of sticks being broken. Bending at the waist, he stretched his hamstrings, then stood upright once again.
His hands and feet were still shackled, but the chain that Tyson hauled him up on had been removed and actually hung between them. If he could catch Tyson by surprise, maybe he could get the chain wrapped around his neck and kill him. But honestly, what would that solve but his petty need for revenge on the guy?
“Here,” Tyson said, handing him an MRE—or a ready-made meal. Usually, the military used them, but they were also available to the general public. Some ‘preppers, ’ those who were convinced the end of the world was coming, stored them, and hikers who didn’t want to carry cooking equipment, but wanted to eat, also used them.
“Some campers had them,” Tyson mumbled. “You can eat it.”
He took it, ripped open the brown packaging, not bothering to see what it was. Taking a bite, he tasted barbeque beef. Not exactly a fine-dining experience, but he could have eaten five of them.
He recalled from his military experience that MREs had a shit-ton of calories, for which he was grateful. With each bite, his body seemed to reenergize.
Tyson ate his slowly, as if he savored every bite, or maybe, he didn’t taste it at all. Connor noted that he still had two thick scabs on his neck at his pulse point. Selene hadn’t bothered to close the holes like Sami took the time to do.
Did the guy even realize that he’d starred in his own little live sex show? Did he have any clue what was going on? What about when Selene killed the people he brought here? Did he feel any remorse, any regret?
“She doesn’t feed me,” Tyson mumbled. “I need to get my own food.”
This didn’t surprise him as he looked at Tyson’s thin frame. However, he did try to hide the shock from him speaking badly about Selene. Maybe he was coming out of the trance or something?
“She sure likes you to feed her.”
“I know. Do you want another one?”
Did a county fair serve turkey legs?
“Sure.”
Tyson pulled another one out of his back pocket and handed it over to him. Connor once again didn’t bother to see what the package read, but was pleasantly surprised at the cherry turnover. He already felt as if he’d eaten three meals—MREs filled a person up very quickly—but he didn’t know the next time he’d be eating. He had to get his energy in while he could.
“I need to get back to work,” Tyson said.
“Doing what?”
“Gathering food for my Queen.”
Suddenly, the meals that had gone down so quickly now threatened to appear just as fast.
“Tyson, you know she kills the people you bring here, right?”
“My Queen needs to eat,” he said with a nod. “It’s my pleasure to take care of my queen.”
Tyson reached up for the chain and leaned down to hook it back onto Connor’s feet.
It would have been a perfect time to kick him in the face, if he could move his legs. He could slam him over the head with his fists, but he couldn’t run with his ankles shackled as well as attached to the chain. Even if he could get away from Tyson, Selene would be on him in seconds. Minutes, if he were lucky.
However, he wouldn’t be able to do much of anything if he was strung up like a gutted pig, either. Maybe, just maybe, if he could convince Tyson to let him stay on the ground, he’d find his chance to escape.
Yet, if Tyson didn’t string him up, he’d have to worry about Selene sinking her fangs into him, but she seemed to only show up when she wanted his attention. If he could rest just for a bit, maybe he’d find a way out of this nightmare.
Connor sat down on the ground, so that he seemed less intimidating to Tyson, and gazed up at him. “I really appreciate the food. Thank you. I was wondering if you could just leave me here. You can attach the chain to my feet, but look at my ankles, man.”
Tyson stared at him for a brief moment, then glanced at Connor’s feet.
“You’re bleeding.”
No shit.
It seemed to be the first time he noticed it, which Connor found strange. Trails of blood snaked all around his body, all oozing from the deep gouges in his ankles.
“Yeah, and they hurt. Can I please just stay here for a little bit? I’m not going anywhere.”
After a long moment where Tyson stared at his feet, he nodded. “Yes. But once the Queen wakes, I’ll have to put you back up.”
Relief washed through him. “Okay, fair enough. Thank you.”
After he attached the chain, Connor watched him walk off into one of the caverns.
He laid back on the rock slowly, every inch of his body in different levels of anguish, and tried to rest as best he could.
Hopefully, that bitch would be asleep for a while, because he didn’t know if he could take another round of time hanging upside down.
16
As Sami hiked up the trail, she saw a few people who smiled and said hello. The breathtaking scenery astounded her, as did the rich, clean scent of pine needles and wood. Every now and then, she’d see a patch of wildflowers, and the birds seemed to sing continuously. She didn’t remember anything like this in her one experience with her father. Had she just been too young to appreciate it?
Maybe this nature stuff wasn’t too bad, and she envisioned herself and Connor hiking and camping. It would seem to be something he’d like to do, or so she thought. Then again, she could be wrong. Did anyone ever truly know everything about the ones they loved? She had once thought that one would have to in order to be in love, but perhaps she’d been wrong. Maybe part of a relationship and being in love was discovering new things about the other person on a frequent basis.
One way or the other, she’d find out if Connor liked to camp.
She didn’t allow herself to think that he may be dead. The idea was so devastating—if she gave it any consideration, she’d fall to her knees. No, he had to be alive.
About three miles in, she stopped and took a break. Sliding the pack off, she sat down on a rock, leaned forward, and stretched her middle back which had begun to ache, but not bad enough where she worried if she would make it the full trip or not.
Pulling out her phone, she checked the weather and noticed the sun would be setting soon, and there was also a chance of rain. She glanced up at the sky and saw the gray puffs of clouds beginning to gather. Whether they would bring rain or not remained to be seen, but based on the way her hair frizzed, her guess was yes.
If she could make it to the coordinates of Connor’s phone, she could camp there for the night and resume again in the morning.
Taking a long swallow of water, she wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead, then picked up her pack and continued on her journey.
A short time later, thunder rumbled in the distance, and she stopped again and dropped her pack to the ground. She unzipped the backpack and found her rain slicker, then slipped it on just as a few drops landed on her head.
With less than a half-mile to go, she decided to press on to Connor’s phone’s location. She hoped that it would still have a little bit of battery left, but she doubted it. It had been days since she’d heard from him, and who knew how much energy the phone had had when he’d started off on the hike.
She finally reached her destination. Taking a deep breath, she tried to fight her nerves. She’d hiked into the forest about a quarter of a mile so she’d been hidden from the beaten path. After finding a small clearing surrounded by trees and
just big enough for her tent, she began assembling it. Instead of doubting her ability to put it together, or thinking about Connor’s phone, she focused on remembering how Joe had set it up. Thankfully, he’d also packed the instruction manual, which came in handy.
Once her shelter had been erected, she laid out the sleeping bag. She grabbed the knife, her phone, a flashlight, and a compass, and crawled out of the tent to begin searching for the phone.
As she walked, the foliage crunched below her boots, the rain pitter-pattering on the canopy of trees above her.
When she arrived at the coordinates of Connor’s phone, she examined the ground searching for it, kicking away leaves. It could be possible that the coordinates weren’t exact, so she widened her search area. Just as the canopy of trees began to allow the rain to make it to the forest floor, tears stung her eyes as she found it partially hidden under a downed log.
Shocked that it still had one bar of power left, she scrolled through the recent activity. The text that had been sent to her. A phone call to her, and one to a number she didn’t recognize. She quickly pulled out her own device and typed the unknown digits in so that she would have it for the future.
She slid both phones into the pocket of her rain slicker, then returned to her tent. Thankfully, the rain remained a constant drizzle and not an epic downpour.
After drinking a few more sips of water, she crawled into the tent and stretched out on top of the bag, far too nervous to eat.
She’d read a book on the plane about camping, and she knew bobcats and bears populated the area. They did usually stay away from humans, so she appreciated that. Bats, owls, and numerous bugs would also make an appearance. She just had to keep her food inside, and everything should be okay.
Fingers crossed.
Right now, she needed to relax. After taking off her boots, she sighed in relief. Walking four miles with a pack on had been exhausting.
Taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes, keeping her grip on the illuminated flashlight. For some reason, the light gave her comfort.
“Everything will be fine,” she murmured, trying to push away the thoughts of all the creatures that could appear near her tent during the night.
After a few moments, she noticed a strange sensation in her limbs. It was almost as if little pulses of energy came from her heart and slowly vibrated through her body.
She opened her eyes and stared at the top of her tent.
What was this?
It almost felt like a second heartbeat, except for it just thrumming in her chest, she could feel it throughout her whole body.
Connor.
She sat up with a gasp. This must have been what her mother had spoken of. This strange connection; this feeling of literally having the other person’s heart against her own.
“You’re alive,” she whispered.
A smile crept onto her lips, and she laid her hand over her heart. Her marine was alive, and she was going to find him.
This new sensation gave her energy, and she quickly put on her boots, ready to hike another four miles to find him.
She stepped outside, and immediately decided against it. Darkness had almost fully descended around the area, and she definitely didn’t want to be walking around in the pitch black of night to come face-to-face with one of those bobcats or a bear.
Just as she was about to return to the inside of the tent, she glanced up through the trees at the mountain a few miles away. It hadn’t been fully engulfed in darkness yet, the top still holding just a light shimmer of the gray daylight.
It seemed to beckon her, yet, at the same time, it was as if it also signaled her to stay away—like there was a force pulsating out from it, keeping her at arms’ length.
Evil. It emanated Evil. The sensation crept through her bones and settled in her stomach, sending a shiver down her spine. How in the world could a mountain be wicked? And why did it seem to summon her?
She furrowed her brow and concentrated, paying attention to the second heartbeat within her.
Why did she feel the need to go there? Could Connor be on that mountain somewhere?
The rain began to pick up, and if she didn’t move inside her shelter, she’d be soaked in no time. The night would be surely cold and miserable in damp clothing.
She moved into the tent and sat down on her bag. Although still not hungry, she knew she should eat, so she pulled out a few of the MREs Joe had packed. Beef Taco, Cinnamon Bun, or Chicken Alfredo. Although she really wanted the Cinnamon Bun, she decided to favor nutritional qualities and chose the chicken, then followed the directions to heat the meal. As it warmed, she ate the crackers and the brownie that came with it. By the time her Alfredo was warm, hunger pains clawed at her stomach.
“Not too bad,” she murmured in between bites.
She considered eating more, but surprisingly, the meal had more than filled her up—she felt absolutely stuffed—and she put the rest away.
Then, a thought struck her that almost made all her food reappear.
What if he’d vanished on purpose?
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
She refused to believe it. As a man of honor and truth, he would never just disappear. If he didn’t want to be with her any longer, he would have had the decency to say so, to tell her to her face. If he’d wanted to quit Operation Underworld, he would have also notified her, not just vanished.
Something had happened to him. There could be no other explanation.
But you’ve been with him for such a short period of time. Do you really know him?
“Well enough,” she argued with herself out loud. “He’d never leave without saying why.”
She didn’t bother brushing her teeth, but instead, packed up her garbage into the pack and zipped it up.
After crawling into the sleeping bag, she turned off the flashlight and just listened to the nighttime forest come to life.
Perhaps she should pack up all her things and continue to search for Connor right now. But really, how effective would she be in the rain, in the dark? She was completely out of her element during the daylight hours, and she could only imagine trying to hike at night in the rain would make the situation even more difficult.
At least now, she felt as if she was safe. Out in the woods in the dark, she could fall, break a leg, lose her flashlight, run into an angry bear … the possibilities seemed endless. No, it would be best for her to stay put until morning, no matter how badly she wanted to find Connor.
As she drifted off, she found the crickets, frogs, and owls made up a beautiful mosaic of music combined with the light tapping of the rain against her tent. If all the creatures of the night stayed away from her, yes, she could get used to this camping stuff.
17
Connor tried to jolt upright as something touched his chest, but he was held in place against the rock floor.
He glanced up to see Selene standing next to him, her bare foot in the center of his chest keeping him pinned, her long, black dress caressing his stomach.
“I see Tyson has allowed you off the chain.”
He nodded, unable to speak. By being in such a vulnerable position—on his back with his arms and legs shackled—Selene could do whatever she wanted to him. He very well may be taking his final breaths.
Instead, she stepped back and allowed him to sit up.
“It’s a lovely night,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “There are even a few campers in the area enjoying my forest. Isn’t that nice?”
He tried to hide his disgust, because he knew that she only considered them her next meal.
“Why don’t you eat a sandwich or something, and allow those people to live?”
She threw her head back, a deep guttural laugh emerging from her throat.
“You stupid boy,” she murmured as she sank to her knees next to him. “I can’t eat a sandwich. I am a pure vampire. Pure vampires survive on blood, nothing more, nothing less.”
He glanced over
at her, almost wishing he were dangling from the chain instead of having her mere inches from him.
She stared at him a long while before speaking again. “I’m curious, Connor. Do you feel it?”
Feel what?
The stark terror that she would rip his throat out at any moment? Fear that she would get her claws into those campers? Worry for Tyson, even though he’d never be here if it weren’t for him? Scared that she’d put him in a trance, and he’d end up like his friend? Regret that he’d never told Sami he loved her? Hope that perhaps, just maybe, an opportunity to get the hell out of this nightmare would reveal itself? Frustration that it hadn’t?
Yeah, he felt it all, but had no idea what she referred to, and had a hunch it was none of the above.
“I feel a lot of things,” he said with a sigh. “But I’m pretty sure that none of them are anything you’re considering.”
Her lips turned up in a smile, revealing her fangs.
“Why do you think I’ve kept you alive?”
She didn’t enjoy his blood—she’d made that pretty clear. He figured she liked having him around wondering when he would die, but he wouldn’t tell her that.
“I have no idea.”
“I see,” she replied with a nod. “I thought maybe you were different, but I was wrong. Being wrong does not make me happy.”
As she rose to her feet, he tried to decode the conversation they’d just had, but damn if he could.
“She should be arriving tomorrow,” Selene called over her shoulder, her skirt swishing around her bare feet against the cave floor.
“Who?” he called as a stone of terror settled in his chest.
She stopped and turned around, crossing her arms over her breasts, a satisfied smile on her lips.
“How very interesting,” she murmured as she walked toward him once again. “You don’t feel it.”
There was only one ‘she’ that he gave a damn about, and if she were anywhere near here, he didn’t know whether to cry in appreciation or scream in anger. He couldn’t have this crazy bitch messing with Sami.
Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection Page 121