Deadly Dreams

by Averi Hope

  Seconds later, she was pressed against a wall, three men surrounding her. The original man with the moonstone had vanished. The three who stood before her wore masks, but she could have recognized Lord Dry-fen and Ambassador Eupher, even without the golden necklace hanging from Lord Dry-fen’s neck.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to imitate the high-handed princess.

  The mystery man’s hand clamped over her mouth. “Quiet.”

  “You’re sure this is her?” the mysterious man in the middle asked.

  “Very certain.” Ambassador Eupher’s gaze raked her barely concealed breasts. “I’d know that body anywhere.”

  “Do we have time for a little taste?” Lord Dry-fen said, his fingers tugging at the bottom of her short skirt.

  Her stomach turned. She’d thought she would do anything to catch these bastards…but she hadn’t thought they’d try to rape her so quickly.

  Ambassador Eupher slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch the goods.”

  Lord Dry-Fen rounded on him. “I don’t like the way you’re treating me. Perhaps this deal isn’t working out.” He turned back to Erin, sliding his hand up her skirt this time. “Kegler won’t mind—she’s not a virgin anyway.”

  “No,” the mystery man cut in, stopping them. “There’s no time. It won’t be long before her companions realize she’s gone missing.”

  Lord Dry-fen frowned. “Then stop torturing us with her delicate flesh. Take her off to her new master.”

  She straightened, trying her best to look arrogant. “Do you three have any idea who I am? My father—“

  “Your father,” Ambassador Eupher interrupted, “will never know that you’ll be spending the remainder of your days being kept in Prince Kegler’s room of pleasures.” He paused, grinning. “Did you really think such a rich and powerful man would allow you to keep teasing and rejecting him?”

  She filed the name away, then opened her mouth to speak.

  The mystery man pressed a hand over her lips. “No need to speak, Princess. There’s nothing more we care to hear.”

  Knowing this was her chance, she flailed about, catching Lord Dry-fen’s necklace and ripping it from his neck.

  He cried out, grasping at his throat.

  She reached behind her and slid the necklace into the back of her panties as she thrashed, then swiftly switched the replacement necklace from one hand to the other. Just in time for Lord Dry-fen to pry the necklace from her grip.

  Step one, complete, she thought, satisfaction and fear fighting for control.

  The mystery man picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

  Take a deep breath, she ordered herself. As long as my team is in place, everything is still going according to plan.

  She tugged at her ear. “No, please let me go!” she screamed, hoping to hear an answer from her team.

  Instead, Ambassador Eupher’s fist slammed into the side of her face. She tasted blood as her vision darkened, but she forced herself to remain calm, to focus. Slowly, her vision returned.

  At the end of the alley, a small landing shuttle waited. The sight of it sent fear streaking through her belly. If she was on her own, the last thing she’d want was to be removed from the market. On her own, entering the craft meant any chance at escape was gone.

  Please, please let my team be watching me. Let them know where they’re taking me.

  Because she would need them to rescue her after she’d accomplished the final part of her plan, slicing her unique blade carefully into the flesh of the men who directly worked with Ahmed. Her targets.

  But when the three men dragged her to the landing shuttle and opened the door, there were no fewer than a dozen men aboard.

  This operation is bigger than I thought. A lot bigger.

  And as they dropped her in the ship, with the dozen leering men surrounding her, she suddenly realized that if her father’s team wasn’t watching, she was gambling with her life.

  And it looked as if she might just have lost.

  Chapter Twenty

  Caleb was back aboard the The Odyssey, in Captain Vernan’s office.

  He felt sick to his stomach as the captain finished a long explanation about Erin’s secret activities.

  Unexplainable warning bells still rang through his mind. Find Erin! She needs you!

  But disbelief and pure shock was numbing them to silence.

  If what the captain had just said was true, Erin could probably take care of herself. She’s been living a double life the entire time I’ve known her.

  Silence enveloped Captain Vernan’s office.

  The older man cleared his throat. “You must understand what an unusual situation this is. And that you’ve been trusted with information that can never leave this room.”

  It took Caleb a second to find his voice. “I understand, sir. Thank you for trusting me with this.”

  The captain rubbed his bald head, dark eyes blazing. “Dream Jumping is difficult for her, and dangerous. And if this mission today is a success, she’ll need your help a lot in the days to come. In order to close in on our target, she’ll have to use her skills almost to the point of abuse. I’m making her your responsibility. This means I’m trusting you with a valuable government asset, but I’m also trusting you with her life.”

  “I understand,” he repeated.

  Erin. His Erin. She could…Dream Jump? He’d never even heard of it before. She could really go into the dreams of people whenever she wanted? The dreams of criminals? And find out information? The implications of it stunned him. The government would never want to let her go.

  For several moments, he worried about her. But then visions of the nights he’d spent plagued by vivid dreams of Erin flashed in his mind. She’d seemed so real—he felt he was actually touching her.

  Had it really been her—Dream Jumping? Could she be so cruel?

  And even worse, if it was her, what had he told her in his dreams? She knew the truth of everything he felt about her. How much he loved her.

  While she was no doubt secretly laughing at me, knowing I loved her, and remembering how she discarded me.

  He’d left the top Starflight Academy in the universe for the one on Earth, so that he could gain some distance from her. So that he could have a chance at separating himself from her, to keep from tying them together forever after she’d said she didn’t want him.

  He’d always wondered why he couldn’t let her go. Now, he might have an answer.

  Hot rage coiled through him, replacing the urgent, fearful emotions swirling through his body.

  Why did she spurn me, then Dream Jump me so I couldn’t let her go?

  He didn’t know, but he sure as hell was going to find out. The second he saw her again.

  Now, where the hell is she?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  As they bound Erin’s hands in front of her and put a gag in her mouth, she silently cursed her father’s team. Where the hell are they? The largest kidnapper had thrown her, none too gently, to the floor of the small shuttle. Inside, half a dozen men stared down at her, wearing pale Sunjaran robes. Their gazes burned as they took in her barely present clothing. Why did the princess have to choose this outfit today? Goose bumps erupted along the flesh of her arms.

  This is bad, really bad. I was supposed to pretend to get abducted…but it looks as if my backup has disappeared. Everything about this feels too real.

  She felt the cold metal of the necklace currently concealed in the back of her small pair of underwear and prayed that it could stay put long enough. It played a huge part in all of this. If she lost it, she’d be missing a giant piece of the puzzle necessary for their plan.

  All I have to do is get it back to The Odyssey. It isn’t enough just to be rescued in time. I need evidence to finally destroy Ahmed once and for all. And I need to stick my damn nano-laced Muscle Blade into one of them.

  That’s not a lot to hope. Not a lot at all.

  “This is where we leav
e you,” Lord Dry-fen said, still standing in the alley outside the shuttle. “Give Ahmed my deepest regards.”

  Erin tensed at the mention of her target. I can’t believe this. They’re actually going to lead me right to that raping bastard. She’d thought it’d be necessary to trace all his minions to him before ever actually catching him red-handed. If she caught him now…victory was so close she could taste it.

  As long as my team is still in place. The device in her ear stayed mockingly silent, as if to say, of course they’re not.

  Despite herself, memories flashed through her mind. Of the night she’d entered Ahmed’s dream. Of how he’d pinned her down. Of the girls who stared helplessly, trapped within their own living nightmare because of him.

  She shivered. Even if my team has abandoned me, I’ll do my best to stop him. And I’ll die before I let that monster touch me again.

  Ambassador Eupher made a rumbling noise in the back of his throat, a sound that fit the half bull, half man. “Tell him we hope he has time to sample the wares beforehand.” His dark gaze swept over her, making her stomach churn. “I, for one, wish we had.”

  Erin tried to stuff her anger deep inside. She was playing the part of Princess Jewta. It wasn’t enough that she was strapped into the young woman’s tight leather outfit, or that her hair was concealed beneath the blood red wig, she needed to act like the woman, too. Trying her hardest, she widened her eyes and made shrieking sounds around the gag in her mouth.

  Lord Dry-fen and the ambassador exchanged a pleased grin.

  “Don’t worry, my sweet peach.” Lord Dry-fen’s smile widened. “Where you’re going they’ll be plenty of pleasure…well, pleasure for your new master. I doubt you’ll enjoy it very much.”

  “Enough of this krukos, it’s time to fly,” the large man hissed with his Sunjaran accent, glancing around him as if the very shadows were watching.

  “No need to be rude,” Lord Dry-fen responded with a huff, his red irises going a shade darker. “We have plenty of shopping to finish before going back to The Odyssey. You men have fun with your little project.”

  He and the ambassador gave her one last stomach-churning look, then turned and strutted away. The largest man slid the door shut on their retreating forms. Suddenly, she was trapped in the small space surrounded by the enemy, still on the floor.

  Take deep breaths. This is all part of the plan. Mostly.

  A second later, the boosters kicked in and she felt them rising. The shuttles couldn’t leave the planet’s surface, so she could only wonder where these men planned to take her. Probably to a ship where the man who bought Princess Jewta will be in for a rude surprise when he discovers I wasn’t the woman he planned on being his permanent sex slave.

  One man kicked at her nearly bare breast, straining against the tight black leather. “Do we have time to play?”

  Erin glared at the men. Her sunglasses had been lost sometime during her struggle in the alley. But with the ambassador and Lord Dry-fen gone, she wasn’t as worried about being recognized. None of the strange men in the room knew Erin Stowe.

  The largest man knelt down and pulled down her gag. “What do you say, Princess, want a hard cock in that pretty little mouth of yours?”

  “You’re certainly in a hurry to get the damn thing bitten off, aren’t you?” she spat without thinking.

  Rage flared in his eyes. One leg swung back, and he landed a crushing blow to her stomach that knocked the air from her lungs. He kicked again and again.

  “Turten, no.” A man stepped between them. “She was not to be hurt.”

  “She disrespected me!” he shouted, trying to reach her around the other man.

  Curling around her injured stomach, she struggled for breath. At least one of her ribs was broken, she was sure of that. She saw halos around her vision as she panted harder and harder, trying to draw in enough air.

  “You’re right, my brother,” the largest man said, sitting down on one of the benches lining the walls around her. “When we have our money, we can spend it on whores even more beautiful. And more than glad to take our cocks in whatever parts of their bodies we say.”

  She felt a wave of relief. She was safe. At least for now.

  It wasn’t long before the shuttle finally touched down. Immediately, she was hauled to her feet and dragged out into the bright sunlight. Without the buildings of the market, the harsh sun of Sunja’s desert beat down uncomfortably. The heat made her uncertain stomach flip, and she prayed she’d be able to keep her breakfast down.

  In the distance, the market was still visible. But around them, there was no more than a massive gray tent and a large ship dominating the space behind it.

  She swallowed. This was it. Ahmed was inside. If the team swept in, they’d finally have proof of his sex-trafficking ring.

  A hand settled on her lower back, just below her Muscle Blades carefully hidden against her shoulder blades. They led her, the group of men surrounding her in a ring, toward the tent. Four guards waved them in.

  A slight tingling against her flesh was the first indicator of the forcefield. Inside, however, the chilly air unnaturally contained within the tent told her that Ahmed had spared no expense on capturing the princess.

  The two men in front of her parted, and at last, she could see the room. Men in dark clothing lined the walls, arms behind their backs, gazes trained emotionlessly in front of them. At the far end of the room, a strange Vuret sat in a massive chair. Gold chains decorated the horns on his head and his bull-like face was pierced with dozens of gems. At both his sides, naked women rubbed his bare upper body with oils.

  “Gentlemen,” he greeted, without getting up. “Your mission was successful, I gather.”

  The largest man thrust her in front of him, so hard she stumbled and fell to her knees. “Master Kurfter, your princess.”

  She gazed around the room. Where the hell was Ahmed?

  Apparently, they were back to plan A. Of course I should’ve known this wouldn’t be that easy.

  Master Kurfter scanned over her with bored eyes. “I prefer my females with fewer curves.”

  “And a penis,” the large man beside her said, his words cutting.

  The man in the throne narrowed his eyes. “What did you say, Sunjaran?”

  He scoffed. “We’ve brought the female. Give us our gold, so we can be gone.”

  “Of course,” the Vuret said, but the words held a warning.

  One of the women reached into a chest beside him and handed her master a blue bag. He held it out in his furry hand, a sickening smile on his almost-human face.

  “Come take it then.”

  The hairs on the back of Erin’s neck stood on end. But apparently her kidnapper didn’t sense the same impending doom. He strode forward, his flowing robes twisting around his ankles as he moved. When he was just a handspan away, Master Kurfter turned the bag over.

  Gold coins spilled on the carpet floor.

  “Oops.”

  The kidnapper glared, cursing as he knelt down.

  And then, everything happened at once.

  The frozen men lining the walls leaped out. A knife flew into the back of the neck of the largest kidnapper. He was struck three more times, blood flying from the knife, before he slunk onto his side. The men around her struggled with their own foes, while she looked between them, instinct and her commitment to the mission warring within her.

  But before she could come to a decision, the men in robes were lying on the floor, pools of blood seeping out beneath them. Her heart hammered in her chest as she let her gaze slide from one blood-splattered man after another, before finally turning back to the man in his throne.

  “I’m glad that’s done,” he said, smiling at her. “Now, boys, back to your places.”

  “Please,” she whispered, finding it easy to play her part. “Let me go.”

  “Oh, my dear Princess, I’m afraid that’s just not possible. You see, you’ve caught the eye of a very powerful man who grew
tired of your rebuttals. Now, he will be able to fully enjoy you, and you’ll get to learn the most important lesson a woman can learn.”

  He pushed away the women at his sides and lumbered to his feet. Standing, his massive erection drew her eyes as disgust flared to life inside her. Crossing the room until he stood just in front of her, he pulled her to her knees. “Do you know what that lesson is?”

  Erin shook her head.

  He ran one big, furry finger along her lower lip. “That a woman’s place is on her knees, servicing her man.”

  She shifted back on her heels, away from his touch.

  “How amusing.” He cocked his head. “You really think you can refuse me.”

  He circled around her, and suddenly, he placed a firm hand on her back, pushing her forward. She caught herself on her elbows, her bound wrists lying on the ground. Terror raced through her. Please God, even if my team can’t hear me, let them be watching.

  A strong hand ripped her underwear down.

  For a second she was too overcome by shock and shame. But then she remembered the golden chain and horror filled her. She tried to pull away, but he held her firmly in place.

  “What might this be?” He slid one finger along the line of her ass. Then, he held the gold necklace in front of her face. “What possible reason could a princess have to be hiding jewelry in her ass?”

  “It wasn’t in my ass,” she answered, gritting her teeth.

  He curled the jewelry in his hand. “Well, you might just be more interesting than I expected.”

  “Let me go!” she cried, panic turning her blood to ice.

  Now, he has the chain, and he has me at his mercy.

  One finger caressed her buttcheeks. “I’m afraid I have a better idea.” He exhaled slowly.“ Have you ever had a Vuret cock in your ass? I will say, with how large we are, you human females tend to scream things like ‘you’re splitting me in half.’” He chuckled. “So let’s play a game. We’ll see how far I can thrust into you before you tell me about this chain.”