Unlike Michael who let slip half a furious exclamation, Dantenn was past being able to answer. He was so deep into meditation I wondered just what would it take to wake him. I doubted he even knew I had been harmed. But then to my surprise he spoke. “Go to hell. It’s not worth saving her life if it means risking the lives of many. I won’t tell you. Do what you will.”
Cain looked over at him incredulously. “Wow. No wonder she won’t date you.”
“I know where it is,” Michael volunteered loudly. My eyes shot over to him in cold fear. “My father told me once. Bring me a computer and I’ll show you.”
He was lying. Delegato seemed to know it, too. “Good to know someone cares about her. But you are a poor fib weaver, boy. Still, I am merciful. I’ll give you all one more opportunity before I lose my patience. General, what is the passcode for the Nacin’s security system?”
Cain stared at him for a second, cogs working in his brain. I rolled my eyes. He was not going to help any. I could see a mischievous tilt to his eyes instead of a truthful one. He smiled roguishly. “Bummer for you. I used to have it but I was locked out because I got caught spying on one of my exes.”
I could believe that. Maybe it was the truth. His eyes darted worriedly over me though as Delegato’s hands travelled into territory where they shouldn’t be. Then they turned to anger as they lingered over my skin, dipping into my blood and digging into the wound.
“Well, I suppose we shall see if it is true,” he replied softly, removing his hand.
“But I would like to know where the nuke is,” Cain demanded. “You should know that there is an impending danger of it going off before it reaches its destination-”
I jumped as Delegato used the same knife and slit my clothes. I really shouldn't have been bothered by the nudity involved considering the circumstances, but I still hated it. My unease deepened as he reached for the largest box. More faint rustling came from within. I stiffened as he opened it and leaned it onto its side on my bare stomach.
“Quiet, General. I would prefer not to harm the female, but for every wrong answer, I will let another creature loose. Normal torture would be in order, except this is no ordinary woman. Pain will not work. She would rather bleed than talk.”
I forced myself not to squirm when a large spider the size of one of Cain’s hands crawled out of the box. The fangs on it were enormous. I willed myself to look to the ceiling, but I could still feel its hairy feet inching onto me.
“A Brazilian wandering spider,” Delegato said proudly. “The most venomous spider in the world. It’s from my late father’s prized collection. Beautiful, isn't it? Now I am going to give you one last opportunity. I know at least one of you has the answers I am looking for. Surely you are wondering how one spider can be hazardous to one’s health if it is not attacking.”
Judging by the way he was now cradling another smaller box, we were about to find out. And in fact, I did. He opened the lid a peek and I didn't need to look at it for long to guess what was inside. “Tell them what it is, Rain. You know as well as I. I used to leave them in your bed hoping they would kill you.”
I looked away from his fanatically gleaming eyes. Better to cooperate. “Indian red scorpion.”
“Bingo.”
I heard a great deal of shifting in the chairs next to me. I thought I may have heard Michael let out a faint sound of horror escape from him. They all knew what it was since I had told them.
“So… You are all quite sure you wish to keep secrets? There is no antidote for either of these creatures’ poisons. Once I put it down… Spiders and scorpions don’t mix. They fight. And the scorpion’s way of defending itself is by stabbing down to poison their opponent. The spider jumps out of the way as the stinger hits the ground… Except there is no ground. There is only Rain’s luscious, copper skin…”
In my peripheral vision, I saw Dantenn shift in his seat. He was caving in. I spoke as soon as he opened his mouth. “Don't you dare!”
I clenched my teeth together as Delegato’s stinging slap hit me across the jaw. The impact didn’t bother me so much as the low hiss the spider let out as the rest of me jostled in response. But then again, maybe it was responding to the box which was dipping lower to my belly and the scent of what was in it.
“Last warning…”
He didn't have to wait long. But surprisingly, Michael’s voice is the one I heard. “All right! General Xorratti is in MoiRai right now. Hack his phone and you’ll have the GPS coordinates and access to all of the security systems in Nacin. I know the passcodes.”
The hand with the innocuous looking little blue box paused. I glanced over at him, horrified by this revelation. If it was true, MoiRai and Nacin could be breached. Michael clamped his mouth shut, looking at the man over my head. Cain was staring at him with equal horror and Dantenn was far beyond fear. Irate was the word I would have used. “You son of a-!”
“Very good,” Delegato purred. “But I do need to verify that information and the only way I’ll know is if-”
I didn't need to look to know what was about to happen. I could see all three fear-paralyzed reactions before I felt the cold little feet hit my skin and then the spiders hiss to match while it lifted its pincers in the position of attack. That meant the fangs were out. As I fought not to panic, Delegato’s phone rang. “I have to take this call. Be right back.”
His footsteps receded. No one spoke. I tried not to breathe as multiple feet moved around on my belly. They were circling each other. I really did not like the silence crashing around in my ears, leaving only the sound of the escalating hissing.
Then much to my surprise there was a loud crash and then quick footsteps. Michael appeared in my view. I stared up at him for a second, not really caring how he had gotten free. Now I had a larger problem: how to keep him from getting bitten or stung? He was eyeing the things with open fear. “How do I get them off?”
“Don't touch them,” I ordered sternly. “Untie the others.”
But he wasn't listening. He had gone for one of the lids of the boxes. I knew what he was going to do before he said it. Much to my relief, I saw the tail end of the scorpion lower as it stood down from the threat. “Ha! It's working! I - Oh. Oh!”
Now it was my turn to be horrified. He had had the sense to cover his hand with his jacket, but that seemed only to allow the spider to climb up his arm with ease. The spider had paused as he cringed, judging whether to attack or not.
“Knock the table she’s on over,” Dantenn suggested, unaware of the new problem. “The scorpion will drop off.”
“How am I supposed to do that with this on me?!”
He disappeared from my view. I had to slowly move my head to keep my eye on him. Cain was leaning as far away from him as humanly possible when bound to a chair. But I could see the situation was rapidly unraveling. Judging by the way Michael’s other hand was going up, he was about to swat the offending threat. That would not end well.
“Mike, that’s not a good idea,” Cain said worriedly. “Listen to me-”
“Michael!” I snapped in the meanest voice I could muster. “Focus on the fact I am half naked if that’s what it takes, but don’t swat it! Do not lose your cool!”
The spider stood down a bit as his hand retreated. Michael gulped. “That’s so not how I imagined that scenario.”
Only a man could have been aroused by that, but I was so relieved I didn’t care. Cain took over from there. “Give the scalpel on the table to me. I’ll do the work; just give it to me slowly. Dantenn will get the spider off once he’s free. Just remain calm. Everything will be fine-”
But that was such a lie. I could feel the scorpion moving up over my blood-spewed chest. It was poised right over my heart now. Over the curve of my chin, I could see its tail. Cain limped over once he was free. He eyed the creature with distaste.
“Dantenn’s dealing with the spider. Now how does one catch that kind of scorpion?”
I closed my eyes. “You don’t. N
ot without getting stung. Leave it.”
“That’s not much of an option,” Cain growled. I didn’t have to argue the point, though. I stiffened as the creature got tired of sitting over my heartbeat and crawled onto my throat. Eight legs rose over my clenched jaw and onto my cheek, spreading my own blood down my face. “Gah… Dantenn, get over here now.”
“I’m a bit busy!”
“Considering Michael’s got a full jacket on keeping it from his skin, let’s focus on Rain. The scorpion is now on her -”
Michael must have caught sight of it. “Holy-!”
“Great,” Dantenn snapped wearily. “You - stay there and don't move! Cain and I will deal with it. As for her, I don't know why it’s up there. They look for heat. It should have stayed over her heart.”
“I don’t give a damn why! Just help me get it off!”
I forced myself not to scrunch my eyes up as it crawled up over my nose, and a cold, wet leg poked at the area over my now-closed eye. If it decided to sting me, it would be really bad. I’d lose the use of my face if I survived. Even I with my ironclad grip on my emotions was starting to lose it.
“We’ll dump the table,” Dantenn said. “It should fall off then. But we have to do it quickly enough or it will sting.”
“Why don't we wait? It seems to be crawling off of her now. It - Oh, shit!”
What was it with men and their infinite ability to mouth off in the worst situations? But I knew what was setting him off. I could feel the nasty little thing shifting onto its front legs, preparing to sting. I wasn’t sure what was setting it off, but it didn’t matter. Likely I was about to get it in the center of my forehead.
But then all hell was interrupted when the table was unceremoniously dumped on its side. I was jolted and held in place by the straps on the table. The scorpion’s legs scrabbled over my skin for a second and then fell away. I opened my eyes to see Dantenn’s arm rocket past my face, along with the scorpion which was dangling from his arm. It, along with the arm, flew by and out of my view.
“Dantenn?!” I cried out, afraid he had gotten stung. It would absolutely not do if he had gotten himself poisoned to spare me. I couldn’t handle it if he died.
“I’m okay. It got my sleeve,” he called. “I’ll take care of the kid.”
I breathed in relief as Cain came around and started loosening my cuffs, his skin the color of parchment paper. I’m sure my tan complexion was equally affected. That had been way too close.
I slid to the floor as the last cuff was removed. Before I could even move I was being propped up and held under his arm. I could feel his heart racing right along with mine. He grunted and then chuckled. “I take it back. The kid is useful. He’s a great spider trap and an even better liar. Xorratti doesn’t have a phone.”
I jumped when he kissed my forehead and then leaned his against mine. “You okay?”
I nodded shakily before he helped me to my feet. I unsteadily ventured over to the other two, clutching the remnants of my clothes to me and dabbing at the wound. Michael was gingerly removing his coat. As soon as the opposing half of the jacket was gone, Dantenn snapped it over the spider and threw the whole thing on the floor, stomping down hard.
Michael shuddered violently and queasily sank down into the nearest chair. I patted his shoulder as I passed and went over to his counterpart. “You’re not injured?”
I was puzzled as Dantenn coldly barged past me to the door. “Don’t fuss over me. Wait ‘till we get out of here.”
I supposed expressing my sentiment could wait. I went to the downed table and gathered up the instruments. The abandoned bone saw was particularly to my interest. The rest of them could be used as projectiles if I threw them.
Around me were the broken remainders of the wooden chair Michael had sat on. He must have run at the wall and shattered the pieces. I was impressed. I jumped violently as I was hugged from behind. Then the arms inflicting it were immediately withdrawn.
“Oh. Uh, sorry,” Michael said embarrassedly, now realizing my state of undress. One of the hands reappeared clutching what seemed to be his t-shirt. I patted his wrist and gratefully accepted it.
I donned it and cut off the rest of the ruined bustier with one of the scalpels. I threw the ruined leather to the floor and turned back. “Thank you.”
“Damn,” Cain said humorously as he passed by. “I liked that one, too.”
“Where do we go?” Michael asked me, going for my hand.
I let him have it, letting my mind work quickly. “Depends on where we are. Where did the two idiots with the semi automatics go?”
“They went with Delegato,” Dantenn replied, peeking out the door.
Odd. It was never a good idea to leave people like us unattended. The proof being as I ran the sharp end of the bone cutting saw over the metal of the upturned table, testing its sharp edge. Much to my happiness, it cut through the leather like butter. I eyed the ceiling vents. They were much too small for any of the men to shimmy through. No windows in here either. That meant we were left with exiting out the door and into the halls. Not the best way, but nothing else to try.
I elbowed Cain out of the way, ignoring his protest and pranced out into the hall. No one was in sight. They followed close behind. I pressed the scalpel into Michael’s hand as I bumped into him. We were fine for three halls. When we hit the fourth, I threw the saw at the armed guard blocking our path. He went down and I picked the weapon up from his throat as I passed. Cain chuckled darkly.
Another hall down, he took out the two guards there with relish. I would have helped, but Michael grabbed me before I could. I guess the sight of my blood soaking the front of his white t-shirt was getting to him. He poked at it and I smacked his hand as Cain resurfaced with the guards’ weapons. He tossed the other gun at Michael and kept the other for himself.
Voices interrupted us further in. We shrank into the shadows as a large group waltzed down the hall toward us. They didn’t see a thing. Delegato was with them. On his other side was the somewhat kindlier brother in the family. Reveno, who was still just as pudgy and wild eyed as before, was beside him yapping away.
“The foreteller was right! I still don’t get why you wish to give her to me, but I won’t complain. I do hope the scorpion hasn’t gotten her by now. Beautiful woman. Wicked as the day the world was born, but superb all the same. She will make a nice addition to my collection.”
This was interesting. The others apparently thought likewise. All three shifted in further in front of me as the group passed, obscuring me from view entirely. Once gone, I was propelled forward as Cain yanked me along.
“Who isn’t after your ass?” he hissed in my ear.
I did my best to ignore him and padded up behind Dantenn. “What’s the plan?”
He stopped suddenly, pointing silently at an elevator down at the end of the corridor. Private lift I guessed. We approached it warily, looking around for others. We saw no one. He went in first and then beckoned us in.
He pressed the button for the roof and finally looked at me. “When we get up there, cut the cable. Crash the elevator so no one will be able to get around without the stairs.”
I saluted and put my foot on the railing around the elevator interior, boosting myself to the necessary height. I popped the elevator hatch open, happy that someone else had made my work easier by not bolting it shut. I eyed the thick cable and then the bone cutter in my hand. I hoped this would be enough.
But the elevator never got to move. We must have been spotted as we’d boarded it.
The commotion below was what alerted me to the fact that we were no longer alone. My legs were yanked down and I fell to the elevator floor with a crash. I came nose to nose with a semi automatic and a very irritated-looking German Shepherd. It bared its teeth at me with a growl.
“Leave her alone!” Michael yelled, angrily taking a swing at his closest attacker. Cain was fighting with a man and Dantenn had another up by the throat.
But I had n
o shot at doing a thing as the world once more went black. A loud canine growl and the sound of a stun gun were the last things I heard.
Chapter Twenty 02:14:54:11 to potential nuclear explosion
Sticky fingers caressed the delicate skin of my collar bone as the smell of incense stung my nose. “Whoever struck her down is mine to deal with. She was to be brought to me unblemished. Damn Delegato for his treatment of women. Cutting this poor thing!”
I knew that voice. Reveno. Reveno was here.
How had I gotten here? Had the others been recaptured like I had been? I certainly hoped not.
I tried to scope out my surroundings. I had been placed on a soft surface, a surface I remembered too well. I had hated the mountain of furs in the master tent of my childhood. To Tiranshyck, they stood for luxury but to me, all they stood for was the lack of bone and skin that belonged to the slain animal. It seemed his son had carried on the tradition.
The lights were dim as I cracked my eyes open a slit. Everything was the same down to the damn gold chair I used to polish in the midday sun. It seemed his father had brought his opulence to this residence in the days he had resided in the desert. Footsteps retreated.
“There she is, all grown up. Even after all this time she could not stay away. I knew she would return.”
Such arrogance. I slipped my eye closed as he prowled around the bed. I wasn’t worried. He would want me awake for what he thought was coming. A weight sank down on the bed. “Bring the shaman to me. We will complete the future tonight. Glory will be mine.”
Now what the heck did that mean? And what did he need the shaman for? I wasn’t sick. I jumped when fingers constricted around my throat. My eyes flew open. He was leering down at me. “I knew you were awake. Did you mean to fool me? Your games are so predictable.”
I blinked my eyes, trying to seem like I had surfaced from sleep. His hand withdrew and traced down into the forbidden zone. I forced myself not to flinch under his touch, but did note that the wound on my chest seemed to have been healed. “Speak, violet eyes. Spin me a story so false only a woman could have woven it.”
War Machine: Book One in the Destiny In the Shadows Series Page 26