The Witch's Heart (The Rise of Orion Book 2)

by J. M. Davies

  Jose Carlos charged at Marcus and backhanded him across his cheekbone. Marcus’s head bobbed up. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, but he kept his head level to stare right at his attacker. Ella studied the dirty face, one eye black and the other completely closed. She had never seen him look more battered and bruised. Yet, his strong spirit prevailed. He spat at the feet of Mr. Carlos.

  “How about a shot of Alquimia?” Marcus said.

  A clenched fist landed right in his stomach, followed by a second and third strike. Ella shook her head and willed Marcus to stop antagonizing Carlos, but she couldn’t reach him.

  Needing air, she pulled away mentally from the scene. Marcus was alive but for how much longer, she didn’t know. When she opened her eyes, Steel leaned over her, holding her shoulder, and Isabella crouched down by her side with a glass of water, which she took. She sipped the cold liquid and swallowed.

  “He’s there. They’re both there at the villa with Carlos. Tell the team to go. Whatever the mission was, it’s now a rescue mission because that sadistic bastard is going to kill them both. Just get them out.”

  She swiped at tears and stood but wobbled. Steel’s hand darted out to steady her as he shouted out commands over the headset.

  “You knew they were together.” She addressed Steel.

  He looked at Isabella and back at her. “Ella, don’t assume anything.” He walked away to watch as the tactical team deployed into action.

  Ella felt adrift and alone. She couldn’t process what she had seen and heard. What was certain to her was that Marcus and the woman had been together. Whether that meant they had sex or not she didn’t know, but they had been caught together. A sense of betrayal engulfed her. Mr. Carlos accused Marcus of having sex with his wife. She sniffed and dug her nails into the palm of her hand. She watched as several disguised soldiers moved with stealth through trees and bushes to pursue their goal. One scaled the villa and rapid gunfire sounded out. The live feed dropped but communication continued via the headset.

  Ella tapped Isabella’s arm. “I can’t watch anymore. Let me know when there’s some conclusive news.”

  Isabella nodded and narrowed her eyes, searching her face. “Are you sure you won’t stay?”

  “I’ve seen enough. Let me know what happens.”

  “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”

  Ella wrapped her arms around her waist; a sudden need to eat and drink caught her. She couldn’t remember the last decent food she had eaten. She had been so lost, but she needed to get a grip. Whatever Marcus had done, maybe she had pushed him toward it. When he returned, one thing was certain—he would be devastated by the death of Josephine. As much as she wanted to disappear for good, she would wait for him. Josephine had said he would need her, and she wanted to be the one to tell him about his mother. Then she would leave.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Marcus let the force of the punch in his gut expel throughout his body. He absorbed the pain by numbing his receptors to the sensation and waited calmly. Heading down to Mexico had been risky with little planning behind the mission. He’d been in a blind rage. When Ava contacted him, he knew he had to act fast, and it fitted the self-destruct mode he was in. Meeting her at the hotel wasn’t his smartest move, nor was not discussing it fully with his team. It led to them both being caught in a compromising position and dragged here after a thorough stripping and beating. He sat bound and naked, apart from his underwear.

  He didn’t believe Carlos would kill him right now although he might wish to. He knew the man wanted information. Tonight, as the humid air washed through the open windows and touched his sweaty, dirt-caked skin, he sensed Ella as if she watched close by. He didn’t want her anywhere near this place and refused to answer her sultry voice that played in his mind. Once before, at home on the compound when he was in a briefing with Steel, the smell of her rose perfume washed over him as if she had walked right by, but she wasn’t in the room. This connection between them wasn’t intense, but it was there.

  “Drayton, listen to me. If you tell me who you’re working for and where your men are, I’ll kill you quickly. If not, despite your training, you will beg for mercy. My men know a thousand ways to inflict pain and how to draw the torture out.”

  Marcus snorted and spat out more blood and fluid right at the feet of Carlos. He squinted up at him from his one good eye. The other was shut closed from the brutal beating earlier. Inhaling, he tried to focus. How had he been so stupid?

  “And my men know a million ways. I wouldn’t place any bets on being successful yet.”

  Jose Carlos pulled out a sharp knife from his belt and cleaned his nails with the tip, striding at a quick pace back to Marcus. He stood in front of him and launched the knife, stabbing the long blade right in his thigh, and pulled it out.

  Blood spurted on his skin. Intense pain ricocheted through his veins like scorching fire touching the nerves and signaling his brain, but instead of screaming, he focused on his dream.

  Ava screamed. “Don’t kill him.”

  At her words, the guard slapped her hard across the face and Carlos marched toward her. Marcus shot his gaze over at the dazed but beautiful woman. She didn’t deserve any of this. Her only guilt was to fall in love with a depraved monster.

  “You’re a coward, plain and simple. You’re not a man. That’s why your woman came to me. She wanted a real man,” Marcus growled out. He said the words, sure that Ava was about to be beaten further; he wanted to direct Carlos’s attention back at him.

  Sure enough, Carlos switched around and faced him with a sneer on his face as he wiped his mouth. “Take her and pass her around the men. Let them have their fun with her. Tell them she likes it rough. I don’t care what happens to the whore after that—just get her out of my sight.”

  The guard twisted Ava’s arm and dragged her as she kicked at him. She screamed as he smacked her face. “Bastard.” She spat into his face. The guard hauled her out. Even now, she was defiant.

  She reminded him of Ella. Marcus struggled against his ties and jerked the wooden chair forward. He needed to get free. A round of gunfire peppered around outside, one after another. An explosion shook the building, and smoke drifted in from the window. Footsteps raced down below in the courtyard and more bursts of rapid fire shook around them. Two armed guards burst through the door.

  “Senor, you need to leave.”

  Grenades exploded outside the windows and Carlos stared over at Marcus. “Kill him,” he said to the biggest guard. He collected some papers from his desk and left.

  The hefty lout with more than enough around his waist for two aimed his unsteady gun at Marcus. Sweat poured off the man.

  He looked at the gunman, who pointed his weapon, ready to kill him. He closed his eyes, ready, but it was funny—he saw the most beautiful vision of his life. His dream.

  Ella.

  Her long blonde hair ran down her back. A wide smile turned her pale pink lips upward and he longed to kiss them. She was carefree and happy, like he had never seen her before. When his eyes rested on the bundle in her arms, he frowned and knew it wasn’t real. The baby she held was perfect, with soft pale cheeks. A beautiful boy. A hungry cry rent out from the baby’s mouth and Ella rocked him back and forth as her tears fell. Marcus watched, enraptured by the scene, which seemed more real than anything he could imagine.

  A shot fired and he was certain he was dead—although the sound of crickets made him wonder.

  “Drayton, what the fuck? Drayton. Wake up. Wake the fuck up, man.”

  A hard slap ricocheted across his cheek and confirmed he was very much alive. He snapped his head up and stared at a face covered in thick green paint inches from his. Jake’s eyes studied him. He was a sight for sore eyes as he blinked to take in the fact his team was here. Jake spoke into his headset and Marcus could hear a muffled voice answer him.

  “Did you have to hit me so fucking hard?” Marcus said.

  Jake smiled. “Asshole. I thou
ght you were fucking dead.” Jake watched him and inspected the blood oozing from Marcus’s leg.

  “Get these off me. We have to find Ava.” Marcus pulled at his bindings.

  Jake crouched down and cut the duct tape holding Drayton. “We need to stop the bleeding. You aren’t going anywhere, man.”

  Once free, Marcus jumped up but fell right back down. “Argh…shit.” He slumped in the chair and gripped his bleeding thigh. His leg throbbed like a bitch. There was no way he was going to be able to stand, let alone go charging after those bastards.

  Jake darted around the room and returned moments later with towels from the restroom, which he tore into long strips. He pressed one on the wound. “Press it hard while I put this around your leg to stop the bleeding. Where the hell are your clothes, man?” Jake raised an eyebrow to look at his friend.

  Marcus pressed on the stab wound and held onto the pain. Where the hell had they taken Ava? Jake tightened the strip of material like a tourniquet with all his force and Marcus pressed his head back with the burning agony. He balled his fist and let go of the dressing on his wound as the edges of the room blurred with the pain. “Son of a bitch.”

  More gunfire sounded outside, along with bright-white flashes of light filling the sky like lightning. Footsteps pounded nearby. Shadow and Bear charged into the office, dressed in full combat gear and war paint, their automatic weapons loaded and ready to fire.

  Shadow walked over and stood next to Jake, looking down at Marcus. “Dude, you’ve been working out. Nice muscles, bro. But we need to move, clothed or not. Payday and Preacher are putting on a good light show, but our lift will be here in ten, man.”

  Bear stood on guard, waiting by the door to check for any intruders.

  “Not before we get Ava.”

  “Boss, who the fuck is Ava?” Shadow stalked toward the desk and rifled through the cigar box, collecting several large smokes.

  “It doesn’t matter who she is. You need to find her.” Marcus lifted his gaze toward Jake. Once his friend tied off the makeshift bandage, he tried to stand but wobbled as Jake held him.

  “Go and find her, Jake. Don’t tell me you didn’t have eyes already on her. You know what she looks like. She’s important. Take Bear.”

  Marcus met Jake’s direct stare, which said without words what the fuck, man. He knew that look, but he didn’t care. This was important. He held his ground.

  “Just find her,” he barked.

  Jake nodded and left with Bear close on his heels. Marcus studied his body covered in dirt, blood, and his own spit. His ribs burned from the kicking he had received earlier. Marcus grimaced as he stalked closer to study Shadow, smoking one of the cigars he had taken, out of his one open eye.

  “You look like shit, boss.”

  Marcus stood up straight, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, and took several steps closer to his friend. “I don’t smell too good either…” He gasped for air. It was getting harder to breathe. “Shadow, any minute now…I’m going…pass out…I’m a dead weight…I think…a collapsed lung….” The pain seared through him and the ability to take a breath of air got more difficult each time. Marcus knew what a pneumothorax was like, and this was it. He stared at Shadow, who calmly stamped his cigar out and charged at him before he hit the ground.

  Shadow lay him on the ground and darted away. The room and his consciousness level were fading fast. His heart pounded in his chest, increasing the pain already there because of the air trapped in his lungs. A blurred picture of Shadow as he leaned over him holding a transparent plastic tube in his hand zoomed closer.

  “It’s gonna hurt, man.”

  Marcus stared at his brother-in-arms with his eyes wide open. Shadow never showed any nerves; he was made of titanium and the closest to a medic they had on his team. He stared down as Shadow touched his ribs on the left side, feeling for the right space to make the insertion. This wasn’t a new procedure to either of them. Marcus trusted his teammate to do what was necessary. Shit, he was getting too old for all this.

  “Just…do…”

  Before the last word left his mouth, Shadow stabbed a thin, sharp blade into his chest and pushed a firm tube against his ribs. The built-up pressure inside instantly released and the pain became more tolerable. Marcus inhaled, holding his hand on his rib, while Shadow taped the tube securely into an empty water bottle.

  “This is going to have to do. It’s some of the tape from earlier. A million uses for duct tape and a Bic pen. You’re going to need a tetanus shot and some serious antibiotics when you get back. Right, let’s get you up. We’ve got to move.”

  By the time Marcus stood up, a bare-chested Jake re-entered the room, holding a flagging Ava, who wore the missing shirt. Bear followed alongside four women, one carrying an infant.

  “Shit.”

  It was just as well he had ordered the bus to pick them up; by the looks of it, they would need the space. The Airbus helicopter would fit at least eleven people. The women—some looked still in their teens—were unkempt, barefoot, dazed, and pumped with God knows what kind of drugs. Ava lifted her head and charged toward him, leaving him with no choice but to wrap his arms around her as she sobbed.

  “He will not stop. He will kill you, Marcus, and your men. You need to leave when he realizes it’s only a few of you, not the whole damn army.”

  He eased her away from his ribs. The pain was raw and the tube a temporary fix. He assessed Ava’s condition and stared over her head at the others. “Is this all of the women you mentioned?” he asked.

  “There’s more, but they’ve been moved. He uses them for big parties if he has investors coming into town, but first he takes them to be trained. I don’t know where.”

  “Okay, well, we can at least help the ones here, but I will be back to help the others.”

  Jake yelled that they needed to move. A young, dark girl of no more than nineteen rushed over, carrying her baby, which she pressed into Ava’s arms.

  “Take him. Yo no lo quiero,” she said, her brown eyes wide.

  Marcus reached out to touch the girl, but she flinched at his touch and ran away. “Stop her,” he shouted at his men.

  Bear and Shadow charged at the girl, who slipped through their grasp and ran to the open balcony. She looked back briefly. Bear and Shadow reached the girl’s position just as she jumped off without a sound.

  “Fuck.”

  Marcus limped as fast as he could to check on the girl below. There, sprawled out at an awkward angle, was her body and a growing pool of blood.

  This day was getting worse by the minute.

  “Shit, fucking shit—we’re out of here now. Move. Bear, Shadow, you follow at the back.”

  Marcus hobbled as fast as he could with Jake holding him around the waist. His strength seeping away fast. The villa was oddly silent as they made their way outside. He expected more retaliation, more gunfire. He was in front with Jake. The women, Ava, and the baby were in the middle. In the back, Bear and Shadow guarded their behinds to make a safe exit. This was a mess. He stared over at the sleeping baby, who had an incredible thatch of thick dark hair and was oblivious of his mother’s absence.

  ****

  The call came from Steel at two’ o clock in the morning to inform her that Marcus was finally on board the helo. He wasn’t expected to touch down until late morning due to refueling, but once she knew he was airborne, she couldn’t sleep as she remembered Steel’s conversation.

  “Before you ask, he’s all right…”

  Ella sat up. She knew that Steel was hesitating because he paused mid-flow.

  “There’s a but, isn’t there?” she said into the dark room.

  “Yes. He suffered a collapsed lung, which has been dealt with temporarily, but it means he will need to be taken straight to the hospital rather than here. I can take you as soon as I receive the call to say he has arrived.”

  Ella’s mind raced. A collapsed lung. What else? She wanted to ask about the woman, his contact, but
couldn’t bring herself to say anything. He was alive.

  “Does he know about Josephine? Did anyone tell him?”

  “No. I figured it would be best to wait. He’s taken quite a beating, Ella.”

  She let out a long breath and nodded silently into the phone. “I’ll be ready.”

  After replacing her cell phone on the bedside table, she lay there, feeling cold and alone in the large bedroom filled with dark shadows. The turbulent waves crashed on the rugged rocks below. She flipped the cream duvet cover back and slipped out of bed. Reaching the long-arched window that overlooked the ever-flowing midnight-blue sea, she stared at the inky-black sky guarding the waxing crescent moon that hung there. She inhaled the power of Luna, knowing she needed its strength to fortify her for the coming hours and days. A dread filled her as the need for Marcus itched under her skin with a fury. Ella knew her moods well and last week, they shifted.

  Since losing the baby, her shape changed too. Her breasts, once enlarged from pregnancy, became engorged with milk weeks ago, confirming the life that had been growing inside her. As the milk seeped out from her nipples, instead of feeding her baby, it cemented her loss. Now, her breasts were limp and normal. Her stomach lay flat and stiff as a board, but the tingles inside her body rose at the merest whisper of his name. Hearing it was like an addict receiving a hit. She needed more. She scratched her wrist and walked from the window, letting the moon light her way toward the shower. Ella hated this desire that made her a drooling idiot. The timing was the worst. After a quick wash and a fresh outfit, she met with Steel in the hallway. The drive to the hospital was in silence. Once he parked, she jumped out of the car, but he stood in front and stopped her.

  “Ella, slow down. I cannot read your mind but I know you have a million questions. Be patient.”

  She eyeballed Steel’s wide hazel eyes with hues of green. They were striking. Her gaze drifted to his hand and taking a deep breath, she forced her rapid heartbeat to slow down. He was right; she needed to gain some control and rushing in wouldn’t help anyone. She pressed her hand on her chest to take a few minutes to calm herself.