Thrasher: Science Fiction Romance (Enigma Series Book 9)

by Ditter Kellen

  Shaking his head, Tony avoided her gaze. “It was me they were after. Kerik knows the Bracadytes wouldn’t risk their king’s life or his children for the sake of a human. But if that human were mated with the king’s daughter, that would be a different story.”

  Understanding dawned. Thrasher would be considered insignificant. Which meant that they had nothing to bargain with, no reason to keep him alive. Kaspyn’s heart cracked in half.

  “How long will it take to circle around behind them?”

  “The camp we located was approximately ten miles from here,” Tony informed her. “That’s a three-hour walk. We have to circle around, staying far enough away as to not be seen. That’s going to take an extra two hours…give or take an hour.”

  Kaspyn’s mind rejected Tony’s words, even though she knew he spoke the truth. “By the time we reach that camp, Thrasher will have been in their clutches for ten hours or more. He will be dead by then.”

  “We can’t know that, Kaspyn. Thrasher is the toughest man I’ve ever worked with. If anyone can survive the odds stacked against them, it’s Escabar.”

  “Escabar?”

  Tony nodded. “That was the name I knew him as before he became Thrasher. Melvin Escabar.”

  Kaspyn loved the name. She loved the man. “We must hurry.”

  Oz, Brant, and the rest of the Bracadytes soon caught up with Kaspyn and Tony. Oz’s face appeared pale and drawn. “I sent Maria and Carmen to a friend’s place. They will be safe there until we return.”

  Glancing at Tony, Oz suggested, “We should probably circle around behind them, come up on the west side. They’ll be expecting us to come up from the east.”

  “That’s the plan,” Tony stated as he strode forward, ducking through the low-lying branches of the trees. “Did you tell any of your men where we were going?”

  Oz shook his head. “No. And I left lights on in the house so it would appear that I am home.”

  “Smart move.” Tony glanced back at the rest of the group. “Regardless of what anyone thinks, Kerik will not expect us to return for Thrasher. Thrasher is as insignificant as a bug to that asshole.”

  “Then they will kill him,” Rykaur snarled, his face turning red with rage.

  Tony continued his fast pace as he responded. “Yes, they will eventually kill him, but not before extracting as much information as they can get first.”

  “Thrasher will not talk,” Kaspyn bit out, terror seeping from her very pores.

  Tony quickly met her gaze. “I know he won’t. And that is the only thing that will keep him alive until we get there.”

  * * * *

  Kaspyn had no idea how long they’d been traveling through the woods, but night had fallen long ago and the sun’s rays were beginning to peek over the horizon.

  Tony held up a hand, his voice a low whisper, “There.” He nodded toward a heavily wooded area along the beach. “Their camp is about a half-mile that way. Step lightly and keep your eyes open at all times. There will be scouts moving around in all directions. Nobody fire a weapon or we’re done for.”

  Kaspyn ground her teeth. “I do not need the human weapons.”

  “I know,” Tony returned. “And we will most definitely need your abilities to get Thrasher out of there. But there are over a hundred armed men in that camp. You can’t take them all out before they mow you down with high-powered automatic weapons. We’re going to have to split up, infiltrate their camp, and take out as many as we can as quietly as we can.”

  “We’re going to have to wait for the cover of darkness,” Brant stated, stepping up next to Tony.

  Kaspyn balked at Brant’s suggestion. “We cannot wait. Thrasher has been at their mercy all night. They will continue to torture him!”

  Tony laid a hand on her arm. “I need you to stay focused. If we go in there now, guns blazing, we will all die…including Thrasher. His only chance is if we don’t screw this up.”

  “Vaughn is correct, my princess,” Zyen, who had remained quiet for most of the hike through the woods, spoke with a conviction that surprised Kaspyn. “We will do Thrasher no good if we charge in there and die ourselves.”

  Kaspyn turned away before any of them could see the tears of frustration that sprang to her eyes. She would have to wait for nightfall to rescue her mate. And he would be her mate, of that, she was sure.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Thrasher bit back a groan, unwilling to give the guy now cutting his arm the satisfaction of hearing his pain.

  “Who are the two blond giants staying at Ozele’s in Playa Pilar?” the guy demanded, slowly sliding his blade across Thrasher’s chest. “And their white-haired giant companion?”

  Unable to lift his head, Thrasher rasped, “You’ve been watching too many movies, dumbass.”

  “I’ll show you who’s the dumbass!” Resting the tip of the knife over Thrasher’s heart, the guy lifted his palm, preparing to hammer the blade home.

  “You can’t kill him!” someone snapped, jerking the knife from the guy’s grasp. “Kerik doesn’t want him dead yet. He wants information, you idiot. Not a corpse.”

  Idiot made a sound in the back of his throat and stalked off.

  The newcomer took over Thrasher’s torture. “I know you’re tired of all this, Escabar. Why don’t you just tell us what you know, and I’ll take you out of your misery. It’ll be quick and painless.”

  Thrasher could barely see the guy’s feet through the slits in his swollen eyes. He noticed that he wore white running shoes instead of boots like most of his tormentors wore. “Go fuck yourself.”

  “Wrong answer.” Pulling a knife from the pocket of his fatigues, he rested the blade against Thrasher’s shoulder, cut a small place and then peeled the skin down his arm.

  Thrasher’s entire body shook with the agony now screaming through him. His teeth clenched together hard enough that he tasted blood.

  “Did that feel good?” the nameless guy taunted. “How about we try the other arm?”

  And so it went. With every question that Thrasher refused to answer, his tormentor would peel another patch of skin away from his body until blessed darkness overtook him.

  * * * *

  Thrasher came awake to the sounds of arguing in the distance. Though he couldn’t make out the words, he could hear Kerik’s voice amongst them, as well as…Howell’s.

  Straining to lift his head, Thrasher fought to crack his eyes open, but his eyelids were swollen shut. The pain throbbing in his body paled in comparison to the agony of the missing patches of skin.

  The arguing suddenly stopped and footsteps could be heard approaching. “Well, look what we have here.”

  Thrasher would recognize Howell’s voice anywhere.

  “Still not ready to talk?” Howell sneered. “I think they’ve gone too easy on you. Did you know that the most sensitive place on the human male is the scrotum? I bet if we took a little skin from there, you’d sing like a canary.”

  Keeping his expression blank, Thrasher swallowed back a retort. The last thing he wanted was to piss Howell off enough to follow through on his threat.

  Thrasher opened his mouth as much as his battered lips would allow and moaned out a word he knew would make little sense. But Howell didn’t need to know that.

  If he could keep their attention on him long enough for Kaspyn and the others to sail away, his death wouldn’t be in vain.

  Kaspyn…she would eventually go back to Arkadia, mate with a Bracadyte male and bear him strong, healthy sons. The pain that vision produced hurt more than any physical torture ever could. Not that Thrasher didn’t want that life for Kaspyn, he did. He only wished it could have been with him.

  “Thrasher?”

  The sound of Tony’s voice inside his head was a balm to Thrasher’s soul.

  “Thrasher, can you hear me?”

  “I…hear you.”

  Relief washed through their connection; Tony’s relief. “Hang on, my friend. We’re coming.”

 
“No!” Thrasher vehemently sent back. “Don’t come here. They have at least a hundred men with high-powered weapons. You’ll never survive. Get Kaspyn and the others to the boat. Now. Save her, Vaughn. It’s too late for me.”

  “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, Escabar. Even if I was inclined to leave you here, which I’m not, Kaspyn wouldn’t cooperate. She loves you, you damn fool.”

  Warmth flooded Thrasher’s heart at Tony’s admission. “Get her away from here, Vaughn. The things they would do to her if she’s caught are incomprehensible. Don’t let them take her, Tony! Do you hear me? Swear to me that you will keep her safe.”

  “You have my word,” Tony swore, his voice fading from Thrasher’s mind.

  Howell’s voice brought Thrasher’s attention back to him. If Thrasher could keep the ex-president busy, Kaspyn had a better chance of escaping unnoticed. Though Thrasher was more than aware that Kerik had men patrolling the trees, he also knew the majority of the rebels were waiting on Howell’s orders before anyone else left the camp.

  Thrasher made another unrecognizable sound in his throat.

  “Bring him some water!” Howell barked, telling Thrasher that he was more than interested in what he had to say.

  Howell gripped Thrasher by the chin and lifted. “I’ve been waiting for this day a long time. Once your friends leave for Aukrabah, we’ll surround that boat and finally have Vaughn in our grasp. Not that I particularly want the washed-up piece of shit, but Klause will.” Howell’s voice sounded far away, as if it came from the end of a tunnel.

  Thrasher knew all too well what Howell’s plan was. He’d figured it out days ago. Little did the ex-president know that Vaughn already knew what to expect and would be lying in wait to take Howell’s men out.

  Thrasher only wished that he could be there for the fight. But he would be there in spirit, along with the other Bracadytes that had gone on before him.

  The wind suddenly picked up, and a soft humming sound swirled around Thrasher’s tormented body; the same sound he’d heard during his initiation.

  He attempted to open his eyes to no avail. But he didn’t need to see to recognize what surrounded him. The shadows of the ancient ones had come to take him home.

  Thrasher knew that death had come to claim him. He could feel his life force leaving his body with every drop of precious blood that spilled from his wounds. His only regret was never having the chance to tell Kaspyn how he felt, never taking her into his arms and making love to her the way she deserved to be loved. “I love you, Kaspyn…”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  A sickening feeling overcame Kaspyn. She glanced at Rykaur to find him watching her with a certain sadness in his eyes.

  “No,” she whispered, understanding that Rykaur felt the same sense of doom that she did. “He cannot die. I will not allow it.”

  Without caring about the consequences of what she was about to do, Kaspyn took off at a run, dodging low lying limbs as she went.

  “Kaspyn!” Tony hissed, taking off after her.

  The rest of the group followed suit.

  Kaspyn noticed Gryke dart off to her left while Tony and Zyen flanked her sides.

  She could see Rykaur slipping through the trees with Brant following closely behind, and Oz ended up in front of her before disappearing from view altogether.

  Shouts abruptly rent the air followed by a round of deafening gunfire.

  “Get down,” Tony snarled, grabbing Kaspyn by the arm and yanking her to her knees. A bullet whizzed by her head.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Tony continued holding onto her while his gaze darted around them.

  Kaspyn yanked free of his hold. “Thrasher is dying. If we do not reach him soon, I fear that it will be too late.”

  “You don’t know that,” Tony shot back, his attention now on the barrier of the camp.

  Kaspyn swallowed around the desperation fairly choking her. “I do. I can feel the presence of the ancient ones.”

  “Do you see that fence?” Tony nodded toward the barrier Kaspyn had been eyeing. “There’s a hut just on the other side. If we can get behind that, we can use it for cover.”

  Kaspyn suddenly sprang to her feet and sprinted toward the fence that loomed before her. She vaulted over the barrier, ducking a round of bullets intended for her.

  “Damn you!” Tony shouted, firing as he ran.

  Zyen jumped in front of Tony, his body jerking with the force of a bullet slamming into him. But that didn’t stop the Arkadian warrior. He sailed over the fence as if it didn’t exist and pressed his body against the hut Kaspyn stood behind.

  Tony soon joined them, flanking Kaspyn’s other side and firing around the corner of the hut.

  “How bad are you hit?” Tony asked Zyen without taking his gaze from the corner of the structure.

  Zyen growled his response, “It is but a scratch.”

  Tony nodded. “On my signal—”

  Another round of gunfire cut off Tony’s words as it peppered the corner of the wooden hut they stood behind. “On my signal, you two make a run for that white cabin on the east side. I’m heading west. If we don’t split up, we’re sitting ducks.”

  Kaspyn could barely hear him over the constant rounds of gunfire.

  “Go!” Tony hissed, his hand snaking around the corner of the hut to open fire.

  Kaspyn shot out from behind the safety of the building and ran like wind, shooting to her left as she went.

  She made it to the side of the white building, slamming her back against its surface as her gaze sought out Thrasher.

  Zyen abruptly appeared. “We are surrounded, Princess. There is no way out for you but the way we came in. Get back over that fence as quickly as you can. I will bring Thrasher’s body to you, you have my word.”

  Kaspyn’s lips peeled back over her teeth. “I will not leave him!”

  Bullets suddenly sprayed up the sand at Kaspyn’s feet. She jerked her gaze in the direction of the shots only to find two men standing in front of her, guns pointed at her head.

  Her eyes narrowed and her chin lifted defiantly. “Mortem,” she softly murmured, the Latin word for death.

  Both men’s weapons fell at their sides as their hands flew up to grip the sides of their heads. Blood oozed from their eye sockets as well as their nose and mouth.

  Kaspyn watched in satisfaction as the two men dropped to their knees, the light in their eyes snuffing out. They limply toppled over backward.

  Zyen nodded his approval. “Now you must leave this place.”

  Kaspyn shook her head. “Not without Thrasher.”

  She pushed away from the wall, zigzagging through the whizzing bullets to reach Thrasher’s side. Zyen stayed close behind her.

  Another bullet tore into the giant Arkadian. He grunted but kept moving.

  Kaspyn could see Gryke sailing over the fence, yelling for her to run as he barreled toward her, discharging weapons from both hands.

  She spun to the left, only to see at least twenty land walkers marching her way, guns at the ready.

  Her gaze darted back to Gryke to find him on his knees, his hands above his head and a group of men pressing their weapons to his back.

  Tony, Brant, Rykaur, Oz, and Pyre came stumbling forward, followed by a group of at least fifty.

  Kaspyn slowly turned, her gaze seeking out Thrasher. A cry left her lips as she took in his bloodied, limp form hanging from a thick post.

  She staggered toward him, tears of heartbreak forming in her eyes. “Thrasher…”

  A short, balding man stepped from a structure near the post. “Awww, will you look at this.”

  Kaspyn’s tormented gaze flew to the balding man. “Mortem,” she choked out.

  The man’s face turned bright red and blood began to trickle from his nose.

  “Stop it or he dies!”

  Kaspyn didn’t have to look to know who would die. She released the mental hold she had on the balding man and shifted her attention to the one
now holding a gun to Thrasher’s temple.

  “Do not touch him,” she snarled between clenched teeth.

  A spark of fear appeared in the man’s eyes, but he seemed to shake it off. “Now, back up against the fence line. All of you.”

  Keeping her attention on Thrasher’s bloodied and bruised face, Kaspyn backed away slowly, not wanting to spook the guy holding the gun to Thrasher’s head.

  “Howell?” Vaughn called out from his position against the fence. “It’s me that you want. You don’t need any of them.”

  “You’re right, I don’t.” The one known as Howell turned his head to the side and nodded to the large group of men holding their weapons at the ready. “Kill them all but Vaughn.” He spun on his heel and re-entered his dwelling.

  Gunfire erupted.

  Kaspyn screamed as the man standing behind Thrasher, grinned at her and pulled back the hammer of his pistol. He was going to kill Thrasher before her eyes.

  She began to run toward him, blocking out the sounds of horror around her. Tears of terror dripped off her chin to be swept away on the acidic wind. Every movement in her peripheral seemed to happen in slow motion.

  And then a soft, sonic boom rent the air, as if a human bomb had gone off deep beneath the earth’s surface.

  The impact of the boom knocked the man that stood behind Thrasher off his feet, but not before she saw the evidence of panic in his eyes.

  Kaspyn spun around in time to witness a sight she would never forget as long as she lived.

  Rising up from the churning waters of The Gulf were dozens of Bracadytes. And in the center of them all arose Zaureth, resembling Ares, the Greek god of war. His hands were out before him, his unearthly pale green eyes glowing with a power that few possessed. He commanded the waters, the very winds now whipping through the trees, as well as the Bracadytes flanking his sides.

  Klause stood to Zaureth’s right with Naura by his side. Vaulcron and Hauke flanked Zaureth’s left, their emerald green eyes glittering with rage.

  The shadows of the ancient ones swirled around and through the pale-eyed healer as if controlling his every move.

  Kaspyn met Zaureth’s gaze, her own inner strength rising up to connect with his.