Terran Realm Vol 1-6

by Dee, Bonnie

  “I’m with Autumn on this,” Trent said. “If the guards come to Brody’s assistance, you’d be overwhelmed and stuck. Remember there’s only one way in and out of the dungeon. You need the three of us backing you up to keep the way out open.”

  Carr looked at Mark and Brenna. “You two okay with that plan?”

  Brenna spoke first. “Yes. If Molly is still in a guest room and we don’t see Miller, we can bring her this far and still keep this part of the escape route open.”

  “Mark, come huddle with us,” Carr said. “You’ll need to know how to find us in case everything goes to shit.”

  Mark let Brenna take his place at the door and joined the others.

  Autumn pulled up a security schematic of the house on the small computer. “We’re here.” She pointed to the back of the house. “Mark and Brenna, the stairway you saw when we exited the sub-basement leads straight up to the west wing guest rooms. There are only four suites. It won’t take you long to check them. I’ve unlocked all the computerized locks and reprogrammed the cameras to play on a loop. The guards monitoring the security cameras shouldn’t suspect anything.”

  Mark nodded. “Got it. Looks easy.”

  “Should be,” Trent said. “That part of the house is fairly isolated and rarely used. I doubt they even put a guard on her.”

  Autumn pointed to the corridor outside the laundry room. “We’ll follow this hallway to the den.” She traced it on the screen. “Turn left here and follow this hall to the end. The den is the last door on the left. Once inside, we’ll open the door to the dungeon and leave it open to facilitate our quick exit.”

  Carr spoke. “If for some reason the guards come into the den, they’ll have the tactical advantage with that narrow stairwell.”

  “We’ll handle it,” Donovan said. “Just like cave fighting in Afghanistan.”

  Mark spoke up. “Plus you have me as the rear guard. We need to stay in constant contact. Everyone’s headset tuned to Alpha-Zeta frequency?”

  Everyone nodded. The rotating frequency could only be infiltrated by someone with the code—and only KOTE’s New York headquarters had it.

  “Okay, we’re a go.” Carr looked at Autumn. “You don’t need to go down there. You could stay in the den and hide until we come up. If we need you…”

  “No, I need to go, to protect Trent from Brody’s influence,” she hesitated, “and like Lily I need to hurt the bastard, or see him die. I want him to know that I helped bring him down.”

  Carr nodded. “Mark, you and Brenna move out. We’ll cover you until you get up the stairs.”

  Brenna opened the door a crack and peered out. “It’s clear.” Mark joined her and they slipped out of the room with Donovan watching their backs.

  “They’re up,” Donovan reported. “I sense both of them moving easily and quickly away from us.”

  “Autumn, create a disturbance for the guards in a remote part of the estate,” Carr said.

  She smiled, her fingers flying across the computer’s keyboard. “I’m having perimeter breaches at the two farthest walls on the estate. They’ll have to use vehicles to get to them.”

  “Good work. Let’s move.” He moved past Donovan to enter the hallway. Autumn came next, with Trent, then Donovan bringing up the rear. Lily, baby, we’re coming. Hang on. Hang on.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Carr’s words whispering across their mental link gave Lily the strength to endure the humiliation and pain Brody put her through. He was evil personified. He was a mass murderer. His manufactured quake had killed hundreds of thousands of people. He raped the earth to provide his wealth. In turn the wealth had bought him power which he corrupted to make him more money and gain even more power. Brody was the poster child for all that was depraved in a Terran turned Destroyer—and he had her under his control—for now.

  Carr was coming. She held that thought to her like a security blanket.

  Cruel, cold fingers fondled her skin sending icy shivers down her spine and making her skin crawl.

  “Lovely, lovely,” the foul old man crooned. “Golden cream and silky smooth. Your Native American blood shows here.” He pinched the crest of her breast. “And here.” He hit the side of her buttocks with some implement she could not see because her head was anchored to the bed by the chain from the collar he placed around her neck.

  Another strike on the side of her hip, this time harder, had her gasping. “You redden nicely.” He came into her line of sight. His thin lips twisted into a parody of a smile. “I bet you scar beautifully.”

  He cupped one of her breasts, squeezing it hard. She glared at him. “No reaction? You saw it coming—were prepared for it. A blindfold will take care of that. I have no doubt you are brave, my dear, but I like to hear my women scream.”

  “I’m not one of your women,” she bit out between gritted teeth.

  “Ahh, but you are.” He chuckled. The sound skittered across her skin like fire ants. He turned away and grabbed something. Her peripheral vision told her it was black. He showed it to her. A leather blindfold. “Let’s put this on and see how well you scream when you can’t see the strikes coming.”

  He slipped the blindfold over her head and wiggled it between her head and the hard pillow her head lay on. He tightened it. She couldn’t see anything, but she still had her other senses. His heavy, excited breathing sounded close to her ears. His foul stench turned her stomach.

  “What should I use first?” he said in a low murmur, his fetid breath touching her lips. If he placed his lips on hers, she would throw up or scream or both. “The whip or the crop?”

  She sensed him moving away, and she sighed with relief that he had not kissed her.

  “Why don’t we let you guess, eh?”

  Several minutes passed. The sound of him moving around the room her only clue to the fact he was still there. Doors opening and closing and the clanking sound of chains and the slap of other objects hitting a surface caused her imagination to run riot. And none of what she imagined was good.

  Only the sound of a whoosh prepared her. Multiple strands strafed her stomach, her vulnerable mound and her spread-eagled thighs. She gasped, but managed to stifle the scream clawing to escape her throat.

  The second swing swept over her breasts, hitting both nipples. This time she bit her lip until she tasted blood, forcing the scream back into her throat where it became a mere whimper.

  Lily? What is it? What is he doing?

  Nothing I can’t handle—just get here—and kill the son of a bitch.

  Lily!

  The roar of Carr’s voice in her head helped her through the next slash of the whip, again concentrated on her breasts. The sting of the welts throbbed and burned across the sensitive mounds.

  “Too brave, my dear. Too brave.”

  Brody stomped away like a petulant two-year-old; she could almost see a pout on his ugly lips. The sound of something being thrown to the floor reached her ears. Yeah, a temper tantrum just like a spoiled kid, except this was a crazy, psycho killer and a temper tantrum just might kill her.

  “Let’s see how you handle the crop. One of my—and my dear Autumn’s—favorites. Too bad she isn’t here for you to compare notes with.” Something touched her lips. “Kiss it.” She turned her head away. He slapped her with his hand. “Kiss it—or I’ll use it on your face.”

  Carr would be here soon. She repeated the sentence in her head as she brushed her lips on the crop.

  “That’s better.” He laid the crop across her chest. “Hold that for me for a second.”

  A rough finger flicked her labia, then thrust into her dry opening. “Look at the folds of your sex,” he said in a cooing tone. “We’ll pierce these later so I can lock your sex away from others. But right now, we’ll teach you who the master is.”

  Rescue right about now would be good, Carr.

  We’re outside the door. It’s locked, but we’re working on it. Hold on, baby.

  She grasped at the chains attachi
ng her cuffs to the bed, holding on for all she was worth.

  The whoosh of the crop cutting the air above her mound deafened her. The pain defeated her. And she screamed.

  *

  A scream of agony came clearly through an air vent near the door.

  “Get us down there—now!” Carr pounded the solid steel door blocking him from Lily. “He’s hurting her.”

  Autumn nodded, her lips thinned to harsh, grim line. She entered the complicated code to unlock the computerized locks on the door. “Got the fucker.” She hit “enter” on the pad and the whirl of the mechanized locks sounded loudly in the silent den. “Go!”

  The door opened to the sound of more of Lily’s screams.

  Carr roared his rage, flew down the stairs and burst into the room. Trent and Donovan were on his heels. All were armed—and all were ready to kill.

  Brody turned at their entrance. He threw down whatever he’d used on Lily and pressed a gun to her head. “Shoot me and she dies—I guarantee it.”

  Carr stopped less than six feet from the end of the bed where a blindfolded Lily lay nude and bleeding. “Lily? Baby?”

  “Carr?” His beloved’s voice was shaky and weak.

  “Shut up.” Brody jabbed the gun against her cheek. “Negotiate Protector. You want the Earth Talisman and I want to leave. How will we do this?”

  He sensed the power in Brody’s voice and … nothing. It had been cut off.

  Donovan moved around him. “Put the gun down, Brody. Your powers cannot match mine.”

  “No!” Autumn’s shrill cry came from the doorway. “Don’t let him leave. Kill the bastard! You don’t know what he’s done … to me … to my family … you can’t let him go…” Her voice trailed off into the sound of weeping.

  “Trent? Get her out of here.” Carr’s eyes never left Brody and his gun was pointed at the bastard’s head. Donovan stood next to him; his gun pointed at the bastard’s heart.

  Brody sneered at them. “How are you going to stop me from killing her?” He jabbed the gun against Lily’s cheek.

  “Donovan, don’t you think a head shot and a heart shot simultaneously would do the trick?”

  “Why, Carr, I think that would stop all ability for him to pull the trigger.” Donovan moved closer. “And since I can communicate mentally with you, he’d never know when the shot would happen, so he could not shoot first. I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

  Power surged in the room. It came from Brody. “You will not kill me. You will put down your guns and surrender.”

  Carr laughed. “Sorry, that doesn’t work on me, the Consort of a Talisman.”

  “And it sure as hell doesn’t work on the Spirit Talisman,” Donovan added. “In fact, Brody, you will put your gun down and lie on the floor face down. Now.” Donovan’s Spirit Talisman powers reverberated within the room, jangling the chains and making the instruments of torture jump on the wall.

  Brody fought the suggestion with everything in him, but failed. When the bastard’s gun was pointed away from Lily’s face, Carr was on him. Two ruthless punches and Brody was on the ground, unconscious.

  “Tie him up, would you, Donovan?”

  “Gladly.” The Spirit Talisman shoved his gun in the holster under his arm and bent to the downed Destroyer. “Throw me some of those leather ties on the end table.”

  Carr nodded, tossing the items before turning to free his bloodied love.

  “Aww, baby. Don’t cry. Hush, sweetness, you’re killing me.” He gently removed the blindfold. Her green eyes were filled with pain and tears. “Hold on, love, I’ll have you off that bed soon. Fucking bastard.” He threw a fulminating glance at the Destroyer now hog-tied. “I should kill him now and save us all the grief of a trial. You were so brave, baby. So strong. Say you forgive me for letting him take you.”

  There’s nothing to forgive. You came for me. I knew you would.

  Carr couldn’t believe how magnanimous she was. He’d make it up to her every damn day for the rest of their long Terran lives. He unclamped the chains anchoring her to the bed, then worked on the cuffs on her wrists and ankles. He swore under his breath at the bruises and abrasions on her skin from the cruel bindings. All the while she shivered under his hands, her teeth chattering. He wrapped the bedcovers around her body, afraid she was going into shock. Finally, he unbuckled the collar and threw it against the wall. And still he swore.

  If he didn’t swear, he would be screaming, or tearing the bastard apart with his bare hands. Already the stripes from the beating were swelling. She would be black, blue and tender for quite a while. He wanted to hold her, but he was afraid he’d hurt her.

  “Carr?” She grasped his arm and tugged him closer.

  “Yes, baby?” He stroked her hair, the only part of her he was sure had not been beaten.

  “Hold me.”

  She barely whimpered when he gingerly gathered her into his arms. But he knew she was in pain, it screamed across their link. He murmured profuse apologies against her hair and cradled her against his chest, kissing her bruised face. His tears mixed with hers.

  “I want to hit him,” she whispered against his throat. “With the crop. Now.”

  “I’ll help her.” Autumn’s voice came from behind. “First, let’s get her dressed. These shouldn’t be too bad against her injuries. We can do better for her on the plane when we leave here.”

  He turned with Lily in his arms. Autumn stood near, a set of sweats in her hands. The clothing had Lily’s scent on it.

  “Thank you,” Lily whispered. “You’re the soon-to-be-ex-wife?” Autumn nodded. “Congratulations on your soon-to-be-divorce.”

  “Thank you,” Autumn said with a slight smile.

  Between the two of them, they got Lily dressed. Trent and Donovan had turned their backs to give them privacy and to watch the entry into the dungeon. So far they had not seen nor heard any of Brody’s men. He only hoped their luck would continue. Lily needed to punish Brody for her mental and emotional health.

  Once dressed and standing with his assistance , Lily said, “I think I’ll let you take the honors, Autumn. He told me, no he bragged about what he’d done to you. I’ll take my turn after you soften him up a bit for me.”

  “I’ll be honored.” Autumn reached around Carr and took the crop from the table where Brody had dropped it. She walked to where Trent and Donovan stood over the defeated man. “Lower his legs and expose his ass.”

  Donovan frowned, but did not stop Trent when he followed Autumn’s orders and untied Brody’s legs from the hog-tie and exposed the old man’s lily-white ass.

  Autumn stepped up. A surge of power filled the room. Something, a sense of suction, pulled at Carr’s skin. Autumn had created a vacuum-like sensation when she drew energy from the atmosphere. Lily’s gasp told him she felt it also. He soothed her with kisses and kept her close to his side, protecting her sore body with his.

  Autumn was calling on her elemental essence to help her put some power into her arm.

  The first stroke across Brody’s naked buttocks sounded loudly in the room and drew blood. The second and the third strokes sounded even louder as her element gave Autumn the strength to pay her tormentor back for all the months of torture he’d inflicted.

  At the fifth stroke, Lily spoke, her words soft, but carrying. “Autumn, stop. My turn, I think.”

  Autumn nodded. Her face was wet with tears. She brought the crop and handed it to Lily who accepted it only after stroking the wetness from the other woman’s cheek with a gentle thumb.

  Carr carried Lily to where Brody lay, wheezing and moaning into the cold concrete floor. He helped her to stand, steadying her when her legs threatened to give way. She raised her arm and gave Brody five more strokes, Carr supplementing her Earth power with his.

  Brody now whimpered and moaned in a low continual sound that grated on Carr’s nerves. “Shut up, Brody. Or, I’ll gag you,” Carr said. The Destroyer shut up with one last heaving sob.

  “That’s enou
gh.” Donovan stepped between Lily and Brody. “Pull up his pants, Trent. We need to get out of here before some enterprising guards decide to check on their boss.”

  Autumn turned toward Trent. “Let’s go make sure the way is clear.” Trent led the way, with Autumn close on his heels.

  Carr spoke into Lily’s ear, his nose nuzzling her neck. “Can you hold on for a while longer, baby? I’ll take care of your wounds on the plane.”

  “Yes, just get me out of here.” She turned into his arms, her face buried in his chest. “I love you.”

  “And I love you. You’re my life.”

  “As you are mine.”

  Donovan came up to them. His eyes showed his concern. “Will she be okay?”

  “She’ll be fine,” Lily answered.

  Carr chuckled at the sarcasm in his little Talisman’s voice. She didn’t like being talked about in the third person. She was fine. The bastard had not destroyed her spirit.

  Donovan smiled. “I’m glad, Lily.” He tapped his com device. “Sitrep?”

  Trent’s voice. “We’re in the back hallway and we were clear to here.”

  Mark’s voice. “Got Molly Miller. She told us her son was here. He told her to be ready and he would be back for her. That he had something to do. We haven’t seen him. Watch your asses. He might be coming for Lily. Brenna and I have Molly with us at the rendezvous point in the woods.”

  “How’s the way there, Mark?” Carr carried Lily up the stairs and into the den.

  “All clear here. The distraction at the front gate is keeping the hired guns busy.” Silence, then, “Autumn and Trent just got here.”

  Trent’s voice cut in. “We had no trouble. You guys shake a leg.”

  Mark’s voice. “I’ll backtrack and make sure it stays that way. Trent is more use here in case Autumn needs to do her thing.”

  “Roger that,” Carr said. Donovan entered the den behind him and Lily, carrying Brody’s dead weight over his shoulder.