by Danube Adele
I had no time to think on what seemed to be his words, or that I heard them so clearly when his lips didn’t move.
“Heeeeelp! Heeeeelp!” I screamed until one of the big hands that I’d admired earlier covered my mouth, completely muffling any sound I was trying to make.
I hooked my feet together and squeezed my thighs, trying to put pressure on his abdomen. He grunted and flexed his muscles. Through gritted teeth he said, “Now, Grayson!”
I fought harder. It didn’t help. One moment we were there in the parking lot and next, all the men surrounded us, including the British man named Frank Grayson, who took hold of both of us, grasping our upper arms. Then we were surrounded by vibrant blue light.
Chapter Four
The blue light was painfully fierce, blinding me with its harsh luminescence, and I cried out with the shock. I closed my eyes but could still feel it pulsing through my lids relentlessly. Intense pressure encompassed my entire body, had me gasping like a fish flopped out of the water, fighting for air. Would my lungs collapse? Contracting, expanding, and no sound but the mad rush of blood pounding in my ears that seemed to go on forever. What the hell was happening to me? Was this death? Had I been killed? Cold fingers of remorse wrung my heart. I wasn’t ready yet. There were things to do.
You’re fine. We’re almost there.
His deep voice soothed, almost like he was in my mind. Was I losing it? Could he be in my mind? Then we were back on solid ground, and the blue light faded. I could feel myself shaking, speechless. What happened? What the hell was that? They were angry thoughts, dredged from the depths of my fear.
“Everything’s fine.” He spoke close to my ear.
Everything was not fine. Not at all. What was fine about any of this? Where was I? A small dark, stone room, no windows, and one door. A strange torch, flameless, seemed to give barely enough light for me to make out the monstrous features of those around me. Tabron was still lying between my legs. My dress rode high on my thighs. Nothing about this was fine. Holy shit. What the fuck had just happened?
“Why did it take so long, Frank?” he yelled over his shoulder. “It frightened her.”
“So sorry, dear.” Frank let go of the tight grasp he’d had on our arms and brushed off his coat as he stood. The other men who’d taken part in this horrific crime were now stepping back, watching Tabron expectantly.
Frank gave me a gentle smile, like we were sharing confidences over tea or something. In spite of his words, his eyes were cold. “We needed to make two transfers, Tabron, one directly after the other, if we were going to complete the transfer through light years. We needed to transfer to a stronger source to fuel us that distance. Tell Ral’e I’ll see him later.” Then the man walked out without another word.
Did that even make sense? Light years? What the hell were they talking about?
Didn’t even matter. If he thought I was going to just take whatever he was dishing out, he had another think coming! I wasn’t going to take this lying down. I would bring the fight of his life here and now! But almost like he knew what I was about, he grabbed my arms and tried to hold them flat on the ground.
“There’s nowhere for you to go,” he stated firmly, his eyes drilling into mine.
“What would you have us do, Tabron?” One of the shorter, barrel-chested men stepped forth.
Over his shoulder, Tabron commanded, “I’ll take care of her. Have rooms readied. I’ll bring the woman momentarily.”
“Right away.” The men left, and I could hear their footsteps shuffling up what sounded like stairs.
“You aren’t going to be hurt,” Tabron stated flatly.
“Liar! You took me from my family!”
“I had no choice.” He bit out the words. “We have nice rooms where you can go rest now.”
“I know where you can go,” I snarled. “It’s just south of here and really fucking hot.”
Like holding my arms down was going to stop me. I no longer heard the rest of the men on the stairs and figured this was my only chance to get free. Surprise, surprise, asshole. I slammed my forehead into his cheekbone, heard his roar of pain. He pulled away from me enough that I was able to shove him off balance. I cannonballed my legs to my chest, wedged my knees against his shoulders and pushed myself away with all the strength I could muster. A guttural cry wrenched from my diaphragm with the effort. I broke free! I turned to run, but he reached out to grab my ankle. With my free foot, I kicked his face—a satisfying thud to the mouth—knocking myself free and running for the door, his angry shout behind me.
There were stairs and more stairs immediately outside the door. They were made out of stone and curved up into a spiral, with torches burning on the walls to provide light along the way. I bulleted up as fast as I could and wasn’t far ahead when I heard his boots pounding behind me. They were catching up fast. I wasn’t a goddamn runner for nothing. More stairs led up and up. When would they end? What was this? A dungeon?
A doorway! I saw it and dashed through into the bright sunlight, right into a riot. What in the world? An angry mob of dirty-looking peasants, like from central casting for the show Vikings or something, were straining against huge, muscular guards and shouting demands. Dirty, angry faces, yelling and screaming from all directions, their shouts ringing piercingly in my ears.
“The children are starving! We have no food! Illness is spreading!”
“What is the king going to do?”
“We haven’t had a market for nearly three weeks! Where are the farmers?”
On the run. On the move. Go. Go. Go. Don’t slow down. Just keep going. Without pausing, I threw myself into the chaos and found myself being squeezed by the crowd. I was pushed and pulled. An elbow caught me in the ribs, the bony shoulder of a tall man swung into my jaw, but I took the impacts and kept pushing my way through. Anxiously, I looked over my shoulder and saw Tabron throw himself out the door and look around as though he’d just dropped a sack of gold. Stupid tears coursed down my cheeks, an outlet for the terror that was making me feel like a hunted animal. I ducked down and kept moving, trying to work my way to the back of the crowd. Several times, rioters stepped on my feet, which made me realize I was barefoot!
A tall, burly warrior with a full belly to match his beard shouted in a booming voice, “We will see what happened to the people of Morgandin and Hewnavayne during this week. There’s nothing we can do now!”
“You aren’t missing meals! The king isn’t going hungry!”
“Orsyn did not have to die! He had family! How will his children eat?”
A general roar followed this shout and the crowd grew more frenzied, shoving, shouting, their words lost in the general roar. Another elbow to the side of the head rang my bell.
“Do this and you all die!” The sound of metal sliding on metal brought the crowd to a standstill. I popped my head up to see what was happening.
The mean-looking warrior gave the warning from behind the crowd. He had a sword in his hand, for Christ’s sake! All of the warriors with long hair were yanking out their swords in a threatening manner. What the hell were they planning to do with that? Who wore a sword anymore? I had no idea what they were talking about with kings and starvation, but it was yet another moment where I felt like I’d stepped into some bizarre time machine. How the hell did I end up here? Could I get around him?
I sniffed, swiping at my wet cheeks and runny nose, trying to see around people to get a sense of where the hell I was.
“Go home. We will hold market again in two days’ time.” It was the mean-looking guy again, big, almost like Tabron, with dark brown hair that was pulled back from his face, tied at his nape so everyone could really see the give-a-shit look there.
“Please, Draxton. The king has food. My boy hasn’t eaten in two days or more.”
The mean warrior looked
at the thin bedraggled woman who was imploring him, her hands out begging. “Then you should prepare yourself, love. He’s likely going to die.”
No way! Who said things like that?
The woman sobbed, and a general moan floated over the crowd of despondent people.
Which way out of Oz?
A quick glance around showed me I was in an enormous courtyard, almost the size of a football field, a gigantic structure being the main focus, like a mansion or huge house or something. Stone walls enclosed the space around empty wooden carts, except for the open gates that led out...somewhere. What had happened? What was this place? I’d have to get to safety and try to figure it out...
“Ceci!” I heard the roar and jerked involuntarily. “Stop her!”
Popping my head up, I saw Tabron had made me, and was now shoving his way through the crowd to get to me. The people scattered. I was left on my own, not knowing which way to go. His men and the other soldiers had me in their sights and were closing in on me. A meaty fist snagged my arm from behind. I hadn’t seen them coming up behind me.
Without thought, I spun and drove my palm up into my attacker’s nose. A spurt of blood poured out with his shout of pain, but I didn’t wait for him to retaliate. I took him out with a well-placed kick to his fucking balls, which laid him out.
By now half a dozen large, barbaric men with long hair and swords were circling me, looking like they were all from some freaky clash of worlds. The people who’d been shouting before had all backed off and were watching quietly, wanting no part of it. I could just imagine the scene they were observing. A young woman in a cocktail dress, barefoot, ready to take on brutes who were trying to attack her with swords. What. The. Hell.
Another soldier made a grab for me. I side-kicked the shit out of his knee joint, seeing in my mind the tearing of the meniscus from the bone, sending him to the ground where I roundhouse kicked his temple. Motherfucker, that hurt. My foot throbbed. Probably broke a bone, but I tried not to show it and instead let my adrenaline speak for me.
“Bring it on, assholes! I’ll take you out one by one if I have to! Fucking monsters have to attack a lone, defenseless woman?” I stayed in position, knees bent, arms up.
This was my Bruce Lee moment. Combinations of kicks and punches rattled through my brain. My eyes darted back and forth between all of the men slowly trying to close in on me. A few of them were dressed in slacks from the restaurant and looked cleaned up. The rest were roughnecks in breeches and tunics with swords glinting in the fading light of the sun. Could I outrun them? I doubted they were cardio fit.
“Ceci, we aren’t going to hurt you,” Tabron called out, leading the group. I was usually so good at spotting the psychopaths.
The fear was riding high, but I needed to lasso that shit. I needed to think. “You could have fooled me! Pardon me if I don’t think you’re looking for an innocent coffee date when you take me against my will! Where the hell are we? What do you want from me?”
“We can talk about all this if you just come with me. I can introduce you to the king.” He waved the rest of the soldiers back and took a step toward me.
“Stay back!” I shrieked, matching him with a step away. The “king”? Was that a euphemism for drug lord or something? “You and your ‘king’ can take a long walk off a cliff. I’m walking to the nearest phone.”
“Ceci, there are no phones here.” He took another step forward. I took another step back.
“Don’t be an ass. Every goddamn person in the western hemisphere, and their first grader, has a fucking phone. I’ll find someone.”
“On Earth. We’re not on Earth.”
“Is that right?” My tone reflected my disbelief.
“I know this is going to be a shock...” He took another step forward. If I waited longer, he’d be on me.
Without waiting for the rest of his absurd sentence, I spun and put on the afterburners. The gate was just ahead. My feet scraped on the rough dirt and the navicular bone on top of my foot still pulsed with pain from nailing the guy on his bony head, but this would be the only opportunity. I had to take it. Then I was going to call the cops and have the whole lot of them thrown into a goddamn jail. Forever.
“Do not hurt her!” Tabron commanded from somewhere behind me.
Run. Run. Run. Go. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Almost there! I was clear of the gate and running through the center of a strange, medieval town where others were milling about, catching sight of me with surprise.
Where could I go to be safe?
And why the hell wasn’t someone stepping in to help me?
His boots pounded into the ground, eating up the distance between us. I was about to duck onto a side street when I caught a glimpse of the sky and nearly stumbled. Two moons? Was this a trick of the light? Then I was hit from behind and slammed against a large body as we hit the ground. Breath whooshed out, but I was struggling wildly already. I slammed an elbow into his gut three times, tried to bite at his arm, and kicked any part of his leg I could reach, whatever I could do.
“Damn the gods, stop this!” He struggled to get better hold of me, both of us grunting with the effort.
Steel muscles banded my arms to my sides, thighs curling over my own, paralyzing all movement. Tabron was all around me. Him and his forest scent. And I was gassed. Damn it. My lungs heaved with every gasping breath.
“You are no longer on Earth.” He ground out, sounding winded. “Believe me. You don’t know the surrounding area well. There are dangers that could kill you. Behave yourself.”
“Be a good little prisoner? Is that what you’re saying? What the hell do you want from me?” My breath trembled through my clenched teeth.
“The king will want to tell you about that himself.”
The other warriors caught up almost immediately, a myriad of expressions facing me. There was some humor, probably from seeing a small woman causing the big soldier so much trouble. Another one of them, fury clenching his jaw, was sporting a red welt from my kick earlier. Would he retaliate? His friend clapped him on the back and stepped forward with a taunting grin, his dirt brown hair tied back from his face.
“Need some help with her, Tabron? She’s a feisty one.”
“I could kick your ass.” I glared resentfully.
“I would enjoy that,” the warrior returned darkly, eyeing my bare legs and whatever else was showing. The skirt of my damn dress was at my hips again.
“Enough,” Tabron snapped, levering himself up from the ground and keeping a firm hold on me at the same time. Bending down so his face was inches from my own, he demanded, “Are you going to walk or do I need to tie you and carry you like an animal?”
“I’ll walk,” I muttered, more furious than I could ever remember feeling. Ever. For now. And if I see another opportunity, I’ll run like my ass is on fire.
He clamped his iron manacle of a hand around my upper arm. “If you give me any more trouble, I will throw you over my shoulder and haul you like a sack of meal.”
“Whatever.” I decided to cooperate for the moment. It was better to find out what I was up against, so I could make a stellar plan of action next time. I looked at the blasted sky again. How were they faking that? Or maybe there was a solar flare? A broken satellite that was just reflecting light from the sun to make it look like a second moon? There had to be an explanation.
He took a deep breath sounding resigned. “It’s a lot to take in. It’s going to take time to accept it all, but just know that you are nowhere near Earth.” Fuck me, this was not supposed to happen!
I scowled. Another echo in my head. Hearing voices? Maybe some insider information? I tried to listen, but didn’t “hear” anything else. Could I be going nuts? Maybe, but paying attention, focusing my sensitive feelers, wouldn’t hurt anything and might actually help.
“Su
re. I’ll just accept it all.” Wacko. Nut job. Freak. They all were. It was like a Mad Max meets Renaissance festival of horrors featuring barbaric men with long hair, distressed faux leather breeches and tunics. Were they going to have cage fights to the death, too? Everyone had a goddamn sword. They looked like escapees from Medieval Times, except I didn’t have a knight to cheer for.
But this was no show, no joke. I stole a look up at Tabron’s face as we walked through the gate once again. It was cold. Jaw set. Men followed him, doing whatever he told them to do, including subdue a defenseless woman. He was no actor from an amusement park. Whatever he was, he was the real thing.
“There she is. And yet another woman marks your pretty face, young pup. You have shit luck with women, isn’t that right, Tabron?” The mean warrior, the one who’d been so cold to the starving woman, mocked, his lips curling like he was gaining much enjoyment from Tabron’s troubles. He’d remained behind with his own men, manning the gate. “Tabron the Heartless, hated by his own mother.”
Tabron the Heartless? Hadn’t he also been called Tabron the Cold? Who the hell was this guy? Was that how he was known? Sounded about right. The man at the restaurant had been warm and sensual and charming, but that had clearly been an act.
I looked up at Tabron’s face and saw my own handiwork. His lip was bleeding from my kick, there was some swelling to his cheekbone from my headbutt. Then there was the scar that ran down the side of his face along his jawline. It was an old one, jagged and raised, like it had been rudimentarily sewn back together, obviously not by a surgeon. His mother? The scar looked old. Had he been a child of an abusive parent? He wasn’t denying it. What the hell had she cut him with, broken glass?
Imagining it gave me pause. I loathed the man but could still feel sorry for the little boy.
“I couldn’t quite hear you,” Tabron smiled coldly as his voice dripped in dark, menacing tones. “Did you say something, Draxton? Perhaps you could come closer?”