Born of the Night (32 page)

to meet you."

She tried to pull away, but his hand tightened around hers. "I promised not to— "

"It'll only take a moment," he begged with those eerie eyes. "Please?"

Reminding herself this was her brother-in-law and a royal prince, she nodded her head.

Jullien gave her a warm smile and led her back to his table. "This is the woman I was

telling you about."

The man stood and slowly turned to face Kiara. Her heart hammered in fear.

"You!" she gasped, recognizing the man who had glared at them that day in the bay of her flat— Aksel Bredeh.

He pressed a small blaster into her stomach. "Act like you're happy to see me," he said in a low menacing tone. "Or the chef will have fresh human entrails to serve the hybrid.

Smile," he suggested.

Kiara wanted to spit in his face, scratch out his eyes, anything other than go along with

him. But what choice did she have? She had no doubt that he would kill her if she so

much as twitched.

One day, she would learn to listen when someone cautioned her not to do something!

Provided she survived this, her mind taunted her.

"I owe you," Aksel said to Jullien before narrowing his gray eyes on Kiara. "Walk slowly to the outside door."

Nykyrian looked up from his food expecting to see Kiara enter, instead it was the

frightened maitre d'.

"Commander!" he said, his voice and hands shaking. "Your wife just left with a friend of Prince Jullien's. I don't think she went willingly."

Coldness gripped Nykyrian's soul and he tightened his hands into fists.

He heard his mother's gasp of fright and his father's curse. But that was all he heard before he concentrated on the raw anger pulsing through his body. He drew strength from

it, because he knew he was going to kill someone over this.

Nykyrian ran for the door, pulling his blaster from his holster. As he crossed the dining

room looking for his target, diners screamed, ducked, and ran.

He left the restaurant and headed for the nearby landing bay. Nothing. Not a sign of Kiara

anywhere. His grip tightened on his blaster. Nykyrian clicked back the release.

Jullien.

With that single thought burning in his mind, he made his way back through the

restaurant to the area where his parents had the bastard cornered.

Blind rage clouded his eyes. All Nykyrian wanted to do was rip out Jullien's heart and

feed it to him.

With one fist, Nykyrian picked his brother up from the floor and hurled him across the

table. Serving ware shattered and scattered, the icy tinkling sound mimicking the

coldness consuming him.

Nemesis was awake and demanded to be appeased.

Nykyrian pulled Jullien off the floor by his neck. "Where is she?"

Jullien tried to claw Nykyrian's hand from his throat. Nykyrian tightened his grip. He

wanted to see the fat weasel crawl. "Your life hinges on how fast you answer me, you

bastard!"

Two of Jullien's guards moved toward them.

Nykyrian switched his blaster to stun and shot them before they could get near him and

the fat slob he dangled from his fist like a frightened gimfry. Nykyrian looked at his

parents to see if they would interfere. They just stared at him as if he were an animal. So

be it. Kiara was all that mattered to him. To hell with anything else. Nykyrian clicked the

blaster to kill and held it under Jullien's chin.

"Answer me, or the next sound you hear will be your brains hitting the wall behind you."

Sweat covered Jullien's pudgy jowls. "Aksel has her. I don't know where he's taking her."

Shock at his unexpected answer was the only thing that saved Jullien's life. Numb,

Nykyrian released him. The room seemed to tilt.
Aksel has her,
the words echoed in his mind like a forgotten nightmare.

His father reached out to touch him. Nykyrian moved away with a snarl. He glared at his father with all the hatred scorching, blistering his soul.

"She's the only reason I came tonight," Nykyrian said, narrowing his eyes at his father.

"If something happens to her, I want you to know I'm coming back for
Jullien, and when I finish with him there won't be enough left to flush."

Spurred by his agony and rage, Nykyrian left his parents standing next to his brother,

watching him with disappointed eyes. To Hell with them. Let them comfort Jullien. He

didn't need their love. He didn't need anyone or anything except Kiara.

Nykyrian pushed the bell at Jayne's house. He wiped the tears falling down his cheeks,

stunned he would cry now. All the times he had been beaten, wounded, and cursed not

one tear had ever fallen. Now he couldn't seem to stop them.

He would gladly trade his life for Kiara's. Whatever it took, he would see her safe.

Jayne opened the door, then stood back, her mouth falling open. Nykyrian disregarded

her shock, no longer caring who saw how much the tiny dancer meant to him.

"Aksel has Kiara," Nykyrian said in a ragged, hate-filled voice.

Darling and Caillen came to their feet from the couch. Jayne pulled him into her house

and pushed him toward the kitchen table. Dazed, Nykyrian sat in the first chair he

reached. Nothing seemed real. It was all like a terrifying nightmare.

He looked at Caillen. "Did you find out anything more about Rachol?"

"He's with my sisters, but I don't know where."

Nykyrian nodded, wishing Rachol were there to help plan this damned thing. His

emotions were too tangled. He couldn't think straight. All he could think of was Kiara.

Nykyrian ran his hands over his face, his tears finally stopping. "Darling, I need you to get those disks you picked up from Rachol, along with the ones I got from Driana. With

any luck— "

The bell sounded again.

For the second time that night, Nykyrian's world spun. Driana stood outside, clutching

Thia to her breast, the child wrapped in a bloodstained blanket. The side of Driana's face

was swollen and red.

"He's gone crazy," Driana said, holding Thia tightly.

Nykyrian shot out of his chair and crossed the room to see if his daughter were still alive, his heart lodged painfully in his throat as his fear tripled.

Nykyrian pulled the blanket back and let out a fierce curse. Thia was covered in more

bruises than her mother. She turned her little head to look at him, but couldn't open her

eyes for the bruises.

"I didn't think he'd stop beating her," Driana said, then broke off into heavy sobs.

Gingerly, Nykyrian pulled his daughter to him and rocked her. He was going to kill Aksel

tonight.

"It's all right," he said to Thia, swallowing the wave of tears gathering in his throat. "No one's ever going to hurt you again."

Hadrian, Jayne's husband, came forward to take Thia. "I'll take care of her."

Nykyrian was immobilized by the turbulent state of his emotions. As much as he had

hated in the past, nothing had ever prepared him for this burning ache in his soul that

begged for appeasement.

Reluctantly, he released Thia to Hadrian, knowing Hadrian would be able to tend her

injuries.

"Where is he?" Nykyrian asked Driana.

"He's gone to his base on Oksana. He thinks he's safe there."

"And Kiara?"

"She's with him."

Nykyrian's lip curled into a snarl. He motioned for Darling, Jayne and Caillen to come

with him. They would get Hauk, and before the end of the night, he would put an end to

Aksel, one way or another.

* * *

Kiara strained against the manacles holding her hands above her head against the wall.

She had to get free! She met Aksel's gaze from where he sat across the room with two of

his men, gambling to see who would be the first to rape her. A knowing smile curved his

lips before he doubled his bet.

Kiara looked away. Her heart pounded as she struggled against the chains. She had to get

away from him.

Aksel looked up once more from his card game and again leered at her, seeming to delight in the way she fought helplessly against her binders. Kiara shivered.

She prayed for release, but she also prayed for Nykyrian not to come near this place to

save her. One too many times, Aksel had told her what he wanted to do to her husband.

If he captured Nykyrian, Aksel would torture him to death.

Kiara couldn't understand such an intolerable hatred, and after being with Aksel, she was

sure she would never ask him to find out why. The man was totally
bended.

The door behind Aksel opened. Kiara looked up to see Driana entering, her face red and

swollen. Driana met her gaze and Kiara saw the sympathy in the blond woman's eyes.

"Aksel, I need to speak with you. Alone."

Aksel curled his lip. "Can't you see we're in the middle of a game here?"

Driana moved forward with determined steps and upturned the table. She leveled a rifle

at Aksel's head. "Tell them to leave."

Aksel's twisted laughter filled the room. "Sure. Boys, if you'll excuse us, my wife," he mocked at the title, "would like to say a few words to me."

Kiara swallowed the lump in her throat and watched as the two soldiers walked from the

room, their own laughs trailing behind them as they said something in a language Kiara

couldn't understand.

Aksel leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest as he watched his wife, his

confidence all too apparent. "What is it you want, dumpling?" Despite the endearment, Kiara didn't miss the raw hatred and threat in his voice.

"No one hurts my baby and lives," Driana snarled. "I'm going to kill you, you
giakon. "

She clicked back the hammer on the rifle.

Aksel moved so fast, Kiara barely saw his arms uncoil from his chest before he had the

gun out of Driana's hands. "You stupid
harita,
" he said, jabbing the stock into her stomach.

Kiara cringed in reflex. Driana slumped to the floor, clutching her middle as she cried out

in pain.

He pulled Driana up by the hair. "Where's Thia?"

Driana glared at him and even from her distance across the room, Kiara recognized the

hatred burning in the blue eyes. "I gave her to her father."

Aksel's chest pulsated with his deep, angry breaths as he looked up at Kiara. "The hybrid?" he screeched.

Kiara winced at the tone, unable to believe a man could make it.

"Yes," Driana said. "He was a better man and lover at sixteen than you'll ever be!"

Aksel lifted the stock up and brought it down across Driana's back with a dull, heavy

thud. Driana screamed, falling to the floor. Kiara buried her head in her arms and tried to

block out the sound of the blows that followed in rapid succession. Finally, Driana's

screams stopped. Kiara raised her head and saw Driana lying on the floor in a pool of

blood. Her stomach twisted. For a moment, she thought she'd be sick.

Aksel walked toward her like a prowling lorina. He tossed the blood covered rifle onto

the overturned table.

Aksel's eyes were a stormy gray as he raked his gaze over Kiara's body and curled his lips

back like the sight of her disgusted him. "Did Nykyrian ever tell you how they train

assassins for the League?"

He was mad! Kiara stared at him in disbelief, unable to comprehend his friendly tone

after what he had just done to his wife.

Aksel reached out a cold hand and touched her cheek. "They take you for three months

and keep you isolated," he continued, disregarding her attempts to pull away. "You're sent into holo-rooms where they play your worst fears over and over again until you no

longer fear anything."

His fingers traced the line of her chin. Kiara shivered, wishing she could do something

other than stand before him in helpless expectation.

Having no other recourse, she spit at him. A smile curved his lips at her reaction. He

wiped his cheek, his eyes never wavering from hers.

As if she hadn't done a thing, Aksel continued talking in that eerie, deadpan voice. "They only feed you raw meat and while you eat it, they play tapes of dying victims begging for

their lives."

He held his hand out in front of her face. Kiara took a step back, the wall blocking her

retreat.

"With this hand, I could rip your throat out." He snatched her closer to him and placed his hand over her neck. Kiara waited for him to demonstrate his point. But he didn't.

Instead, his cold voice droned on, "The hybrid could tear out your heart with
his
bare hands. Does that excite you?"

"You sicken me!"

Aksel gave her a twisted smile, his hand stroking her cheek. "Did Nykyrian tell you he

killed two instructors before he finished training? He did, you know." His hand fell away and he turned her to face him, his hands resting on her hips. "He was always better at

killing, but I was the one who enjoyed it the most!"

His laughter rang out, chilling Kiara.

"Nykyrian would sit for hours after a mission, staring into space, feeling guilty," he sneered the word like it was the worst thing imaginable. "I was a true warrior. I went out afterwards celebrating my glory."

His hands tightened around her waist. Kiara bit her lips, wanting someway to strike out at

him.

"So why did
my
father brag about his half-bred foundling?" Aksel snarled, his face a mask of contorted rage. "It wasn't my kills he talked about with pride. It was always

Nykyrian's. Always Nykyrian's!"

Kiara cried out as his hands bit into her flesh.

Aksel shoved her back against the wall with a solid thud that knocked her breath from

her. He leaned his body against hers and she could feel his desire bulging against her