Crystal Fire (26 page)

And, all the while, Brace moved in relentless thrusts, pounding against her, hard, strong, and sure. Their harsh breaths mingled, filling the stone chamber, rising to engulf them in a heated blur of passion and sound. Engulf them until there was nothing in the universe but their damp, heated, straining bodies.

Finally it was too much to bear. As he drove into her, Marissa felt his mouth on her nipple, the sharp bite of his teeth. The delicious sensation sent her spiraling over the edge. With a keening cry she clutched Brace's head to her breast, trembling above him. Waves upon waves of ecstasy shuddered through her.

When Marissa began to rhythmically tighten around him, Brace could hold back no longer. With his own raw cry he arched up into her. Rigid with the tension of his violent release, his arms straining against his shackles, he shot his seed into her. For endless, exquisite secundae, they remained pressed togethermolded, joinedbody and soul as one.

Then the moment passed. Slowly they relaxed, returning to realityand a cold, dark cell. Yet the tender comfort of each other's bodies sustained them for a time, as pounding hearts quieted and ragged breathing eased. They clung together, still hungry for the feel of the other, until the sated, heavy curtain of sleep engulfed them.

''Welcome, welcome," Ferox said the next morning, as Brace and Marissa were unceremoniously ushered into his presence. "I hope you rested well, for there's much to be accomplished this sol."

His keen glance assessed them, noting Marissa's sudden flush at the quick look Brace shot her. Ferox grinned.

"Yes, I can see you both did. Good, good. Mended hearts will only serve to further my plans." He motioned to the guards. "Escort our guest to the chair and bind him in it. Then bring in our little Traveler."

Shackled though he was, it took four men to drag Brace to the chair and force him into it. His wrists and ankles were then bound by beryllium bands fastened to the chair arms and legs. Brace soon ceased his struggles and glared at Ferox. "You won't succeed in this!" he snarled. "Someone will always rise to oppose you."

"Like your father did?" He laughed. "He never had a chance, you know, even before I got to him. He dared defy the Knowing Crystal, attempted to control its powers. As if one man could ever stand alone against a force like that. I tried to convince him to join with me, that together we could contain the stone and he'd regain his sanity. But the old fool wouldn't listen."

"It seems," he sighed, "that you Crystal Masters are uniquely unwilling to key the stone for the use of others. But you'll help me, won't you, Ardane? You have a lot more to lose than just your own life."

Brace followed the blond man's mocking gaze until it came to rest upon Marissa. Ferox smiled and arched a sardonic brow. Rage surged through Brace.

"Curse you, I've no power over the Crystal! But even if I did, I'd never use it to help the likes of you!"

Ferox snickered. "Give it up, Ardane. You're no more than an insignificant pawn in this, my ultimate possession of the Knowing Crystaland final revenge against your brother." His glance moved to Marissa. "She understands all too well what's at stake here.
She
knows how far I'll go to achieve my goal."

He pulled her to him, forcing Marissa's rigid body close to his. Ferox glanced back at Brace. "And you wouldn't want your femina harmed now, would you?"

Barely contained fury smoldered in Brace's eyes.

Ferox chuckled. "No, I didn't think so. But then, neither do I. Unfaithful slut though she is, I still mean to have her." He cocked a dark blond brow in consideration. "Maybe I'll even let you watch. It all depends on how cooperative you are."

The door opened and Candra was escorted in. Her wide-eyed gaze found Marissa and, with a small cry, she twisted free and ran to her. Ferox released Marissa. The two sisters embraced.

"Candra," Marissa whispered. "Watch and listen. The moment of our escape is upon us."

Candra tensed, then nodded.

"Come, come," Ferox's cruel voice intruded. "Enough of this maudlin display. Guards, separate them."

The four guards moved, two to each sister, to pull them apart. Candra was dragged over to stand near Brace, while Marissa was brought to Ferox.

A hard light of anticipation gleamed in his eyes. "At last the moment has come. At last I will truly become the Crystal's master."

He moved to a small side table where a metallic-sheathed geode lay. With great care, Ferox extracted the fist-sized stone from the container.

"Quite unimpressive at first glance, is it not,?" he asked as he turned and advanced on Brace, the stone held high before him. "Unimpressive save in the presence of a Crystal Master. You do know how to key the Crystal, don't you?"

Brace's mind raced as he scanned the fabled stone. It
was
unimpressive, a disappointingly plain piece of clear, multifaceted crystal. How could it possibly possess such fabled powers? For an instant he was tempted to commune with it and ascertain the truth for himself. But that was exactly what Ferox wanted.

He lifted his gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you now?" his black-clad captor inquired. "More's the pity, for Marissa will suffer because of it. But before the torture begins, permit me to explain what I desire from you. It may motivate you to a bit more cooperation."

"There's nothing you can do to make me help you, Ferox!" Brace ground out through clenched teeth. "Nothing!"

"Ah, such brave, brave words," Ferox chuckled. "But then, you Crystal Masters are all alike."

He began to walk about the room, tossing the stone from one hand to the other, casually, carelessly. The action drew Brace's narrowed gaze.

"It's all quite simple, really," Ferox said. "I want you to key the Crystal and enable the little Traveler to mentally enter it. Then you will discern the stone's inner workings, and lead her to them. Through your instructions, she will reprogram the Crystal to my psychic wavelength."

He paused before Brace and Candra. "Quite simple, really, yet the end result is most impressive. I will at last be a Crystal Master."

"And the Crystal Fires will freeze solid before that sol dawns!" Brace muttered angrily. "Even if I had the power, I'd never help you in such a thing."

"Ah, but you will, my young friend. As will our pretty little Travelerwon't you, my dear?" Ferox stepped closer to Candra, his hand capturing her chin in an iron grip. "You'll do anything to save your sister, won't you?"

"II don't know if I can accomplish what you ask," she quavered. "To enter the Knowing Crystal! Surely that's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible for a Crystal Master," Ferox soothed. "He'll get you in, little femina. It's all quite safe. Trust me." His grip on her tightened until she winced from the pain. "You
will
help me, won't you?"

Her tear-filled eyes turned to Marissa.

Marissa saw the question burning there and forced down the instinctive urge to protect her sister, to tell her to say yes. What Marissa needed was time, time to devise a plan, time to find a means of escape for all three of them. An escape that would ultimately also ruin Ferox's evil scheme to become a Crystal Master. Marissa shook her head in reply to her sister's unspoken query, and Candra turned back to Ferox. "No, it's not possible. I cannot help you."

He released her with a growl and strode to Marissa. "So, she obeys only you, does she?"

Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a thin laser probe. An instant later a blue-white light flared from its tip.

Ferox smirked maliciously. "How long, I wonder, will she continue to obey once I begin to slice you up with this?" He glanced back at Brace. "And how long will he conveniently forget his Crystal powers?"

Brace struggled in his bonds, a desperate urgency filling him. "I told you. I know nothing. Teran wouldn't share his powers with me!"

"Then your femina will suffer because of it." Ferox turned back to Marissa. A cold, calculating light gleamed in his eyes. "Where shall we begin, my pretty one? I'd hate to mar that lovely face of yours. Perhaps an arm instead?"

The probe lowered and a sharp, searing pain lanced through Marissa's right forearm. She bit back a cry and clenched her eyes shut against the agony. Ah, by the Crystal Fires!

"Gods!" Brace roared from across the room. "Stop! Stop it!"

"Key the Crystal," Ferox said. "Key it now or I'll move to her pretty face."

"I can't!" Brace gasped, nearly choking on the lie. "I don't know how!"

Ferox shrugged. The laser moved higher un- til the sickening blue light gleamed in Marissa's horror-stricken eyes. An impulse to cry out, to beg Ferox to stop, to implore Brace to do what he asked, rose within her. She twisted wildly, futilely, in the guards' iron clasp. They held her until she exhausted herself and slumped, panting, her heart pounding furiously.

A large, cruel hand entwined in her hair and pulled her head back. She gazed up into hard, glacial eyes. Eyes that were dead beyond their mesmerizing surface, as dead as the soul of the man who owned them.

Revulsion shuddered through Marissa. Not a shred of humanity remained in Feroxhis cold-hearted mother had seen to that. The only purpose left him was his single-minded obsession with the Knowing Crystal. And he was as much its slave, in his own twisted way, as were all the others over the hundreds of cycles who'd devoted their lives to its service. As were all the Crystal Masters . . .

Did Brace instinctively know that? Was that why he fought the Knowing Crystal and its seductive powers even as a fledgling Crystal Master, just as his father had? And was that, perhaps, why even now the stone was slowly turning against him, in the guise of his dreams?

"Well, Ardane?" Ferox's brutal voice intruded. "What shall it be? The Crystal or your lover?"

Brace twisted fiercely against his bonds, the metal bands gouging into his wrists. "Curse you! If you dare touch her again, I swear I'll kill you!"

The laser rose and Marissa had a glimpse of brilliant light before the beam seared into the side of her face. She arched in soundless agony, her teeth sinking into her lower lip in an effort to stanch the scream. An anguished cry rose nonetheless, filling the room with its heartrending sound.

A gray, swirling mist engulfed her, but even from a distance Marissa knew it hadn't been her voice. It was Candra.

"Marissa! Ah, Marissa!" her sister wailed. "Please don't hurt her anymore! I'll do whatever you ask. Just don't hurt her!"

Ferox turned to Brace. "And what about you, Ardane? How much more will it take to convince you?"

Anguished eyes riveted on Marissa as the blood welled from the cruel slash to trickle down the side of her face. Gods, what was he to dostand by and watch as she was sliced up alive? Ferox would do it gladly, without the slightest hesitation and with the greatest of pleasure. And what would Brace's sacrifice of the woman he loved gain him in the end? Ferox would still have his purpose served, if not by Brace then by some other Crystal Master. There was always Teran, if not Alia. And if Teran were in his position, would he be able to stand by and watch his own love slowly mutilated and tortured? No, Brace thought with a sudden surge of inspiration, Teran would play the game while formulating a plan to thwart his foe. Teran would play the game while fighting to buy time.

Brace lowered his head in apparent defeat. "No more. I'll do what you want. Just don't hurt Marissa any more."

"Good. Then we begin." Ferox held out the Knowing Crystal. "Key it, Ardane. Key the Crystal."

Brace's head lifted, and in the depths of his dark, tormented eyes a resolute light gleamed. His gaze locked with Ferox's before moving to the stone in his hand. It lay there, dull, lifeless, a challenge to his powers. Brace inhaled a fortifying breath, then closed his eyes.

From the depths of his being he called to the Crystal, summoning it to join with him. The secundae ticked by. All was silent. A moment of terror flashed through Brace. What if the stone refused to commune? What if it already knew Ferox's purpose and Brace's role in the plot? Ah, Gods, what would he do then? Ferox would never permit failure.

But, even as Brace began to despair of ever succeeding, a light began to grow in his mind, flooding him with its mesmerizing brilliance. A grim satisfaction filled him. His powers were still intact. He would succeed after all.

A low cry from Candra jerked him from his inward concentration. Brace's eyes opened, to rivet on the stone in Ferox's hand. It glowed now, its radiant, flashing light illuminating the room. Brace stared at it in wonder.

"Join with him," Ferox urged Candra. "Join with his mind and enter the Crystal."

She hesitated, glancing imploringly at Marissa. Through her pain, Marissa smiled back.

"It'll be all right, Nuggin. You can trust Brace. He'll take care of you."

Her gaze followed Candra as she obediently stepped close and touched Brace on the head. Then, for the briefest of moments, Marissa's eyes met Brace's. Intense emotion arced between them and she imagined she heard him speak.
I'll protect her
, he seemed to say.
I'll see no harm comes to her. Trust me, my love. Trust me
.

A soft smile tipped the corner of Marissa's mouth.
Come back to me
, her eyes gleamed.
No matter what happens, come back
 . . .

"Enough, Ardane!" Ferox snapped impatiently. "Take the femina into the Crystal and be done with it!"

Brace shot him a savage look, then glanced up at Candra. She was pale, trembling in terror. He smiled encouragingly, then closed his eyes.

Her spirit joined with his, and for a few secundae Brace struggled to contain it. Candra's essence was like herethereal, elusive, unstable. Only Brace's strongest concentration maintained the mental bond between them.

Uneasiness curled within him. The task before them was difficult enough without having to expend so much energy on such a fragile, inconstant being. A being as unlike her sister in spirit as she was identical to her in flesh.

With a great mental effort Brace encompassed Candra and plummeted into the Knowing Crystal, spinning, spiraling through its myriad facets to its innermost workings. And there, deep inside, Brace let Candra go, freeing her to traverse the complex depths and seek out the Crystal's source of power.