Darkness Taunts (29 page)

I nodded. Unfortunately, I did need to pee again. He kept an arm around me and guided me all the way to the bathroom. As usual, the IV bag went with us. I could hardly stand on my own without falling over anymore. It was as if Ian had been upping the dosage every day. Then again, maybe I was just trying to make myself feel better for being so weak.

He wetted a wash cloth after I finished using the toilet and let me scrub myself clean. I’d begun to feel disgusting after days of not being able to shower. It felt good to get some of the grime off, even if he stood watching.

We made it back to the bedroom where he ordered me to face the wall. “I’m going to help you get your dress off,” he explained.

“I can do it,” I said. It might take me an hour, but I’d get it and the torsolette off somehow with only one good hand.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Ian gripped my shoulder and forced me across the room. He still had my IV bag in his other hand. “Now use the wall to keep your balance while I get this off.”

I tried to pull away from him, but a wave of dizziness hit me. He hooked the IV bag to a stray nail on the wall and grabbed my arm when I started to sway too far over.

“I’m not letting you see me naked,” I said when my head cleared.

“You know I’ve seen most of you anyway. If you can let that nephilim have access to your body then allowing me to undress you shouldn’t be that difficult.” He yanked the zipper on the back of my dress down.

I held the front to me to keep it from falling.

“Leave me alone,” I said. I’d never felt so vulnerable in my life that I couldn’t even fight him now that I wasn’t tied up.

He smacked the wall, making me jump. “We can do this one of two ways. You can stop fighting me or I can have the other guys come in and hold you down.”

My throat swelled up. He had me there. I couldn’t handle more men seeing me like this. Especially since they might be worse than Ian.

“Fine,” I said. “You can do it.”

“Let go of the dress,” he ordered.

A few seconds passed before I could make myself loosen my grip on the fabric. He yanked it the rest of the way down so it pooled at my feet. Now all I had was the torsolette to cover my body. My ass was completely exposed to him.

I straightened my back and tried to hold on to what dignity I had left. His fingers worked at the fasteners and hooks, slowly opening them up. I gripped the wall and focused on breathing. Under any other conditions I would have been happy to get the confining piece of clothing off. It had been digging into my skin while I lay there for days. A minute later cool air hit my skin as it fell away.

His fingers traced a path down my back where there were probably indents from the boning in the torsolette. “That must have been uncomfortable. I hadn’t realized you had it on or I would have removed it sooner.”

Oh, how very kind of him. Asshole.

“You have nice skin and no tattoos, which is good,” he commented, still touching my back. “I hate tattoos on women.”

“Maybe I should get one then,” I said.

“Too late. I won’t let you now. The one thing I don’t get is how you could have let
him
touch you?” he asked, leaving his hand to rest on my bare hip.

Maybe he needed a reminder of why he’d been so disgusted with me before. “Hmm, probably because when a nephilim has lived for thousands of years they perfect the art of seduction, making them hard to resist. That and he has a big dick. I can’t begin to describe how good it felt to have him inside of me.”

Ian’s fingers dug into my skin. “You bitch. You don’t even try to act ashamed about it.”

I laughed. He knew every word I spoke was the truth. “You wouldn’t be ashamed either if you’d slept with him.”

He made a disgusted noise and moved away from me.

“Lift your leg,” he said when he came back.

I held onto the wall with my good hand and raised my foot. He slid one pant leg on before switching to the other. In no time I was covered from the waist down. “If your plan was to make me not want to look at you anymore, you succeeded.”

“Good,” I said. Let him stew over what I’d told him for awhile if it would keep him from bothering me.

We had to unhook the IV so he could pull the sweatshirt over my head.

“Someday I’ll make you forget about him.” His voice came out annoyed.

“I doubt it.” I stuffed my right arm through the sleeve. The other one took more work, but he’d cut a long slit so there was enough room for the brace to get through.

“We’ll see,” he said.

He rolled up my sleeve and hooked the IV back up. After the line was in place, he made me lie down again and tied my legs together like before. This time he didn’t attach the rope to the bed. I frowned at him. It wasn’t that I minded not being bound to the bed, but something about his behavior was different.

“You’re leaving in a little while,” he said. “I’m just getting you ready for travel.”

“I take it me walking isn’t part of the plan?” I asked, glancing at my feet.

He took out the familiar needle and filled the syringe. “Nope. You’ll be out for most of the trip.”

“How are they moving me?” Surely Aeson and Lucas would think to post people at the airport and docks. There was no driving out of Juneau.

“You’re going first by ferry, but you’ll be in the trunk of the car. Can’t risk anyone seeing you, can we?” he asked.

“Of course not,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

He shot the needle into the IV line. Please let Lucas be checking for me with whatever powers he used because I had a feeling if I made it to that compound he wouldn’t be able to find me. With so many sensors living in one place, they could surround the whole perimeter with their blood. His magic would never get through and I’d be lost.

Ian gave me a predatory smile. “See you when I get back there. You shouldn’t have to wait too long for me.”

“Take…your time,” my voice slurred. The drugs hit me harder than before. I couldn’t even try to fight them before passing out.

Pain. Sharp and searing hot. The kind where you wished for death and didn’t even know if that would be enough to escape it. Someone had my wrist in their hands and they weren’t being gentle. They tweaked it ever so slightly and I screamed. My body jerked up and my legs kicked out. One of my feet landed a solid blow to the torturer’s throat. He grunted.

“Fallon, get over here and hold her feet down,” a familiar voice said.

At least, I thought it was familiar. I was too busy blindly swinging my arm at the man who held my wrist. I didn’t get to him before someone else caught it mid-air and pushed it back down. I was lying on a hard surface. My feet dangled off the end and a third guy took hold of my ankles. No, this couldn’t be happening. They said they wouldn’t touch me yet.

“She’s strong for a mortal woman,” the man at my feet said. I was making a valiant effort to get loose of his grip.

“Anyone in enough pain will gain strength to fight it.”

I opened my eyes but couldn’t see anything but a bright overhead light. The men around me were nothing but dark, blurry shapes. My breaths came out ragged as I twisted around trying get myself free. Already I could feel myself weakening under their hold. The drugs still coursing through my veins didn’t help either. The man who had my wrist pulled at it, popping it into place. I screamed louder than the last time as tears streamed down my cheeks.

“Dammit,” I yelled. “I said I wouldn’t be some baby factory for you people. I don’t care how much you torture me.”

“What’s she talking about?”

“I don’t know, but I’m fairly certain she doesn’t know it’s us.”

“I’m going to kill those bastards as soon as I find the rest of them.”

“I’ll help.”

All the voices came at me too fast to process. The guy still holding my wrist was feeling it over and wouldn’t let go when I tried to pull it from him. “Leave me alone,” I growled at his blurry form.

“It’s set. She just needs to be healed now.”

“Aniya, it’s your turn.”

I recognized that name, but couldn’t place it.

“Why are you guys holding her down like that?” a female voice asked. I’d heard it before somewhere.

“She’s out of her mind and doesn’t recognize us.”

“It takes three immortal men to her down? She’s going to find this amusing later.”

“Just feed her your blood.”

I tried to follow the shape as it came toward me. Why wouldn’t my eyes focus? An arm came up and pressed to my mouth. It was sticky and wet. I tried to turn my face away, but she held my head firm. “Drink, Melena. You need to get better.”

Confused, I sucked at it and found it tasted funny. Why did she want me to drink from her arm? I noticed an increase in the pain in my wrist and tried to turn my face away.

Someone pinched my nose. “Swallow the blood,” he ordered.

I didn’t want to, but he wouldn’t let me breathe. My lungs were starting to burn from the need for air. I took a few swallows and he let go. “Keep drinking or I’ll do it again,” the man said.

Fear overwhelmed me but I didn’t want to suffocate either. I kept drinking until the woman pulled her arm away. “Sorry, Melena. I promise it was for your own good.”

I whimpered as my wrist began to hurt even more. Fiery pain blazed a path along it until it suddenly faded away. My panting breaths slowed as it occurred to me I didn’t feel so awful anymore.

“She’s going to be angry when she realizes you’ve got her naked under that sheet.”

“I had to check to see if she had any other injuries. Only Lucas and I saw her uncovered.”

He’d
checked
me. Just like the other guy had. I couldn’t remember that one’s name. All I knew was I had to get away from these people. With the female rubbing my head and babbling something to me in a low tone they thought I was relaxing. The two men closest to me had loosened their grips and the guy at my ankles had let go entirely. Now would be the time.

I bent my knees and launched myself between their shadowy forms. The man on the right caught me and dragged my body to his. Tingles raced across my bare skin where we touched. He felt familiar. How did I know him? One part of me wanted to keep fighting and the other part wanted to burrow closer into his warmth. I struggled in his hold, but didn’t try as hard as I should have. His musky scent had caught my attention. I’d smelled it before and felt comforted by it.

“Melena, stop this. You’re safe now,” he said.

I knew that name. Melena was my name and his was…

“Lucas?” I asked.

He turned me around to face him and tipped my chin up. I blinked a few times until he came into focus. The memories came rushing back. If was in his house, I was safe. It meant he’d found me before it was too late. I burrowed my head into his chest and gripped his shirt. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come for me.”

“Of course I’d come for you.” Strong arms gripped me tighter. “Why would you think otherwise?”

I wrapped my legs around his waist. Lucas’ warmth soaked into all the places that had been cold for days. He felt good and real. Keeping a hold on him also kept me from falling over. I was rather certain if I let go right then I’d tumble onto the floor. How did I end up on the dining room table anyway? I had no memory of getting here, but it didn’t really matter. At least they’d come for me.

“The fire,” I mumbled. “I didn’t know...”

“I’m fine. It took longer than I liked to recover, but I started searching for you as soon as I could. Everyone did.”

I lifted my head. “They did?”

“Yes,” he said. “Aeson had nearly every one of his people out scouring the town for you. It wasn’t until you were at the ferry station I could locate you or we might have found you sooner. Do you have any idea where you were?”

“No.” I shook my head, then stopped. Moving too fast was a bad idea. “They had me tied up and drugged the whole time.”

His face hardened. “Did they do anything else to you?”

I didn’t want to think about it. God knew what Ian did while I was unconscious. My stomach lurched at the thought. I felt violated, but I didn’t want to get anyone upset over the possibilities. My gaze dropped to Lucas’ chest. “I’m fine.”

Aniya wrapped a sheet around my shoulders. No wonder I’d been so cold. Only Lucas could distract me enough that I wouldn’t notice being naked. Damn the man. I tried to work up my usual embarrassment, but being in his arms felt more secure than all the clothes in the world. It had to be the drugs talking. I refused to believe I’d be this carefree with my body under normal circumstances regardless of what I’d done with him before.

“Sweetie,” Aniya said. “Are you sure they didn’t do anything wrong?”

She wasn’t going to give up. I recognized the determined look in her eyes. Why couldn’t people just leave these kinds of things alone? Not everyone wanted to talk about their most vulnerable moments.

“They didn’t rape me, okay?” I glared at her. “They kept going on about how Lucas might have gotten me pregnant. That was more than enough to disgust them and keep them away.”

A cough came from across the room. I turned to find a sea of faces looking back at me. It wasn’t just Lucas, Micah, and Aniya hovering nearby. Fallon, Sayer, and Aeson stood together at the edge of the living room. The drugs must have really messed up my senses for me to have not noticed them before. Aniya’s blood had cleared my head some, but apparently not enough. Great. I had more witnesses to see to my indignity. I pulled the sheet tighter around me.

“I didn’t think it was possible for a nephilim to get a woman pregnant,” Aniya said.

Micah spoke up. “It’s possible with her. Our race is cursed so we can’t have children who are born alive, but her abilities nullify it.”

“Like permanently?” Aniya asked.

“No. She can’t break a race-wide curse, but it wouldn’t work with her.”

“One of the sensors told me a story,” I said, looking at Lucas’ brother. I detailed what I’d heard about the nephilim and sensor woman to him. At least this was a semi-safer topic and I wanted to find out more about it anyway.

He nodded. “That was Castor and Eris. I knew them both and I can assure you Castor loved Eris too much to ever leave her. An archangel came to take the child from them after it was born, claiming it was forbidden. Castor fought him, but the angel executed him and took the boy from Eris. She was still too weak from giving birth to do anything to stop it.”