FALL (The Senses) (37 page)

“It requires a key, Delara,
but if can manage enough energy, I can bust through it.”

Tarek yanked on the rope and she
stumbled forward, falling to her knees. She tried to gain her feet, but Tarek
was too close. He grabbed her arm, pulled it behind her back and wrenched it.
He jerked up further and she cried out.

“What’s he trying to do?” Tarek
hauled up on her arm when she didn’t answer. She bent her back as she tried to
relieve the pressure.

Waleron’s hands pulsed, his
attention focused on the lever. If he could escape then they had a chance.
Waleron had to escape; she’d suffer, die, live here for eternity if only she
knew he would escape.

The grinding noise of the lever
sounded and elation poured through her. He was going to live. Waleron would be
safe. He turned and his eyes widened as he saw her trapped in Tarek’s embrace.
He hesitated. She recognized the tortured expression—tight lips, anguish
reflected by every muscle tensed.

“Go! What are you doing? Go
damn it.”
Please Waleron. Leave.

Tarek jerked higher on her arm
and she fell to her knees. He pulled her back up. “You’re unable to Trace being
wounded and drugged, Waleron. Where will you go? This is an island.” Delara
grit her teeth to keep her expression steady. Tarek wanted Waleron to see her
pain. “You walk out of here, I will torture her until she begs me to stop. But
I won’t. It will never end.”

“You’ll heal, Waleron. The
drugs will wear off. You can Trace. Leave me, damn it.”

“You know I will never.”
He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, she did know. She
knew what he’d say; she saw the resolve.
“I can’t.
I won’t leave
you.”

“No! No, Waleron. Don’t.
Please. You can get help. Save me by leaving.”

“He’ll disappear with you. I
can’t take that chance. Hopelessness, baby. I don’t want it ever again. We stay
together.”

Waleron walked towards them and
she felt the rope loop around her neck. She remained focused on Waleron, his
stance erect, his eyes unwavering. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she bowed
her head in defeat. Tarek pushed on her shoulders as he forced Delara to her
knees in front of him.

“I miscalculated your abilities.
I’ll have to be more careful.” Tarek nodded to the chains on the wall. “Put
them on.”

Waleron glowered ready to fight,
but he steadily walked over to where he’d been beaten when they first arrived
and snapped the manacles around his wrists.

Tarek waved his hand at a device
on the wall and it began to move downward. The chains slowly became taut as
Waleron was pulled up until his feet barely touched the ground. “I’m sure you
remember what this feels like. Sixty-one years in Jasmine’s hands. I suspect
she kept you tied up real sweet with her webs. You should be thanking me for
getting you out of her prison.”

Delara couldn’t control her
stomach as the bile rose and she vomited on the floor. She wiped her mouth with
the back of her hand. Tarek yanked back on the rope so hard that she landed on
her back.

The chains rattled violently and
she could hear Waleron’s roar of fury in her head.

“Waleron,”
Delara sobbed as she looked at his swinging body and the cold dark
expression on his face. She hurt at the thought of what he’d already been
through with Jasmine.
“On my life I swear I will get you out of here.
Whatever it takes. However long.”

“No more oaths, Delara.”

Tarek pulled her to her feet and
she stumbled forward, towards the door.

“No. I give you my oath. I
promise you, Waleron.”

“I will not tell you again. No
oaths. They are over.”
Waleron’s words blasted into
her mind and she staggered by his forcefulness.

She reached the door with Tarek
behind her.

“Delara, stay alive. No matter
what, you stay alive.”

She nodded and Tarek noticed.
“Speaking with him? The drugs must be wearing off. No matter. He will enjoy
hearing you scream with pleasure soon enough.”

Delara spit in his face then
jabbed him in the throat with her fist. He coughed and choked, but he reacted
by punching her in the side of the head.

Waleron’s chains clanged. “Know
that I will destroy you, Tarek.”

Tarek laughed as he looked
Waleron up and down. “Good luck with that.”

She glanced over her shoulder at
Waleron. His stoic expression fed her the strength she needed. She’d do
anything to release him from this hell, and soon she’d find out what anything
was.

Chapter
18

It had been hours since he’d
heard or seen anyone. He hung from the chains in near darkness. He knew how to
survive this, he’d done it for sixty-one years. What made it harder was the
fact that Delara was near and he was unable to get to her.

The lever lifted and the door
swung open. Tarek strolled into the basement, a cocky sway in his step.

“Where is she?” Waleron gripped
the chains. Blood dripped down his arms from the manacles cutting into his
wrists.

“Exhausted,” Tarek laughed. “I
don’t know if you’ve ever been to Rest, but you certainly wake with one hell of
a sex drive.”

Waleron ignored the cramps in his
arms as he strained against the manacles. The thought of Delara being
forced…Christ she’d never survive Tarek again. What he did to her—

Yes. Delara would survive. She
was his woman. He’d taught her how. She knew how to stay alive.

He’d spent the last several hours
trying to reach any Senses telepathically, but the drugs weren’t allowing him
to do anything except hang like a half-dead carcass. His body had gone through
violent shivers, his muscles spasming, until finally it stopped. Numb. His body
was shutting down to the pain. The second time ever he would have used his Scar
and it was subdued by the drugs. Tarek knew exactly how to keep him contained.

Tarek circled him, peering at
Waleron’s wounds as if he was inspecting a piece of meat. His finger ran along
a long open wound that went from Waleron’s left shoulder down to his butt. “She
begged me, you know.” Waleron raised his head, closing his eyes as Tarek’s
fingers scraped the dried blood from his wound. “To stop. But when I told her
every time she disobeyed you’d be tortured, you know what she did?”

Waleron would have done anything
to block out Tarek’s voice.

A nail ripped into a scab and Waleron
couldn’t control the tortured groan that ripped from his throat. He was
uncertain if it was from the physical pain or the emotional anguish Tarek was
putting him through.

“She fell on her knees in front
of me and…well I assume you know what she can do with that mouth of hers. Or
perhaps you don’t?” Tarek dug his nail beneath torn skin and it started to
bleed. “Can’t have you healing, now can we. Tracing out of here would ruin all
my plans.”

Waleron tried numerous times to
reach Delara, but she’d been quiet for hours. Since she’d left him. He was
uncertain whether it was her blocking him or if she was too drugged or...

“She earned you a reprieve
tonight.” Tarek rounded to his front, his head bobbing from side to side as if
he was listening to a song he liked. “I broke her once and I will again.” Tarek
flicked his wrist and the chains lowered, dropping Waleron to the floor.
“She’ll need to cut again. I think it might help her. Don’t you? Make her
realize that this is her life now. When that happens, I’ll have no need of you
anymore.”

Pins and needles erupted in
Waleron’s arms as his blood rushed back. He controlled a groan as Tarek watched
him with satisfaction. Tarek reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic
water bottle and threw it on the floor in front of him.

“Don’t need you dying yet. Oh,
and it’s better you don’t try to speak with her.” Tarek pulled out the tranquilizer
gun and pulled the trigger. The dart plunged into Waleron’s neck.

The last sound he heard was Tarek
clucking his tongue on the roof of his mouth as he waltzed out the door.

Chapter
19

Delara sat on the floor, her back
against the wall and knees pulled up to her chest. Her cheek rested on them
while her arms wrapped over her head. She dozed in and out of sleep, every
sound making her bolt upright. The sound of the waves grew louder through the
night. Thunder erupted and she jerked as she visualized the whip coming down on
Waleron’s back.

Every minute she thought of him.
He lived inside her whether she wanted him to or not. God, he’d been there
since the moment she met him at the garden party. She imagined him beside her
as exhaustion took hold. He wrapped her in the warm cocoon of his embrace, his
rhythmic breathing sweeping like a soothing breeze across her neck. His steady,
resilient heart beat offered her strength.

That was how she fell asleep, in
his arms, his lips against her neck, his breath matched with hers.

“…Dreamstepping, Kitten… Don’t
be afraid.”

“Xamien? How…?”

“It’s called dreamstepping.
I’m linked to you. Kind of like we did when I brought you back with mindweaving.”

“Xamien? Where are you? Are
you going to get us out of here? Waleron. You have to help him.”
She started breathing heavily.
“Tarek. He’ll kill him. I can’t—”

“Delara. Deep breaths. You
must remain calm. If you waken I will lose you.”
His voice became a whisper, soft and soothing.
“I want you to tell me where
you are. Can you do that?”

She peered around but all she saw
were clouds and a mist spraying into the air as if a waterfall was nearby.
There was no ground, no trees, no sky—just ominous clouds and when she sniffed
the air she could scent him, Waleron. Where was he? Was he here with her?
“I
don’t know this place, but I smell Waleron. Is he okay?”

Xamien sighed.
“Delara, you’re
sleeping. This is a dream. I want you to think about where you are when you’re
awake. What is around you? Is Tarek with you?”

Tarek. The name made her heart
race and her mind swim with rage and fear. The clouds began to bleed red and
the gentle mist turned violent.

“Delara! Let your mind relax.
He can’t hurt you here. You’re safe. I’ll never let anyone touch you here.
Tarek will never be let in. He can’t reach you in this world.”

Slowly the red dissipated.

“Good girl. Now, think about
where you are when you’re awake.”

“In a room. It’s warm, humid.
I can hear the waves constantly hitting the rocks. And the thunder. Oh god,
it’s like the whip that…”
She muffled back a sob.

“Where Delara?”

“Brazil, he said. We can’t
escape. Waleron tried…oh god he was beaten so badly. Tarek—”

“Kitten. Who brought Waleron
there? Did he Trace there?”

“No. A gift. He paid for him.
He was brought here. I don’t know who. But he’s chained. He beat him, Xamien.
He beat him so badly.”

“Can you tell us anything
else? Is Zurina there too? How many men does Tarek have?”

“I don’t know. I never saw
anyone. But Tarek…he separated us.”
She heard
footsteps. Were they Xamien’s? Was he coming to take her and Waleron home?
“Xamien
I can’t see you, but I hear you coming. Where are you?”

“Christ, okay we don’t have
much time. Did Zurina Trace you to Tarek? Can you tell me anything else? Hurry,
sweetness.”

“Zurina drugged me. He keeps
us drugged. An island. It’s an island.”
The
footsteps stopped and the scent of Tarek drifted into her senses.
“He’s
here. You promised he wouldn’t come here. I can’t move. I can’t fight him.”

“Delara. Wake up!”

She jolted awake, her head
hitting the wall and her eyes opening all at the same time as Tarek entered the
room.

****

“Brazil. Zurina Traced her there
from the Realm.”

“No friggin’ way. Bitch!” Jedrik
ran his hand through his blond curls.

Keir spoke to Xamien, “This shit
going down is not cool. Need answers. Now. Putting Galen on it. There’s a
connection between Brazil and Zurina. Bitch can only Trace with Delara from the
Realm to a place she’s been before.”

“Tell him it’s an island.” Xamien
sat on the edge of the bed, his hands resting on the curve of the mattress. “I
can’t be sure, but I felt her fear, not for herself particularly, but for
Waleron. She said he was beaten really badly.” Balen and Jedrik cursed beneath
their breath. “I suspect he’s in pretty poor shape. And Tarek keeps them
drugged. Most likely the same stuff he used on me.” Xamien stood and pressed
the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Waleron will never give in. He will also
protect her anyway he can, even if it means his own demise.”