Katie's Hellion (Rhyn Trilogy, Book One) (13 page)

"We’ll see," she said at last.

She hoped no one ever came for her, and she’d
never have to choose which predator to end her life. The monster
across the hall was no option, and Jared was little better. The
others…she wondered if Lankha could defend her. Based on his
cowering every time Rhyn roared, she doubted it.

Even Kris was better than any of these
creatures, and she'd barely tolerated him! Her thoughts turned to
him with some bitterness. What kind of human protector allowed one
of his own men to turn her over to something like Sasha? Did Kris
even know about Jade's betrayal?

"Hey, Lunchmeat, what do you call a human
running down the street?" Jared called.

"What?"

"Fast food."

Several of the monsters snickered. She rolled
her eyes and retreated to her bunk, hoping Sasha planned to give
her time to rest before attacking her.

"Damn you, Kris."

"Kris?" one voice echoed.

"The Council’s Kris?" another snarled.

"Yeah," she answered.

"He sent you here?" Jared asked.

"Don’t know. My luck’s gone to shit since
meeting him."

"Rhyn, you hear that?"

She glanced toward the dark cell and saw the
silver eyes flash dangerously.

"You know Kris and Sasha are brothers,
right?" Jared continued.

"No, I didn’t."

"There were seven of them. Sasha betrayed the
others and aligned with the Dark One. He goes through Hell and
collects us freaks down here."

"Hate Kris."

"He must die!"

"Kris." Rhyn’s low voice was the most
sinister of all the monsters' complaints.

He drew out the name, and she sensed a
personal connection to the white-haired man.

"Kris’s not stupid enough to send you here.
My guess is Sasha snatched you. This is the only place immortal
pets can’t get you, or anyone else," Jared theorized. "Hey Rhyn,
bet Kris wants this one back."

Rhyn smashed his cell hard enough for the
walls to shudder.

Her luck grew worse. She heard the hisses
that preceded the robed man’s approach. She tensed and waited,
willing him to continue. When he stopped at her cell, she
sighed.

"Come with me."

The inmates began cheering. She hesitated,
reviewing what the inmates had told her about grabbing the robed
man's necklace. As she emerged, both of them jumped back as Rhyn
smashed into his cell.

"Less pain," Jared reminded her as she
passed.

"A million dollars."

"No pain but some fucking."

"I’ll just eat you."

One by one the inmates made their offers as
she passed. The robed man was small. Surely she could punch him
hard enough to knock him out. She balled up a fist and looked at
it, wondering how to hit him.

She wasn’t going back to Sasha. Ever.

Hands darted from the cells to swipe at them,
and she saw why the robed man kept to the center of the corridor.
He reached the end, and she readied her fist. Once she had the
amulet, she could bargain harder with the inmates.

Punch him, grab the amulet, bargain for her
freedom. The plan was quick and easy.

The robed man opened the door for her as he
had before. She waited for him to face her then punched him as hard
as she could in the nose. It
hurt
! She shook her hand
out.

The inmates erupted into cheers. The robed
man didn’t fall to her feet unconsciously as she planned but stared
at her in surprise. She saw lightning forming in his hand.

"Hit him again!" Jared yelled.

"In the neck," another seconded.

She raised her fist to lay a right hook to
his throat, beginning to panic when the lightning arced between his
hands. He raised a hand to block, but she kicked him in the groin,
and then in the neck. He bent over, coughing. She jerked the amulet
off his neck, and the lighting flickered. The robed man stretched
for her. She danced away from him, then away from a hand that
brushed her calf.

She raised the amulet to stare at it, the
cacophony around her rising as the excited inmates glimpsed their
freedom. They began beating against their cell walls, and the
lights flickered again.

The robed man was coming for her.

"Make me an offer!" she shouted, backing
away.

"No pain!" four voices chimed at once.

"No pain and escape to your world!"

"A million dollars."

"NO pain!" Jared shouted at last.

"If you’re Kris’s, pain like you’ve never
known."

"That’s not how this works, Rhyn!" she
snapped.

The robed man tackled her, and the amulet
went flying. Arms, tentacles, and antennae stretched for it. It
landed dead center in the hall, out of everyone’s reach. She
wrenched away, only for the robed man to snatch her ankle and drag
her down. He shot lightning at her that bounced off and hit an
inmate. The screams added to the chaos. She kicked the robed man,
and both launched themselves at the amulet.

She snatched it; he grabbed her waist. When
she dropped it, he bent. They tumbled to the ground, one foot --she
wasn’t sure whose --knocking the amulet away.

Silence fell. She and the robed man both
stopped moving, watching in disbelief as the amulet skittered,
rolled, and disappeared into Rhyn’s cell.

Rhyn gave a chilling chuckle.

"You better run," Jared advised. "Both of
you."

The robed man scrambled to his feet and
darted for the door. A dark arm darted from Rhyn’s cell and
snatched him mid-stride. There was a small scream, then the crack
of bone and ripping of flesh. Silence.

Katie rose, heart hammering. Weakened
already, she struggled for her balance.

"C’mere, little girl."

His throaty chuckle scared her more than the
thought of returning to Sasha. She eyed the door at the end of the
hall, then her cell, and turned 360. One way out.

"Give me a head start, Rhyn. It’s only fair
since you’re free because of me."

"Go for it."

His noncommittal response and stillness
worried her more. She started forward.

"Farewell, Lunchmeat," Jared called in
resignation.

This couldn’t be how she died! She’d lived
through too much the past few days to be eaten by some boogeyman in
a dark cell!

She straightened her shoulders, determined to
approach her fate without fear. She’d been terrified since being
told she had amnesia, but she’d stayed strong.

"Do your worst, you rabid dog," she
challenged as she approached the point where the robed man had
disappeared.

Another smoky chuckle. She sensed his
movement and closed her eyes, willing her death to be as fast as
the robed man’s. Rhyn snatched her into the darkness, and a
familiar fog appeared around her.

Suddenly, the shadow world released her. She
gasped and dropped to her knees, unable to see in the inky
blackness around her. She didn’t feel sick this time, only
weakness. The scent of sea was in the air, a rough circle of
lighter darkness before her. The ground was rocky beneath her hands
and knees, the air chilled.

She shoved at Rhyn when he grabbed her again
and hauled her up. He certainly felt human with a massive male body
expending heat and warmth.

"I haven’t eaten in thousands of years," he
rasped, holding her easily despite her struggles.

He gripped her neck and tilted her head. She
fought him harder, tears in her eyes.

"Not so tough now, are you, little girl?" His
voice was husky.

She slammed her elbow into his ribs, and he
chuckled, locking his other arm around her. His body was warm
compared to the chill of the sea. Immobilized, she waited with
panicked dread for an attack like Sasha’s. He nuzzled her neck, his
breath hot against her skin. She squeezed her eyes closed, heart
slamming in her tight chest.

There was a pinch and numbness as his fangs
sank into her neck. He drank for a long minute then threw his head
back, roaring with pleasure.

"You do taste as sweet as you look," he said,
voice thick with need. "In the name of the Seven, I claim you as
mine."

His words confused her. He released her neck,
touching it with a thumb that burned hot enough to singe her skin.
Her legs were too weak to hold her, and he lowered her to the
ground. She saw his large frame against the night sky outside the
small cave, human one moment, then decidedly not the next. He
growled a warning and peered back at her through the silver eyes of
a cat-like beast the size of a large horse.

And then he was gone.

CHAPTER FIVE

Dawn came slowly, followed by the brilliant
blue sky of morning. She shifted from her seat in the cave to stand
at the edge of the cave, furious at him for leaving her in a small
cave on a sheer cliff overlooking the sea. She hadn't slept all
night, afraid of what other secrets the night held.

She looked down. The churning sea below was
littered with jagged rocks that looked small from her perch a
hundred feet above them. Not only could she not escape, but she
could just as well starve to death if he decided never to
return.

She braided her hair to keep the stiff sea
breeze from tossing curls in her face and squinted upward again.
She was closer to the top than to the waves, but the cliff had too
few hand and footholds for her to try to climb. She perched on a
boulder near the entrance, wondering how many nights of Sasha-type
treatment she’d take before tossing herself off the cliff.

Bored, restless, fearful, she retreated to
the back of the cave, searching it again for any sort of door or
anything that might aid her escape. There was nothing.
Nothing
she could use to escape.

Which was why he chose this spot, and she
couldn’t help shivering at the thought that this place was too
perfect for this to be the first time he’d imprisoned someone
here.

"What’re you doing?"

She jumped but replied without turning,
"Looking for a way to escape."

"One way out."

She steeled herself and turned, expecting to
find a monster.

He looked human. He was taller than average,
over six and a half feet, built like a rock with wide shoulders and
tapered abdomen and hips beneath a jumpsuit similar to those worn
by the prisoners. Its snugness drew her eyes to his crotch and lean
thighs. His hair was dark, his eyes liquid silver, his complexion
olive and unshaven.

He tossed fish tied together on a rope into
the center of the cave, ignoring her inspection.

"I can’t eat them raw," she objected.

"Then you don’t eat."

He walked to the edge of the cave and dived
out.

She followed, startled, only to see a massive
black bird the size of a pterodactyl coasting along the tops of the
waves. She shook her head, convinced she was going crazy. Her eyes
fell to the fish, and her nose wrinkled.

Rope. She knelt beside the fish and unwrapped
them with a grimace, cheered to find the section of rope nearly
five feet long. She tossed the fish back to the ocean and coiled
the rope, hiding it beneath several small rocks in the back of the
cave. She napped, paced, and stared up at the ceiling. The sun
crossed the sky, and an hour before it would set, he returned.

With more fish. She sat up and crossed her
legs, eyeing the rope. He walked out again, and she tossed the fish
and hid the rope, straightening just as he reappeared.

His eyes flashed silver as he glanced at her.
He sat on a boulder near the entrance, as if he were the bouncer
trying to prevent someone like her from exiting.

"C’mere, little girl."

"I
hate
that!"

"It’s how this works."

"How what works?"

"I feed you, you feed me."

"Can’t you eat a cow or a rabbit or
something?"

"You taste better."

She didn’t know what to think. She needed
more rope to reach the top of the cliff, yet being dinner for any
creature wasn’t the way she’d like to go. And what if he attacked
her as Sasha did, and she had no Lankha to heal her? She’d bleed
out in this cave.

"I’ve claimed you as my blood slave," he
said, as if reading her mind. "You’re worth more to me alive."

"In that case, then, if you ever hurt me,
I’ll throw myself to the ocean!"

"Whatever."

She wasn’t ready yet to prove it to him, not
before she at least tried to escape. He gave her a look that warned
her he’d get her if she didn’t come to him. She rose, angry, and
knelt beside him.

He gripped her neck in one large, roughened
hand, tilting her head. She squeezed her eyes closed, heart
quickening and her breathing fast and shallow. She gripped his
wrist hard, wondering why he insisted on tormenting her by taking
his time. At long last, she felt the warmth of his breath on her
neck. He bit, and she stifled a cry. The pinch was less today, and
the pain gone instantly, replaced by heat and warmth. He didn’t
drink long, and when he was finished he touched his thumb to the
wound, cauterizing it again.

Only when he released her did she sit back on
her heels and open her eyes. He was gone again. The blood loss and
lack of food made her dizzy. She reached into her pocket and pulled
out one of the three water cubes and the remaining sugary cube. She
popped one water cube but replaced the sugary cube with some
hesitation. If he brought her more fish tomorrow morning, she’d
have rope enough to reach the cliff edge ten feet above. She’d need
her strength for what she planned.

She lay down on her back to watch the sun set
and didn’t move until he returned early the next morning to toss
stinky fish beside her. She rolled to face him, squinting in the
grainy dawn. His silver eyes flashed from the darkness at the back
of the cave, alarming her.

"You slaughter a party of Girl Scouts last
night?" she asked, unnerved.