Love's Deadly Touch (7 page)

She wiggled her body. Cold permeated her bones and leeched whatever warmth she’d have generated if she could actually move. Rough, heavy rope scraped the sensitive skin at her wrists, ankles and abdomen. Bile burned the back of her throat and she fought it down.

She thrashed and bucked against her bonds. Her scream of frustration was muffled noise and echoed in her head. A sob caught in her throat. She was helpless and no one knew where she was.

Breathing heavy, she fought down her panic. If she didn’t get a handle on her emotions, nothing would work. Whatever was on the rag kept her unfocused and edgy. Concentrating on wiggling her fingers was too much effort and she was too weak to summon the energy necessary to undo her bonds.

Darkness greeted her when she opened her eyes. She closed them again as hot tears seeped beneath her lashes. How? How did she get out of this? Silence. She stiffened. The chanting had stopped.

“So you are the woman I have to thank for this lovely gift of life.” A scaly finger dragged across her cheek. She turned her head. His fingers dug into her face as he forced it back. He snatched the gag from her mouth.

“It wasn’t yours to take.” She spat. Her tongue felt too large for her mouth, but she was grateful to have that awful gag removed.

“Even helpless, you’re fighting. I thought for sure you’d realize resistance is futile.” He touched a spot on her belly and an ache crept through her abdomen, gradually building to a cramp that snowballed into fire.

She gritted her teeth to keep from crying out.

“Oh you’re strong. Very strong, but you don’t have what it takes to defeat me.” He removed his hand and the pain stopped.

Warmth enveloped her and relief flooded through her making her limbs weak.
Simon
. He hadn’t deserted her.

No sweetheart, I’d never leave you. I love you.

She stilled at his admission.
How can you say that?

Thin cold metal dragged against her skin. She held her breath at the bite of a sharp edge poised just above her heart.

He’s doing something.

Listen. You have to endure. We’re not far away.

“What do you want?” Power and energy surged around her, sliding beneath her skin like static electricity, but it waited, coiled and ready to strike.

“It’s very simple. You’re going to give me back my life.”

She shook her head. “I can’t give back what isn’t yours.”

The tip pierced her skin. She whimpered as a lone bead of liquid rolled between her breasts.

“You gave me life.”

“You took life. Two lives, and neither belonged to you.” The knife went deeper. Pain seared nerve endings she didn’t even know she had. Sweat beaded and rolled off her forehead as a whimper fought past her lips.

He leaned close, his fetid breath burning her cheek. “Pain I can give you. Lots and lots of pain.” And to demonstrate he drove the knife to the hilt.

She screamed and for a moment she felt Simon, staggering to his knees as he fought to keep them both from passing out.

“One more heart. The heart of the One who brings life and death with a single touch and I will live forever.”

Dana struggled for each shallow breath she drew. Tears drenched her blindfold. The power that had coiled moments ago ebbed with each beat of her heart.
Simon. I’m sorry.

“Did you know your heart can live for nearly an hour outside your body? Of course I won’t need it that long. The others, well they needed a little help, but you, you’ll give me all the power needed to take down the Council and with your last breath I’ll have your gift.”

He was delusional. No matter what chant or spell he said, he’d never get her powers.

“You’ve been talking to the wrong elder. There’s no magic that will give you my gift.”

He wiggled the knife. Blackness edged into the corners of her mind, while blood, warm and sticky, coated her chest and trickled past her collarbone.

“Tsk. Tsk.” Footsteps echoed and scraped on the stone floor. Intense heat flared and then died away. Chanting began again.

Dana.

The voice was back. She wanted to answer, she truly did, but there was so much pain. With every gasp, her heart seemed to stutter and a weight squeezed her chest with each shallow breath.

It hurts.

I know.
Sadness clung to his voice and sorrow swamped her, nearly drowning her in grief. She didn’t want to be responsible for hurting him.

Please.
She couldn’t keep the plea from her voice.

Please what?

Tell me what I can do you make you happy.

A smile brushed the walls of her mind, but even the telepathic connection was fading. She wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer.

Tell me how you feel about me.

Feel?
How did she feel? Her heart stuttered, missing a beat.

Quick, my love. Tell me.

The urgency in his voice infused her.
My life never really made sense until I heard your voice. I never knew how much I’d crave a lover’s touch until you caressed me in my dreams. And I hate that I’ll never get to make love to you again. Without you I’d wouldn’t have survived and I’ve never known love until you held me in your arms.

Calmness settled over her.
I love you, Simon.

Dana. Dana. No. Baby. Please.

She smiled.
Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt anymore.
She was already moving away from the pain from the hurt, from the incessant chanting. A single breath broke the silence. Then nothing.

****

No!
The word echoed through the emptiness of his mind and his heart shuddered. He wasn’t going to lose her.

“Do something.” Danny clutched his arm.

Simon shook him off, frantic to hold the fading connection. Her essence was so faint he could barely contain it, but dammit, he held onto her with sheer will.

Moaning and chanting reached his ears. He glanced at the man by his side. Without waiting Simon raised a hand and the door exploded. A hooded figured knelt in front of an altar, arms raised.

The figure turned, the hood falling from his head. A wicked smile peeled his lips apart. “You’re too late.” He held a heart aloft.

Simon waved a hand, the heart went one way and the man the other. “Guard that heart!” He ordered Danny. “I’ll take care of him.”

Laughter rent the air. “Fools. Did you think it was that easy?”

Thunder rumbled through the room. Simon was having none of that. “Know your enemy, Tobias.” He raised his hand and sent a stream of energy flaring out. “You took what was never offered to you. You touched her.”

Tobias’ eyes widened and his mouth gaped.

Simon smiled. “Yes, you’re remembering now, aren’t you?”

The other man staggered back, held in place with the combined force of Simon’s anger and the long implanted compulsion.

“No.” He shook his head. “She can’t.”

“Did you forget who she was, why her family is always part of the Council? She had no intention of healing you and you touched her.”

“No. That’s not possible. I’m above such things.” Even as he protested, the fatal injuries of a week ago crippled his body. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I stole this body. It’s mine.”

When a hand grasped his shoulder, Simon glanced at Danny. “I’ve got it from here.”

Simon nodded and stepped away. He watched Danny a moment. The man seemed to become light so bright it hurt his eyes and Simon had to squint to keep the other in sight. Shrieks and curses punctuated the air. The illumination blazed with all the intensity of an exploding star until it reached out and consumed Tobias. Simon could no longer stand the glare and turned away.  Silence.

The only thing that remained of Tobias was a scorch mark on the stone wall. Simon drifted his gaze around the room until it fell on the lone figure stretched on a stone table.

Dana.

Simon hurried to her side. The lips he’d kissed so passionately hours ago were cold, gray, lifeless. Nothing of her zest seemed to remain. He stroked her hair, but even that was dull and limp. Drops of tears plopped on her cheek and trickled down the side of her face. A flick of his wrist untied the ropes binding her wrists and ankles. Gently he removed the heavy cloth from her eyes. Finally he settled on the hole in her chest, the large knife impaled to the hilt.

Moisture trailed down his cheeks. He’d failed her. All the time he spent wooing her in her dreams, seducing her in reality and he failed her.

“You’re running out of time,” Danny said.

The urgency in the other man’s voice broke through Simon’s thoughts. “I need her heart.”

The organ floated through the air and settled back in Dana’s chest. He had to bring her back.

Simon held Dana’s limp fingers and placed their joined hands over her wound. From somewhere a clock pealed the hour.

With his other hand he brushed her hair from her forehead.
Please Dana. I need you.

Chapter Seven

They’d died needlessly.

Seven women murdered and only one didn’t want to be saved while another couldn’t be revived.

Strength and vitality surged through the air.

“She shouldn’t be doing this,” Danny whispered.

“Shh.”

Magic hummed around them, surrounding the woman at the center of the buzz. Simon held his breath as Dana touched first one woman and then another. Each time she rested her fingertips on one, her pretty milk chocolate skin lost its luster, the wound at her chest red and raw, streaked with bright dots of crimson.

Danny stepped forward and Simon grabbed his arm. He strained against him, glaring at the hand holding him in place.

If you stop her now, you’ll condemn them all to death.
Simon pushed the thought into the other man’s head.
Just let her do what she was born to do.

I know.

Simon met and held the other man’s gaze, hoping understanding shone in his eyes. Danny’s shoulders slumped and he stopped struggling.

This has always been her calling, what she was born to do.

After a moment or two of hesitation, Danny stepped back.

One by one the women came to life and were embraced by waiting loved ones. When the last one was resurrected, Dana was paler than he’d ever seen. She stumbled forward. Simon surged to meet her, catching her as she collapsed in his arms.

****

Warmth surrounded her. Dana trailed her fingers through cool water and allowed her head to fall back against the pillow. With her free hand, she touched the raw, jagged edges on her chest. It was sore, and she would forever have a scar, but she was alive.

She died.

Gentle hands grazed her legs. She stared into a pair of vivid green eyes. She leaned forward and stopped when a ripple of pain rolled through her body. Simon waded closer, easing her back against the floating lounger.

“Take it easy, my love.You’re still not one hundred percent yet.” He caressed the scar, his fingers glowing as they drifted over the healing wound.

“How did you know you could bring me back?” She combed her fingers through his damp tangle of hair.

He twined their fingers together, brought her hand to his mouth and swept his lips across her knuckles. “The same way I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. All I needed was for you to tell me how you felt, for you to let go and tell me you loved me.”

“I do love you.”

“I never doubted for a minute, but in order for me to tap into your gift you had to trust me.”

She grinned. “And how did that feel?”

He cradled her face. “I don’t know how you do it. All that power and one wrong touch, given to the wrong person...”

“Yeah.” They fell silent. The gentle lapping of the pool echoed off the walls.

“So what happened to Tobias and Angelo?”

Simon pushed the lounger to the side of the pool, hopped out and then bent to help Dana onto the slippery tile.

“Danny did his Security Council eradication thing, so Tobias is no more and Angelo’s powers have been bound. There’s no word on when he’ll get them back, if ever.” He brushed her hair from her face and held her close. “Your brother wanted to bind your powers for what you did.”

“Did he now?” She winged a brow, her lips twitching.

He nodded. “But after what you did for those women, they realize he’s speaking from a place of fear. You’re the only family he has left.”

“He has Telly. She’s wonderful.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.” He cradled her face.

“I had to. Those women didn’t deserve to die the way they did, just for a ritual that was never going to work.” She held his gaze. “I couldn’t leave them behind.”

He held her against him, his arms strong and sure as they surrounded her. She leaned her head against his chest, the beat of his heart strong beneath her ear. She’d never take one for granted again.