No Limits (16 page)
Rhys lifted his chin. “Refresh my memory.”
A hand cracked across his face before he realized the other man had moved. “You want to play games? We can bring your woman down here, play a few rounds with her. I’ll take her first, then pass her around to my boys for a little bonus. Fitting for the mistress of a whore, wouldn’t you say?”
Rhys thought furiously but couldn’t find any way around it. He had to tell this man the truth. “I’m not Marshal.”
He braced for another blow but received only a skeptical glance. “You look an awful lot like him.”
Rhys held his captor’s gaze. “Aren’t my eyes a different color?”
The pirate shrugged. “Contacts. The technology is over a century old.”
“If you’ll hear me out, I’ll tell you exactly what happened.”
The man stared at him for a beat and waved his hand. “I’m always in the mood for a story.”
Rhys sent up a prayer that he’d find some way to explain what he didn’t fully understand. Sucking in a deep breath, he glossed over the reason for going to the abbey in the first place but told the rest in vivid detail, including his time as a slave and what Gen had done to help him steal Marshal’s body.
“If this is true, then where’s the real Marshal?”
“Trapped inside a candle.”
The pirate rose and paced the floor. “You know, I’ve flown from one side of this damn galaxy to the other, have seen scores of unbelievable stories, heard lies in every color of the rainbow, and this still takes the cake.”
“It’s not a lie, I swear—”
The second blow knocked Rhys unconscious before he hit the deck.
16
“W
hat did you do to him?” Gen snarled as two of the overly muscled thugs dragged Rhys’s unconscious form into the room where she’d gone out of her mind imagining all sorts of horrific things. The men ignored her and dropped him at her feet. She sank down to check his pulse and mumbled at their retreating backs, “Cretins.”
hat did you do to him?” Gen snarled as two of the overly muscled thugs dragged Rhys’s unconscious form into the room where she’d gone out of her mind imagining all sorts of horrific things. The men ignored her and dropped him at her feet. She sank down to check his pulse and mumbled at their retreating backs, “Cretins.”
“They’re not so bad, once you get to know them.”
Gen glanced up. The mammoth-sized leader clad in black leather gazed down at her, his expression blank. “He told me an interesting story. I wanted your take on it.”
Rhys’s pulse felt strong and steady, though a big red splotch decorated the right side of his face. He’d have one hell of a shiner in a few hours. If they lived that long.
She glanced up into the midnight eyes of their captor. “Who are you? Why did you take us hostage?”
Her questions seemed to amuse him. “My name is Zan, and technically speaking, you are not a hostage. I’ve got no plans to barter you—you can leave anytime you like. Though I’d recommend you put a coat on. It’s cold outside.” He chucked his thumb to the view screen and the vast expanse of empty space beyond.
“Sick bastard.” Gen rose to her feet and squared her shoulders. “What gives you the right to yank us off of our vessel—”
Zan raised his index finger. “Truth be known, it wasn’t your vessel, just a vessel you happened to be traveling aboard. And it had something I wanted, so if that doesn’t give me the right to board it, I don’t know what would.”
His absurd spin on logic pissed her off. “What are you, two? You can’t just take what doesn’t belong to you!”
“Why not? I wouldn’t be much of a pirate if I paid for my spoils and waited patiently for my turn. I seize what I want, the moment I want it. And right now, I want his skin as a throw rug on my cabin floor.” His finger stabbed at Rhys.
Bile rose in Gen’s throat at the description. “What did Marshal do to you?”
Golden eyes narrowed on her. “Ah, so then he is Marshal.”
“Why would you think he isn’t?”
Zan moved across the room and shook her by the shoulders before she even registered his intent. “It ain’t bright to play games with me, little girl. Marshal failed to deliver and for that disappointment he will pay with his life. After I make him suffer. A. Very. Long. Time.”
With no clue as to what Rhys had said to Zan, all Gen could offer him was the truth. “His name is Rhys. Illustra used him and others like him to control people emotionally. I helped him trick Marshal into abandoning his body and Rhys shut him out.” Unintentionally, but she didn’t figure he wanted to know all the gory details.
The pirate’s eyelids didn’t even flicker. “So where is the real Marshal?”
“Trapped inside Rhys’s candle. We had it with us, in our luggage.” She sent him a scathing glare and bitched, “If you’d been reasonable, we could have proven this to you
before
you abducted us.”
before
you abducted us.”
Zan stared at her for a beat, telegraphing no thoughts whatsoever. Then, he removed a small metal device from his black leather vest.
Gen took a step back. “What the hell is that?”
He held the object up to his face and clicked the end like a mechanical pen. “Worried?”
“Should I be?” she shot back with venom.
A grin split Zan’s face. “I like you. You remind me of someone very special. She refused to take crap from me too.”
With no idea what to make of that statement, Gen offered him a weak shrug. The door behind him hissed open and a small droid zoomed in, carrying their luggage on its back like a pack mule. She raised her gaze to Zan.
“Waste not, want not, right? Besides, I wouldn’t be much of a pirate if I didn’t loot and pillage.” He crouched down and unlatched the black duffel containing Marshal’s personal effects. The candle sat right on top, as Rhys had tossed it in on their way out the door. Zan picked it up and held it in front of his face. “This our boy?”
Slowly, Gen nodded.
“How do we talk to him?”
“Rhys says he can hear everything when bound to the candle. It’s how he learned English.”
Zan tapped his chin, his golden eyes focused at the wall behind her head. “This seems anticlimactic somehow. I can’t hurt him when he won’t feel it—there ain’t no point. Shit, I can’t even threaten his body with another man in there. Wouldn’t be sporting. You’ll have to get him out, make them swap places again.”
Fracking hell.
“It’s not that easy.”
“It’s not that easy.”
He rose and handed Gen the candle. “It never is. But if you don’t want your boyfriend to suffer through the gauntlet of pain and humiliation I have in store for Marshal, I’d suggest you find a way to simplify the situation. You have one hour.”
Gen swallowed hard and watched as he left. “Shit, fuck, damn, hell, steaming piece of fracking crap.”
“Hark, Juliet speaks.” Though his eyes remained closed, a small smile tilted the corners of Rhys’s mouth.
Gen flew to his side. “Are you all right?”
“Not even in the same galaxy as all right.” He tried to sit up, failed, and groaned.
Gen braced her hands on either shoulder, keeping him in place. “Stay still, dummy.”
“No, there isn’t much time. I’ve got to get you out of here.”
“Rhys, don’t take this the wrong way, but unless you can morph into a personal space cruiser, I don’t think you can do anything except bleed.”
He opened his undamaged eye and looked up at her. “He’ll hurt you if he doesn’t get what he wants. He’s not an evil man at heart, but he won’t tolerate letting Marshal go. I vowed I wouldn’t let any harm befall him. There’s only one alternative left to us.”
Gen swallowed. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“Light the candle. We’re going to need Marshal awake for this.”
Rhys remained flat on his back, sprawled on the metal deck while Gen retrieved the candle, still arguing. “I still don’t think this is a great idea, you and him sharing space together. Why don’t you go back into the candle?”
He let his lungs expand with air and released it on a slow exhale. She still didn’t understand the hell of being bound to the candle. He prayed she never would. “I won’t return there unless given no other choice.” Before she could protest further, he set about lowering the defenses he’d erected, preparing the body for another inhabitant.
“You could always come back inside me.”
Her offer, so sincerely made, kicked him in the chest and not just because of the double entendre. “Thank you for the thought, sweetness. But I’m in a better position to protect you here. Remember what I told you?”
She cleared her throat. “Light the candle and run to the other side of the room.”
“And no matter what, don’t have sex with me.”
Laughter effervesced from her, thrilling him with the genuine unexpectedness of it. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”
She crouched by his side, lighter in hand. “You ready?”
He looked up at her and nodded once. “See you soon.”
The last thing he saw was the wick flaring to life before his eyes slid shut.
Come on home, you bastard.
Come on home, you bastard.
Gen bolted across the room. “Anything yet?”
He opened his mouth to respond, and all the air rushed out of his lungs. Struggling for oxygen, he arched up off the deck, smashing his fists against the grate. The son of a bitch was trying to kill him!
You got that right, cocksucker.
Marshal’s disembodied voice sounded in his ears, wrath personified.
Had your whore trick me right out of my own skin.
Marshal’s disembodied voice sounded in his ears, wrath personified.
Had your whore trick me right out of my own skin.
“Don’t do this,” Rhys pleaded, expelling the little breath he had left.
“Rhys, what’s the matter?” Fear coated Gen’s question.
Yeah, Rhys, beg for our girl to come save your sorry ass. I’ll stuff you down so deep the only thing you’ll hear will be her screams as I do to her exactly what she did to me, over and over. Fuck her until she’s raw and bleeding, then kill the both of you at once.
Marshal was rightfully furious, but Rhys would not allow the other empath to bait him into losing his temper. It would only weaken his own position. “That won’t save you from Zan,” Rhys wheezed.
The pressure on his lungs eased slightly.
Isn’t it bad enough that you stole my body, but you had to deliver it to the one man in the galaxy who wanted to maim it? You think I liked being the fuck buddy to the elite, screwing countless twats with barely a clue as to what to do? No, damn it, I was lying low. And you come along with your self-righteous streak and cock it all up!
Isn’t it bad enough that you stole my body, but you had to deliver it to the one man in the galaxy who wanted to maim it? You think I liked being the fuck buddy to the elite, screwing countless twats with barely a clue as to what to do? No, damn it, I was lying low. And you come along with your self-righteous streak and cock it all up!
“Marshal,” Gen spoke up over the silent war going on for the only viable territory. “I know you’re pissed, but he’s doing this to help get you out of here. Please, let us help you.”
Rhys lost control of vision and vocal cords all at once. His and Gen’s anxiety made Marshal stronger.
Don’t do me any more favors, bitch. I learned the first time not to put pussy in the driver’s seat.
Don’t do me any more favors, bitch. I learned the first time not to put pussy in the driver’s seat.
“You can’t tell me you didn’t like it. I won’t believe that. You were begging for it, to find someone as strong as you, to take charge and save you from yourself. It excited you, the way I bossed you around.”
Marshal’s grip loosened, and Rhys could see Gen through flickering vision. Shoulders squared off with military precision, hands on hips, fear nowhere in sight. His goddess, trying to give him the home field advantage. No way would he let her gift go to waste.
Surging up, he wrapped his essence around Marshal and took them both down hard, pinning him in his own mind. He struggled anew, but Rhys expected it this time. “Do what I say or Zan will win. You’ll never get a shot at vengeance if we are both dead.”
We’re dead anyway.
Marshal sagged, all the fight evaporating like dew off a space-bound hull.
You don’t know Zan. He is no lightweight we can dupe, and there are too many to fight.
Marshal sagged, all the fight evaporating like dew off a space-bound hull.
You don’t know Zan. He is no lightweight we can dupe, and there are too many to fight.
“Then we come up with a new plan.” Rhys eased his hold— just enough to allow Marshal to believe he had an opening, in case this was a trick of some sort. Nothing happened, but for Gen’s sake, he would stay on alert.
“Tell us everything you know about Zan. Is he human?”
No, neither is he empath or telepath, or any other race we’ve encountered. He doesn’t belong in this galaxy, maybe not even in this universe.
“How did you meet him?”
He found me. I’d absconded with a two-man ship from our home world, with no plan in mind. The story I told you at the abbey, about my daughter’s death, was the truth. I just wanted to find someplace quiet and die.
Rhys didn’t bother to hide his skepticism. “Yet you lived on, to betray your religious leaders and all the innocent people on that moon.”
I didn’t want to, damn it! I was just drifting in space, waiting for the end when a wormhole opened and this damn pirate ship came out. Zan picked me up, offered to take me with him if I helped him find a way home.
“What went wrong?”
Nature. I’d been alone, deprived of any emotional resonance, and as soon as they brought me on board, I glutted myself. Killed three of the crew, including the pilot who had flown him here. They are not like humans—they have no natural defenses against empaths.
Though Rhys might have been imagining it, he thought he heard a tinge of regret in Marshal’s words. “How did you escape?”
Jettisoned myself out of the airlock right before they jumped into hyperspace. Nothing between me and the void but a space suit. You see, no matter how strong my will to die, my survival instinct has always been stronger.
Bitterness oozed from every syllable.
Bitterness oozed from every syllable.
“So when did you sign on with Illustra?”
One of their ships had been scouting the nearby solar system. They picked up on Zan’s wake and came to investigate. Second time I was unintentionally rescued.
His laugh sounded hollow.
My curse—I can’t do anything right.
His laugh sounded hollow.
My curse—I can’t do anything right.
“If you think this will change anything—”
Marshal mustered enough strength to shut him up.
I don’t give a shit how you feel about me, Rhys, or about much of anything. I don’t want to live, but I feel compelled to keep it up, no matter what cesspool I face-plant into. My existence is parasitic, totally selfish.
I don’t give a shit how you feel about me, Rhys, or about much of anything. I don’t want to live, but I feel compelled to keep it up, no matter what cesspool I face-plant into. My existence is parasitic, totally selfish.
Enough of these self-indulgent recriminations. “Spare me the highlights of your personal pity party. If you want to live so badly, tell me how to get us all out of here.”
Best chance is to abandon the girl.
His gaze slid to Gen, though whether Rhys or Marshal controlled the action he didn’t know.
She’s a liability, will slow our escape. Fucking her blind might soothe Zan long enough for us to make a clean getaway.
His gaze slid to Gen, though whether Rhys or Marshal controlled the action he didn’t know.
She’s a liability, will slow our escape. Fucking her blind might soothe Zan long enough for us to make a clean getaway.
Through gritted teeth, Rhys growled, “Not an option.”
You can’t always fix it so everybody wins, O Holy One. What distinguishes the winners from the losers is the ability to outmaneuver their peers. She’s an asset. Let’s use her.
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