Release In The Dark (DARK erotic romance series) (12 page)

I start, and after a beat, shake
my head.

“
Then it's Kylee,”
she says. “The soldiers will take her away.”

“
They'll take you too,”
Lilin tells me. “The last time it happened, all the girls in
that Room were taken away. No one owned up, so everyone was presumed
guilty. That's how it is.”

“
But...if...if someone
owns up?” I ask quietly.

“
Then you'll save everyone
a lot of trouble,” Lilin replies, shooting me a look. “Being
interrogated by the soldiers is no fun. No fun at all. We—shouldn't
have to go through that again. You understand?”

I bite my lip and manage to give
her a small nod.

What she is saying—is not
wrong.

If our positions were switched,
and she is the new girl here, while I have been here far longer,
working night after night to earn my way to freedom and buy myself
out of the Red Lantern, I might be tempted to say the same thing to
her.

In their minds and hearts, they
are still clinging to the hope that one day, they will be able to
earn their way out of here. Who am I to shatter this hope, which may
be the only thing keeping them alive, and sane? I am the new girl
here. Everyone here would have formed some sort of bond or
attachment, however temporal and tenuous. Naturally, their
attachment and loyalties would be with Kylee, not me.

I should be the one to go.

“
I...understand.”

May and Lilin exchange a look.
“Thank you,” May whispers, without meeting my eyes.

They stop in front of a white
door tucked under the spiral staircase and press the buzzer. With a
click, the door swings open.

A lady with gray hair in a white
uniform steps out and nods at them. May and Lilin turn away without
looking at me. I can hear the sound of engines and male voices
filtering down through the corridors. “The soldiers are here,”
May gasps. Both of them take off at a run, leaving me with the
elderly lady.

“
Come. I'm the nurse on
duty. I'll see to you and then...the soldiers will want to see you.”
She motions me into the medical bay.

I step into the small, sterile
medical bay and see Kylee lying on her side, with her back to me in
one of the two beds in the room. She appears to be sleeping soundly.

The nurse makes me sit on the
other bed and starts to clean the dried blood off my face and temple.
When she is done, she dabs some purple liquid onto my temple and
hands me a set of tank top and shorts. “You can wear these.”

“
Okay.”

When I have finished dressing,
she says simply, “You can go.”

“
What about...her?”
My eyes dart towards Kylee. “Is she okay?”

“
She's in shock. I gave
her a jab, so she'll sleep for a while. I'll send word to the Warden
once she wakes.”

The buzzer sounds and the nurse
answers the door. A black-uniformed soldier ducks in and says, “I
am to escort them to the Commander now.”

“
Oh. I just gave her an
injection. She'll wake in a while.” The nurse points to Kylee.
“The...”

“
Another soldier will be
down to guard her until she wakes. I will escort this one up now.”
The soldier taps a message on his watch and pivots to face me.
“Let's go.”

I sit alone in Room Number Two,
at the edge of the large oak table. To distract myself from my
coming interrogation, I study Room Number Two in detail. Room Number
Two is furnished to look like a swanky, spacious office of a chief
executive. There is a coffee table, and a lounge flanked by two
armchairs. A plush oriental rug decorates the middle of the room.
The desk I am sitting on is made of rich, polished oak, with gold
trimmings and legs. The desk is wide enough for two people to lie
on, side by side. I note that the leather swivel chair behind the
desk doesn't have armrests. Makes it easier to straddle the “boss”
I guess. I can imagine the patrons in this room bending the women
over the desk, or the lounge. Or doing it on the rug on the carpeted
floor. Room Number Two is where the patrons come to experience “an
office affair”.

Absently, I raise my hand to rub
my temple, and immediately wince at the jolt of pain. The
interrogation is being conducted in Room Number Five, the scene of
the crime. I don't know if I can step into that room again.

Kylee's words echo in my mind:
Pam is dead, but we are alive. Both of us will be taken. We have
to deny, deny, deny! Do you understand?

I squeeze my eyes shut as I
recall my recent tensed conversation with Lilin.

But...if...if someone owns
up?

Then you'll save everyone a
lot of trouble. Being interrogated by the soldiers is no fun. No
fun at all. We—shouldn't have to go through that again. You
understand?

My eyes fly open.

I do understand. I understand
it all too well.

Kylee, May, Lilin, all the girls
here are innocent.

They don't deserve to die.

Neither did Pam.

I ball my fists at the memory of
Pam's small, naked body lying in a corner of the bedded platform,
like a discarded, broken toy. Is this what will ultimately happen to
all of us? But this present Warden has proved to be demanding, but
fair. She has called in the military investigative unit, instead of
just sweeping the matter under the carpet.

I bring my head up with a jerk
when the door opens suddenly. A soldier steps into the room. “Ana
Zen.”

That's me.

I slide off the table and follow
the soldier out into the corridor, which is now lined with soldiers
of the Imperial Army at regular intervals. I am struck by a sudden
thought and with a gasp, I duck my head lower. Would any of these
soldiers be from the Palace? I know that the soldiers and Commanders
are rotated for palace duty. Would any of them recognize me as the
Siren who escaped from the Emperor's chambers?

I keep my eyes on the ground
even as I am ushered into Room Number Five. I stop at the edge of
the platform and stare. Pam's body is gone. But my blood stains are
still on the corner of the platform.

“
Commander, Ana Zen is
here,” the soldier reports. At a grunt from his Commander, the
soldier retreats and closes the door behind me. I peek up cautiously
and see a pair of combat boots walking slowly towards me. Holding my
breath, I lower my face further, dreading the moment when I will have
to look up and face my interrogator.

The boots stop inches in front
of me. The Commander is standing so close to me I can almost feel
him breathing down my body. He takes another step towards me, and
stands almost toe to toe with me.

I hear him suck in a shaky
breath, and he breathes a single word which turns my blood to ice.

“
Zoey.”

My name.

Not Ana. Zoey.

He called me by my real name!

I stagger back in shock, but the
Commander grabs me and crushes me against his chest. I try to
struggle, but my arms are pinioned to my side. Releasing me
suddenly, he cups the back of my head and forces my head up.

I stare into those angry,
emerald eyes, at his white hair and scarred face. “Owen,”
I gasp.

“
Zoey,” he growls,
tightening his grip on the back of my neck. He leans in suddenly and
presses his lips against mine. I try to turn away, but he is holding
me too tightly, too viciously. When he squeezes my neck, I gasp in
pain and his tongue plunges into my mouth once my lips part. I blink
furiously as his mouth ravages mine. His lips and tongue are
relentless, seeking, probing, demanding.

He moves his large hands all
over my body, even as I pound my fists into his chest and back,
digging my nails into his neck to try to pry him off me. But Owen is
too strong. I have seen him kill another Slave in the Palace with
his bare hands. He had enough strength and stamina to satisfy the
rapacious Empress, enough to become the Empress's pet Slave.

With the Empress's permission,
he had tried to take me by force in the middle of the Great Hall,
before the drunken, lustful eyes of the Emperor and his debauched
guests.

Owen Vesparr, favorite Slave of
the Empress.

What the hell is he doing here?

As I grab a fistful of his black
uniform, my eyes round even further. He is wearing the black uniform
of the Imperial Army. He is a soldier, a Commander in the Emperor's
Imperial Army! Not a Slave. A Commander.

He finally releases me and I
lurch backwards. I am breathing and blinking furiously. I stare at
him from head to toe. He looks the same with his closely cropped
white hair, piercing, predatory green eyes and scarred face. I can
see more scars peeking out from his collar on his neck, and I know
that underneath that black uniform, his chest and back are covered
with rippling scars. I have seen his powerful, muscular body, and
his lethal speed and strength in the Great Hall when the Emperor
ordered a fight to the death between two Slaves as entertainment for
his guests.

My eyes fall on the stripes on
his broad shoulders and the Commander's insignia over his heart. “A
Commander? You're a Commander?” I whisper, choking out a
brittle laugh.

“
Yes. I am a Commander,”
he says, placing particular emphasis on the last word.

Jaxon had been a Commander as
well.

I run my hand over my mouth.
“How did...”

“
Did you think I would be
a Slave forever?” His green eyes darken. “This—"
He points at his Commander's stripes. “—is my reward.
I was conferred the rank of Commander by the Empress, for
my...services to her. And you, you Zoey, you were to be mine as
well.” His eyes blaze as they search mine. He looks me up and
down, his nostrils flaring as his eyes linger on my heaving chests.
He licks his lips when he sees my erect nipples pushing against the
thin fabric of my tank top.

He stares down my bare thigh,
down my legs and slowly up again.

“
Zoey,” he says at
last. “I've been looking for you. And I found you—here.”

At his words, I freeze.
He
has been sent to hunt me down.

When I don't reply, he continues
in a tight voice, “Why did you run away? Why did you run from
me? We were in the Palace together, a Slave and a Siren. We would
be together. The Empress promised me that I could have you. You are
mine, Zoey. You belong to me. Mine! Why did you leave me?”

I start to back away, shaking my
head mutely.

Owen closes his eyes briefly.
“Why did you leave? Why?” His eyes snap up, and I gasp
at the scorching wrath and hatred churning in those emerald depths.
“You left me, to come here? To be a whore in the Red Lantern?”
he roars.

My back thuds against the wall.
Owen charges at me, and before I can scramble away, his knuckles have
smashed into the wall on either side of me, caging me in with his
powerful arms. I turn my head to the side as he leans in, his lips
against my ear.

“
You let other men fuck
you, didn't you?” he hisses. I can feel his stubble against my
cheek. His hand grabs my neck suddenly, forcing me to face him. I
look into his hard, hungry eyes, and see the murderous rage in them.
“This,” he pants. “All of this...” His hand
moves down my neck and with a forceful shove, he grabs my breasts in
both his huge hands and squeezes. Hard. He thumbs my nipples
angrily, pinching them and rolling them roughly between his fingers.
He pushes his hand between my legs and pushes my tiny shorts aside,
forcing a finger into me. “All this...is mine! Mine!”
With his other hand he squeezes my neck tightly, as if to make his
point.
Your life is mine!

I close my eyes, feeling the
heat gather at the back of my eyes. I refuse to let my tears fall.

“
I know he took you,”
Owen whispers into my face. “Jaxon Ryleth.”

I gasp. Jaxon!

“
He took you,” he
continues with a smile which doesn't reach his cold eyes. “So
I took him.”

“
You took him?” I
try to twist out of his grasp, jolted into frenzied action by my
rising fear and anger. “You took Jaxon? Where is he? What
have you done to him?” I shriek.

“
Oh, I haven't done
anything to him. Yet. But I will.” He narrows his eyes as he
catches my fist in his palm. “You're going to hit me—for
him? Hurt me, for him?”

“
Please, where is Jaxon?”
I ask, not fighting him when he grips my wrists and slams them
against the wall. “Is he...is he alive?” I whisper.

Owen's mouth hovers over mine
for an instant, before he claims my mouth with a furious, strangled
cry. I don't resist, and his tongue penetrates me with a vengeance.
I feel his teeth on my lips, my jaw, my neck, as he plants devouring
kisses over my face, neck and shoulders, biting me hard to mark me.
I close my eyes, trying not to feel anything. But from under my
quivering eyelid, a single tear seeps out from the corner of my eye.