Tainted Hearts (32 page)

E’Lanna’s emotions prevented Echo from
reaching farther. She screamed again, but they were far from the
visitors’ hall.

Sound swelled, building from a distant buzz
to a deafening roar as a transport conduit swallowed her whole.
Light blinded her, then oppressive darkness closed in, compressing
her chest and weighting her limbs. She trembled in her captor’s
arms, lacking the breath to speak, much less fight.

The pressure eased, but the darkness
remained. She blinked rapidly, struggling to bring anything into
focus. Hands pushed her to her knees, and a gruff voice activated a
row of firestones set high in the barren walls.

Light flashed again, and E’Lanna appeared,
trapped between two burly men. She was forced to her knees beside
Echo. The men took up positions within easy reach of their
prisoner.

Are you hurt?
Echo sent the question
directly to E’Lanna’s mind.

No. Are you?
E’Lanna covered her
mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking.

Don’t speak out loud, and don’t react to my
thoughts.

One of the villains materialized in front of
E’Lanna. Tall and lean, with rawboned features and fierce eyes, he
took E’Lanna’s chin and forced her to raise her face. “Which one
are you?”

Don’t answer him!

His dark head whipped around, and his gaze
collided with Echo’s. Pitch-black, his pupils and irises were
separated by an intense blue ring. Blue strands threaded through
his long black hair. Rodyte! They’d been kidnapped by the
Rodytes.

“I can sense telepathic communication.” He
strolled toward her, his expression insolent. “If you have
something to say, say it out loud.”

She raised her chin and looked away, her
lips pressed into a mutinous line.

Warm and unexpected, his deep, rumbling
laughter rolled across her senses. He curved his fingers around her
chin and turned her head until she looked into his eyes.

“Hello, Echo. Silence can’t disguise that
fiery temper.” He motioned toward E’Lanna without taking his gaze
from Echo’s face. “Take that one to my room.”

“No!” The word burst from Echo before she
could stop the impulse.

He arched one dark brow and pulled her to
her feet. “Are you volunteering to take her place? I hadn’t
expected you to be so eager.”

Echo, don’t. At least I know what to
expect. I won’t let this beast be your first
.

Before she could correct E’Lanna’s
misconception, their captor spoke again. With his hands still
encircling Echo’s upper arms, he looked at E’Lanna. “If we hadn’t
arrived when we did, some blond Mystic would have been her first.
She was all but begging him to take her when we found them in the
moonlight.”

Echo gasped. He couldn’t just sense
telepathic communication, he could hear every word.

“This one was with a man as well,” one of
E’Lanna’s captors volunteered. “From the way they were going at it,
I don’t think it was her first time.”

The fierce-eyed man nodded. “Then take
E’Lanna to a holding cell. She can’t be mounted until after she
bleeds again. Pass the word.
No one
is to touch her.”

Echo felt the blood drain from her face.
They wanted to make sure E’Lanna wasn’t pregnant before they
“mounted” her? That meant they intended to keep them for weeks,
perhaps longer. Echo couldn’t succumb to the terror surging through
her mind. She had to think, strategize. Where were they? Why had
they been taken? The last question sent a shudder down her spine.
Why was pretty damn obvious—they were here to be “mounted”.

E’Lanna was dragged from the room by two of
the men who had abducted her. Could all of them create invisibility
shields?

“Let’s go.” The leader nodded toward the
doorway.

Echo laughed.
Let’s not.
It was
irrational to think she was going to stroll off to his bedchamber
to be raped. He didn’t react to her laughter or the accompanying
thought. Apparently it was only telepathic transmissions he could
intercept.

“You’re going to be a lot more trouble than
your sister, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea.”

About the Author

Anything-but-Ordinary
is Cyndi’s
creed and her writing reflects her dedication to the concept. She
writes in a variety of genres, but seems happiest in outer space.
Her books have been nominated for numerous awards, and
Taken by
Storm
was named Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Romance of the
year by
Romance Reviews Today
.

She lives in Colorado with her high school
sweetheart turned husband of many years. With a pampered cat curled
on the corner of her desk, she dreams of fascinating words and
larger than life adventures—and wouldn't have it any other way!

Webs
ite / Blog: 
http://www.cyndifriberg.com

Other Titles
by

Cyndi Friberg

Beyond Ontariese
:

Taken by
Storm

Operation
Hydra

City of
Tears

Mystic
Flame

Fire Pearl

Consort

Shadow
Assassins:

Royal
Obsession

Mystic
Militia

Alpha
Hunter

Fallen
Star

Rebel Angels
:

Rage and
Redemption

Echoes and
Embers

Splendor and
Darkness

Non-series
:

Tears of the
Dragon

Therian Heat
:

Therian
Priestess

Therian
Prey

Therian
Promise

Therian
Prisoner

Therian
Prize