Destiny Redeemed (22 page)

“Amon,
if a Council of Nil bounty hunter has been seen at the Soren headquarters, I
think you need to accept the fact that Kiril Gault may not be anything he’s
claimed to be.”

“I
think the bigger concern should be Kiril’s if I find out he had anything to do
with Thea being taken.”

Gethen
began to speak but hesitated.

“What
is it?”

“Amon,
do you remember what Kiril said when he saw Thea with us as Soren
headquarters?”

Images
of Kiril Gault’s slaves flashed through Amon’s mind and the thought of Thea
chained up, enslaved to service Kiril made him want to kill someone.

“I
think it’s time I went to see my good friend at the Soren.”

“Be
careful. If Kiril and the Council are working together, you’re walking into a
trap, and they’re using Thea as bait.”

Amon
walked outside to the spot where he’d watched Thea innocently twirl around and
focused his mind on hers. He knew it was unlikely she could sense him because
he couldn’t sense her, but he had to try. He had to let her know he would move
heaven and earth to find her and kill any man or woman who got in his way.

And
God help anyone who harmed her.

Thea,
I’m coming for you. Don’t be frightened. I will find you.

As
he walked back to the house, another thought stayed in his mind.

I’m
going to kill you, Kiril.

Chapter Seventeen

Thea
gently placed her hands on the brunette’s arms to help alleviate the painful soreness
Kiril’s chains caused her. He was particularly cruel to her, often tugging her
into positions that hurt her and seemed to delight him. Slowly, the woman’s arm
began to heal, and Thea was awarded with a smile for her care.

“Why
would they make you a slave? You’re one of them.”

Thea
wondered the same thing. While she’d never condone slavery in any way, she’d
never heard of any group of Aeveren enslaving their own.

“I
don’t know, Suzanne. But the man who brought me here is a bounty hunter after
my destined one.”

“Why
did he kidnap you?”

“I
don’t know that either,” Thea said sadly.

Suzanne
lifted her hand to comfort her, causing her shackles and chain to make a
hollow, metallic sound. As she gently touched Thea’s cheek, the restraints
knocked against her shoulder.

“It’ll
be okay. I’m sure your husband will come soon.”

Thea
smiled at the mention of Amon as her husband. She thought for a moment about
how much she’d grown to love him in the short time she’d known him.

“He’s
not my husband yet. But he is my destined one.”

“Tell
me about destined ones. It sounds so romantic.”

“I
admit I don’t know much about it, Suzanne. Amon is my first. See, I’m a healer
for my people, and they rarely are blessed with the gift of a destined one to
love.”

“Why?
I can’t imagine anyone deserving love more than someone who helps people.”

“Because
we need to be devoted to those we care for, I guess.”

“Are
you your destined one’s first?”

Blushing,
Thea shook her head. “No. He’s had others before me.”

From
a few feet away, one of the other women laughed. “You have no idea, sweetie.”

“Cherie,
stop it! Thea doesn’t need to hear your awful comments.”

Thea
knew Cherie had seen or heard about something Amon had done, and she hated the
idea of what it might have been. She quickly reminded herself that he’d warned
her that he’d done some terrible things in his forty-seven lifetimes.

“It’s
okay, Suzanne. I know Amon may have been a different kind of man before meeting
me. Part of who we are as Aeveren is our pasts.”

“That’s
the way to think. Your knight in shining armor will be here any time now.”

Thea
found it difficult to understand how anyone who’d been as mistreated as Suzanne
had been at Kiril’s hands could be so optimistic. Even she, as a healer, seemed
to feel more despondent than Suzanne.

“How
can you remain so kind and good after what’s happened?” she asked.

Suzanne
smiled and Thea saw the sweetness in her eyes grow. “I’m not the person Kiril
Gault keeps here as a slave. That person has to satisfy him in all of his
sexual appetites, but she’s no one. A machine.”

Touching
her fingertips to the area above her heart, she continued. “Who I really am is
in here, somewhere Kiril has no interest in. In here, I’m still the girl who
worked in a London office, the daughter of John and Sharon, the sister of
Carrie and Chrissy, the person I was before he took me one night on my way home
and turned me into this.”

Thea’s
heart wrenched as she listened to the details of who Suzanne truly was. “Oh,
Suzanne. I’m so sorry. How could this happen?”

Shrugging
her shoulders, she answered, “The same way it’s happened to you. There are bad
people in this world, Thea.”

*

Amon
appeared in the Soren meeting hall but found few members there. Those who were
seemed the same as they always had, but Amon knew that it was probable
something important had changed in the group if its leader had any connections
with the Council at Nil, so he was alert and ready to deal with Kiril’s goons.

He
walked slowly through the headquarters’ halls looking for Kiril and searching
for any evidence Thea was there. It didn’t take him long to find the Soren
leader. In his private conference room, he sat playing with a whip as his other
hand rifled through papers.

“Kiril,”
he said announcing his presence as he entered the room.

“Amon
Kalins. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? You weren’t announced,”
Kiril said nervously.

As
he approached the table Kiril sat at, Amon watched him stand and understood
instantly that something had altered the relationship between them. Kiril’s
stance was defensive, and his demeanor telegraphed his guilt.

“I’m
here to find out what you know about my destined one’s kidnapping.”

“Your
destined one has disappeared?”

“No.
She was kidnapped by a Council of Nil bounty hunter. You know anything about
that?”

Kiril
shifted his position anxiously and shook his head. “How the fuck would I know
anything concerning one of their fucking employees?”

“That’s
what I wondered when I heard that the same bounty hunter had been seen here at
the Soren headquarters.”

As
Amon spoke, he listened carefully for any of Kiril’s men. He also attempted to
probe the Soren leader’s mind for answers, but Soren magick made it impossible
to penetrate his thoughts.

Then he sensed
Thea and in one swift move grabbed Kiril and slammed him into the wall. “Where
is she, Kiril?”

“Sorry,
pal. Someone had to be sacrificed. This is bigger than you and your current
piece of ass.”

“What
do you mean sacrificed? Tell me where she is now or I swear I’ll kill you.”

Amon
knew she was still alive as he sensed her nearby. But what did he mean someone
had to be sacrificed?

Before
he could carry out his threat, Kiril’s bodyguards were in the room and on top
of him. Pushing each of them off him, he knew he had to get out of there. As he
prepared to teleport, he heard Kiril boast, “I hope she likes it rough.”

*

Thea
sensed Amon nearby and ran to the door. Pounding loudly, she screamed his name
to let him know where she was.

“Amon!
I’m in here!”

Over
and over she screamed his name but to no avail. He never came, and although she
continued to sense his presence, within a few minutes she knew he was no longer
close by.

Amon,
where are you? Why did you leave me here?

Dejected
and confused, she slid down the door to the cold floor. Had he been captured or
killed by Kiril and his men? Thea couldn’t believe he would simply leave her to
be tortured.

Minutes
later, she felt someone push against the door and her heart leapt for joy. He’d
come for her! He’d rescue her and the women trapped with her, just as she’d
promised he would. When the door opened, she saw Kiril and the bodyguards
instead.

“Get
the girls. I’ll take this one myself,” Kiril said as he bent down to pull Thea to
her feet.

“Time
to go, pet.”

“Where?
Where are you taking us?”

Panicked,
Thea wondered if he was moving her to a different location Amon wouldn’t be
able to find.

Kiril
gave a sinister laugh. “Don’t worry. You’ll only have to watch.”

Thea
turned to look at her three fellow captives, but all of them kept their eyes
toward the floor. Terrified, she pleaded with him, “Please don’t do this. I beg
of you.”

Kiril
ran his finger over her lips. “Sweetheart, you’re only exciting me by begging
and I promised I wouldn’t harm you, but if you keep this up, I may have to
renege on that promise.”

Thea’s
mind raced to figure out who he’d promised not to hurt her more than kidnapping
and holding her hostage. It made no sense to consider that Amon had done this
to her, but Markku or Gethen? Could either of them have done this?

As
Kiril led her by the arm to his room, she considered the possibility of their
involvement and decided Gethen loved Amon too much to hurt him like this.
Markku, however, she couldn’t rule out. She’d already experienced his nasty streak.
Before she could think about it more, she saw Kiril’s room. Obviously designed
as his own private sex chamber, it looked like a nightmare with shackles and
chains, in addition to whips and metal implements Thea couldn’t place but was
sure were painful.

Frightened,
she tried to back out of the room, but Kiril held her tightly, squeezing her
arm. “Don’t worry, pet. I told you you’d only have to watch.”

Kiril
excused the men and began to undress. Moments later, he stood in front of them,
naked with a silver cock ring on. Thea’s surprise at the sight of it quickly turned
to disgust. Sickened to think of what was to come next, she buried her face in
her hands as she sat down in the furthest spot away from him.

She
heard the hollow clang of the chains and looked up to see Suzanne being freed.
As she was lead to the bed, the other two women moved away to sit on a bench
against the wall. Behind her, Kiril knelt on the bed and ran his hands over her
shoulders. It looked almost loving, but Thea knew it was anything but.

“Thea,
look at Suzanne. No one is hurting her.” Kiril grasped her chin and pulled her
head back toward him. “Tell her.”

Suzanne’s
brown eyes grew wide and then closed. When she reopened them, she spoke more
quietly than when they’d talked before, but her voice was the same sweet tone
Thea had been comforted by.

“I
am not hurt, Thea. Please don’t worry about me.”

As
she heard her words and watched Kiril enter her from behind, Thea knew she’d
lied. Shielding her eyes, she hid her face in her hands again and tried in vain
to block out the terrible sounds of what was happening in front of her.

*

Amon
returned to the house in Ireland to figure out how he’d save Thea. He knew she
was at the Soren headquarters somewhere in the building and hoped she’d heard
his promise to come back for her. Gethen was waiting for him and expressed no
surprise that Kiril was involved in Thea’s kidnapping. Always the helpful
servant, even if Amon had freed him, he offered his assistance in any way Amon
required.

“Thank
you, but none of our combined powers other than my teleporting will work. And
that’s going to be dicey since they’ll be waiting for me next time.”

“Amon,
do you think you should approach this from another angle? If the Soren and the
Council are working together, maybe you need to work the Council.”

“I’ve
thought of that. I need to find out who the member is that Markku said is
against the head of the Council at Nil.”

“Markku
should be back any moment. Hopefully, he can tell us.”

Amon
stood and walked toward the window. Looking out, he said, “I don’t have time to
wait for him. Every second Thea’s with Kiril is killing me. I’ll have to find
someone else who’d know the answers.”

“Who?”

“An
old friend who probably hates me, but I have to try. If Markku comes back with
news, try to contact me but I’ll be far away.”

Gethen
shot him a confused look, but Amon didn’t bother to explain before he
disappeared from his house seconds later.

He
reappeared on the front steps of a white, suburban home like many found
throughout the United States. The leaves that had fallen from the maple tree in
the front yard made a crunching noise under his feet as he shifted his weight
anxiously. He rang the doorbell and second-guessed his choice to come at all,
but his alternatives were decidedly worse.

The
face of the woman who opened the door registered first shock and then anger.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here.”

Before
she could slam the door shut, Amon wedged his boot in between it and the door
frame and leaned in to begin the pleading he knew he’d need to do to get her
help.

“Please
don’t shut the door. I need your help. I know I have no right to ask, but I am.
Please Jean, I need your help to save someone.”

The
elderly woman looking back at him grimaced and sighed before slowly opening the
door. She said nothing but extended her arm to welcome him in, and he
cautiously walked past her into a room full of white lace doilies and flower
patterned furniture. He turned back to face her and felt the sting of her hand
as she slapped him across the face.

Wincing,
he said, “I guess I deserved that.”

Walking
past him into the kitchen, she said angrily, “You deserve that and more. You
stole Callia from her destined one and manipulated time to make sure she fell
in love with you. You’re a real bastard and now you want my help? You haven’t
changed, Deimos.”