Living Nightmare (42 page)

“More like the other way around. Watch.” Nicholas reached for her. Jackie flinched away, bumping into the newcomer.

Instantly, her skin began to buzz where her bare arm brushed his. He held out his hand. The odd, iridescent ring he wore swirled in a mass of colors so bright she could see them even in the dim light.

The new man grinned, smiling at her like she was the answer to a puzzle he’d been unable to solve. “Well, love. Looks like we should get to know each other. I’m Morgan.”

“She’s compatible with both of us,” said Nicholas, clearly stunned.

“Guess we’ll just have to let her pick. May the best man win,” said Morgan.

“Stop,” said Jackie before this . . . whatever it was could get out of hand. “Both of you stay back.” She slid away from them.

There were a lot of big men here, and it was hard to avoid them. She could feel both Nicholas and Morgan watching her, so she veered away, keeping the group in sight. She’d rather deal with both of them than be dragged back into that cave by something lurking behind a tree.

Behind her, she heard a noise coming from the winter-dead brush. She froze in place as fear locked down her muscles. She tried to scream for help, but her throat was closed tight.

She couldn’t go back into that cave. She couldn’t let those things feed from her any longer. She wasn’t sure how she’d survived it for as long as she had. If it weren’t for the children looking to her for strength, she didn’t think she would have made it.

And now it was all going to happen again and she couldn’t even call for help from any of the sword-wielding men nearby.

A rough hand grabbed her arm and she was shoved behind a broad back. Heat poured off of him, and it was all she could do not to snuggle against that warmth.

“Do you see anything, Iain?” asked Nicholas from behind her.

The man in front of her said, “No. But she clearly did.”

“I heard something,” she told him in a voice so weak with fear it was embarrassing.

“I’ll take care of it,” said Iain. “You go tend the kids I brought out.”

Iain was the dark-eyed man—the one who’d pulled her from her cage. If he wanted her to check on the kids and leave whatever was out there lurking about to the big man with the shiny sword, she could do that. No problem.

Jackie left and went to see what she could do to help. Three more children sat huddled under blankets or spare coats, shivering. She’d already given her blanket to the woman in the cage next to hers—a woman who was much worse off than Jackie. In the weeks or months or however long it had been since the night she’d been taken, that woman had not uttered a single word.

Jackie wrapped her arms around a skinny, blank-eyed girl and held her tight. She whispered words of comfort to the child, doubting it would do any good. Still, she had to try.

A few minutes later, Iain crossed the space with a very pregnant woman clinging to his arm for support over the rough ground. His dark eyes were on Jackie as they walked, and the look on his face was not a friendly one.

A chill ran down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. Someone draped a heavy coat over Jackie’s shoulders, still warm with body heat.

She looked up, saw Nicholas had sacrificed his warmth for hers, and said, “Thank you.”

He nodded, staring at her with that same needful look the other men she’d met wore.

She had no idea what she’d done to draw their attention, but as soon as she figured it out, she’d stop doing it. Once she was safely out of this hell, she was going into hiding, where none of the bizarre things she’d seen—man or beast—could ever find her again.

“Stop!” bellowed Zillah.

Every Synestryn in front of Madoc came to a rocking halt.

He didn’t waste time questioning his good fortune, simply mowed them down as fast as he could. Hot blood splattered his face. The screams of dying Synestryn rang in his ears.

“Stop or I’ll kill Nika,” warned Zillah.

Madoc stopped his killing spree long enough to glance up. On the far side of the bowl-shaped room, Zillah held Nika’s limp body in his arms. Blood stained his hands and his black eyes promised violence.

Madoc froze.

Zillah grinned. “She’s in my head and I’m not letting her go. She’s nice to have around, as I’m sure you know.”

Madoc reached out for Nika through their link and felt nothing but emptiness. Whatever Zillah was doing to her, it was keeping them apart.

Fury screamed through him. His blood pumped hot and hard through his limbs, and his grip tightened on the hilt of his sword.

Madoc was going to kill him, but first he had to reach him. He shoved his way through the group, making a beeline for Nika.

Behind Zillah, he saw Tynan creeping toward where Tori lay.

“Give her to me,” demanded Madoc.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s the only way you get out of this alive.”

“Hardly. You’ve lost. You’re completely outnumbered. I have your woman. And her sister. One of them will give me a living child.”

Fuck, no. There was no way in hell Madoc was going to let this fucker touch Nika like that.

“You can have me,” he offered. “Let her and Tori go, and you can have me.”

“I already do have you. And them. That’s the part you fail to realize.”

“You really should let her go. I’ve seen what she can do inside the mind of your kind. She’ll kill you, too.”

Zillah appeared unconcerned. “You’ve seen her kill my minions. She’s never met anyone as powerful as me, I assure you. Now lay down your sword.”

“Why? You just told me I have nothing to lose. You’re going to trap her mind and rape her body. What reason could I possibly have not to slice you down where you stand?”

“I’ll let you live. You’ll be my prisoner, but I’ll let you see her. Use her. Once I’m done with her, of course. Attack me and I’ll have my troops kill you where you stand.”

Nika!
yelled Madoc in his head, forcing his voice through their link.
Get the fuck out of him. Now.

He heard no reply, felt no spark of awareness.

Madoc was closer now, only a few feet away. Fury turned his vision red around the edges, but he did his best to hide it from this asshole. Better to let him think he was interested in his offer.

“Are you offering me a job?” Madoc forced himself to ask.

“I’m not stupid enough to trust you that much. But you might come in handy. Your blood will feed my pets. I’ve found that keeping you Sentinels alive and caged for your blood is much more advantageous than killing you. Though that does have its perks, too.”

For one brief second, Madoc wondered if some of his brothers were held captive by this fucker, or if it was just a lie—one meant to distract him.

He wasn’t going to let it. He shoved the thought away and tried again to reach Nika.

You can’t leave me like this
, he told her.
I need you. I love you.

It was true. He did love her. He wasn’t sure how he’d come from being a man with a dead soul to a man so full of love for a woman he’d do anything for her, but he had. Nika had healed him—brought him back to life. He owed her everything and he was damn well going to save her so she lived long enough for him to prove how much she meant to him.

The smallest ripple of awareness fluttered inside him. He’d know that intelligence and gentleness anywhere. It was his Nika. She was fighting to come back.

Madoc was damn well going to help her.

He stepped up to Zillah and smiled. “Guess what, asshole? You lose.”

He shoved his sword into Zillah’s thigh. Instantly, a dozen Synestryn blades slashed at Madoc at once and pain consumed him.

M
adoc woke up in a small chamber fitted with metal bars embedded into the stone itself. He was sprawled on the floor, throbbing with pain. Only years of experience carrying around a shitload of agony kept him from groaning. He pushed himself up, seeing the far wall of the chamber.

Names were gouged into the stone. The letters were different sizes; some had dates by them going back decades. Some of them were illegible, and some so faint they’d been there for a long, long time.

A lot of people had been in this cage before, long enough to carve their names on the wall.

Madoc refused to join that list.

He went to the bars, shaking them to see if he could find a way out. The cuts he’d sustained hadn’t had much time to close, and the movement caused several of them to rip open and bleed more.

“I think you’ll find that the magic holding those in is still in working order,” said Zillah. He was outside the cage, flanked by armed guards. Nika sat slumped against the far wall. Tori was crouched next to her, naked and shivering, staring off, her expression dull and lifeless, as if she’d already given up.

Madoc was going to get both women out of here. He wasn’t sure how, but he’d find a way.

His question echoed in the stillness between them.

He knew she was there. He’d felt her before. He tried to push power through the luceria, urging her to wake up.

Tynan had been tossed in an adjoining cage and stood unmoving, watching Zillah with hatred glowing in his ice blue eyes.

“How long have I been out?” Madoc asked him.

“Two minutes.”

Long enough to trap them all.

Zillah grabbed Tori by the arm and wrenched her to her feet. She was in bad shape. She flopped around weakly, not bothering to fight what was being done to her. She was naked, dirty, shivering. Blood seeped down her thigh.

“Heal her,” demanded Zillah, thrusting her toward Tynan.

“I’m too weak,” said Tynan.

“I don’t care if it kills you. Heal her or I’ll let you starve to death in there.”

Tynan swallowed, anger twisting his perfect features. “Why do you care if she lives?”

“Because she owes me a son and I’m going to get it from her.”

Tynan’s voice hissed out in anger. “She can’t give you a living child. Your species is too different from hers.”

“You’re wrong. I’ve done it before. Now do as I ask or you’ll wish you had.”

Tynan shook his head. “I can’t let you do that to her.”

“Are you willing to die slowly for your morals?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, then I’ll use Nika instead.”

Madoc roared in rage, pounding the metal bars.
Nika, wake up!
He slammed the command through their link, but he couldn’t tell if he’d gotten through.

“No,” whispered Tori. “I’ll do it.” She lifted her eyes to Tynan. “He can’t hurt me any more than he already has.”

“See?” said Zillah, a metallic ring of satisfaction in his tone. “She wants it. Now heal her.”

“Are you sure?” asked Tynan.

Tori nodded.

Tynan took her dirty wrist and lifted it to his mouth. Madoc watched her eyes flutter closed. Her body shrank; her belly flattened; her breasts tightened.

Tynan pulled away and angry blisters fattened his lips. He turned away, vomiting something thick and black onto the ground.

“I guess she didn’t agree with you,” said Zillah. “Too bad. I have a feeling the two of you will be seeing a lot of each other.”

 

Nika heard Madoc’s cry of rage in her mind, felt his frantic need for her to wake up. But she wasn’t asleep. She wasn’t dreaming. Zillah had trapped her inside his head and he had no intention of letting her free.

Nika slammed around inside Zillah’s thoughts, flailing about inside the rotten depths of evil moving sluggishly through his mind. She’d never been trapped like this before and she had no idea how to get out.

A single, silvery strand connected her to Madoc, but she was losing sight of it as she weakened. Soon, she’d be too weak to fight and she’d be trapped here, forever.

Like hell.

Brute force was doing no good, so Nika stopped fighting and focused on the strand connecting her to Madoc. She shrank herself down until she was a pinpoint of light and slid along that strand slowly, steadily.

She kept her thoughts shallow, remembering little things like the feel of air against her skin or the sun on her face—anything to distract her from thinking about what she was trying to do.

The closer she got to Madoc, the stronger she became. He was urging her on, fueling her with his power. It pulsed into her, driving away the clinging tendrils of filth that snagged her, trying to hold her in.

She was almost out. She could almost feel the warmth of Madoc’s mind when those tendrils thickened and barred her path.

Nika panicked. They were pulling her back in. She couldn’t fight them. They were tugging her under, driving her down into uncontrolled evil.

Fight
, she heard Madoc scream.
He’s going to rape Tori.