Twisted (Rogues Shifter Series Book 3)
Read Twisted (Rogues Shifter Series Book 3) Online
Authors: Gayle Parness
TWISTED
Book #3 in the Rogues Shifter Series
GAYLE PARNESS
Copyright 2011 Gayle Parness
To those who continue to support my efforts
with their open hearts and their smiling accolades,
I hope I do you proud.
"We learn
through pain until we evolve
to learn through joy."
The teachings of Buddha
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Jackie:12:00 AM Wednesday
I dreamt
There was a gentle rain falling
as Garrett and I entered the woods, his long fingers playfully weaving through mine as we walked among the ancient sentinels. Our footsteps were silent on the path cut long ago through the brush by the forest’s smaller residents. As I filled my lungs with my mate's sweet scent and the musky smell of the damp forest, we came to a clearing where the branches and leaves formed a roof of sorts and the rain found no outlet to the ground. We rested on the soft, dry forest floor, leaning shoulder to shoulder with our backs against a redwood trunk.
Garrett stroked my face with his knuckles and lifted my chin. His
glittering sapphire eyes spoke to me of his love.
“
Je viens pour vous. I'm coming for you."
He kissed me gently on the lips. "
Never doubt it."
I jerked awake, painfully aware of the burning ache in my upper arms and the jackhammer-like throbbing in my head. My hands were tied tightly behind my back at the wrists and I could barely feel my fingers when I tried to wiggle them. Although my ankles weren’t tied together, my legs and bare feet felt bruised, as if I’d been dragged and banged around on the journey.
I opened my eyes.
I was on the bare mattress of a double bed in a room with cement walls and no windows. The only light came from a small lamp that sat on a wooden dresser opposite the bed. In the corner was a small wooden table and two chairs. I noticed a cool breeze and looked up. There was a vent in the concrete ceiling, covered by the usual metal grid.
With awareness
, came memory and then fear, causing adrenaline to pour into my system. My heart jumped in my chest and a chilled sweat begin to seep under my arms and along my hairline. Kennet was nowhere to be seen, so I wiggled my arms to try to loosen the bindings. Making no progress, I wrenched and twisted my body to see the other side of the room. Jolts of pain rewarded me for my efforts, so I bit my lip to keep from crying out or moaning. I might be alone, but someone could be right outside, outside of what? I looked again. There was no door, except the one that led to a small bathroom.
I took a breath to steady myself and tried to think about something other than the pain. As Kennet had promised, he’d allowed me to call Garrett. That meant that Bridgett should be safely back at our house. I hoped that she wasn’t in bad shape and that Garrett didn’t blame her for what happened
. From the way she’d mumbled when she'd spoken to me on the phone, I was fairly sure that her face was probably swollen from a beating. Garrett or Liam would be able to take care of any serious wounds, and the others she’d heal on her own with her shifter powers.
Garrett must have read my note and understood why I’d agreed to the trade. At least I hoped he understood. There was no way I could have left her in Kennet’s hands. This was not her fight and I couldn’t allow her to suffer because of my big mouth. I’d stupidly insulted a fae lor
d, making him an enemy. My impulsive behavior had put everyone in danger. Ethan had almost died because of me. Bridgett’s only mistake was to stupidly go out alone against Garrett’s orders. He’d be angry with her, but I trusted that his level head would win out over his rage.
I visualized him reading the note that I’d left on my bed. What did I write? T
ake care of Bridgett, that I knew he’d find me and that he was my heart. That’s all I could remember although I’m sure there was something else. He'd laughed at me when I’d called, before I’d had a chance to tell him where Bridgett was. I’d had no time for long goodbyes, but I’d made a point of saying, “Je t’aime, mon ange,” and I knew he'd feel my love in those few, intimate words.
I looked around the room once more. Where was I? I definitely wasn’t in Faerie.
This was more like where he'd kept the fae he'd kidnapped with the help of Bridgett's werewolf pack.
My brain cleared enough to remind
me that I could get out of my bindings by connecting to the magic. I sent out my usual mental thread; only this time it crashed into a solid wall where there should have been a river of magic. For the first time since I’d learned to use them, I couldn’t access the power of the ley lines.
I felt myself starting to panic, my breaths coming fast and shallow. To prevent the terror from consuming me, I dug my nails into my palms
and let the pain bring me back to reality. If I couldn’t think clearly, I wouldn’t be able to plan an escape.
“Escape isn’t possible, Jacqueline.” Kennet’s voice was rich
in tone and full of its usual arrogance. My gut cramped up, threatening to bring up the contents of my stomach. He always had that effect on me, the snake. He stood alongside the bed, having appeared magically out of nowhere. Obviously, he'd had no trouble with the lines, which meant the block was only keyed in to me.
He was dressed in breeches, boots and a loose shirt, fitted at the waist with a belt and scabbard which housed a blade. He was in fighting gear, perhaps prepared for
a rescue attempt. That cheered me up as did his slightly frazzled expression. His waist length blonde hair was unkempt and his deep purple eyes looked tired. He knew that Lord Caelen and the other fae Elders were searching for him, and that when they found him, he'd be in serious shit.
My body
began trembling from exhaustion and he smirked. "You don’t need to fear me, as long as you don’t prove uncooperative. You are an intelligent woman, Jacqueline. Your mate and your friends will be safe as long as you obey me. I will let you go after the birth of my heir. I swear that this is the truth. I’m sure that your
vampire
will take you back when I’m finished with you.” He referred to Garrett with disgust. Kennet thought that all races were beneath the fae and him in particular.
M
y hands were suddenly free of their bindings. I groaned from the pain of renewed circulation as I struggled to sit up, rubbing my wrists vigorously. I was dressed in a long, soft sleeveless gown in light green with a deep v-neck. I saw him staring at my breasts as I moved, so I tried to pull the neck of the dress up to cover myself.
He smiled at my feeble attempt at modesty. “I’m going to leave you to
recover and regain your strength. There is food on the table and there are blankets for the bed in the drawers. The bath is through that door. This is your sleeping chamber for the time being. If you please me, I will move you somewhere much more luxurious. If you don’t, then I will find a way to force you. As you’ve seen, I won’t hesitate to use someone you care about to convince you to cooperate. The snow leopard is quite lovely.”
He sent to my mind an image of Sinc tied up and crying out in pain, her beautiful face a bloody mess. I couldn’t stop myself from
gasping in shock, making him smile as he disappeared into the magic.
I dragged myself off of the bed to stumble into the other room and splash cool water on my face, wiping away the few te
ars that had forced their way out, despite my best efforts to hold them back. There was no mirror—no glass anywhere—probably a wise move on his part.
Moving like a zombie back into the main room, I sat, causing the
edge of the bed to dip. It was a relief that he'd left, but what now? I rubbed my arms, bit my lip and began to formulate a plan.
Chapter Two
Garrett: 12:00 AM Wednesday
That bastard had her.
I looked over at Bridgett crying on the couch and couldn’t bring myself to care about her pain or
her guilt. Sinc was trying to comfort her, but all I wanted to do was force as much information out of her as I could and then drain her and rip out her throat. I could feel my fangs grazing against my bottom lip, anxious to sink deeply into her flesh and drink her dry. The familiar tingling sensation in my eyes alerted me to the fact that they were fully silver. My hands were clenched into fists and I was breathing in her scent, making my mouth water in anticipation. The smell of the blood on her face and her clothes was starting to make me forget that she was Jackie’s sister.
“Garrett, you'
re frightening her.”
Liam was in my mind and he was angry. "
You won’t get any information that way. Try glamouring her.”
“I’d rather drain her.”
I pulled back my lips in a snarl.
“Garrett, completement givre!
"
Liam was telling me that I was out of control in French, hoping that these warnings would get my attention where his English demands hadn’t.
I turned to look at him, shocked at his furious expression.
There he stood, still wearing the sweatpants Jackie had lent him when he'd showed up at the house exhausted and ill from the executions he’d been forced to carry out. His skin was pale but his eyes held flecks of angry gold as his temper flared.
“Glamour her and get the information we need, so we can find Jackie.”
I
was clinging to my rage like a life raft, because allowing myself to feel anything else would unravel me
. “You glamour her. Then I’ll rip out her throat.”
I turned back to Bridgett. My expression must have been fairly terrifying because she took one look at me and buried her swollen face in Sinc’s shoulder, whimpering softly.
“Garrett, you’re vamping out. You’re not helping Jackie this way.”
I could smell fear wafting off of both of them. I was scaring Sinc almost as much as Bridgett.