Belonging (34 page)

Several minutes later, still stuck to the corner wall, she heard a slow, mocking clap but couldn’t locate its source. Turned out…it was Lucifer calling.

“Well done, Analise Aster. You’re more powerful than I’d hoped. And while I would love to see what other tricks you may have up your sleeve, I can’t have you harming any more of my men. I need each and every one for what you and I will accomplish, together with your sister when she joins us. We’ll be a family, at last. As it should be. As it always should have been.”

Xavier’s voice slithered over her like a hundred centipedes, the creepiest, nastiest insects on earth. The noxious feeling it left in its wake was beyond repulsive and a dozen showers wouldn’t scrub it away. This was it…Xavier was her happiness sucker.

“I think you may be a bit delusional, Pops.”
That
was her brilliant reply? How about
not in your fucking lifetime
, or
whatever you just took a hit of must have come from a bad batch.

He cackled, and if his speaking voice was akin to centipedes, his laughter was akin to a thousand knitting needles being repeatedly stabbed into her skull. It was agony. “I am most definitely delusional, Analise. You’ll come to love that most about me, I guarantee it. Now, I’m truly sorry that it’s come to this, but I’m afraid it’s time for you to sleep. I’ll see your pretty face when you wake and are more…secured. It’s time for a long overdue father-daughter reunion.”

A toxic fog began seeping from the ceiling. She lay on the floor holding her breath, trying in vain to escape. Finally, she had to take a breath and couldn’t help the fingers of sleep that came to take her directly to the devil himself.

“Play along, Analise. Appear malleable, but a little recalcitrant. Be reluctantly agreeable. Appear confident, but be scared. He needs you, but he will not think twice about killing you. If you’re too accommodating, he’ll see right through you, and you’re dead. Most importantly and probably the most difficult will be convincing him you do not love Damian, but in order to survive until he arrives, that you must.”

Mara vanished as Analise was yanked from her guidance with freezing cold water to the face.
How cliché.

Her hands and feet were bound and she was sitting in an oddly comfortable leather chair that didn’t seem to mesh with the meager surroundings. And standing in front of her was the most monstrous, hideous creature she’d ever had the displeasure to lay eyes on. This was her father, no doubt.

She was reminded of the first time she saw a picture of Ted Bundy, one of the most infamous serial killers in the United States. Ted didn’t exactly get her womanly juices flowing, but he wasn’t repulsive either. The point was, he didn’t
look
like a serial murderer. Her father, however? Next to the words sinister, vile and malevolent was a picture of his hideously scarred mug. His aura was the blackest of blacks, oozing poisonous toxins. He stood statue still, regarding her with an eerie silence. Her stomach rolled. It made her physically sick to be in the same vicinity.

Her mother’s words reverberated around like a steel ball hitting the flippers in a pinball machine.
“…the most difficult will be convincing him you do not love Damian, but in order to survive until he arrives, that you must.”
You must. Why couldn’t she just set him on fire and be done with it? She began to do just that when her mother appeared as solid as a live human being directly in front of Xavier. Analise gasped.

“You mustn’t, Analise.”

Well, why the hell not?

“What are you mumbling about, girl?” said Xavier stonily.

Did he not see Mara?

“No. He can’t see me. If you want to make it out of this alive, you must follow my instructions exactly, Analise. Exactly.” Then she vanished again.

‘Hey. Mom, I know what would have really helped. A damn heads up that I was going to be kidnapped, that’s what!’ she screamed in her head. Except she did do that, didn’t she? Just with a brainteaser she hadn’t been quick enough to solve.

“Were you enjoying your stay with the lords, Analise?” Xavier asked, still nonchalantly leaning against the wall like she was here for tea and crumpets. But his cool façade wasn’t fooling her, anger wafted from him in dark, crashing waves that rolled over her like sticky tar.

“About as much as I’m enjoying our little visit,” she retorted. Analise needed to draw on every single acting skill she’d developed over her short twenty-three years.

His grotesque smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Well, you must have enjoyed it a little,” he quipped, glancing at her bonding mark.

Oh shit.

“Sex is sex.” She would have to be more convincing than this if she wanted to live past the next five minutes. Movement to her right caused her heart to sink into her stomach. It was the vampire she’d seen worshipfully touching Beth…like Damian would touch her. And although he didn’t resemble Damian now, she would recognize his aura anywhere.

Double shit.

She was screwed. How could she feign indifference when he’d clearly seen how concerned she was about Damian?

“Is that so?” Xavier pushed himself away from the wall, stopping directly in front of her. Her own betrayal cut through her like a piece of dull jagged glass as she uttered her next words, taking something Damian had said with such love and caring and twisting it into something mean and cruel. She was Judas and the pain that stabbed her heart when she uttered the words cut deep.

“My heart is my own. I may have given my body, but that’s it.”
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. You’re dead if you cry, Analise
. She also couldn’t look at the vampire standing in the corner while she used all of her skill trying to convince her father she wasn’t in love with Damian.

He leaned down, his putrid breath feathering across her face, his hard stare delving into her soul. “I think you’re lying.”

“You don’t know me well enough make that determination,” she replied flatly.

Xavier smirked, now taking a seat in the chair across from her. “She’s got fire, doesn’t she, Geoffrey?” Another piece of the puzzle fell soundly into place.

Geoffrey, the vampire sent to Dragonfly to kidnap her, answered, “I think she demonstrated that earlier, my lord.” Their gazes connected and she knew he knew. Geoffrey knew she was lying, yet he remained silent. Why?

“Well, it’s a shame you made such a hasty decision, Analise. We’ll have to work that much harder to undo the effects of the bonding. But never fear, I’m sure my researchers can figure that out in short order. In the meantime…” Xavier held a hand out to Geoffrey, who placed a very large, very scary-looking syringe filled with a clear liquid in it. Was she mistaken or had she seen a twinge of regret in Geoffrey’s eyes?

Okay, Mom. Now would be the time for some direction, some instruction, anything.
But her mother remained silent as Analise was stuck with the painfully large needle right in the thigh, the thick fluid burning as it was pushed in.

Analise began to panic. What if they were giving her something to reverse her bonding to Damian? She would never forgive herself. Why was she listening to her mother anyway? She should have ashed Xavier’s ass the second she opened her eyes.

“Why don’t I get her something to eat, my lord? We’ll need her in proper shape.” Geoffrey briefly glanced at her again and she read his intentions as clearly as if he’d spoken them aloud.
Get your shit together or you’re dead.
Why was he helping her when he brought her into this hellhole to begin with? She felt like she’d entered an alternate universe and she had no clue where the damn door was to get back home.

For the last several days, they’d fallen into a similar pattern. She’d be gassed, wake up tied to a chair and Xavier would grill her about the lords, about where they lived, could she find their homes, did they know where Xavier was? He asked her about Kate, about her pregnancy, which was a shocker. Damian most certainly did not tell her she had a niece or nephew on the way. Oddly enough, Xavier didn’t mention anything about a third child; he only ever discussed her and Kate, so she assumed he didn’t know. She gave him half-truths, generalities. Enough to appear cooperative, but not enough to put her family in danger. At least she hoped not. The fact of the matter was, she didn’t know the answers to most of his questions and that simply angered him more.

She’d been stabbed with the terrifying needle each day, but Xavier wouldn’t reveal its contents, no matter how much she’d begged. Which was often. Strangely enough when her mother was absent, Geoffrey grounded her, keeping her from a complete meltdown and out-and-out despair. He even protected her from Xavier’s wrath, convincing Xavier not to hurt her—
much
.
Remember the plan, my lord
, he’d say. But it was clear Geoffrey was treading a thin line with Xavier as well. Xavier was like a rabid animal, unpredictable. You never knew when he was going to attack.

“It’s time,” her mother whispered.

“I know,” replied Analise quietly, unable to keep Hope from bubbling over. If there was ever a time she needed to believe in the ever-elusive
Hope
, it was now. She concentrated all her hope and light and love into one swirling blast of protective energy. A battle was brewing and she needed to not only protect herself, but to be a beacon for her mate to easily find her.

Today, the gassing would end. Today, the needles would end. Today, the endless inquiry and threats would end. Today, her hell would end. Because today, Damian was coming for her. And he was close.

C
hapter
49

Damian

During this battle with Xavier, they’d have a couple of very powerful secret weapons. Circo had the ability to sense what skills another vampire possessed. That came in very handy during an operation such as this. With that knowledge, they were able to quietly and efficiently eliminate the twenty rogues outside the compound with few injuries sustained, except for Manny, who was bleeding profusely from a gaping hole in his shoulder. Damian thought if he held a flashlight to it, he’d be able to see clean through to the back.

“Stay back with Maeve,” Damian ordered.

“With all due respect, my lord, I’m fine. And I’m not babysitting a witch again while everyone else gets in on the fun.” Manny’s insolent tone set his teeth on edge, even though he understood. Manny had been stuck back with the traitorous Esmeralda during the last raid on Xavier’s lair when Kate had been kidnapped.

“If I let you get killed, Dev will have my head. Or Kate, which is probably far worse come to think of it.” Manny was still Kate’s personal bodyguard and she had quite a fondness for the vamp. It was already bad enough he would return him injured, although it would only take a few days to fully recover.

“Fuck!” Manny snapped.

Damian slapped his good shoulder in understanding. Shifting his attention. “Ren, how’s it looking on the inside?”

“Recon showed twenty-two rogues spread out over three floors. Fifteen are on the first floor, which is also where most of the humans appear to be, so this time it appears they are very heavily guarded, which wasn’t the case last time. At the bottom of the first set of stairs, there are twenty rooms that line the hallway straight ahead. Each room contains one human, which we have to assume are the missing girls.” Ren looked pointedly at Damian. “I sense something different about a human in the second to the last room on the left.”

Ren wasn’t able to confirm that particular human was Analise, but Damian’s gut was wailing it was. He nodded sharply. That would be the first room Damian checked out.

“A dozen humans occupy the lowest level, mostly concentrated in a room at the north end of the building. If this is anything like the last time, those will be Xavier’s human minions and we need them alive if at all possible. Two rogues are on the middle floor and the remaining five are on the lowest level. Remember the last time we couldn’t flash while inside the building, so expect that to be the case this time as well.”

“Can you talk to your mate?” Rom asked.

No. And it scared the living shit out of him. He didn’t respond, and an uncomfortable silence hung thickly in the air.

“Xavier and Geoffrey?” Damian asked. Because Circo could sense a vampire’s unique skill, they should be able to pinpoint Xavier and Geoffrey’s exact whereabouts,
if
they were here. He personally wanted to remove Geoffrey’s head from his shoulders and, given the chance, he would gladly do so.

Circo was quiet for several beats, almost trancelike. “Geoffrey is in the lowest level. I’m not sensing Xavier. I’m sorry, my lord.”

Shit!
“That doesn’t mean anything. Xavier masked his presence last time, so he could be doing it again with the help of a witch.”

Damian and Rom exchanged knowing glances. Looked like Rom would get the honor of killing Geoffrey since his one and only mission was on level one and Xavier might escape their clutches yet again. So be it. All that mattered right now was Analise.

“Let’s go.”

________

After breaking the flimsy lock on the outside that any human thief worth his salt could conquer, they entered an abandoned building, which looked like an empty, dilapidated storage unit on the inside. It didn’t take but seconds for Ren to locate the hidden door that led downstairs.

The battle started before they’d breached the heavy steel secured door at the end of the stairway as two mammoth rogues flashed directly in front of them. A white-hot pain knifed through his skull, the sonic scream let loose by one of the rogues deafening, nearly bringing him to his knees. He let loose a string of expletives under his breathe. A lesser vampire would have succumbed, losing his own head in the process. But with one swipe of his razor sharp blade instead, the rogue’s head rolled at his feet. It was blessed fucking relief. And with simply a thought, his remains were nothing but ash.