Beneath a Blood Moon (21 page)

“He has something I need that only he can provide.” The woman shrugged. “I will ease your hunger, but it will not last long. We’ll shower. You’ll feel refreshed.”

“You’ll try. I’ll kill you,” I promised, and my wolf quieted as I considered my new prey.

“You won’t. I am a water witch. Your body will be mine to control. You’ll cooperate, one way or another. It’ll be far more pleasant for both of us if you come along quietly.”

“Pass,” I replied. “If I have to put up with his rot, he can live with my stench.”

Brandy laughed. “I was trying to be nice to you. You already know how humiliating it is if he has to take care of you.”

“Being nice to me would be letting me kill that bastard,” I snarled, jerking my arms in the futile attempt to free myself. All I accomplished was making my shoulders and arms throb.

“If only I could. If you cooperate with him, he’ll treat you well. You’ll be his, but you’ll be comfortable. It has to hurt, hanging like that.”

It did, but I shook my head. “Never.”

“He’ll wear you down. He’ll get under your skin. He’ll win. You can’t fight him, girl. It’s better for you if you quit while you’re ahead. You’ve earned his respect, and now you are earning his rage. He’ll make you his mate, and he’ll care for you until you’ve outlived your usefulness. Because you’ll be his mate, that will be many years from now. You’ll be too valuable to him. The strength of your fury and passion is too much for him to waste.”

“I’ll never become his mate.”

“He’ll force you to. That’s part of his power. He can sever bonds, and he can forge them anew. He can force you and your wolf to accept him. I know. I’ve mated with each and every one of these wolves multiple times. Each time I do, he breaks the bond, and when they’re desperate enough, he forges them again and gains power from their lust and passion.” With a faint smile, Brandy glanced in the direction of one of the exhausted Fenerec. “Kent’s had that one here for months. I’ve mated with him many times. He’s so wild I doubt he even remembers his name anymore. Wolves don’t have names, not like we do. Kent controls that, too. There’s nothing human about them anymore except for their bodies. He doesn’t allow them to shift. It’ll kill them, eventually. He denies them their basic nature.”

I shuddered, and my wolf was so horrified she retreated until her presence was a shivering chill in the back of my head. “That’s terrible.”

“It is, but I value my life. So long as I work with him, he’ll give me what I need.”

I considered the woman, and deciding she was far better company than the lustful wolves or the sorcerer, I asked, “And what do you need?”

“A way to destroy the Inquisition, of course. I feel for you, but your mate is only one of the first who must die.”

While I had heard Desmond, Wendy, and Sanders discuss the Inquisition, I didn’t truly understand what the organization did—or why someone would hate it so much to torture so many to bring about the Inquisition’s end. “Why?”

Brandy frowned. “You can’t guess?”

If I could have, I would have shrugged. “Sorry. Sanders didn’t exactly have time to tell me much about the Inquisition.”

“They’re hunting me. They’ll hunt me until I’m dead unless I can destroy them. They’ll hunt Kent until he’s dead, too.” Circling around me, Brandy touched her hand to my back, massaging her way to my shoulders. “He’s going to sever your mating bond with that Alpha soon. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. He might wait a few extra days to savor harvesting your mate’s rage, fury, and anguish. He’s already taken your mating bond from you, controlling it as he desires. You can’t feel your mate anymore, can you?”

I never could, but I remained silent. Would our bond have been something I would have treasured, had I been given some time? My wolf thought so, and her despair chilled me from within.

“I think if the circumstances were a little different, I’d like you. You’re tough. You make me think it’s possible for someone to stand up to him. God knows I can’t.” Brandy massaged my aching shoulders, and I hissed from the pain her touch caused. “You won’t be able to kill him, but if you could, I would repay you well for your efforts. Who knows? You can resist his touch. You withstand his kiss without opening your legs for him. Maybe you can find a way. That would be interesting.”

She left me hanging from the ceiling, whistling a merry tune as she passed through the silver chains of my prison.

Brandy was right about one thing: my defiance angered the sorcerer. When he couldn’t make me suffer as he wanted, he turned his attention to the male Fenerec. Their screams chilled my blood, and my wolf’s horror became my own.

One of them died, and the stench of his death lingered long after his body had been taken away.

“If you had cooperated, he’d still be alive,” Kent informed me, grumbling something under his breath as he stalked around me. “Why do you resist me? You can no longer feel your mate. Your bond with him belongs to me now. I’ll break it at my leisure, and when I do, you’ll live with the knowledge I’ll become your new mate. You can’t deny me. I will control you. You will desire me, and if I am feeling generous, I will satisfy you far more than that Alpha ever could.”

I shuddered at the memory of his frigid mouth on mine. Knowing it would anger him and doing it for that reason alone, I remained silent and still. I lacked the strength to stand on my own, but the pain of my weight pulling on my shoulders and arms came second to the gnawing agony in my stomach. My wolf’s longing for our mate died away, and she sank into a bottomless despair I couldn’t rescue her from.

She left me to face the sorcerer alone. I didn’t blame her; all of her hope was gone, and the vibrant spark of her life faded under our continued helplessness.

“Why do you defy me?” he demanded.

“You’ll never be my mate.”

I would do anything I could to resist him and keep him from getting what he wanted, even if it meant I died. I think he saw my determination in my eyes, because his mouth twisted into a sneer, and he smashed the back of his hand against the side of my face. The blow left me dazed, and I shook my head in the feeble attempt to clear my vision. For several sickening moments, there were two Kents, and they growled at me.

“Look what you made me do,” he snapped, seizing my chin to force me to face him. He held up his hand, and blood dripped from one of his knuckles. “You will be mine, and I will enjoy wringing every ounce of life out of you once I have you. First, I will finish destroying your bond with that Alpha. I’ll let you stew for a few days while the shock of it wears off. Then, I will have you once and for all.”

“Doesn’t it get old, Kent? Doesn’t it get tiresome and boring repeating the same worthless drivel at me?” I spit on him, and my blood stained his cheek. “Pray I never break free, you bastard. Should I, you will die. If I can, I’ll give you to my mate so he can have his vengeance for Mary’s death. I will enjoy watching him tear you apart. I hope he lets me help him. I want to dance in your blood.”

“He won’t want you, the damaged goods you’ll be once I’m done with you. You’ll betray him in my bed, and I will enjoy every moment of it.”

“It must be so difficult being unable to find a woman without using your filthy, disgusting magic to force her to your bed. You’ll never be a real man. You’ll never be a match for Sanders. You’re a repulsive, worthl—”

He slammed his fist into my gut and pummeled me until I slumped unconscious in my bonds.

I dreamed, but when I finally awoke, all I remembered was a heartrending grief so strong my eyes blurred from my tears. The other Fenerec were quiet, and by the time I could focus on them, I realized at least one of them was dead. The scent of his decay choked off my breath.

I had no way of knowing how long I had been unconscious. My face, chest, and stomach hurt from the sorcerer’s beating, but the pain of my shoulders and arms was worse. It took several tries to get my feet under me to relieve some of my agony. Shuddering, I shook my head, blinking away my tears.

It hurt to breathe, and when I swallowed, I realized my throat was bruised, although I had no memories of Kent touching my neck. I trembled, wondering what he had done to me after I had lost consciousness. I shifted my weight from foot to foot.

Kent must have strangled me in his fury. I bared my teeth in a silent snarl, twisting around to stare at my fellow captives. They remained still, but I saw the rise and fall of their chests. The male Brandy had favored, so far as I could tell, was dead.

I pitied the witch, wondering if his death had hurt her. Had Kent killed him to torment his accomplice, or had it been an accident in his fury over my refusal? I wouldn’t ask.

If the Fenerec’s death hurt her, I hoped she suffered as much as I did. Even under the influence of wolfsbane, I had been aware of my wolf. I was truly alone in my head, and I despaired.

If I truly had a bond with Sanders, Kent had destroyed it, leaving nothing but a memory of my mate’s warmth. Although I no longer felt my wolf’s emotions, I was startled by the depth of my sorrow.

Somehow, Sanders had gotten so far under my skin; the thought of him being gone left me trembling. The pain didn’t last long before my rage ignited. I stared at each of the Fenerec surrounding me, taking in their bruised and silver-blackened skin and the motionless way they sprawled on the concrete. I breathed in deep and recognized the truth.

Death would come for them soon enough, and there was nothing I could do about it. In a way, I envied them.

When they died, their pain would cease. I had no idea when my time would come. With or without my wolf, I would endure long enough to witness Kent’s death for what he had done. If I died in the process, no one would know.

I doubted anyone would care for more than a moment. Would Sanders? How could he?

We hadn’t known each other for long, though I was grateful I had the chance to be with him. I clung to the memory of him, anchored my determination to the little bit of happiness I had found in his arms, and steeled myself for what I would do.

I would kill Kent, or I would die trying.

There was nothing else left for me.

When Kent returned, exhaustion weighed heavily on me, and it took all of my flagging strength to remain on my feet. I watched him through half-lidded eyes as he checked on the Fenerec, shaking his head at the dead body.

“If it hadn’t been for you, he’d still be alive.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. The motion hurt. “I didn’t kill him. You did. I am not responsible for the deeds your hands have wrought.”

“You were a literature student, weren’t you?” the sorcerer asked, his tone disgusted. “What antiquated nonsense.”

Brandy came down the stairs with a camera in her hand. She flashed me a smile, but her dark eyes remained stony and cold. “I’ve brought it, Kent.”

“Good. Get a good shot of the Fenerec. Maybe one of them belonged to him, too.” Touching my cheek, the sorcerer pressed close to me, his breath hot against my skin. “I’ve decided I won’t enjoy you in my bed, but that I’ll take you here where you stand. I’ll give your mate—your former mate, that is—that camera as a present to show him what he’s lost. When he breaks, I will harvest him as surely as I will harvest from you now.”