Blood Rites (27 page)

Chapter 29

Jacque
reclined in the chair, slightly more
comfortable than when she had first woken up now that Dr. Steele,
or Cynthia as she insisted she call her, had given her some pain
medication. She continued to reach out to Fane, although not always
with words, mostly just to feel that he was still there, that the
bond was still open between them. She had decided not to mention to
Fane just yet what Logan had planned. She had been diligently
trying to block part of her thoughts from him so he wouldn't know
that Logan was going to try to get her to take his blood. Jacque
was sure that if Fane had not killed anyone yet, that little bit of
information would tilt the scale.

"Jacque, how are you feeling?" she heard Cynthia
ask.

"The pain is tolerable right now," Jacque answered,
turning to look at the doctor.

Jacque eased up into a sitting position in order to
look directly at Cynthia without having to turn her head. Logan had
taken the handcuffs off their hands when he told them that he had
put a lock on the outside of the door. They each still had a foot
cuffed to the chairs but at least they could move a little. After
Logan had removed the handcuffs and left the room, Cynthia had told
Jacque that she could hear another man in the cabin. At first
Jacque was going to ask how she could possibly hear that, but then
rolling her eyes, she remembered, oh yeah, werewolf.

"Who do you think it is?" Jacque asked.

"Maybe a member of his pack. There's no way Logan
would leave us here by ourselves if he needed supplies. He has to
have someone helping him and it's rare for a wolf to seek out a
human's help."

Jacque thought about her words and realized that
could be useful to Fane.

"Fane, there is another man here with Logan. We
haven't seen him but Dr. Steele says she can hear him."

"Ask Dr. Steele to see if she can hear Logan use a
name. Any name Logan might say could be useful."

"Okay. Where are you?"
Jacque asked.

"We are on the plane on our way to Denver. Sally
wants me to tell you..."
Jacque felt the reluctance in Fane
tell her

"She wants you to tell me what?"
Jacque
prompted.

"This really should be a conversation that you
have with your friends, but Sally won't let up, so, she wants me to
tell you that Decebel saw Jen naked."
Jacque could hear the
embarrassment in his words and she could picture Jen threatening to
throw Sally out of the plane.

"What!"
Jacque actually spoke out loud as well
as in her mind before she could stop herself. Cynthia gave a start
at Jacque's sudden outburst. Jacque looked at her timidly. "I'm
okay, just some technical difficulties."

"You're talking to Fane, aren't you?" Cynthia asked
her.

Jacque nodded and then directed her thoughts back to
Fane.
"I really want to know why Jen was naked in front of him,
but I know what they are doing, they're trying to distract
me."

"Distraction is Jen's specialty, love."

"Keep me posted, wolf-man. I'm gonna try and see
what Dr. Steele knows."
Jacque tried to block out the pain that
had begun to burn through her body, she swore it felt like someone
was trying to cook her from the inside out.

"Jacquelyn, you're in pain, what's wrong?"

She heard the worry in his voice and felt him pouring
love through their bond. She had to cut him off until she could get
herself under control or she would drive him mad, knowing she was
hurting and out of his reach.

"I'm fine, wolf-man, just some cramps. I'm gonna get
some rest before Logan comes back. I love you."

"I'm with you, Luna."

"I know, wolf-man."

Cynthia watched as Jacque curled into a ball, her
eyes squeezed closed as if trying to shut out the pain that was
tearing through her. She didn't ask if there was anything she could
do to help because she knew there wasn't. Until Jacque got wolf
blood she would continue to hurt, and more than likely it would get
worse. Finally Jacque's body relaxed, but the pain had left her
breathless and she strained to drag air into her lungs.

"Be honest, doc," Jacque spoke, opening her eyes and
fixing them on her, "how much worse is this going to get?"

She knew that she wouldn't want to be lied to, nor
would she want the truth sugar coated, so she wouldn't do that to
one of her patients either. "It's going to get a lot worse, Jacque.
Your body is going to continue to attack itself and if you don't
get the wolf blood your organs will begin to shut down. I know
that's not what you want to hear, but I will always be honest with
you."

Jacque nodded. "Do you know how long it could take? I
mean, do you think I will be able to hold out until Fane gets
here?"

"You sound so sure that he will find you." The look
in Cynthia's eyes said she didn't think Fane had a hope in
hell.

"He will find me, of that I have no doubt," Jacque
said with confidence. "But the interim is what concerns me. You
see, I'm not too keen on the idea of taking Logan's blood. So I'm
just trying to prepare myself."

Jacque watched as Cynthia met her gaze and without
ever blinking, told her, "Prepare for the worst."

Jacque didn't say anything more after that. She slept
when the pain would abate but would come awake screaming when it
returned. She was constantly trying to focus on keeping her shield
up in her mind so Fane wouldn't know how bad she was hurting. Every
now and then she would simply say his name through their bond just
to hear his response. She remembered waking a couple of times to
the sound of Cynthia telling her to eat, but food had no appeal
because she knew she would just throw it up. Another time she was
awake, Cynthia tried to get her to drink something but again Jacque
refused. She didn't know how long she had been in this room with
Cynthia, she didn't know if it had been hours or days. All she knew
was the pain was getting worse and though she bit her lip fighting
the need to scream, it didn't work.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Her scream died down into sobs that shook
her body. The door to the room flew open and Logan came rushing
in.

"Cynthia, what's wrong?" He looked over to see Jacque
writhing in pain, her face so contorted it hurt to watch. "Fix
her!" Logan yelled at the doctor who was sitting across from
Jacque, syringe of pain medication already in hand.

"The pain medicine isn't lasting as long. Sedating
her would be the only way to stop the pain," Cynthia snarled, her
lips curling back to show her teeth.

"NO!" Jacque ground out. The thought of not being
able to reach Fane was unbearable, she would rather endure her
present torment. "No sedation, please, no."

Logan knelt down beside her and tried to take her
hand is his, but Jacque jerked away. "Don't touch me!"

Logan growled, his eyes narrowed, and his lips drew
into a thin line. He turned to Cynthia. "Tomorrow we will try
giving her my blood."

"No, no blood," Jacque moaned as she continued to
fight through the hurt.

"Jacque, the blood will make you better, you don't
know what you saying," Logan tried to persuade her.

Jacque opened her eyes and looked directly at Logan.
"Not
your
blood. Never your blood," she ground out through
her teeth, but loud enough for him to hear.

Logan snarled at her as her rejection slapped him in
the face. He felt a rage come over him and wanted to break
something, anything. He grabbed Jacque's arm and jerked her forward
so that her face was inches from his. The hold he had on her felt
like at any moment her bones would snap in half.

"You will take my blood, you will be mine, and
there's nothing that pup can do about it." His eyes were glowing
dangerously as he snarled at her and although she knew she
shouldn't provoke him more, all sense of survival went out the
window.

"You may have taken me," her voice was barely a
whisper, "but I will never be yours." As if to punctuate her words
she snarled back and then spit in the wolf's face. Jacque watched
as his canines lengthened, felt his nails turn to claws against her
skin. Logan dropped her back to the chair and slapped her so hard
she was sure some teeth came loose.

"LOGAN! What the hell is wrong with you?" Jacque
heard Cynthia yell.

When Logan turned at the sound of her voice, Cynthia
saw Logan's eyes looked wild, his breathing rapid and uncontrolled.
Logan was being consumed by madness. She knew that males who lived
too long without mates could go insane, but he seemed to be
progressing at an incredible speed. In the four days she and Jacque
had been with him she had noticed his hunched shoulders, the
constant furrowed brow and narrowed eyes as his mood grew darker
and darker. The only thing that Cynthia could figure was that maybe
the idea of having Jacque wasn't truly doing anything to combat the
madness because she wasn't his true mate. The woman he thinks is
the one who will fill that dark abyss is rejecting him and the
precarious dam that had been held in place by the promise of a mate
had broken when Jacque had told him she would never be his. It was
then that Cynthia realized that Logan would do whatever it took to
have Jacque submit to him, even if it meant beating it into her.
She lunged for him, trying to grab the hand that was rearing back
to hit Jacque again.

Logan turned at the last minute and his fist
connected with Cynthia's face. She felt her jaw break and then the
lights went out.

Jacque saw Cynthia hit the floor from the force of
Logan's fist. Before she could call out to the doctor, Logan had
jerked her up by her hair. Jacque screamed at the sharp pain that
burst through her scalp. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt him
lean into her neck, taking in a deep breath. She wanted to vomit at
the idea of him taking in her scent, her skin crawled at the
contact of his against hers.

Logan sat down on the chair and pulled Jacque onto
his lap. He continued to grip her by her hair holding her in place.
She watched in sick fascination as he brought the forearm of his
free hand to his mouth and with the canines that had lengthened bit
down. The bite was so deep that his blood ran freely from the
wound. Logan turned and looked at her, the blood on his mouth
dripped down his chin as he spoke. "You shouldn't have pushed me,
Jacque. It could have been special, it could have been good, but
you pushed, so now we do it the hard way." As soon as Jacque
realized his intent, the pain was forgotten and her sole focus was
on doing whatever it took to get out of Logan's grasp. She kicked,
she clawed his arms and face, but he was too strong.

Jacque closed her eyes as she continued to struggle,
she gagged as soon as the felt his arm against her mouth, the smell
of iron hitting her nose just as she felt a warm, sticky substance
touch her lips. She struggled harder, but Logan had moved the hand
that had been holding her hair to her forehead to hold her head in
place. He pushed his arm harder against her mouth and then she felt
him clamp her nose shut. She tried so hard to hold her breath,
determined to die from lack of oxygen before she would swallow his
blood, but her body betrayed her. Almost as if against her will her
mouth relaxed and she gasped for air. Logan took the opportunity to
push his arm farther into her mouth. No matter how hard she
struggled, she couldn't stop the blood she felt flowing from his
arm down her throat.

Jacque's eyes jerked open when she felt the pressure
from her mouth recede as Logan pulled his arm away. The look in his
eyes was feral, dangerous. He continued to hold her head in place
as he replaced his mouth where his arm had been. Jacque tried to
squeeze her lips closed against the slot of his mouth and when that
didn't work she bit him as hard as she could. Logan jerked back,
but instead of the snarl she expected his lips were curled up into
what was an unnatural smile. "If I had known all it would take to
get you to bite me was a kiss, I could have saved myself a lot of
trouble, Jacque."

His voice was deceptively calm, but Jacque could see
the storm that lay just beneath the surface. He started to pull her
up and she closed her eyes, thinking that maybe now he would leave.
Her mind ached from fighting to keep Fane from hearing her, her
body hurt from its own abuse as well as Logan's.

Logan must have sensed the small amount of relief
that came over Jacque as he shifted her back to the chair because
he leaned down next to her ear and whispered, "Your turn," as he
ripped the neck of her shirt. Jacque instinctively turned away,
attempting to hide herself, but realized her mistake too late when
she heard Logan howl and his claws raked across her back, across
her mate's markings. Jacque screamed as her flesh tore, she felt
the warmth of her blood running across her skin. She felt Logan
lean down over her and run his tongue across her. And as she felt
his teeth pierce her skin, her lips screamed for the one who would
save her, but couldn't.

"FANE!" She screamed as she clawed at the chair,
trying to get out from underneath Logan, away from him, away from
his mouth. "STOP! Please stop," she sobbed and in between her sobs
she could hear him sucking greedily at her flesh and the sound made
her so sick that she vomited all over the floor. The smell from her
sickness must have pushed through the lust that had permeated
Logan's mind as he finally pulled back. She felt his weight leave
her body and heard the sound of his steps getting further away. She
looked up at him as he opened the door to the room that had become
her own personal hell. Through the tears in her eyes, she saw the
blood smeared all over the front of his shirt, and on his lips, her
blood. Logan looked back at her, "You may have his marks
on
you, but it's my blood that is
in
you." Jacque pressed her
face into the cushion of the chair as she heard the door close, and
as the lock clicked in place she felt something inside her
break.