Dangerous Lovers (197 page)

An uprising occurred in attempts to wipe out the ruling Elder races. Once all the Elder Races were thought to be destroyed the paranormal world split into clans, these clans were ruled by powerful families and rivalries began. The paranormal world had been unrest since creation of the clans.

Chapter One

Audrey

365 days in a year.

Multiply that by four.

Add by one—the leap year.

One thousand four hundred and sixty one days.

In four minutes, minus 30 seconds, it will be one thousand four hundred and sixty two.

I did not sigh. I did not cry. I did wonder, though, how I could miss something so completely, like a hole in my heart when I never had it before.

The first year, I craved a touch as if it were food. The second year, I knew without a doubt I would die without it, as if a touch itself was water. The third year, I tried to convince myself it wasn’t worth it. The fourth year, I had accepted my lies. But, lying to yourself is easier if you don’t clasp your arms around your once full, now sunken form. So this year, I would not fold into myself, close my eyes, and pretend. I looked at the clock.

Ten seconds. I’m fine.

Nine. I don’t need comfort.

Eight. Another year—whatever.

Seven. Another year.

Six. My hands had a will of their own.

Five. No, they didn’t.

Four. I am fi—

A wailing noise pierced the air, forcing my hands to my ears. It wouldn’t stop. They were playing with me now. My fifth year was beginning very cruelly. Maybe this year I’d surrender. It might be worth it for a handshake, even a lingering stare. No, not a stare. I flinched at the thought. Anything but a stare.

The noise wouldn’t stop. I touched my cheek. Tears that I’d thought had dried up long ago poured down my face. That’s when the door burst open. I shrieked and folded into myself pushing closer to the white walls surrounding me. Getting smaller meant less places they could attack. Less places they could stare.

He invaded the white. The room that was blank of color, of life, of anything. He filled it with colors and life. Color. I felt myself yearning for the color, but he was only specks of black. His black clothing covered him completely. Even his head was an emotionless, black void.

“Holy shit.” I wasn’t sure who said it— me or the faceless being. “Jacobs, we got one,” he said into his shirt. I watched him closely not sure what he had intended. He stepped closer and I flinched. I couldn’t see his eyes, I sensed his curious gaze. He couldn’t fully see me. He wasn’t scared yet. Maybe if I didn’t move he’d touch me without seeing me. I wondered what his human touch would feel like. I could live off that touch for years to come. I had made it this far with only violent touches. A light touch might help me survive for the rest of my life.

Another man rushed by, stopped, and then backtracked. He was hidden in the same clothing. The first man who entered turned and looked at the similar clad man. The new guy shrugged his shoulders. These, I knew, were not guards who lived here. The guards who worked here knew me. They didn’t hide their faces. They didn’t hide their eyes.

“What? Um… What should—” the first one said.

His voice traveled through my ears, making my body hum with pleasure. I closed my eyes, savoring it. Another human’s voice. I sighed, hating that I did. More footsteps and still the alarms sounded. I wasn’t scared. Death would be a gift for me, but these two strangers didn’t know this hell.

“You should go.” I whispered. I didn’t know how to say, “Save yourselves.” I knew if I said “save,” it would be followed by “me.” What hope I did have would disappear with them. The first stranger tilted his head. The second stifled a laugh. A laugh! I’d save that memory for the endless days.

“What’s your name?” the first one asked, ignoring the heavy footsteps drawing closer to my cell. I retreated from the scene that would erupt in a few moments. The steps stopped. All was silent, besides the blaring alarm, and in those moments of silence I clung to his question.

He moved a step closer and I moved away, hiding in the corner. I didn’t know him, but I knew his fate well enough. I knew what would happen once the men with faces came. The guards. The ones with the hateful stares and the snarls of disgust.

“Back off.” It was still the first one speaking. His voice was imprinted in my mind but this time, his voice had an edge. His steps were closer now. It was funny how ultra-sensitive I had become.

I tried to force myself into the wall, to become part of it. Funny, since part of me still craved the touch of another human, his touch, which was getting closer. I heard a strange rustling but didn’t move. He must have been inches away. I turned around suddenly, my whole face now exposed, as was his. The no longer faceless man looked at me in horror, in shock. I knew why he looked that way but I checked the room. Five other faceless men stood in the doorway. I saw them in enhanced color, and I tried to focus. Some of their heartbeats were irregular and intense.

The no longer faceless man moved toward me. I moved my eyes to him again. He was the first man I’d seen in four years and ten minutes who didn’t look at me with pure hatred. He was handsome. He had a flawless tanned face with a clean cut jaw, and dark black hair that took away all the colors again. I couldn’t force myself to meet his eyes. I turned away. My tangled hair, hid one side of my face. The side that made no longer faceless man look at me like I was a monster.

“What’s your name?” he asked again, his perfectly full lips no longer muffled.

“Stone, grab her and let’s go. We don’t have time,” the second man spoke again.

I pulled every part of my body close, trying to escape their words. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his movements, his arms outstretched. I didn’t realize that I whimpered.

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered.

I know you won’t. It’s not you I’m worried about,
I thought to myself. He reached for me. My clothes covered me preventing the skin to skin contact that I craved. I hated that I wanted it. My back tightened, and I tried to move. The only escape would be if I could become part of the wall.

“I promise you are safe now.” Then, he touched me. Four years and five minutes of never touching or seeing another human. The closer he moved, fear coated my body like a warm blanket. The moment his hands touched me the fear became overwhelming. It took over and pulled me into darkness.

“Stone’s got the fucking magic touch!” Someone joked loudly, jarring me from unconsciousness. I flinched, but didn’t open my eyes. I still felt scrunched up and I was rocking. There was something under my legs, around my back. Something I hadn’t felt in years. Arms.

“Watch your mouth.” An older voice shouted. “Now what happened? Other than grabbing their greatest hidden secret, what else have we learned?” The old voice sounded almost triumphant but it was gruff and slightly tortured.

While he spoke I felt movements near my head, but I didn’t open my eyes. That’s when I felt the warming touch of another human. The hand, that was soft and smooth, moved a piece of hair from the left side of my face. I tried to act as if I wasn’t escaping his touch. His hand stopped. The hovered movement created a new heated sensation.

“Jacobs, I think she might be waking up.” The voice was close, so close.

“Blindfold and gag her.” The old gruff voice sounded again.

“But-”

“Do it. We don’t know what she knows. We don’t know anything about her.”

“They kept her captive, and you saw her face.” His voice-no longer faceless man’s - was strained. And all I could think was he thought I was a monster.

“I don’t care. Do it.”

I tried not to freak out, but my fear won. I felt my fear take over when the light from behind my eyelids completely vanished. I tried to pull away the blindfold, but someone grabbed my wrist in a painful hold. I whimpered, again unable to speak. Fear clawed my stomach. I felt screams tearing at my throat. Once they covered my eyes, they added a gag. It pulled the corners of my lips into an unnatural smile.

“Please,” I muttered, but it came out distorted. Tears slipped down my face. Cold metal closed over my wrist. I didn’t know which way was up but I wanted to be right-side up. Freedom was a vain dream, but freedom in death was not. I didn’t think - even after these moments of rough contact – I could go back to solitude. I didn’t think it would be fair to even have their voices and words rolling in my head, taking place of the old memories I had originally clung to.

“Don’t cry. You’re safe,” he whispered, his breath tickled my cheek creating pure agony.

“How can she be scared? She can’t see your face, Stone,” another voice said from the right side of my body.

I recoiled, but in doing so, my body touched the one he referred to as Stone. I pulled away, but not quickly enough. His heat seeped into my body. I threw myself forward. I was trying to force myself to be small, untouchable. Why would they torture me like this? His hand touched my shoulder. I screamed, pulling away.

“I’m sorry,” Stone whispered. He removed his hand.

“What the hell was that about?” The one on the right said quietly but not quietly enough.

Chapter Two

Stone

Seeing her fold into herself again reminded me of when I found her. I don’t know why the Vedenin Clan had her, but the moment I saw her, I knew she was trapped. Jacobs didn’t believe me, but why would he? He doesn’t believe anyone. As I moved to make her more comfortable, I felt sick to my stomach. I touched her shoulder and she let out a mangled scream.

When Jacobs, the team leader, said they were hiding something in their facility, I assumed he meant files, and possibly, random data. The alarms screamed as we took down their meager patrols. With so few guards, how valuable could the information be? Then, I ran past a locked door. I smashed the door in, assuming maybe she was part of their cleaning crew. Then she flinched away. Her long hair was tangled around her slim shoulders. The color of her hair was a rich maroon, it was quite stunning. Yet, the way that the pieces were twisted, and grease clung to almost every strain, I wanted to call it ugly. Gods, she was too tiny.

I knew what it all meant. Her unwashed body, the way she had clung to the wall as if it could absorb her, and her small frame, she wasn’t a worker here.

Dallas ran up behind me after I called it in to Jacobs. I turned to him, wondering if he knew anything about this. Dallas was Jacobs’ son after all. I didn’t know what to say. Did Jacobs know why we were really here? Or did only the higher-ups know? Was I supposed to kill her? Grab her? I couldn’t fathom either. She looked so scared. Her body moved farther into her prison, as if trying to escape into the wall. Whoever she was- she was not a threat. But when I spoke to her, her tense body relaxed just a little.

“You should go.” Her voice cracked and stalled and she flinched at the sound. Dallas stifled a laugh. I had seen some bad things, but nothing prepared me for this girl. I was so intrigued but confused
.
Was she trying to save us?

“What’s your name?” My voice was muffled and distorted and she seemed even more scared. She got smaller and closer to the wall. I heard Dallas move in, followed by two others. We didn’t know anything about her.

“Back off,” I growled. I knew logically she wouldn’t attack, but that wasn’t the instinct that forced the words from my throat. Something more primal did. We didn’t even know what kind of paranormal she was.

I moved closer, taking my mask off. I was only inches away when she finally turned to face me. The world stopped. I couldn’t get over the shock. The left side of her face had been hidden, until now.

Jagged, destroyed skin. Three distinct claw marks dragged from the middle of her forehead, past her dead eye, to the edge of her jaw. The skin was puckered and damaged. They were old scars, very old scars. Her stare lingered on me, but not for long.

I stared at the rest of her face. Her skin was unnaturally pale from the lack of sun. Her other eye, the one that wasn’t clouded over, was a stunning, almost transparent, blue. I had never seen someone who looked so wild, yet so utterly and completely sad. I asked her name again. She didn’t say anything. Dallas was getting impatient and rightfully so.

I couldn’t hear Jacobs’ command. Dallas told me what I needed to know, which was we needed to get our asses going. I moved to grab her and my hand made contact.

The fear in her eyes before she passed out was indescribable. I knew I shouldn’t worry about her. Yet I had to save this girl. I knew that now. I had to save her.

The team ran out of the building when Jacobs informed us that the cops were five miles away. Jacobs said New Year’s Eve was the best night to do this with everyone out getting drunk and having a good time. Cops were on the search for drunk drivers and were otherwise occupied. There were only the four of us that were on Jacobs’ normal special ops team, the rest were guards that had been unlucky enough to piss off Jacobs. The others had pissed and moaned that they wouldn’t be at the compound having drinks with everyone else. Personally, I had wanted a bottle of Jack in my room away from the festivities. Even now I could use a strong drink.