Enslaved in Shadows (37 page)

             
“This conversation is far from over Jes.” He was halfway out the door yet she still heard his next words.

             
“Things will never be finished between us.”

Chapter 23

             
Jesminda walked into Draven’s mother
's
house.
He’d given her the spare key. It was late and the men were headed out to the location Draven said it wasn’t necessary for her to concern herself with. Men and their misguided conceptions about woman and strength. Bells wasn’t with the men either, she’d decided to stay on at the station to get some sleep. She didn’t want to go to Draven’s parents because she felt uncomfortable.
She couldn’t argue that logic, people weren’t supposed to assume they were welcome at a house with complete strangers. If it
weren’t
for Faith being asleep
here,
she’d have stayed at the station as well.
Walking silently down the hall Jesminda passed the couch Faith had slept on. She felt along the wall for a switch and when she found it clicked it on and continued towards the back of the house to the kitchen.

             
She was pouring a glass of water into a cup when she felt the cold press of metal against the back other head.

             
“My dearest honey,” the voice purred behind her.
It didn’t take rocket science to figure out it was Marcus. How was he able to get to her here? Draven had said not even the station had his parent’s address.

             
“This is how it’s going to be you little whore,” He spat.
The anger poured off him like a tidal wave. She could feel the violence in his words. Her body froze and waited for the blow she knew was coming.
He grabbed her painfully by the hair and pulled her head back. Pain shot through her neck, it was
minimal,
but more was coming.

             
“Walk to the front of the house and get in the fucking car, or I’ll blow your brains out right here in the middle of the kitchen. Now start walking.”

             
Jes sucked in a breath and did as she was told. She still didn’t understand how, but she needed to know the condition of her daughter, Draven’s parents.

             
“Where’s Faith bastard.” She snarled as she headed down the hall to the front door.

             
“Funny baby, very funny.
I was going to ask you the same question. Since we both don’t know where your little brat of a beast is, I’ll go hunting.
I know she’s here somewhere, but don’t worry baby, I’ll find her.” He grabbed the back of her hair tighter and pushed her forward. She tried to catch herself as she went down, the rug beneath her slid and sent her sailing into an end table.
Pain spread through her limbs, sucked the breath from her lungs.
She tried to catch her breath but Marcus didn’t give her the chance. He caught her in the ribs with his booted foot. Her body took the position it took so many times before.
Spots appeared in her field of vision and her eyes watered from the pain.

             
“I told you never to leave me! Still you did even after all we’ve been through. I fucking love you Jesminda love you!” Another boot to her rib cage and she’d heard the crack. Her ribs were broken.
Marcus began a rapid succession of kicking until her tears dried up and darkness started to claim her.
Her first real thought was Faith wasn’t in the house, so maybe she was safely tucked away with Draven’s parents.
Then another hit right before darkness swallowed her, she never got the chance to tell Draven she loved him. Now she never would.

* * * *

             
Draven and his team surrounded the warehouse where the other vampires were being held.
This was also the location of The Red Sun. What a cheesy name. The Black Hand maybe but The Red Sun? “Can you be anymore un-super villain?”
Draven said to no one in particular.

             
“It’s like he was the last in line for super villain names,” Royce joked right back.

             
The guys around Draven snickered as they crept closer to the warehouse.
There were no guards out front that he could see or smell. That didn’t mean a damn thing.
The warehouse could have been cloaked hindering them.
There was a foul odor in the air; it was sickly sweet, death meet Febreze, Febreze meet death.
The combination made his nostrils hurt.

             
“Dude, I swear if I don’t get to kill at least ten motherfuckers, I’m going home, word.” This came from Dietrich, the smug bastard.
             

             
“Dumb ass, what if there isn’t anyone to kill? You know this could be easy-peasy.” Gabe bantered back. The guy had tagged along; the entire lay of the land mapped in his head. Gabe the super whiz they called him.

             
“And your dick could be bigger than mine.” Dietrich said as he flipped him the bird.

             
“Guys.” Draven said.

             
They both looked his way and flipped him the bird in unison, but kept quiet.
Everything was quiet, too quiet.
Royce motioned with his fingers for the teams to move forward, and with fluid
motion,
the men went to their markers and waited. Royce was his point man, and it was Draven’s job to back him up.
His brother Ronin would be able to hear the thoughts of whoever was inside the warehouse, hopefully. They hadn’t been able to read Oliver until Ronin ate the vampire’s brains. But this guy was cocky. Probably didn’t think his location would be ousted.
             
             

Ronin led Gabe,
Hawke,
and Adam. Royce,
Dietrich,
and himself were in their own team.
Ronin and Royce stopped walking at the same time and they both winced.

             
“What?” Draven asked. Royce didn’t look at him but cursed low under his breath. “What!” Draven said again this time his tone more rough.

             
“He’s got her man, shit,” Royce scrubbed his face with his hands, “Fuck man, I’m sorry but the bastard’s got Jesminda and she’s hurting real bad.”

             
The entire world threatened to tumble down around him. His life played out before him, after, and during the time he’d met Jesminda. He saw it in rapid succession, and the scene, coming to the same conclusion.
He should have never left her that first time.
Never saw her as a
one-night
stand. A part of him knew back then
that
she was his mate. He’d been too blind to see it.
Didn’t want to man up and do the right thing.
He should have claimed her then, watched her swell with his cub, greet his daughter into the world the way his people did.
Instead,
he’d turned leaving her in the dark jungles of Belize.
He'd t
old himself it was because she was human.
His one true reason for living was her and Faith.
And now she was hurting. Something he said he would never let happen to her again, because he didn’t take the time to do the right
thing, which
was to care for her since day one.

             
“Where,” he growled.

             
Royce put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed tight.

             
“Draven, I know you’ve seen the movies where the gung ho hero runs in and saves the day, but what the story doesn’t tell you is, that it never works out that way. The hero dies because he was too stupid to plan his attack.
You’re not Tom fucking Cruise, man don’t go in their guns a blazing.”

             
Dietrich held him as well, shaking his head, telling him it wasn’t a good idea.
He looked Draven in the eye and nodded.
The beast didn’t care what plans they had for rescue, all his beast cared about was that their mate was in there and she was suffering.

             
“Dietrich do your thing, bring Jesminda safely out of
there,
and then let’s get the rest of the survivors.” Royce stated plainly.

             
Draven watched as Dietrich went ghost, literally the brother was there one minute and then the next he was translucent and completely gone. What the fuck was he?

             
“He’s a watcher.” Royce said.

             
“A what?”

             
“A watcher, he can go in undetected and watch the entire scene, but what most people or immortals don’t know is that he can also possess Jesminda’s body, take the brunt of the pain for
her,
and then walk her out there.”

             
“Dravaggio needs to re-write his “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” clause. This is vital information we all could have used.” Gabe said into Draven’s
earpiece
.

             
No shit. Draven thought to himself. It didn’t calm his wolf, not in the slightest, but Draven tugged on the reigns and attempted to bargain. When that didn’t
work,
he tried sheer brute force. Neither worked, his wolf wanted out now.

             
“Shit man, your shifting.
Talk him down, Dietrich can do it”

             
“My mate, my responsibility.” Draven said around a mouth full of teeth.

             
The werewolf took off at a dead run to the warehouse.

* * * *

             
Jes’ head was pounding and her vision was blurry when she finally opened her eyes. She was in some kind of room. It was dark except for the slivers of light the moon bathed the floor in from the windows.
It should have been morning. Shouldn’t it? He body ached in places and she knew her ribs were cracked, at least two on her right side. The left side felt just as bad. She found that out the hard way when she’d tried to take a deep breath.

             
She didn’t know what time it was or where she was, only that her surroundings smelled like urine and feces mixed with the metallic tang of blood. Oh God was it hers?
She tried to get into a sitting position against the wall, but she was losing the battle each lift of her arms cost her.
The pain was excruciating.
Felt like her body was a light socket, being plugged in for pain.
A small whimper escaped her and then the room flooded with light as a door was pulled open. There was a table with instruments, all kinds of cutting tools and blood stained each one.
Don’t look. Don’t look!

             
“I see you’re awake human.” A cold blast of air hit her face. God, was that his breath? Death and blood swirled in the air around her in frost and she knew if her eyes weren’t so puffy from crying she’d see her breath mist in front of her face.

             
“I wondered how long you would be out.
Marcus and the boys took wagers, such a human thing to do. No regards for human life. It’s just as well. It’s fitting of your husband to be angry with you.
After all,” his voice drawled. “You left him, took his only
child,
and ran straight into the arms of a werewolf.”
He pulled her up into a sitting position. His fingers burned her skin causing her to cry in pain. He squatted in front of her face so he could see her clearly.
The light from the hall fell on his back throwing his entire face into the shadow.
He could see her but she couldn’t see him. She knew she was in real trouble; this was the man back at the cottage.

             
Her throat was on fire, but she managed to whisper. “What do you want from me?”

             
His laughter made her shiver, took her mind and her body into the very pits of darkness. He was evil from the ground up, deep to his core. It slid over her skin, tried fighting its way inside what little light she had left.

             
“Oh, nothing that will be too hard for you, it’s quite simple.” He hesitated before he continued, the silence felt like a million lifetimes. With a very calm soothing voice, bending forward taking her face in his hands he replied.

             
“I want to hear you scream for me.”

* * * *

             
She couldn’t scream anymore, her throat was bleeding. She could taste the blood on her tongue, sharp and tangy. The man from the cottage continued his torture, first with his hands and now with a whip, he sliced into her skin. Her body wasn’t numbing, she thought vaguely as another lash stripped flesh from her back. She’d wanted to pass out after the first minute of his whip, and that minute had seemed like hours. There were spikes at the end. Each of its talons dug into her flesh. When he pulled back it’d hook into her skin, peeled it from her back in strips. Her back was splayed open to the muscle.