In the Beginning... (3 page)

She refused to answer. His steps were sure as
he carried her from the room. Emily refused to allow fear of what
would happen next to seize her. She'd watch and learn, find her
cousins, and somehow escape this...

"Being stubborn?" He laughed. "It will be
tough for you, being my slave, but you will adjust. First, we must
feed you."

"I'm not your slave and I never will be." Her
words were whispered, but fierce. "And I will find a way to kill
you for what you've done."

"You are free to try, just remember I am your
master and the king of all the people around here. Their first
loyalties will always be to me."

Emily didn't respond. He'd entered an
elaborate lounge that had a wide-screen television, gaming
consoles, and deep leather chairs and sofas. The man she'd seen the
night before lounged on one; her cousin sat at his feet.

Josey's hands were bound, her face pale and
scared. Her eyes were dull, unseeing.

"Josey!" Emily struggled in the creature's
arms. With her hands bound, Josey was lost in a world where she
couldn't communicate. But thank God she was alive. Emily felt tears
slide down her cheeks. For the first time since it all began, she
felt some hope.

****

Rydere sat her on her feet, not surprised
when she dropped to the floor and threw her arms around her
cousin.

He turned to Cormac and spoke in their first
language. "Why is she still tied?"

"Because I want her to be." The other man
stroked a hand down the woman's long blonde hair.

"No. Think of what we've taken from them.
Give her some dignity. Can't you see the terror in her eyes?"
Rydere himself reached for the rope binding her wrists. Both women
shrank from him, Cormac’s seeming to collapse in on herself. "You
used to be less harsh, Cormac. Is she even a quarter century in
years? Probably been protected and coddled her entire life by her
family just as we have Jierra; this is a hell for her."

Cormac bristled but said nothing. Rydere
didn't expect him to. "You might try an exercise in compassion.
Unless you want hundreds more years with her terrified? I think
that would soon lose its appeal."

"I'll do it." Cormac pulled the woman into
his lap. She cringed but didn't pull away. Had probably already
learned not to. Emily protested, tried to interfere.

Rydere pulled his little dove closer as
Cormac unraveled the knotted rope. "No. Leave your cousin be."

She glared up at him. Never had a woman
looked at him with as much hatred as was written in her eyes.
"Whatever hell you believe in, you'll be there soon, just for
whatever he’s done to her."

"And who is going to put me there?" Rydere
asked before leading her to the sofa. "Sit. Cormac and I have
business to attend, and then you are in dire need of a bath and a
comb, I think."

He left her there, then bent to the other
woman, lifting her easily into his arms. She weighed barely more
than his new pet and their fragility was reiterated; care must be
taken with them. She lay against him quietly. He ignored the soft
growl Cormac emitted. It was the same sound he'd released when
Cormac's hand had touched Emily's shoulder. A Dardaptoan male
protected what was his. Even from his friends.

Rydere deposited the cousin on the couch
beside Emily, where they huddled together and conversed in small
hand gestures.

Cormac watched his woman, no doubt attempting
to learn what she said by reading her mind. Rydere sank onto the
chair next to his. "The other Taniss females?"

"Live."

"That's good." Rydere was relieved, he'd not
wanted to have to tell her that her family, her friends, were gone
at his people's hands. "Where are they?"

"Theo and Aodhan have them in the gardens, I
think." Cormac laughed. "Actually, Aodhan's little pet got away
from him and found her sister. The women ran to the gardens and now
are stuck in there, unable to find the hidden exit. Theo and Aodhan
will find them, of course. But I think they are enjoying the
hunt."

"Yes, mine got away, too." Rydere felt a
sense of pride at that. Clever woman.

"That's why I kept mine tied to my side all
night. A man can sleep better that way."

"No wonder her wrists were raw and bloodied."
Rydere's words held rebuke. "The women must be cared for. Which
means you need to feed her. Can you not feel her hunger, see how
listless she is? You've drained her too dry without replenishing
enough. It's no wonder she suffers such weakness compared to her
cousin."

"Is she not mine to do with as I wish?"
Cormac stared at her with an uncaring gaze. But Rydere had seen the
quick shift in his expression before he'd blinked. "What are we to
do with them?"

"I don't know." Rydere frowned, mind running
over the ramifications. "It was one thing to take them and kill
them, to make them disappear, but if word got out that they were
here among our people against their will...we'd be overrun with
mortal authorities."

"I'm not giving her back." Cormac's words
were in English and loud enough for Emily to hear. Rydere didn't
miss the way she stiffened and leaned in front of her cousin.
Cormac finished in the Dardaptoan tongue. "She’s mine and I am
keeping her."

"I feel the same. But not only will the
Taniss men be looking for them along with the authorities, but the
women themselves don't want to be here. Yet I don't want any of us
being cruel to them. Converted humans are rare, we must be careful.
I'm not sure they have the same lifespan as we."

"And if the Lupoiux learn of their existence?
I know yours will be a prime target. Any of the four will."
Cormac's fangs were now more prominent. "They will not touch
her."

"No. They will not." Rydere considered for a
moment. "I'm putting you in charge of their safety and well-being.
I want Aodhan to follow the Taniss family, make sure no more threat
will come from that quarter."

"Protect our flanks, I get it," Cormac said
as the doors opened for Aodhan and Theo, accompanied by the
redheaded Taniss women. Rydere watched as the men released them to
join their cousins.

"Good. Now in the meantime, I suggest you
feed your...what shall we call them? I am not comfortable calling
her my slave. And she hates it, as well." Rydere watched her
examine each of her cousins, obviously looking for any damages.
Something tickled his mind.

"How about
Rajni
?" Theo
asked.

Rydere stilled as Theo’s words sank in. "Is
she? Have you seen?"

"Hmmm. Cloudy. She's the
general build and impression I got. But things are still uncertain.
Hinges entirely on your actions." Theo never got exact visions for
those he was closest to, just general impressions. But at six
hundred plus years old, he was very skilled at interpreting those
impressions. "On decisions you'll make. If you foul it up, you will
never have a
Rajni
."

His
Rajni
, his mate. The
Dhan
, queen to his people.
A Taniss as queen to the Dardaptoans. He could see the unease
written on the other men's faces, and he understood it. But a man
only got one
Rajni
and since he had at least another millennium left in years
that thought was bleak. "And the others?"

"Hmmm. Cormac's is
uncertain." Theo hesitated before turning to the darker man. "I
sense a great danger to yours, but I am unclear if the danger is
you or someone else. But do you want to know if she’s your
Rajni
or not?"

"I know she is." Cormac's grin was anything
but reassuring. His eyes blazed with possession when he looked at
the blonde sheltered in her cousins' arms. "Have from the moment I
first saw her."

Emily tried to follow the creatures'
conversation, but they spoke in a quick, garbled mix of English and
something else.

Mal was equally attuned to the men. Mickey
and Josey were clinging to one another, waiting as they always had,
for their older cousins to take action. Emily didn't know what
their next action was.

"We have to get out of here." Mal kept her
words at a whisper.

"I know. But I think these beasts can
actually smell us wherever we go. They can track us." Emily voiced
only one of her suspicions. "And they aren't the only ones here.
We've got to be careful."

"Rand will be coming." Mal spoke with utter
confidence about her twin.

"Yes, but how long can we hold out here? I
don't know what they want. He called me his slave, Mal." Emily
stared at the creature who stood with obvious arrogance amidst his
friends. They were all strong, powerful, menacing creatures, but he
stood out from the rest. "I don't know what they intend to do next.
Last night was horrible enough."

"I still hurt." Mal touched her abdomen
gingerly. "I don't know if I can handle another dose of whatever it
was."

Emily nodded. "If nothing else, I want to get
Josey and Mickey away from here."

"Especially Josey. If we can get her and
Mickey away from here they can lead Rand back."

"But how can we do that?" Emily asked as the
one who'd called himself king looked at her, obvious lust and
desire in his strange orange eyes. She began to shiver.

He wanted her and made no qualms about
it.

****

Cormac smiled. "They are plotting."

"I know." Rydere looked at
her, feeling his body stir at the sight of her feminine legs so
barely covered. They were small, but shapely. He wanted to feel
them wrapped around his hips, wanted her hands upon his chest while
he made love to her. For hours. She was his
Rajni
, and that was his right. "It
won't do them any good."

"So we are agreed then?" Aodhan watched his
own woman, a half-smile on his face.

"Cormac will set guards to ensure their
safety. Aodhan, there will be relatives searching for them. Theo
and I will deal with tribal matters."

"And in the meantime, we have much to do with
them." Theo nodded to the four fragile ex-humans. His expression
was one of tenderness as he looked with almost unseeing eyes at the
woman he'd claimed as his. She seemed unharmed. She was dressed in
the white tunic of feminine royalty, with the wine sash that
denoted Theo's family line. Rubies and diamonds encircled her
unmarred throat, ones that had once belonged to Theo’s mother.

The rest wore bloodied, soiled clothing, or
Rydere's own tunic. "We need to make them comfortable. Let them
groom themselves, feed them. Reassure them that they will be
safe...and happy here."

She'd be happy with him. He'd see to it.

****

Emily fought the urge to cringe and burrow
into the back of the couch when the king approached her. He reached
for her and strong hands guided her legs around his waist before
she could begin to protest. One arm tightened around her back, his
other hand ghosted over her spine as he lifted her. "Shh, my dove,
it's time to go."

Go where? Back to his bedroom where he'd hurt
her again? Drug her? Relieve the erection she could feel pressing
against her? God, was he going to rape her, too?

****

Her fear was a metallic
scent on the air, and Rydere fought the urge to chide her. Not the
beginning he'd imagined when he'd thought about finding his
Rajni
.

She struggled the instant he
carried her into the hallway. For one so small, it surprised him at
the fury her body held. He tightened one arm around her and raised
the other hand to the back of her head. "Shh,
Rajni
. You'll see them again; this I
swear."

Small teeth bit him, digging deep into his
shoulder. He yelped, tried to pry her loose. "Emily, stop that!
Release me at once!"

She'd drawn blood; he'd never been so turned
on in his life.

****

Emily tasted his blood and it only made her
want more. Made her want him more. That thought had her releasing
him and arching away. She didn't want him, couldn't want him. It
was a sick game he was playing with her. Whatever drug it was must
have contained a new aphrodisiac designed to make her lust for the
very creature who'd given it to her.

When combined with something like Rohipnol,
such an aphrodisiac held sinister connotations. Had they brought
her and her cousins to this place to experiment on them because of
something her grandfather had done? Had they created a new rape
drug, one ten times more powerful than a roofie? One that made the
victim want to participate?

"I swear to you, I will never hurt you again.
An oath that I will not break." He covered her mouth with his.

Emily didn't fight him; he held her so tight
between his body and the wall that she couldn't. She waited for the
moment when the gentle caress changed to the brutal tearing of her
flesh that she remembered from the night before. Had he kissed her
first then? She thought he had.

His tongue flitted over her bottom lip,
teasing it until she opened her mouth. She didn’t want this, and
she told herself that even as her body softened against his. He
deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping inside her mouth to tease
her own. She hummed, her head falling back against the wall.
Finally, he stopped for breath, dropping his head to nuzzle at the
skin of her neck.

Emily stiffened, reality once again crashing
down around her. Her body braced, waiting for the feel of his sharp
teeth. “No. Please...don’t...”

He ran quick little kisses over her jaw
before tucking her head beneath his chin.