Rage to Adore (11 page)

Tani sprang away, turning, prepared to attack again, not
wanting to give him time to regain his balance, realizing too late that she
should have run. Her assailant had backup. Five huge bodies surrounded her,
leaving no avenue for escape. Each male, including the first attacker, was two
hundred and forty pounds of brute force. With their shaved heads and yellow
eyes it was clear they were shedu and in service to the warlord Belial, each
one wearing the crimson mark of their overlord on his massive chest.

Acting on instinct, Tani spun around, scissor-kicking the
thug who had closed in at her back. Her foot made contact with his chest. He
grunted, toppling back but not far enough for her to make a dash past. More
hands snatched at her waist and she jabbed this attacker’s face with her right
elbow, punching another who had advanced to the side with her left. She kicked
again and again, spinning as fast as she could to break out of the circle.

They were not unscathed, her warrior blood leaving them in
little doubt that she was not the easy catch they had expected. But Tani was
outnumbered and before long five pairs of hands had overpowered her and she
found herself facedown in the dirt.

“Be still, bitch!” The first assailant dragged her up by the
hair, jerking her head back, knife at her throat. Too late, Tani remembered the
weapons she had stashed beneath her clothes. They hadn’t searched her yet and
had seemed unprepared for such resistance, so perhaps there was a chance they
wouldn’t find them. No such luck. The thug behind began to pat her down, his
hands lingering on her breasts and between her legs.

Tani sucked in an angry breath. Energy hummed as the air
around her turned static and a shock wave of such intensity exploded, the
mental force of it almost knocking her over. She barely had time to turn in
order to see where it was coming from when the physical manifestation of the
raging fury barreled into them, knocking her assailants over like ninepins.

Covering her ears to block out the loudest sound she’d ever
heard, a roar of such savage ferocity she thought the ground would quake, Tani
found herself encircled by an iron weight. She flew sideways, caught in the
grip of two massive arms, steel bands that clamped her body but somehow managed
to cradle her fall as she crashed to the ground.

For a moment all was still. Tani opened her eyes, locking on
to two molten orbs of liquid mercury that poured into her, the shock of the
contact sparking a jolt of adrenaline that punched her heart into orbit and
sent it spinning crazily in her chest.

Frozen, locked by some invisible force, Tani almost forgot
to breathe. Inaction cost them both dearly.

Abduction

Jaro couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Blood sang in his
ears, pumping violently through veins that throbbed with barely contained fury
and an overwhelming sense of possession. And now as he stared down at the soft,
pliant female form in his arms, his redheaded witch, he couldn’t remember how
he’d got there. Wait a minute!
His
redheaded witch? Lorcan’s face
intruded and the bubble burst.

He had only seconds to register the frown of confusion that
crossed her beautiful amethyst eyes before a sledgehammer of a punch suckered
him squarely in the jaw. A storm of crashing blows rained down on him from all
directions and the redhead was wrenched from his embrace.

Déjà vu. Shouts. Grunting. “It’s Phenex’s champion!” Sharp
stabs of pain in his gut, liver, kidneys. “Take him! Belial will pay well for
this bastard’s capture!” Red clouded his vision but it was too late. A
succession of blows to his head. Shooting pain the length of his spine. He
blinked, trying to keep focus on the girl. He reached out a hand. Blackness
fell.

One moment Tani’s vision was blinded by a river of mercury
silver, molten liquid with slivers of indigo banking its path, a waterfall
gushing into every vein in her body, the heat of it snaking to light a fire in
her core. The next, it was gone. A freezing chill ripped through her body at a
cellular level as the mountain that had steamrolled into her with such force
was wrenched backwards and she was left vulnerable in the dust, not just
physically but emotionally, her soul crying out, shattered by the loss of fire
in her blood. Neurons sparking, her brain blew a fuse, short-circuiting as if
trying to repair a lost connection.

The lack of direction in her rational thoughts left her
exposed to the rough hands of her attackers and she was hauled to her feet and
tossed over a shoulder. A calloused hand grasped her neck, forcing her mouth
toward another hand that held a rag. Tani tried to twist her head away but the
pressure on her neck increased, causing her to gasp for air. The intake of
breath was her undoing and she slipped into the unconscious slumber of a
drugged sleep, hoping that somehow Antares might hear of this and get word to
the Eunomi trackers.

* * * * *

When he next awoke, Jaro couldn’t move, but this time there
were no amethyst eyes holding his gaze and paralyzing his thought processes. No.
This time his hands were bound in chains behind his back and his feet were shackled.
Blinking his eyes into focus as consciousness kicked in, he struggled against
his restraints but they were too tight. A sharp kick to the gut. “Get up, dog!”
Two hands rough on his neck, hauling him up against a large truck. Jaro
regained his balance as the shock of daylight gave way to a scene that made his
blood boil.

The redhead lay twenty feet away, bound like him, a leather
ring around her neck attached to a leash held by one of Belial’s men. She was
unconscious and it took all of his self-control not to lunge for her in that
instant, so strong was the instinct to protect. He hissed his annoyance, the
sound alerting his guard that he was fully awake. Hands lashed out, tugging his
hair backward, exposing his throat to a knife that drew blood, a sign of
vicious intent. “Agron was a friend of mine and you’re responsible for his
death. If I didn’t think that Belial will pay good coin for you, you’d be in
pieces by now. So play nice ‘cos I’m not averse to slicing you up a little.”

Jaro recognized the harsh rasp that spat in his ear. Halvin.
Well, he had payback of his own to dish out to that bastard. A bastard who
liked to batter and reap unspeakable acts on defenseless females. At least
Agron had died in the arena. Halvin wouldn’t have that honor. Not if Jaro had
anything to say about it.

Jaro reined in his fury, storing the rage in his gut where
it could fester and grow, feeding it on bile and acid, making it stronger. When
it finally erupted, Halvin wouldn’t know what hit him. He stilled, letting his
muscles relax, causing Halvin to let him go with a kick to the shins that sent
Jaro to his knees. He stayed where he was and focused on more important
concerns.

Luckily he recognized the scenery. They were at least a two-day
trek on foot from Serpens. He must have been out for a while or drugged to keep
him quiet. Probably drugged because his face was still swollen and bruised and
the drugs would have slowed his natural healing. Then again he had taken
another beating, adding an additional layer of wounds on top of those he had
sustained before.

Three trucks containing supplies of some kind were parked at
the side of the road that snaked through an open area of moorland. Probably
weaponry, he surmised, knowing Belial for one of the largest arms dealers on
Ophiuchus. Behind him, he knew, lay the deep stretch of forest that swathed the
outer edges of Serpens territory and ahead, rough and wild, damp marshes dotted
the landscape for a hundred miles toward the city of Arushka, Belial’s
stronghold.

Jaro counted twelve men. Belial himself was not present. He
had most likely traveled ahead, leaving this contingent to do his dirty work,
weapons running and kidnapping. The redhead was popular. It couldn’t just be
her ethereal beauty that had both Phenex and Belial drooling over her and in
the dim recesses of his mind, Jaro recalled Lorcan mentioning Choronzon’s
interest.

Choronzon, Lord of the Abyss, leader of the Discordants. Not
the type of male to take an interest in a female unless she was worth
something. Belial clearly didn’t know of the Discordant leader’s interest or he
wouldn’t have captured her unless he had a death wish or he was planning to
sell her on to Choronzon for his own gain. Whatever his plans for the redhead, Jaro
knew they weren’t good.

Belial was well known for his interest in women. He owned a
harem of females, his treatment of them brutal. There was no way Jaro would
allow the redheaded witch to be taken to Belial. He would rather die than let
that happen. It was preferable to him that she be taken by Lorcan or even
Phenex. Belial was a twisted, vile pervert. The bile in his chest rose, an acid
burn that ate into his lungs as he shook off the images conjured by those
thoughts. What the hell was it about this woman that had him so…whipped?

He didn’t know her. They’d never even had a proper conversation,
but when he’d gazed into her eyes… Damn her! He’d seen heaven and hell in one
glance. She
was
his heaven and his hell and for some insane reason it
was imperative that he make her safe.

Tani ached all over. She breathed in, which was a mistake as
she immediately inhaled dust from the dirt in which she lay. Her eyes watering,
she gagged, twisting her neck to escape swallowing a mouthful of soil and
registered something tight encircling her throat. She gasped for water. The
word was a dry croak on her lips. Someone must have heard her plea as the next
moment she was drenched in wet liquid that formed a puddle around her head.
Moistening her lips with the residue, her throat too dry to protest, Tani opened
her lids slowly, the sting of dust and water causing her eyes to blink rapidly
as the shock of bright sunlight invaded.

She was lying on her side, hands tied behind her back. A
rough tug by her captor on the leash that was attached to the leather ring
around her neck was enough to jerk her head sideways, nearly choking her again.
“Stupid bitch! Get up!” Her jailor’s voice penetrated, grogginess slipping away
as she shook off the remaining effects of the drug.

A sharp tug again. A feral growl, low and deep, rumbled
through the ground, vibrating into her body where she lay. The growl was a
warning she didn’t want to ignore. Wriggling to get her balance without the use
of her hands, Tani managed to pull herself up onto her knees. The thug with the
leash jerked it again, laughing as he did so. “I’m gonna have some fun with
this one!” The rough voice grated on her nerves but she wasn’t scared. Tani had
been in similar positions before. She had a few tricks up her sleeve and would
be happy to show this bastard some of them. She just had to bide her time.

Tani lost her balance when he tugged the leash again even harder.
“I said get up, bitch!” As she fell to the ground, the steady growl of anger
she had heard before thundered toward her again and she realized it was coming
from behind. Immediately the sounds of a scuffle tore through the air, the
sharp clank of chains thrashing, shouts of anger, a thundering roar and grunts
of pain. The pounding vibration of feet breaking into a run heading in her
direction.

Turning her head back as she gasped for breath, Tani
registered the melee that had broken out between a number of Belial’s shedu and
another prisoner they had shackled beside one of their trucks. She realized
that the captive was straining in her direction and the growls of feral rage
she had heard were in fact emanating from him. The male beast, for he was huge
even compared to the shedu who were all at least six foot two and built like bulldozers,
broke out of the circle that had surrounded him. His chains now broken flew
wildly in the air, snaking coils that slammed into the shedu who tried to
restrain his forward motion. Tani’s jaw dropped in shock. It was Phenex’s
fighter, from the arena. She recognized his muscular frame and beaten face,
still hideously swollen, his body still covered in bruises.

He had almost reached her when his progress was finally
impeded by the coordinated efforts of four hulking brutes driving him to the
ground by attacking him from two directions. It took numerous punches and
booted kicks before they could subdue him so that he lay immobile, a bloody
ring of crimson fanning out around his head. The fighter wasn’t cowed as the
shedu guards kept pressure on his back with their booted feet. “Leave the girl
alone!” he roared, struggling again beneath their continued onslaught, broken
chains whipping angrily from red raw wrists and ankles, inflicting damage on
those shedu slow to jump out of their reach.

Tani lifted her head from the ground, shifting her body up
again. Her captor with the leash had joined the fray and she was now tied to a
tree. There was no way she could make use of the distraction and escape.
Thoughts of her own freedom were soon overtaken as she continued to watch the
fighter’s resistance, her instinct to root for his rebellion, her heart soaring
in amazement as he surged up again, exploding from the ground, leaving a cloud
of dust to shower the fallen shedu behind him. The shock of his momentum caused
sudden panic in the two shedu who were a barrier between him and Tani, their
hesitation giving him the opportunity to smack their heads together. They fell
unconscious to the ground, allowing him to crash past, flinging aside their
dazed bodies in order to reach her.

When he drew close, Tani curled instinctively into a ball,
expecting some kind of assault. It never happened. The fighter stood over her,
a protective shield. “Keep the fuck away!” he bellowed, blood dripping like a
crimson river from the wound at his temple.

Tani froze in shock. What was he doing? He could have escaped
or used her as a hostage! Instead he had chosen to play her protector. “You are
stupid fuckers,” he said, turning to face the shedu horde that stood twelve
strong. His voice resonated deep and low. Fury no longer vibrated around him
but was a steady pulse that throbbed with a strange calm in the face of the
advancing shedu. Tani suddenly found that she
was
scared. She hadn’t
been scared before, not for herself, but all of a sudden she was worried.
Worried for the safety of this man who stood over her like a rottweiler
guarding its bone.

The largest of the group walked up to him. “Why’s that then?”
The man looked around smugly at the men at his back then turned back to her
protector. “The only stupid fucker here is you.”

“I don’t think so, Halvin. You always were a moron. Do you
think Belial will pay you if she’s damaged?” Her guardian faced the man with
arrogance; the contempt in his tone appeared to slice his opponent deeply.
Halvin, the guard who had jerked her leash, almost lost it but was restrained
by a taller, sharp-faced male who stepped into the breach. Halvin fell back.
Clearly, this was his superior.

“I didn’t think you were that stupid, Rajan. Don’t you think
he wants her pretty ass intact?” Her self-appointed guard dog obviously knew
these men, so why was he defending her? Tani was at a loss to explain his
actions. He didn’t even know her.

“What’s it to you?” asked Rajan. “She’s just another whore
Belial wants to feast on. Why do you care?”

“It’s no skin off my nose. But I’m not stupid. I also know
about your master’s harem and he likes to do the damage himself. If she is
already marked he won’t thank you.” Tani shivered at those words. She
remembered now what she had heard of Belial’s reputation with women. Phenex’s
fighter, Jaro—wasn’t it? She remembered his name now, stood fast as his words
seemed to penetrate with the majority of the group. The leader, Rajan, paused, considering
his words. “And what’s to stop us from marking you up some more, Jaro. You’re
just an added bonus we found on the way. Belial didn’t ask for you.”

Her defender didn’t seem overly concerned by the threat. “He
may not have asked for me, but you know he wants me. Belial’s not stupid and
neither are you. You’re taking me to him because he’s lost Agron and he could
use me to replace him. He also knows I have information on Phenex that could be
useful to him and you know he’ll pay you well for me.”

Rajan apparently agreed with him. “What you say may be true,”
he sneered, walking toward Jaro until they were toe to toe. “The girl is safe
for now—for as long as you play nice.” Even though Rajan was over six feet,
Jaro still towered over him. He nodded at Rajan, a promise of good behavior.
The pact made, he then doubled over in agony as a crushing blow smashed into
his gut, Rajan striking at him with a rabid shout. “Dog!” he grunted, kicking
at Jaro as he fell. “We don’t have to be careful with you though. You can have
her beatings as well.” A final kick in the ribs for good measure.