Sin of Fury (8 page)

A high keen emitted from her throat,
the sound grating on his nerves. Silencing her, he turned on his
heel and strode hurriedly to the large house. His brother was
waiting inside, he thought with pleasure. Maybe, after the meal,
Auro would like to spend some time in his room, alone…

The thought had him smiling even
wider, his sharp teeth yellow as they flashed. He could hear Jamie
struggling behind him, but chose to ignore it. Soon enough, she
would be pleading for Talon and that, too, in a whole other way,
ultimately bringing him power.

A surprising thought occurred to him,
and he turned to look at Jamie curiously. Since Talon was immune to
his enthrallment, could it be that once Jamie touched him, or
kissed him or took him into her body that the lure for Lyne would
be gone? The thought left him bereft, brooding. He prayed not—with
the power of the lure that he held over her, he could tell her to
take Talon and she would, no if, ands, or buts about it.

But without the lure… He growled,
angered. Auro would be displeased by the delay, but not more so
than Lyne. He could only imagine the disappointment Auro would show
him if the lure failed to stay. He had studied the humans, had once
been one, and knew that it took time for a coupling—no matter the
circumstance. And after witnessing what Jamie had been through, he
could only imagine how vehement she would be about coupling with
the aggressive monster that stayed below their house.

An irritated sigh escaped his thin
lips as he opened the door of the house. Auro was waiting beside
the door, arms crossed over his chest, eyes looking over him and
his men as they entered. Lyne took his coat off and hung it on the
rack, gesturing behind him.

“
I’ve brought her to you,
brother,” he said, facing his brother. Auro knew, though. He always
knew. His heeled shoes clicked on the linoleum as he came forward,
twining his arm around Lyne’s. He cast no judgment, simply looked
disparagingly over his shoulder at the now limp woman and nodded,
eyes cool and unreadable.

“
Take her to the left wing
chamber so she may prepare herself. Lyne, remove the enchantment so
she may think enough to cleanse herself without the assistance of
our men. The goods may not be spoiled,” he said, the chuckle that
came from him forced.

Lyne nodded, retracting the small haze
that was filling her mind even now. The man holding her set her
down, and they watched with disinterest as she swayed on her feet.
Lyne turned from her carelessly, waving a hand. “Take her, before
she comes out of the haze and makes a scene in front of my
brother.”

Ivan, a name that Lyne found most
repulsive, nodded and turned abruptly. Lyne smiled at Auro and led
him down the hall, inquiring, “Do you believe that the coupling
will go sooner if Talon is groomed?”

Auro considered his brother’s
question, grimacing over his thoughts. “Do you plan to keep a
trance on the woman?”

“
I believe that the moment
Talon touches her, it will be dropped. I would not be worried, for
it is only a minor fear. It would be only a precaution to make him
as becoming as possible,” he said, lip curling with distaste as
Ivan’s thumping footsteps faded. The hall was quiet, except for the
soft sound of a breeze rustling the curtains next to them. Lyne
stopped near the open window, pushing the thick velvet material
aside.

“
It would be too much of a
reward for him,” Auro hissed, eyes following Lyne’s movement. Lyne
nodded slowly, giving a sharp smile to his brother.

“
Agreed.”

“
What is with that smile,
brother?” Auro asked, a knowing look entering his crimson eyes.
“Have you got some plans for our pets?”

Lyne nodded slowly, letting the
curtain fall back into place as the chill of the air settled on his
pale skin. “It would bring us much pleasure,” he murmured, mind
racing with thoughts of what he could do to Talon.

His smile turned malicious.

Jamie fell limply to the bed, arms too
shaky to hold herself up. The door slammed behind the tall bald man
as he left, the jarring sound making her tremble even
more.

A cloud seemed to have lifted from her
mind. Disoriented and confused, she struggled to push away the
thick presence within her mind. The bed was soft, puffy, under her
hands. She grasped the edge, dragging herself fully into it with
shuddering arms.

Jamie curled into a ball. Sniffled.
Hiccupped. Then burst into tears as helplessness overwhelmed her.
What had they done? She was as weak as a kitten, the smallest
exertion of strength making her tremble from the effort. The fog
was lifting more rapidly, her mind comprehending more, but it
didn’t help that everything was blurry.

She sobbed, hands curling into fists
over the thick duvet as she looked over the room they were keeping
her in. It was pleasant in itself, but with the windows barred it
seemed like a prison more than anything. A chilling breeze wafted
into the room, sliding down her spine. Jamie attempted to reach for
a pillow, something, anything to give her warmth.

It was too heavy.

She cried out in helpless frustration,
eyes closing against another round of tears.

The room around her was immaculate,
elegant, completely the opposite of what she could remember of the
outside of the house. A royal blue carpet met with creamy walls,
the duvet an intricate design of the same colors. A large vanity
was on the other side of the bed, a plush chair placed regally in
front of it. Staring at the large pieces of furniture around her,
she felt like she had been brought back in time, Victorian era or
something close to it.

She suffered a chill as another gust
of wind blew over her. Shivering, Jamie rose to her feet
unsteadily. She was momentarily glad she had dressed for comfort.
As a daring thought occurred to her, she knew that scaling the side
of the building would be so much harder in slacks.

Her feet were bare, only a thick pair
of Jordan socks that would serve for grip. Panic was forcing her to
do this, making her think irrational things. But the more she
thought about it, the more she realized that the situation was
irrational and closed her eyes, using the hair band around her
wrist to tie her hair behind her head.

Jamie forced the fog completely out of
her mind, pure desperation the only way that she accomplished the
feat. She looked at the long curtains, billowing in the wind. The
soft rasp, the howling of the wind, the possibility of freedom;
Jamie shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Her mother had often taken her rock
climbing, skiing, running, hiking. It had been an accomplishing
past time, had never left her bored. One thing that her mother had
prided herself was keeping them both fit and healthy. Being active
with her daughter had been the only way that they had gotten an
ounce of peace from her father. The fighting, the arguing... Jamie
averted her eyes from the window.

When Chris had come along, she had
thought it would be over.

She made a small sound in the back of
her throat, shaking her head at her stupidity.

Jamie made her way to the window,
unsure. The bars were thick, but so was the spacing between them.
Feeling her gut rise to her throat, bile rose in her throat at her
lack of strength and what she had to do to get free. Fear pumped
through her, but with the knowledge that she had a chance, Jamie
began to ready herself.

The bars were about a third of a foot
apart. Rusted iron, clearly old and rough from weather, they were
an inch thick. She bit her lip, peering out of the window in
estimation. The harsh wind slapped her in the face, tendrils of
hair that had fallen out of the pony tail whipping at her reddening
cheeks.

Jamie paled when she looked down.
Climbing a mountain had been easy, fun, enjoyable to both her and
her mother. They hadn’t been afraid that they could fall, because
there had always been some type of slope. But now, as she stared
down the side of the building, Jamie felt her stomach
roil.

Jamie straightened her shoulders.
Looking at the door would make her lose her courage, so she barely
spared it a glance and began praying instead.

Sliding through the bars wasn’t as
hard as she had thought it would be. She was fit, thin, and very
flexible. When she was just on the side, the very edge, her heart
plummeted to her stomach. A strong gust of wind almost pushed her
back inside of the room, but her hands clenched tightly around the
bar as her foot slowly lowered, praying that she found a ledge
within the stone wall. The large stones were not placed perfectly
together, some protruding from the wall and others not.

Like some sort of horrible vampire
movie, the windows all around the house had ledges, lit with
candles from the other rooms or torches on the outside. The sun was
starting to set. Through her panic, she realized just how late it
was getting. Her stomach churned, hands turning numb from the tight
grip she had on the bar.

It would be horrifying, the climb down
the building. Nothing would be around her waist, she wouldn’t have
a harness on, and the walls would be cold and slick. The closer she
got to escaping, to actually scaling the imposing wall, the more
she realized that she would rather die than stay in the castle. The
memory of the crimson eyes, their ruthless smile, the horrid
remarks... Her head shook, forcing the thoughts from her brain as
she slid completely through the bars and started down.

Her hand was just on the ledge, a soft
cry emerging from her throat when another thrust of wind had her
body slamming against the frozen wall of the building. Her fingers,
already numb, felt like they were breaking.

“
No, you
bitch!
”

She looked up.

Froze.

And started screeching as furious red
eyes melted with hers, thin manacled hands grasping her own. Jamie
tried to pull away, tried to get her foot on a solid ledge. The
demented man — creature — pulled her up, despite her struggles. Her
heart was pounding, panic resonating through her, his nails
stabbing into her wrists. The soft trickle of blood registered in
her mind before she was yanked half-way into the room.

Her screams rang within the
high-walled room, and she yanked, shoving with her feet against the
wall. Jamie forgot about the high drop, the fact that she could die
if she fell, about everything except escaping. Her mind went blank,
desperation coursing through her.

The hands loosened. Jamie gasped, the
furious roar of the man that had been clutching her arms so tightly
penetrating her mind. The world seemed to freeze, her heart
stopping in her chest.

Her foot slipped from the ledge,
losing the desperate grip that she had held on with. Her hands, so
cold and numb, were not quick enough to grab for the ledge or even
one of the bars.

The regal room, holding such
terrifying creatures, disappeared from her view. Instead, it was
replaced with the sky, then the trees, the blur of them barely
dawning on her traumatized mind. And then the first branch slapped
her, caught her.

Jamie would have cried out, had her
breath not left her body. Instead, it was a soundless scream of
pain. Her body blazed with pain, but till she reached out her hand
to take hold of it. Her grip slipped and she knew she was going to
fall again.

The next tree seemed to stab her. Bile
rose in her throat at the high drop, at the pain. Her face was
turning numb, the cold picking her ears. She helplessly grasped for
the branch again, holding herself still, praying that if she didn’t
move, she wouldn’t fall anymore.

But she did. The ground didn’t bother
to cushion her fall. She cursed, panted, holding her shoulder. What
she felt right now... A soft sob escaped her pale lips, the pain
radiating through her body taking the color away. She shuddered,
convulsing as the white hot pain fought with the cold
numbness.

A roar sounded through the
forest.

Jamie looked up, eyes wide, tears
glistening in their pale blue depths. She had to get up, she had to
get away, she had to...

How was she still alive?

Her chest shuddered with sobs, but she
dragged herself to her feet. The forestry around her howled,
screaming at her, talking to her. Wind rushed around her, the chill
in her feet spreading up her legs and into her core. She shivered,
the socks already getting soaked.

Jamie leaned on the tree next to her.
She looked around her. She heard another shout and began to
run.

Jamie ran so fast,
so
hard
, that she
thought her legs would break. She ran until her legs bled. Until
her body pounded with bruises and stitches that ran up her sides.
The wind, working with her, almost made her lose her footing. The
snow, rising in a wintry dance, swirled around her, blinding her
path. Shudders wracked her body, but she forced herself to move on.
Jamie ducked under trees that wished to grab her, and jumped over
fallen branches. The threat of animals was nonexistent. Wolves, let
alone anything that ate flesh, would not inhabit such an active
town. Men hunted, construction was going on. No animal in their
right mind would stick around that long, and she was
grateful.