Wicked Waves: Solsti Prophecy #2 (31 page)

She could see the forest on the other side of the weird barrier.
What the hell?

Draven looked at one of his goons and jerked his head toward Brooke. The demon stalked over to her and grabbed one arm. The thing that had been holding her shifted its vise grip to her other arm.

Icy panic flooded her arms and legs. Frantically she scanned the trees beyond the barrier, but saw no movement. Heard no sound. They were alone.

“Do you think your white knight is around here?”
 
Draven sneered. “He’ll never see us. He won’t hear you scream.
 
He’ll walk right by, wondering where his bitch is. If he hasn’t found another one already.”

He prowled close, standing mere inches from her. Stringy brown hair tickled her face as he leaned over. Foul breath skated past her nose and her stomach lurched. His tongue curled over yellowing teeth for a slow, salacious lick of his lips, and he squeezed her breasts.

“No!”
 
She tried to jerk away, but the two demons held her immobile.

Draven groaned. A sick smile curled his mouth.

No!
 
Terror surged rampant through her body. All her self-defense training, all her years of martial arts skills jumped to her frontal lobe. To defend herself from multiple attackers, she needed to be mobile.
Shit!
 
Mobile wasn’t an option. Held tight to the sushi-smelling creature, she had one choice.

She used her arms as leverage to slam her knee up, aiming for Draven’s balls. He anticipated her move and grabbed her leg. Wrapping it around his hip, he pressed against her.

“Be careful, little fae. Kneecaps are one of my favorite things to break.”

She spat in his face. “Fuck you!”

His answering chuckle burned like a thousand fire ants crawling on her skin. “Gladly.”
 
He looked up at the two that held her. “On the ground.”

Brooke thrashed as they pulled her down. She kicked at Draven, but the demons moved fast. Her head bounced off the scrubby grass. She couldn’t move her arms.
 
She barely felt them anymore, her circulation cut off by the fists clenching her biceps.

Draven dropped onto her, his weight on her thighs, pinning her. He leaned down and licked her neck.

“Stop,” she whimpered. “Please don’t do this.”
 
Hot tears stung her eyes. Kai had to be looking for her by now. Right?

Draven grunted and groped her breast again. “Such big tits. It gets me hard when you girls beg.”
 
Without warning he ripped the neckline of her shirt and bit her shoulder.

She screamed as her flesh tore.
Oh God, no
. Tears streamed down her cheeks, prickling painfully over her injured one.
No!

She turned away from him, her eyes skipping around in a frenzy. The strange wavering air danced, taunting her. The guards looked straight ahead, not seeming perturbed in the least. The elves looked at the ground.

A movement in the distance caught her eye.
Someone’s here!

“Help!” She struggled under Draven’s weight.

“Scream again, little fae. Try it.” Excitement shone in his red eyes. His hand moved to his belt. “Just so you understand, beyond a doubt, that they can’t hear you.”

Two figures walked closer, stopping just on the other side of the barrier. One blond, one dark, both huge. “Kai!” Her throat seared from the force of her voice. They couldn’t be more than fifteen feet away. Kai
had
to hear her. Somehow, some way, she willed him to sense her.

The Lash demons didn’t react. Intent and grim, their voices drifted across the shimmery air.

“Her scent goes cold right here,” Mathias said.

“That’s not possible,” Kai snapped.

I can hear them. Why can’t they hear me?
 
She didn’t want to believe Draven. “Kai!” she screamed with every ounce of air in her lungs.

Kai and Mathias just stood there.

Draven leaned over her, shifting his hips. Fear and disgust tumbled her stomach. She fought the rising bile, keeping Kai in her sights like an anchor.

“A portal?
 
Dark magic? And what about the elf scent?” Kai asked, scowling. He raked a hand through his hair and paced.

They can’t see you. Can’t hear you
. Draven’s words ran around in her mind. Terror closed in on her. She had one option left. With all her willpower, she focused inward, her ability building and crackling the air around her.

Draven raised a hand. “What are you doing, whore?”
 
He struck her injured cheek again, tearing it further. His hand landed on her thigh, shoving it outward.

She gasped, her face on fire. Suffocating pain lanced through and destroyed her concentration. Blood mixed with tears, stinging, drenching her in panic.

Draven fumbled with her pants, cursing at the closure that his clumsy hands couldn’t seem to manage. A crack and a pop echoed from the other side of their small group. Brooke raised her head to peer around his shoulder.

One of the elves flailed in his captor’s grasp, a blur of arms and legs. Silver flashed in his hand. The demon holding him roared. Its balance teetered as blood flowed from a wound in its thigh and it lost its grip on the elf.

Draven pushed up and turned toward the disturbance. “Kill the elf!”

“Fucking dark magic,” Mathias swore from the other side of the barrier.

“Find. Her. Now.”
 
Kai’s voice was an arsenal of fury.

The elf yelped and ran as another demon rushed toward him. Reaching the perimeter, the diminutive creature shoved into it and was repelled as if pushing against a rubber wall. It yielded a fraction, but then snapped back into place. Impenetrable.
 
He turned around, an
oh shit
look on his face.

One of the Serus standing by the spellcaster bellowed and pulled his head back. He exhaled at the elf, producing a white cloud that hung and curled through the air. Graceful and toxic.

And…
fog
.

A switch flipped in her mind. She pushed aside the pain and horror of Draven’s cruel hands, knowing she had only seconds.
One chance
. Her energy built and hummed in her blood as she focused on the pale mist. Draven turned back to her, rage distorting his face.

Shimmering water droplets separated from the fog. Perfect. Round. Poison.
Now
.

Brooke snatched the liquid with her mind and rushed the lethal surge toward the white-eyed man. Acid rain drenched Draven’s mage, falling in a veil of liquid death.

The mage screamed in agony, the toxins searing his flesh. His skin hissed with black smoke. Collapsing on the ground, he jerked and seized.

Draven howled in that unfamiliar language, slamming her shoulders down. Her head bounced against the dirt. Every drop of energy gone, she struggled against her blurring vision.

The wavering air barrier gave way, lifting and dissipating, as did the remnants of the Serus’ misty breath.

Kai’s roar of unbridled fury shook the earth beneath her.

He flew toward her, his eyes shining like stars, blending with his skin and hair into a blur of gold and muscle.

“Kai!” Her scream pierced the air as relief flooded her muscles.
He’s here
.

His face radiated savagery as another unholy bellow rent the air, pinching her eardrums. The guards snapped to attention. Two big gray demons lunged for him, each grabbing one of Kai’s arms. He never slowed his pace, yanking them off their feet to drag in his wake.

Two flashes, two pops, two clouds of smoke, and the demons were nothing more than smoldering remains on the ground.
Mathias
. The dark-haired demon turned and moved away from Kai to fling more demonfire around the gruesome circle. Howls carried on the wind, along with the clang of metal on metal.

Kai charged forward. Draven snarled a command to the demons holding her down. They leapt up, swords raised, and darted to Kai.

Draven cursed and stood. He jerked her to her feet. Before she could draw a breath, he pressed a blade to her throat as he held her in front of him.

A ball of demonfire from Kai’s palm flashed to the nearest demon, who dodged to the side faster than Brooke thought possible. The second fiend drew close enough to slice Kai’s bicep wide open. Red gushed.
So much blood
.

Kai shouted something in another language and unleashed a flurry of blows on the creature. He moved in blurs of speed and light, a demon dervish. Kai and his opponent distilled down to flashes of silver and red. Kai’s sword. His blood. The demon’s blood.

Its head flew, landing near her with a thud.

The first demon threw a knife that lodged deep in Kai’s thigh. He roared as black smoke rose from the wound.
Oh God, what the hell is that?

Kai tore the knife from his leg with a snarl and hurled it at the demon, hitting it between the eyes. The creature stumbled, giving Kai enough time to finish it off with demonfire.

Covered in blood, he stalked toward her and Draven. “Let her go,” he snarled.

“Surrender to me and I will.”

A shout burst from the other side of the clearing and cut off with a thud. Silence reigned.

“All your men are gone, demon. You lose. Let her go.” Kai’s voice was low and full of menace.

Brooke’s body jerked to the side as Draven wheeled her around.

Bodies lay on the ground in various twisted shapes. Some smoked. The three elves huddled together. Mathias stood near them, still as stone, focused on Brooke, Kai, and Draven.

Draven turned back to Kai. “I will kill her,” he hissed. “She’s just a whore.”

Kai clenched his teeth and didn’t take his eyes off Draven.

“Oh, does she mean something to you?
 
Only whores would spread their legs for you,
murderer
.” Draven pressed the tip of the knife into Brooke’s neck.

Kai’s gaze flared bright amber. Blood dripped from his arm, running in thin rivers of red through his fingers. He dropped his sword.

Brooke gasped.
What is he doing?
 
“No, Kai!” she cried. The blade pressed harder, sharper, stinging her skin.

Kai raised his hands, palms up.

Draven laughed, high pitched and insane. He didn’t let go of Brooke. “I think I’ll bring her along, to make sure you behave.”

A growl rumbled from Kai’s throat. “That’s not part of the deal.”

“The deal just changed, Lash.”

“You wanted me. You can have me. Let her fucking go!”

Brooke’s thoughts spun. Her stomach churned. She couldn’t let Kai do this. Draven would kill him.
Why is he doing this?
 
She couldn’t bear the thought of him back in that dungeon, being tortured. Not again.

Her blood raced in her veins, stirred by anger. Her strong, proud Lash would
never
be bound. Never be enslaved. Never again.

She slumped in Draven’s arms, pretending that her muscles went limp. She moved a little, as if she was fighting for consciousness, mindful of the blade at her throat. Her weight sagged against Draven’s body.

Kai’s gaze snapped to her, and as she met those amber eyes, she willed him to understand her thoughts.

Fight
.

Draven jostled her, his knife sawing against her neck. “Fucking slut can’t handle a little fun?
 
She won’t last long in my—”

Thunk.

Draven’s body stiffened. The world stilled.

A gurgle rippled from his mouth. As one, she and Draven fell forward.

She gasped as the blade bit into her skin when they landed. Pinned between his weight and the ground, she struggled to get free. Tears streamed from her eyes. Her neck was on fire.

Suddenly the weight was shoved from her back. The awful pressure at her neck abated. Air rushed over her bare skin, making her shiver.

She felt herself lifted. Wrapped in warmth. Her lungs eased as she gulped air, and the whirling in her head slowed. Reflexes made her jerk in terror, but Kai’s voice at her ear was like a gentle rain after a drought. Healing and life-giving.

“Sprite.”
 
His voice broke as he stroked her hair.

She exhaled a sharp breath, her body shaking, as the tears flowed faster down her cheeks.

Kai pulled back to study her, eyes radiating concern. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “Not bad.”

He tilted her chin up and frowned at her neck. “Messy, but not deep. Did he…”

“No,” she whispered.

“He’s dead, Sprite.”

Dead?
 
Her eyes dropped to the lifeless body near her feet. An arrow protruded from the side of Draven’s neck.

Her eyes flew back to Kai’s, and she felt her jaw drop. “How—”

“Hang on a sec.”
 
Kai released her and stalked over to Mathias, who remained near the elves. One of them trembled, clutching his bow like a lifeline.
 

Kai pulled his brawny arm back and slammed his fist into Mathias’ jaw.

Mathias absorbed the blow, taking a step back. “What the fuck?” he snarled, rubbing his face.

“You motherfucking bastard!
 
That arrow landed inches from her head!
 
You had no right to make that call. You didn’t know if he could make that shot.”
 
Kai glared at the terror-struck elf.

“Shit, man. Yeah, I did.”

Kai stood motionless, poised to hit Mathias again.

“Calm the fuck down, Kai. I may not know these three personally,” Mathias said. “But last century I spent a decade in their village. I know their families. They have the best archery skills of any species I’ve ever seen. In my
five hundred years
.”
 
Ice dripped from his last words.

Kai raked a hand through his grimy hair. He cleared his throat. “Shit.”

Mathias’ gaze softened a fraction. “I know better than to risk a Solsti. Or your female.”

Kai nodded and moved forward to clasp Mathias’ arm above the elbow. The Hunter returned the gesture. The two males thumped each other on the back.

Kai stepped toward the elves and inclined his head. “I’m in your debt.”