Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete (25 page)

PART
SIX

CHAPTER ONE

The sound goes out. The light. The
temperature.

Jasmine was
on the floor of the helicopter, grasping at the air where her baby had been.
She couldn’t think. There was so much pressure coming at her. All she could
feel was the shock, the pain, the devastation. It wasn’t real. It was a
nightmare. Something she’d wake up from and then feel the utmost relief that it
never happened.

He was gone.

Just gone.

Hands were at
her sides, trying to pull her up from the ground. Jasmine fought them. She
crawled further. Lower. Deeper. Until she was just a shivering ball.

Why?

How could
this have happened?

How could she
have let it?

Everything
had been so perfect. Just when they had finally gotten away from Firebound
Island, where she’d been rescued and the panthers defeated, where she was safe
with her baby and her two kings far away in the air where nothing could touch
them…

No.

NO!

The Mage.
Quraal’s former servant. Right before Quraal’s defeat, the Mage had been
revealed to be working for the government and that he was on
their
and
always had been. No one really believed it. Not deep down. But the Mage had
escaped Zane and his dragon guards, and for a period, they all might have
wished that they were wrong about him. That he was good after all. Weird,
creepy, mysterious, yet ultimately good. And as Jasmine had learned of the
Mage’s assistance to Thunder Brad and Spike to finding her – to keeping her
safe from the panthers – it seemed as though he had her best intentions at
heart after all.

Wrong.

Through the
thickness of her tears, Jasmine realized she was thinking now. Her bears were
right by her, trying to comfort, trying to bring her back to reality…

And as she
wiped her eyes she knew they were right. She couldn’t be weak at this moment.
She couldn’t wallow in the catastrophe of what had occurred.

She had to
stand up. Take charge.

Grizzly was
counting on it.

 
CHAPTER TWO

“Jasmine?” Thunder Brad said, helping
her up. “Jasmine, are you okay?”

“Of course
I’m not okay,” Jasmine managed, wincing. “My baby … my little boy…”

Brad and
Spike gently lowered her back into her seat.

“Try and stay
calm,” Brad said. “We’re going to get through this. We’ll get him back, I
promise.”

“You
promise?” Jasmine gushed. “How do you even –?”

“Trust me,”
Brad said holding her wrists. “We’ll fix this. Won’t we, Spike?”

Spike sat
down opposite Jasmine. “We’ll do the best we can.”

“And what if
it isn’t…”

Enough?

No, she
couldn’t be this way. She couldn’t think negatively like this.

Oh boy. This
is hard.

“Jasmine,”
Brad said repeating her name. “We’re going to fix this – but we need to know
where we should go. Where does this guy … do you know where he’s from or
lives?”

Jasmine shook
her head. “We have to go back.”

“Back where?”

“To the
island. Turn this thing around.”

Brad and
Spike looked at each other.

“I said turn
it around at once!” Jasmine screamed, kicking Brad’s leg.

“Alright,” he
said quickly. “Alright – I’ll go talk to the pilot.”

Brad turned
and walked away down the aisle.

“Wherever he
is,” Spike said, “you have to remember Grizzly is still alive. This man … I
don’t think he wants to hurt him specifically. He … worked really hard to
kidnap him. There must be a reason.”

Jasmine
nodded. “You’re right. He … probably wants to raise him just as Gaspar did.”

Spike bit his
lip. “How is that?”

“In his
father’s footsteps.”

CHAPTER
THREE

By the time the helicopter reached
Firebound Island, Jet’s dragons had already taken flight, carrying the Uthuro
tribe back to the mainland. Apart from the occasional piece of broken armor or
impaled sword, the grass area had been cleared of evidence of the battle that
had occurred previously. Several of Zane’s men were stationed outside the
palace, their attention at full alert from the helicopter’s landing. The pilot,
who was also one of Zane’s men, told Brad that he would go and explain to them
what had happened, and request Zane’s immediate presence.

While he did
so, Jasmine and her kings began to exit the chopper. Her steps down the aisle
were hesitant and small. In the back of her mind it was as though she didn’t
want to leave. She was hoping she stepped on the Mage’s invisibility cloak,
uncovering both he and Grizzly, whom would be swiftly returned to her.

It was a
nice, yet fleeting thought.

Once on the
ground, Brad and Spike stood either side of her, each with a hand on her
shoulder. It felt good to have them there, as their love was pure and their
courage was strong – but really … what chance did they have against the Mage?
The powers demonstrated by his abilities rendered him near invincible.

At least,
that was how it seemed…

Minutes later
Zane stormed out of the palace’s entrance, still in his formidable green armor,
the sword that had killed both Quraal and Gaspar at his side.

“What’s
happened?” he hollered at them as he approached. “Where is your baby?”

“It’s the
Mage!” Jasmine squealed. “He appeared out of nowhere and just took him!”

“Then he
disappeared,” Spike added.

“You mean …
the Human Mage?” Zane asked. “The one who sided with Quraal before –”

“Yes,”
Jasmine said quickly. “You’ve got to help us.”

Zane stared
back them, looking rather baffled. “I’m a little lost. Why would he take your
baby – and how did he know you’d be on the helicopter to … teleport himself
there?”

“He was
helping us,” Brad said. “Me and Spike. First when the Destair kidnapped her,
and then after when the panthers did. He was … trailing her the whole time.”

“Do you think
he was working with Gaspar?” Zane asked.

Jasmine
looked up at Brad and Spike. “I don’t … I’m not sure.”

“He helped me
find you here for a reason,” Brad said. “He could have let me die back at the
Destair’s hideout, but he freed me just so I would be able to come here. I
don’t think he felt safe on this island. But he wanted your baby all along.”

“He said
something,” Spike muttered. “Back on the helicopter. Before he disappeared.
Something about the Dark Dragon ruling again.”

“Zane, where
do you think he is now?” Jasmine pleaded. “You’ve got to know something.”

Zane was
silent a moment.

He then
turned his eyes towards the helicopter.

“What’s going
on?” Brad asked. “What are you thinking?”

Zane turned
back to them.

“I have
absolutely no idea where he is,” Zane said.

CHAPTER FOUR

These were not the words Jasmine was
hoping to hear. She stared back disbelievingly at Zane who seemed just as
rocked by the realization as she was. No one knew what to say next.

Behind Zane,
a familiar face poked their way out the palace’s entrance.

“Hey
Jasmine,” Stacey called. “What are you guys back for?”

Her smile was
dimmed as soon as she was close enough to see the horror manifested in
Jasmine’s expression. “It’s the Mage,” Jasmine said. “He’s taken my baby and
Zane has no idea where to.”

“That’s
terrible!” Stacey cried. She turned to Zane. “Are you sure you don’t know where
he is?”

Zane
flinched. “I … The man – he teleports. He goes wherever he wants to. His home
used to be here on the island when he was King Horatio’s adviser –”

“Would King
Horatio know where he is?” Brad asked.

“Horatio has
returned to the otherworld now, and I have no contact with him,” Zane said.
“But even if he did know of a place the Mage frequented before coming here, I
have doubts he would return there. This is really … an impossible question…”

“It’s not
impossible!” Stacey scolded. “What if it was our baby? What would you do then?”

Zane stepped
back. “I’m being as honest as I can. I really do not know where he would be.”

“Did he have
any friends?” Brad asked. “Any associates you can link him to?”

Zane
shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Well, then
think!”

“Okay, okay,”
Spike spoke up. “Guys let’s not get out of control here.”

“I’m just
asking him a question!” Brad shouted back.

“Please don’t
fight,” Jasmine whimpered. “It’s not helping anything.”

“Look, if you
listen, I have an idea,” Spike said. He turned to Zane. “You still have Lynette
don’t you?”

“The
lioness?”

“Yes.”

“She’s in the
cells.”

“Bring her
out here,” Spike said. “Question her to confirm whether the Mage was involved
with Gaspar and if she knows anything about him at all.”

Zane nodded.
He signaled to the nearest guard. “Have Lynette brought out here at once,” he
said.

“Do you
really think she might know something?” Jasmine asked Spike.

Spike
blinked. “Even if she doesn’t, I’m willing to be her father does.”

 
CHAPTER FIVE

Zane’s men had not gone easy on
Lynette Thistle. Her dress was torn and bloodied. Her face was bruised and her
eyes purple. And yet even in spite of it, she had the audacity to smile at
them.

“There you
are,” she said as the guards dropped her in front of them. “My two little
bears. It is so nice to see you together again.”

Jasmine
shuddered at the thought of Brad and Spike belonging to her.

Brad crouched
down to Lynette’s level. “We have some questions for you. Will you answer
them?”

“What’s the
point?” Lynette fired back. “You know he’s just going to let them make me a sex
slave anyway.”

Brad looked
up at Zane. “What plans do you have for her?”

Zane crossed
his arms. “Her fate is yet to be decided. But being a sex slave to my men would
perhaps be the brightest future she has to look forward to.”

“Can that be
negotiated?” Brad asked.

Zane glared
at him. “Let’s see if she knows anything first.”

“Do I know
what?” Lynette asked crudely.

“Are you
working with the Mage?” Jasmine demanded.

Lynette
rolled her eyes. “Mage? What Mage?”

“You remember
him,” Brad said firmly. “He saved us from the Destair and told us to go to
Firebound Island.”

“Oh…” Lynette
murmured. “
Him
…”

“Cut the
shit, Princess,” Stacey said sourly. “You better start talking or –”

“Hey, fuck
you,” Lynette barked back. “You don’t know me. You don’t know my story.”

Zane pushed
Brad out of the way and picked Lynette up by her throat. “What did you say?” he
seethed. “You tell my queen to go fuck herself?”

“Hey!” Brad
shouted. “That’s not helping! Put her down.”

Seemingly
unaffected by Zane’s grip on her, Lynette gave a sharp kick to Zane’s crotch.

Zane
immediately reacted by throwing her to the ground, as hard as he could.

Commotion
soon followed.

Jasmine and
Stacey shouting at Lynette to give up the information. Brad wrestling with Zane
to not strike her again.

The guards
moving in around her to keep her from running…

“ENOUGH!”
Spike finally shouted.

Everyone
stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

He walked
past Zane and Brad grabbed hold of Lynette’s arm, pulling her to her feet.

“I’m going to
talk to her,” Spike said. “Alone.”

 
CHAPTER SIX

They hadn’t a chance to meet face to
face yet, but Spike had seen her from a distance. He’d wondered what it was
going to be like. To have her existing again in front of his eyes. He was with
Jasmine now and had been with Juliet before her … but there was something about
Lynette that Spike hadn’t let go of. Why that was, he still wasn’t sure…

Once they
were a few meters from the others, Spike forced Lynette to the ground and stood
over her, his hands in his pockets. She wouldn’t look at him. Her eyes had
drifted away to nothing.

Nerves grated
through Spike’s body.

“What do I
say to you?” he muttered. “What can I say?”

Lynette’s
nose squished a little, but otherwise she gave his questions no reaction.

“Are you
listening to me?” he went on. “Or are you just…?”

Lynette
looked at him. Stuck out her tongue.

“What are you
doing?” Spike asked.

She looked
away from him again.

Spike shook
his head and sighed. He sat down next to her.

“Were you his
lover?”

Lynette’s
head snapped round. “Was I whose lover?”

“Gaspar’s.”

Lynette
giggled. No answer followed.

“You know
what he was?” Spike continued. “You know what he was going to do to this place?”

“I’d think
I’d know more than you about it,” Lynette said.

“He was evil.
He was … everything we used to stand against.”

Lynette
nodded. “Used to.”

Spike looked
at her. “What changed?”

“I got wise.”

“Did you?
How?”

Lynette
paused. “Do you know what it feels like to be paraded around, night after
night, in front of crowds of sick perverted humans, who get off on my body, my
spirit, my … existence?”

“But you …
you’re a performer. People go to see you –”

“I’m a circus
attraction. A fetish. When I realized how those people were, and how they were
looking at me… I couldn’t go through with it anymore.”

“Then why
didn’t you quit?”

“I couldn’t
live in this fucking place with those fucking people!” Lynette shouted. “You
weren’t there. Thunder wasn’t. My father … All I had was those sickening
parasites leaching off of me … until I met Gaspar.”

“He used
you,” Spike said. “A creature like that doesn’t care about anything but
themselves.”

Lynette
nodded. “You’re probably right. It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s gone.”

Spike stared
at her. “Would you please help us? This is the life of an innocent baby we’re
trying to save.”

“Innocent
baby … that’s a laugh.”

“What do you
mean?”

“I mean,
you’re better not finding out. Better off just leaving it alone.”

Spike shook
his head. “If you don’t help us, tell us what you know, then they’re going to
force you back into the dungeon where God knows what will happen to you.”

“That’ll
happen anyway.”

“I’ll
convince them to let you go,” Spike said. “You have my word.”

Lynette
looked at him. “Maybe I can kiss you as well. One last time.”

Spike inhaled
deeply. “Come on. Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not. I
want to kiss you in front of her.”

“Who?
Jasmine? Why?”

“So she can
feel a little of what I’m feeling now.”