Promise

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  His eyes glowed, and he nodded. “I think I am.”

  Alex crawled onto the bed and knelt in front of him. She grabbed both of his hands and pressed them against her breasts. He had big hands, but they weren’t big enough to cup her entirely.

  “Do we have to leave the room, tonight?” She traced her lips with the tip of her tongue, watching his groin for a reaction. “Maybe you should get some fruit brought up here…”

  A groan escaped between his gritted teeth as he made a move toward her.

  The door opened, and someone rushed inside. Levi slammed the door behind him and pressed his back against it. His blonde hair was wet and stuck to his forehead. His eyes were wide when he glanced their way. When he noticed they were naked, he lowered his gaze.

  “I am so very sorry to barge in like this.”

  “Do you ever knock?” she asked, still naked and kneeling in front of Damon.

  Levi’s cheeks colored, but he didn’t look up.

  Damon stood. “You can go and get dressed if you like. I need to speak to Levi.”

  “I’ll get dressed, but I’m not going anywhere. Something’s obviously spooked him.” Alex couldn’t care less if she didn’t have a stitch of clothing on, and there was another man in the room. Moreover, Levi was more embarrassed than trying to catch a glimpse of what she had to offer. “Besides, he’s already seen me naked.”

  Alex backed off the bed and grabbed the skin-tight pants she’d dumped on the end. As she stepped into them, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Levi.

  “What’s going on?” Damon asked him.

  She slipped her bra on next and covered it with a black tank top stopping just above the low-ride waistband of her pants.

  “Another person has been killed,” Levi said.

  “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you’re so worked up.”

  “Elroy found the person and claims the victim wasn’t mauled this time but shot.” His chest rose and fell a little too fast. Was he hyperventilating?

  Damon shook his head. “We don’t have access to guns. Aleena makes sure of it. Not even security has access to weapons.”

  “Why’s that?” Alex asked.

  “Because we don’t actually have any,” Damon answered without turning to face her.

  She stared at his broad shoulders and watched the muscles twitch as he tensed.

  Levi pointed a finger at Alex. “She does.”

  “Yeah, but it’s always with me.” As she crawled back onto the bed to reach for the bedside table where she’d place her holster and blaster, she found only the holster. She grabbed it. “What the hell? I left it here. Where did it go?”

  How many times had her father told her to always have her blaster nearby and to never take her eyes off it? She’d suffered so many careless moments lately—starting with her panic when she’d first seen the key, followed by sleeping for however long before Ulric paid her a visit, then ending with her long, hot session with Damon, and more sleep. She couldn’t pinpoint when anyone could’ve gotten their hands on her weapon, but they obviously had.

  Her heart sped up. She’d never lost her blaster before.

  “He says he has the weapon,” Levi added.

  “That’s not possible. I always make sure it’s with me. No one’s been in this room but us.” Ulric had, but he’d been totally naked, so he hadn’t taken it. She headed for the armchair and quickly rummaged through her bag. Nope, it wasn’t in there.

  Alex dumped the bag and made her way to stand beside Damon. He was watching Levi with narrowed eyes.

  She stared at the empty holster in her hand for a long moment, before strapping it around her thigh.

  “What are you leaving out?” he asked.

  The teenager swallowed but met Damon’s eye. “When you left me to watch over Alex, someone else did come by.”

  “Who was it?” Damon’s voice sounded deeper.

  For a moment, Alex swallowed the lump in her throat. She held her breath, wondering if Levi knew about Ulric’s bizarre visit.

  “Milo hung out with me, but we were outside the whole time.”

  “I don’t understand what the problem is, then.”

  Sweat ran down Levi’s face. “Well, he and I are…we’re sort of in a…um…in a…relationship.”

  “I don’t understand what any of this has to do with Alex—”

  “I swear. I didn’t leave the building. I only ducked around the corner with him. We just wanted a little privacy and found it down the corridor.”

  “Did you see anyone get in or out?”

  Levi shook his head.

  Alex couldn’t stop a shiver from running through her. If Levi had been with his lover around the corner to get some privacy, there was no way he would have heard someone sneaking into her room. For all they knew, two people could have sneaked in while she slept and was dreaming about her father’s last visit.

  Things just get freakier around here.

  “Afterward, Milo told me that Elroy knew about us. He sent Milo to distract me, so he could sneak into the room. If Milo didn’t agree to do it, Elroy told him I’d be the next person to die—”

  “So what you’re telling me is that Elroy sneaked into this room and took Alex’s weapon to kill someone, and then planned to frame her?” Damon looked furious.

  Levi nodded, and he looked so much younger. It didn’t stop Damon from closing the distance between them and slapping him in the face.

  “You lied to me! I thought I could trust you.”

  “You can.” Tears streamed down Levi’s face, and his cheek had turned red.

  “Where’s Elroy, now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  A knock sounded on the door, and Levi jumped, as if it suddenly burned his skin.

  Damon held a finger over his lips.

  “Damon, I know you’re in there, so you might as well open the door before I tear it down.”

  He headed for the door, but Alex called his name. When he turned to look at her, she tossed him his pants. It took him seconds to slip them on, and tie up the cord. Damon opened the door, slowly.

  The security guy stood in the doorway. “Well, it’s about time you opened up. You know I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

  “What do you want, Elroy?”

  “I want you to stop protecting a criminal.”

  “I don’t know of any criminal.”

  “Very well, then.” Elroy stepped into the room, pointed the blaster at Damon, and shot him point-blank.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “No!” Alex yelled, somewhere behind him.

  Damon fell back against the bed. The burn of the laser strike spread over his shoulder like boiling water slowly pouring over his skin. At least Elroy hadn’t hit any vital organs or ruptured anything important. He lifted a shaky hand to the smoking wound and pressed his left palm over it. He might not be able to regenerate skin and tissue on himself as quickly as he could on others, but he could still heal his own injuries.

  Elroy knew that and had no doubt shot with the intention of incapacitating him for the moment. What did he plan to do?

  “Damon, are you all right?”Alex appeared beside him. She grabbed a hold of his uninjured arm and helped him to a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

  He managed a quick nod, never taking his eyes off his attacker.

  “Oh, this is really touching. Too bad you’re not going to get a chance to be together after I’m done with you.” Elroy stepped into the room with a smirk on his thin lips, keeping the weapon out in front of him. “The Priestess is finally going to realize I was right. We don’t need you here. We offered you shelter after your crash, and you’ve repaid us by killing with no remorse.” He paused for a moment, glaring at Alex. “You were so desperate to ki
ll our people, not even having your dog do your bidding was enough. You had to use your weapon as well.”

  “I don’t have a dog,” she whispered.

  Damon winced. “Don’t listen to him.” His whole left arm felt numb. Pins and needles ran down the entire side. This wasn’t good. Not when he wanted to protect her so badly.

  Knowing a little bit more about Alex, and seeing the photo of her father, he understood her lack of magical awareness. If her father kept it from her, and she spent her entire life travelling from one end of the galaxy to another, how could she be expected to believe in anything but guns, ships, and technology? The way her magical capacity had been numbed as soon as she put the key around her neck made Damon realize she was probably right. Maybe her father and I are of the same kind. Of course, that only saddened him, because it meant Aleena had lied to him about everything.

  “Oh, Damon. It makes no difference if she listens to me or not. I’m going to prove everything to Aleena, and you’re all coming with me.”

  “You can’t prove anything without the animal,” Damon said with a sigh.

  “Who says I don’t have the animal?”

  Alex stiffened beside him, her fingers clinging more tightly to his arm. “You caught him?”

  Elroy eyed her with disgust, and Damon’s fingers itched to smack him. How dare he show such disrespect toward her when she hadn’t done anything wrong. How could Elroy have singlehandedly captured a feral monster who feasted on flesh and blood? Damon could still remember the murderous rage he’d read off Laurie’s memory of the animal. Whether he was entirely beast, or a creature of legend, didn’t matter. The animal only had one thing in mind, and he doubted this poor excuse of a man had been able to capture it.

  “Yes, I caught the beast when he leaped out of your window and passed out in the garden.” Elroy stepped closer, still glaring at Alex. “Tell me. What was he doing in here with you? Does a dog satisfy you in bed? I guess it’s understandable why Damon wouldn’t be enough for you.” His dry chuckle filled the room.

  What was he talking about? Damon wondered if Alex had left this out of her story on purpose, or had she intended to tell him how the animal fit into her life eventually? He wasn’t sure and didn’t have the energy to be angry with her at the moment.

  While Elroy gloated, Alex caught him by surprise. She let go of Damon, took a step forward, and kicked out a long leg. She knocked the blaster out of Elroy’s hand, and it tumbled to the floor, but before she could grab it, Elroy booted it toward the open door.

  Milo appeared in the doorway. He bent over and secured the weapon, as if he were holding a piece of rotted fruit or a dead animal.

  Elroy held out his hand. “Give me the weapon.”

  Alex made a move to get around him, but Elroy wrapped a hand around her wrist, spun her around, and secured it at the small of her back.

  “Don’t move, you whore.” He looked at Milo. “Give it to me.”

  “No,” both Damon and Levi said in unison.

  Elroy’s face was red, his eyes blazing with rage. “If you don’t give it to me now, Levi will be the first one I kill when I pry it from your dead hands.”

  Milo closed his eyes and held the weapon out for Elroy, who removed one of his hands from his grip on Alex. He tightened the other on her wrist, yanking her backward. She protested and looked as if she were trying to wiggle out of his grasp but couldn’t. When Elroy wrapped his bony fingers around the weapon, he pressed the barrel to the side of Alex’s head.

  “Good. Now that everything’s been cleared up, let’s go.” Elroy looked so smug.

  For the first time in his life, Damon felt useless. He didn’t know much about guns, but he suspected the laser shot from the barrel had the ability to not only wound and kill, but also temporarily stun the victim. His entire left side drooped downward, and he couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to move. Let alone come to their rescue.

  The arcane he’d managed to draw within him was helping to heal the wound, but it provided no relief in getting sensation back into his arm. Besides, his use of magic only involved defense, not attack.

  He met Alex’s eyes. She was staring back at him, but she didn’t look disappointed or hurt, just frustrated. I’m sorry, she mouthed.

  Damon didn’t understand what she had to be sorry about, but he’d make sure Elroy regretted this. He wasn’t sure how he’d do it, because he couldn’t think clearly at the moment, but he’d somehow manage.

  “Tie him up,” Elroy ordered Milo with a motion of his head.

  The younger man looked a little scared as he approached, so Damon tried his best to hold out his arms in front of him and said, “It’s okay, Milo. Do it. I won’t hurt you.”

  “You’re always the hero, aren’t you?” Elroy dragged on Alex’s arm, and she cried out. “You’re always the one who’s there to help the injured or sick, but you have no idea how many have slipped through your fingers without your knowledge.”

  “When I get my blaster back, I’m going to blow your head off!” Alex spat, trying to break away from his hold.

  Elroy laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  Milo had already secured one of the plastic ties around Damon’s wrists and started on the other.

  Alex continued to squirm against Elroy and managed to smack the back of her head hard enough against his face to cause him to stumble back a step. For a moment, it seemed like he was about to lose his grip on both Alex and the gun, but it only took him an instant to regain his step. He dropped her wrist and instead wrapped an arm around the front of Alex’s body.

  “Get your hands off me, you creep!” she exclaimed, still struggling against him.

  Damon wished she would just calm down, because she was only making it harder on herself. Struggling against a man with a weapon would only tire her and anger him.

  Yet, he already understood enough about Alex’s temperament to know she wouldn’t listen.

  With a defiant smile on his face and blood dribbling from his nose, Elroy lifted the weapon and smacked the butt of it against the back of her head. He let go, and she slid to the floor, unconscious.

  “You bastard!” Damon hissed, standing up. Milo had finished securing the bindings around his wrists, but he still had a mostly functioning right leg. When he took a step forward, someone grabbed his forearm. He turned to find Levi.

  “He’s not worth it.”

  “I think that’s the first smart thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Elroy said with a chuckle. “Now, which one of you pansy boys is going to carry the whore for me?”

  Levi stepped forward to volunteer.

  “Good. Let’s get going. My patience is wearing thin.”

  When Damon stepped out of the room—Milo helping him limp along the corridor and Levi carrying Alex behind them—he wondered what the hell Elroy hoped to achieve by doing this. Aleena had shown nothing but hospitality toward Alex, so how would she react when she saw this stupid scheme of his?

  A chill seized his stomach.

  As much as he wanted to believe in their Priestess, he couldn’t help but recall a particular sentence in the book he’d borrowed: A true Priestess hides nothing from her people, and hopes only to spread honor, pay tribute, and be thankful for what her Goddess provides her land with.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  When Ulric opened his eyes and stretched his body, he felt a sense of disorientation. It deepened when he tried to stand up and found that he couldn’t. The top of his shoulders were constricted, and his head was forced to lean into his chest.

  What the hell?

  He remembered falling asleep underneath Alex’s window, full of anger toward the woman who’d denied him. No one had ever turned him down before—not the way she had. Then again, he’d never made such a serious offer to a woman, either.

  In his dre
ams, he’d fantasized about being the one who made her cry out and squirm at his every touch. It helped him temporarily forget he’d promised himself he’d make her pay.

  Where the hell am I?

  He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands and looked around, feeling the pull of his muscles as he struggled to find a comfortable position.

  Everywhere he turned, he faced thick, metal bars. He wrapped his fingers around them, pulling hard, trying to break or separate them. They refused to budge. He was trapped inside a cage. How the hell did this happen?

  He pressed his face against the bars, defeated yet again.

  Pitch black surrounded him, and a cold so severe, it seeped in through his naked flesh and into his very bones. Lowering himself to his knees, he inspected the barren area he was in. It seemed to be some sort of cavernous area with rocky outcrops on the edges. Except for the moon filtering in from the gap high above, there was no other light. Where the cage had been placed, it didn’t reach him, but he could still feel the cool fingers of moonlight trying to reach him.

  He’d learned the hard way—if the moon wasn’t touching him, it couldn’t affect him.

  Did someone else know, too? Who moved him?

  The longer he stared between the bars of the square box he’d been stuck in, the more he could make out. The stairs located behind him appeared to have been literally carved into the rock wall and had been smoothed out by years of constant use. The glare of monitors reflected the area around him. He also noticed that the gap at the top of the ceiling was mirrored on the floor directly below. Several feet from where he was, Ulric could make out an abyss. What was this place, and what the hell was he doing in here?

  He might be confused about the location, but what alarmed him the most was the familiarity. For some reason, it felt as if tiny, fragmented memories were trying to seep into his head about this restricted area. He knew no one was supposed to be here, as his mother had told him many times...

  These can’t be my memories. Just like me, both of my parents were born and raised on Anteris.

  There’s something very strange going on, and I don’t like it one bit.