by Dark, Raven
Salvation
Saving Setora Book Seven
Raven Dark
Petra J. Knox
Praise for Saving Setora
"The softest woman requires the hardest men to survive. Dark, gritty, and perfectly filthy--modern MC meets Mad Max in this amazing RH tale. You will lust, you will crave, and you will scream for more!"
~Addison Cain, USA Today bestselling author
"So incredibly well-written. Compelling. Suspenseful. I was holding my breath as I was reading. But be warned, the authors aren't joking. This is definitely a DARK romance. If you like sweet, this is not the book. But if you like dark romance, you won't be able to put this one down."
~ Nia Mars, author
“…leaves you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. The characters are so detailed and the plot is so mysterious that you’ll be dying for more by the end of it.”
~Christina, Amazon Customer
Salvation (Saving Setora: Book Seven)
Copyright © 2019 Raven Dark and Petra J. Knox, all rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Please purchase only authorized editions of this book, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials.
Cover by Raven Dark
Cover images courtesy of DepositPhotos
Created with Vellum
Contents
Note to Readers
1. Discussions
2. Hawk’s Choice
3. The Dreaded Pause
4. Tether
5. Master Leif
6. A Question of Loyalty
7. Too Many Yantu
8. Trickster
9. Hitting Bottom
10. Hawk Takes the Gavel
11. Fracture
12. -Escaping from Tomorrow
13. Sentencing
14. Unrecognizable
15. Damage
16. Ritual of Penance
17. Point of No Return
18. The Breaking of the Four
19. When the Savior Speaks
20. Unexpected
21. Breaking Point
22. Brothers to the End
23. Ka’hatma Tae
24. Agreement
25. Threads and Boxes
26. The Order of the Altara
27. Answers at Last
28. I’kiran
29. Shellshock
30. Playing the Part
31. Death Trap
32. Wayward Stallions
33. Ultimatum
34. Mergence
35. Reasons
36. Where the Light Stops
37. The Return of Old Friends
38. Blood Thief
39. A choice
40. Guards and Prisoners
41. Going Sideways
42. A Brave New World
43. Deathblow
44. The Symbol of Eternity
Epilogue: New Beginnings
Acknowledgments
Connect with Raven Dark
Connect with Petra J. Knox
Dedication
From Raven And Petra
For our beloved husbands.
The men we are crazy enough to love.
The men who are crazy enough to love us back.
Always.
Note to Readers
This book has dark elements and scenes that may be triggering for some readers. The world, and the characters about whom you read herein, are not sweet, friendly people. The hell in which they live is a dark, desolate place, lawless and without mercy. It will either build them up or kill them.
Welcome to Setora’s world.
Enter at your own risk.
Chapter 1
Discussions
Sheriff’s words echoed through my mind, shattering every other thought
He couldn’t see.
Panic welled up. Huge, powerful, and heartbreaking.
Silence fell over us, the men seeming as if they were frozen in place, as though the words had stopped time itself.
Steel was the first to speak. “Come on, General, that’s not funny.” His voice had a strange tremor in it, and his face was screwed up.
“Doc,” Pretty Boy drawled slowly.
Hawk sat there still frozen, and I had a horrible sense he was trying desperately to find his Fortress. Except, unlike when my men had thought I was pregnant and Hawk had worn the same expression, I found no humor in it now.
Doc had one of those biolights in his hand; he flashed it into Sheriff’s eyes.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. Everything seemed to be happening in a haze, voices drifting down a long tunnel.
Doc flashed the light into Sheriff’s eyes once again, peering closely at them. With the bright beam shining into them, anyone else would have had trouble not looking away and closing their eyes. Sheriff didn’t move, didn’t blink. He stared right into the light as if it wasn’t there.
Doc lifted his head, giving it the smallest shake. He had a look on his face I knew too well—a final, solemn expression doctors wear when the news is bad.
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Steel shoved to his feet. “This is fucking insane! It never ends, does it?”
The pain in his gaze sliced me deep. He stomped out of the cave, ignoring Doc and Pretty Boy who both called after him.
Pretty Boy started after Steel, but Hawk took his arm and shook his head. “Let him go.” His voice was a whisper. “Give him space.”
Pretty Boy looked at the ceiling and dropped his shoulders.
“His pupils aren’t reacting to the light.” Doc set his hand on Sheriff’s shoulder. “Can you see anything at all, General? Lights, shadows, anything?”
Sheriff shook his head. “No. It’s all dark.”
“Okay.” Doc radiated a trained calm I wished I could tap into. “Are you in any pain?”
He shook his head again.
“Doc, Greisha used some kind of drops that he put in Sheriff’s eyes. He screamed when Greisha did it. Do you think that’s why he can’t see?” My own voice sounded unrecognizable. I hated the fear in it.
“I’m not sure. It’s possible, but it could also be some kind of nerve damage or infection causing it. It could even be psychological trauma.” He checked Sheriff’s reflexes. “His memory seems fine, and aside from water in his lungs and the fever… I’ll have to run some tests on him.”
“Well, do them!” Pretty Boy demanded.
Doc gave him a look that I couldn’t quite read.
“What can we do, Doc?” Hawk asked calmly.
“Guys, cool your shit.” Sheriff licked his lips, his voice hardly recognizable. “Doc, this is a temporary thing, right? I’ll be fine. Don’t get all broken up, boys.”
Doc didn’t answer his question. “Sheriff, what’s the last thing you remember?”
It sounded strange, hearing him ask Sheriff a question I’d grown used to hearing Doc ask me.
“Uh…Water. I remember water. Fucking cold water all around me. That son of a bitch Damien asking me where you guys were and who was with me. That’s it.”
“All right.” Doc’s shoulders were too tense. He looked like he was thinking. “You don’t remember what Damien did to you? The water torture?”
Again, Sheriff shook his head.
“Is he going to be okay, Doc? Will he get his vision back?” I squeezed Sheriff’s hand.
There was no way Doc could know at this point, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. From reaching for something—anything—that offered hope.
Before D
oc could answer, Sheriff released my hand. He gripped Doc’s shoulder. When he spoke, I barely heard him, but there was no mistaking what he said.
“Doc, get her out of here. Please.”
“Master, no. I’m not leaving you.” I couldn’t bring myself to move.
Sheriff closed his eyes. “Doc.”
The hardness in his tone stung, twisting my insides.
Hawk and the rest of them exchanged knowing looks, and Doc gave them a helpless shrug. “Setora, I’ve got him. I’ll keep you updated. First and foremost, I’m going to start him on an antibiotic, and get this fever down.” His eyes held reassurance as he nodded toward the cave entrance.
Pretty Boy got up and gently helped me to my feet. A good thing, because my legs felt like jelly.
“Come on, Princess. Let’s get some food in you.” His voice was almost painfully gentle. “It’s okay, Doc’s got this.”
I nodded, taking comfort in the feel of his warm hand enveloping mine.
As he made his way out of the cave, I could hear the men’s voices, all in hushed tones, but I couldn’t make out what they said. I didn’t see any sign of Steel. My heart broke for him.
Pretty Boy put his arm around my waist as we walked toward the mouth of another cavern where the other men had started a fire. Bear and Grim sat on logs around the fire, talking with Hawk’s four guardsmen. I was too out of it to remember any of their names. Blade was stirring a pot over the flame. The smell of mutton and spices reached my nose. I knew it was supposed to be a pleasant smell, but it turned my stomach, and I didn’t think it was because Blade didn’t know how to cook.
“Master, I’m not hungry.” Shaking my head up at Pretty Boy, I longed to ask him why Sheriff didn’t want me with him. Didn’t he know I could handle whatever was happening to him? Only, I couldn’t make the words come. The last thing I wanted right now was for any of my men to think I was needy.
“Eat something anyway.” He rubbed my arms and pushed me gently onto a log by the fire. “Blade, get her a bowl, would you?”
“Sure.” The Legion’s weapons expert offered me a tired smile and ladled stew into a bowl. “Here you are.” He set my shaking hands around the hot dish. “It probably tastes bad, but it’ll keep you going.” He turned to Pretty Boy, getting a dish for him. “How is he?” His voice was quiet.
Pretty Boy rubbed his forehead and declined the bowl Blade offered him. “Doc’s with him now. And no thanks, Brother. I need to take a leak.” He stroked my hair. “Bear, keep an eye on her.”
Blade shrugged and started to dump the stew back into the pot.
“Sure, man. I’ll take that, Blade.” Bear swiped the bowl of stew and made his way over to me. “Scoot over, beautiful.” He joined me on the log. He spooned stew into his mouth and made a funny face. “Tastes like dog shit, but it’s good for you. Eat up.” He rubbed my back with brotherly warmth.
“Oh, thanks a lot, Bear.” Blade chuckled, but it sounded forced. “Truthfully, dog shit is probably better, though.”
“It won’t kill you, Setora,” Grim added with an equally forced smile from beside the stew pot when I didn’t start eating. “Welcome back, by the way.”
“Thank you, sir.” I focused on the guys talking and didn’t pick up my spoon.
It was good to be back, but at what cost? Guilt chewed at my insides, cutting so deep it was almost physically painful. If only Sheriff would have let me see him. I needed to do something other than sit here. Something to help him.
The memory of what I’d tried to do in that torture chamber—trying to summon Julian to save Sheriff—flickered through my thoughts, but I shut it down fast, putting it aside for later.
Why didn’t he want me to see him?
Without being able to talk to him, it was futile to speculate. I did my best to hide the worry for him, keeping my eyes on my stew.
Pretty Boy returned, going over to a wash basin set up near the cave entrance. “Princess, I want to see you eating.” He washed his hands, nodding to my untouched stew.
When I didn’t obey, he dried his hands and came over to me. Kneeling in front of me, he picked up the spoon and held it up to my lips. “Open that gorgeous mouth.”
I sighed and opened my mouth, letting him slip the spoon in. I didn’t taste a thing, bad or otherwise.
Doc walked over to us, his hands in the pockets of his leather pants.
“Doc, how is he?” I asked around a mouthful of stew.
Doc squatted in front of me, beside Pretty Boy, and set his hand on my knee. “Setora, I want you to tell me everything that happened to him in that room before we came. Every detail, no matter how insignificant you might think it is.”
I closed my eyes, thinking back, trying to remember. Again, as the memory of Sheriff’s pain sliced at my thoughts, the memory of my efforts to save him intruded. I had tried to call Julian, tried to summon him like some demon out of hell. If it had worked…
How could I have been so stupid? If Tahmi had been right and Julian had the abilities he implied, Julian might have killed them all. Sure, he would have probably killed Damien, but he also might have taken me and destroyed Sheriff and the others instead of saving them.
I shivered.
“Setora?” Doc prompted.
I shook off my thoughts and focused on his question. “Greisha, Damien’s doctor, kept pouring water down a tube. Sheriff was…” I turned my head away, but it didn’t shut out the memory of Sheriff’s pain, of him thrashing while Griesha tortured him. “Damien wanted to know where the other men were. How many were there. That was when he was using the water tube. Sheriff didn’t tell them anything, Doc.” I looked at him, my voice breaking. “Not a thing. Then after…after that, Greisha added the eyedrops, but just that one time. After that…well, I was on the floor. They went back to drowning him, but he wouldn’t give the others up.”
Doc gave a strained smile, respect for Sheriff shining in his eyes.
Pretty Boy massaged my nape. “Stubborn to the last, Doc,” he said, referring to Sheriff.
If either of them noticed that I’d left anything out, they didn’t give any sign. They probably assumed I was still in shock over everything that had happened. They wouldn’t have been wrong.
“After that, they threw me out of the room,” I continued. “Damien said they were going to do something else to him, something worse, I guess.” I swallowed, tears gathering at my eyes. “When I left, Sheriff was screaming. Maker, Doc, he was in so much pain…”
“These drops, is there anything you remember about them? An odor, a color, the bottle?” Doc asked.
I thought back to that horrible moment when Greisha had pried Sheriff’s eyes open. “There was an odor, yes, like a strong ammonia scent. The drops were in a small glass bottle. Whatever he used, it was a colorless liquid, as far as I could tell from where I was standing.”
Doc squeezed my knee. His expression remained professional, but I didn’t miss the flash of recognition in them. “All right. Thank you, that’s a big help.” He started to get up.
“Doc, is…is he going to be okay?”
Doc’s expression was unreadable. “You stay here and eat with Pretty Boy and the others. I’ll tell you more when I can.”
I wanted more, needed more now, but I made myself nod. Doc squeezed Pretty Boy’s shoulder and then made his way back toward the infirmary cave.
While Bear got up to talk to Blade and Grim, Pretty Boy took a seat beside me, closing his arms around me and making sure I ate every last drop of stew.
“He’ll be okay, Master. His eyes will heal, and then he’ll be fine.” I’d meant the words for Pretty Boy, but I knew they were meant to reassure myself as much as him.
Pretty Boy rubbed my arms and rested his chin on the top of my head. “Yeah.” His voice was tough and hard. “You know Sheriff. He’s too tough to take down, right?”
I nodded.
The implications were too painful, too unimaginable to even entertain. Pushing them away, not even le
tting them form, I held Pretty Boy tight and closed my eyes.
Sheriff, blind. Maker, please, please let him be all right.
* * *
The next few hours crawled by.
It felt like I was in limbo, suspended between hope and helplessness, waiting for the answers only Doc could give.
Without its General to tell them the plan, the Dark Legion was in limbo as well. No one knew when we were going to leave the camp, nor what was coming next. Everyone wore brave faces, talking and laughing, trying to distract themselves with food and stories of exploits from past missions, but I could feel it. All of them were walking a knife’s edge.
Upon setting up the camp, Hawk had assigned two of his guardsmen to watch the perimeter at all times. Over the next few hours, I saw them pacing at their posts. The first hour or so, I sat with Steel reading, with Pretty Boy playing Bluff, or with Hawk meditating, while the others stayed with Sheriff. Later, all of us were much too exhausted to do anything but sleep.
My heart ached to be at Sheriff’s side, but unlike when Steel had been on the mend months ago, no one would let me see him. Pretty Boy and Steel maintained that Doc didn’t want everyone crowding Sheriff, but I had a sinking feeling there was more to it.
