FALL (The Senses)

by Paterson, Cindy

  Zurina laughed. “Oh Waleron. Why do you think I gave them to you? I thought they would be enough to make you forget her, but they weren’t, were they? But now…now you will finally be free of her.”

  His rage drove him. “Goddamn it, I never asked to be free of her! I love her. I’d sacrifice everything for her.”

  “And that is the problem. That is why we are here right now.”

  “I never asked to be a fuckin’ Taldeburu.”

  She sighed. “Your mother always hated swearing.”

  “Yeah well you and my mother can go fuck yourselves.” Waleron sent a blast of energy at her. She raised a shield around her body and his blast reflected off of it. He knew now, it had been her shields protecting Tarek that day.

  “Don’t bother,” Zurina said. “I’ve saved you the trouble. The rocks on my ankles will hold me under.” She pushed off the side and slipped into the water, her fingers holding the edge. “I know what I’ve done may seem wrong and you may not understand why, but know that I love you like my own child. I did it to protect you from yourself. And I’m doing this for our oath to our Goddess.” She nodded to the left behind her and several men appeared from the darkness of the cave. “They will keep you here a few days. Just until Tarek is done with her.”

  Waleron began blasting energy towards the darkness of the cave, but it was too late, he felt the spray of water from the stream being dumped on him. The water took away all Senses’ abilities, weakened them, and Waleron was no different.

  The five men dove on top of him just as he saw Zurina disappear beneath the surface of the water.

  He felt no emotion. Not caring either way if she died by her own hand or his. One way or another, she was dead. She’d chosen her oath over loyalty to him. She’d betrayed all of them just so she’d die knowing she’d never faltered from her oath to his mother, not the Goddess.

  His body slammed into the ground and more water was poured over him. He didn’t fight, instead his mind reeled. His oaths. What he lived by. What lengths had he gone through to keep his? How many had he hurt by being so unfeeling? Would he destroy lives like Zurina just to protect an oath to a Goddess and his mother? God, what had he done?

  Chains wrapped around his entire body. A wet towel was placed over his head and then he felt his body being lifted.

  “Zurina said to secure him here for a few days.”

  “Screw her. She’s dead. My loyalty is to the highest bidder and right now that’s Tarek. I’ll Trace him to the island. No one leaves until I get back.”

  That voice was familiar. Yet, Waleron hadn’t heard it in centuries. But the man could Trace. With him. Only one Senses was able to Trace with anyone. Holy Christ, it couldn’t be?

  Pain exploded in his head.

  Delara.

  Chapter 16

  Delara woke to the gold rope around her neck. She’d been in and out consciousness for what seemed like days, although she was unable to decipher any concept of time. At one point she swore she’d been lying in a bed and fed water, but her mind was a fog as if she’d been kept in a drug induced haze.

  The rope was tied to a stone wall giving her about an inch of movement in each direction. Her hands were tied together behind her back with what felt like a thin wire. It was cutting into her flesh, and when she pulled she felt blood surface. The worst of it was the disgusting wet rag shoved in her mouth.

  She tried to spit it out, but ended up gagging on it, which terrified her even more. There was nothing to stop her from vomiting and choking.

  As her eyes focused and her head cleared, she looked around what appeared to be a cellar. Dark. Damp and musty. A loud crack sounded to her right. Her head turned and the most disturbing sound wrenched from her throat. It came out muffled, barely audible as she stared in horror.

  Waleron was hanging from a hook in the ceiling, arms stretched above his head, wrists manacled. His feet were unable to touch the floor and his body swayed back and forth. Welts crisscrossed his naked back. His skin was ripped—in some places his flesh was hanging by a thread.

  Tarek stood behind him, a leather strap with metal studs in his hand. He raised his arm. God, no. No. Please.

  Snap! The strap crackled as it hit flesh and the chains rattled as Waleron’s body jerked.

  Delara’s scream was smothered by the horrible gag. Her eyes were wide. The nausea. She had to look away to stop from vomiting and killing herself in the process.

  Whoosh.

  Snap!

  Crackle.

  Rattle.

  Over and over again. Fighting against her rope choker, Delara struggled. Tears streamed done her cheeks, useless tears that had no meaning to the man that held them prisoner.

  Tarek brought the studded leather down on Waleron’s back again. “Scream, goddamn it!” He approached Waleron, whose face was ravaged with pain. “Why won’t you scream?” Tarek shouted with crazed rage.

  Waleron met his eyes and Delara was uncertain if Waleron refused to answer or if he was in too much pain to open his mouth without doing exactly as Tarek wanted.

  Tarek must have heard her stifled sobs. He turned, a slow smile lighting his face as he noticed she was awake. “At last.” He stalked over to her, the leather strap dragging behind him, dripping a trail of Waleron’s blood. Delara fought against her bounds, eyes widening with fear. She knew what Tarek was capable of. Had lived with it. But once she learned to follow his rules, it had been rare he ever raised a hand to her. Then he found Waleron’s note.

  This was far worse. The gleam in his almond-colored eyes scintillated a joviality that mixed with madness. His lids were opened too wide and his grin too phony. The once aristocratic face that held a genuine smile had been displaced by a demented leer. She noticed the twitch in his muscles, a mild tic that was barely discernible.

  The sweet iron smell of blood permeated the air as did the sweat that both men exuded, one from excruciating pain, the other from his crazed state of mind filled with what was obvious pleasure.

  Tarek grabbed her by the back of the head and yanked to the side. She heard Waleron’s speechless objection, his chains rattling as he fought against them. She bit down hard on the gag to avoid wincing and giving Tarek the satisfaction of seeing the pain he caused her. What she imagined doing was spitting in his wretched face and then taking her knife and sinking it up between his ribs. But those thoughts quickly dissipated. “You see what arrived today, love. Waleron all wrapped up in chains. Had to pay a pretty penny for him. A Taldeburu at my disposal and the woman who loves him.” He yanked the gag from her mouth and tossed it to the ground. “He destroyed us. Him. And he will pay for it.”

  Delara lowered her gaze. “Waleron, I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry.” A sharp pain tore through her the moment she used her telepathy.

  “Don’t, baby. Please. I’m begging you.”

  Tarek grabbed her hair and jerked her head back. “I wish I could see their faces when I send Waleron’s body back to them.” He laughed, the subtle lines around his dimples deepening.

  Delara jerked her head to the side and the rope cut into her throat. She glared at Tarek and spat in his face. He calmly wiped her saliva from his cheek then slapped her hard. The sting in her cheek felt like a burning fire, but she bit the inside of her mouth and kept from displaying her reaction.

  “And you? They will never find you. There are no Senses in Brazil, no one to contact. Zurina picked a perfect location. No way off the island, no escape.”

  “They will come, Delara. Already, they know Zurina is involved.”

  Delara still felt the effects of the tranquilizer, but she fought against her chains, her mind screaming with hatred. Tarek raised his arm and the leather-studded strap came down across her chest.

  The blistering pain made her back arch and her body jerked with revolt. She held in her scream, not wanting to give Tarek the satisfaction of seeing her cry out. She’d die before letting him win.

  “Delara!” Waleron’s chains rattled as he fought
against them, but his efforts were slow. His body had been ravaged, torn and ripped apart. He was barely conscious. “I can’t…damn it. The drugs, my Scar can’t...”

  Tarek laughed then strode over to Waleron. He raised the whip and it snapped in the air then landed so hard into Waleron that his body swung back and forth on the chains. She felt the instant Waleron fell unconscious. Limp. Head hung between his shoulders. His hands no longer curled around the chains.

  Delara sobbed. Choking on the cries that refused to stop. Tarek growled something incomprehensible. He waved his hand at a lever on the far wall and the chains Waleron was attached to in the ceiling dropped. He crashed to the floor.

  Waleron didn’t move.

  “Don’t worry, he’s still breathing. I need him to make you behave. At least for a little while. Let the Senses worry about their powerful, strong Taldeburu Waleron.” Tarek strode over and grabbed her by the chin. “Guess he will be making the ultimate sacrifice this time. Himself.” Tarek lowered his head and took her lips, forcing her mouth open. She bit down hard on his tongue and he cried out, then bit her upper lip. “Bitch.”

  She waited for the backlash, but instead he went back to Waleron. He smiled as he raised the leather strap. “Punishment, Delara.” The strap came down on Waleron’s still form. His body didn’t react. The blood splattered the floor and walls as Tarek lashed him several more times. Delara’s sobs lost to the sound of the snap of the whip. When Tarek stopped, his voice was quiet and calm. “I have the strange feeling we’re going to get along just fine this time.” He raised his hand to another lever on the far wall and her neck rope loosened and chains released.

  Her arms fell to her sides, pins and needles instantly coming alive as blood rushed back into her limbs.

  “Don’t let him die, my love.” Tarek whistled as he walked out.

  Delara fell the moment she took a step. It didn’t stop her as she scrambled on her hands and knees towards Waleron. She placed his head in her lap, cradling and caressing him. Tears continued to fall down her pale skin and land on his chest.

  “Waleron.” She stroked his face with the tips of her fingers then lowered her head and kissed his lips. “Waleron please.”

  He groaned, his hand rising off the floor an inch then falling limp again.

  “Open your eyes. Look at me.” She reached down and grabbed his hand, holding it to her heart. His breathing was too shallow. “Breathe, Waleron please. Don’t leave me again.”

  “How long…has it been?”

  “I don’t know. It’s the drugs. I can’t judge time.” He tried to sit up but she stayed him with her hand. “Don’t. Save your strength.”

  “What strength?” He searched her face with hazy eyes filled with pain. She knew it must be agony for him just laying here and yet she could do nothing to help him. He grunted as he shifted. “Listen to me, baby. You get the chance, you get out of here. Understand?”

  “No. Don’t ask that of me.” The thought of leaving him, of knowing what Tarek would do to him if she left. “I can’t.”

  “I’m not asking. You will do it.” His hand slid across the cold cement floor and touched her thigh and squeezed. “Promise me.”

  She swallowed the bile in her throat, shaking her head back and forth.

  “Delara. You must.” He closed his eyes as if the effort of speaking was too much.

  She inhaled a quivering breath. “If I can convince him to let you go maybe—”

  “I won’t leave you here.” Waleron’s eyes flew open and she witnessed something different. It was softness. Warmth she hadn’t seen in a really long time. “Ever. Okay?” She ran her hand over his shaved head, the bristles so familiar and yet...it had been a long time since she’d caressed him like this. It took him being beaten to near death, for her to be able to hold him like this.

  Delara wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. The image of Waleron’s body being thrashed, the pain on his face. God, she’d do anything to save him from that again. He’d suffered enough. God, hadn’t he suffered enough?

  He raised his arm and stroked her cheek with his thumb. She noticed him grimace from the movement. He rubbed back and forth over her skin then caressed her lower lip. She kissed his hand before taking it in hers and bringing it to her chest.

  She felt defeated. Broken. Most of all ashamed of being unable to stop the despair from eating away at her insides like an insect. She was cracking. Hopelessness clung to her like leaches.

  “Baby, we are only hopeless when we are not together.” Waleron closed his eyes and blacked out.

  Chapter 17

  She had no idea how long they slept on the cement floor before she jolted awake to the lever creaking and moving upwards, then the door opening. Delara quickly checked Waleron, and calmed when she saw his steady breaths. She scrambled to her feet as Tarek strode in the door, his cocky grin eyeing her chest. Waleron’s blood had seeped into her shirt and her breasts were accentuated with blotches of red.

  Waleron groaned and his muscles recoiled at his movement. She’d seen his back. Knew it was ravaged. The wounds were so horrific that Delara felt queasy just thinking about it, and in her lifetime she’d witnessed some grisly wounds. The torture. The suffering. It was all because of her. This was her fault. Tarek was demented and obsessed with her and she’d brought Waleron into it.

  Tarek swung the gold rope in his hand, it was the same one as before, and Delara guessed he’d acquired it from Zurina. Zurina was the only person who had enough connections to get something like this. She must have been planning, building her repertoire for Tarek, hovering like a snake in the grass until Tarek was released and then she could make her move.

  God, why? Why after all these years would Zurina want her to suffer? Did she hate her that much?

  “My oath, Delara. She swore to my mother she’d keep me from ever swaying from what I was born to do.”

  Zurina had mentioned that in the Realm, but—

  Tarek cracked the rope and it made a loud snap in the air. Delara sidestepped to the right, making certain she was blocking Waleron.

  “Protecting him? Sweet. But that won’t last long.”

  Delara glared as he strode towards her. He stopped; his fingers were wrapped tightly around the rope ready to wield it at any second. She tested her telekinesis, but the drug Tarek had given them was still lingering in her system. She suspected he knew that.

  Tarek’s hand reached out and Delara tensed. His cold fingers caressed her cheek then curled around the base of her skull, pulling her hair to bring her so close that their chests met. She kept her eyes focused on him. Everything in her body told her to run. Self-preservation screamed as the memories flooded. But her need to protect Waleron was stronger.

  “Twenty years I lay in Rest dreaming about you. The nightmare of finding his letter repeated in my dreams over and over again. The beating. The agony of what I’d done.” His fingers tightened around her strands of hair. “I don’t want to hurt you, Delara.” He pushed up against her. “All I want to do is love you. But you won’t let me.” Bullshit. Love didn’t come with fear. “But we’ll be together now.” He yanked on her hair and she bit the inside of her lip to stop the cry of pain.

  “Delara. Now. Break his hold.”

  Waleron. They knew one another’s movements like a dance. She slammed her elbow up into Tarek’s face. At the same time Waleron leapt up and tackled him. The gilded rope whipped into the air as Tarek reacted. She ducked as it flung towards her.

  Delara ran to the door. Her feet were heavy from the medicine; everything was in slow motion. She reached the lever and pushed up. It wouldn’t budge. She glanced over her shoulder. Tarek had gained the advantage. Waleron was on his back.

  “I can’t get it…” She pushed, pulled, yanked on the lever. It wouldn’t budge.

  The rope snapped and rang in the air. Delara screamed out a warning. Waleron shifted to the right, but a second too late. It wrapped around his throat and Tarek yanked. Both men
were on their feet now. Waleron’s hands latched onto the gold rope. Delara smelled his flesh burning, an acrid taste in her throat as it melted. No. She ran towards them, jumping on Tarek’s back. It threw him off balance and Waleron managed to get his hands between the rope and his throat.

  An elbow punched into her side and Delara fell backwards several feet. Waleron rolled. He met her eyes and nodded. She ran two steps, slid on the floor and used the momentum to kick Tarek in the back of the legs. He stumbled forward towards Waleron and the rope loosened enough for Waleron to inhale. She punched Tarek in the side of the head then kneed him in the groin. He went down like a lead weight, eyes tearing and his face a mask of agony.

  “Waleron.” Delara helped him lift the rope off his neck and his skin peeled away with it. The burns looked deep, like they were third-degree, and had just missed his Scar.

  They ran for the door.

  Waleron pushed up on the lever. She put her hands over top of his and they tried together.

  Nothing.

  Waleron was bleeding profusely; the wounds on his back had reopened and were now dripping down his skin and landing on the cement floor. She heard a shuffling of feet and turned to see Tarek swinging the rope over his head like a lasso. She ran for him again.

  “Delara, no!” Waleron shouted.

  She ignored him as she charged Tarek. She was slower than usual, but managed to jump for the rope the same time Tarek threw it at Waleron. The gold-covered cord ripped at her hands as she stopped the momentum.

  “It requires a key, Delara, but if can manage enough energy, I can bust through it.”

  Tarek yanked on the rope and she stumbled forward, falling to her knees. She tried to gain her feet, but Tarek was too close. He grabbed her arm, pulled it behind her back and wrenched it. He jerked up further and she cried out.

  “What’s he trying to do?” Tarek hauled up on her arm when she didn’t answer. She bent her back as she tried to relieve the pressure.

  Waleron’s hands pulsed, his attention focused on the lever. If he could escape then they had a chance. Waleron had to escape; she’d suffer, die, live here for eternity if only she knew he would escape.