He didn’t speak as he unhooked the chain holding her hands in place. The cuffs remained locked around her wrists but she didn’t let that stop her. She swung her elbow back, grunting as she connected with his jaw. Harken bellowed as he fell back but his focus on her didn’t waver. He straightened and slapped her, his open palm slamming into her cheek. Pain radiated down her spine.
Lights sparkled behind her eyelids and she groaned as the room swirled.
“Do not attempt to strike me again,” he said as he dragged her across the room. He scooped her up and dropped her on the flat surface. The cold metal sent a shiver through her skin. “I wish to save all of your pain for when you are strapped in.”
Her head still spinning, she opened her eyes as Harken dragged her hands above her head and connected the cuffs to the chains. She struggled but his strength overcame hers. Once he stepped back, she yanked against the restraints but the metal and leather held. He reached down and placed two flat tabs on her breasts, one near each nipple. He held up a black box with a row of buttons.
“Now, behave like a good little slut while I get you strapped down.”
Her lips drew back in a snarl. There was no need to play nice. He was going kill her in the end anyway.
His hand slid along the inside of her thigh. She struggled to hold herself still, to not flinch even as his touch made her stomach roil. She waited, needing the right moment. His fingers wrapped around her ankle and she kicked. The top of her foot connected with his throat and a garbled shout erupted from his mouth. The triumph lasted only a moment. Pain shot through her body, every nerve firing at once.
Her scream echoed through the room. It lasted only seconds, resounding back to her, swirling through her head as she collapsed onto the table, a low whimper remaining in her throat. Harken jerked her leg to the side, tied it down, then stomped to the head of the table. He bent over her, his eyes glittering, rage pouring out of his stare.
“You’re ruining everything. There is nothing like that first jolt of pain before your body has adapted. I could have gathered much energy from that but now I’ve missed it because you wouldn’t behave.”
She briefly considered a sarcastic “I’m sorry” but Harken probably didn’t understand sarcasm any more than Cayl. Instead she went for the classic “fuck you”.
Harken shook his head. “I do not understand the human fascination with procreation.” He stepped back. “But perhaps I could experiment on you before the machine takes all your energy.”
Revulsion ran through her core and she had to swallow to keep from vomiting.
Harken moved around to the other side of her body. She considered fighting as he strapped down her other leg but she wasn’t prepared for another jolt like the previous one. Instead she took a deep breath and tried not to flinch when his fingers stroked her calf.
“I knew you’d be a feisty one when I saw you with those two men. Human females are such sluts. Do you know how many have left the club with me? Hoping to have sex with me? Stupid cows.”
Rage—at Harken’s arrogance, his chauvinism, his being a screaming asshole—welled up inside her.
“Listen you alien asshole—”
His head snapped up. His eyes drilled into her. Cayl’s eyes had glowed, sparkled when he was excited or upset but it was nothing to the fury blazing out of Harken’s stare.
“This isn’t some human speculation. Who’s told you? How do you know?”
Devin clamped her lips shut. She wasn’t going to give him anything to go with.
“How do you know?!” His scream scraped the walls but Devin stayed silent. The box trembled in his hand as he fumbled with the buttons. Even knowing it was coming she couldn’t prepare herself.
Fire pierced her breasts and ripped through her body. She arched up on the table and screamed.
“Tell me. How did a human slut learn about me?” She didn’t get a chance to answer. He sent another jolt through her, one scream blending into the next. He asked another question but she couldn’t understand the words. Her mind retreated, hiding from the pain until silence returned.
Cautiously, she opened her eyes. Harken stood over her. His hand raised, finger hovering over the button.
“Now you know what happens when I hit this.” He tapped the black box. “Tell me how you knew.”
“I told her.”
Chapter Ten
Harken’s head snapped up so fast she thought his spine might break. He spun around and stared at the door. Pain drained Devin’s muscles but she found the strength to press up, knowing, hoping it would be her rescue.
Cayl and Mace filled the open space, both looking huge and dangerous. And pissed off.
“Who are—?” Harken stopped. His beady eyes squinted down and Devin could tell he was using his other senses, trying to see beyond Cayl’s human form. “Cayl?” A curious humming noise buzzed from his throat. “What are you doing here?” he asked, though it was obvious he didn’t care much about the answer.
“Stopping you.”
Harken scoffed. “So arrogant. Always believing you’re right.” He moved away from Devin, toward the counters. The movement appeared casual but Devin didn’t trust him.
“Watch him.”
“Shut up!” Harken’s command was followed by another jolt to her core. Her screamed burned the inside of her throat. She collapsed onto the table and tried to focus on pushing the pain from her senses.
Gulping in a breath, she watched the scene. Harken stood beside the counter. Cayl stood about ten feet back. Harken’s fingers fluttered over the buttons and she knew she would get at least one more shock before this was over. Mace inched toward her, moving slowly so Harken’s attention remained on Cayl. They seemed to have a plan, which gave her some comfort, but she really wanted someone to get that controller away from Harken.
Harken waved the box in front of Cayl, dramatically tapping button.
“Stay back, unless you want to see your little slut screaming in pain.”
“Hear,” Cayl corrected. Mace took another step.
“What?” Harken’s eyes squinted down until they were only slits and he peered at Cayl.
“Technically we would ‘hear’ our little slut scream in pain. To ‘see’ her it would have to be something like writhe in pain.”
“He’s right.” Mace spoke for the first time.
Harken’s gaze flashed left, his eyes popping open as if surprised that Mace was there at all. That moment of distraction seemed part of the plan. Cayl lunged forward, slamming into Harken. The box flew out of his hand. Devin braced for the pain. The box spun in the air and headed toward the ground. Even if it didn’t land on the button, she was sure there was going to be feedback of some kind when it struck the concrete.
Cayl shoved against Harken and threw himself into the air, stretching out like football player making a catch. His hand snagged the box, inches from the ground. Like he’d been doing it for years, he kept rolling, coming to his feet.
“I’ve got this,” he announced to Mace. “Get her free.”
Mace was already working on it.
He reached for the cuffs around her wrists.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’ll live. Get those things off my breasts.” If that box got bumped, she wanted to be free.
Mace nodded and ripped the silver tabs off her skin. The tiny burn as the adhesive pulled off actually felt good.
“Better?”
Devin nodded and Mace returned to undoing her hands. She watched his face, so relieved to see him. He met her gaze then glanced down at her body. Shaking his head, he unbuckled the first cuff.
“Under any other circumstance…” he murmured. He let the words trail away but Devin knew what he meant.
“And under any other circumstance, I’d let you.” A hungry spark flared in his eyes and for a moment she thought he might act on the situation they both imagined. His eyes did another quick scan down her body. A low groan broke from his lips. The sound momentarily distrac
ted her.
The cuff around her left wrist released, followed moments later by the other. Devin sat up, working the minor stiffness out of her shoulders.
Mace ran to the foot of the table and started working on her legs. He glanced up as if to see how the battle across the room was going.
“Holy shit. He’s got a light saber.”
She followed his stare and gasped. Harken did have a light saber. Cayl didn’t. Cayl crouched down, moving in a slow circle around Harken. Harken moved with him.
“You cannot stop me. I am superior to you in all ways,” Harken announced. “I will destroy you and then blow this puny planet to rubble.”
“And he’s read one too many comic books,” Mace muttered.
Devin sat up and tore at the cuff holding her right leg. Mace finished with the other and helped her off the table.
“Here.” He shoved a black key fob into her hand. “Get in the car. Call for help.”
Devin stared at the gray triangle in her palm. He really expected her to just go hide in the car? When Cayl was being attacked?
She watched as Mace stalked forward. Harken swung at Cayl, then spun around and whipped the light sword at Mace. Harken didn’t appear particularly skilled, and there were no cool sounds like they’d had in the movies, but none of that mattered. Everything that came into the path of that light saber caught on fire. Streaks flared along Cayl’s sleeve, but he slapped them out. That didn’t make it hurt any less, she knew.
Harken slashed the saber downward, burning through the legs of the table Cayl crouched behind. The metal counter tipped over. A dozen or more bits of electronics tumbled off the top and fell on Cayl. He cried out as a block slammed into his head. A grim smile curved Harken’s lips. He swung again, the light spinning within inches of Mace’s chest.
Mace backed up, creeping back toward the torture table Devin had recently occupied. He was weaponless and Devin had no idea what one used against glowing sword of light that instantly burned anything it touched.
As if Harken had completely dismissed her presence, he turned his back on her and stalked after Mace.
Devin slipped between the bits of burning equipment and knelt down beside the dazed Cayl.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Why are you still here? You must run.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Do you have something to stop him?”
“Once he is immobilized yes but I have nothing to combat his light sword.”
She watched Harken cut through the table with one slice.
“We’ve got to get that thing out of his hand.”
Even as she said the words, she was moving. Harken had dismissed her, wasn’t paying any attention to her. Good. Better he underestimate her.
Mace shoved a crumpled piece of metal between him and Harken but he was fast running out of obstacles to throw in his path. Devin did the only thing she could. She ran and jumped, landing on Harken’s back.
She’d seen it a dozen times in movies. The heroine jumps on the bad guy’s back and wraps her hands around his neck, holding him while the hero comes to the rescue. Well either that was a Hollywood invention or she was heavier than most movie heroines because when she jumped on Harken’s back, he went down. Hard. She fell with him, her knees scraping against the concrete floor as he hit.
The thud of his chin hitting the ground was almost overshadowed by the skitter of his light saber across the floor. The glowing blue light vanished as it left his palm.
Harken groaned and Devin jumped up, suddenly aware that she was naked and straddling Harken’s back. She shuddered. Not where she wanted to be.
Cayl offered his hand and dragged her back. “You should have stayed out of the way.”
“I brought him down,” she pointed out.
“But you put yourself at risk. I heard Mace distinctly tell you to leave. You did not follow instructions.”
Harken lifted his head.
“We’ll fight about it later. Now do something with him.”
Mace watched as Cayl pulled a slim black rectangle from his pocket and pointed one end at Harken.
“What is that?” It almost looked like a camera, which probably wasn’t a bad idea. Get pictures so they could prove—
A bright light shot from the end of the box and surrounded Harken’s body. Mace froze. Harken’s form shimmered and rose, floating in the air inches above the ground. Harken twisted. His mouth opened but no sound came out. Or no sound made it through the strange barrier. The light encircled him, wrapping around his body, until his struggles bent the force field. Cayl tapped the box and the white light turned red.
Harken writhed as his body started to crumble. Tiny bits fell off his form and landed on the bottom edge of the light box that held him. The struggles grew stronger but quickly ended as Harken dissolved, like he’d been erased, one pixel at a time. Mace heard his own gasp as the last traces of Harken settled into a two inch layer of dust.
Cayl flicked his thumb across the bottom of the controller. The light and what remained of Harken’s body vanished into the tiny black box. Everything that was Harken was gone.
“What the fuck was that?” Mace demanded when his voice returned.
“It is a device that eliminates waste,” Cayl replied, his voice once again cool and clinical.
The truth drilled into Mace’s brain like a corkscrew, slow twisting images becoming real. Cayl really was an alien. And Harken really had just vanished in front of his eyes.
He looked up and met Devin’s stare. Only she wasn’t really looking at him, there was no explanation or comfort in her eyes. She stared back but there was a blankness, a distance in her eyes that tugged Mace’s heart.
God, what had she gone through before they’d gotten there. He glanced at the space that had recently held Harken’s body and growled. He wanted Harken to return if for no other reason than he could beat the hell out of the guy. A fury he hadn’t expected shot through him.
“We must destroy the workspace,” Cayl announced.
Devin nodded but didn’t move.
“Uh, Cayl, maybe you could lend her your coat?”
Cayl’s head popped up and he looked at Devin as if seeing her for the first time. Devin’s hands fluttered at her side as if she wanted to cover herself but knew it was silly. They’d both seen her naked. Still, Cayl stripped off his jacket and offered it to Devin.
She dragged it on over her shoulders. It covered her but the hints of skin revealed as she moved teased Mace.
“Let’s get this done.” The hesitant look in her eyes belied the brisk tone of her voice.
She and Cayl moved to the wall of strange boxes and electronics. Cayl murmured about compositors and fluxers. Devin nodded but her movements were still sluggish, as if her mind wasn’t able to direct her muscles to move. He decided to keep a close watch on her.
Mace didn’t understand most of what Cayl said but he looked around to see what he could do to help. His gaze landed on the light saber. That was definitely something that didn’t need to be found lying around. He picked it up and turned it over his hand. Three buttons lined the side. Holding it away, he pressed each of the buttons in sequence. Nothing happened.
“That’s about it,” Cayl announced. Mace spun around and shoved the light saber in his pocket. He’d ask Cayl about it later.
He looked at the other side of the room. Wires lay in twisted bundles. Burn marks surrounded holes in panels. Cayl had done a good job of stripping the equipment.
Cayl pointed his black box toward one final piece of equipment and it crumpled into the dust. “That’s the last.”
Devin blinked, but the light in her eyes was dull. She wrapped her arms around her waist and dropped her gaze to the concrete floor. She looked alone and strangely lost.
Need swelled in his chest—the need to fix it, to take away the pain.
Mace stalked across the tiny space, stopping in front of Devin. She jumped and looked up as if she hadn’t seen him move.
Even knowing Harken was dissolved into particles the size of dust didn’t ease Mace’s memory of Devin leaping onto Harken’s back, protecting him. Damn, she’d been the one being rescued. She should have stayed on the sidelines and let them rescue her.
Devin finally reacted. She nodded, slow, precise movements. “I’m fine.”
A minute tremble whispered beneath her words and caught Mace’s attention. Yes, he was furious that she’d thrown herself into the fight once they’d freed her but the quaver in her voice pulled him back. He needed to help her. Focus her. She was probably breaking apart inside.
“There is little else we can do here,” Cayl announced. “I have destroyed the technology that didn’t previously exist on Earth. The only option left for a clean departure is for us to set fire to the building which Agent Denning will not allow me to do.”
“No. Nothing draws attention like a fire,” Devin said. The words sounded a little more stable but her eyes didn’t land on anything longer than a heartbeat. “Uhm, we should go. Get this reported and uh, get Cayl back to his world.”
Cayl straightened. “There is no need to rush. I have summoned the transport for the morning hours. We should return to Mace’s house and proceed with our plans.”
Plans? It took Mace a moment to catch up with Cayl’s suggestion. Then he remembered. They were going to fuck, the three of them…
Denial reared up in his soul. They’d just vaporized an alien. Devin had been kidnapped and abused. He shuddered. The sight of her splayed out, naked, screaming in true pain would remain with him forever. What she needed was peace and calm. He looked at Devin and the sight stalled his thoughts.
Cayl’s jacket hung like a tent around her shoulders. Her arms hugged her waist like she was trying to keep her body together. But her spirit was panicking. She needed something. Something intense and strong. Life-giving instead of terrifying. Something that might give her focus and let her release some of the excess energy skimming beneath the surface of her skin.
CollectiveMemory Page 15
