Without warning her mare’s ears flattened against her head and she bolted forward as if someone had slapped her rump. Emma yanked on the reins commanding the frightened horse into an uneasy, sidestepping halt. The horse threw her head up and down, side to side trying to loosen Emma’s hold on the reins and therefore the bit. Her eyes were wild and round as she pranced and hopped around kicking up dust. Emma crooned soothing words and patted the lathered neck of the terrified animal. Her horse’s frantic footwork slowed to a stagger as she calmed down.
Bzzt! Emma twisted in the saddle searching for the source of the mares agitation. She swiped at what she thought was a pesky fly buzzing her ear. Another bzzt sound and she felt the sting of something piercing her shoulder. A haze clouded her vision and she swayed in the saddle. She looked down and saw the fuzzy end of a tranquilizer dart protruding from her horse's withers. She tried grabbing the saddle horn. Too late. Unconscious, she slipped from the saddle onto the ground.
* * *
Kai leaned back against the coldness of the sandstone wall. He glanced around the rough edge of the building. From his vantage point, he saw four guards posted in the compound and two more posted high up on the roof of the building. All six were armed. Kai waited for the guards to make their rounds. He timed the intervals between the rounds, gauging his opportunities. According to his calculations, there were approximately thirty seconds between each sweep, plenty of time to cross the compound and take cover before being in their direct line of sight.
“All clear.” Sabine waved for him to go. She would stay behind and warn him through the tiny earpiece he wore if she saw anything coming. Kai didn’t want her involved any more than necessary. And lookout duty would satisfy his promise to Emma.
Three. Two. One. Kai bolted across the vast expanse of grass avoiding the gravel edging the lawn. He was as silent as he was quick. Within seconds he’d hid himself among the shadows of yet another sandstone wall. Careful to remain cloaked in the darkened hollows of the angular building, Kai scaled the wall like a parkour master and slipped undetected into a dark second level window. He quickly swept the area for any signs of discovery. Satisfied the room was all clear he moved on to the next one and the next.
Chapter 23
“Zephyr! You have returned.” The speaker’s voice was smooth as silk. “And you’ve brought a guest?”
“I’ve found the girl the Hunter’s been keeping close.” Emma’s captor sounded smug.
“Ahhhh yes, the pretty little pixie. Bring her to me. I want to see her. Anything distracting enough to turn the great and mighty Hunter into a personal bodyguard is certainly worth a look.”
“Hey! Cut that out!” Rough hands shoved Emma between her shoulder blades and she stumbled forward. She caught herself before falling on her face. She straightened back up again, no easy task with her hands tied behind her and a dark fabric bag covering her head. The oaf behind her tugged the offensive bag off her head. She squinted at the sudden brightness blinding her. Her eyes watered and without the use of her hands she had to blink the moisture away. She straightened her spine and threw her shoulders back. Kai’s enemy would not see her cower. She might not know where she was, but she knew why she was here. She was pretty damn sure the smooth voiced dandy in front of her was the infamous Garrick.
The last thing she remembered was riding in the foothills. She was about to catch up to the group and her horse started acting strange. Next thing she knew she’d woken up to complete darkness. “Nooo!” She’d screamed. It took a moment for her panic to recede. She wasn’t blind again, there was something covering her head and someone had tied her up. Whoever had nabbed her stuffed her in a trunk and the car was moving fast. Emma screamed until her voice was hoarse and crackling but no one listened. The vehicle finally stopped and they’d dragged Emma from the trunk. One of them threw her over his hard, unyielding shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She’d squirmed and bucked trying to get free and he’d smacked her hard on her rear. He didn’t set her down until they entered the room where they now stood and presented her to the man in charge.
He’d brought her to a large room that served as an office. A designated sitting area near the window was furnished with eclectic antique furniture from different periods. Two burly men in dark suits dwarfed an antique brocade settee in the corner. More men dressed in similar attire lounged about the room. Some leaned against the wall for support while others propped themselves against deep-set window frames. When Garrick greeted Zephyr they all rose to their feet immediately.
The man standing directly in front of her had an air of authority. Garrick. Who else would have a reason to kidnap her? He looked to be in his late forties. Gray peppered his brown hair at his temples. Lines fanned out from the corners of his hazel eyes. His symmetrical features would cause him to stand out in any crowd despite his nondescript coloring. Emma felt the air of authority and power that cloaked him. He exuded command yet lacked the capacity for warmth or compassion. If she didn’t know about his evil past, she might have found him to be attractive in an Indiana Jones/ older man/professor type of way.
“Well now, I can see why he's been keeping her to himself.” He seized her chin in his hand and turned her head from left to right. Her skin crawled at his touch. Emma snapped her head away and out of his grasp. “Fiery too. I like that.” His hand snaked out and gathered a handful of her hair in his fist. He used his grip on her hair to control her and pulled her closer, nose to nose. “Keep it up pixie.” His tongue flicked from her chin to the tip of her nose.
Repulsed, Emma reared back as far as his hold on her hair would allow. She stomped the heel of her Western boot on the toes of his Italian leather shoe. “You little bitch!”
“Let me go you pig!” She spit in his face. Hostility snapped in her eyes. She struggled to escape him. He twisted his hand in her hair, pulling the strands tighter and tighter at the roots.
“The more you struggle, the more I like it.” He taunted. He wiped her spit away and pulled her against him again. “The flash and snap in those beautiful green eyes turns me on. The fact you belong to the Hunter makes this all the sweeter.” He gloated in her ear before clamping his teeth on the plump flesh of the lobe and biting down hard.
Emma cried out and tried to pull away. He liked her fear. He laughed, a harsh burst of sound rather than delight. His free hand roamed over her body and he ground his pelvis against her hip. She cringed when he found her breast and squeezed painfully. She pressed her lips together tightly, desperate to keep from crying out.
He enjoyed her discomfort and wrenched her head back to suckle and nip at her neck, leaving bite marks and bruises in his wake. Disgusted, Emma forced herself to go limp and remain unmoving. Her lack of response angered him. He released her hair and yanked the collar of her shirt. The fabric ripped along the front and exposed her breasts. With revulsion churning in her gut, Emma forced herself to remain unresponsive. He’d exposed her breasts to everyone in the room, and still failed to elicit the response he craved. Humiliation and pain burned inside her. He slapped her hard across the face. Her head snapped to the side. She struggled not to cry. How long could she maintain indifference? Garrick dug his finger into her shoulders and shook her. He wanted a response she refused to give. A man like Garrick would resort to force and violence if he didn’t get his way.
Emma fought for control. She could only take so much. How did Neanderthals like Garrick survive in this day and age? An age where women had rights and wouldn’t tolerate this kind of treatment. Of course with her hands tied behind her back she could hardly retaliate. She was a survivor; it didn't stop her from trying.
It was the wrong move to make. “That's it, fight me. C’mon fight me.” He pounced on her again, groping her with his men gathered around to watch the entertainment. They watched, egging him on, demanding a show of further violence with no remorse for their lustful interest. Emma twisted her body away from his molestation. She wanted to throw up. One of his minions stood against a wa
ll fondling his crotch while he eagerly watched her degradation.
“ENOUGH! I wouldn't go any further if I were you.” Kai’s command resonated across the room.
“Kai!” Emma’s body sagged with euphoric relief. Kai had come for her.
Garrick spun Emma around and jerked her back up against him like a shield. One hand slithered around her waist to pull her tight while the other wrapped around the slender column of her throat. Kai moved to rush him and Garrick’s fingers tightened, squeezing her neck. Emma’s eyes strained. She felt Garrick cut off her air and she struggled. Garrick loosened his grip, enough to allow tiny gasps of air but still held her throat tight, demonstrating to Kai her precarious position. With a flex of his hand, he could end her life.
“Not so fast Hunter. You're hardly in a position to make demands. The way I see it, I'm holding all the cards at this moment. You’d do well to remember that.”
“And you'd do well to remember who I am,” Kai countered.
“Touché. How could I ever forget the great and mighty Hunter? You’ve dogged my steps for well over a century now, yet you never seem to catch me. I've grown tired of your interference. And I now have the means to end this. You must be slipping,” Garrick taunted.
“I'm here now.”
“Yes and unlike you, I have the advantage. Make that two. One, I have your precious human. We were just getting acquainted, weren't we, my dear? ” Emma saw Kai bunch his fist at his side. He wasn’t built for inaction but he gave no other outward sign that Garrick's words hit their mark. “Two, I'm surrounded by my men, and they outnumber you. You wouldn't make it two steps before I could snap her neck.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Garrick squeezed Emma’s neck. Her gurgled gasp stopped Kai in his tracks. Garrick released the pressure.
“Don't worry about me Kai,” Emma wheezed. “Do what you came for.” Emma’s last word came out a distressed squeak as Garrick tightened his fingers on her windpipe.
“Stop!” Kai yelled. “Tell me what you want from me?”
“Oh, so now you’re willing to bargain? Let me see what could I possibly want that you have?” Garrick toyed with him. “Hmmm… Oh, that's right, immortality. The fountain of youth!”
“It's not mine to give.”
“Ahhh, but you know where to find it. Did you think I didn’t know the source of your power? You found it once for yourself. Now you're going to find it again for me you.”
“It's been thousands of years! I’ve never gone back. The place may not even exist anymore!” Kai shouted. “Besides, what do you need it for anyway? You've been alive for well over a century and a half. That’s longer than any normal human has a right to expect. You've apparently found some secret to extend your life. So why do you need me?”
“It’s true. I've been able to extend my life, but it's not the same as immortality. I must continuously renew the spell which requires a capable shaman or witch strong enough to perform the ritual. It takes a lot of power.”
“Spell? Who would be stupid enough to give you such a gift.”
“Think about it. Who has that kind of power?”
“She wouldn’t!”
“She did. Of course, once she realized I had another agenda she soon regretted it. She thought she’s created a monster. She never understood I am what I am. When the spell started to wane she refused to perform the spell again. She disappeared.”
“So you’ve found someone else to perform the spell. Why do you need me?”
“Because his spell is not as strong as Sabine’s. She’ll never relent and I can feel the clock still ticking. I have the same weaknesses as any mortal. If I'm injured, I bleed. I heal like everyone else. Worst of all, I can die like everyone else. And adding insult to injury, I still age. While you enjoy the benefit of the same youth and good looks you’ve had for thousands of years. After a mere one hundred and fifty years I have not been able to stop the aging process. It’s not acceptable to have a time limit on my mortality! At this rate I’ll be lucky to see another hundred and fifty years.”
“And you don't think that's enough?” Emma snorted. Garrick tightened his fingers at her throat again.
“Now, now don't be selfish. Kai has lived for thousands of years. It's time for him to share. Do you not think it selfish for him to keep immortality all to himself?”
“I told you it's not my gift to give,” Kai growled. “And it is more of a curse than a gift. Or haven't you realized that yet?”
Garrick pinned Kai with an incredulous stare. “It is only a curse to you because you care about pitiful humans. I’m not afflicted with such sentimentality. I want real immortality, and you know how to get it. You're the only one who’s done it before. Even vampires have weaknesses I find unacceptable.” Garrick squeezed his arm around Emma’s middle cutting off her breath and bruising her ribs. Her sharp cry fractured Kai’s composure. Garrick noticed. “I’ll make you a trade. You bring me to the fountain of youth, and I will return the girl to you,” he offered. In Garrick’s warped and twisted mind, he thought he’d made a perfectly natural, magnanimous offer. Emma’s life for his immortality. “Take me to it.”
“That's not how it works, Garrick. It’s a forbidden spring and it’s guarded. There's no way the Guardian will let you anywhere near it. She’d probably do humanity a favor and kill you on sight. On the off chance, I can even find it again; I’d have to go alone. You’re only hope is for me to bring you a flask from the spring. It’s the only offer I can make and I’m not even sure I can pull it off.”
“You expect me to trust you? You know me better than that. I know you want to keep the fountain for yourself. What is there to stop you from bringing back a flask of plain water? For all I know, you have to drink from it every so often to keep your immortality.”
“I drank from it once. Honestly, you haven’t given me much choice but to bring back the real thing. I have what you need, and you have what I need. If you want immortality, you have no more choice about trusting me than I have about trusting Emma will be safe while I'm gone.”
“You do have a point. Alright, we can come to an acceptable alternative. I don't trust you; however, we can strike a deal. But, the girl stays with me as my guest until you return with the flask.”
“Not so fast. I’m going to need assurances that Emma will remain unharmed and untouched before I agree to anything. I mean it, untouched in every way Garrick!”
“Fine! You have my word.”Garrick gave in. He held out his hand to seal the bargain but Kai ignored it.
"You’ll forgive me if your word doesn't mean much to me." Emma felt her stomach drop. No!! Don’t leave me with him! What choice did Kai have?
* * *
Kai didn't trust Garrick at all. Unfortunately he was at a disadvantage. Garrick was right. There were too many of them. Kai would never make it to Emma in time. His heart had nearly exploded from his chest when he saw Garrick pawing Emma when he first arrived. Emma had already suffered so much at the hands of others. Kai couldn't bear the thought of her suffering further for his sake. Anything he could do to keep her safe he’d do. Even if it meant giving in to Garrick's demand. He’d find a way to trick Garrick into thinking he had the elixir and save Emma without actually giving Garrick that kind of power. That was a choice he prayed he’d never have to make. It might very well be the one thing he couldn’t do, not even for her.
“Please sit down,” Garrick moved behind the large desk in his office and sat down. He gestured to the chair across from him as if he hadn’t just handed Emma over to one of his men and instructed him to kill her if Kai tried anything. Garrick acted as though he was nothing more than a businessman in the midst of a civilized negotiation. Kai played along. He could be polite and civilized too even if his baser instincts screamed for him to rip Garrick's throat out. Kai knew he’d never do anything to jeopardize Emma. So he'd bide his time and cooperate for now.
“What’s the purpose of this little sit down? I think we’ve said all t
hat needs to be said. If you want Emma to stay here while I search for the spring, I need assurances no harm of any kind will come to her.”
“I’ve given you my word.”
“Know that if anything happens to her there will be no place for you to hide. Not even the underworld.” Kai saw surprise flicker in Garrick’s eyes. “Did you think I didn’t know? Some of your men reek like salamanders and rot. Where else could you recruit these bottom feeders?” A couple of the guards growled like the rolling hiss of a crocodile’s bellow. Just like he thought. Saurians. What other creatures were on Garrick’s payroll?
Even as he negotiated with Garrick for Emma’s continued safety and treatment, Kai's mind worked furiously, calculating the time and distance to where he thought the spring was located. Despite his confident air, Kai didn’t know if he could find it again. Landscapes changed all the time. Even if he found it, would the Guardian help him? She’d made it clear centuries upon centuries ago, the spring was not meant for all mortals. Only the worthy and that, Garrick was not.
The Guardian believed Kai’s innocence, admired his honest sincerity, she’d made an exception Kai knew she didn't make lightly. Thousands of years on earth had changed him. There was no longer anything innocent about him even though he prided himself on the strict moral core that guided him. The Guardian might not see anything left of the man who’d stumbled upon the treasure she guarded. What if she judged him and believed he’d squandered the gifts she’d given him and allowed the power to corrupt him?
Many times Kai had wondered about the same thing. Had the darkness corrupted his soul? When Emma came into his life, Kai felt renewed. She’d poured light and life back into the black pit that’d become his soul. Emma had rekindled the withered spark inside him. He'd thought it had burned to ash eons ago. He was wrong. She had breathed new life into the depths of his soul. She’d rescued him from his own darkness as surely as he’d rescued her. He couldn't lose her. He’d been living a lie he’d created. He wasn't dead inside, only frozen. Emma’s love released him from his self-imposed prison. Without her, he’d slip back into the dark frozen wasteland. Kai refused to let her go now that he remembered how it felt to walk in the light.
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