Starling sucked in a breath as the door of the elevator opened. She gripped her purse tight as the room came into view. It wasn’t the catacombs that she had imagined; instead the walls were covered in pictures of men in the powdered wigs of days long gone; farther down were more recent pictures, some of women with beehives and others of men with bushy sideburns. Nameplates were mounted to the wall beneath each. The closest to her read: Colonel Redbird 1803-1865, Killed in Action.
She found it hard to believe that the man in the picture—the overstuffed, bird-beaked man—would have died fighting. He was a vulture. More than likely, he would have been out in the fields making quick work of the dead while he fed on their souls. Just like his current counterparts would do if they found her gawking in their hall.
She rushed through the room. The staccato of her footsteps filled the empty space. There was a door to her right and she stopped to listen for sound. Inside, a man was talking.
His voice was harsh and thick. “I can’t agree to this plan. She is an innocent. What kind of message are we sending to others if we start killing and maiming those who have done us no harm?”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem sending your man to beat Jasper.”
Starling reached for the door handle, ready to tell the man off for hurting her friend, but she stopped. The only way she could help Jasper now was by finding him.
“That was different and you know it. He’s been investigating us for months. He is an enemy. Starling is nothing more than a pawn.”
“We must carry a big stick, Walter,” a woman answered, and her voice was familiar—in fact, it was the same voice from the conference room of the mausoleum. “If we show that we are weak, we will be taken down. It’s survival of the fittest. You know that as well as I do.”
“Taking a girl and keeping her against her will isn’t strength—it’s a felony. I want no part of what you are planning. If you keep her here for any other reason than to barter for the drugs, I will leave this group—and take my men with me.”
“You made a vow. I helped you with your troubles when you needed me, and now when our entire species is at risk, you threaten me? We don’t need your men. It is fine by me if you and your line die off. It will guarantee that only those who have a true heart, a heart that cares about what is important, will pass on their genes.”
Footsteps approached the door, forcing Starling to hurry down the hall, until she came to the next doorway. She paused for a moment. A new fear rose. From what she’d heard, it sounded as if they didn’t want just the drugs—they wanted her. But for what?
The door suddenly smashed against the wall. “We are leaving, Virginia. This, and you, are crazy. Good luck fulfilling your agenda without my support. I never should have gone against the president.”
“Stop, Walter. I’m sorry. Maybe we can figure something out.”
“You can’t force her to carry our line. Do you understand me?”
“Deal. But we will need her for a little while to conduct research.”
“You can’t destroy her.”
“Walter, we will try to keep her alive, but I can’t make that promise.”
“Goddamn, Virginia, you made a vow when you became vice president—you promised this shit would come to a stop, but you have only cost us more lives and more heartache. You never had any intention of using your office for good; you wanted to use it only for your own ends.”
“Go to hell.”
“I would, but I’m afraid I would meet you there.” The door banged shut.
Starling frantically opened the door to the room and slipped inside so the defecting man wouldn’t see her and turn her over to Virginia. She needed him to leave. One enemy was easier to fight than two.
She sighed with relief as the sound of Walter’s angry footsteps cascaded down the hall. She clicked the door shut and turned toward the room.
Sitting in the center of the wood-paneled room was a single chair. A man was slumped over in the seat, his hands tied to the armrests. He didn’t move as she approached. The man’s dark hair was matted with dried blood.
“Sir?” she whispered. “Sir, are you okay?”
The man groaned and shook as he looked up. A trail of dried blood cracked on his cheek and his eye was swollen and black. Jasper peered at her, his eyes lighting up when he recognized her. “Starling? I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Oh my God.” Starling gasped. “What did they do to you, Jasper?”
“I’m fine,” he said with a stuttering exhale. He tried to laugh, but it ended in a wince. “Some guy roughed me up and brought me here. And then Devon decided I was still too good looking.”
Chapter Fifteen
He had never been so happy to see a friendly face, and not just any friendly face, but Starling’s. She was absolutely radiant in her fury. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were filled with fire.
“These goddamn birds. I will kill every last one of them for this,” she growled as she started to untie the rope from his aching wrist. “What happened to you?”
“Some old guy brought me here. He got the drop on me when Edward was in control.” He paused for a moment as he drew in a long painful breath. “After they brought me here, they let Devon have a go.”
“I’m so sorry, Jasper. I shouldn’t have had anything to do with him.” Starling released his right hand. With his free hand, he reached over to untie the other while Starling moved to his ankle.
“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know he was in league with the vultures.”
“True, but I knew he was an asshole. Maybe if I hadn’t gone to the piano bar with him, or maybe if I hadn’t introduced you to him, then he wouldn’t have gone after you so badly.” She untied the last bit of rope from his ankle and then reached up for his face. Her thumb brushed over his cheek. The warmth of her touch drew sparks of desire to the front of his mind. She’d never touched him like that before. Never with such tenderness.
No. Everything was so screwed up. Maybe she cared for him, but she couldn’t feel anything more. Then again, he couldn’t say the same. For the last few months, every minute of his life had been spent thinking about ways to protect her and keep her safe. She was the first thought on his mind when woke and the last thought before he fell asleep. But damn it, that didn’t mean he loved her, did it? Not to mention her curse—the nymph’s curse. If he fell in love with her, he was fated to die.
She reached up with her other hand and placed it on his cheek. “I’m so sorry, Jasper. I just can’t say it enough. This is all my fault.” Tears welled in her eyes, and seeing her hurt for him made his pain suddenly worsen.
He reached up and put his hands over hers. “It’s okay, Starling. This was my choice. I knew what I was getting into when I took on the job of guarding you. I’m sorry I failed. I really fucked up. Look at us now in the enemy’s headquarters. I’m hurt. We’re trapped. And … wait … ” He gripped her fingers. “Are you here because of me?”
She looked away from his gaze.
“You are.” He ran his thumbs over the back of her hands. “I can’t believe you put yourself in danger.”
“We’re a team, remember? You tried to help me, now it’s my turn to help you.”
He ran his hands up her arm until the warmth of her neck called to him, making him want to lean in and kiss her soft skin. “How did you get in here?”
“Through the mausoleum. There was an entrance in the table in the backroom.”
“Do they know you’re here?”
She shook her head. “If we hurry maybe we can go back the way I came.”
He moved toward her, focusing on the soft, pink line of her lips. He pressed his lips against hers. Her lips were sweet as they moved against his then opened slightly, inviting his kiss to deepen, awakening his body to more carnal needs. He went hard. He pulled her up and into his lap. She moaned into his mouth as her body pressed against his.
He broke away from their kiss. It had to stop. He couldn’t feel
this—this need, this want, or this insatiable hunger for her touch.
“You shouldn’t have come to help me, Starling.” He sighed, trying to gain control over his body.
“I didn’t come down here just for you.” Her gaze met his, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling—was it anger? Or something else? “The books are down here, too.” She stood up and away from his lap; the heat of where she rested turned cold.
So he hadn’t been the reason she’d broken into the headquarters. He should have been relieved, but disappointment drifted through him.
“Do you know where?” he asked, trying to concentrate on something other than his feelings.
“No idea, but if we’re together I’m sure we can find them and then get out of here.”
The door to the room opened. “In such a rush to go already?” A woman stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. She reached down, pulled a satellite phone from her back pocket, and dialed.
A man’s garbled voice answered.
“We got her. They’re in the torture room. Meet me here. Bring Jim.”
The man said something and Virginia’s face puckered.
“Walter and his men won’t be joining us. Now, get on it.”
Jasper stood up and started to move toward the woman.
“Stop. Right. There.” The woman pulled a gun from her belt. “You aren’t going anywhere.” She slid the phone back into her pocket.
He stopped. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m Virginia, the vice president of the Catharterian Council.”
“The vice president? I didn’t know that there was a vice president of shitheads,” he retorted.
Virginia glanced over at Starling, ignoring his jibe. “I’m so glad you have decided to join us. Thanks for saving us the work of finding you.”
“Screw you,” Starling snapped.
“Wow, I was hoping we could get things started on a better footing. We have quite a bit we need to go over with you. If you choose to make this difficult, then it could be quite disastrous to your health.”
“You aren’t going to do shit,” he said, stepping protectively in front of Starling. “You won’t touch her.”
“You’re right there, Jasper. I have no interest in touching your little friend, but I do want what she carries. Do you have the GX 149 with you?” she demanded of Starling.
Starling glanced at him, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m not giving you the drugs. You and your kind don’t deserve to breed after what you did to my mother and then tried to do to Harper.”
“What gives you the right to say what we do and don’t deserve, girl?” Virginia’s stoicism crumbled. “You’re too young to know the value of children. The joy they bring to a parent’s life.”
“You are manipulative, uncaring, and power-hungry. You don’t have a motherly bone in your body. There has to be something more.” Starling paused. “Why do you really want to have children?”
“You barely know me. I don’t know what gives you the impression I wouldn’t be a good mother,” Virginia said, the lines in her face pulled tightly.
“I heard you and Devon in the mausoleum. I know who you really are.”
“You don’t know the half of it, Starling. Virginia is so full of shit,” he said. “You don’t want children because you love them, or you want to become a mother. You want children so you can build an army.”
“How do you know?” Starling asked.
“Devon was more than happy to supplement my beating with tales of how a new generation of vultures would help earn them impressive military titles in the future,” he said.
“Come now, you two little lovebirds,” Virginia said dismissively, but there was a flash of shock in her eyes that confirmed his little jab was, indeed, her secret. “Why would we want an army?”
“I don’t know,” Jasper said. “But I will find out.”
“Is that right?” Virginia smiled wickedly.
The door to the room opened. Devon sauntered in and passed Jasper a smug grin. “Can’t say I’m happy to see you again, man.”
The hairs on the back of Jasper’s neck rose. “Don’t worry. We won’t be staying long.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Devon said. His gaze strayed over Starling, landed on her chest, and moved down to the intersection of her thighs.
They needed to get out of here and Virginia was clearly the one with the power, and therefore the most important to outsmart. “Look, if we agree to give you Starling’s drugs, then you let us go. Deal?”
Virginia laughed. “So now you are ready to make deals, when you are our prisoner and you have no way to escape? You have no leg to stand on. No deal. We will just take what we want.”
“No, you won’t,” Starling said, gripping her purse tighter to her body.
“You want me to get them, Ms. Virginia?” Devon motioned toward Starling’s bag.
Virginia nodded. Devon reached for Starling’s bag, pulling it from her shoulder. Starling grabbed the straps, trying in vain to keep her property from falling into the hands of the Catharterians. It reminded Jasper of when he’d picked her up in Savannah. Unfortunately, this time he wouldn’t be able to rescue her or her bag.
“Just give him the bag, honey,” Jasper said, touching her hand.
Starling let go, but there was hurt in her eyes as he forced her to give up. “I need my medication.”
“No, Starling, you don’t. We will find something else. I promise,” Jasper hinted. “Besides, there aren’t very many pills in your purse, are there?”
Some of the hurt was replaced with a flicker of excitement as she must have realized they still had a maneuver left in their arsenal.
“You’re right. I only brought enough GX 149 for a few days.”
That was his girl. He shouldn’t have doubted that she would catch his clues and run with it.
“I don’t think that would be long enough for it to really affect fertility. Maybe we could make some kind of deal for inventory back in Vegas? You can have the rest of my drugs if you let Jasper and I go and promise to never bother another nymph again.”
He couldn’t help but feel proud of Starling as she stood there—strong, confident, and powerful, defying her enemies.
“We don’t want just the drugs. We want the formula as well,” Virginia said. “More than that, we need proof the drugs will work. Until we have a pregnancy in our population, you will have to stay here.” The words dripped from her lips like putrid waste.
“No,” Jasper interrupted. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you keep her here.”
“Virginia,” Starling interrupted, “even if I wanted to help, I don’t have the formula. That is in the hands of Harper and her team of pharmacologists.”
“Devon, get Harper on the phone. Tell her that we will kill her stepdaughter if she doesn’t get her ass here in the next twenty-four hours. Then take Starling and Jasper to their rooms.”
“To our rooms?” Starling echoed.
“Would you rather stay in our dungeon?” Virginia asked. “We aren’t complete animals. You’ve shown that you are willing to help us. However, if things change, or if you attempt to escape, our little bit of hospitality will no longer be an option. Do we have an understanding?”
Starling nodded.
“Good night. Spend it praying that Harper will come to your rescue. Otherwise, we will have to kill her to send not only you, but your Sisterhood a message.”
They wouldn’t kill Harper. They couldn’t. She was well protected within her and Chance’s new apartment in the Bellagio. Jasper had made sure of it over the last few months. Yet, Harper loved Starling. He had to assume that she would put herself at risk again.
“Let’s go,” Devon said, grabbing Starling by the arm and shoving her toward the open door.
“Don’t touch her like that,” Jasper growled. “If you do that again, I will personally cut off your hands and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“How y
ou gonna do that, man? I don’t see you packing a lot of heat.” Devon laughed. “One helluva Sisterhood you must have there, darlin’, to send in a bodyguard who can’t even protect you. It’s almost like they were hoping you would get killed. What did you do to piss them off?”
Starling shot him a pleading look, but there was nothing he could do—at least not now.
“Jasper, let’s go,” Virginia said, motioning for him to follow. She led him out of the room, through the main hall and into a maze of concrete-walled rooms and white halls. Right and then right again, finally a left. With each turn, Jasper’s suspicion grew. Where were they really taking him? He had to find a weapon. Anything to take the vultures down and get the hell out of there, but every room they passed through was empty or nearly so, with a few only holding folded tables or large recliners. He realized how alone they were; they hadn’t passed or seen even another vulture. Something was very, very wrong.
They made their way to a large atrium where the ceiling was painted to look like a morning sky, the mural reminding him of the Venetian in Las Vegas. The room had three long rows of rectangular tables, as if it was used for a meeting hall or cafeteria. He drew in a long breath. His sense of smell was weak, but he picked up hints of barbeque mixed with heady aroma of beer. The vultures must have fed on something more than death to sustain their bodies.
Sitting at the far end of the room was a small group of women. One of them looked up at the sound of the door closing behind the foursome.
“Ms. Virginia, I’m sorry,” the woman said, standing up. The other women followed her lead. “We didn’t know she had arrived.” She motioned toward Starling. “Does the president know she is here?”
“Shut up,” Virginia ordered. “Leave now and tell no one who or what you have seen.”
Suddenly it made sense. Virginia hadn’t been trying to get him lost in the maze of hallways and rooms. She was hiding them. But why was Virginia trying to sneak them through headquarters without the president’s knowledge?
Devon pushed Starling forward, hustling her out of the dining hall. “Let’s go.”
“What’s going on?” Jasper asked as he followed Starling. “Why are you hiding us? What are you doing?”
The Nymph's Curse: The Collection Page 71
