by Ophelia Bell
“Get in line.”
Evie stared up at him through hazy eyes. “He’s getting me pregnant with those tests. There’s no way these babies will ever live. I can’t be forced to conceive. Fertility is sacred to all the higher races. It takes more than simple science—cells bumping against each other at the right time—to make a baby. We have to love each other to make it work.”
“He’s doing it to Zamirah, too,” Sterlyn said. “He wants something with these tests, but I don’t know what.”
Sterlyn trailed off, and Evie heard what he was unwilling to say. Their captor wanted a child, but only a child that would require this kind of morbid sacrifice to create.
Evie gave the attendants hell the next time she left her room. She didn’t give a shit what they were going to do with her; she just wanted out.
She learned quickly that she had no means of escape. Her cell was right across from the lab, so there was little time to rebel, and they were prepared for any eventuality. In the end she simply sang out, hoping the winds would hear her and take notice.
A week later her cell door mysteriously unlocked and she took advantage, but didn’t get far enough to escape.
“Gag her,” Sayid said when they caught her, and she spent the next few weeks of her captivity with a rag in her mouth except when she needed to eat. Either Sterlyn or Naaz guarded her with their own judgmental looks. “Damn yourself and damn us in the process,” their eyes seemed to say.
When she finished the meal Sterlyn had brought her not long after that, she told him, “I’m not going to cry again. I’m sick of the damn gag. I promise, I’ll keep quiet.”
After that, she didn’t say a word. She submitted to the experiments that went on for years and tried to forget each brief glimmer of new life that struggled to take hold inside her womb before fading just as quickly. She stopped considering herself pregnant with the ones that didn’t take, except for the ones that came from Sterlyn and Naaz. They were the closest things she had to Marcus. After so long living in a cell, simple contact from those two kind men made her crave their presence even more.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ked
Dragon Monastery, Sunda Islands
Present Day
“Please, stop.”
Ked’s attention shifted from Evie’s story to the voice of Marcus inside his mind. The man’s emotions had transformed from dark apathy to an even darker resistance to hearing Evie’s story.
Ked had never expected to wind up an emotional conduit between two lovers, but had deliberately left his mind open to Marcus while Evie told him of her ordeal.
“This is your story, too. One side of it, at least,” he replied to the man’s plea.
Anguish flared in his mind from the other man, but Marcus didn’t retreat. A glimmer of curious need arose.
“What is he telling you?” Evie asked softly. She reached up and pressed a palm against Ked’s cheek, urging his attention back to her.
“Not much. He’s hearing everything you tell me, you know. It’s difficult for him to absorb.”
“Tell him that I don’t blame him. I knew what I was in for almost from the beginning. We were meant to follow that path to get to you. I wish it could have been easier, but we both survived.” She smiled and leaned up to him, pressing her lips against his softly, then pulled back and whispered, “Tell him I love him and that this is for him.” She slid into his lap and pressed her body fully against his. Ked opened up to her completely, accepting her sweet, velvet tongue and caressing it with his own, melding his mouth with hers until his arousal was reflected back to him by the other man’s presence in his mind.
He craved an even deeper connection with them both and impulsively exhaled a breath into Evie’s mouth. She shuddered in his arms and deepened their kiss. A moment later, her thoughts flared brightly in his mind, strong enough to make him moan in surprise at the intensity. He’d been aware of the fluctuation of her emotions through her aura, but being inside her mind at that moment nearly overwhelmed him.
In his mind, Marcus said, “Is that her? Evie?”
Evie pulled back from the kiss with a sigh and closed her eyes. Ked rested his forehead against hers, cradling her on his lap as the pair of battered lovers tentatively reached their thoughts out through the shadows of his consciousness.
“I am here, Marcus. Please, don’t give up. Not yet. I still need you.”
“He could have killed you. And all those years of torture—what you had to endure. It’s all on me, Evie.”
“But he didn’t. We survived, and here we are. But we have barely even spoken in five decades, Marcus. Let me rest my voice for a while. Tell me what it was like for you.”
After that, Ked simply stayed in the shadows of his own mind, a silent observer to their separate, yet shared ordeals.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Marcus
Ultiori Compound
Mid-1980s
“The angel in cell 201,” they called her, even before Marcus had confessed to the other two Elites that he considered Evie his angel. He often thought back to their first meeting and her sardonic smile at being called an angel. The memory was one of many he’d had with her that made him smile. Knowing what she was didn’t bother him—in fact, it had been a relief once he’d found out she wasn’t human. There was no way a woman as amazing as Evie could possibly be human.
His two fellow Elites had approached him warily at first, but as time passed, he grew to trust them. He’d eventually developed a rapport with them after working together so closely. During a hunt, their emotions shone brightly in his mind—excitement was what they presented on the surface, but underneath he sensed the same familiar self-hatred and dread he carried, along with something primal, like the pathos of a caged animal.
Because those emotions mirrored his own so well, he sensed without asking that the other two Elites were in similar straits. He confirmed his suspicions when Sterlyn refused to switch a shift guarding one of the female dragon captives while she was being transferred the short trip to the lab for tests.
“He isn’t allowed to have contact with that one,” Naaz had explained later, but refused to elaborate.
Marcus wasn’t allowed contact with Evie, either—not after the one concession had been made shortly after his change. When they started referring to her as his angel, he knew they were brothers in arms, even if they were still trapped under Sayid’s thumb.
He soon learned not to even think about escape, or at least not without shielding his mind with the dark power he soon learned to wield. He learned to do other things, too, such as conjure a cloaking smoke that would render him virtually invisible, and to easily sense the strongest emotions a target was experiencing without them even knowing he was in their mind.
His fellow Elites had to know he used it on them, considering he’d caught them both using their powers on him—testing his defenses every so often as they had during his training. If they caught him, they never gave any indication, but when he tried it with Sayid, the man immediately threw back a blinding bolt of pain that seared through Marcus’s mind and left him with dizzy spells for days.
Simply knowing he had allies was a comfort, even if they were impotent at helping each other overcome their master. The first time Marcus tried sending a hopeful nudge out to them both to open up deeper conversation, all he got was a blank wall of denial from Sterlyn and a pornographic image of Sayid fucking him in the ass from Naaz. Both responses were not-so-subtle hints that even the most benign sort of telepathic contact was a bad idea.
Their actions spoke louder than any words, however, and while the three had to be careful in both shared thought and speech, the ease with which they worked together grew into deeper trust. Marcus often imagined if he had joined the military, he might have wound up on a similar team. Their deeper mental connection reinforced that sense of fraternity.
He also reminded himself that if he had joined the military, there was a very good chance he would be dead already. But at least Evie would have been free.
The only time they ventured a deeper conversation was nearly two decades into Evie’s captivity, when Sayid divulged the secret of his research. The man wanted the Elites to couple with the female captives, which meant he could make love to Evie again. That wasn’t to be the case—his separation from her would still be enforced.
After the meeting and Sayid’s abrupt-as-always departure, the three of them had sat around the table in the shared dining room of their private quarters.
“To hell with it,” Sterlyn had said. “I love Zamirah, and the thought of sharing her twists me in knots, but until now they’ve barely kept her from turning feral with the infrequent visits from human hunters to service her. I would rather one of you were the one to fulfill that need for her than any of those crazy bastards. She accepts them because she has no other choice.”
Marcus envied the man his telepathic link to his lover. Something about the dragon blood running through their veins allowed the intimacy of that mental contact, which he wished he had with Evie. She had her own subtle power to contact him, though not as directly. Every so often he heard her voice like a whisper in his ear, reminding him that she still loved him, and he would whisper back when he heard it, hoping that his own sentiments made their way to her on the wind. Some days, it was the only thing that kept him moving.
“You are like brothers to me, too,” Marcus said. “If it has to be anyone, I’d rather it were one of you. Just as long as it isn’t him.”
Both men nodded, understanding his meaning. Their master had a reputation for brutality in the bedroom, but only had a taste for blue dragons, who sadly never survived a night with him. Marcus dreaded the day their master would send them out to hunt for another.
Naaz frowned, his lips twisting in distaste. “I would rip the man’s head off if he went near my sister. Better she’s locked up and prodded by his scientists than touched by him.”
Marcus and Sterlyn shared a glance that acknowledged neither of them could stop Sayid if he decided he wanted one of their lovers, or Naaz’s sister, Neela. The Elite’s twin was the collateral that kept Naaz in line. The pair had been in the Ultiori’s clutches the longest, the Blessed human female transfused with the same blood as her brother, but kept locked up. If she were to die, Naaz would have no reason to continue serving as an Elite, and the immortal dragon blood was the surest way to keep her alive.
The prospect of making love to either female left a bad taste in Marcus’s mouth. He had been their guard for years and knew them both well. They were as much like family as the two men were. And they were helplessly trapped as much as Evie was. As alluring as the prospect should have been, he couldn’t in good conscience go through with this without their explicit agreement.
“They have to tell us it’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to rape your women just because he commands us to. That’s what he’s asking us to do. We can’t let it go down like that.”
Sterlyn stared into his cup and nodded, his jaw clenching. He looked up and met Marcus’s gaze. “Evie means almost as much to me as Zamirah. Whatever has to happen, it won’t be forced, I promise you. If she says no… she says no and we suffer the consequences.”
Naaz grunted and nodded, looking at his friend. That was enough of a consensus for Marcus.
“You two have a good relationship with Evie already, but I need her to say she’s on board.”
“We can do that. When the time comes, we’ll make sure it’s her decision.”
Marcus nodded, strangely self-conscious about the conversation. Clearing his throat, he said, “Whichever of you does the deed, you’d better not leave her hanging when you’re with her. Promise me you’ll make sure she enjoys it.”
Naaz chuckled. In his deeply accented voice, he said, “I was born in a harem. It is against my religion to leave a lover hanging. The bigger danger is that I please her so well she forgets every other lover she’s ever had. But if you share your secrets, I will be sure everything I do reminds her of you.”
Marcus gave him an agonized smile. “I’m not worried about her. She knows what she wants. But Neela and Zamirah… I’m definitely not happy about what has to happen with them.”
Naaz sighed. “My sister is a strong girl and not shy. Let her take the lead. We were the honored pets of a dragon goddess before Nikhil captured us. If you know anything about dragons, you know their pets are never deprived of pleasure for long. She’ll guide you, friend. Just promise me you won’t share any details afterward. I don’t want to know.”
They stood together and Marcus steeled himself for the night ahead. “Tell her I love her, please? Just don’t tell her what I’m doing.”
Both men nodded and they made their way to the door. Sterlyn patted his back as he left the room. “You can’t rape a dragon,” he said. “As long as you’re enjoying it, Zamirah is enjoying it. I trust you.”
Marcus trusted both of them, too, but he hoped Evie didn’t wind up hating him after this.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Evie
Ultiori Compound
Mid-1980s
“Sayid wants to try something new,” Sterlyn said when he came to her one day, almost twenty years into her captivity. Evie was feeling particularly vulnerable, wishing for word about Marcus, so was comforted by Sterlyn’s presence. He and Naaz saved her sanity and always brought loving messages from Marcus when they came. Today’s message had nothing to do with Marcus.
“I don’t think I know what ‘new’ means. What is it he wants to try?”
Sterlyn’s face flushed and he turned away from her, pressing his hands against the door to her cell as if he wanted to escape. She knew Naaz was on the other side with the key. All he had to do was say the word and his brother in arms would open the door to release him.
“Sayid thinks artificial insemination won’t work. He thinks it needs to be natural.”
It took mere seconds for Evie to grasp the suggestion. “He wants you to fuck me.”
Sterlyn kept his back to her, his hands pressed against her door, but she could see his muscles bunch under his shirt.
“Should I be insulted that you look so disgusted at the prospect?” Evie asked. She wasn’t surprised by this shift of events. Wishing he were Marcus didn’t change a thing, though. Sterlyn and Naaz were her best friends in here.
He turned around again and let his eyes drift over her body, roving slowly as though letting himself recognize her femininity for the first time. She almost laughed. At the moment, she was dressed only in a threadbare white tank top and black sweat pants, her lank hair pulled back into a ponytail. She hadn’t been allowed to cut her hair or shave her legs—nothing aside from simple bathing—since she’d arrived. Her smile faded under his gaze, however. How long had it been since either of them had lost themselves in intimate contact?
“You’re as beautiful as she is, you know,” he said. “She used to give me this look when she wanted me. Her eyes would kind of flash with light, and she would glow a little. It’s a dragon thing, I guess.”
Evie’s breath left her lungs, but she managed to nod.
“Yeah,” she finally said. “Totally a dragon thing.”
“Except he won’t let me near enough to her to touch her anymore. Not since he discovered we’d become lovers. I can still contact her telepathically, at least, but even that is risky.”
“Does Marcus know you’ve been sent to do this?”
“Yes. He…” Sterlyn paused and met her gaze directly, his blue eyes studying her with an unexpected heat lingering deep within. She suddenly felt drawn to him on two fronts—attracted as though he had some latent seductive power, and set alight deep in that secret place only Marcus had touched her, and only once on the day when she’d la
st seen him.
Sterlyn’s voice pitched lower when he resumed speaking. “He told me how you liked to be touched. How to make love to you. What I do with you would be what he asked me to do. To remind you that he hasn’t forgotten. It’s an abomination of what we are, I know this. I don’t want to be the man our master has turned me into. I was built for honor and righteousness. I’m a fucking knight. I don’t rape women. But if we don’t go through with this, he will punish us all for disobeying him. Still, you can tell me now that you don’t want it and I will leave. The three of us promised each other that it would be your decision, not ours.”
He took a few slow steps toward her and Evie’s pulse quickened.
“What about Zamirah? Does this mean that Naaz or Marcus is with her? It would be Naaz, wouldn’t it? So Marcus must be with Neela. Is that what this is, one big swap to get us all pregnant to progress his twisted experiments? How in the world can you let this happen?” She stared at him, struggling to comprehend how he could even consider suggesting the idea to her, and how he could condone letting anyone else be with the woman he loved.
Sterlyn’s strong features twisted with anguish and he stared at the ceiling. “I’ve been Sayid’s dog for more than a thousand years, Naaz for far longer. Don’t you think if we could have left him, we would have? His power is immeasurable. Even if I were to think about betraying him now, he would sense it. You may be trapped in here behind that locked door, but I am trapped behind the lock he has on my mind. He only grants us enough slack that we can function, but the second we test our boundaries, the leash snaps tight.”
Behind the tension in his words, Evie heard desperation. She had the strongest sense that he might fall to his knees and beg at any moment. She pressed her lips tighter, but her anger dissipated.
“If any of us say no, then would we all be punished?”
Sterlyn shook his head and grimaced. “There’s no telling what he would do, but if he wants this badly enough he’ll go to every length to make sure we perform to his satisfaction. We may not have the option of asking the next time. And you may not have the option of having any control over the situation. If you want me tied to the bed and have your way with me, we can do that.”
