Taken by the Enemy

by Jennifer Bene

  Emmie flinched, looking away for a moment before she was able to take a steadying breath and reach for his belt.

  “You may want to hurry, they like to arrive early and I’d never dream of keeping them waiting.” Bastien’s voice was cruel, but she knew that more than anything if she stalled, he’d just use it as an excuse to hurt her – and there was no doubt in her mind that he’d bend her over his desk again just to prove to his business associates that he could.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bastien had ordered Emmie into her room for the night claiming that he had an important meeting out of the house. Which meant she’d been trapped in her room with nothing to do for hours. She was grateful that he was gone though, and at least she could see out the window as the stars filled the sky.

  She was busy breathing onto the glass and drawing shapes in the fog when she heard shouting from outside. She tried to get an angle to see where it was coming from, but she couldn’t figure it out. The shouts faded, but if she held her breath and leaned close to the glass, she could hear that something was happening outside.

  Shoving her hands into her hair, she started to pace the room, and her whole body went still when she heard a loud pop outside the house, and then another, and another. Rushing back to the window, she struggled to see through the dark, but it was impossible.

  The door to her room suddenly slammed open and a ruffled Bastien stood before her, fuming and angry.

  “Bastien?” she asked, pressing herself back against the wall by the window. He slammed the door behind him, and she jumped, holding up her hands. “What happened? What’s wro—”

  He reached her and grabbed her by the hair, throwing her to the ground at his feet. Immediately kicking her hard, and she tried to curl up tight enough so that he couldn’t do it again. “Who the fuck are they, Emeline? Tell me right now!”

  Bastien was suddenly on top of her, pulling her hands away from her face to pin her wrists above her head as he shouted at her again.

  “You better tell me everything you fucking know! I’ve got the sergeant of the guard downstairs with two of his men, and if you don’t tell me, I’ll bring them up here and I think between the four of us you’ll talk.” He twisted her nipple sharply and she screamed. “Huh? Is that what you need?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Her voice was raw as she shouted at the top of her lungs, but he just sat up and slapped her hard. Emmie’s head snapped to the side and she whimpered.

  “There’s no time for your fucking games, Emeline.” Bastien undid his belt and she whimpered. “Either tell me what you know about the exiles getting inside the city, or I’m going to make you bleed.”

  They were inside? They had really done it?

  The joy she felt was hard to contain, but she made every effort to keep her face blank of anything except the fear that Bastien would fulfill his promise.

  “How the hell did they open the gates? Was this you? Did you do this? You stupid cunt.” With one hand on the belt and the other in her hair, he hauled her off the floor and dragged her until he could push her over the end of the bed. “Move and I’ll go downstairs to get my whip.”

  Emmie grabbed onto the blanket in front of her and braced herself, but there was no preparing for the line of fire that landed across the backs of her thighs. She hissed through her teeth, whining, but she made sure to say nothing. Not even begging.

  “Tell me what you know, Emeline!” The belt landed again, and again, and again. A furious pattern that had her screaming in pain.

  “I don’t know anything!” she shouted, her voice raw.

  Rapid knocking came at the door and then the sergeant burst in, and she flinched at the memory of his hands on her. “Not trying to interrupt you, Bastien, but I just got word that there’s a huge crowd of citizens headed this way. Some of my own guards are with them, and they’re coming for the manor district.”

  “Your own men?” Bastien shouted, and then he turned and landed the belt across her ass and thighs until she was sobbing, begging for him to stop. He was out of breath when he finally threw the belt against the wall. “Dammit, Alexis. It’s not that hard to keep them under control. Where’s their loyalty?”

  “Not to you assholes!” Emmie screamed through her sobs, and Bastien was on her in a flash, flipping her over so that he could backhand her hard.

  “You little bitch!” he growled, and Alexis, the sergeant, stepped further into the room.

  “Do you want me to help you out with her? I’m sure I could find some things in this house that might convince her to talk.”

  “No!” Bastien roared. “I want you to go downstairs and protect my fucking house like I pay you to! I can handle her, trust me.”

  “Fine.” Alexis threw his hands up and stormed out, but Emmie felt something crack inside her and all she could do was laugh.

  “He told me you know things, that according to the other little cunt you arrived with you were something special in their little village.”

  “I don’t know anything.” Emmie shook her head through the laughter and slid back on the bed, putting space between them.

  “Do not lie to me. You think those raiders are going to win? This city has stood for a thousand years against all manner of attackers. They’ll fall just like the rest.” Bastien climbed onto the bed as she pushed herself back away from him. Then he gripped her ankle and yanked her back towards him. She tried to kick at him, but he caught it and then he was on top of her. His weight landed over her hips as he slammed her wrists down over her head, the fine bones grinding under his grip.

  She tried to pull herself free, but she was hopelessly trapped while her friends fought a war outside. A war that she hoped her side lost. “They’re going to win, Bastien.”

  “Shut up!” he growled, and then there was a loud commotion downstairs. Banging, a huge crashing noise, and then too many voices.

  Emmie lifted her head towards him. “You’re right, Bastien. The city will stand. It’s people like you that won’t survive.”

  When he turned to face her, his teeth bared in a hateful growl, he leaned down just enough and Emmie reared back and smashed her forehead into his nose. There was a spray of blood, and that was satisfying, but she shouted a curse as pain rushed across her own head. She shoved him off her and he groaned for a moment to her side, but then just as she tried to slide off the bed he tackled her. They went down in a tangle of limbs alongside the bed, and she still felt confident until his hands slid around her neck and squeezed tight, pressing her hard into the floor.

  “You say I won’t survive, Emeline? What about you? What would you say your odds of survival are right now?” Bastien’s voice was bordering on insanity, and he wasn’t just trying to scare her, the edges of her vision were already blurring into black. A high-pitched hum took over her ears, and although she could see his lips moving, none of his words were making it through anymore. Just as her vision started to black completely, his hands lifted and she gasped in air through a bruised throat.

  Rolling to her side, Emmie choked and coughed as she pushed herself to her knees. In front of her was the impossible. Lucian was holding a knife, standing over Bastien, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he growled down at the man. “How dare you touch her!”

  “She’s my wife! I can do whatever —”

  “She’s my mate!” Lucian shouted, and Emmie’s eyes widened.

  Had he just?

  “Oh! So you’re the cock the little whore found out in the woods?” Bastien laughed. “Are you so desperate for pussy that you had to charge all the way back here just to get her back?”

  Lucian leaned down and landed a hard punch that smacked Bastien’s head against the floor. He lunged for Lucian, but Lucian was faster and there was a knife against Bastien’s neck in an instant. “First, Emmie is not a whore, and second, I came to your house specifically to get my mate back.” His eyes lifted to hers. “If she’ll have me, anyway.”

  Emmie’s mouth dro
pped open, and she was unsure if she could even speak, but she nodded. She nodded a lot, because that was all she had wanted in days. To wake up with Lucian again and again, to have his arms around her. To be with him forever.

  Lucian gave her a wild grin and let out a loud cheer, but then Bastien launched himself at him and they went down in a tumble of limbs. “She’s mine!” Bastien roared.

  For a moment, Emmie was terrified, but then she could tell that Bastien was no match for Lucian’s experience and power, and a moment later, she heard Bastien’s cry of pain. Lucian pulled away and stood over him, blood dripping from his hand and the knife onto the clean carpet.

  A gurgling sound came from Bastien’s chest, and blood bubbled at his lips. Lucian watched him for a moment and then looked over at her. “Does he deserve any kind of mercy?”

  Emmie touched her throat, remembering every horrible thing he had done, promised to do to her, and shook her head slowly. “No. He doesn’t.”

  “Good, I didn’t want to give him mercy anyway.” Lucian tucked the knife into his boot and wiped his hand on his pants as he moved towards her and she almost fell into his arms. His skin was hot, sticky with sweat and maybe blood, but there was nowhere else in the world she wanted to be in that moment. “Hi, little bird.” His voice was soft as he pressed a kiss to her temple and squeezed her tight, lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. “Thought I might come by and let you out of your cage.”

  She nodded, tears threatening to ruin her ability to speak. “Thanks,” she heard her voice breaking as the crying started, “I really hoped you would.”

  “Did you really doubt me? I would have fought my way in here alone to get to you.” Lucian’s voice was everything she needed as he snagged a blanket and took them out of the dark room and away from Bastien.

  “Lucian!” Ben’s voice was a roar as he crested the stairs. “Oh hell, you found her! She’s okay!” The man sounded so relieved that it made Emmie cry harder.

  “Do you guys need me, or are we doing okay?” Lucian held her close, shielding her face from Ben as he tried to pull the blanket around her one handed.

  “From what I can tell we’re doing fine, you two just stick together. Justine’s outside somewhere with a set of daggers off a couple guards. Dangerous woman!” Ben laughed. “See you later!”

  “Be safe!” Lucian called after his friend as the man stormed back down the stairs. She burrowed her face against his neck and he sat down on a bench in the hall, fully wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. “Em, I am so relieved I found you. I’ve been terrified since the morning we found Ben unconscious and you and Clara gone. I thought I might never see you again.” He shook his head and pressed a kiss to her hair. “It looked all messed up, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that you might have left of your own free will. After our argument —”

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t going to leave. I was never going to leave, I knew that five minutes after I got back to the stable. My whole plan was to go talk to you the next day, and… that didn’t exactly work out.”

  “Well, your letter was genius. Mathias had been waiting for a final signal, and that was enough. He said we had to go.”

  “Mathias wanted to save me?”

  “I told you he’s a good man.” Lucian sighed and squeezed her tight. “So, were you serious about being my mate? It’s a stressful situation, what with overthrowing the city, but —”

  “I was hoping you’d ask, or I was going to ask you if I ever saw you again.” Emmie smiled, interlacing their fingers. “If I’ve learned one thing in the last days, it’s that I want to wake up next to you every day. I love you.”

  His heather gray eyes widened, and then he let out a whoop and kissed her hard. “I love you too, Emmie, more than I can possibly put into words.” He covered her cheeks in kisses before pressing another gentle one to her lips. “So you really think you can tolerate me every day?” He grinned, and he looked wild, and young, and free.

  “Absolutely.” When she leaned towards him again, he kissed her fiercely, wrapping her in his arms until even the aches across her body faded into the background.

  “Do you want to go outside?” Lucian asked, brushing his fingers across her cheeks to move her hair back.

  She nodded rapidly. “Yes, please, I don’t want to be trapped inside.”

  “Anything you want.” He slid her off his lap, and she tucked the blanket around her as they moved down the stairs and outside into the massive backyard, hand in hand, while across the city echoed the sounds of people cheering, celebrating.

  Lucian lifted her up onto a low wall by the patio, making sure the blanket was tight around her, and then he hopped up next to her to take her hand again. “I’ve never been in this part of the city before.”

  Emmie shrugged. “Eh, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. A lot of horrible people live up here.”

  “Well, this is going to change everything. You can live wherever you want.” Lucian’s hand tightened on hers and he looked out over the city, but she laughed a little.

  “If you’re serious about that, about us choosing each other… then I think I’d like to live somewhere small. Simple. Like in the village.” Emmie shrugged, but Lucian leaned over and kissed her softly.

  “If that’s what you want, Em, I’d be happy to.”

  “I’d want it to be just us.” She tightened her grip on his hand, looking out at the beautifully landscaped gardens of Bastien’s property. “I mean we’d have to see my sister, and everyone else, but oh! Your brother! Did you —”

  “He was part of the resistance inside, I haven’t seen him yet but I heard he looks a lot like me.” Lucian smiled with pride, and she smiled too. “I can’t wait for you to meet him, I can’t wait to see him again. There won’t be any exiles any more, just one community.”

  “A new beginning.” Emmie sighed, looking up at the sky above them. “Think we can handle that?”

  “You and I together? We can do anything.” Lucian pulled her into his lap and kissed her until her arms went around his neck and the city faded until there was only the two of them, the wind, and the stars.

  Epilogue

  “Quiet, quiet!” Lucie laughed, and then turned to gesture at Emmie, her round belly making her look funny as she leaned back on the floor. The council hall was packed, and people were sitting on every available surface and covering the floor. The snow was deep outside, but with the fires inside, and the press of all the people, it was almost stifling.

  “Okay, where were we last time?” Emmie smiled and a young man in the front row raised his hand.

  “The girl had just found the ravens in the castle and she was going to ask them for the key to open the door!” he shouted excitedly and the older man next to him smacked him upside the head.

  “Ah, that’s right.” Emmie opened the book and crossed her legs on her father’s old council desk. Its new purpose was much better. Reading stories twice a day, every day but Sunday, and serving as her work desk for reading and writing classes the rest of the time. As nervous as she had been at first, the women of the village convinced her to try and teach, and she was actually pretty good at it, but story times were her favorite. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and continued the story from where she’d left off.

  “Dania was afraid of the ravens, for she knew she was only a little girl and they could peck her if she angered them, but Dania was also brave. Taking a loaf of bread from her bag she began to crumble it into her hands. I will give you bread, pretty ravens, if you find for me the key to this door. They squawked and bickered amongst themselves, and then they flew off into the castle to find the hidden key…”

  An hour later, Emmie closed the book and the collective groan of young and old alike made her laugh.

  “I’m sorry, everyone, but I’ll be reading from this story again in two days. Same time. I hope to see you all then!” She smiled, accepting the hugs and hands from various citizens as they thanked her and left to retur
n to their work.

  Lucie waddled up to her with a huge smile, a hand against her lower back. “You were meant for this, Emmie.”

  “I’m just lucky.”

  Lucie shook her head slowly, turning to watch the smiling faces of everyone as they filed out into the cold. “No, I think you’re the only person who could have done this. It’s everyone’s favorite time of the week, getting to hear a story, or learn and practice their letters.”

  Emmie smiled, joy suffusing her again even though now it was a much more constant companion. “It was Gabrielle that okayed the use of the old council chambers for me to teach in. This was her doing.” She sighed. “You know there’s a man named Bertram who stopped by yesterday. He apparently did the accounting for the city and he’s offered to take over some of the class times to teach mathematics.”

  “Wow.” Lucie’s eyes were wide and she laughed and rubbed her belly. “This little one is going to be quite educated!”

  “Everyone deserves an education, Lucie, especially your little one.” Emmie smiled, but then it faded a bit. “How is Victor?”

  “Oh, he’s fine. We’re all still in the same house because it means we can look after each other when Evan and Jennifer are out and about. He grumbles because it’s cold, but he’s moving around now, and can’t wait to meet the baby. He already refers to himself as Uncle Victor, and although he has to use a cane, it doesn’t slow him much. He’s pretty unstoppable.”

  “I believe that.” She jumped when Lucie suddenly grabbed for her wrist and yanked her hand forward to press it to her belly. The strong kick that met her palm made Emmie’s eyes go wide. “I felt it!”

  “I know!” She laughed. “Boy or girl, they’re strong!” Lucie released her hand with a laugh and started to head towards the door, pulling a thick shawl around her shoulders. “Have you checked in on Lucian today?”

  Emmie rolled her eyes at the secretive poke her friend had given her. “I’m on my way out there now, he promised to have lunch with me today.”