by K. D. Jones
Talon went to pick her up, but Lindy cringed away from him. She felt bad for overreacting. “Sorry.”
Talon shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I just want to take you out of here.”
“I want that, too. But I’m not dressed.”
Talon stood and unbuttoned his shirt. Lindy couldn’t look away as his golden skin was revealed. She licked her lips. Her libido, which had been on hiatus, suddenly roared to life. Talon glanced down at her, sniffing the air. His eyes filled with desire. She looked at herself and her surroundings and her desire died instantly. How could she be having lusty thoughts of Talon at a time and place like this? She looked up into his questioning eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
“Here, let me help you put my shirt on.” Talon gently helped her sit up and slid her arms into the sleeves of his shirt. He knelt on the floor in front of her and buttoned the buttons.
“Thank you,” Lindy whispered.
Talon reached a hand out intending to touch her face, but she pulled away from his touch. It was like a punch to his heart. Did he save her, only to lose her in the end? He took a deep breath before he spoke.
“I am going to lift you into my arms now, so that I can carry you out of this place. I have a healing shuttle arriving any minute that will take care of you,” Talon told her as he leaned down slowly to put one arm under her knees and the other arm wrapped around her back.
Lindy frowned. It sounded like he was going to drop her off with the healing shuttle and then just leave. Was it over for them? Had he moved on? She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her face against his neck. This might be the last chance she had to hold him and she wanted to enjoy it while she could. She glanced down at the still figure of Nautilus. A part of her wanted to kick him herself but another part just wanted to get away, far away.
“What will happen to him?” Lindy asked Talon.
“The IDJ will take him. He will be charged with kidnapping and for his involvement in the slave ring,” Talon told her, hugging her tighter against his chest. He dreamed of this, holding Lindy in his arms. But all the people around them were not part of his plans. He wanted to be alone with her.
“They need to charge him with murder as well,” Lindy told him.
Talon looked down at her in concern. “Who did he murder?”
“Three people that I know of. The first two guys worked at the warehouse I had been shipped to. I witnessed that myself. The third—” Lindy gulped as tears trailed down her cheek. “The third was a male security guard named Junior who had befriended me.”
Talon didn’t know what to say. Lindy was raised in a loving and sheltered environment. Since she met him, she had been kidnapped, exposed to horror, and violence. He wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see him again. He hoped with all his heart that she would give them another chance.
Trig and Zara were waiting for them by the healer shuttle. Trig gave Lindy’s barely dressed appearance a concerned look. He asked Talon, “Is he still alive?”
“Yes, he’s knocked out cold in the basement.”
The healers came out to view Lindy. She was placed on a cot. She groaned from the aches and pains. The healer administered sedation medications. Then the healer addressed Talon since he was the most imposing force standing over his shoulder. “Sir, we need to take her to our Healing Facility.”
“I will go with her,” Talon told them.
“She will be undergoing a series of examinations. It would be uncomfortable for her to have a male that was not a healer present during this.” The healer gave Talon a look that explained what he meant by examinations. Though he had not smelled sex in the room, it did not mean that she escaped rape at a different time or location.
“I understand the examinations are necessary, but I don’t want her out of my sight.” Talon looked at Lindy and saw that she had closed her eyes. The meds must be strong to knock her out so soon.
“I’ll go with her,” Zara offered coming up and standing beside him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I promise to stay by her side the entire time.”
Talon nodded. “I’ll follow behind you with Trig.” He stood there and watched the woman he loved get shuttled away.
“Don’t worry, that Amazon isn’t going to let anything happen to your woman,” Trig told him as he dialed a number on his phone.
He watched as the other IDJ agents brought a blindfolded Nautilus out of the Mansion. Talon understood the caution they were using. Draculs could hypnotize with their eyes. Until they had him in a contained facility with special lighting and a collar on his neck to render him powerless, the man would pose a danger to everyone around.
One of the IDJ agents carried a weeping woman in his arms out of the mansion. He brought her to Trig. “Sir, we found another victim.”
Trig looked at the woman who had her head tilted down. Trig spoke to the woman trying to reassure her. “You are free now.” The woman wept even louder. Trig directed the IDJ agent. “Take her to the Healing Facility and stay there to ensure her safety.”
“Yes, sir.” The IDJ agent carried the woman away.
“Come on, Talon. You can go with me to the holding facility and watch me question the Dracul. I have a feeling there are more women that we don’t know about. It will give the healers time to do— everything.” Trig motioned to a waiting shuttle.
*****
Lindy watched warily as the healers examined her. Zara stood in the corner looking in the opposite direction, trying to give her privacy. The female fighter refused to leave Lindy’s side. It was strange, considering the last time she had been around the other woman she had barely spoken to Lindy. It had been clear that Zara did not approve of Lindy traveling the circuit with Talon.
“Well, it does not appear that you have any internal damages. When was the last time that you were forced sexually?”
Lindy looked at the healer as if she had suddenly grew horns. “What? I wasn’t—that didn’t happen to me.”
“It’s going to be okay, Miss Stamos. We have a mental healer on their way to speak with you about your ordeal.”
Lindy tried to deny the rape accusation again, but the healers still didn’t believe her. About fifteen minutes passed before the mental healer arrived. The situation was explained by the medical healers.
The mental healer asked Lindy to tell her story. Something wasn’t adding up between the mental healer and the medical healers. “We were told you were taken a little over two months ago. Is that correct?”
“I don’t know. What month is it?”
“It is May 15th.”
“Yeah, I was taken on February 10th, before Valentine’s Day.”
“When did your captor first assault you sexually?”
“He didn’t—he was going to but—he didn’t.”
“You can tell me the absolute truth, it is confidential. I am here to help you deal with your emotional and mental abuse. The medical healers want to help you with the physical outcome of your abuse.”
Lindy couldn’t help but look at Zara in the corner. The woman stared back at her with haunted eyes. “I would never repeat what you say.”
Lindy nodded her appreciation. “Nautilus tortured and threatened me. He took control of my mind several times, but he never raped me. He believed himself in love with me and wanted me to feel the same for him.”
The healers and Zara stared at her in disbelief.
“Do you feel a need to protect him? Sometimes that happens. A victim will champion their captor. It’s a form of brainwashing.”
“No! I know about brainwashing. There was a woman at the compound who stayed there willingly. I do not feel any loyalty to Nautilus. I hope he dies alone in a dark dingy cell.”
“You said that he took control of your mind several times. Was it two times or was it more than you may remember?”
Lindy felt frustrated and shook her head. “What does it matter?”
“We are just trying to determine wh
ether you would want to get rid of the fetus.”
Chapter Seventeen
Talon didn’t want to be at the holding facility anymore. He had been standing in a room overlooking the interrogation chamber. The questioning for Nautilus was not going good. Even with the collar, Nautilus could use his voice on any humans that would interrogate him.
Nautilus’s men were easier to interrogate. Once they realized that their employer was never getting out, they opened up about everything. They admitted that Nautilus had other women that he had sold off before he brought Lindy to the compound. They also confirmed that Nautilus had killed one of his own security guards and left the head out for people to see, as a warning to those who would betray him.
Talon wanted to leave. Hearing all the evil that Lindy had been exposed to by Nautilus only made him desperate to get back to her to make sure she was okay. He didn’t want to waste another minute with this asshole.
“I need to go,” he told Trig as he made his way out of the little monitoring room.
“I don’t blame you, my man. How about I get us a shuttle to take us to the Healing Facility?”
“Thanks.” Talon looked up at the main entrance and noticed the other woman from the compound was walking in. The IDJ agent that had been assigned to her was missing. “Hey, Trig, why is the human here?”
Trig looked up just as the woman pulled out a gun and started shooting. He yelled out, “Shooter, everyone down!” He threw himself in front of Talon, knocking the fighter down to the ground.
There was a lot of shouting and warnings for the woman to put her weapon down. In the end, the IDJ agents had to take her out. She was a danger to herself and everyone around her. Talon nudged Trig who was partially lying over his body.
“Hey, man, I think it’s safe now. You can get off.” There was silence. “Trig?” Talon rolled the man off him and onto the floor. There was blood pouring out of the man’s side. Shit! “We need healers STAT!”
*****
Talon followed the healers as they wheeled Trig in through the emergency entrance. He couldn’t believe the other female had attacked a law enforcement facility in an attempt to free her master. The enforcers had found the officer that had carried the woman from the compound dead in a shuttle. He hoped the human would be okay. Talon owed the man everything for what he did to help get Lindy back. He pulled a healer to the side. “Where is he being taken?”
“You’re Talon, the GCFA fighter right? I’m a big fan of yours.”
Talon sighed. He was going to have to remember to shave his head before going out in public. “Yeah. I appreciate that, but I need to know about Trig Roberts, the patient just brought in. Where are you taking him?’
“He was shot. We have to make sure there are no internal damages that have to be healed. Also, there may be a bullet still in him.”
“How long will he be in surgery?”
“It may take an hour or more depending on if there is a bullet still inside.”
“Let me know when he is out.”
“Will you be in the waiting room?”
“No, I am going up to the third floor, room 302.”
“I will let you know as soon as he is finished with his surgery.”
“Thanks.” Talon headed to the elevators to take him up to the third floor where Lindy’s room was. Zara had called him earlier to let him know which room Lindy was taken to. The closer he got, the more anxious he was.
Zara was standing in the hallway outside of the Healing Facility room. She looked like she had been crying. Talon felt his heart tightened inside his chest. “Is she okay?”
Zara quickly changed her expression to one of boredom. “She’s fine. Go on in.”
“Thanks for staying with her, Zara.”
The Amazon just nodded her head and stepped to the side to let him by.
Talon opened the door and entered the Healing Facility room not knowing what to expect. Lindy was sitting up in the bed and she looked pale. Her hands were rubbing her stomach and her eyes stared off into the distance at nothing.
“Lindy?”
She turned to look at him. “Talon,” she whispered with tears falling down her face.
He rushed to her side, kneeling on the hard concrete floor. “Oh, baby, it’s okay. I promise.”
She shook her head. “The healers said—” She couldn’t seem to find the words. She was pregnant with Talon’s child, all this time. She had been drugged more than once and almost got killed when the shuttle hit her. If the baby had been purely human, the healers whispered that she would have lost it by now. What was Talon going to think of her for endangering their child? She had tried to stay strong through the whole ordeal, but now it all seemed to cave in on her. She wept openly.
Talon cried, too, as he pulled her carefully into his arms. “Baby, I don’t care what happened. I am just grateful to have you back. Please talk to me.”
Lindy got her tears under control and pulled back to look up at him. She gulped. “I’m pregnant.”
A shot of pain went through him. That bastard raped and impregnated his woman. He was going to kill him. She grabbed his shoulders shaking him a little. She had said something, but he did not hear her. “What?”
“It’s not his, it’s not Nautilus’s baby. The baby is yours—ours.” Lindy was terrified of what Talon’s reaction was going to be. What she didn’t expect was the silence that met her. “Talon?”
Talon had to be hearing things. Lindy didn’t just say that she was pregnant with his baby. She must be traumatized from the rape. How was he going to deal with this? He needed to get the mental healer to visit. He would stand by her, no matter what decision she made. If she kept Nautilus’s child, he would do his best to raise him or her as his own. Lesak was not his birth father, but he raised him like his own son and he couldn’t have asked for a better father. He would try to do the same. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that it took a while to realize that Lindy was yelling at him.
“Talon!”
“Sorry. I am confused. You’re pregnant? I will help you with whatever decision you make. If you decide to tell Nautilus about the baby, I’ll support you.”
“What? Why would I tell Nautilus about our baby?”
“Our baby?”
“Yes, our baby. I was pregnant when I was taken. I didn’t know it until now.”
“Our baby?” Talon looked into her eyes and saw clarity and truth. He then glanced down at her stomach that she covered protectively with her hands. He was filled with wonder and joy. Lindy was pregnant with his child.
“Are you angry with me?” Lindy asked with a shaky voice.
He looked back up at her worried expression. He took her face in his big hands. “Of course not. I’m just in shock.”
“Do you want the baby?” It broke Lindy’s heart to think Talon might not want their child. She would have to leave him because there was no way she was getting rid of this pregnancy.
“There is nothing more in this world that I want more than you and our child. Nothing. You—the both of you—are my entire reason for living.” He leaned forward and kissed her. She didn’t pull away, which brought more joy to his heart. He reluctantly pulled back. He needed answers.
“What did the healers say?”
“The baby is fine.”
“What about the drugs and things that he did to you? Will there be any danger to the baby?”
Lindy shook her head. “He didn’t rape me. He wanted me to fall in love with him. When that didn’t work, he planned to take over my mind to get his way. You got to me in time. The bruising I had all over was from the accident with the shuttle. The healers assured me the baby is completely unaffected by the sedation medications that I was given. Please know that I would never have done anything so risky like that if I had known I was pregnant.” Lindy wanted to reassure him.
“I know. Slide over, I want to hold you,” Talon said, nudging her to move.
Lindy hesitated for a moment, but then scooted o
ver making room for Talon. It was going to be a tight fit. When he lay down on the bed, she turned on her side facing him and slid up against him. His big warm arm wrapped around her pulling her closer. She sighed, laying her head on his chest. She felt safe for the first time in months. But how long would he remain with her? Did she want him to stay from obligation?
“I love you,” he whispered to her, but she didn’t respond. That worried him.
*****
“Miss, I am looking for Talon, the GCFA fighter. Oh my gosh! You’re her, Zara, the Amazon!” a healer squealed out making Zara’s ears hurt.
“Talon is not to be disturbed. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. Talon wanted me to let him know the moment the human came out of surgery.”
“What human?” Zara asked the annoying man.
“A Mr. Trig Roberts. He had been shot and was taken into surgery.”
Zara felt her stomach drop. “Where is he?”
“If you will follow me, I will take you to the recovery room.”
Zara followed the short healer to the second floor PACU unit. She received quite a few looks from the people she passed. She didn’t care. Let them look. It wasn’t the first time she had been on display.
She opened the door and found the beautiful and sexy human male lying very still in the bed with his eyes closed. She looked at the healer who went to check his vitals. “Will he be okay?”
The healer nodded. “It was a close call. If he had come in a few minutes later, he would not be here now.”
Zara felt a clenching in the vicinity of her heart. She barely knew the human, why did she care whether lived or died? She used to think the only good human was a dead human. But looking at the still figure on the bed with his chiseled handsome face, she couldn’t think that way at all. Maybe she was just getting soft. That would not do. She had a reputation to uphold. The healer left her alone with Trig.
“Are you going to stare at me the whole time?” Trig’s deep voice croaked out.
“You wish.” Zara felt relief the man was conscious.
