Before he could comment further, One gave a low growl and took off to the shadows, the scent of their prey strong in his muzzle.
“The hunt is on.” Manx smiled as he clucked his tongue at Two, and off they raced into the night, moving so fast they were but a blur to anyone who happened to be on the streets.
* * *
Mayleen was furious. No, she was more than furious, she was incensed. How dare this stupid ass of a kidnapper chain her up like this?
“Come on, lady,” he grumbled. “I have to get out of here.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you broke in here, now shouldn’t you?”
“How was I supposed to know you weren’t a secretary?”
Mayleen just humphed and crossed her arms as best she could while wearing the “Break Me Hard” chains a client had sent them for the issue. This fool had now chained her to the office desk. She was stuck at a terminal with a computer she knew nothing about. “Just because I’m female doesn’t mean that I was born knowing how to process words and… codes… and other computer thingies. I’m an ad woman. My job is to make phone calls and write thank you notes.”
“You could have said something,” the panicked man shouted back, pacing the floor as he stared with unconcealed hate at Mayleen.
“Well, maybe you should have asked,” she snapped back, the excitement of her kidnapping wearing off as the knots in her rope began to wear at the skin of her labia. Who said this crap was easy and comfortable to wear all day? Oh, yeah. That was her prospective master who now probably thought she was heading for the hills in the opposite direction from him and all he represented. And Master Keegan looked to be a good, firm master too… kind of scary in that way that makes you wonder if he’s going to stop when you tell him to. “Look, why don’t you just let me go and find someone else to terrorize? You made me late for an important engagement, and this is getting us nowhere.”
“I can’t go. He’s after me!”
“He?”
“Some guy they call The Head. I was told The Head is hunting me… Why am I telling this to you, bitch?” He turned toward Mayleen and that tingle of excitement turned into fear. “Why am I still here wasting time with you when you’ve seen my face?”
“Um… It’s not my fault you didn’t wear a mask.”
“Yes, and I think it’s time I correct that mistake.”
Mayleen fought back the urge to whimper and cry like a baby as she saw death solidify in those dark eyes. The man took a step up, centered himself directly in front of her, and pulled a gun from his pocket.
Her eyes widened as she realized her life was not flashing before her eyes. No, all she could think was, I don’t want to die. God help me, I don’t want to die.
“Good-bye, Miss Ad Woman,” the man muttered. There was no hesitation, no pause, just a sure stance as Mayleen found herself staring down the barrel of the handgun.
She gulped and closed her eyes, a whimper escaping her throat as she saw his muscles tighten in anticipation of the gun recoil. She turned her head away, a tear running down her face. Her breath tore from her throat in harsh rasps and her heart began to pound in her heaving chest.
Bam!
“Eeeeeeeee… eee… eee… ah?” May let out a screech at the loud sound, a screech that trailed off into a whimper as she realized there was no pain.
Then the sounds of growls filled the room.
Still trapped in her chair, Mayleen opened her eyes and stared horrified at two hounds the size of small ponies standing in the remains of her once very secure office doors.
Before she could even think to open her mouth and scream, dark shadows began to flow into the room, blotting out the light and giving a cold, eerie feel to the place.
“What the fuck?” the man bellowed as the dogs moved aside, flanking the door so no one could leave.
Then she heard it -- the solid, heavy footsteps that told her something big was coming.
The kidnapper, knocked on his ass with the force of the explosion of the doors, made to rise to his feet, but the deep bass growl of the two dogs halted his movements. And the footsteps got closer.
There was a rush of wind, the sound of a thousand quiet screams, and a huge hand braced itself on the doorway.
“Ohhhh, hell,” May managed to wheeze out as she started to struggle in earnest in her chair. It sounded as if the gatekeeper to hell was headed in her direction.
The dogs moved aside as a large body stepped over the debris that littered the floor. Then a form flowed into the room, seeming to suck the very air from her lungs as it rose and rose and rose.
It had to be seven feet tall, encased in leather and shadows. All she could make out of its features was a pair of glowing red eyes that took in the whole room at a glance, then turned to the kidnapper on the ground.
“Oh, fuck,” the kidnapper whimpered, scrambling backwards as far away from the menacing form as he could.
“One does not fuck one’s food,” was the dark, growling response. It was as if someone had taken the night, all the things that you fear when the lights go out, and given them a form and a voice. “It is not considered good form.”
“Food? God help me,” the kidnapper whimpered as his back hit the far wall. Any means of escape was now cut off.
May watched as the dark man stepped deeper into the room, his steps measured and careful as if forethought was put into every move. “Prayer is good,” he said as his dogs surrounded the man. “Prayer to your infinite god, no matter who or what he may be, is good, and you have just enough time for weeping, wailing, and hiding in a corner, cowering before your fate.”
He raised one hand and May watched as the shadows seemed to swarm up his body, to lovingly caress him as they gathered in his palm. There was a flash of red eyes, then the shadows exploded from his palm as if they were jet propelled.
The shadows slammed into the kidnapper, lifting his body into the air, arms flailing. As he opened his mouth to scream, they dipped into his mouth, stealing his voice, choking him as he tried to vocalize his panic and distress. They effectively muffled him so that only gurgling sounds left his throat as he began to float toward the imposing man cloaked in shadows and black leather.
“You thought to run?” he asked as the kidnapper lowered and shifted so that he levitated horizontally before him, his face at head level to the man controlling the shadows. “Didn’t your employers tell you how dangerous this job was?”
The man’s face must have given something away, because the big man sighed and shook his head slightly. “They knew. They hired a killer and gave him state-of-the-art equipment.”
The man struggled, and the red eyes closed for a moment.
“You know,” the dark man went on, “I can smell the blood of the innocent ones that fell to your blade or your gun. You have killed many in the pursuit of money, and sometimes just for your own sexual gain. I feel no regret in what I am obligated to do.”
The kidnapper’s body began to jerk violently as the shadows again swirled, enclosing the man and the kidnapper from view. It was as if black, pitch, the absence of light, and all words used to describe darkness had taken over the area around the man and his dogs.
May could not see a thing, but she could hear.
Growls and yips, the sounds of ripping, tearing flesh, horrifying munching and chewing, swallowing, and the pleased grunts of a sated animal.
It seemed like forever trapped in a mere moment that May sat strapped to that chair, struggling to get away. This man was dangerous, and all her senses told her to run.
And she tried, rocking the chair, hopping in the chair, doing everything short of turning it over and crawling out of the room with the chair strapped to her back, like some weird species of office turtle, and she was considering doing just that when the sounds stopped.
Mayleen turned her head toward where the dark man had last stood and screamed as she came face to face with a pair of glowing red eyes.
“Forgive me, F
ather, for I have sinned,” she babbled, all the prayers she’d learned as a child deserting her.
“You are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the man intoned darkly, glaring at her as if the whole thing was her fault.
“The power of Christ repel you!”
“That’s compel,” he corrected. “I read the book. It is much better than the DVD.”
“Boggity-boogity boo.”
“Are you done?” The man sounded annoyed as he took a step back and rose up. It was then that May realized he had bent over to get a good look at her face. She also realized she couldn’t see his. It was covered in swirling black shadows.
“Go ahead and eat me,” she finally screamed, after a moment of utter silence during which he stared at her with those glowing red eyes. “That’s what you did to that man, isn’t it? You ate him.”
“And he would have been better tasting with garlic,” the man answered, turning to pull a sheet of paper seemingly out of nowhere. “No accomplices listed,” he mused.
“What are you torturing me for? Go ahead and eat me.”
“Looks like someone already has dinner plans.” He chuckled, pointing to a bit of purple rope that lay exposed against her collarbone now that her writhing in the chair had shifted her dress.
“Master,” May gasped, then groaned. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
Here she was, about to be eaten, and all she could think about was that Master surely would have written her off by now, and there was no correcting a mistake if you missed your time. She was out of another master… and it was all that kidnapper’s fault.
“I believe you are in shock.”
“So just eat me and get it over with. Isn’t that what demons do?” She just didn’t feel the danger anymore, or her mind had taken a twist and gone off to visit Alice down the rabbit hole. “You just ate that man, right? And there can be no witnesses? So go ahead and eat me. It’s not polite to play with your food.” Dejection filled every inch of her body, and she slouched down as far as she could in her seat, pouting as she glared at the man.
“I am not a demon,” he answered, still looking at the paper in his hand. “And eat him -- yes, I did. And I shared the choice bits with my Alpha and my Bitch.”
Mayleen looked around, but all she saw were the two dogs, and damned if they didn’t look like they were laughing at her. Strange.
“You are not on my list,” he finally announced, looking up at her as she glared at his companions.
“Goody. I’m not bound for hell.”
“I didn’t say that,” he replied. “Just that I won’t be dining on your tender flesh today.”
“Then you’re letting me go?” May asked, hopeful. There was no blood to clean up, and the man who was eaten was a killer by this man’s own words. Hell, he’d kidnapped her and kept her from seeing her master, and now she would have to start all over seeking a new one, and that would take months. He was a bad guy, she was innocent, and now the demon was letting her go -- all was right with the world. She would go home, take a couple of aspirin, and this whole thing would wind up being nothing more than an endorphin-induced nightmare. Damn that man for insisting she wear these Japanese ropes.
“I never said that.” The man’s words dropped her hopeful anticipation like a lead brick. “I just said you weren’t on the list.”
“So what happens?” Mayleen asked, resigned. “I knew I was going to die young, but I thought it would be at the hands of a master who didn’t know how to treat a total sub.”
“Right,” he drawled, sarcasm in his dark voice. “As I was saying, you are not on the list, but there can be no witnesses… so there is only one thing to do.”
“Kill me?”
“Take you with me.”
Mayleen blinked, then blinked again.
“Are you real?” she finally asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you must be out of your fucking mind. I just saw you eat someone!”
“Yes, and he was bad, though tasty.”
“You swallowed him whole!” she protested.
“No, I tore bits off and swallowed him piece by piece.”
“Do you have to give me details?”
“Are you scared of me?”
That one threw May for a loop. Was she afraid of this man?
Not really. “Um, maybe? If I’m scared, will you let me go?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not scared of you… much.” May rolled her eyes as she realized her fight or flight instincts had all but disappeared. Sure, there was still that tinge of danger she felt around him, but no more than she would feel if she were going before a new master for a binding short-term contract. “I really am not afraid of you. And I saw you eat someone!”
“You didn’t see.”
“Well, I heard. And I’m not afraid of you.”
“I have a feeling nothing much will make you afraid.”
“That’s true.” Mayleen nodded. “My parents called me stupid or crazy. But they are dead and I am on my own, and I learned to face my fears.”
“Good,” he decided, “because I am going to take you back with me.”
“Not hell.” May tilted her head to the side as she stared at the man. “You already said you weren’t a demon. So… where are you taking me?”
“The Cove.” He said the word like it was a joy and an annoyance at the same time.
“Where is that?”
“Beyond your imagination.”
“When will I get back here, back home?”
“Never.”
“Well -- damn!”
“My name is… Well, you can call me Manx.” He bent down and easily lifted the chair and its occupant.
“Are you going to untie me?” she asked, growing peeved at the loss of control of her life… then again… Why wasn’t she afraid of this creature?”
“No.” Manx turned and gave a short whistle to the huge dogs that followed him, Alpha and Bitch. “I think it’s safer to keep you occupied right now.”
“Occupied?”
“Yes,” he said as the shadows enveloped both of them. Strangely enough, the darkness seemed quite warm and welcoming.
“Close your eyes,” Manx ordered. “We will be there in moments.”
Instinctively, Mayleen did what she was told, then opened them a second later when she realized this big behemoth was not her master.
But when she opened them, the shadows parted and she was standing in… paradise.
“Welcome,” she heard him whisper. “Welcome to Rookery Cove.”
Fairies flittering, a dragon flew overhead. There were strange creatures that looked like trolls and a warm climate on an island that looked like Scotland, and… She looked up and the shadows dissipated, showing a roughly masculine face looming above her.
This demon was hot!
Then he opened his mouth to yawn and the whole bottom half of his face split vertically. She watched as his jawbones spread out, exposing a massive set of hooked teeth.
Slowly the gaping maw closed, and she was once again looking at an ordinary face and a pair of gleaming amused red eyes.
“Excuse me,” he explained. “I belched. But it tasted as good coming up as it did going down.”
That was her limit.
Without a whimper, Mayleen fainted.
Chapter Five
The sound of hushed voices woke her.
Mayleen went from sleeping a deep, dreamless sleep to awake and alert within seconds.
There were voices, people arguing, and she didn’t like it, not one little bit.
Running her hands through her shoulder length black hair, knocking it out of her face, she sat up and took a good look around her.
She was in a bed of some sort, but it was like no bed she had ever been in, and that was for damn sure.
It was covered in thick, rich, raw black silk, the kind that costs a bundle, not the shiny stuff, but the stuff that feels as soft as cotton and is as comfortable as you
r mother’s womb.
It was suspended from the ceiling by eight huge, black chains, two chains on each corner. It gave one the feeling of floating, though May was sure there had to be some legs to the thing, else it would be jostling around with her movements.
In addition to the chains, four gauzy swathes of fabric ran from the ceiling over each side of the bed, giving it almost a harem feel.
Several tall candleholders, sconces and candelabra gave the room a dim light, and from what she could see, made up most of the furniture.
She shifted to the side to peer around the long, black bed drapes, but gasped as the movement sent shivers of fire through her groin.
She looked down to see that she was still in kikkou, but her concealing overdress had been removed.
She was as naked as a jaybird on a strange bed and still in erotic knot and rope work.
“He must think I’m some kind of freak,” she whispered, embarrassed that her little secret had been found out.
But he eats people, her mind reasoned, and all embarrassment fled.
Where was she? Where had he taken her? What was his game?
Reaching for a handful of the sinful sheets, she wrapped them around her body before she edged her way to the side of the bed, wincing and trying not to let arousal rule her as she moved.
Once there, she stuck her feet out, feeling for the ground, and felt fur.
Fur rugs? Did the man believe he was some kind of pimp?
But as she went to put weight on the fur rug, it yelped and moved. Which prompted her to fall back into the bed with a loud, piercing shriek. Which in turn made the creature send up a howl that would wake the dead.
Which… in turn… made Mayleen scream all the harder, seeing that gaping maw of a mouth open and emit such a banshee-like cry.
They were both still screaming when the man himself, Manx, burst into the room, eyes searching for danger, a furred companion at his side.
“What the hell is going on?” he bellowed, seeing no danger or no reason for this noise to interrupt his calm.
* * *
“You really don’t want to fuck with me right now,” Manx growled into the phone. “I have too much shit to do, and you are standing on my last nerve.” Manx hooked the phone over his shoulder, giving scant attention to the voice on the other end of the line.
Rookery Cove: The Darkness Page 2
