Unknown Protector

by Maggie Mundy

  “You’ll only make it harder for yourself if you resist.”

  The comment made her heave in his arms even more and she received a blow to her head for her effort.

  “We’re told to bring you in. Don’t take it personally. My friend and I get paid a lot to do our job, and we can’t have you ruining our reputation. Your presence is required. Let’s make this easy for all of us.”

  The words were said with such deliberation it made her skin crawl. She screamed but he muffled the sound with his hand as she struggled to break free.

  The man behind her whispered again.

  “I could break your neck, or I could do other things and he wouldn’t even see the marks. It’s your choice. We get employed to do this work for money, but to be honest with you, we enjoy it.”

  She fought harder but the man behind her tightened his grip. She tried to pull away but the man next to her grabbed her arm and injected something into a vein in her wrist.

  “Be a good girl. Relax, everything will be fine.”

  Her mind fought the drug but her eyelids wouldn’t obey. The agency, Ridge, Sayell. It all came back, but too late. What would happen to Peter? Sayell would kill him. Who were these people? With the last bit of energy she had before the drug took effect she called with her mind to Ridge. She didn’t know if it was possible to connect. Would he care? He told her they were bonded, whatever that meant. It was time to see if it worked.

  Ridge. Save Peter.

  Her head throbbed as she opened her eyes and found herself still in the back seat of the car. She tried to sit, but someone had their arms around her waist and hauled her back against them. Another of the men was kneeling in front of her undoing the belt on his pants.

  “No,” she screamed, and kicked him in the crotch.

  “Bitch,” he yelled, grabbing his privates. He sideswiped her head with his other hand. “Hold her.”

  The thumps came fast and hard. The pain jolted through her body with each punch. As a child, Mom said to put yourself inside your own safe white bubble when you can’t change things. Nicole used to retreat to that safe place when her stepfather attacked Mom so she didn’t have to listen to the thumps and screams. She wanted to go there now.

  “Don’t kill her. Gabriel won’t pay the bonus otherwise,” one thug yelled.

  “I can still rough her up a bit. The bitch deserves it.”

  Her head ached as her face was slapped again. She managed to wrench her hand free to stop another blow and for a second hit the thug’s chest.

  “Isaac. I can’t breathe,” the goon said.

  Nicole closed her eyes as dizziness and heat wafted over her. She didn’t want to pass out. She wanted to stop these men, but her body was becoming numb. Hands held her down again as someone yanked down her sweats. Nicole wanted to forget everything. It had taken her so many years to train her mind not to remember things. She had to get to that place.

  She could see the man’s face in front of her as he licked her cheek. She wanted to wipe the filth off her face, but his friend’s hands held her down. She could smell sweat. If male hunger for domination and violence had a stench, her nostrils were full of it. She didn’t want it to end like this, but all she could see was a face with dilated pupils in front of her.

  “I’m going to fuck you, and my friends here are going to take turns. Hey lookee here, someone else already cut you. Been a bad girl before, haven’t you.” The man was holding a knife to her lower abdomen where her stepfather had scarred her.

  She wanted to vomit on his head as pain surged through her body like an electric shock shooting out to her limbs. It permeated every fiber of her body and catapulted her mind into the past.

  She had wanted her safe place, but instead her mind had taken her to the Emergency Department all those years ago. Her friend Jess had called the ambulance when she had seen the blood. When Mom got there she said to tell them she had tripped on the stairs, but then again Mom hadn’t seen where her stepfather had cut her yet. There would be no excuse that could make up for that.

  The nurse drew the curtain around and spoke to Mom. “I’ll need you to wait outside while we do the examination.”

  Her mother’s face wore terror like a flag, but that was the past. Mom was gone from her life.

  Nicole’s head ached with the realization she was back in the car again. She remembered clearly the face in front of her as he peered at her with lust. His hand was pulling on her underwear and she realized the battle was almost out of her reach. In desperation she squeezed her fists wishing his neck was beneath her hands. Red marks in the shape of a handprint appeared on his neck. In her mind she could feel his Adams apple and pressed. It wasn’t enough. His shirt was slightly opened revealing his chest. Nicole imagined her hand taking his heart. Feeling its warm fleshy surface beating against her palm for a moment. Again she squeezed. He gasped for air, his face turning blue as he collapsed on top of her.

  He was no longer holding her down, but with his weight and the confines of the car she couldn’t move. Finally his limp form was dragged away. She should look at them and try to remember faces. She couldn’t, all she could see was the top of the head of the man being wrenched away. She would have killed him, and a part of her was sorry she hadn’t succeeded. She had met scum like this before and wished them nothing but pain.

  “You’re crazy, bitch.” The second goon yelled at her. “He’ll find a way to kill you for this. You’re not the only one who has power. You won’t survive a night with Gabriel. His tastes are stranger than ours. You’ll be sorry you didn’t settle for a good fuck.”

  She needed to move, but even trying to lift her head was too much. Brakes screeched outside. A car pulled up. The voices of the men were gone. She needed to get away from here and back to Ridge.

  A shadow engulfed the back seat of the car as someone in a dark cape stood at the door. The smell alone would have been enough to let her know it was Sayell. She was making enemies, and didn’t even know these people a day ago. He was not a person though, but an alien. She wanted to run but couldn’t move as his power took control of her.

  Sayell threw back his hood and bent his head to peer in the car. His face looked like a dog had chewed most of it off. What was left was blackened and charred. His equally charred hand plucked off a piece of loose skin and flicked it out the door. Her heart pounded at the thought he was near her again. Human thugs were one thing, but she had seen what Sayell was capable of. Whatever these powers were she was displaying, she wasn’t sure they would work on him.

  “Oh my dearest, Nicole. What are you doing out here all alone without your mate. Don’t you think it’s rather careless of him to leave you here at my tender mercy? What will I do? I can’t mate with you because he bonded with you. I’ll have to be more inventive.”

  The words chilled her, knowing he enjoyed playing with his captives. She had to believe she was safe within the barrier she had created around herself.

  He removed a small box from his pocket. It was plain enough until he opened it and the small heads of snakes peered out. Nicole couldn’t breathe as the panic overtook her. She knew what those vicious little snakes could do.

  “I thought I should return the favor,” Sayell said and smirked, at least Nicole assumed his twisted expression was a smirk.

  A snake slithered along the top of the seat and peered down and hissed at her. She made them explode before, so all she could hope for was she could do it again. Another snake coiled around her ankle and bit into her skin. The burning sensation shot up her leg like she had been branded with a hot iron. The one from the seat flopped onto her abdomen and lifted its head. More snakes slithered across the seat biting into the flesh of her arms and legs. Her body shook uncontrollably as she lashed out with her hands. She could still see Sayell, but he held his hand up to his face to avoid the exploding s
nakes that were being thrown against him. The rage was building in her as a shimmer formed around her body and any snake within it exploded.

  Sayell was gone, and Ridge was there, or was this all make believe. She wanted to stop everything and make the pain go away, but the agony coursed through her.

  Chapter 8

  Painful Rescue

  Ridge needed a scotch, or maybe more than one. He needed to drink a hell of a lot to get the same effect a human did, of dulled senses and altered reality, but he liked the taste. It wouldn’t help him today though because he’d backed himself into a corner, but he was resourceful and he would get out. Being plastered wasn’t going to solve anything, especially after his meeting with Kyle. He liked the guy, but it hadn’t gone well.

  The boss of the West Coast didn’t like it when the voices back home had a go at him for not doing his job. One of the Elect complained he hadn’t followed protocol when he took Nicole to Pergor. No discussion yet as to why they hadn’t replaced Mira. Ridge was concerned it was yet another case of Midworlders being kept in the dark. Kyle stated he didn’t have time for this disturbance in San Francisco. His exact words were, if Ridge couldn’t do his job he would be removed as head of his enclave.

  The meeting would have been more heated if Heath hadn’t cooled things down with his reserved English temperament. Heath understood, having had a few run-ins of his own with Pergor.

  Pain slashed across Ridge’s forehead. Nicole was calling him. He grabbed his wrist as a stinging, needle-sharp sensation tore through his skin. Pictures flashed in his mind. She was in a car and fighting for her life. He’d kill the men for touching her when he found them. He yelled in frustration as he sensed the hands grabbing her. His chest tightened as he gripped the counter. He couldn’t lose control. He needed to draw in his anger. The touch of her mind slipped away, but before it did he sensed the reason she’d left the club. The touch of a demonic was there. Sayell, the bastard was controlling her thoughts. He went into her bedroom to see if there was a note or any clues.

  He needed to get his people searching for her, though he had a fair idea where she’d gone. He didn’t relish telling them he’d lost her. They were still laughing because they thought him incredibly foolish for claiming her as his mate. He didn’t think it foolish though. From the moment she’d fallen into his arms and he’d smelt the musky scent of her body, he’d wanted to bed her. He loved human women, their minds and their bodies had kept him sane over the years. Well somewhat sane, but Nicole was different. She was getting into his heart and he didn’t think he had one anymore.

  Sara came in and glanced around. “Tell me I’m not seeing what I think. Rather careless of you to lose her so fast. Haven’t claimed anyone myself, but I kind of thought they might want to stay around the one they’re bound to.” Sara smiled.

  Ridge stood at the end of the bed and stared at the disheveled sheets. Nicole’s aroma was still there, tempting him. “It’s crazy, I’ve a mate anyway.”

  Ridge flexed his hands repeatedly. It was the only way he could stop himself from hitting something. He needed to fight, or he’d be no use to anyone. His whole body charged up with a mixture fury and fear. He strode back out to the main room and grabbed his car keys.

  “I know you want to have your little digs, but somethin’s wrong here and we ain’t pickin’ up on it. I’ve seen some amazin’ stuff durin’ my life down here but nothin’ like her.” Ridge rubbed his temples. The throbbing didn’t diminish.

  “She isn’t normal, and you’re not your usual Midworlder either. It doesn’t prove anything. Plus no one’s claimed a mate for a long time, so what would be considered normal anyway?”

  “Take care of the club. I’ve gotta go. I’ll start at the agency.” As he drove he couldn’t stop thinking things just didn’t fit. He did what the Elevated needed him to do for the status quo to be maintained. He ran his Enclave like a tight ship. He’d stopped believing there could be more. Then fate threw Nicole his way.

  He needed more, all the Midworlders did. If they went back to Homeworld they’d die, but staying here got lonely. He remembered visiting a group in South America where three Midworlders lost partners at a claiming ceremony. Two of the Midworlders were over four hundred years old. They all returned to Homeworld to die.

  Was his kind being duped into believing a mate could exist? Was it wrong to think he could have someone care about him the same way he cared about them? He had believed it before and it hadn’t ended well. His beloved Jade was dead. One hundred and fifty years had passed and it didn’t lessen the fact he had watched her die. He vowed he would never do it again and yet now he was faced with the exact same thing.

  After Jade died, he decided if he couldn’t have love, he might as well get a whole load of sex to make up for it. The only way to find out if what he felt for Nicole was real and meant something, was to find her. Thinking about her caused a pain in the middle of his chest. Damn, he would not be the only Midworlder who felt this.

  He took a deep breath as he remembered the imprint of her body against his when they had flown into the night sky. The thought of never holding her again was something he wasn’t prepared to contemplate.

  He slowed the car and parked outside the agency. He could smell the sweet odor of Demonics, but they were long gone. He never understood how humans didn’t notice the sickly scent. There were the usual passers by going about their daily business. Thankfully they weren’t crowding around Nicole’s dead body in the gutter. He’d always found it odd how humans hankered for other people’s agony like it would make their own easier to bear, but now wasn’t the time to judge.

  Carrick stood beside the door to the building. “We got Sara’s call. Thought we would help. Jake’s around the back. Says Demonics were there earlier. Haven’t been up to the office, but the lady in the bakery says the brother’s back.”

  “I’m goin’ up. Keep an eye out for anythin’. From what I could pick up from Nicole’s mind. It’s not our kind we need worry about.”

  The Flynn Agency was based in a nondescript building, which was probably good for business. A client wouldn’t want the tabloids parked out front taking their picture when arranging for a PI to tail a cheating spouse.

  The shop on ground level was a Russian bakery. At any other time he would have joined Carrick in sampling some cakes. To the side of the shop were stairs, which led to the first floor. What might have been apartments once were converted into businesses. He stood on the landing that was shaped like a horseshoe. To the left was a frosted glass door. ‘Massage Parlor’ was written in gold lettering on it. To the right was J.S. Keri Loan Approvals. Maybe the massages were really expensive and you needed a loan to afford them. The Flynn Detective Agency was situated on the third floor. Ridge didn’t bother to knock but headed straight in. It had the same frosted glass door as the other businesses.

  The deserted front office had the usual waiting area and receptionist’s desk. Ridge headed for the door with N & P Flynn written on a beautiful old brass plate. The office appeared like a scene out of The Maltese Falcon with leather bound chairs, wooden filing cabinets and a beautiful old desk with green leather on the top. Either Nicole or Ben must have been fascinated with the detectives of the nineteen twenties. Two things spoiled the image, the laptop on the desk, and the young guy who was tapping away at the keyboard.

  For once Ridge wished he had the appearance of some of the other Midworlders. The happy-go-lucky friendly types like Jake, though Carrick would have scared the shit out of this guy. From Nicole’s description he assumed this guy was her brother-in-law, Peter. Before he could make the introductions Peter jumped up and moved back towards the window. There was a door to the left of the room and Ridge reckoned the cogs were working in Peter’s mind as to whether he could escape. “I’m, Ridge. You must be Peter. I’m looking for your sister-in-law, Nicole.”

  Pete
r grabbed a letter opener and held it up in what he must have considered an aggressive stance. Another time Ridge would’ve laughed.

  “How do you know her?”

  “I don’t have time for this. She been here or not? She’d want you to tell me.” Ridge tried to stay calm as he leant on the desk.

  “I’m not saying anything.” Peter held the small letter opener up in defense.

  It would be breaking every rule, but at this moment he didn’t care. Ridge blinked and felt the momentary sting as his wings emerged. He spread them wide across the room so there could be no doubt of their existence. Peter gasped and dropped the letter opener. Ridge drew his wings back in and reabsorbed them into his body. There went another T-shirt ripped to shreds.