Lilly's Torment [Beyond the Veil 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Honor James

  Lilly just grinned and shook her head. “I am going to be in for it for the next two weeks, aren’t I?” she asked happily. “It’s okay though, I look forward to everything and anything that happens in that corner. We will do this. We will get through this, I just know it.”

  “Of course we will. Now eat, before he goes all fangy,” Gav said, not quite under his breath. He picked up his own fork and dug into the food. Even Ax was eating, not nearly as much as either Gav or she had on her plates, but he was eating with them.

  She did just that. She began to eat and watched her men as she did so. This was going to be a very, very interesting life that they would lead together, and it was one that she looked forward to. She happened to really and truly love the idea that they would all be able to be together in this.

  Chapter Ten

  It was day ten of her treatments and being treated like she was made of spun glass and having food shoved into her mouth. But it was almost done, almost over, almost cured. The boys were at the counter, leaning over some more blood work and muttering to one another. All the while she sat there, eating instead of working, yet again. Artaxias hadn’t been kidding about the meals and snacks. She was fucking eating nearly every hour, on the hour. Okay, maybe not quite that much, but damn it, it sure felt like it sometimes.

  Shooting yet another dark look to her men, she lifted an eyebrow, “Well?” She demanded. “Please tell me that it’s close, or else I might have to hurt you two.” She was so over being stuffed with food that it wasn’t even funny. She was about to hurt someone, truth be told, and that wasn’t even a joke.

  Both looked toward her, then one another and then back at the results. After another minute, Artaxias straightened up and nodded. “We’re about there. Best we can figure is treatments today, maybe tomorrow, and you’re good. We’ll do another blood test tomorrow morning.” He came around the counter to where she was sitting and touched her cheek lightly. “You’re almost there, Lilly. Just a little more to be absolutely sure we beat this. Okay?”

  Lilly leaned into Artaxias and closed her eyes. “Okay,” she whispered. “I trust you.” She did. She trusted them both. “Let me finish eating, and then we will get back to the files we are working on. Have you found out anything more from the tattoos on our John Doe?”

  “A bunch more, but finish eating and then we’ll talk. You, my dear, cannot do two things at once without creating havoc. I’ll grab everything and then we can sit and discuss it all. Eat.” He leaned in and kissed her gently.

  “I’m eating, I’m eating,” she muttered and then lifted her face to his. Smiling, she licked her lips. “How about you kiss me again?” She loved sharing kisses with her men. She loved being able to have them hold her, kiss her, and touch her, and since they couldn’t make love yet, she was damn sure going to get as many kisses as she could.

  Pressing another kiss to her lips, he pressed her mouth open and slid his tongue in to tease hers. His hand was at the back of her head, fingers in her hair, holding her to him. When he moved in closer, she could feel his heat all down the front of her body.

  When he pulled back, Lilly shuddered and licked her lips. “That’s what I needed.” She moaned. “Felt so very good,” she admitted softly. “I never want you to stop giving me kisses like that, please.” She looked to Gavriel and smiled. “How about you, Gav? Gonna kiss me?”

  “Always.” He smiled at her. Coming around the counter to her other side, he cupped her face and leaned in. His lips were on hers in the next moment, his kiss softer and yet no less powerful than Ax’s. His tongue teased hers for a long moment, stealing her breath, and then he drew back. “Eat.”

  Taking a moment to breathe, she nodded and licked her lips. “God, I love when you boys kiss me,” she admitted. “I really think that you should kiss me often. I mean it. No matter where we are, I think that you should both kiss me at any moment in time.”

  “And we will,” Gavriel told her, moving back to the folder. “Now eat, dark-and-toothy is looking a little grumpy. You’re messing with his schedule, darling. So finish your meal, and then we have some business to take care of.”

  That had her laughing, “Yeah I know.” She loved messing with Ax and his schedules sometimes. She loved it because when she did, he generally would spank her bottom. Yes, her clothes would be on when he did it, but it felt so good all the same.

  “We also need to go and see Briar at some point, as she’s got the results back on that body from the other day,” Ax told her. Another body with another tattoo that had made her try and claw out her guys’ eyes in the need that had gripped her to get to a landline phone. Thankfully they’d seen the problem coming, a little late unfortunately, but had been ready for her actions. They’d subdued her and distracted her just fine. But seriously, it was starting to get real old, real fast.

  “I think that the next body that comes through, I should not go to see,” she whispered. “I hate that it’s getting to the point where it’s harder and harder to pull me out of the trance or whatever these things put me into.”

  “We’re going to figure this out, Lilly,” he said, looking to her. She turned to look at him and he smiled. “We will. And when we do, Gav is going to get that compulsion broken. Plus, once we’re mated, it will be easier for us to help you through the compulsion. I’m not saying it will be easy-easy, but definitely easier, since we’ll be connected to you on a level we aren’t right now.”

  “Good. I trust you. I trust you both. I know that you will do whatever it takes to not only ensure that I am able to defeat this disease of mine, but also that we will defeat this programming that someone put into place on me.”

  Artaxias got up from his seat and moved to her slowly. “We will,” he said quietly, his words a promise. “Come and join me on the sofa. We can go over the findings from the tattoos. I think this may actually help us figure out how to break the program, Lil.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She rose and moved to the couch with them. Anything to snuggle up between her two larger-than-life men was good for her. She would do whatever it took. Settling in between the guys, she rested her legs on one lap and leaned against the other man’s shoulder. “All right, boys, show me what you have found so far.”

  “The patterns are distinctive, from what everyone could see. Mark said that once he got digging around, he found that a lot of the symbols that make up the tattoo were used as subliminal messages during the fifties and sixties of your world. Hidden in commercials to promote more buying at stores, suspicions about the communists and things like that. He told me”—Ax continued as he stroked her hair gently—“that on their own, they would mean absolutely nothing to you. But in certain combinations, they would make you do specific tasks. The way the one was layered on the bodies made you go into a trance and try to get to a phone. But he says, too, that they literally could make you do anything. The only caveat to that is, it can’t go against your core being.”

  “In other words,” Gavriel said, taking up that point. “If they sent you a subliminal message to shoot one of us, you’d never do it. You’d push through the programming enough for us to help you stop. But a phone call, or driving somewhere. We do that on a daily basis, so it’s nothing that would go against your core self.”

  “Which is very true.” Lilly chewed her lower lip and added, “I also make weapons daily. Deadly ones. It’s nothing for me to create something new and test it out. What if I thought that I was testing it in the safe zone of my lab, and instead it was an office or something? Could they do that? Make me not see what was around me and make me think that I was somewhere safe?”

  “Maybe, but highly doubtful. Because those people would be yelling at you, shouting for your attention. I just can’t say for sure, Lil.” Gavriel squeezed her calf lightly. “It completely depends on what the base programming was. How far ahead they thought. What they believed you’d need to do.”

  “Well, let’s hope that it’s just the phone thing. Although, why they would want me
to call them is beyond me, but that’s all good.” A very bad thought popped into her mind and had her asking, “What if the phone call is to receive further orders? To solidify the preprogrammed response and turn it into something more?”

  “That, too, is possible,” Artaxias said, looking down at her. “But really, I’m betting from your urgency to make the call, and the fact that when we pull you from the fugue you have no memory of making the call, they want you to give them information. You gather everything up, make the call, and then never remember the need to make the call, the call itself, or the information passed along. I’d also bet it’s to a voice mail service of some sort. They couldn’t know when you’d be triggered, if you’d be triggered, or where they would be when you were triggered. Plus, with a recording, they can review it endlessly.”

  Lilly rubbed her temples. “You boys are making my head hurt.” She didn’t know if it was the programming or what, but her head was hurting her and it wasn’t a good thing, at all. “How about we just sit here for a few, and then we will pick the topic back up when the headache has subsided just a bit?”

  “Close your eyes, Lilly,” Artaxias told her. His hand slipped to her neck and he rubbed at the tight muscles. “Take a deep breath and let it out nice and slow. We’ve got you babe, we’re right here.” A blanket settled over her a moment later and was tucked around her tight.

  Lilly leaned heavily into Artaxias and felt Gavriel shifting so that he could hold her tighter as well. Sighing, she closed her eyes and yawned, a feeling of rightness settling over her. “Thank you,” she whispered very, very quietly to them before she drifted off and into sleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  “We’ve got another body,” Ax told her. They were in her work space at HQ. “I want you to stay here, love. This one—” He let out a breath. “This one is bad, Lilly. From what we’ve heard back from the site, there’s an even larger tattoo. So I don’t want you to get near it until we break down the tattoo into its parts.” He moved closer to her and touched her cheek. “Tonight, though, tonight we will mate. Gav got in the last of the blood work and you are free and clear, love.”

  That had Lilly smiling and leaning into Ax’s touch. “Good. I’m so very glad. Not about the body, of course.” She shook her head. “But about us. About us all mating and finally coming together. Go. Do what you need to do. I’m just going to sit here and finish with my reports and orders for more materials. I promise I will stay right here.” She teased him with a smile.

  “Okay then. Gavriel will be by in a little bit. He’s stuck in a meeting right now, but he will come and grab you when he’s done and take you home. Apparently he has some cockamamie plan to make a meal. Will you please try to keep him from burning down my kitchen? I spent an obscene amount of money getting it just right and I’d hate to have to kill him.”

  Laughter erupted from her lips, but Lilly nodded. “I will do my utmost to ensure that your kitchen remains standing after the force of nature that is Gavriel. I promise.” She just hoped that between her and Gav, they would be able to keep it clean and, well, fire-free.

  “I don’t care if it’s clean, love. I can clean it. I just want it still standing and not in ashes,” he told her with a smile. Leaning in, he kissed her softly, sucking on her lip gently before pulling back. “I will be back late, so don’t hold the meal for me.”

  Lilly nodded and leaned into Artaxias. Her hand cupped his cheek and she breathed him in. “I will be in your bed waiting for you.” Her fingers touched his lips and she nodded, smiled, and added, “Now get out of here, Ax. Go and do what you do best. I will keep Gav in line. Promise.”

  “You’d better,” he said. Sighing, he leaned in and kissed her again. “I love you, Lilly. Be careful, darling,” he said quietly. Stepping back, he let his fingers slide down her cheek slowly. “Do not leave this building without Gavriel. I hope they won’t come looking for you, Lil. But we both know you haven’t exactly been reporting in. They might just change their tactics to find out why.”

  “I will wait right here for him. Go,” she whispered with a smile and shake of her head. “Go before I have to kick you.” She would never kick him, they both knew that. When he left her, she couldn’t stop smiling. She was happy. So very, very happy. Sighing, she looked back at her computer screen and began to work.

  * * * *

  “Yeah,” Artaxias said into the car interior after hitting the “accept” button for the phone built into the truck steering wheel.

  “Have you talked to Lilly in the last while?” Gavriel’s voice filled the interior of the truck.

  “Not since I left to go out to the crime scene.” He glanced at the dashboard. “It’s been about four hours. Why? What did you do to my kitchen?” he asked, naturally suspicious.

  “I’m still at the office.”

  “What? Why?” Ax leaned forward slightly starting to get a bad feeling.

  “Because I came to grab Lilly to go home two hours ago, and one of the techs said they saw her heading out. They asked where she was off to and she told them she needed some coffee, that her brain wasn’t playing nice with her workload.”

  “Okay, sounds feasible to me. It’s in the building and perfectly safe. So she went to the cafeteria and you missed her. What’s the big deal?” That bad feeling he had was growing with the silence that came over the line. “Gavriel. Tell me Lilly is still in the building.”

  The heavy sigh had his fingers clenching the steering wheel. “She vanished. She was in the cafeteria and then, as she left, she managed to avoid every camera in this place and vanished. We just got through a floor-by-floor, room-by-room search, and she’s fucking gone.”

  “Son of a bitch, Gav! How the fuck did you lose her? That place is plastered with cameras. You can’t sneeze without it ending up on at least six different monitor systems.”

  “I don’t know,” Gavriel said slowly. “She was there, and then she blinked, turned, and poof. It’s like she vanished from thin air. Yes, impossible inside the building, but I’m telling you. I had Mark scour the footage top to bottom, and there isn’t even a shadow out of place. We don’t know how she did it or who did it to her, but she’s gone. The captain wants to know, though, have you had a taste of her blood yet?”

  Artaxias was silent as he raked his mind. He’d always been so fucking careful with her. “No,” he whispered softly. “You know me, Gav, we were being careful about her disease and ensuring she was cured before we went anywhere with it. I couldn’t break her trust like that anyway.”

  “Shit, all right.” There was some rustling and a muffled conversation. “Get back here, you still know this place better than anyone else. Maybe you can figure out how she got out and we can figure out where she went.”

  “I’m fifteen minutes out,” Ax told him and floored it. “And I’ll be the one coming in hot.”

  “See you then,” Gav murmured before the line went dead.

  * * * *

  Tied to a chair. That was how she came to. She began to wiggle in the chair. Fucking bastards even put tape over her mouth. How dare they? Her mind was fuzzy, thoughts were completely scattered, but she knew she needed to get out of there. She knew she had to get free. Somehow and someway, she had to be free.

  She saw the shadows, felt them pressing in on her more and more and felt her fear climbing higher and higher. She had to force herself to calm her breathing. It wouldn’t do for her to start to panic because she could only breath through her nose. Oh God, not helping!

  She was not ashamed to admit she was crying. In her mind, she kept screaming for Artaxias to find her, begging him to find her.

  * * * *

  “This is where I lose her scent,” Ansell said, looking over to him.

  Sighing, Artaxias scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I thought so, thanks for confirming it. Are you able to stick close? May need you before this is over.”

  “Yeah, not a problem. Lacey and Zhubin are suiting up and bringing me some toys. You’ve got us
and the other agents as long as you need us,” the Luhpyne said, slapping his shoulder.

  “What now?” Gav asked, moving up as Ansell stepped away to talk to someone.

  “Absolute quiet,” Artaxias told him. “And a little bit of space. I’m going to try something I haven’t done in more years than I care to comment on. But, if it works, we’ll know exactly where she is.” If it worked.

  “All right.” Gav frowned at him and then moved away to stand with the others.

  Letting out a breath, Ax shut his eyes and pictured Lilly. His hope, if he still remembered how the ability worked, was to locate her through the small bond they had. Not one of blood, which would be so much better, but one of love and respect. He knew her, inside and out. He’d been in her head often enough and knew that if he could find the right frequency that was all her, he could trace right to her. Unfortunately he’d be going in blind and would only be able to stay long enough for a location before popping back to the agency.

  “Come on, Lil, where are you, love?” he whispered under his breath. Pushing out all sounds, all scents, he focused on her face. On her smile, her laugh, the way she poked him when she was teasing him. The way she looked when she first woke up and the lazy smile that curled her lips.

  There she was! He traced to her location, opened his eyes, saw her, and grinned. “Be right back,” he mouthed before he looked around. Tipping his head, he nodded and then he was gone again.

  “I found her. She’s out at the fucking kill site by the Veil. It’s an old ramshackle building, probably an old house. In the basement of it, and get there fast. Because I plan on killing anything that gets near her.” Then he was gone from the agency and, in a blink, beside her again.

  “Shh,” he said, touching her cheek. Digging out a blade, he flipped it open and moved behind her to slide it through the heavy-duty tape holding her to the chair. “Slow your breathing, love, you’re going to hyperventilate at this rate.”