He snorted. “So you do have some backbone, after all. Good, because you’re going to need some of that inner strength if you’re going to survive what I’m about to do to you.”
Turning his back to her, Vance walked to the side of the cave where a slab of rock had been set up to look like an altar of sorts. On top of it were some dried plants. He picked each bundle up one at a time and examined it. Then, as if he’d memorized some kind of recipe, he broke off certain amounts from each, placing them in a wooden bowl. A wave of his hand and water bubbled up from the cave floor by his feet. Another wave had it lifting off the ground to pour into a heavy wooden cup Vance held out. To that, he added the dried plants he’d measured out. The cup still held in his hand, the liquid inside it boiled, sending steam into the air. He put it on the rock slab, held his hand over it and whispered so low Neve couldn’t understand what he said.
Seeming to have forgotten her, he closed his eyes, his brow furrowed as he appeared to concentrate. Neve tested the rope around her wrist. There was no give to it at all. She resisted the urge to keep struggling with it. She didn’t need to draw Vance’s attention. Giving in to her fear would not help her in the least. She had to keep her head.
Searching the cave for anything that would help free her from her bonds, Neve came up empty. And with the entrance to the cave sealed off, there was no chance of her trying to make a run for it. Not that she’d be able to scale down the ledge the cave was situated on with her hands tied behind her back, anyway.
Neve’s gaze turned back to Vance as he strained the heated liquid into another wooden cup. She swallowed back a whimper when he turned her way with the cup in hand. She didn’t like the sadistic smile that tugged at his lips as he walked to where she sat.
“Now this is where you have to be the good little human and drink all of this,” he said.
She tried to shift out of the way, but Vance moved too fast. He grasped her by the back of her hair and forced her head to remain still. The rim of the cup came to rest on her bottom lip. Neve shook her head in denial, keeping her jaws tightly clamped together.
“You will drink this,” Vance snarled.
Willing to risk the pain it would cause, she tried to jerk out of his hold. The pull on her scalp caused her eyes to water.
Vance’s face reddened with anger. “I guess you need to learn exactly what I meant when I said you’d wish you did as I told you in the first place.”
He released her hair and slapped her across the face hard enough her head jerked back and to the side. It slammed into the rock wall behind her. Neve tasted blood in her mouth, but didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry out in pain. She only turned her face back in his direction and met his furious gaze.
“So you want to play it that way,” he said. “Then fine. We can do that.”
He was on her again, this time taking hold of her chin. He cruelly dug his fingers into the corners of her mouth, forcing her to open. Vance tipped her head back and poured the contents of the cup down her throat. Neve had to swallow or risk choking on it. Even then, she coughed as the liquid went down.
Once it was all gone, Vance released her and stood as he watched her gasp for breath. “Now the real fun starts. After my potion has done its job, you’ll be the walking, breathing tool of Jalen’s destruction. The last kiss you give your mate will be the one to end his stolen immortality. But don’t worry. Once he’s gone you’ll soon follow.”
Neve felt a burning in her stomach. It seemed to radiate out from there as if fiery flames coursed through her veins and all of her internal organs. Gasping against the pain, it soon became too much. Feeling as if she’d been set alight, she screamed in agony. All the while, Vance’s peals of laughter joined her tortured cries.
Chapter Eight
It hadn’t taken the others too long to meet at Jalen’s place after he put through a frantic call to each member of the band. They now all stood in his foyer, discussing the best way to search for Neve. Jalen kept trying to pinpoint her energy mark, but still, it was as if it didn’t exist. Each time he failed, it only seemed to increase the anxiety he felt. With each minute that ticked by, there was no telling what Vance could have done to Neve by now. The not knowing drove him crazy.
“I think we need to split up,” Trae said. “We’ll be able to search a bigger area that way.”
“And make sure we all bring our cell phones, so we can get in contact with each other if one of us is able to find Vance,” Malik added.
“But where exactly should we look?” Keiran asked.
Jalen blew out a frustrated breath. “He couldn’t have gone too far carrying Neve. With her extra weight, he would’ve tired quicker. He has to be holed up somewhere close.”
As Keiran and Malik threw out some suggestions as to where Vance could have ended up, Gannon loudly cleared his throat. “I think I have an idea where he could have gone,” he said. “The Mojave Desert. After all, it was home to us for the first part of our lives. Plus, it has numerous places where he could hide, close to San Bernardino.”
“Yeah,” Malik said, “but that still is a large area to cover. Then there are the mountain ranges. Who knows how many caves there could be.”
The more Jalen thought about it, the more the desert being the place made sense. He found himself drawn back to the Mojave for what it had once represented, as did his friends from time to time. Who was to say Vance didn’t have some deep-seated need to return to the area of his birth, as they did? Then there was the fact that in the middle of the desert, Vance was less likely to be discovered by humans.
“I think Gannon is right,” Jalen said. “And I think that’s where Vance as taken Neve. It seems like the logical place. It isn’t too far from here and it’s desolate enough for him to stay under any human’s radar.”
“Then I guess we have our search area,” Trae said. “We’ll each take a section.”
Jalen patted his front jeans pocket to make sure his cell phone was still there. “If we all have our phones, then let’s get a move on. I can’t stop thinking about what Vance could be doing to Neve.”
After the others gave the okay that they had their cells with them, they took off their shirts, their wings manifesting on their backs.
Arwen, who had kept silent up until now, gave her mate a kiss before she turned to Jalen. “I wish I’d gotten wings as well, or I would be flying along with the rest of you, to help find Neve.”
“I know,” he said. “But it’s best you stay as far away from Vance as you can.”
They walked to the back of the house and out the French doors to the backyard. One by one they took off in flight. Flying in a close group, they headed for the desert. It didn’t take them long to reach it.
Peeling off to take a different section to search, Jalen flew away by himself, the same as the others did. He hoped like hell he was the one to find Vance. It would give him great satisfaction to smash his fist repeatedly into the other Alte’s face until it was nothing more than a bloody pulp, for daring to take what belonged to Jalen. Neve was his, was his mate. He loved her. It didn’t feel right not to have her at his side. For so long he’d been alone, and now, he didn’t want that kind of life anymore. Neve filled the loneliness he really hadn’t known he’d had until he’d met her. And it took Vance abducting her for it all to really hit home just how much—and in such a short period of time—she’d come to mean to him. He’d get her back. He had to.
Flapping his wings harder, Jalen rose a little higher as he carefully searched the ground below. Not that he expected to find Vance in this area. It was too open and flat to serve as a hiding place. As he continued, every few seconds, he tried to focus on Neve’s energy mark. He came to a standstill mid-flap and pulled himself upright to hover in the air at his full height when he found a small glimmer of what he’d tried to find. He couldn’t focus on it strong enough to pinpoint her exact location, but it was more than he needed to know the general area she’d be.
Jalen fla
ttened out and flew toward the mountain range far off in the distance. Gannon was right. Vance was where he’d thought he’d be. Not calling the others to let them know he had a possible lead just yet, Jalen decided to wait until he had a confirmed location first.
* * *
Neve came to her senses a bit when she felt the cool metal of a blade being put between her wrists and the rope cut from them. She didn’t move after she was free of her bonds. The burning pain had diminished somewhat, but it still had her curled up into a ball. Her throat was raw from the screams of pain she hadn’t been able to hold back. She felt as if her entire insides had been seared with a hot poker. It hurt to draw breath into her lungs. Even her skin ached. Where her meager amount of clothes touched, it felt as if she were being flayed alive.
She cracked open her eyes to find Vance squatted in front of her, gazing at her closely. He nodded. “You’re definitely ready. It’s time to leave you for Jalen to find.”
“I won’t do it,” she croaked. “I won’t let him kiss me.”
Vance chuckled with no humor in the sound. “Oh but you will. You see, the pain won’t go away until you do. How long do you think you can last before you’ll do anything to make it stop? Right now, it has eased some. But when you’re with Jalen, it will increase again the longer you keep him away.”
“I still won’t.”
“You think that now, but I doubt you’ll be able to stay strong enough to do it. Plus, you’re forgetting about Jalen. Once you start screaming in pain again, he’ll do anything he can to comfort you. And while you’re too weak to push him away, he’ll kiss you somewhere, even if it’s on your forehead. That’s all it’ll take—his lips connecting with your skin. Now on your feet. It’s time to leave my little present for Jalen.”
Slowly, Neve uncurled her body, panting at the pain that slight movement had caused. But she mustn’t have moved fast enough for Vance’s liking. He went to grab her by the arm. Not wanting him to touch her, to cause her even greater pain, she flinched out of the way. One of his fingers still managed to graze her skin, though. She whimpered, but it was Vance’s shout of surprise that overshadowed it.
He held the finger he must have touched her with out in front of him. Neve was able to see lines of black appearing in his skin, slowly making their way farther toward his hand. Vance hurriedly uttered some words under his breath and the lines retreated until they completely disappeared.
Noticing her watching him, he smiled, then broke out in a pleased sounding laugh. “Well, it seems my spell has worked even better than I expected. It’s going to take much less than a kiss to seal Jalen’s doom.” Vance laughed again. “Thank goodness I created a counterspell, or I would have gotten a taste of what is in store for your mate.” He nudged her in the ribs with his foot. “Up. Now. Since you’re a little more effective than I thought, I really don’t think it would be wise for me to be around you.”
Knowing full well if she didn’t do what he said the nudge could lead to a kick, Neve painfully brought her arms around to her front, so she could use them to push herself into a sitting position. Once she did, she looked at her hands in horror. The same black lines that had appeared on Vance’s skin crawled up the length of them, all the way up her arms. She didn’t have to look to guess she’d find them on her legs and the rest of her body as well. It would explain why her skin felt so raw.
“Move it,” Vance snapped. “Outside.”
The rock blocking the entrance to the cave dropped, disappearing below the surface of the ground. After Neve had painfully gained her feet, what felt like a hard gust of wind hit her in the back, pushing her toward the opening. Another one hit her, forcing her the rest of the way out and onto the ledge. She stumbled and fell. She looked up to find Vance standing over her.
“Time for me to leave,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll be alone for too long. I’d stay to watch Jalen’s demise, but I’m sure he won’t come by himself. Five against one isn’t exactly good odds in my favor.”
Vance snapped open his wings and launched himself off the ledge. He then disappeared from sight. Neve looked out into the darkness, but couldn’t see him anywhere. He’d somehow hidden himself again.
No longer sheltered inside the cave, she shivered in the cold desert air. Her bra didn’t exactly offer much in the way of protection from it. Her teeth chattered, causing jarring pain inside her head. Thinking to get into the protection of the rock chamber, she shifted until she faced the entrance. Much to her dismay, the opening was no longer there. Vance must have sealed it shut. Feeling weak from the pain that still coursed through her body, Neve dragged herself over to the rock wall, hoping it still held some of the warmth from the day.
It had a little, but pressing against it only caused her more pain. She looked up at the night sky. The stars were so much brighter out in the desert than in the city. The moon was almost full, giving some light to see by.
Neve had no idea if Jalen would be able to find her here, but a small part of her didn’t want him to. Not when it meant his death. She’d rather suffer than do anything to cause him harm. Just thinking about how badly this could end brought tears to her eyes. Never to see his smiling face again, or to wake up in his arms after they’d made love, made her heart ache. With death hovering on the horizon for possibly both of them, it had Neve realizing how much she needed him in her life. She’d fallen for him—hard. It wasn’t just a crush because he was a famous, hot rock star, as she’d feared it would turn out to be. She loved him for him. And even though he happened to have real wings, it didn’t take away anything from how she felt about him. Going through a crisis seemed to crystallize all her feelings much faster than they would have on their own.
And since she loved him, Neve knew she had to do something to make sure nothing happened to Jalen. She looked over where the ledge dropped off. She was pretty sure she was high enough to do a lot of damage. To safeguard Jalen, all she had to do was go to the edge and walk off it. She obviously had to be alive for whatever Vance had done to her to work, since once Jalen was dead, she’d soon follow.
Neve wiped away the tears that coursed down her cheeks. She grimaced when she pulled her hand away to see the wetness had a black tinge to it. Ignoring the pain it caused, she pushed to her feet and slowly walked to the edge. She peered over it. The distance to the ground below looked to be a very long way down.
She breathed faster as she slowly inched closer and closer to the lip of the ledge. Tears flowed once more. She could do this. She had to do this. It would save Jalen. And if the others happened to be with him, it would more than likely save them as well. Neve didn’t think for one moment Jalen was the only one who would be susceptible to whatever Vance had done. He’d touched her and something had happened to him from it as well.
Neve inched a little closer. The tip of one of her feet hung just over the edge. One big step—that was all it would take. She brought her other foot even with the first. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths—even though it hurt like hell—to screw up enough courage to take that first big step into thin air. Her instinct to survive screamed at her not to do it.
She snapped open her eyes when the sound of her name being bellowed reached her. Neve looked around, at first not seeing anything. She then sucked in a breath as Jalen came close enough for her to distinguish him from the rest of the dark night around him. He flew in so fast she barely had enough time to throw herself away from the edge and him.
“No,” she screamed as he came to land in front of her with his arms outstretched. “No! Don’t touch me!”
“Neve?”
“Vance did something to me. You can’t touch me or you’ll die.”
Jalen’s bright, silver-eyed gaze focused on her. His face went hard, a string of curses leaving him as he balled his fists at his sides. His wings twitched on his back.
“What did he do to you?” he asked.
“He forced me to drink some kind of potion he made. All I know is, it will be dea
dly to you if you touch me.”
Neve sucked in a sharp breath as a wave of pain shot through her. She groaned before she could stop herself. Vance had warned her it would increase once she was with Jalen again.
“Neve? What is it?” He took another step closer.
“Don’t,” she yelled.
“You’re in pain.”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing you can do, anyway.”
Jalen pulled his cell phone out of his jeans pocket. “There has to be something. I have to call the others and tell them I’ve found you. They’re searching for you as well.”
As he talked on the phone, Neve slowly inched her way back over to the lip of the ledge. It was the only answer. She was almost there. Just a little bit farther and it would be all over. Jalen would be safe.
Not daring to look at him in case the sight of him caused her to chicken out, Neve focused on her destination. A little bit more. There. She was just about to walk off into oblivion when Jalen soared in to intercept her, his wings flapping to keep him hovering in front of her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Neve?” he asked sharply.
Tears blurred her vision. “It’s the only way. You can’t undo what Vance did to me. The pain I feel is only going to get worse the longer I keep you away. He said it would only end after you touched me. Then you’ll die. I won’t let that happen, because I…” She groaned as another wave of pain slammed into her.
“Because why?” Jalen asked. His gaze latched onto hers.
“Because I love you too much to be the cause of your death. I would rather it was me.”
He flew a little closer. “And I would rather die than let you make such a sacrifice. I love you too, Neve. The others are coming. I think there might be a way to save you, but I have to talk it over with Gannon and Trae first.” He gaze softened. “Don’t give up just yet. Please.”
Fiery Temptation Page 8
