Love Uncharted

by Berinn Rae

  Vander knelt next to her and brushed aside her bangs, his fingers lingering on her forehead. She expected his touch to be cold and clammy, like evil should have its own distinct feel so people would know to watch out for it. But instead his fingers were warm. Gentle.

  “I want you, Cali,” he said genuinely. “You’re my soul mate, after all.”

  All the air left Cali’s lungs.

  He’s lying! He’s a goddamned fucking psycho! Don’t you dare believe him, Cali.

  She blinked, too stunned to do much else.

  The needle was ripped from her arm. Someone put pressure on the puncture.

  Vander smiled. “There’s a good girl.”

  Those four little words were like a slap in the face. Cali shot up, and a few people yelped in surprise followed by cries for her to be restrained. She barely got to take in her surroundings. She was in some kind of large bedroom. Wood was everywhere. The bed where she lay was a canopy bed with lace drapes hung around the four posts.

  Where the fuck was she?

  A smooth, warm hand wrapped around her wrist like a vise.

  Vander.

  “I was really hoping you’d learn to cooperate,” he said as if talking to a child.

  The nasty retort she had ready died on her lips as a sudden, unexpected pain ripped through her body like a blade.

  Her knees buckled. One of the flunkies closest to her caught her before she hit the floor.

  Vander’s hand didn’t release her.

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to wrench her arm free from his grip. There was another fierce stab of pain. She cried out. Her whole body shook as her strength left her. Bile rose in her throat as another lance of bone-deep pain exploded. She felt like she was dying, slowly, her life seeping from her body.

  “Stop.” The plea was a low croak, and distantly she realized it had come from her.

  “You see?” Vander was talking to the room at large. “All that is needed is one swift example.”

  His fingers tightened and Cali screamed as her world went black.

  • • •

  “What the fuck is taking so long?” Felix ran his hand through his hair for what was probably the fiftieth time. It’d been two days since Cali was taken. Two fucking days!

  The other members of the guild eyed him warily.

  Joel looked up from his laptop where he’d been spending all his time trying to hack into Kratos’ main database. He was looking for any and all signs of Cali, but so far the firewalls and encryptions had deterred their progress.

  Joel got up from his seat and placed a comforting hand on Felix’s shoulder. He shrugged it off.

  “Look,” Joel said in a lowered voice. “You have to keep it together. You’re scaring the girls. We’ll find Cali, okay? The information we’re searching for might be buried in the database I’m cracking. I’ll keep looking, and at the same time I’ll search for anything that can help bring down Vander. So far I’ve only found accounting and marketing documents. There’s no record of anything illegal, but it’s only a matter of time before I find it. You just have to keep it together.”

  Felix knew Joel was speaking logic, but his brain and heart just wouldn’t listen. Somewhere out there Cali was alone, at the mercy of Vander. His hands fisted. “Have you found anything on where Vander Donahughe lives?”

  The location of the CEO’s home was proving to be as elusive as finding anything illegal in the Kratos database or anything on Cali.

  They were getting nowhere.

  Joel looked crestfallen. “There’s no address under that name. Everything including his electric bill is sent to the corporate building.”

  Felix’s anger spiked a few more notches. “They don’t even have a rough guess as to where he lives? Nothing?”

  Joel held his ground. “Listen, Felix, I can imagine what you’re feeling right now. If anything happened to Sydney — ”

  Felix’s temper snapped. “You don’t know what I’m going through. Sydney isn’t your Mirror Mate, and one day you’re going to have to accept that she’ll belong to another.”

  Sydney stared as if she didn’t know him. “Felix — ”

  It didn’t matter what she would have said. Joel’s fist connected soundly with the side of Felix’s face. The pain felt good. It helped him focus on something else. It eased the hurt inside of him.

  He threw a right hook and caught Joel in the jaw.

  Everything else faded into the background as they got into it. The closed space they occupied didn’t allow enough room for them to really move around.

  Felix dimly heard Sydney crying out for them to stop. She tugged insistently on Joel’s arm. He could tell Joel wanted to shrug her off, but he let her pull him over to the couch. He watched Felix with angry eyes.

  They were both breathing heavily, the tension in the air nearly suffocating.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Sydney yelled at him, though her eyes were red-rimmed.

  He didn’t know what was wrong with him. His whole body felt on edge. His nerves were frayed, his temper always at the breaking point. He wasn’t normally so temperamental but he found himself unable to calm down. Not even baking calmed him like it once did.

  He scooped his keys off the counter. “I need to clear my head.”

  Niella rolled out in front of him, nearly cutting off his toes. “Hold on there, Del Valle. I don’t think it’d be wise to let you go off when you’re this riled up.” She held her hand out for his keys.

  Again he found his temper spiking. What the hell was wrong with him? He never got upset at Ell. If anything she should have been the one upset with him. Especially after he’d demanded that she Dream about Cali’s whereabouts the other day. He’d clearly been in the wrong, but she’d brushed him off and acted as if his slip into madness had never happened.

  His anger shouldn’t be controlling him like this. His keys bit into the palm of his hand. The back of his neck began to prickle.

  His animosity gave way to a sudden jolt of terror.

  He tightened his hold on his keys even more, unwilling to move any part of his body even an inch for fear of his powers Erasing something.

  He hadn’t lost control like this in years.

  He stared into Niella’s hazel eyes. They were hard as granite but turned puzzled when she noticed his shallow breathing.

  Joel and Sydney were talking in hushed voices behind them.

  “What’s wrong?” Niella whispered.

  Felix swallowed. “I’m not safe to be around,” he said through tight lips.

  Niella regarded him for a few moments. “Then go take a lap around the block to cool down,” she ordered and wiggled her open palm. “Leave the keys.”

  “I need you to take them from my hand.”

  Niella finally seemed to understand the severity of the situation. She carefully reached into his hand and pried his fingers apart.

  Careful not to move his hands, Felix made his way out the door to clear his head. The fresh air and warm sun helped ease the tension in his neck. The tingling faded as he gained a little more control over his emotions. His face, on the other hand, was starting to pound and throb as the hits from Joel started to swell.

  Good. He deserved it.

  He felt like such an ass for what he’d said. It wasn’t Joel’s fault he hadn’t gained complete access to the Kratos database yet. He’d only been trying to help. The only person he was entitled to be pissed at was himself or Vander. A part of his anger stemmed from the unknown of what Vander was doing with Cali.

  They hadn’t figured out why he wanted her. Would he brainwash her into working for them? Like he had Collette all those years ago?

  Collette …

  Felix stood a little taller as the wheels in his mind started to work. She’d have to know where Vander lived. She’d know where Cali was being kept. All he had to do was find her.

  He jogged the rest of the way back home.

  While he no longer knew Collette’s ho
me address, he knew the next best thing.

  • • •

  Cali was in hell. The hours — or was it days? — passed in a hazy blur. She had no concept of time. She remembered the first time she woke up after Vander had done whatever the hell he’d done to her. She’d been too weak to even feed herself. She’d had to swallow the humiliation of being fed by Vander. Naturally, he’d practically jumped at any opportunity to help her. Of course that help fell short when it came to letting her go.

  She’d tried escaping on her own. Twice. The repercussions were to be drained by Vander until she nearly threw up or blacked out.

  When she factored in all those instances, she guesstimated her capture time to roughly four days, if not five.

  She was unfortunately well acquainted with her new living quarters. The bedroom was filled with wood and historical artifacts. Old tapestries made of dark fabric hung on the walls. They depicted black, swirling demons, raining chaos and ruin among the living while they seemed to suck the very souls from the fleeing bodies.

  African masks caught in screams of agony rested on the right, each one crying out in desperation, forever searching for someone to help them. And straight ahead of her stood terracotta statues of gargoyles and mutated half demons, sneering like angry sentinels.

  Cali had wanted to scream bloody murder the first time she awoke to her surroundings, but she resisted.

  By eavesdropping with her powers she found she was being held at Vander’s home. When she’d first found out she was being kept at a home address, hope had flared white-hot in her chest. But it had been days since then and Felix still hadn’t found her.

  Had something terrible happened to them?

  She’d gone over the question again and again as she bided her time pretending to recover from her latest draining session. When others thought her to be weak she was left unattended.

  She fell into a light sleep as she debated what to do for her next attempted escape. She was jostled from her nap by the door opening. She didn’t know if her fortune had gotten better or worse as Collette strode in like she owned the place.

  Rage flooded her whole body.

  At least it’s not Vander.

  She stayed as still as possible as Collette drew closer. She looked down on Cali with pity. Genuine pity.

  Cali didn’t want her sympathy. “What?” she growled.

  Collette jumped as Cali opened her eyes completely. Any trace of sympathy was wiped clean as Collette smiled down at her. “Comfortable?” she asked sweetly.

  “What are you doing here?” She wanted to sit up, but was afraid if she showed any sign of improved strength she’d be drained again.

  Collette slammed a hand on either side of Cali’s head, shaking the entire bed. She leaned so close to Cali that Cali could smell salad dressing on her breath. “I want to know what you’re playing at,” Collette seethed.

  “It’d help if you could be a little more specific with your accusation.” Cali reveled in pissing Collette off even more.

  Collette drew back with a sneer. “There’s no way in hell you’re Vander’s soul mate. I saw the way Felix looked at you. How he protected you.” She sounded disgusted but Cali didn’t care.

  Holy shit.

  Collette knew she was Felix’s Mirror Mate!

  “Did you bond yet? Did your soul call out to his when you slept together?”

  Cali frowned. The bonding was supposed to happen when they had sex?

  No. She shook herself mentally. Collette had to be wrong.

  But she’s the only one who has bonded with her Mirror Mate.

  What did that mean, then?

  Was Felix truly not her … soul mate?

  Her throat closed up and her eyes burned with unshed tears. She held them back. There was no fucking way she was going to cry in front of Collette.

  Collette had been silently watching Cali, taking in every facial expression. “You haven’t bonded yet, have you?” she said thoughtfully. “Could it be you weren’t meant for him after all?” A malicious smile curled her lips.

  Cali forced calm disinterest into her voice. “You’ll never know. But what I do know is that Vander is not mine and never will be. I’m sure if you were the one to tell him, he’d reward you. Otherwise all this — ” She motioned around the room. “ — is nothing but a waste of his time.”

  “Is that right?” Collette hadn’t bought her act one bit. Cali should have known better. Hadn’t Felix told her that Collette had been a theater major? “You want to know what I think?” She was back to leaning in close to Cali’s face again. “I think that, for whatever reason, Vander believes you to be his soul mate. And considering the idea came from my dear unconscious Kevin, there is no reason for me to correct that little misconception. In fact, I rather like the idea of Vander trying his best to get your soul to call out for his. I think I might have a few suggestions to make.”

  Cali’s body went cold at the implication.

  Collette must have sensed her dread because she chuckled and said, “Oh, yes, Cali. I’m going to tell him anything and everything to make your soul cry out, so that by the time he’s done with you, your soul will weep.”

  Cali didn’t think. She lunged for Collette’s throat.

  The Illusionist screamed as Cali’s fingers wrapped tight around her windpipe. Her cry for help cut off as Cali squeezed.

  Footsteps came thundering up the stairs. The door to the bedroom burst open.

  Collette’s eyes were bloodshot and glazed by the time hands wrapped around Cali’s bare arms. Vander hauled her off Collette, and that was only because there was such a vicious pull on her energy that it momentarily had Cali blacking out. She’d barely even felt the pain through her blood rage.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Vander bellowed. He tucked Cali against his side protectively. She could hardly stand on her own two feet — otherwise she would have shoved away from him.

  Collette was too busy rubbing at her neck to speak.

  “Get out of my sight,” Vander ordered her.

  Collette didn’t wait to be asked twice. She shot one more scathing look at Cali before she disappeared, leaving Cali to her fate.

  Collette might have been her only chance to convince Vander she wasn’t who he thought she was, and now she had completely annihilated that possibility.

  Vander led Cali over to the hated canopy bed. He helped ease her down to the mattress despite her trying to push him away. He sat next to her, one of his hands brushing her hair out of her face. She jerked away. Vander never let her tie her hair back, which meant it was a wild mess.

  “What happened?” He trailed his finger down her arm. Cali’s stomach twisted. She was dressed in a white lace tank top Vander had picked out for her, along with black Bermuda shorts. She hated that he dressed her like a doll. She hated that he’d been in the bathroom with her when she’d showered and dressed. She hated him. Period.

  She cleared her throat. “I’m not your soul mate,” she croaked. She needed water and food.

  Vander ran his hand through her hair. She gritted her teeth. “Is that what Collette told you?”

  “Yes,” Cali lied, wanting Collette to hurt by any means possible. “But it’s true. I knew before Collette told me.”

  “You’ve been misled,” Vander soothed. He leaned in closer and Cali’s whole body froze in terror. He cupped her face and pulled it toward his. She resisted for as long as she could, but Vander didn’t take kindly to her reluctance. A small pain slid from her body to his hands as he slowly took her energy until he could pull her face to his and kiss her.

  Her stomach revolted.

  His tongue pushed into her mouth, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight.

  “Surrender to me, Cali,” he breathed against her lips.

  She imagined that was what the devil sounded like before he took someone’s soul back to hell.

  He pushed her back into the mattress, his body atop hers. Terror made her heart beat wildly, but when she pushe
d against his shoulders nothing happened.

  He was so close she could see the darkness lurking in the depths of his eyes. It swirled there, not quite the madness that overtook Collette’s, but a different kind of desperation.

  “Just think, Cali. Once you and I are together, you will never want for anything in your entire life. I’ll take care of you. I’ve had a long time to wait but now I’ve found you.”

  She stared up at his face. A face that, if possible, looked younger than when she’d first met him all those months ago. His words echoed in her brain.

  “How old are you?”

  He couldn’t have looked more pleased that she was engaging a conversation with him. Hell, at this point she’d do anything to keep his lips away from hers. “I was born November 16, 1894, in London.”

  “No fucking way,” Cali blurted.

  Vander rolled off her and propped his head up on one of his hands. He smiled. “Yes fucking way. Would you like to hear about all the wars I’ve fought in? About how I was nicknamed ‘The Plague’ because I’d be sent in to scout out enemy camps, but when my troop arrived there were no more enemies?”

  Vander told her the tales of his past. He told her the story of a young man who grew up to value power over everything else. He was a man that fancied himself friends with Death and despite the horrific stories Vander spoke of, after a while Cali could hardly keep her eyes open. His accent got stronger the longer he talked of his home, and Cali fell asleep to dream of battle trenches and famine.

  She woke to the sensation of fingertips tracing the contours of her face. She smelled hot soup and warm bread.

  “I thought you might be hungry,” Vander said right next to her ear.

  The nap had helped rejuvenate her but she was still famished. Vander helped her sit up, and she allowed him so he wouldn’t be able to guess how much stronger she felt.

  There was a tray next to the bed. It had hot soup, fresh buttered bread, a tall glass of water and milk, a fruit bowl, and some kind of deli wrap cut into bite-sizes.

  It was a feast in Cali’s opinion, and she inhaled every bit she could.

  “Feel better?”

  She carefully wiped her mouth on the napkin he provided for her. She took her time to carefully consider how she was going to answer. She felt better than she had in days. Stronger. But was it strong enough?