by Bonnie Vanak
“Ah, visitors. You’re late. We expected you a day ago.”
“Keira,” Dale snapped, training his weapon on the Centurion, recognizing that sniveling voice from the basement.
“Yes, the famous Lieutenant Commander Curtis. Pleasure to meet you again.” The demon belched and scratched its groin. “Thank you for removing the slave bracelet so we could send out minions to find her. Tremendous favor you did us. Much better to torture her. All these years we held her captive, she never offered herself in place of another. Selfish little bitch. We searched far and wide for a brave warrior to torture, but the bravest of all was within our grasp. A woman. They always sacrifice themselves. Because of Keira, we are now flesh.”
Fury coiled in his guts. Dale held on to his control by a thread. “Where are the others? There are six of you.”
“Out, having a night of it. They left me here to guard the girl. What’s left of her.”
Control snapped. He lowered his weapon. “You fucking son of a bitch...”
Springing forward, he snapped the demon’s neck. Surprise flared on its face, then it dropped down, head clattering onto a greasy plate filled with bones. Shay stepped forward and chanted a vanquishing spell.
The demon’s body vanished, going straight back to the netherworld.
“Fan out. Comb every inch of this damn place,” he ordered.
He had barely taken a step toward the door when he heard a low, strangled whisper. Dakota, in human form, at the door. His eyes wide and expression stricken. “Curt...”
Dale kicked open the door and rushed into the warehouse.
A figure hung, arms outstretched and tied to an overhead beam, the legs spread wide and attached to two supporting poles. Blood slicked the concrete floor below.
She was naked, coated in crimson. Blood, dear gods, so much blood. On the floor near her bare feet was a long whip studded with small silver spikes.
Gorge rose in his throat. Stricken, he stood, immobilized, staring at his former lover.
Unconscious. Thankfully.
Dragging a table over to the column, Dale climbed onto it. He reached for his KA-BAR knife and sawed through her bonds. When one wrist was freed, he tossed the knife to Shay, watching with huge, horrified eyes.
“Cut her down. I’ll catch her.”
The SEAL did, and Keira slumped in his arms. Warm blood oozed onto his BDUs. Dale’s stomach clenched as he buried his nose into her tangled, mussed hair.
Please live.
* * *
Low, mocking laughter, burning agony lacing her flesh. The torment stopped, then continued. Moaning, she tried clawing at the air, but her wrists were bound. The demon holding the whip snickered, its round face sneering.
And then the face changed. Clean, defined cheekbones, a wide mouth and intense steel-gray eyes.
Dale laughed as he drew his wrist back to flick the whip once more....
Crying out, she bolted upright.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe,” a deep voice crooned.
Squeezing her eyes shut, afraid to open them to find the empty warehouse and the stench of her own blood, she flexed her back muscles.
Skin stretched and pulled, but the searing pain had fled.
Afraid she dreamed, or had died, Keira opened her eyes.
Bedroom, plain white walls, a blue-striped window seat beneath a tall window, shelves lined with books, heavy masculine furniture.
The powerful scent of male and power...
Her gaze swung right. Perched on the bed’s edge, Dale quietly regarded her.
“How do you feel?”
Closing her eyes, she fell back against the pillows.
This was a nightmare. Dale had returned to torment her.
A warm palm settled over her forehead. Always so warm, chasing away the iciness inside her.
“No fever. My physician personally took care of you in the hospital. Dakota called in a favor of his people and brought in Maggie, an empath healer. You were very badly hurt, but everything’s all right now, Keira.”
Keira remained silent.
Worry shaded his gray eyes. “It took all her energy to heal you. Unfortunately, the scars will remain. But your body is healed.”
Healed? Physical injuries would lessen, though the cruel scars would remain. But her heart had shattered and she wasn’t certain if she could ever mend it.
“Water.” Her voice cracked. Dry, her throat felt like sand.
Dale rose and lifted a glass of water to her lips. Hands wrapping around his, ignoring the sudden surge of heat flaring between them, she drank deeply, then licked her cracked lips.
Her throat felt sore. When she spoke, her voice came out as a thin whisper.
“Why can’t I talk?”
“Temporary laryngitis.” His expression darkened as he set the glass down. “From screaming. Dr. Mitchell says with a few days rest, you’ll be back to normal.”
“How long have I been out?”
“We rescued you from the warehouse seven days ago.”
A full week for the demons to roam through Virginia Beach or even leave the country.
“Too damn close. We cut it too damn close, and almost lost you.” His voice broke. “When I saw you there, in the warehouse...”
He cursed and looked away, squeezing her hand. She didn’t respond.
Cold, her hands were so icy. It felt as if she’d never be warm again. Dale slid his strong, warm palm over hers. “You’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you. Go back to sleep. You need your rest. Do you need anything? Anything at all?”
She nodded. “Leave me alone. Now.”
Turning over, she presented her back to him and closed her eyes, the agony in her heart far greater than the pull and stretch of healing tissue.
* * *
Dale returned at noon with broth and coaxed her to eat. Too weak to take the spoon in hand, she allowed him to feed her, only because she needed to recover her strength.
He remained at her side after, as she fell back asleep.
And he returned at dinner. He told her of his team’s efforts to track the Centurions, using every method.
“They got to Thad, one of my men, first. Jimali started beating him, but he took the whip and killed her and managed to escape. Unfortunately, Jimali tortured Thad enough to cause one Centurion to become corporeal.”
Dale’s nearness made her ache. Once they shared intimate times in bed. Now he had become a stranger, a stranger who’d kicked her out of his house and protection.
He removed the tray from the bedside and sat down, stroking her hair. “Keira, why did you do it? One of the Centurions told me you sacrificed yourself.”
She shrugged and plucked at the bedcovers.
“You did it for me. Why? After I kicked you out...” His face tightened. “After the way I treated you.”
“Doesn’t matter now. It’s in the past, and I’m not about to make any more mistakes.” She looked at him, the hurt and anger grinding through her like a freshly opened wound. “Especially with you. I’m here until I can walk out on my own, and then I’m gone. Whatever we had between us is over.”
“Keira.” He sighed. “Damn it, I want to tell you I’m sorry, but it seems so...”
“Lame?”
“Inadequate.”
“Fine.” The knot in her stomach grew. “Then let’s focus on the business at hand. The demons.”
He became stiff and formal, dropping his hand, the commander assuming control, the man who’d loved her in the dark of night vanished.
“They’re out there, roaming the streets, free. We need your help to stop them. You’re the only living person with access to their secrets. If those damn things grab innocent sailors...”
She cleared her throat, feeling a little stronger.
“They won’t. Ordinary humans lack sufficient strength. Now that they’ve tormented you, they will only pursue paranormal victims with powerful magick.”
“Help us find the
m.”
Bitterness washed through her. “I’ll help you find them, because it’s the only way I’ll free myself. But once the demons are caught and vanquished, I’m gone.”
For a moment, a shadow crossed his expression.
“Stephen narrowed the search area for the bolt-hole. The dark pulses of energy radiate close to the Honduran-Nicaraguan border.”
“That’s where I lived with my pack...when the Centurions attacked and tried to enslave all of us.”
“We will get them. Disperdere malum hoc.”
“‘Destroy this evil,’” she murmured.
Dale cocked his head. “You know Latin?”
“Spent many years locked in a cell with the Centurions speaking Latin when they didn’t speak English or Spanish. It helped pass the time.”
He stood, a determined look on his face. “I can’t make up for those years, Keira. But I’m doing everything in my power to ensure it doesn’t happen again. My team is focusing all effort on this. In the meanwhile, Sully’s sister is here. Cassandra wants to perform a white-light ritual for you. It will help restore your energy balance.” He looked intently at her. “Will you allow her to do this?”
Keira hesitated and then nodded.
* * *
Orders for deployment came for ST 21, seven months on a mission in the Middle East. Curt sent an entire platoon and the Alpha Squad. They were more than ready.
He needed the Phoenix Force on base to combat the greater threat. In the basement, his team had set up shop, hauling in equipment and taking turns sleeping in shifts.
They desperately needed Keira’s help to find the demons. She trusted Sully’s sister.
If only she trusted him.
Sitting at the kitchen table the next morning, Cassandra stirred a spoon in her teacup. With her long corn-silk blond hair, large blue eyes and slender figure, Sully’s sister was a true beauty. But he only had eyes for Keira.
“The ritual went well. Her inner light was diminished, but it’s stronger now.”
Dale squeezed and flexed his fingers.
The witch gave him a knowing look. “You’re wondering if you can ever make amends.”
His jaw turned to rock. “I want to.... There is too much between us now.”
“The distance is your pride.”
“She betrayed me, in my own house.”
“Only your pride was hurt. You threw her out of your house, out of your protection, because of your pride. Nothing more.”
He thought of the laughing, vivacious Keira who had brought new life into his house, reenergized him. Was that woman gone forever?
“She won’t respond to me.” Dale buried his head into his hands.
Cassandra touched his arm.
“Never have I encountered such pain and sorrow. Keira has suffered a tremendous trauma. Her body has healed, but her spirit is damaged. Badly.” Cassandra shook her head. “Such a sweet, brave soul. Her white light was but a flicker, surrounded by darkness. She has survived much evil by clinging to the light inside her.”
Dale lifted his head, suddenly filled with fierce resolve. “I don’t give a damn if I have to lie, steal, cheat or damn my soul, I’ll see her recover.”
Keira had embraced life with arms open wide. She was the strongest survivor he knew. Dale slammed a fist on the table, making the empty vase rattle.
Roses, he’d always bought her fresh roses.
Sudden insight struck. She’d appreciated the flowers, but he’d never asked her what her favorites were. Never asked. Simply bought what he thought would please her.
“You are beginning to understand the depths of such a heart.” No condemnation in Cassandra’s voice, only gentleness.
“She was the vision you saw for me in your crystal.”
“Yes. Your redemption. You can be hers, if you will allow it.”
“How?” He dealt with weapons and enemies, and bad guys and military bureaucracy. Not anything as elusive and esoteric as inner light and soul healing.
“Open yourself to possibilities, to believing it can happen. Open your heart to her and release your inner light.” Cassandra gave her gentle smile. “You are a courageous and noble warrior leader, but you’ve been deeply wounded, Dale. You must find it within yourself to release the bitterness, anger and pain, and forgive. Only by letting go do we gain.”
Despite his massive powers, at heart, he was too grounded and pragmatic for this. He believed in the physical, not the metaphysical.
For Keira, he would do anything, and set aside his belief systems. He wanted her back, wanted to see the spark ignite her now dull eyes. Hear her laughter, sharp and clear as a silver bell.
A shuffling noise sounded in the hallway. Keira trudged into the kitchen in a warm fleece robe Cassandra had bought for her.
The coffeepot was bubbling in the kitchen. She poured herself a cup and stood at the counter, sipping. Dale quietly watched her.
His heart ached. If only she’d open up, and reach out to him. But she was listless and lifeless, an automaton.
The man in him wanted to hold her close, whisper apologies and soothe her heart.
The navy commander had demons to find and a populace to keep safe.
Dale took a deep breath. Could he ever reconcile the two? He hadn’t done it in his first marriage. The navy came before all else, even his own family.
It’s why Kathy left you. But Keira meant much more to him, had burrowed deep into his heart.
I’m not going to lose her, as well. Not again.
When three of his men came upstairs from the basement, Keira stiffened. She moved away from the counter, went into a corner, like a hurt animal, trying to avoid them.
Shay glanced at Keira. “Sorry to interrupt, Curt. Ran out of coffee.”
He opened a door and withdrew an unopened package of hazelnut coffee. Shay stood awkwardly at the counter. Dakota and Dallas shuffled their feet.
He cleared his throat. “Glad to see you upright and vertical, Miss Solomon.”
Keira ignored him and stared out the sliding glass doors at the pool.
“Report,” Dale said.
“We’ve narrowed the range to Virginia Beach. Bastards haven’t left the area.”
Keira set down her mug. “Sooner or later, they’ll find me.”
She opened the sliders and stepped onto the deck. Alarm pulsed through him. Dale followed, leaving the door open.
Stunned, he watched her shrug off the robe. Beneath it she wore a one-piece red swimsuit. He saw a flash of horrific scar tissue bisecting her back, and then she jumped in the pool. Swimming with strong, sure strokes, she kicked up a small froth.
Dale squatted by the pool’s edge. “Get out before you collapse.”
“Go to hell. If I don’t get stronger, they’ll turn me into mincemeat again. This time, I’m fighting with all I’ve got.”
“We’ll protect you.” He scowled. “I’ll protect you. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She stopped, and treaded water, fury tightening her face. “Oh? Like you did when you booted me out? Nice protection, Commander. No, thanks, I’ll take care of myself.”
“Get out of the pool now. We need to talk.”
“Screw you. You’re not my employer any longer.”
Frustration and anger coiled inside him. Dale stood and called on his powers.
Stretching out his arms, he concentrated and pulled her from the water. Shrieks of rage followed as Keira floated in the air to his side. Very gently, he set her on her feet.
“You bastard! You think you can control me? When it suits you, snap your fingers and I’ll come running? How dare you manipulate your powers against me! Use all the power you’ve got but you’ll never break me.”
Something inside him snapped. He got in her face. “I never wanted you broken, damn it. And if you’d stop being so damn stubborn and proud, you’d see I’m trying to help you, not hurt you.”
“Change of heart, because you already hurt me enough wh
en you tossed me out without even allowing me to explain?”
“I overreacted,” he admitted, gritting his teeth. “All I could think of was how you nearly killed me and made me vulnerable. And I endangered my team by letting you into my life.”
“Because your team is more important than anything else. Even me. You never gave me a chance. Your job comes first, your almighty team.”
He didn’t like the truth slapping him in the face. Keira’s shoulders slumped, her energy expelled, her face pale.
Trembling, she wrapped her arms around her waist. Dale took a shuddering breath and clasped her elbow, leading her to a chair. She collapsed in it, looking as miserable as he felt.
All the anger left, like air escaping a balloon replaced by a growing sense of urgency. Dale put a hand on the armrest.
“Keira. We have to work together on this. I’m sorry...so damn sorry. I can’t undo what I did. All I can do is press on and fight these bastards who did this to you with all I’ve got. Everything my men have. We’re a team. I want you to come to the base this afternoon with me and brief my men.”
Despair clouded her expression. She shook her head. “All right. I will. But you’re part of a team. Not me. I’m all alone.”
She pushed up from the chair and shrugged into the robe. “And I’m better off that way. You can never convince me to join a team, Dale. Because all teamwork’s done in the past is chewed me up and spit me out.”
* * *
That afternoon, she and Dale’s SEALs gathered in the team’s ready room, the men seated at long tables before her. Dale stood off to the side against a wall, arms folded.
Keira stood at the head of the table after Dale introduced her to all the SEALs. These men had formed an alliance against her when Dale threw her out. Mistrust flared. She’d work with them for a common goal. And once that goal was achieved, she’d be gone.
“Centurions were Roman soldiers,” Keira told them. “Executed and condemned by a powerful Mage who fought with them, and then vanquished them to the netherworld for their cowardice. He cursed them to never walk the earth in flesh unless they finally acquired the courage they lacked in battle.”
“We need to know everything you know. Even the smallest bit of information can help destroy them,” Dale said.
