by Tenaya Jayne
He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You don’t understand, Tesla. This isn’t what you think. I’m never going to let you go. Settle with that…I never expected you to come to me the way you did. I’ve been tracking you since your wall thwarted my plans. When I learned more about you, I changed my plans. Sure, I still want Regia, but I want you more. Destiny has brought us together. You will be my queen. You will give me children. And you will give me your heart.”
“My heart already belongs to another.”
“If that is so, why did he spurn you?”
“What do mean?” she demanded, rankled as he hit a nerve.
“Forget him. He can’t love you, not like I can.”
“You can say you love me all you want, sicko. I will never love you.”
He smiled. “We’ll see.”
He stood, walked across the room and opened a door. He pulled a tall metal frame through the door and brought it close to the bed. It looked like a rack to hang things on. He picked her up. The cuffs dragged her arms and feet down toward the floor. He placed her on the rack, pegs holding her up under the arms. She grimaced.
“Does that hurt?” he asked.
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Good. The pain will grow in this stress position. I’ll come back for you when you’ve had all you can take.” He turned and made to leave the room. He stopped at the door and looked back at her. “I am everything to you now. Everything you will experience will come from me. Pain and pleasure. I will anger you, and I will make you happy. You will be cold, and you will starve. I will warm you and feed you. I want to learn you. Only when I know who you really are will I know exactly how to love you. Be patient. This will take some time. When you show me everything, then I can become the man of your dreams. You will love me, Tesla. You have no choice.”
She looked at him contemptuously. “I see. So, Stockholm syndrome is the ultimate goal here.”
He took his time looking her over again. “You are exquisite, Tesla. Your body is almost as perfect as mine. You’re intensely beautiful. I look forward to copulating with you. You will look like a goddess when your stomach swells with my child.” He left the room then.
Bile rose up her throat. Her mistake was bigger than she originally guessed. It might take her some time to get another opportunity to kill him, and what would she endure before that moment came? Her head fell down, her chin pressing against her chest and her hair hanging down over her breasts.
Regret poisoned her. X had said he was sorry. He’d asked her to wait. If only she had. Now she’d probably never see him again. And even if she did, he wouldn’t want her. Lachlan was going to damage and use her in vile ways. X wouldn’t want her after that. A tear slid from her eye. She tucked X away deep in her heart. No matter what happened to her. She would hold on to her love for him and keep it in a place Lachlan couldn’t touch.
Lachlan touched the wall. It shimmered and gave him a perfect view of Tesla. He could see her, but she couldn’t see him. He crossed his arms over his chest. For a long time, he stood still, staring at her and thinking how he wanted to proceed.
Peyton came into the room and gave Lachlan a little bow. “You sent for me, sire?”
He nodded. “Look what I caught.”
Peyton came up beside him and frowned. “Who is that?”
“That is the future queen.”
“What is she? She’s not a witch. She can’t be.”
“She’s a hybrid, but there is something... It’s as if she has some witch in her. I’ve touched her. I already know I will be successful in impregnating her.”
Peyton scowled. “Did you summon me here to gloat?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “And to show you she’s not ugly.”
“You’re cruel to me. You know I love you.”
Lachlan snorted. “I know. And because of your emotional inclinations toward me, I had a feeling you might hate her on principle. That could be useful to me.”
“How?”
“She already has me. I will be in love with her very quickly. It might make torturing her hard on me. You will design elements of pain for her.”
A sexual glint lit Peyton’s eyes. “You want me to administer pain to her?”
“Calm down. Not necessarily. Possibly. If I cannot come up with adequate levels on my own because of my feelings for her, you will help me. And when the time comes, I will stop hurting her altogether, and that will become solely your job.”
“Why?”
“So I can become the savior. Her hate will transfer to you, and she will only feel love and trust then for me.”
Peyton gazed at her hungrily. “Why go through the charade? Just let me hurt her now.”
Lachlan cut him with an outraged look. “She is mine. I will not be denied anything where it comes to her. Especially her pain. She must be kept off balance at all times to begin with.”
Peyton shrugged. “Fine. So when can I start?”
“Tomorrow. I am her whole world today. She can’t meet you yet. And when she does, she must never know about you and me. If you tell her, or even hint that we’ve been lovers, I will kill you.”
“All right,” he conceded angrily.
“You’ll stay here. Take your old room back, if you like.”
He shuddered. “So I’d be forced to hear you make love to her? No thank you. I’ll find another room, far away from yours.”
“Oh, I think you’ll hear it anyway, when it happens.”
“When? You haven’t touched her yet?”
Lachlan smiled. “Off balance, remember. She thinks I’m going to rape her.”
“Well, aren’t you?”
His smiled vanished, rage burning in his eyes. “I told you, she’s going to be my queen. I want her to cry with pleasure in my bed, not terror. She won’t forgive me if I rape her.”
“Shall I do the honors then? It will make her hate me more.”
“No one is to touch her like that, except me. Understand?”
Peyton nodded. “Can I go now?”
“No. You will stay right here and observe her. Look for weaknesses, beyond the obvious.”
Many hours later, Lachlan lifted Tesla off the rack. Tremors shook her body. Her skin was clammy. She cried out in pain as he moved her. He laid her gently back onto the bed. She wasn’t unconscious, but she wasn’t lucid either.
“There now,” he whispered soothingly. “You’re weak.”
He unclasped all the cuffs on her. As soon as the weight was removed, she pulled into the fetal position and passed out. He covered her up and forced the light to dim down. He would let her rest for a little while. Not long. But still, weakened as she was, he couldn’t just leave her free like that. He backed up, holding his hands out over her, and encased her in a bubble. Even if she woke suddenly and was strong enough to open a portal, the bubble would trick her eyes and disorient her too much to get anywhere.
After she’d slept a half an hour, just long enough to fall into restorative sleep, he came back, made the lights shine overly bright, and pulled the cover off her. Her body jerked as she woke abruptly. Her eyes fixed on him. The bolt of lightning she shot at him hit the bubble and ricocheted back on her. She fell back, gasping, smoke rising off her skin.
“Poor thing,” he mocked. “You hurt yourself... Don’t do that. It does give me an idea, though. I didn’t realize you could hurt yourself with your power.” He dimmed the lights again. “You need to rest. You’ll never have enough strength to stand up to me, if you don’t.”
He left the room. Tears threatened. She tried to ease her breathing. Her heart hurt as it beat erratically and her head swam. She was powerless against him this exhausted, and she couldn’t think. Delirious, she pulled the blanket over her and fell back asleep.
Air filled X’s lungs, but he still felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Where is she?”
Maggie was still looking through the stone. The light shining from it flickered and died. She thumped it with her finge
r. It didn’t light again. She let go of it.
“Where is she?” he asked again.
Maggie pinched her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself. “Mordian. The king has her. She tried to take him out on her own.”
“She’s…” He choked on the words. “She’s still alive?”
“She’s alive, but you have no hope, X. Even if you could get to her, she won’t come with you.”
He stopped listening, his mind burning as it made plans. He took off his gloves and touched the mark the Heart put on the back of his hand. Hold on, Tesla. I’m coming for you.
He picked up his axe, considering. Then he put it back down and slung the bow and quiver Forest gave him across his chest.
“What are you doing?” Maggie demanded.
He looked up at her. She flinched.
“I’m going to get my woman.”
“I’ve told you there’s no hope. It’s impossible.”
He smirked. “The Heart of Regia blessed me and it tied me to Tesla.”
“But—“
He held his hand up to silence her. “You don’t get it. I’m human. Save your logic. I can’t hear it. I’m irrational. I will get her back with adrenaline and sheer stupidity.”
Maggie shook her head sadly and turned away from him. She went to Merhl.
“I think I could get to Mordian.” Merhl said. “I should go back to Regia first and get Rahaxeris. I don’t want to leave you here like this, but Tesla is my family.”
X could hear them talking, but the words meant nothing to him. The traces of Tesla’s blood were still under his tongue. He put his finger in his mouth and brought her blood out. He traced the triangle with the blood on his finger. Smoke rose off his skin. He closed his eyes forcing his power to reach higher and harder. His hands lit up, and he felt the extent of what the Heart had actually done to him. Merged. That’s what Tesla had said. Their power was merged. His eyes burned cold. He touched one of his palm stones. They were from Mordian. They would be his map.
Tesla’s power was in him. He just hadn’t accessed it before then. His eyes burned brighter. He could see the fabric of the atmosphere. He grabbed it and tore it open. X stepped into the rushing darkness. The dim grey light of the Everpath shone in the distance.
He was gone before Merhl, and Maggie had noticed what had happened.
X swore as his feet hit the grey floor. He’d gotten there on his own, but he still could barely see. His vision was blurry as though he were underwater. He looked down one way and then the other. Everything was identical. Every door was the same, and the hall was endless. He didn’t know which direction to go. His heart thundered in his chest and pulsed in his ears. This could take forever and he was already out of time. How did Tesla know where to go when she was here?
“Help me out, baby.” He touched the mark on his hand. “How do I find you?”
Lachlan sat on the bed, gazing down at her while she slept. Strands of hair stuck to her face where her sweat had dried. When he woke her again, she’d have some reprieve in the next round, he decided. The cuffs were too heavy to use on her again so soon. He twisted a collar around and around in his fingers, deciding exactly how he should order her. It couldn’t be typical. Even if she disobeyed, he couldn’t allow the collar to really harm her. Since he wanted to use a collar, he had to do it now, before things went further. A few more days, and she might become suicidal. A collar was a foolish choice for someone wishing for death. She still had hope.
She gave a little whimper in her sleep. He liked the sound. Damn, he wanted her. It had been so long. He hadn’t cared, or hadn’t realized he cared how long it had been until her. She wasn’t going to get away. Happiness that had been so elusive to him no matter what he conquered now came back violently. He didn’t care about plundering her world anymore. She was his sole focus. Together, they would create a family. He would be the first wizard to become a father in thousands of years.
But first, he would court her. He would make her want to be the mother of his child. He shivered with pleasure. Their love would be forever. Closing his eyes, he gave the collar an order. The stone in the gold ring turned blue. He slipped it on her index finger and kissed the top of her hand as the spikes inside the band stabbed into her finger, all the way to the bone. It was then he noticed the mark on the back of her hand. He touched it curiously. He hissed in pain and pulled his hand back. The mark had burned him.
The deep smooth bass of ambient music woke Tesla. The opulent room she’d fallen asleep in had changed. The ceiling over the bed glittered with gold stars in an illusion of the night sky. It tricked her for a moment, making her believe she was actually outside. Everything hurt. Everything. Inside and out, physical and spiritual. Her throat burned. She wished she could drink X’s blood right then.
X… Another pain smarted in her heart at the thought of him. She lifted her heavy hand up and kissed the mark. I love you, X.
X stopped short and turned around. “Tesla? I heard you!” he shouted, his voice echoing down the Everpath. “How do I find the door? Tell me! I’m coming for you.”
Nothing. She didn’t answer. She couldn’t hear him the way he could hear her. He took a deep breath and focused. There was nothing else he could think of… He’d have to open every door.
Chapter Sixteen
Tesla held still, listening. It seemed like she was alone, but she knew he was watching her. The pain was acute but she was no stranger to pain. Much of her strength had returned. Why would he allow her to regain her strength? It made no sense. Did he underestimate her that much? She doubted it.
Tesla remained on the bed, covered up, and looked at the ring on her finger. It was attached to her. The spikes in her flesh made it easier for her to analyze it. She took it apart in her mind. It had many layers. The witch in her recognized the magic of it. Lachlan had tied it to her senses. There was something she must do, or must not do, she couldn’t tell. And if she violated whatever the order was, he would take her senses away. All of them. Hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.
She sighed. She needed to know what the order was and if the punishment for disobedience was permanent or temporary.
“Hey,” she called out.
Lachlan strode into the room, a garment of grey silk in his hand. He was wearing different clothes but in the same fashion as before. He was barefoot, in loose trousers, and a thin robe hung open over his bare chest. His long brown hair hung over his shoulders. She frowned. He must be terribly old, but he looked so young. His beauty didn’t hide the vise in him. He wore cruelty as easily as his robe.
He sat down on the bed next to her. “I brought you something to wear. It’s nothing really. Just a wrap. You need to clean up before I show you your real clothes.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do?”
He chuckled. “No. Come on, Tesla. I know you’re a fighter. I know being powerless is killing you right now, but try and put that aside, if you can. I hope you can. I don’t want to hurt you today. I did enough yesterday to hold back my appetite for your pain for a while. I want today to be easy for you…and possibly pleasurable.”
She held up her hand. “What’s the order on this?”
“No opening portals. No attacks. That’s all. If you do—”
“I know. I’ll lose my senses. I picked it apart already. If I disobey, will I be senseless permanently?”
He smiled devilishly. “What do you think?”
She gazed at him as though bored. “I think you’re not going to show me anymore of your hand right now.”
“You’re right. Come on. Stand up and put this on. I’ll show you around. Then I’ll leave you alone for a while, of you want me to.”
“Why would I want that?” she said sarcastically. “Your company is so delightful.”
“You’re making me angry.”
A few nasty retorts were dying to come out, but she could see that he wasn’t only becoming angry, he was becoming aroused. She swallowed her bitchy resp
onses. He hadn’t raped her yet. She didn’t want to provoke him into it. She took the grey silk from his hand.
“Turn around.”
His lips curved up. “Not a chance.”
Tesla feigned indifference as she stood and pulled the wrap around herself and belted at the waist. She managed to keep from wincing, sore as she was. He stood and put his hands on her shoulders, his eyes searching hers.
“I want to pretend, Tesla. Will you play along?”
Fear pricked like ice. “Depends… Pretend what?”
“I want to pretend you’re here because you want to be. That you’re not scared.”
She frowned. “You wanted to scare me yesterday. You said so.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want you scared, I said I want you to pretend you aren’t… Just for now. Pretend you like me. I want to ask you for more, but I’ll wait.”
She thought about it. She needed time to figure something out. If she played along…perhaps.
“Okay. I’ll try. This isn’t a game I’m used to.”
“I only have one more request. Don’t interrupt me.”
Tesla blinked and nodded in agreement, resigning herself to biting her tongue. He reached for her hand. Gah! She hated this game already. She exhaled once and gave him what he wanted.
“So much power in your hands. They hurt you, don’t they?”
“Sometimes.”
He led her out of the bedroom. She looked around at everything. There was no denying it was a gorgeous place; she tried to look impressed for his benefit, but she was really looking for an escape.
“Can I ask you questions?”
He smiled. “Yes. Please.”
“How old are you?”
“Two thousand two hundred and six. How old are you?”
“Two. Or eighteen, depending how you count.”
“So fresh and new. I love that.”
“How long have you been king?”
“Hmm…about fifteen hundred years.” He led her to a massive balcony. In spite of herself, Tesla gasped as she looked out.
