by Stacy Lee
“Who is Dare?” I ask innocently. The Stroli actually throws his head back and laughs.
“I smell him in blood.” It takes me a minute to decipher the grunts and roars but when I do my eyes grow wide.
“I smell like someone I don’t know? Damn, I must need a shower bad! Let me go do that.” Screw it, I was out of here. I turn to run. His hand grabs my broken arm causing me to cry out in agony.
“Leave her alone, asshole!” Angie’s enraged voice comes from behind me. He ignores her to bring his face close to my neck and sniffs. His other hand rises and moves the hair off my neck revealing the puncture scars marking me as Dare’s. Thank goodness he couldn’t get to the birthmark.
“Something different about you.” He mutters as he sniffs my neck again. I pull on my arm trying to get him to release it, tears course down my cheeks and I bite my lip against the pain. His grip tightens. With his other hand he runs a clawed finger below my shoulder drawing blood. I catch site of Angie sneaking closer to us, a weird object in her hand. The Stroli is so intent on me he hasn’t paid her a bit of attention. He sniffs the blood dripping down my arm then runs a rough tongue over the wound. I cry out when his spit burns my skin like acid would. I yank again but it’s to no avail.
“Let me go!” I scream in frustration and try kicking out at him. He swings me around hugging me to his chest and putting his back to Angie. ‘Hit the road Jack’ once again fills the hall, much louder now before it cuts off mid-sentence.
“Bound, not mated.” He grumbles. Suddenly both arms clinch tight around me. He arches his back with a roar. We both drop to the ground in a pile of monster and legs.
“Come on, hurry!” Angie pulls me up carefully avoiding my broken and burnt arm then drags me down the hall. “He isn’t dead, just tranqed. We have roughly ten minutes before he wakes up and comes after us so haul your ass girl!” I force my feet to move as fast as I can as she drags me along behind her. In a few minute we enter a door with stairs leading down into the damp earth. I follow her into the darkness trying not to bust my ass on stairs I can’t see. More than half way down I stumble pulling Angie with me as we roll the remaining fifteen steps.
“Aw, shit!” Angie screams once we settle at the bottom.
“I’m sorry. Are you hurt?” I search in the dark till I find the lump that is Angie.
“I think my leg’s broke. I’m going to need help. We are almost there, maybe five more minutes till we reach the tunnel to the helipad. Then only three minutes and thirty stairs to the door out.” She grunts out in pain when I help her to her feet. Together we wobble down the onyx underground tunnel till she instructs me to turn. This time she warns me about the stairs and even goes as far as saying, ‘step-up’ at the beginning of each stair. Four steps from the top a roar fills the tunnel. “Faster.”
With as much speed as we can muster we break through the door into the sunlight. The men at the chopper see us coming and run to help. One man grabs me and another Angie. Pain flares through me with every step he takes but the fear of that monster behind us has me staying silent and letting the big brute run with me. He tosses me in the chopper then jumps in himself, climbing in the pilot’s seat. His large helmet covering his features from site. Once Angie is settled and the other man in the co-pilot chair we lift off leaving Texas behind.
“Angie, where are they taking us?” She is bent over messing with her leg. She grunts out as she resets the bone then sighs with relief.
“Give me a few minutes for this to re-heal enough to move it then I’ll look at your arm. How fast do you heal? Your change isn’t complete till tonight right?” Her head is back and her eyes are closed as she speaks.
“Yes, midnight. I have rarely been hurt since we mated so I don’t know. The burn isn’t going away yet and my arm is killing me.” She nods.
“Good, if it doesn’t heal too fast I might not have to break it again. We are on our way to Florida. It’s where the new compound will be. I was so stunned when Jack told me it wasn’t going to be California. Do you know why Dare changed his mind?” I turn my head to look out the window, a blush creeping up my neck.
“I may have mentioned I would like to see Florida when he asked where I wanted to live.” I shrug with the admission. Angie’s giggle prompts a small smile to tug on my lips before the pain takes it away. ‘Hit the road Jack’ blares from the cell phone in Angie’s hand making me laugh.
“Hello?....Yeah, hold on. It’s Dare.” She holds the phone out to me. I take it tentatively knowing he was going to be pissed. Deadly whisper pissed or uncontrolled rise of the voice pissed I wasn’t sure but he wasn’t going to be happy. I was hoping for the whisper, he was still in control with the whisper. The other, not so much. I had only heard that one once, yesterday when he was yelling at Archer.
“Hello, Dare.” I say in a much too cheerful voice.
“Don’t give me that shit! What happened to your arm?” Uncontrolled rise of the voice pissed. Not good.
“A Stroli broke it, cut it, then licked it. I’m fine, Dare, I’ll heal.” I try to sound reassuring but don’t quite pull it off through my gritted teeth. It didn’t feel like it was healing, it felt worse than when it broke.
“You refused to eat.” He growls low with barely contained rage. “It will not get better till you do. Archer forgot to add that little morsel of information yesterday. Your abilities only work if you keep a fresh supply of my blood inside you.” He sighs heavily on the other end. A muffled voice can be heard behind him then a scream of some kind.
“Dare what’s happening?!” I holler terrified.
“A Vamp who thought I was distracted. No big deal, he’s dead. I don’t know when I will be able to reach you. If the pain gets too bad have Angie put you to sleep. This is not a request. You have put yourself in danger with your stubbornness and I am tired of this game.” He grunts, breathes rapidly like he was exerting himself, then returns to normal with another scream in the background. Good Lord, the man was fighting while he lectured me on the phone! “If you refuse when I get to you I will force you, Marnie. So you better think long and hard on what you want to do.” The line goes dead. I shudder with his threat as I hand the phone back to Angie.
“He mad?” I nod. “What did the Stroli mean ‘Bound, not mated’?” I avert my eyes outside the window. Archer has forbidden me from telling her. I shrug. “Marnie? What did he mean? I have never heard it put that way before.” I glance at the two pilots then back to her.
“If you want to know, ask Archer. He is the only one who can answer you.” Her eyes widen as she catches my meaning. He hadn’t used force when he said I couldn’t tell her but I’m sure he would have if he thought I would disobey him. Nevertheless, the excuse works and she drops the question.
After a few more minutes she checks on my wounds, binding my arm to my chest after taking care of the burn and cut above my eye. She offers me pain meds which had been restocked after Dare’s use of the Morp on me. I turn them down. I could deal with pain, I had for years. I don’t know how many bones Uncle broke that had never been tended to by a doctor but there were a lot.
I didn’t want to be drugged when faced with Dare’s threat. I needed to be completely sane when he came for me. Any drug in my system would weaken my resistance and make me unable to fight his hold over me. As angry as he was I’m sure he would not think twice about commanding me to do anything he wanted to teach me a lesson. I can’t let that happen.
****
It takes almost six hours to clear out all my people. I sent Archer to evacuate the women and children yesterday so only a skeletal crew had been left when the attack came. Marine and Angie were the only two women remaining in the compound. Angie because she refused to leave Jack and she was the only doctor left onsite. If anyone needed medical attention she was there to take care of it. We heal rapidly but some things need help, like resetting bones and plugging of major arteries to give us time to heal without bleeding out, it wouldn’t kill us but too many Patronus w
ere needed to replenish someone’s entire blood supply to take the chance of weakening the already small crew. Marnie had stayed because she needed to be near me. Not that she had taken advantage of this. I pleaded with her this morning to drink from me but she stubbornly refused. Now it has been over sixteen hours and I could feel how much pain the woman was in and it would take at least two hours to reach her. Hopping on the last chopper out of here I grab my phone and dial Angie.
“Hello?” Moaning and a raspy babbling can be heard in the background immediately.
“He’s coming. Furious, will be. Can’t show weak. Can’t…..ugh…”
“Is that Marnie?” I ask on a breath.
“Um, yes.” She sounds edgy and distracted.
“Drug her, Angie.” I demand.
“She won’t let me. I don’t even think it’s her arm bothering her, which hasn’t healed at all by the way. Dare, I’m worried. She’s holding her stomach and screaming in pain but she won’t let me look at her, draw blood or take x-rays. She keeps babbling incoherently to people who aren’t here. She’s scaring me.” By the time she finishes her voice is hysterical and Marnie’s moaning is worse.
“You said I’d have a good destiny. You lied. I still hurt. You said I wouldn’t hurt when I found him….arrrgg!” What or who she was babbling to I didn’t know, but I did know I was in agony therefore so was she.
“Dammit Angie, drug her, now. I know what’s wrong and you can’t fix it till I get there. We are just now leaving the compound, it will be two hours before I can help her. Now give her something to knock her out!” I believe this is the first time I have ever raised my voice to Angie in the hundred years I’ve known her.
“Okay, hold on.” I hear the phone hit the table then Marnie’s voice can be heard in the background.
“No, Angie. Please don’t do this. I have to be able to protect myself. He’s coming for me. I can’t be weak and helpless again. Please! Noooo!” Marnie’s sobs tear at me but there is no reason for her to suffer for two more hours when she can sleep it off. My words telling her I wouldn’t drug her against her will again flit through my mind along with her reason.
‘My Uncle used to drug me at night after a bad beating to keep my sobs quiet so he could sleep.’
This was different. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hear her, I didn’t want her to suffer.
“It’s done.” Tears can be heard in her voice.
“Thank you. You did the right thing. She is one stubborn woman but putting herself in pain for no reason won’t be tolerated. We’ll be there soon.” I try to placate her with excuses she doesn’t buy.
“I hope you’re right. I really like her and would hate if this screwed things up. When she was rambling earlier to no one in particular she was talking about her Uncle drugging her then beating her while she was unconscious. She is terrified of drugs, Dare. This is the third time you have drugged her against her will and this time you used me to do it. I hope you know what you just did. See you soon.” The line dies on a sob.
I let my hands drop between my legs and lean back in the seat, laying my head back and closing my eyes. Yeah, I hope I knew what I was doing also. I told her I wouldn’t drug her. She begged me not to do it again. But was putting her mental fears first worth the suffering she was under physically? I didn’t believe so. However, I don’t know if she will see it that way.
The tremendous pain in my gut subsides slightly letting me know the meds were working and she was at least more comfortable. However now that I was sitting still I realize not just my gut and arm are in pain. My entire body is on fire and it’s roaring her name. It’s been too long since I was last with her, touched her, tasted her. I needed Marnie in every way a man needed a woman.
“Problems?” Archer’s humored voice has me cracking one eye to glare at him but other than that I don’t move. I hurt too bad and I couldn’t be drugged.
“Yes. It’s called a having mate.” My brothers chuckle. This was the last chopper to leave and it held just us six and the pilot, Chuck. Fin was in the co-pilot seat helping out. We all knew how to fly but he brought the chopper back to get us so we let him fly it. We were all exhausted from the fight anyway.
“Did Angie give her something to calm her down?” Cash asks through gritted teeth. I nod. “How long has it been, Dare?”
“By the time we get to her, eighteen hours.” I close my eyes to their outraged responses. I didn’t need them to tell me how stupid I had been.
“Why the hell has it been so long?” Cash irately screams.
“I told you every two hours. If you were taking care of her she should only be at nine at the most.” Archer bellows.
“Why the hell didn’t you feed the woman before our meeting?” This was Emmitt. I hold my hand up stopping the other two.
“Enough. I was trying to be nice. She refused to eat. I didn’t want to demand her to do it and take away more of her choices. I have done enough of that lately. I thought I would be gone two hours so I let her refusal slide. Of course had I known they would attack so quickly I would have just made her eat and been done with it. So stop yelling at me. She doesn’t have a choice anymore. This won’t happen again. It hurts like a son of a bitch.” My arms wrap around my middle, pressing to the ache hoping to lessen the pain. It doesn’t work.
“Good.” Cash growls in satisfaction at my agony.
“She will be feeling twice what you are if that puts anything into perspective for you.” Archer says quietly.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” I open my eyes and sit up ready for a fight.
“It means I could hear her screaming for Angie not to drug her. The woman knows how much pain she can handle and if she asked not to be drugged when she was in such obvious pain you should have let her have that.” He sighs out in frustration.
“Damn, Archer. I never realized that nothing I did pleased you before. Since I found Marnie everything I have done gets me a lecture from you.” It was dripping with sarcasm but completely true.
“Then stop fucking up so damn much.” He hollers getting in my face.
“And how exactly do I do that? If I force her to eat, I’m a commanding asshole. If I force her pain to go away, I’m an overbearing jerk. Everything about Marnie is a contradiction of what I would normally do. My instincts tell me to take the choice away from her but that’s what got me in this to begin with! I am trying Archer. If you think you can do it better then please tell me what to do next. I know, maybe I will come to you every two hours and let you force her to drink. You seem to be using that little power a lot lately.” I holler right back at him. I was tired of him telling me what the hell to do with my mate. If I was fucking up then it was my business.
“Enough. Fighting with Archer isn’t helping Marnie. We know you’re upset and hurting but screaming at each other won’t cure this. Sit back and relax till we get there. You’ll be with her soon.” Bane, the voice of reason? Since when? That was normally my job in this little group. Exactly when did I lose it?
“Fine.” I lean back once more and close my eyes. “Hey Chuck! I’ll owe you one if you get us there in less than two hours.” Chuck turns in his seat and grins.
“You got it.” The chopper speeds up exponentially as I drift into sleep.
*
One hour and twenty-seven minutes later we touch down at the temporary safe houses in Florida. I pat Chuck on the shoulder as I jump out. “Let me know when and what. Thanks for the ride.” He chuckles as I disappear out of site.
I search for Angie in the neighborhood the Fairies had constructed for us while they moved the compound from Texas to Southern Florida. It was going to take at least another day before that move would be complete so until then we stayed in groups in the houses here. I find her a few minutes later standing in the doorway of a large brick home. Speeding up my steps I practically run to her in my need to reach Marnie.
“How is she?” It is my only thought.
“Still asleep. I didn’t real
ize you would be here so quickly. I gave her enough morphine to knock her out for about four hours.” She wrings her hands nervously.
“Morphine? That’s a human drug. Why not give her the Morp?” I follow her into the house to a front room with a large picture window.
“She is still changing, Dare. I have never given Morp to a mate who was changing, you know this. She is already very weak. I didn’t want the Morp to distress her the same way and her not be able to fight off the dreams. I don’t have my equipment, we can’t help her here.” She motions to the room as if I needed a visual of where we are.
“Is the Morphine strong enough to take the pain from her or just put her to sleep?”
“In a human, both. In a Patronus, neither. In her, I have no idea! She did succumb to sleep immediately but the pain…” She shrugs while looking back down a hallway.
“Where?” I bite out not liking the news.
“Last door on the left is mine and Jacks room. I don’t have an office here.” Before she is done I am halfway down the hallway. “Where can I find Archer?” She hollers before I can turn into the room.
“My guess, wherever his home is. He needed a shower.” Ignoring her ‘thanks’ I enter the room to find Marnie curled on her side moaning in her sleep. If the pain in my gut was twice as bad in hers then the drugs only made it possible for her to suffer in her sleep instead of out loud. All I did was shut up her complaints by drugging her. I curse under my breath and crawl in the bed behind her desperate to stop her pain.
Letting one fang drop I slice my wrist and let the blood pool there before pressing it to her lips. It has been way to long since I have been inside her and if I let her feed from my neck I would take her. I had no doubt about that. We were in Jack and Angie’s bed and I didn’t think that would be received very well by them. Also she needed to heal before I could have my way with her. She wanted to be childish, I’d treat her as such.
It takes only a moment before her fangs drop low into my arm and she begins to take frenzied pulls from me. A minute later her hand comes up to hold me in place a little too tightly. I try to pull back slightly to loosen her hold. This causes a feral growl from her and her jaws lock down tighter tearing at the skin.
