Beka raised one blonde eyebrow. “Really? It isn’t like you to worry about other people. Gregori once vanished for six months and you just said, ‘He’s probably staring at his damned navel.’”
“And I was right, wasn’t I?” Alexei mocked, although his heart wasn’t in it. “When he finally turned up, he’d been at a Buddhist monastery in Tibet, helping the Abbot there solve some kind of weird Paranormal mystery.”
“Oh, right. I’d forgotten that,” Beka said. “But still, my point is, you weren’t at all worried. And he’s your brother.”
“He was also a Rider, and better equipped to take care of himself than some small armies,” Alexei reminded her. “Bethany, well, Bethany is tough, but she is still a Human, and therefore fragile. What if she has been in an accident or something?”
Beka stood up and gave him a hug. “You’re really concerned, aren’t you?” She gazed into his eyes. “I can’t believe it. You’ve finally fallen for someone.” Her grin could have lit up half of Broadway. “It’s about damned time. I like her, too. She may be tiny and Human, but I think you’ve met your match.”
Alexei shook his head, not even bothering to deny it. “It’s impossible, Beka, and you know it. We’re too different. And I don’t stay in one place. It could never work out between us.”
“Seems to me like you’ve been in one place for a while now,” Beka said softly. “I don’t see any signs that you’re suffering, either. As for differences, I don’t think anyone could be more different than a powerful witch who is also a California surfer chick and a former Marine turned fisherman, and Marcus and I have made it work. I’ve never been happier. Maybe you should give yourself a chance at that same happiness, Alexei.”
He stared at the clock again. “I’d be happy if she would just walk in the door. I have a bad feeling, Beka.” Fear clenched at his belly, making it feel as though his entrails were on fire.
“She probably just has a flat tire or something,” Beka said, laying a gentle hand on his arm. “You went through some pretty terrible things, and I know it was awful not to be able to help your brothers when you were all suffering at Brenna’s hands.”
Lines formed around the sides of her mouth and she suddenly looked much older than her usual carefree appearance. Brenna had been her mentor, the one who had raised and trained her, all the while subtly undermining Beka’s confidence so that Brenna wouldn’t have to give up her position as Baba Yaga.
“I hate what that bitch did to you all. But I especially hate that she left you all so broken that you felt as though you couldn’t be a part of each other’s lives anymore, or of ours. I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been to be able to reconnect with you, and I know the others will feel the same when you’re ready to reach out again.” She blinked back tears that tugged at his heart.
Then she sniffed and punched him on the arm. “But don’t wait too long, okay? Your brothers have finally come back to us, and you need to too, you big jerk.”
Alexei bit back a smile. “This was the point you were trying to make?”
Beka wiped her eyes. “No, sorry. I kind of got side-tracked there. What I meant to say is that you’re still raw from the experience. Humans would call it PTSD - post traumatic stress disorder - and say it is normal that you’re jumping at shadows that aren’t there. I’m sure Bethany is fine.”
Alexei felt his shoulders relax a little bit. Beka was probably right. It was probably something perfectly benign, like a problem with the truck, or something minor that had needed to be dealt with at the bar. Maybe her cell phone had run out of whatever it was regular cell phones were powered by, since they didn’t have magic.
“Yeah,” he said. “I guess. But look, since you’re here, would you mind staying with Bethany’s father so I can run over to the bar and make sure she doesn’t need help with something? I’d feel a lot better if I could go check. Even though she’ll probably give me hell for not trusting her to be able to take care of herself.”
Beka laughed. “Oh, she definitely will. But I don’t mind staying. You run off and check on your woman.”
Alexei rolled his eyes. “She’s not my woman.”
Beka just snickered and settled back into her chair with her cup of tea. “If I’m asleep when you get back, just roll me out to the bus, will you?”
“With pleasure,” he said and headed out the door at something that wasn’t quite a run.
* * *
Anxiety prickled up his spine when he saw that the bar was shuttered and dark. Alexei drove around to the parking lot, figuring she might be in the tiny office in the back, but there were no lights on anywhere that he could see. He hopped off his Harley and went to check the door.
Locked. But his foot kicked something that jingled when he hit it, and he bent down to retrieve a set of keys he recognized from the tiny metal anchor that hung from the ring. Bethany’s keys. But no Bethany. He couldn’t seem to draw air into his lungs, and he had a sudden flashback to the moment he’d awoken in a dank, dimly lit cave to see his brothers bleeding, locked into cages where he couldn’t reach them.
If someone had harmed Bethany…
He glanced around the area and his eyes fell on her father’s beat-up old truck, parked at the far end of the otherwise empty lot. He raced over to check it, but it was as empty and abandoned as the bar.
A small white square tucked under the windshield wiper caught his eye, and he forced himself to stop and breathe before plucking it out from underneath the rubber wiper. He walked slowly to stand underneath the light, tilting the paper so he could read it. It felt strangely heavy in his hands, like old-fashioned parchment, and the message appeared to be written with a fountain pen. The writing was flowery and bold, and the nib of the pen had bitten so deeply into the paper it had left grooves that could be felt with Alexei’s trembling fingertips.
In contrast to the elaborate delivery system, the message itself was quite simple:
Leave town immediately and never return. Or the woman dies.
Chapter 17
Bethany woke slowly, her head filled with fog, her mouth dry and nasty tasting. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her, and it took her an immeasurably long time to get to the point where she was certain she wasn’t going to throw up. Reasonably certain, anyway.
Unfortunately, that was about the only thing she was sure of. The space she found herself in was completely unfamiliar, tiny and claustrophobic, with only a dim light coming from a lantern hanging from a hook far overhead and no windows that she could see. She seemed to be lying on a folded mass of white cloth than smelled damp and moldy, and the vague shapes of boxes, crates, and bags surrounded her on all four sides.
Bethany thought she could just barely make out the outlines of some kind of hatch in the ceiling. It was that and the subtle swaying motion of the floor underneath her that finally registered in her groggy brain as something she could put a name to: she was on a boat, somewhere at sea. Probably locked in the hold.
Shit.
She dug into the fog, trying to find the last things she could remember, looking for a clue as to how she had ended up here. She could remember being eager to head home to Alexei; that brought a pang of loss and sorrow so powerful it threatened to swamp her like the waves she could hear brushing up against the hull. But she pulled herself together. There was no time for emotion now. Nobody knew where she was. No one, not even Alexei, would be coming to rescue her, although if she knew him, he would probably be moving heaven and earth to try to do so.
No, she was going to have to rescue herself. And for that she needed all the information she could get. Think, Bethany, think. Hard to do when your head throbbed in time with the swaying of the ship, but eventually she recalled locking the back door, then turning around. She’d seen something…someone.
That man. The one from the bar. The one who had tried to pick a fight with Alexei. He’d been standing there by her truck, right before someone had grabbed her from behind. But why?
A cold han
d of dread grabbed her by the throat. Was the man stalking her? Had he locked her up so he could rape and torture her for weeks without interference? You heard about those kinds of things on the news. All women lived in fear of it happening to them. Was she going to join those horrible ranks?
She forced herself to breathe again. Thought about the way he’d looked at her across the bar. No, that hadn’t been lust, for all that he’d made such a production of staring at her breasts. Not lust. Not even interest, really. But if it hadn’t been about her, then what? Where had his real interest lain?
Alexei. He’d come for Alexei. She’d seen him purposely try and provoke Alexei into a fight, although it hadn’t really dawned on her until later that that’s what the stranger had been doing. So his goal probably wasn’t rape and murder. She tried not to sob in relief, suddenly aware that she’d been biting her lip so hard it had bled.
But why kidnap her if he really was after Alexei?
The thought of Alexei being in danger made her try to sit up, only to be thwarted by the thick ropes that tied her wrists and ankles. It took her ages to struggle into an upright position, but she was motivated enough to ignore the discomfort the movement caused in her head and stomach. She had to get out of here. She just had no idea how she was going to do it.
* * *
An eternity later, the hatch creaked open and a slim figure clambered awkwardly down the ladder into the hold, carrying something in one hand and clinging to the rails with the other. Not the huge stranger. There was something about that guy that was…sinister. An old-fashioned word, but one which seemed to fit. Bethany felt a rush of tension leaving.
The man who approached her was slightly scrawny and sallow, with a scruffy three-day beard and a haunted look in his brown eyes. He wore a typical sailor’s gear of a waterproof jacket and a dark woolen hat, and a net bag swung from one callused hand.
“Oh, good,” he said. “You’re awake.” There was relief in his voice as he knelt down in front of her. “I was worried I’d given you too much chloroform. You’ve been out for ages.”
Bethany craned her neck to look up at the crack of sky revealed by the open hatch. “What time is it?” she said, her voice raspy. Her mouth felt as though she had been crawling through the desert, and despite her best efforts, she felt a surge of gratitude when the man handed her a bottle of water.
She grasped it the best she could between her bound hands and managed to get some of it down her throat without spilling it. But she’d be damned if she’d say thank you.
“You. You were the one who grabbed me,” she said, when she had enough saliva to speak. She recognized the familiar odor of fish mingled with cheap cologne. “You son of a bitch.”
“Hey,” he said, holding up a hand as if to keep her from attacking him. As if she could. “It wasn’t my idea. Red made me do it.” A pout rendered his homely face even less attractive. “It was another one of his brilliant ideas.” An eye roll accompanied this statement, but he looked over his shoulder at the hatch as if to be sure he wasn’t overheard.
“Who the hell is Red, and why on earth would he have you kidnap me? I haven’t done anything to either one of you.” Yet.
Her captor just shrugged his narrow shoulders. “Red, he’s, well, he’s my partner. We’re treasure hunters.”
“Partners, huh?” Bethany raised an eyebrow. “Sounds to me more like he’s the boss and you’re the flunky, if he’s the one giving the orders.” She figured she’d better learn as much as she could as long as this guy was willing to talk.
He straightened up, scowling at her. “He doesn’t give me orders. I told you, we’re partners. He just, well, he’s kind of um, forceful. So sometimes it’s easier to do what he says.”
“Red wouldn’t happen to be a big man with a weird haircut and gold earrings in his ears, would he?” she asked. “If so, I think I met him. Not impressed.
“Yeah, well you should be,” the man said. “He can do things you would never believe. And he’s going to make us both rich.”
“Sure,” Bethany said with mock patience. “With this imaginary treasure of yours.”
“Ha. Shows what you know.” The man looked over his shoulder again. “We’re this close to finding his lost pirate treasure.” He scowled again, dark eyebrows drawing together. “But your damned boyfriend is getting in our way, so Red figured that if we grabbed you, he’d have to leave us alone.” He started walking back toward the hatch. “You’d better hope your guy does what he’s told. Red is a bloodthirsty bastard, and he doesn’t have much patience when his plans don’t go the way he wants them to.”
On that cheerful note, he scrambled back up the ladder and shut the hatch with a thud. Bethany could hear the sound of a bolt being thrown.
As if being tied up wasn’t enough, they had to lock her in. Apparently they had more faith in her ability to escape than she did. She thought of the way Red had looked at her across the bar, as if she were an object, not a person, and shuddered. Maybe she was going to have to prove them right. She sure as hell wasn’t going to sit down here and wait for Alexei to do something this Red didn’t like, since that was almost a guarantee that sooner or later, that’s exactly what would happen.
She didn’t like her odds if it did, either. She took one more swig of water and then started looking around for something to use to cut her ropes. Barring that, she’d settle for a weapon of any kind. Unfortunately, she doubted her captors had been kind enough to leave a nice sharp knife lying around, so she was probably going to have to improvise.
* * *
Alexei pulled the motorcycle into the driveway so abruptly it skidded on the gravel, probably only staying upright because at heart it was a magical steed and not mere metal and gears. He slammed in through the back door, startling Beka into dropping the book she was reading at the kitchen table, and let loose with a string of Russian curses which thankfully, she couldn’t understand.
“He took her. The bastard took Bethany.” Alexei handed Beka the note. “I found this under her windshield.”
Beka read the few, not very helpful words and visibly restrained herself from hugging him. Just as well, since he probably would have exploded at the smallest touch, no matter how well intentioned.
“Who took her?” Beka asked. “The note isn’t signed.”
“It has to be Blackbeard,” Alexei said with a growl. “Or the man calling himself that. I’m pretty sure he is the one behind the kraken, and I got right in his face the other day. Laughed at him. Bethany was there. I thought I was being so clever, baiting him into showing his true colors.” He sagged, leaning against the doorframe so hard, the whole house groaned. “Now he’s taken her, and it is all my fault.”
“Blackbeard?” Beka said. “As in Blackbeard the famous pirate?”
Alexei nodded. “Impossible, I know. But he was appearing to the local sailors as the ghost of Blackbeard, and I don’t know what else to call him.”
Beka raised an eyebrow. “Actually, it might be more possible than you think. I found out some interesting tidbits in the Otherworld, although it took me a lot longer to chase them down than I expected.” Her normally cheerful expression took on an unusually grim tinge.
“First, somebody better tell me where the hell my daughter is and what the devil has happened to her,” Calum said, rolling into the kitchen. He was still wearing his pajamas and his forehead was damp with sweat, but he’d gotten there under his own power.
“How did you get out of bed by yourself?” Alexei asked, once he’d closed his mouth.
Calum scowled. “Apparently all those damned exercises you’ve been making me do finally paid off,” he said. “Now, what the hell is going on? Where is Bethany?”
Alexei and Beka exchanged glances. There was clearly no way they could keep the truth from him, no matter how much they might want to, and besides, she was his daughter. He deserved to know. Alexei braced himself for the recriminations he assuredly deserved.
“She’s been kidnapped. G
rabbed outside the bar after she closed up, as far as I can tell,” Alexei said as Calum wheeled himself up to the table. Alexei sank into a chair, telling himself it was so that they could all be on the same level, and not that it was because his legs wouldn’t hold him up any longer.
“The door was locked, and I found these on the ground next to it,” he said, tossing her keys onto the table in front of Calum. “The truck was still parked in the lot, and this note was under the windshield wiper.” He pushed it over so Calum could read it.
“Huh,” Calum grunted. “Not much to go on. I take it you have an idea who did this?”
“Probably. Maybe.” Alexei sighed. “I’ve pissed off a few people since I’ve been in town. But there is only one I can think of who would want me to leave badly enough to kidnap Bethany to force me to do it.” He waited for the yelling.
“So where do you think he’s holding her?” Calum asked.
“You’re awfully calm about this,” Beka said, leaning forward. “Aren’t you freaking out? I’m kind of freaking out and she’s not my daughter.”
“Yeah,” Alexei said. “Go ahead and yell at me. It’s all my fault. I got her involved with this. It’s my fault she’s in danger.”
To his surprise, Calum actually laughed. “I know my girl. There’s no way you pulled her into anything she didn’t want to be caught up in, and there was no way to keep her out of it if she decided she wanted in. She’s as stubborn as her father, and makes her own decisions.”
He stared at Alexei. “But I expect you to find her and bring her back to me in one piece, or chair or no chair, I’m going to make you sorry.”
Alexei nodded. “Oh, I intend to, believe me. As for where he’s holding her, that’s a problem. I’m guessing he took her to his boat, and that could be anywhere.” He restrained himself from banging his head on the table - just barely, and only because he didn’t have time to mend another piece of furniture.
Dangerously Fierce (The Broken Riders Book 3) Page 18
