She’d only heard the painful sounds of their coupling, each sharp intake of Suzanne’s breath like a knife to her heart. When he cast her aside to her place on the floor and took one of the blondes, Thea had raised her eyes from the shield of her hands to look at Suzanne, sure that what she’d heard had broken the woman’s spirit. What she saw was a smile, faint but there, that had told her he hadn’t taken away everything she remained inside yet.
Suzanne’s strength inspired Thea, and she’d watched as Kiril took first the blond who hadn’t spoken to her and then Cherie. It had been the most vicious sex she’d ever seen, but she’d met his violet stare from the first thrust and never wavered until he fell back onto the bed and closed his eyes.
More than once as she watched him rest she considered using one of the torture devices hanging from the wall near his bed to attack him, but that would’ve required walking past him, and she had no idea if he was sleeping or merely resting. Even if she succeeded in grabbing one, she had no assurance she’d be able to kill him and his retribution on Suzanne and the others would no doubt be deadly if she didn’t succeed.
No, Thea knew she had to be more than strong. She had to be smart. Amon would come soon, but until then, she had to take care of herself. The problem was that at any moment Kiril could sit up and order her onto the bed believing that his brand of sex didn’t constitute harm. She had to devise a way to distract him. She had to make him think of something other than sex—in his bedroom, where he’d just had sex with three other women. If she couldn’t, she only had the same fate waiting for her.
Looking around the room she saw little that didn’t have something to do with sex. The enormous, intricately carved bed looked like it was straight from a brothel, and the deep red silk sheets screamed sex. Even the lighting, with three ceiling lights pointed directly at his bed, looked geared toward highlighting the act. And then there were the metal implements hanging near his head, which she was sure he used for sex, although she didn’t want to imagine how.
She needed some way to focus his attention elsewhere and soon because he was beginning to stir. She quickly ran through ideas in her mind and decided he didn’t look like a sports fan, unfortunately. However, slowly a memory from her lifetime at the court of Louis XIV of France bubbled up and she remembered reading a French translation of One Thousand and One Nights. That was it! She would act like Scheherazade and hope Kiril fell for her ploy just as the Persian king had fallen for hers.
She would have to improvise, though. Thea decided to do as her sister always suggested doing for a successful date, ironically—“Ask questions, Thea. People love to talk about themselves.”
Kiril rolled over to face her and opened his eyes. Inside, the same butterflies she had every time she performed danced in her stomach, but she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was a smart Aeveren woman with forty-five lifetimes of experience to help her. Something in all those years would be sure to interest him besides sex.
“Did anyone come to the door?”
Thea shook her head.
Kiril stretched his long legs, slowly kicking the sheets from his naked body and smiling at her small reaction to the sight of his once again erect cock. Instantly, Thea regretted letting her focus fall from his eyes, but she quickly made sure her face showed no more surprise or revulsion and once again stared into his piercing eyes.
“See anything you like?” he seductively teased as he folded his arms behind his head and crossed his legs at the ankles.
She hesitated for just a moment and then began what she hoped would be a very long conversation with the most dangerous person she’d met in lifetimes, ended by Amon’s arrival and her leaving this place for good.
“Your eyes are the most unique color. I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes such a beautiful shade of violet,” she answered in a voice far calmer than she actually was.
In fact, she wasn’t being insincere. His eyes were beautiful, even if they did belong to a sadistic psychopath. She worried he’d either misinterpret her statement as evidence of her attraction or see right through her ruse, though.
Instead, she found him pleased by the compliment and surprised, as if she’d caught him off guard or he’d not heard anything like it in ages. But quickly all that showed in his expression was pleasure and not the sinister kind that often dominated his features. However, when he spoke, Thea knew she was by no means safe yet.
“My eyes? You want to talk about the color of my eyes?”
“Well, no. I just think they’re quite unique and striking.”
Kiril grinned and rolled over to press a button next to his bed. In seconds, his men were in the room and with nothing but a wave of his hand, he instructed them to remove Suzanne and the two other women.
As Thea watched them walk out, their eyes down and chains clanging against one another, she was thankful her ploy had at least provided them with a reprieve. Now it remained to be seen if she could distract him long enough for Amon to arrive.
Amon. How she missed him! She had no idea where he was or why he hadn’t rescued her yet, but her faith in him remained. He was her destined one and would cross miles to save her because of that.
The bedroom door shut, and she was alone with Kiril. Again, she focused her gaze on his, but communicating across the room had lost its interest for him and he ordered, “Come here,” as he motioned to the area next to him on the bed.
Fear quickly escalated to terror as Thea stood from the chair. There had been some sense of safety when she sat across the room, but now that rapidly evaporated as she walked toward the bed. Now she’d be within striking distance with no barrier, no matter how illusory, between them.
Thea stood at the edge of the bed looking down at his upturned face that appeared more pleased than ever. With a silent plea to Amon to please hurry, she sat down on the bed next to Kiril.
“I thought if you wanted to discuss my eyes you should be close enough to see them,” he said in a low voice that told her she had a long way to go until he thought of something other than sex.
Uncomfortably, she stared into his eyes. “They are quite beautiful. Do either of your parents have eyes like yours?”
Thea knew she was possibly treading on dangerous ground introducing parents into the conversation. Psychopaths like Kiril Gault often had poor relationships with their parents. Happily, she saw no evidence of upset in him.
Shaking his head, he explained, “No, neither. I guess I’m one of a kind.”
Disappointed and shaken that he hadn’t chosen to talk more about himself, she remained undeterred. She’d just have to find something else to draw him out, but she’d leave the flattery behind, if possible. It seemed too close to flirting, which was a far too dangerous tactic with a man like him.
To her relief, though, he continued to talk, turning the conversation to her eye color. “Your eyes are quite beautiful too, Thea.”
Unlike him, she was more than willing to explain chapter and verse about who she’d gotten her eye color from and any other detail she could think of that had even the slightest connection to the subject of her eyes.
“That’s very nice of you to say. I get my eyes from my mother, but hers are a tiny bit darker than mine. I’ve noticed as she aged, hers became lighter. I imagine mine will lighten too. Perhaps yours will too, although I don’t know if the same applies to violet.”
Thea realized she was even boring herself, but Kiril seemed enchanted by her words so she continued with a description of her sister’s and father’s eye colors, never breaking her stare into his eyes.
When she finished, he smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked so much about eye color with a woman, particularly one sitting with me in bed as I lay naked next to her.”
“Actually, you’ve said very little during this conversation. Now it’s your turn.”
Kiril licked his lips and smacked them together. “My turn?”
“To talk.”
He seemed to consider the id
ea and then discard it as something distasteful. “I don’t want to talk.”
Thea felt her control of the situation slipping away and frantically searched her mind for another topic of conversation. As her mind raced, Kiril moved his hand to her leg and rested it on her knee.
“You don’t have an English accent. Why is that?” she asked as she struggled to keep her voice steady while his fingers slid back and forth over her skin.
“More questions? Ok, I’ll play this game but only because I like you. You’re a nice change from my usual.”
Sure her ploy was on its way to success, Thea relaxed, but then he added, “And I want you willing when I put you in Suzanne’s place.”
Forgetting her plan momentarily, she blurted out, “Why do you hate her so much more than the other two?”
Thea feared she’d made a mistake, but Kiril’s response surprised her. In what sounded like a hurt tone, he said, “I don’t hate Suzanne. She’s my favorite. I always choose her first.”
“You abuse her far more than the other two. The bruises you leave on her body don’t show you prefer her.”
Squeezing her leg, Kiril looked directly into her eyes. “She’s a fucking human. Am I supposed to take care of her?”
As he spoke, he squeezed harder, causing tears to come to her eyes from the pain.
“Is that how you’ll treat me when she’s gone?” she said through gritted teeth.
Seeing the tears in her eyes, he released her leg from his grip and almost purred his answer. “No, pet. You’re Aeveren. I’ll take care of you like you’ve never had before in any lifetime.”
Looking down, she ran her hands over her knee to ease the pain. Red spots marked where his fingers had pressed into her skin.
“Can you heal yourself in addition to others?”
Nodding, Thea stilled her hands over her leg to release the last of the pain.
“So you can’t truly be hurt?”
Snapping her head right to face him, she dropped all pretense of her plan and said angrily, “Of course I can be hurt! You just brought tears to my eyes squeezing my leg!”
Thea waited in fear for the retribution her words would bring, but none came. Instead, he merely returned his hand to her leg, pushing her hands out of the way, and continued stroking as he’d done before.
“I don’t have an English accent because I’m not English. I’m Albanian. I’ve lived in London for much of this lifetime after coming here when I was fifteen years old.”
Stunned by his quick mood change, Thea was unsure what to say next. She was sure she’d never been so frightened in her life or in so unstable a situation. Believing it was just a matter of time before he grew tired of talking to her and simply forced her to do as he desired, she only hoped Amon would arrive before her time ran out or that he could someday forgive her.
“What lifetime are you in, Thea?”
“Forty-fifth,” she said quietly, confused as to where he was going with this new conversation.
“Do you know I’m only in my twenty-third? Does that surprise you?”
“No. Greatness can occur in any lifetime.”
Thea watched as Kiril moved his hand up her leg to the middle of her thigh. Her time had run out, and she hadn’t even made it one night.
Looking at his hand, she couldn’t help but see his erection and shiver. He was excited even after she’d tried to distract him with mundane conversation. Nothing had worked. As he stroked the inside of her thigh, she prepared herself for what she’d feared since arriving. If she didn’t fight, perhaps she’d survive.
Kiril’s hand continued its movement up her thigh until it reached the seam of her leg. She watched his eyes travel the path his hand had and waited for his next move. When he looked up at her and spoke, she was stunned.
“You’re Aeveren, so I won’t take what you won’t freely give.”
“You’ll respect our heritage but not my having a destined one?”
Sitting up, he sat face to face with her and smiled. “It’s just a matter of time before your destined one is returned to Nil for the rest of his time on Earth. So you having a destined one isn’t a concern of mine.”
“No! Destiny wouldn’t do that to me after making me wait so many lifetimes!” she cried.
“Well, pet, she’s been a bitch to you then because he’s going. His fate is sealed.”
Thea turned toward him. “Why are you doing this? Aren’t you friends with Amon?”
Kiril’s stare slid down her body and when it stopped on her breasts, he reached out to twirl her hair around his finger. “Amon’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. That you’re part of the package is just a bonus.”
As he spoke, he tugged her hair and pulled her closer to him. Thea closed her eyes and felt his warm breath near her face. Any second now, he would kiss her, and even if she believed his claim that he wouldn’t force her, she had a feeling his definition of consensual and willing were quite different from hers.
The moment his lips touched her she froze in terror. Over and over, she silently begged Amon to hurry to her as Kiril held her by the back of the head and slipped his tongue back and forth through her stiff lips. Passionless, she waited for him to tire of her but nothing seemed to deter him.
In her ear, he whispered, “Soon you’ll beg me to fuck you, Thea, like you begged before. When you do, you won’t have to sleep with my slaves. And I don’t think it will take long after I get rid of Suzanne.”
“Get rid of her? What are you going to do?” Thea asked as she jumped up off the bed.
Kiril didn’t bother to answer, his grin showing how obviously he was enjoying her reaction.
“Please don’t do that to her, Kiril. I beg you.”
“Your darling has to go. She’s too much trouble,” he said calmly.
“But you said she was your favorite. Why would you get rid of your favorite?”
“Because you’re my new favorite. And I don’t need her.”
Thea stood in tears as Kiril remained unmoved by her sadness. Suzanne was going to suffer in part because of her, and even if it wasn’t her fault, she couldn’t stand by as another suffered any more.
Please forgive me, Amon.
Hanging her head, she quietly said, “Kiril, please don’t. I’ll do anything you want if you just spare her.”
Leaning over, he pressed the button to summon his guards. Then he stood up and grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. Looking down into her eyes, he spoke, his voice ice cold. “You’ll do whatever I fucking want regardless of what I choose to do with that cunt. Do you understand me?”
Thea’s eyes grew wide in terror at the sight of his rage and the vicious sound of his words. As she stood there, pain radiating from where he pulled her hair, his men entered the room and waited by the door for instructions.
Never breaking his cold stare into her eyes, he hissed, “Take this one back to the others. And bring Suzanne.”
*
Returning from Jean’s house, Amon knew he’d have to ask Gethen to do him yet another favor. There was no way he could go to Nil to speak to Naomi Cooper. No, he’d have to ask his friend to once again make the dangerous trip to Nil and pray he’d make it out successfully, knowing Gethen’s fate if he didn’t.
He found him outside and joined him in the garden behind the house. The sun was just setting and something in the way the former servant looked off into the distance reminded Amon of the reason they’d returned to Ireland.
“I’m sorry, my friend. I’d forgotten we came here to take you home.”
Gethen turned to face him and in the fading light of twilight, Amon saw the loyalty he’d enjoyed for lifetimes.
“What did you find out?” he asked, quickly sidestepping the conversation Amon had begun.
“I need your help, Gethen. I can’t get to the councilwoman in Nil. Only you can.”
Gethen nodded slowly. “I know.”
“I’m sorry I have to ask you to make this trip again. If there w
as any other way...”
“There is no other way. I know that as well as you do. Only the Sidhe can travel between worlds safely.”
As the sunlight disappeared, the two men talked of the task ahead. Gethen would have to find Naomi Cooper and convince her to read Amon’s letter explaining the connection between the head of the Council at Nil and Kiril Gault. If she believed him, she could be the one person to begin the investigation that would expose the corruption of the head councilman.
All the while Amon explained what he needed, Gethen listened and when he’d finished, asked, “What about Thea?”
Taking a deep breath, Amon closed his eyes and once more sent a thought of love to her. He hadn’t sensed that she was in true danger yet and told himself that meant she must be okay. But a nagging doubt troubled him. He hadn’t known of his other destined one’s moving on, so what if he simply couldn’t sense danger to Thea until he returned to the Soren headquarters, when it could be too late?
“I have to believe she’s all right. She’s smart. And she’s Aeveren. I don’t think Kiril would harm one of our own. It’s humans he hates.”
Quietly, Gethen said, “Amon, if that bounty hunter has been anywhere near their headquarters, Gault is involved in kidnapping her.”
“I know, but I don’t think he’ll harm her. She’s too valuable to him and not just as bait to lure me. She’s a healer, and Kiril would see that as an asset to the Soren. Having a healer in his back pocket is a nice addition to the rest of the members and their talents.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I’m right. I used to be like him, remember? And that’s exactly how I’d have seen her,” Amon answered, hoping to God he was right.
An awkward silence rose between them as they both knew Amon’s assessment of himself was the truth. He had been like Kiril Gault in many ways for lifetimes.
“Gethen, it’s time we got this going. I’ll write the letter I need you to deliver to her while you get ready. We don’t have any time to waste. Thea might not be in physical danger, but she needs to come home.”
Destiny Redeemed Page 18
