The male flung a ball of magic at Alec.
Alec unsheathed his sword to block the spellfire but the male was too close and Alec’s sword wasn’t up fast enough.
Magic slammed into Alec, ramming him up against the wall.
Pain seared Alec’s chest and his vision threatened to go black. A witch.
Alec gritted his teeth as he barely managed to regain his footing.
The witch threw another spellball but this time Alec blocked it with his blade, despite the massive pain in his chest and his blurred vision.
Alec blocked a third and a fourth spellball as he heard shouts of the other Enforcers engaged in battle. Damn. How had Dawson’s people managed to get the drop on them?
Something hit the backs of Alec’s knees, and they buckled. Samuel went through his mind as he dropped and realized the dealer had gotten him from behind.
More spellfire hit Alec, this time in his right shoulder, as he went down.
Pain burned through Alec and his vision swam. He slammed face first onto the floor. His sword slipped from his grip as his entire arm went numb.
He started to push himself back to his feet when the witch engulfed Alec’s entire body in spellfire.
This time the pain that gripped Alec’s body was greater than anything he’d ever felt before. He felt like he might rip apart from the inside out. He was vaguely conscious of blood dripping from his nose and leaking from his ears and mouth and running from his eyes like teardrops. His entire body convulsed and he everything started to go black.
Loni’s scream was the last thing he heard.
Fear tore through Loni as she dropped Alec’s dagger. Someone had grabbed her from behind and clamped his hand over her mouth. She smelled something like weeds as dirt filled her mouth as her captor shoved it in. She tried screaming again and almost choked on the dirt.
Her mind raced as terror ripped through her as she saw Alec slumped on the floor, some kind of orange light enveloping his body, the light coming from a man’s hands. Her eyes widened and she tried not to swallow the dirt as the man turned his gaze on her.
“Get her to the car, Harper.” The man gave a menacing smile as he spoke to her captor. “I’ll be taking her to Dawson.”
The fear running rampant through her system magnified as the man spoke. Dawson had tried to kill her just days ago.
And then she saw blood on Alec’s face and neck and the whiteness of his features as he lay silent and still on the kitchen floor. She wanted to scream again but couldn’t.
“You’ve got it, Mr. Richmond,” said the man who had been called Harper. He wheeled her around and marched her down the sun porch stairs to the ground, his hand pinning her wrists behind her back. Rain poured down on them as she stumbled over a body. Tears bit at the backs of her eyes as she looked down and saw that it was a male dressed in leather—an Enforcer.
“Spit,” Harper said in a cruel voice as he moved his hand from her mouth. “Scream again and I’ll shove more in, only this time it’s going down your throat.”
Loni spit out the dirt that had grown damp in her mouth and almost threw up, too. She coughed and sputtered and spit some more dirt out of her mouth right before Mr. Richmond appeared in front of her.
The cruel-eyed man touched her lips with his fingertip. She tried to open her mouth but it felt as though her lips had sealed shut and she couldn’t make more than a muffled sound of fear.
Her whole body shook as the thought flashed through her mind, What if I can never speak again?
Richmond smiled. “Let me see her wrists.”
Her hands were released from behind. The cruel man in front of her grabbed both of her wrists with one hand then raised his other and pointed. Some kind of magic orange rope whipped around her wrists and tied them securely in front of her. The rope sizzled against her skin but didn’t burn. The man gestured toward the front yard.
Harper, who had her by her shoulders from behind, turned her and shoved her in that direction down a garden pathway. She’d never had a chance to see his face but his touch felt creepy, adding to the horror.
Lightning crackled across the sky and it thundered so loud that her ears hurt. Her jaws ached and her mouth still tasted of dirt and felt gritty, and she was forced to swallow some of what was still there.
More men were in the front yard and she heard the sounds of fighting coming from inside the house. She was shoved forward, across the yard and through the front gate, then forced into the back of a sedan with blackout windows.
Her heart thundered and panic made her whole body shake. What was she going to do? How was she going to get herself free?
What would happen to her if she didn’t get away?
Richmond slid into the car beside her and her eyes widened as he smiled at her. He slammed the door shut and the car began to drive.
Chapter 15
“Alec.” A voice called to him, dragging him out of the murk that he was in. He felt a touch on his shoulder as someone rolled him onto his back. “Dammit, wake up.”
Bright light flooded his eyes as he tried to open them and he squeezed them shut again.
“He’s coming around.” He recognized the voice this time. Petra.
He blinked as he looked up at her concerned face. She was dabbing his face with a cloth and he realized she was wiping the blood away.
“Where’s Loni?” His voice was hoarse as he spoke.
“Gone.” Petra’s words ripped through him like a jagged blade. “Dawson’s men took her.”
Alec’s skin went cold. “We need to find her.” He tried to get up but Petra forced him back down.
“We’ll get her. They took her alive so likely they’re not going to kill her.” Petra’s red hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned over him. “You’re not going to be any good if you don’t give it a minute or two to get it back together. The witch’s spellfire really did a number on you. I don’t ever remember seeing this much blood with spellfire before.”
“Dawson may just want to kill Loni himself.” Alec shrugged Petra off as he tried to push himself up. His mind swam for a moment and he lay back down and held his hand to his head as if it would stop the spinning.
“I told you to give it a little time.” Petra took his hand and helped him to a seated position. “But I didn’t really expect you to listen.”
“How is everyone else?” He winced at the sound of his own voice bouncing around in his head.
“I was at the front door and heard one of the sorcerer’s men fighting with Rider in the front yard.” Her green eyes looked troubled. “It gave me enough time to call for backup. Then everything went to hell.”
A feeling of foreboding overcame Alec. “Lyle was supposed to have the back door.”
“We found him.” Petra’s throat worked. “The witch burned him with spellfire and slit his throat.”
“Damn.” Alec rubbed his eyes with his thumb and finger. “Damn.”
He eased to his feet and everything seemed to come back together. “Tell me what happened with Loni.”
“I had just finished killing one of Dawson’s men when I looked out the window and saw Loni being forced into a car,” Petra said. “They took off before I could get out there. No license plate,” she added before he could ask.
He pushed his hand through his hair as he glanced around the kitchen. The drug dealer was dead in the corner, eyes and mouth wide with terror, a burn mark at the center of his forehead.
Alec looked from the body to the table. “Where are all the bottles of the drug?”
“They got every one of them.” Petra shook her head. “Before help arrived and Rider and I were fighting off the sorcerer’s men who came in after us from the front.”
Alec clenched his teeth and his fists then realized something was in his left hand. He raised it and when he opened it one of the bottles was resting on his palm.
“You got one.” Petra smiled. “That’s great.”
He handed it to her. “Make sure it gets to
the task force headquarters ASAP.”
“Will do.” She picked up something off of the edge of the counter and handed it to Alec. It was the dagger that he’d given Loni to carry tonight. He took the dagger by the hilt and sheathed it.
Thunder rolled outside and the windowpanes rattled. Alec dragged his hand down his face. Where the hell did the sorcerer’s men take Loni?
* * * * *
Water dripped down Loni’s body onto the seat of the car. She shrank closer to the door and trembled as Richmond raised his finger and she flinched as orange light shot toward her face. She gasped and clenched her eyelids tight as magic ropes, like those around her wrists, started wrapping her head and covered her eyes. She shuddered. The magic made a sizzling sound and felt like actual rope, but at least it didn’t hurt. She still couldn’t talk and she felt like she was wound so tightly she might rip apart.
“Dawson didn’t say how pretty you are.” Richmond’s voice was oily and as he touched her bare arm she tried to shrink farther away from him. “He probably wants you for himself.”
She swallowed hard. No, Richmond was wrong. The sorcerer wanted to kill her personally, of that she was certain. He’d failed before when Alec had rescued her and he was out to finish the job.
“What a shame,” Richmond continued. “If he wasn’t who he is, I’d keep you for myself. I love to see a pretty lady restrained, struggling, and begging. Perhaps Dawson will discard you once he is finished. Maybe later you and I will have a little fun…or at least I will.”
The mere thought of this man touching her in an intimate way made her stomach roil.
Her mind kept turning to Alec and her belly clenched. Was he dead? Her heart hurt so badly at the thought that tears leaked from her eyes. The magic ropes around her eyes sizzled louder, startling her.
All she could do was pray that he was still alive.
It felt like they had driven in circles, as if to make sure she didn’t know how far the place was that they were going to. It had to have been close to an hour before the car slowed and she heard the crunch of gravel beneath tires and the vehicle came to a stop.
The entire way the knot of anxiety in her belly grew tighter and tighter and it seemed like her heart would never stop beating so fast. She prayed that Alec was still alive. The sight of him, so bloody and still wouldn’t leave her mind.
Richmond climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut as she sat there, unable to see, speak, or use her hands.
The door she was sitting next to opened and she felt wet air meet her face as it continued to rain. Someone grabbed her upper arm and helped her out of the car and to her feet and then the person propelled her forward. She stumbled in the gravel, her limbs shaking.
So many thoughts went through her mind that she could barely make sense of them all. If she didn’t get away, she’d be dead soon. But how could she do anything, bound and blindfolded like she was?
The thought kept repeating through her mind, I don’t want to die.
They stepped out of the rain onto what she thought was probably a doorstep. Rain pounded down on the overhang above and dripped from the eaves behind. A doorbell rang from inside—definitely had to be someone’s home. Probably Dawson’s.
She continued shaking. Not from being wet, but from knowing that this would probably be the end of her life unless she could think of some way out of the horrible mess she was in.
A door opened and a waft of cool air came from inside the building. It smelled like someone was baking sugar cookies, of all things.
The hand at her arm dragged her over a threshold and onto wood flooring that thumped beneath her boots.
“The master is expecting you in the drawing room,” a male voice said. “Perhaps you would like to dry off first?”
“I’ll take care of that, Timmons.” Richmond’s voice.
Warmth flooded her body as she felt her hair, skin, and clothing dry. The magic ropes fell away from her eyes and she blinked as she could see again. She looked at Richmond as he raised his finger. She took a step back and flinched when he touched her mouth. Her lips parted and a sound of relief came from her when she could open her mouth again.
“Make sure you don’t speak unless required, or I’ll have to bind your lips again.” He gave her a long, dark look. “Understand?”
She nodded, not about to say a word while Richmond was here.
“This way.” A male’s voice from behind her, the same one who had said that “the master” was expecting them in the drawing room—the one Richmond had called Timmons. She assumed he was the butler and had been talking about the sorcerer.
She turned and faced a thin man with a pale, lined face who was in traditional butler’s clothing. She thought she saw a sympathetic glimmer in Timmons’s eyes as he gave a slight bow and started walking away from her and Richmond who took her by her upper arm. He gripped her tightly as they followed the thin man.
The house they were in was huge with vaulted ceilings and tall shaded windows. Elegant furnishings adorned the rooms they walked through but she didn’t consider them to be feminine. More like things that had been procured by a collector.
Her heart beat faster and faster as they followed the butler and her mouth grew dry.
When they reached a room at the back of the house, the thin man paused in a doorway and announced them. “Mr. Richmond and a guest.”
“Good.” Dawson’s voice came from inside the room and Loni’s belly sickened. The butler moved out of the way and she saw the sorcerer sitting behind a desk, waving them in, a smile on his face.
The sight of the man who had tried to kill her made her knees weak. Memories of how the metal Dumpster had melted came to her and she had the horrible feeling that he could and would do that to her.
“That will be all, Timmons,” Dawson said and the butler gave a bow and retreated. The sorcerer turned to Richmond. “Excellent job.”
Richmond gave a little bow. “I’ve left her wrists tied. The rope will subdue any powers she may have obtained.”
Dawson nodded and gestured toward the pair of chairs in front of the desk he was sitting behind. He stroked his goatee and leaned back in his chair as Richmond forced her to sit. She sat down hard.
“So what is your purpose in all this, Miss Stanfield?” the sorcerer said as he looked at Loni and continued to stroke his goatee. By the way he asked the question, she knew he didn’t expect an answer. “I think perhaps you might come in handy.”
Loni bit the inside of her lip, holding back from begging Dawson to let her go. But she couldn’t hold back the one question that kept pulling at her. “Is Alec dead?” She looked at Richmond accusingly. “Did you kill him?”
“I told you I would seal your mouth if you spoke without permission,” Richmond said. “But Page is still quite alive.”
“Excellent,” the sorcerer said. “That is an important part of the plan.”
“What plan?” she wanted to ask but held it in as Richmond narrowed his eyes at her.
Dawson turned his gaze on Richmond. “Did you get the product?”
“All of it.” Richmond gave a deep nod. “Fifty-two bottles.”
The sorcerer’s expression darkened. “There were fifty-three.”
“That was what we found.” Richmond didn’t sound concerned. “Perhaps Samuel finished a bottle on some of his human clients.”
“Perhaps.” Dawson didn’t look convinced. “You need to make certain that one did not fall into the hands of the Enforcers. If one has been used completely, I want the empty bottle.” Dawson gestured toward the door. “Leave us and have someone take care of it.”
“Of course.” Richmond rose and he gave a slight bow before leaving the room, never looking at Loni.
The sorcerer turned his attention back to her. “Have you come into any powers since you came through that door and into the alleyway the first day we met?”
A wash of cold swept over her skin. She hesitated only a fraction before she shook her head.
<
br /> “Hmmm.” He studied her. “Are you lying to me?”
She shook her head again. “No.” The word came out clear and almost defiantly.
“I do not believe you.” He touched his goatee, looking thoughtful.
Loni said nothing. She wasn’t sure if it was to her benefit to admit it or not. Would he kill her if he believed that she didn’t have newfound powers? Would he kill her if he believed that she did have them?
“Why did Selena bring you here?” He leaned forward and put his elbows on this desk and steepled his fingers. “Unless it was simply part of her interfering in lives by matchmaking.”
Matchmaking? Loni held back a frown. Was this what it was all about? Her and Alec? The idea didn’t sit well at all. She wasn’t a puppet for Selena to play with, especially when it came to her emotions. Of course Selena had been pulling her strings ever since that day in the bookstore when she’d first met the woman.
“So you are not aware of Selena’s tendency toward manipulating lives in that way?” He laughed. “Do not lie to me about your relations with Page. For I have visioned it.”
The thought of Dawson seeing her and Alec together in a vision turned her stomach, but she couldn’t think of that right now. Instead of answering his question she asked one of her own. “Why did you bring me here?”
He smiled, the same sinister smile that he’d given before he’d tried to kill her that day she’d first stepped into this underworld. “I believe you can be of some use to me now that Page has a particular interest in you. Now that he has developed feelings for you.”
She was about to tell the sorcerer that despite what he may have seen in his vision, Alec had no real interest in her that way, but something made her keep her mouth shut.
“You are very much human.” He leaned back in his chair again. “I am not certain you have come into any kind of paranormal powers. Whatever the case, you will be interesting to experiment on.”
Experiment? She tried not to show any emotion but she knew her eyes had widened slightly with her surprise and another bout of fear. “How are you going to experiment on me?” she asked before she could stop herself.
Night's Captive Page 9
