by Judy Mays
He’s mad. “Doctor, I…I’m speechless.”
“An unexpected honor, I know,” he answered and pulled her one-piece uniform from her shoulders. Soon she was naked from the waist up, but the opening of the door halted further sexual progress.
Bakom grabbed Eliana’s arm and pulled her through a dimly lit corridor and down two flights of stairs. “Another time, I’ll show you the experiments on those floors, but tonight our destination is the bottom level.” Pushing open a door, he led her into a large, brightly lit laboratory.
Eliana followed Bakom deeper into the laboratory. Though she longed to, she hadn’t bothered to cover her upper body. Bakom would become suspicious. As she followed him, her sharp eyes darted around the cavernous room, memorizing all the details she could.
The laboratory was filled with various pieces of equipment resting on both the floor and tables. The eight large cages against the back wall, however, drew her attention. Only two were occupied, one with an unconscious Drakian woman, the other with a Gattan female obviously in thrall to the drug mithrin. Both women were naked.
Bakom stopped before the Gattan woman’s cage. “Interesting specimen,” he said as he absentmindedly stroked Eliana’s breast. “We’ve discovered that the Gattan can become addicted to mithrin. Once addicted, they are subject to very painful withdrawal symptoms if the drug isn’t administered on a regular basis. According to her chart, Sosha received her last injection an hour ago. From ongoing observations, we’ve learned that she’ll be sexually insatiable for two hours. Then, as the drug begins to wear off, she’ll regain control of her body. For approximately two hours, she’ll be as sane and levelheaded as you and I. Then her body will begin to demand the drug until she’s mindless with pain. Only another injection will relieve her.”
Eliana was very adept at hiding her disgust. “Very thorough, Doctor,” she murmured. “But are you sure she’s safe? What about her claws?”
Bakom’s breathing became harsher and his tail began to jerk as he watched the Gattan’s writhing body. “She’s quite safe now, my dear. She craves sexual satisfaction and is very receptive to anyone who cares to mount her. Odam enjoyed her body quite often. And we removed her claws.”
“Doctor, I didn’t know you arrived.”
Gathering himself, Bakom said, “Eliana, meet Gothran, Odam’s brother. He’s as well endowed as Odam.”
Gothran grunted, his eyes fastened on Eliana’s breasts.
Eliana heard a door open and shut, and a slender woman joined them. With a smile, she walked into Bakom’s arms, her mouth seeking his.
“Eliana, this is Tetiras,” Bakom said when the passionate kiss ended. “You must get to know her better.”
Tetiras turned to Eliana and smiled.
Eliana smiled in return as Tetiras cupped her breast. Aware of the ultimate objective concerning Bakom, she was ready to do almost anything to aid in his downfall.
Bakom caressed Tetiras’ buttocks and said, “Not now, my dear, we have other things to do.” Turning to Gothran, he said, “What surprise do you have for me?”
Opening the door to the other cage, the other man gathered the unconscious woman into his arms and carried her to an examining table. “Alalakan dem al’ Sheala.”
Chapter Seventeen
Chaos ruled the Alalakan townhouse. Xdana had been put to bed with a sedative while Jenneta and Fionilina sat with her.
Brianna remained downstairs with the men. “Bakom would never have taken Sheala if it weren’t for me,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Perhaps it would be best if…”
“Don’t complete that thought, Brianna,” Jamiros snapped. “You’re married to my son and carry my first grandchild. You are just as much a part of this family as Sheala. You will go nowhere near Bakom. Do you understand?”
Gritting her teeth, Brianna nodded. If only she weren’t so pregnant and could move faster.
Ban dropped a hand on her shoulder. His tone was sharp. “Do you really think Bakom would give Sheala back if he got his hands on you?”
Before Brianna could answer, a very loud commotion in the street drew their attention. Looking out the window, Rodane said in an astonished voice, “Someone’s landed a shuttle in the middle of the street!”
Before anyone else in the room could comment, he leaped away from the window and through the doorway into the hall. In what seemed only seconds, he returned, his hand clamped around the upper arm of Bakom’s assistant, Eliana.
“I know where he has her!” she called as she stumbled through the doorway.
Growling, Marljas leaped to his feet, claws extended.
Char laid a restraining hand on his arm. “Wait, she’s one of Bakom’s assistants.” He directed his next comment to Eliana, “How do we know this isn’t another trap?”
“Dr. Sendenton,” Eliana gasped, “I work for her. Cindar is my sister. Now hurry! There’s no time!”
With those words, she jerked free of Rodane and ran back the way she’d come.
Marljas wrenched his arm free of Char’s grasp. “Trap be damned! I go with the girl.”
Ban rose and followed Marljas.
“Char, Rodane,” Jamiros commanded, “go with them. If this is a trap, I promise you, I’ll pull the Academy down around Bakom’s ears.”
Brianna pushed herself to her feet. “Char!”
Taking the time to sweep her into his arms, he kissed her hard and said, “I’ll be back, love. Don’t worry.” Then he too was gone.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as Brianna planted her fists on her hips. “‘Don’t worry,’ he says. What does he expect me to do?”
When Jamiros put his arm around her, she buried her face in his chest.
* * * * *
Eliana had barely set the shuttle down when Marljas jumped out. “Wait,” she called after him. “You don’t even know where you’re going. This way.”
All four men followed her to the elevator. After Marljas made sure no one was waiting inside, they crowded in.
Char clamped his hand around Eliana’s upper arm.
“It’s not a trap!” she exclaimed in frustration as she pushed the correct panel and the elevator began its descent. “Bakom has secret laboratories below this building that I only found out about tonight. He’s never trusted me with this secret before.”
“If you’re lying…” growled Ban.
Marljas flexed his fingers. Four-inch claws appeared. “I’ll rip your guts out while you watch.”
She ignored their threats. “The elevator will open onto a dimly lit corridor. I don’t know what experiments Bakom is performing on the first two levels, but Sheala is being held on the third. There’s a stairway at the end of the corridor; follow it all the way to the bottom. There’s only one door that I saw. Sheala’s in that laboratory.”
The hand clasping her arm tightened. “Laboratory?”
Eliana flinched but swallowed her pain. “You’d best prepare yourselves. I don’t know exactly what her physical condition will be.”
Char loosened his grasp—a little. “Are there any guards?”
“No, but two of Bakom’s assistants were still there when we left. One of them is Odam’s brother.”
There wasn’t time for any further questions. The door of the elevator opened, and Marljas sprinted down the corridor.
“Marljas, wait,” Char called.
The other three men kept Eliana with them and followed more slowly, still suspecting the possibility of a trap.
Ban glanced towards Char and Rodane. “Now may not be the best time to mention this, but Marljas and Sheala…”
Marljas burst through the door of the laboratory as Gothran crawled off Sheala’s naked back. Both of Bakom’s assistants whirled about as the door burst open.
Seconds later, Gothran lay against the wall, slit open from throat to groin. Tetiras made a beeline for the door. Marljas ignored her. Instead, heedless of the blood that stained him, he went to the table where Sheala lay sobbing and gathered her into hi
s arms. “Shhhhh, you’re safe. It’s me.”
Sheala buried her face in his chest and sobbed harder.
“I’m here,” Marljas whispered as he hugged her to him. “I promise no one will ever hurt you again.”
“I waited and waited,” she sobbed in a voice hoarse from screaming, “but no one came. They, Bakom, he…”
Tears slid from Marljas’s eyes. “Hush, love, I’m here. No one will ever hurt you again.”
Sheala looked up into his face. “Promise me,” she hissed fiercely between her sobs. She held out her left hand. “Promise me.”
Marljas unsheathed the claws on his right hand. “I cannot do this for you. You must do it yourself.”
Eliana, Ban, Char, and Rodane entered the lab as Sheala pulled her left hand over Marljas unsheathed claws.
Releasing Eliana, Char leaped toward them. “Sheala, no!”
But it was too late. Marljas ripped his vest open and pulled his claws down over his pectoral below his tattoo. Lifting Sheala’s still bleeding hand, he held it against his open cuts. “Blood to my blood, heart to my heart, we are one forever.”
As he placed a gentle kiss on Sheala’s lips, she fainted.
Lifting his head, he looked squarely into Char’s eyes and said, “She’s mine now, Alalakan.”
Ban broke the silence. “No more than you’re hers, Marl.”
Marljas refused to reply.
“Help me,” came a faint feminine voice from the back of the room.
“He treats humans like animals,” Rodane said in disgust when he saw the cages against the back wall. “Free her and I’ll go back and pick up that woman you knocked out, Ban.”
“Best idea at the time,” Ban answered as he and Char headed to the back of the room.
“Gothran has the keys,” Eliana said in a helpful voice.
“Who? Oh,” Ban said as he looked at the bloody body on the floor. “You definitely don’t do anything halfway, do you, Marl?”
Marljas remained leaning against the table, Sheala cradled in his arms. “He raped her! What would you have done?”
Ban’s answer was terse. “With your claws, castrated him and shoved his balls down his throat.”
Marljas said nothing, but there was approval in his eyes.
Bending over the body, Ban sighed with relief. The force of Marljas’ attack had thrown the keys clear of the body. He grabbed them and joined Char, where he got his first good look at the woman in the cage. “Sosha!”
Marljas looked up when he heard the name. Still cradling the unconscious Sheala in his arms, he joined Char and Ban.
She was naked, her body battered and covered with both fresh and healing bruises in a kaleidoscope of colors. She moaned and tried to cover herself. “Please, get me out of here.”
Marljas snarled. “Sosha, what has been done to you?”
“He addicted me to mithrin,” she sobbed as they opened the door to her cage. “I’ve been used as the sexual plaything of Bakom and anyone else he brought here.”
Ban lifted her into his arms and cuddled her against his chest.
Sosha lay listlessly in his arms.
Eliana tugged Char’s sleeve. “We’ve got to get out of here. I don’t think Bakom plans on coming back tonight, but I’m not sure.”
Hope leaped into Marljas’ eyes. “Then he is a dead man.”
Sosha struggled in Ban’s arms. “The files. Bakom kept notes on everything. There are also videos.”
An ugly smile appeared on Char’s face. “Where are they?”
She pointed to a spot on the back wall. “In the wall safe, behind that cabinet. Be careful, it’s set with a chemical dissolvent. The wrong number code will trigger it.”
Char muttered a blasphemy. “Without the correct code, those files may as well be on Gattan.
Sosha’s voice was bitter. “Six, two, three, seven, four.”
Char looked from Sosha to the wall. “Are you sure of that? If you’re wrong…”
“I am sure,” she answered even more bitterly. “Bakom would often recite it in my ear when he mounted me. A game he played. He thought I would not understand because of the mithrin.”
Rodane shoved the cabinet out of the way. “There’s only one way to find out.”
In a few short minutes, the safe was open.
“Hurry,” Marljas snarled. “We must get the women to a doctor.”
Char tossed a blanket to Ban for Sosha, then rummaged through the equipment and other items lying on tables. “Just put everything in a case or sack or something. We can go through it at home. Marljas is right. We need to get to Lori.”
Rodane found a large box and a sack and emptied Bakom’s safe.
Char picked up the boxes. “The authorities have to be notified. Rodane, see if you can shake that other woman awake enough to walk to the shuttle. If you can’t, you’ll have to carry her. Eliana, can you get yourself home from here? We’ll take care of the shuttle.”
She handed a slip of paper to him. “I’ll manage. This is the name and address of the shuttle owner. Bakom never uses an Academy shuttle when he comes here.”
Marljas and Ban carried Sheala and Sosha toward the door.
Rodane slung the sack over his shoulder and followed them out.
“Where will you take them?” Eliana asked Char.
“We’ll take them home. Lorilana is probably there already.”
Char clasped her arm when Eliana turned to walk away. “The Alalakan clan is grateful for your help tonight, but you do realize that there will be a great deal of explaining to do if you lied about Lorilana’s patronage.”
Eliana grinned. “Then I have nothing to worry about. If Dr. Sendenton doesn’t acknowledge me, Cindar will make Miklan’s life a living hell.”
Char smiled. That was the one answer from Eliana that he totally believed.
She nodded her head towards Gothran’s body. “What about that?”
His lip curled. “We’ll take care of it and the woman. Go home before you’re missed.”
“With what you got out of that safe,” she said as they left the laboratory, “you aren’t going to need any more help.”
When they arrived home with the Sosha and Sheala, Lorilana sedated the two women and made sure they were tucked into beds.
Informed of their goddaughter’s rescue, Mendas Teekeson and his wife Pikeen Sodasdotir arrived a bare ten minutes later. They remained upstairs with her.
Restless and angry, Marljas, prowled Sheala’s room. Only Brianna and Jenneta had the courage to demand that he wash the blood off of himself.
Brianna he ignored.
Jenneta proved to be more intimidating than any Gattan matriarch.
Brianna walked into the breakfast room as the family was engrossed in the new plans for that afternoon’s meeting before the Ruling Council.
“There’s no doubt that Bakom will be held criminally responsible for his actions,” Jamiros said as he steepled his fingers together. “We only have to decide how to go about revealing his crimes to the Council.”
Char leaned back in his chair. “Bakom’s downfall will be much more effective if we let him believe he’s in control. Brianna’s obvious pregnancy and her marital status will certainly cause him problems. I’d like to see just how he reacts.”
Jamiros frowned. “Is that wise?”
Char nodded. “If we hadn’t discovered Bakom’s secret laboratories, that’s the position we’d be in. What’s more, we need to discover which members of the Council knew about the laboratory. Sosha said that Bakom would give her to others when she was under the influence of mithrin. If any Council member ever entered that laboratory, he or she is just as guilty as Bakom and should be punished and censured accordingly.”
Jamiros turned to Brianna. “What do you think?”
She shrugged as she ate her breakfast. “I’ll go along with whatever plans you devise since the baby won’t be in any danger.”
A concerned Jenneta interrupted. “Will Sheala or Sosha hav
e to be there?”
“No, Grandmother. Sosha may be called upon another day to identify any other Council members who were in Bakom’s lab, but the ‘scientific records’ that Bakom filmed will condemn him as far as their rapes are concerned.”
Xdana winced and fresh tears began to flow at the word rapes.
Char patted her arm. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
Xdana waved him off. “It’s not your fault, Char. It’s just that Sheala didn’t deserve the treatment she received from that animal.”
Jamiros rose and walked around the table to his wife. Taking her hands, he lifted her from her chair and pulled her into his arms. “No one deserves what happened to Sheala and Sosha. Now we must help them. As long as Sheala has us to love her, she’ll be fine.”
Ban had remained silent during the discussion. Now, however, he spoke. “Don’t forget Marljas. You can be sure he intends to be part of any plans concerning Sheala.”
Jamiros frowned. “We’re going to have to decide what to do about Marljas.”
Brianna’s head snapped up. She had just finished the substantial breakfast and now turned her attention to the family discussion. “Do something about Marljas?”
Everyone looked at her.
“We are discussing my brother.”
Xdana’s voice was sharp. “Do you expect us to accept this marriage?”
Brianna nodded. “Yes. Mine and Char’s marriage began under similar if less violent circumstances.”
Ban grinned. “She has you there, Aunt. And you’re discussing Sheala as if she has no say in the matter.”
Jamiros shook his head. “Sheala was hysterical. She didn’t know what she was doing.”
Jenneta spoke for the first time. “Why don’t we ask Shea when she wakes up?”
Jamiros stared at his mother, his surprise obvious. “You think we should honor this marriage?”
Jenneta pursed her lips. “If my information is correct,” she said, nodding in Ban’s direction, “Sheala spent Solstice night with Marljas on his ship and the night before last in his room here. She must have some feelings for the boy.”
