by Alison Aimes
Aurora’s eyelids sprung open and slammed shut on a groan. Her head throbbed, her temple was on fire, her mouth chalky. Her chest hurt, too. The golden soul ties that had grown so familiar and comforting suddenly dim and brittle. She tried to shift position and couldn’t.
Panic shot through her. What was going on?
With a grimace, she forced her eyes wide once more.
Her arms and legs were tied to the posts. Memories of the past few hours returned.
Her body shook. DaKar. He was in danger.
She twisted and scanned her bedroom. The beast who’d hit her was gone.
She struggled to loosen the ties. A vicious pain bloomed behind her left eye. She tried again. It was no use.
Had she been out for a long time? Was her stepfather on his way back to continue his lessons even now? What had happened to DaKar?
A muffled noise sounded outside the door.
Aurora jerked against the bonds, but only succeeded in ratcheting her dress farther up her legs.
The door eased opened. She ceased breathing.
Cecilia peeked inside.
“Oh, thank the Goddess. You’ve come.” Her relief at seeing her aunt left her limp. “I’m sorry I called you a coward before. I was wrong.”
Cecilia did not move. She remained by the door, her head cocked to the side, her arms behind her back.
Aurora’s heart thumped hard against her chest. “Where’s Whetherton?”
“He’s out.” Her aunt took a cautious step into the room. “He didn’t tell me where he was going. He took that horrid Collins with him. Everything is in a terrible muddle.”
A shiver ran down Aurora’s spine, the odd flat look in her aunt’s eyes almost as scary as Whetherton’s glittering mania. “Please, untie me.”
“You’ve been unconscious for hours. I thought you’d never wake up.”
Hours? Desperation slammed through her. She had to get out of here. DaKar needed her.
“You know what he intends, Cecilia.” Tears sprung to her eyes. “You can’t just sit by and let him rape me.”
Cecilia’s expression hardened. For the first time, Aurora saw the family resemblance between brother and sister. It frightened her even more.
“Cecilia?”
“Much as it distresses me, you are right. I cannot sit idly by.” Her aunt’s arms came from behind her back. She clutched a sharp silver letter opener in her right hand, a carbon copy of the one Aurora had left in DaKar’s floater. “If only it hadn’t come to this.”
She walked forward, her movements wooden.
Aurora’s stomach twisted. “I know it isn’t easy to be in the middle of this. But…but you are here to help me, aren’t you?”
“Of course. If word got out, he would never be Chancellor.” Her aunt reached the bed. “His life’s dreams would be at an end. And yet, he doesn’t seem to be able to help himself where you’re concerned.” Regret and determination filled Cecilia’s gaze as she raised the opener. “It’s better, therefore, that you disappear altogether.”
Disappear? Not die? Aurora held her breath as the opener slashed downward—and experienced the welcome discomfort of several hard tugs against her wrist as her aunt sawed through the binds at her wrist.
“Thank you, Cecilia.” Relief left her almost incoherent. As did her guilt. When had she begun to suspect the worst in everyone?
Cecilia remained silent the entire time she worked.
Finally, the ties at her arms and legs lay in tatters on the bed. She was free.
Elated, Aurora stumbled off the bed, ignoring the sharp pains in her limbs—and her chest.
Her vision darkened. A strange humming sounded in her head. Her legs were rubbery and insubstantial as she leaned into the mattress to hold her up. Collins had hurt her badly.
“You don’t seem well at all.” Cecilia’s voice was sharp. “Are you sure you can do this?”
“Of course. I just required a moment.” Pushing past the dizziness, she straightened to her full height. The last thing she needed was for her aunt to turn against her now. “Let’s go.”
She started toward the door, each step surer than the last.
Cecilia remained where she was. “I’m not going.”
Aurora froze. “What?”
“I’m not going with you. You will need to escape on your own.”
“You cannot stay here. Whetherton has gone completely insane. Even before you helped me, he was promising to hurt you. Once he finds out what you’ve done, you will not be safe. He’s not the boy you remember. You have to come with me. There is no other choice.”
“You ungrateful chit.” The letter opener flashed as her Aunt flicked her hand in disgust. “You know nothing. My brother saved me. Even as a child, he cared for me…loved me… He knows…he knows all my failings and still deigns to help me.”
“Cecilia, whatever happened to you—”
“Nothing happened, nothing at all.” Her voice was tinged with hysteria. “Family is everything. Without family, I am…nothing. You are the problem. You are the poison in our midst. Once you go, all will be fine.”
A pain tore at Aurora’s heart. She knew Cecilia was ill, but her words still found a mark.
She’d ruined everything with DaKar. And, Goddess knows, her relationship with her mother and her aunt had been tainted as well.
Whetherton was a monster, but perhaps she was an abomination as well. Perhaps she was equally as poisonous.
“Go!” Cecilia jabbed the letter opener in her direction. “Who knows how much time you have before my brother returns? He could be on his way home right now.” Her eyes narrowed. “I want you gone.”
“Please come with me. He’s not your only family. I-I can be there for you, too. Care for you, too.”
“I don’t want you!” Cecilia advanced, the opener raised in front of her like a weapon. “I told you before I would never be your ally or your friend and I meant it. If you don’t disappear on your own, I will be forced to do it for you.”
She stared at Cecilia a moment more and then whirled around and ran for the door. Her hands trembled as she turned the knob, but she didn’t look back. She couldn’t. She didn’t want to see one more person she’d been unable to save.
She absolutely refused to have that happen with DaKar.
She ran down the hall to the back stairs, her ears alert to any sound. The house, however, was eerily quiet. Had the servants fled? She hoped so.
She reached the bottom of the stairs, her breath coming fast, and sprinted for the door. Her head shrieked out a protest with every pounding step, but she ignored it. Just as she ignored the discomfort in her arms and legs. Warning DaKar was the only thing that mattered.
She bolted through the back door and allowed herself a brief moment of victory. She’d made it out of that house of horrors intact.
The darkening night air was cool and crisp and she relished the way it burned her throat and lungs as she ran down the back alley. It let her know she was alive. Free.
While she ran, a plan formed. She couldn’t run all the way to DaKar’s. Nor did she know how much time she had until her stepfather discovered she was gone. Her best alternative was to continue down the back alley until she was out of sight of the house and then veer back to the main street. There, she could wave down a passing floater and ask for help getting to DaKar.
Determination lengthened her stride. She risked a quick glance back to ensure no one followed. When she swiveled forward again, her eyes widened with horror.
Directly in her path was a giant of a man. His arms outstretched to catch her, his fierce visage as frightening as his misshapen nose and the chilling determination in his eyes. He had the look of a man who would follow orders no matter what.
Oh Goddess, I failed.
Another of her stepfather’s lackeys had found her. Now, she’d never be able to warn DaKar, much less save herself.
She tried to slow down. To change direction. It proved impossible.
&nbs
p; She crashed into the giant’s chest. Her already shrieking head went into overload. One by one, her senses shut down. First, her vision disappeared, then her sense of smell, of taste, of touch.
Her sense of balance vanished next. She was slipping, falling, spiraling down into oblivion. Oddly, the last of her senses to go was her hearing.
Even as she lost consciousness and slid to the ground, she still heard the night sounds and the anguished wail of her own voice screaming DaKar’s name.
38
Aurora eyes eased open. From her prone position on the bed, she took in the plain walls, the absence of furniture, and the cracked washbasin in the corner. Heartsick, she let them flutter closed.
It was no dream. She was still in this prison, a sparse bedroom on the top floor of a hunting lodge she was all but certain was the one her stepfather had mentioned.
She’d awoken here three lunar rotations ago. Contained by sealed windows and a solid locked door with only the sullen giant who’d captured her for an occasional companion.
Her aches had healed, the swelling around her eye had receded, and she was no longer queasy each time she turned her head, but none of that mattered.
Terror for herself, for DaKar, for Cecilia, ate away more of her soul with every passing heartbeat.
Sleeping and pacing were the only things that kept her from going mad. No doubt the wait was intended to increase her anxiety. But no matter how much she told herself not to fall prey to Whetherton’s sick games, she couldn’t help it.
His tactic was working. Every creak on the stairs sounded like her stepfather’s footfall. Every rattle of her windowpane echoed like his hand unlocking her door.
She rolled out of the bed and walked to the window. The cool pane against her forehead chased away the last vestiges of her sleepy daze. She traced the unending blackened trunks of the trees with her fingertips. They were real and alive and trying to flourish in the polluted air outside the dome. Under different circumstances, she might have been inspired by their determination to survive under the harshest of conditions. At present, they only seemed like a harbinger of things to come.
She could scream for hours and hours, rotation after rotation, and no one would ever hear. No one would ever know.
Escape was close to impossible. Clean air was being piped into the building through special tanks like the ones used in the dome, but stepping beyond the boundaries would likely leave her lungs as twisted as those trees.
With a shiver, she turned away.
A muffled noise sounded in the hall.
She retreated to the far wall. A click of the lock, a beep of the exit pad, and the knob turned. The familiar face of the giant peeked inside, his right arm up to ward off any blows.
Satisfaction roiled through her. Yesterday she’d used the washbasin to try and knock him out. Though it hadn’t worked, it comforted her to know he hadn’t forgotten. It was a small consolation, but in light of all her current failures it made her feel a little less weak.
When no weapon hurtled toward him, the giant lowered his hand and, gripping the tray of food, placed it over the threshold of the door. “Here you are, my lady.”
She remained where she was. “You know what he’ll do to me, don’t you? Can you live with that? Can you face whatever gods you believe in with a clear conscience knowing your part in his plan?”
“Not that again.” He scowled, his Outer World accent growing more pronounced. “Don’t pretend you’re an innocent miss in all this. I may not know the whole story, but I know enough.” He lumbered back through the door and closed it part of the way. “I’d eat up if I were you. I’ve orders to bring you down to the hall in an hour.”
She barely heard the door shut over the deafening roar of her own heart.
Her time had come. Whetherton had gotten tired of tormenting her from afar and now intended to do it personally. Suddenly, three lunar rotations seemed terribly short.
She forced her breathing to slow. She thought of DaKar and the first time she’d seen him. The way he’d looked at her. The instant connection between them. The first time he’d touched her. How her skin had burned as hot as a thousand glowing embers.
The sheer beauty of the shimmering golden threads that had once wound through her with such vibrancy she’d lit up brighter than any starlit galaxy.
She remembered his expression as he shared his night-sky bedroom plans. His pride when he’d shared his favorite foods with her. His ferocity when they made love.
She reminded herself of the pleasure, the power, the joy, the sense of completeness, she would never have known if not for him.
She took another deep breath. When she faced Whetherton, she would have those triumphs to bolster her against certain humiliation and pain.
Resolute, she lifted her chin and waited. She would meet this monster knowing no matter what he did, he could never take that from her. It would not be as easy to break her as he thought.
An hour later, the door swung open.
“Come.” The giant waited outside the threshold.
Spine straight, she marched forward.
Her guard gripped her upper arm and ushered her down the stairs. It was the first time she’d seen beyond her room.
Her hands trembled anew. With its dirty walls, cobwebs, and moth-eaten tapestries, the whole place had the eerie, empty feel of a place long abandoned.
She stared forward and envisioned DaKar’s arrogant, sexy smile.
They reached the massive hall. Head held high, she marched through the entrance, only to see nothing.
Her shoulders sagged. The room was empty. More games? More torment?
The room was as barren and desolate as the rest of the lodge, with only a long table and bench for eating and two wide doors at the other end. The sun streamed through the thick glass panes taunting her with her proximity to the outside. It didn’t matter, though. With the giant holding her and the toxic air outside, the doors might as well have been bricked over.
There was no escape.
One of the inner doors slammed open. The press of the giant’s grip anchored her in place. She shivered, but held steady. She was not going to cower. She was not going to be broken.
Her enemy stepped over the threshold.
“DaKar.” Joy exploded through her. “Oh, thank the Goddess.” She could hardly believe it. She had expected a nightmare and received her most ardent wish instead.
He looked so beautiful and fierce, a dark-haired avenging warrior demon. His horns jutting straight up, his fangs flashing as the veins in his chest and forearms popped and his chest expanded wider than she’d ever seen, proof he could rip anyone apart with ease. And his eyes—they’d shifted from golden to blood red—something she’d never seen before.
She’d never felt safer.
She leapt toward him, only to be jerked back against the giant’s side.
She’d forgotten. They were not out of danger yet.
Still, together they could dispatch the giant. Together, they could do anything. Giddy relief left her trembling. He was safe. He was here.
For the first time in a while, hope flowed through her.
“You can’t know how badly I wished for just this moment. I was so worried.” The words bubbled out of her. “I should have known you’d survive no matter what. This is just…just unbelievable. How did you ever find me?”
The giant grunted, capturing her attention. An odd mix of confusion and pity flitted through his gaze.
“Release me.” She tried wrenching her arm away. “There is no point in following your employer’s instructions now.”
DaKar would tear him apart.
The giant wrinkled his forehead. His grip didn’t loosen.
“Actually, Lady Aurora,” skirting the table, DaKar came to stand nearby. “I would prefer Saman continue following his employer’s instructions.”
Unease filtered through her. His tone and words were not at all what she’d expected. And, now that she realized it, no joy or rel
ief pulsed along the golden threads from him to her. In fact, nothing did. The few strands still clinging to her chest were black and ashy, like the deadened branches of a tree. She’d sensed the change before, and been terrified it was because her stepfather had been able to follow through on his plans to harm DaKar.
But here he was, alive and right in front of her. But something still wasn’t right.
“You’re hurt.” Black and blue marks covered his face. The outline of a large bandage was visible beneath his shirt.
Her stomach rolled. She hadn’t been able to protect him after all.
She began to twist in her captor’s hold. “Let me go. I need to make sure he’s okay.” She wanted to run her palms over each wound and prove to herself he was all right.
Mocking applause echoed in the cavernous hall—and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from DaKar. “Bravo, an excellent performance. Even better than my dramatic entrance.” His expression hardened. “Still, neither false struggles nor playing the confused innocent will change a thing. Saman is being well paid for his troubles and I have already learned firsthand what a consummate liar you are.”
Her head snapped up.
He met her gaze head-on. His eyes brimmed with contempt.
Her heart shriveled. No wonder the once golden soul ties were black and ashy.
He knew.
Worse, this was no rescue. This was retribution.
39
“You.” Shock and pain muffled Aurora’s voice. “You brought me here.”
“I would have been here sooner, but…” DaKar gestured towards his bandaged chest, his smug expression intensifying. “Do you like it? It was a favorite spot of my father’s when he was younger. A lair outside the dome, away from prying eyes. I personally never liked it much, but then again I was never invited to all the disreputable house parties.” A cold smirk bloomed. “Perhaps I will feel differently about the place after our time here.”
She’d thought this was her stepfather’s lodge. She’d thought she knew the villain in her story. “What…what are you planning?”
