Текст книги "Wicked Edge"
Автор книги: Rebecca Zanetti
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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter 28
Felicity coughed herself awake and sat up in a cushioned bed. Her lungs ached and her head swam. Whatever they’d pumped into her veins had taken hold and lasted far too long. Her mouth tasted like she’d eaten coal, and no saliva wet her tongue.
She tried to focus, but her head lolled on her neck.
A glass of water near the bed caught her eye. She reached for it, her fingers fumbling and almost knocking it over.
God, she needed that water.
Lowering her chin, she reached out with both trembling hands and encircled the glass. Slowly, she raised it to her mouth and tipped it back to drink. The second the liquid touched her lips, she lost all control.
Water cascaded down her throat, over her mouth, and across her chin.
She didn’t care.
The second it landed in her stomach, she groaned. Okay. Better. Much better.
She set down the glass and wiped her chin, allowing her eyes to focus in the dim light. Her head throbbed and her muscles felt lax. She glanced down. Silk bedspread, plush pillows. Fear sizzled through her until she’d patted her arms and looked at her yoga-pants-covered legs.
Okay. Good. She might be in a bed, but her clothing had remained on. Except for her socks. Her feet were bare.
Silence surrounded her, deep and pounding. No outside sounds at all penetrated the walls.
A dim light glowed from the bed table, and she kicked free, trying to stand. Her knees wobbled, and she had to hold on to the bed for several precious moments, trying to regain her strength. Finally, she could stand without falling.
A door took up the center of a far wall, so she shuffled across plush carpet to reach for the doorknob. The golden knob didn’t even turn. Swallowing, she reached for the light switch on the wall and flicked it up.
The light slashed pain through her skull, and she winced, closing her eyes. She took in several deep breaths and exhaled, trying to calm her galloping heart. She opened her eyelids enough to let a little light inside. Then, taking her time, she slowly opened them all the way. A deep purple carpet covered the floor and matched the bedding. A feminine dresser and end tables were set in the room. Two doorways led to a walk-in closet and fully appointed bath, also in purple.
An original oil painting by Juno Dungs above the bed added more vibrancy to the already colorful room. The walls had been painted a muted beige.
She quickly scoured through the dressers and only found lingerie, yoga pants, and some jeans. More clothes, probably in her size, filled the closet.
Damn it. There had to be something she could use to pick the lock.
Staggering only a little, she made it to the bathroom. Typical feminine makeup, all unused, filled the drawers. No bobby pins or nail files. Damn it.
She searched for a weapon but only found a black eyeliner. So she slid it up her sleeve just in case. Maybe she could use it to poke an eye out. She meandered back into the bedroom and crossed to examine the door.
As she reached it, the knob turned and it opened inward.
Ivan Bychkov stepped inside. “Felicity. It is so good to see you.”
She lost all reason. Yelling, she leaped across the foot separating them and slammed into him, jamming her elbow down on his collarbone. The cartilage cracked with a very satisfying crunch.
Using his uninjured side, he grabbed her arm, swinging her out and throwing. She spun through the air and landed on the bed, rolling off the other side. Pain lanced up her shoulder. She stood, grasping the bed covers for balance.
Ivan frowned and rubbed his collarbone. “Good lord, woman. You’re wilder now than you were a century ago.”
“Thank you,” she said, showing her teeth.
“That changes and now.” He stood about six-foot-six, long and lean, with stark white blond hair and purebred demon black eyes. To most women, he’d be handsome.
But she could see all of him, and real evil lived in him. “You know I’m going to kill you, right?” she spat.
His eyebrows were a light brown, and he drew them down. “I just don’t understand the hostility.”
She blinked. “Are you kidding?”
He sighed. “The drug we used will hamper you for a while, and according to my doctors, you need protein and sugar in your system. If you’d please come with me, we’ll get you fed.”
The guy was crazy. “Where’s my son?”
“He’s fine and is safely secured in the mine area of the mountain.” Bychkov rocked back on his heels. “The dizziness you’re experiencing can be quelled by a good meal.”
Okay. So her vision was a little blurry. “What did you drug me with?”
“A cocktail created by a friend of mine by altering normal tranquilizers.”
Damn witches and their potions. Of course, that’s exactly how she had drugged Daire. She winced. Man, would Daire be pissed that she’d been kidnapped. She stepped around the bed. “Fine. I’ll eat, and then I want to see my son.” At the very least, ingesting protein would help her regain her strength to take on Ivan. “Where am I, any—” She gasped upon entering the hallway.
Sparkling rock surrounded her, while a long carpet stretched over more rock. “We’re underground,” she breathed.
“Yes.”
That explained the quiet. “Where?” she asked, adrenaline heating down her back.
“On the island,” he said, pivoting on his boot and leading the way.
Her lungs seized. “On Fryser Island?”
“The one and only.” He clasped his hands at his back and strode past several closed doorways.
“We’re at the Sjenerøse mine,” she murmured, tripping and regaining her balance. “How did you get me here?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Once you were knocked out, I teleported you here, of course.”
Crap. She hadn’t thought of that. Sure, a majority of demons could teleport, but she hadn’t counted on being squired a world away from home. “I can’t teleport.”
“I know.” He sighed, stopping in front of a silver-plated elevator and pushing a button.
She hovered near the wall and planted her hand over the sparkles. Many minerals glowed, but a shiny greenish pink one held promise. Obviously not silver or coal. “Is this planekite?” she asked.
“Yes.” The elevator door swished open and he stood back, gesturing her inside.
The mineral felt cold and innocuous. It was hard to imagine that something so pretty could actually kill an enforcer with Daire’s strength. Even walking down the hallway would weaken him and subdue his powers.
Which led to another problem. She turned and stepped into the elevator. “Isn’t this mine only accessible by parachuting in?” Her stomach dropped.
“And teleporting,” Ivan said, following her and pressing a button near the top. “Every man I have working here has the ability to teleport in and out, just in case of mine failure or attack.”
Futility slammed into her stomach. Neither she nor Logan could teleport. Hopefully Logan would someday gain the ability; he was young yet. But she’d never have it, and now the only way out of the mining area for them was to climb down a series of frozen mountain slopes to the arctic tundra miles away. They’d face many predators, and she had no interest in going up against wild polar bears ever again.
Ivan cleared his throat. “By the way, we have all the surrounding area covered with land mines. Anybody trying to leave here by any way other than teleporting will be blown into tiny pieces even a witch couldn’t put back together.”
The Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme trilled through her head. There had to be a place for a helicopter to land.
“We’re covered by trees with no cleared space,” Ivan continued as if slapping away each idea that occurred to her. “Any clearing big enough for a helicopter is fully planted with explosives.” His voice remained matter of fact and almost cheerful.
Felicity kept her face stoic. Her only chance was to somehow get word to Zane as to where they were, so he could teleport in and get Logan out of there. But first she had to find Logan.
The elevator door opened, and bright light cut inside. She blinked several times and followed Ivan into an opulent dining room with full floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a cliff. The world outside was blue and white. Blue sky, blue condensed ice, and white ground with white covering the trees. Sunshine sparkled off particles in the ice, glittering and cold.
“This is so weird,” she muttered, stomping forward to take one of the two seats at the table decorated with fine red linens and sterling silver accents.
Ivan reached for a bottle of 1973 Richebourg and poured them each a glass. “A nice Pinot Noir for lunch,” he said as the red wine filled their glasses. Then he sat across from her.
A waiter, impeccably dressed in a white uniform, entered from a side room and quickly deposited soup in front of them. The fragrant scent wafted up, and Felicity’s stomach growled. There was only a soup spoon on the table, but the candlesticks appeared to be pure silver. While they were elegantly shaped with no sharp points, she could still use them. Blunt force trauma to the temple might take down Ivan.
He sipped his wine. “Eat up so we can get you healthy.”
She frowned, the spoon halfway to her mouth. “Why do you care so much about my health?”
He swirled the wine in the glass and watched the play of light. “My doctors have informed me that we can’t inject you with the mutated Virus-Twenty-Seven until all of the current drug is out of your system.”
She dropped her spoon. “You have vials of the mutated virus?”
“Yes. The queen doesn’t believe in proprietary information and made the concoction available to the world at large.” He smiled. “It didn’t take much of an effort to find a clinic and buy samples. Of course, the queen also sent very strong directions that the samples were for research purposes only.”
Nausea swirled down Felicity’s throat to thud in her stomach. “The mutation is still experimental.”
“Right, but as I can see, the drug already worked on you, or you wouldn’t have been able to mate Daire Dunne.” Ivan smiled.
She shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, it worked. But the queen made a few tweaks before we experimented, and you probably don’t have the newest samples. In addition, nobody has ever tried to negate a mating bond twice in the same body.” God only knew what the mutated sample would do once inside Felicity.
“I’m willing to take the chance.”
Felicity sat back in the velvet chair. “Why?” she breathed. “I really don’t understand. Why is this so important to you?”
He blew on soup before shoving the spoon in his mouth. “Your brother and I had an agreement.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Why else?”
His dark eyes darkened further. “You’ve been in my dreams for a century. Perfect golden hair and black eyes. A purebred female demon.”
“I’m not some trophy.”
“Sure you are.” He smiled again. “Do you have any idea how rare you are?”
She leaned back. “Yes.” The guy was a narcissistic asshole who’d rather see her dead than living away from him. “Have you tried seeking professional help for your narcissistic, sociopathic tendencies?” Steeling her shoulders, she dug into the soup to banish the dizziness.
He chuckled. “I like your spirit. You’ve caused me so much trouble, I now have my own people wanting to spill my blood. Mating you, the mother to Zane Kyllwood and a purebred demon, will put me back in control. Especially when I combine your fortune with mine and start investing again.”
“I’m broke.” She finished the bowl and sat back. As if by magic, the waiter appeared with her next course, a big steak. She winced.
“We both know you have plenty of money.” Ivan handed over his soup bowl. “You still don’t like meat?” He shrugged. “For now, I’d eat it anyway. Protein is the key to flushing your system of the current drug and preparing you for the next one.”
Yes. The queen had had Felicity eat a high-protein diet for a month before trying out the mutated drug. But Felicity had taken time to find protein she liked and didn’t have to eat meat. She had no objection to anybody else eating meat . . . she just didn’t like the taste or texture. Even so, she immediately reached for the fork and steak knife left by the waiter. The knife would come in handy.
She cleared her throat and tried to use reason when all she wanted to do was shove the blade through Ivan’s jugular. “Listen, Ivan. I hate you. With a white hot, raw need to see you decapitated.” Her voice shook, and she forced air into her lungs. “I want you dead. That is not going to change ever. So if we stay in the same vicinity, I will kill you. Dead.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“So what the hell?”
He wiped his pale mouth and set his napkin back on his lap. “Since you’re being so honest, so will I.” His dark eyes burned with an odd light. “You’ll take the drug and negate the mating bond with the lowlife witch. You and I will mate, or I’ll kill Logan.” Ivan sat back and eyed his steak. “Mating you will get me back on track professionally and personally? I want two kids. Purebred demons.”
She shook her head, her chest aching. “You’re crazy. No way will I have children with you.”
He lifted a shoulder. “My doctors tell me all I need is to mate you and then harvest your eggs.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Yes. Using the technology created by humans, I can just harvest your genetic material and use a surrogate.” His face lacked any sense of humor. “But we have to mate first, or the pregnancy won’t take, as you probably already know.”
He was over the moon crazy, but what if a crazy plan like that actually worked? She couldn’t leave any of her kids alone, and no way could she have a kid with the bastard. “Under no circumstances am I giving you genetic material.”
He smiled. “After we’re mated, I don’t see that you’ll have a choice. You’re stuck on this mountain, Felicity. And if you want Logan to live to see his next birthday, you’ll mate with me.”
She coughed out and tried to keep from puking. While the plan was absolutely insane, Ivan did have the resources to make it happen. “Then what?”
He smiled, his canines glinting. “Then I’m going to cut off your beautiful head.”
Chapter 29
Daire took the stairs two at a time, rushing up the stairwell and bursting into the hallway. A still smoking hole gaped where the wall to his apartment had been. Somebody, probably Kellach, had created a shield in the air that would keep humans from seeing or smelling the smoke and fire. At least for a while. Quantum physics and magic at its finest. He gingerly stepped through, his heart thundering.
Rain and wind billowed inside from a hole in the outside wall. Sam and Kellach sat with their backs to the couch, bruises covering their faces and blood flowing from various injuries. Both were typing furiously on their phones and grunting something at each other. Simone sat over on a burned ottoman, an icepack against her face, her lip fat and bleeding.
Zane paced near the smoldering kitchen, barking orders into a cell phone.
Daire took a deep breath.
Simone saw him first. “We’re trying to find her, but so far, no luck.”
His knees wobbled and he growled.
Zane ended a call. “Six-man team, smoke grenade, and some kind of drug that knocked us on our asses. Well trained and prepared for both demons and witches.” He rubbed a hand over a series of bruises on his forehead. “Mom fought hard, but the drug took her out.”
Sam looked up, anger and concern in his green eyes. “We’ll find her. Garrett is hitting the pavement up and down the block, trying to talk to anybody who might have seen them. Kell and I are working on traffic cams, store surveillance, and hopefully satellite pictures.”
Kellach didn’t even look up, his fingers were flying so quickly over his phone. “I have a German satellite that may have been in the correct position. The Realm boys are on it, and they’ll relay all data to me.”
Daire fought the urge to hit something. “She’s smart and she’s tough.” He was reassuring himself more than anybody else. “Her main concern is Logan, so she’ll play along until she finds him.” That was crucial, because based on the information he’d gleaned about Bychkov, the guy would ultimately decide to kill her. He wanted to make her pay for making a fool out of him years ago. Mating a full-bred demon would help him with his followers for a while, but he’d have to kill her at some point, or she’d definitely kill him.
Daire coughed out smoke, his gut churning. His mate was in the hands of the enemy, and he had no clue where she was being held. He nodded at Simone. “Let’s take this to your apartment.”
She glanced around, her eyes unfocused. “Oh. Good idea.” Her hand visibly trembled when she pushed off the chair, and Daire braced himself to catch her if necessary. But she made it over the legs of the two sitting soldiers and toward the door.
Kellach shoved to stand and reached down a hand to help Sam. A bone protruded from Sam’s upper thigh.
Daire winced. “You need to fix that before you do anything else.”
He nodded and didn’t protest when Kellach ducked under his arm and helped him out the door and down the hall.
Bear crashed into the room, his eyes wide, rain dripping from his shaggy hair. “Holy crap.” He looked around the demolished room. “What’s our plan?”
“Next door,” Daire said. “Simone’s place wasn’t hit, and we’re going to plan there.”
Bear nodded and loped through the gaping hole and down the hallway.
Zane stared at Daire.
“What?” Daire asked.
“I have an idea, and it’s far-fetched, but we at least need to try.” The demon crossed his arms.
“Fine, but heal that bleeding wound in your forehead.” Daire tried not to look at the wound.
Zane wiped blood from his head and set his stance, his chest moving as he inhaled and slowly exhaled. The hole closed. “Better?”
“Somewhat.” Daire eyed his ruined penthouse. “What’s your plan?”
“You’ve mated. It’s probably too early, but there may be a chance to communicate telepathically,” Zane said.
Daire lifted his head. He’d totally forgotten that mated couples could usually reach each other through thoughts. Hope unfurled in his chest, and he shoved the emotion way down. “We’ve only been mated a couple of days,” he warned Zane.
“I know, but demons have stronger telepathic gifts than other species, so it’s not unheard of to learn the skill quickly.” Zane stretched out his hand to reveal several broken fingers. With a growl, he narrowed his gaze and the breaks healed. “Plus, she’s done it before with my father. At least give it a try.”
Daire nodded. “Since Felicity can’t attack minds, do you think she’ll be able to read thoughts?”
“Yes. It’s a totally different ability.” Zane leaned back against the ripped and torn wall. “Well?”
Daire shut his eyes and centered himself. Then he sent out a call for Felicity.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Nothing.
“I feel like a dumbass,” he muttered, opening his eyes.
Zane rubbed his chin. “I know, but it’s our only shot right now. You have to believe you can do it, or it won’t matter.”
“Can you speak to your mate?” Daire asked.
“Yes. Easily.”
Well, all right then. Daire inhaled the scent of smoke and blood. He then exhaled slowly, pushing out all the bad air. His mind wandered to the arctic and their night in the tent. Their first night together. He smiled and concentrated. Felicity? If you can hear me, or sense me, ah, say something?
A buzz tickled through his brain. He stilled. Felicity?
What?
The word stormed through his brain, sizzling along his synapses and shooting down his spine. He dropped to one knee, his heart convulsing. “Holy shit.”
Zane winced. “She, ah, couldn’t control the power with my dad, either.”
Daire pushed to stand. “You’re telling me that the woman who can’t attack minds has the ability to destroy mine since we’ve mated?”
Zane’s lip twisted. “Yeah. I mean, she probably won’t.”
“I’m the one person in the world she can mind attack?” Daire asked, his breath heating.
“Yeah. I guess you are.” Zane studied him thoughtfully.
Well, shit. His heart warmed that he could actually get into Cee Cee’s head, but the idea of her melting his brain accidentally didn’t set well. “Why isn’t she calling out?”
Zane shrugged, his eyes a little wild. “Maybe she remembered how dangerous she is.”
Daire didn’t care. He forced away thoughts of what could be happening to her and tried to focus. Cee Cee? I’m fine, baby. Tell me where you are.
The Sjenerøse Mine! shrieked through his head.
He staggered but kept his feet this time. Holy fuck. She was across the world. He focused on an intent Zane. “She’s at the Sjenerøse mine on Fryser Island.”
“The asshole teleported her,” Zane muttered.
Daire nodded and tried to send another message. We’ll be right there.
No! Entire place surrounded by land mines and covered in planekite!
His left eardrum exploded, and he clapped a hand over it. Her power was frightening. Got it. You okay?
Yes! You can’t come get me—I think there’s planekite everywhere.
I understand, but I’ll deal with that when I get there. His head jerked twice, and blood dribbled from his ear. He blinked away blindness. Find Logan?
Not yet!
Pain exploded at the base of his neck and reverberated through his vertebra. Nausea exploded, and he turned to the side, his hand going to his stomach. It took several deep swallows, but he didn’t puke. Hold tight, baby. We’re coming for you.
Thankfully, she didn’t answer.
He crammed the palm of his hand against his right eye to regain sight. “How many people can you teleport?”
Zane bit his lip. “I can probably take two in, but after we fight, if we find a fight, I may not be able to bring two out immediately. And weapons can’t teleport.”
Shit. He’d forgotten that fact. “I already know that Logan hasn’t developed the skill yet. Can Sam teleport?”
“Yes.”
So he had two demons who could teleport with him, and two to rescue who couldn’t teleport. If the fight was fierce, then whoever Zane and Sam took in might not make it out. “Okay. Here’s the plan. You, Sam, and I go in. You and Sam get Felicity and Logan to safety, and then when you’re strong, come back for me. I’ll take care of Bychkov and anybody else.”
“That plan gets you killed,” Zane said, crossing his arms.
Maybe. “The key is that we get your mom and brother to safety.” Daire put it into words Zane couldn’t dispute. “That’s all that matters.”
Felicity followed Ivan through a labyrinth of tunnels along thick carpet, then thinner carpet, then a series of bath mats, and then cold, hard stone. The jerk had confiscated her knife and eyeliner, damn it.
The hallways narrowed and the lights dimmed. Her mind spun. Daire had reached her, somehow. Man, she hoped she hadn’t hurt him when she’d responded. She’d actually blinded her first mate for a week once years ago. Since she’d never had the ability to attack minds, she hadn’t learned to control the skill.
Finally, they reached a secured room guarded by two men.
She stopped breathing. Was Logan inside?
Ivan unlocked the door and stalked into the chamber. She ran after him, frantically looking around. It was a war room.
A sprawling onyx table surrounded by heavy chairs took up the center of the room. Computer screens covered one full wall, and maps concealed the other side. A group of computers and stations were currently empty across the room. “This is where I work,” Ivan said.
The door shut behind her and she jumped. “Where is my son?”
Ivan turned and smiled. “I think we’ll wait to see Logan until after you are injected with the mutated virus. It’ll be much easier to get along, I think.”
Temper roared through her. “Is he alive?”
“Yes.” No expression settled on Ivan’s angled face. “I give you my word, he’s alive, and he’s here.”
“Your word doesn’t mean shit to me.”
He sighed. “Language.”
“Oh, fuck you.” She wandered over to the maps, which clearly showed his mines. “You should probably use a different colored pin for the mines I’ve destroyed.”
He swore. “That was very unkind of you, you know.”
Her fingers itched with the need to draw his blood. But she couldn’t harm him until she found Logan. Keeping casual, she studied the maps. “Who’s your partner in these mines?”
Ivan laughed. “I’m afraid he’s the silent type.”
“I’m thinking he has a couple more planekite mines out there that you don’t know about.” She recognized all the known mines.
“Maybe, but he still needed my mines, so I guess he doesn’t produce enough.”
The door opened, and a blond demon in white coat walked inside. He had a medical bag under one arm and a syringe in his hand.
Felicity backed away.
“He’s only going to take blood to see if the tranquilizer is still in your system,” Ivan said, tossing a notepad back and forth. “I can hold you down until he gets blood, or you can offer your arm. I prefer to see you fight.”
Heat coated down her throat. She might be able to take both men, but she still didn’t know where Logan was, and there were at least two guards outside the room. She held out her arm. “Take too much, and I’ll kill you next,” she said to the doctor.
He nodded, dark blue eyes somber. “I won’t take too much.” His black hair had been slicked back, and his hands were cool as he searched for a vein.
She turned away from the needle as it slid into her skin. The bite didn’t hurt overmuch, but her stomach still ached and her head began to pound. What if she didn’t find Logan before they tried to inject her with the mutated virus? Her system had been through too much lately, and who knew what the injection would do to her? Tears threatened to fall, and she batted them back.
Her legs trembled. Not from fear, but from the urge to take down both men and go find her son. What she needed was a schematic of the facility.
The doctor retracted the needle and pressed a cotton ball to her vein. She took over and jerked away from him.
He nodded at Ivan. “I’ll let you know if the tranq is out of her system.” Without another word, he gracefully exited the room.
Felicity glared at Ivan. “I’m done cooperating if you don’t let me see my son.”
He threw the notebook onto the desk, and it clattered across to stop against a keyboard. “I don’t require your cooperation, and you know it.”
The earth rumbled and shook. Part of the map fell loose.
Felicity grabbed on to the table, her feet planting for balance. “Earthquake?”
“Yes. We’ve been getting quite a few of them since you destroyed the other mine on the island.” He shook his head, using a chair to steady himself. “I’m hoping it settles down, but to be frank, some of the earth’s movements have revealed new veins of both planekite and silver. Your little stunt not only has given me the opportunity to make a lot more money, but it has allowed for the rapid mining of the mineral that will kill those damn witches.”
She frowned. “What do you have against witches?”
“Nothing until you went and mated one. My partner has a problem with the Coven Nine, but I don’t really give a care.”
She glanced around, not feeling much movement from mining activities, which meant that she wasn’t in the mining part of the mountain. The offices and bedrooms were on one side of the mountain, and the mine on the other. The two had to be connected somewhere underground, and if she were creating a connection, it’d be close to the war room. The room only had one door, so she needed to look around meticulously when she exited.
A knock echoed hollowly, and the doctor poked his head in. “The tranq is out of her blood. I have the room ready to commence with the injection.”
Felicity twirled around and bunched her legs to attack.
Ivan held steady, a green gun in his hand. The laser kind that turned into bullets upon impacting flesh.
She faltered.
“I’m absolutely fine shooting you and carrying you to the medical room,” he said.
Her heart rammed against her rib cage.
He pointed toward the open doorway with the gun. “Go.”
She swallowed and walked toward the doctor, her knees shaking. Stepping outside, she glanced around. The tunnel continued down the way to another large metal door.
Blood roared through her veins and filled her head.
She followed the doctor, pain before her, and a gun behind her. Where the hell was Logan?