Beauty and the Beast (41 page)

Diana tried not to look panicked as she asked, “And how will you escape the flood?”

Adrian gave her a gleefully evil smile. “We found an escape route to levels above this one before we ever set the charges.”

Back in the large cave, Gideon had been keeping Father’s people informed as he received information from Tanimus. They had all been very relieved that Elisia and Tanimus had established a link with Diana and that she wasn’t in any imminent danger. Now, he informed them about Adrian’s threat to flood the tunnels with plastik explosives in a parallel tunnel. Tanimus wanted them ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

A few minutes later, Laura began signing frantically to Rebecca, and Rebecca cried out, “Where is Mouse?”

Mouse had disappeared from the cave, and Gideon relayed that information to Tanimus.

Mouse had been named largely due to his ability to slip in and out of places undetected, and he used that ability now. When he heard Gideon say that Adrian had planted plastik explosives in a parallel tunnel east of their position, he knew that he had to disarm the devices. He was very knowledgeable about plastik, because he had used it with remote detonators to free Father and Vincent from a cave-in a couple of years earlier. Elliott Burch had supplied him with the explosives and the devices. He had

only read about their use at that time, but he applied that knowledge in its practical use, and he was successful in saving Father and Vincent. Now, he had to save his family and friends from this madman, and he knew that he was the only one with the knowledge necessary to accomplish that. Having survived for years alone in tunnels like these as a child before Vincent caught him, Mouse was sure that he could travel around Adrian’s men without being discovered.

Mouse had pocketed a small flashlight from his backpack before he left the cave. He didn’t want to use it, though, until he actually found the explosives. His eyes were accustomed to dark tunnels, and he could see the flickering light from Adrian’s men, who were stationed in several areas around the cavern, and the Tandins who were keeping surveillance on them. Mouse crept carefully from stalagmite to stalagmite, heading for the tunnel opening he needed to pass through, to go looking for Adrian’s diabolical explosives. He finally arrived at the opening and looked carefully around the edges to make sure none of Adrian’s men were in sight in the tunnel. It was empty, and Mouse was relieved to see that this tunnel had plenty of large crevices along the walls where he could duck and hide if necessary. Now, he just had to find the devices.

When Mouse finally located the explosive devices, he was surprised that they weren’t being guarded. He figured that Adrian’s men must have thought that, because they had everyone trapped in the cave, there was no need to keep watch here. Mouse turned on his small flashlight and stuck it in his mouth. Then he began systematically removing the detonator caps, leaving the plastik and relay devices in place. In these dark tunnels, only a very close scrutiny would reveal that the devices had been disarmed. He had just finished disarming the last device and pocketing the detonator cap when he heard an angry voice behind him.

“Get up now, and turn around slowly!” It was one of Adrian’s armed men.

Mouse stood up with the flashlight still in his mouth. He turned around slowly, and the flashlight shown in the man’s eyes, blinding him for a moment. Mouse took that opportunity to try to run past the man, dropping his flashlight in the process, but he didn’t make it. The big man grabbed Mouse with his free hand as he tried to run past and then shoved the gun he was holding into Mouse’s face.

“You aren’t going anywhere!” The ugly man snarled.

In desperation, Mouse knocked the man’s gun hand sideways, and he stomped on his foot. The man howled in pain and then screamed obscenities as Mouse broke free and began running back down the tunnel. Just as the man raised his gun to shoot at Mouse, there was a terrifying roar behind him, and Mouse turned around at the familiar sound. The gunman whirled around, startled, and Vincent pounced on him, knocked the gun from his

hand, and raked him across the chest with his claws. The man fell screaming in agony, and Tanimus, who had been too far behind Vincent to save Mouse, shot the man with his ion-tet stunner, which rendered him unconscious and out of pain. Two large Tandin sentries arrived on the scene, picked up the mercenary, and carried him off to the cave where they had been gradually collecting Adrian’s troops while they waited for their additional Tandin sentries to arrive.

Vincent picked up Mouse’s flashlight off the tunnel floor and looked sternly at Mouse. “You nearly got yourself killed, Mouse! You should have asked Gideon to get one of the Tandin men to come with you. What you did was very stupid, but it was also very brave.”

Mouse smiled at Vincent as he pulled all of the detonator caps out of his pocket. “Fixed them! Won’t work now without these! Still look armed. They won’t know.”

Vincent smiled as he put his arm around Mouse and gave the flashlight back to him. “Can you get back to the cave the way you came?” Mouse nodded his head. “Good, we need to get back to Elisia. We found where Adrian is keeping Diana, and Elisia is hidden in a crevice in the tunnel where she can see Diana. We are hoping that things will not heat up until the Tandin troops can get here to help us.”

Tanimus spoke to Mouse. “I have let Gideon know that you are coming back now and that you were successful in disarming the explosives. Be very careful going back, Mouse.” Mouse nodded, and they went their separate ways.

Back at the crevice in the tunnel, where Elisia was watching Diana through a crack in the cavern wall, she was so focused on what was going on inside the cave and concerned for Diana that she failed to realize that she had been discovered. By the time she smelled the big man, it was too late. He had grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms against her sides. Elisia screamed and tried to reach her ion-tet stunner, but he caught her wrist in a painful vice-like grip. He locked her wrist in the hand of the arm he had wrapped around her body, and then he took her weapon from her holster and put it into his own pocket. He pulled Elisia out of the crevice into the main tunnel, and then he turned her around to look at his prize.

Elisia tried to kick him, but he just pinned her against the tunnel wall with his body and legs. She was very strong for her size, but this ruthless man was nearly three times her weight and size, and she was no match for him. He wrapped one hand around both of her wrists and pinned her arms above her against the tunnel wall. He was breathing heavily, and his cruel lustful intent was obvious. Elisia tried not to show how frightened she was by this vile man.

Elisia cried out telepathically to her uncle. “Uncle

Tanimus, I’m in trouble! Please come quickly!”

Tanimus’ soothing voice reassured her that help was on the way. “Elisia, we are on our way at this moment. I love you!”

The man grinned with evil pleasure and said, “Well, a gorgeous mutant! Who would have thought? I’ve never had a mutant woman before. I’m really going to enjoy this!” Elisia was panic stricken, and she couldn’t help but struggle against him. That just excited him even more. “Oh, that is so good! Struggle all you want to, honey. I like it better that way!”

An instinctive snarling growl escaped Elisia, and she bared her teeth. The man’s attention was arrested momentarily by Elisia’s fangs. Then he caught sight of her slightly pointed ears. She shrank with revulsion from his probing touch, but there was no place to go. Elisia had known only kindness from the men in her life as she had grown up, so she knew that this barbaric man was an aberration. She was aware that true evil existed in the world. She had survived its aftermath as a child when her parents were killed and her twin brother was lost.

However, it was an intellectual knowledge. She had never actually faced true evil in her lifetime, but she could see the horror of it now on this brutal man’s face, and it sent a cold shudder through her entire being.

Elisia was repulsed as the man ran a probing finger over the point on her ear. Then, he lifted her lip and ran his finger over one of her fangs. She turned her head quickly trying to escape his rough examination. He grabbed her chin brutally and jerked her head back, forcing her to look at him. “Well, so I’ve caught a wild little jungle-cat-vampire. This just keeps getting better and better!” He put his hand on her throat and ran it slowly downward as he took perverse pleasure in watching her panic turn to terror.

Behind him, he heard an approaching man’s breathless voice. “Can I have her when you are done with her?”

The man’s expression turned to vicious annoyance as he answered. “This one is mine! Go find your own! You can stick around and wa—”

The man’s grip on Elisia was released as he crumpled and then crashed to the tunnel floor in front of her. Devin was standing over him with Pascal’s pipe baton in his hand, panting from his desperate run through the tunnels to save his beloved Elisia. He said furiously, “She is my own, you moronic pervert!”

Devin held out his hand to Elisia, but she was in shock and just stood there staring down at the fallen assailant. Devin put the baton in his back pocket, walked around the man’s body, and gently picked Elisia up in his arms. She was trembling uncontrollably as she buried her face in Devin’s neck and began sobbing. Devin said softly, “I am so sorry that I didn’t get here sooner, Elisia. The world above is the source of some unspeakable cruelty and violence. I promise that I will never let it touch you

again!”

At that point, Tanimus and Vincent arrived also completely out of breath from running. They were devastated by Elisia’s sobs and their awareness of what had nearly happened to her. Two more large Tandins arrived shortly afterwards and collected this man to put with the others. Devin asked Vincent to grab Pascal’s pipe baton from his back pocket, and Vincent then gave it to one of the Tandins to return to Pascal at the cave.

Vincent looked at Devin. “How did you know, Devin? You had to have left the cave to come here before Elisia was even in danger.”

Devin shook his head. “I don’t know, Vincent. Maybe it was my connection with Elisia. Maybe it was growing up with you. Maybe it was a combination of both. I just knew that she needed me before she actually did. I got Gideon to replace me in the cave with another Tandin and ran here as fast as I could. I barely made it here in time as it was! I wish I could have gotten here sooner.”

Both Tanimus and Vincent put their arms around Devin and Elisia, and they both kissed Elisia. She could feel the combined power of the love these three men had for her, and her shuddering sobs quieted.

Tanimus spoke softly. “Thank you, Devin. We will stay here with Diana. Take Elisia back to the cave with you. Our people have secured the way between here and the cave. She will need to rest now.” Devin started to go when Tanimus thought of Elisia’s stunner. “Wait a minute, Devin.” Devin stopped and Tanimus walked to him and checked Elisia’s holster. Finding it empty, he said, “Apparently, that man took Elisia’s stunner. Ill tell the sentries to collect it off him and return it to the cave for her.” Devin nodded and left with Elisia.

Back in the shallow cave on the ledge, Dresden had his hands full with Jamie. She was restless and pacing like a little caged animal. He had kept her informed about everything that was going on below, but that only seemed to make her frustration more acute. Jamie wanted to be down there helping defend her family, not trapped up here hiding from snipers. He decided to try something different.

“Jamie, show me how to shoot your crossbow.” She turned around and looked up at him in surprise. He smiled down at her. “Please?”

Jamie looked incredulous. “Surely you already know how to shoot a crossbow!”

Dresden shrugged his shoulders and patted his ion-tet stunner. “This is my weapon of choice.”

Jamie paused as she thought for a moment. “Well, all right.” She went to Dresden’s food stash and grabbed an apple. She took it to the boulder where she had treated Dresden’s wound, and she laid the apple on it. Then, she picked up her crossbow and an arrow and went to just inside the mouth of the cave with Dresden following her. Jamie handed him the crossbow and arrow, and he just stared at them. She couldn’t help but giggle at his clueless look. Patiently, she showed him how to load the weapon.

Then, Dresden just looked at Jamie. “Now, what do I do with it?”

Jamie shook her head. “You point and shoot, silly!” Dresden gave her another boyishly charming helpless look and said, “I guess you are just going to have to teach me how.”

Jamie giggled and said, “I can’t believe a big Brute like you doesn’t know how to shoot a crossbow!” Little petite Jamie tried her best to reach her arms around Dresden from behind to show him how to hold and shoot the crossbow, but she was just too small.

Dresden chuckled, “Well, that won’t do at all! Here, let’s try it this way.” He grabbed her hand and led her to another boulder just to the right of the cave opening. He sat down on it and pulled Jamie’s back against his chest, so his arms were around her. Then she showed Dresden how to point and shoot the crossbow. Between them, the arrow went through the apple.

When Jamie turned around to face Dresden and congratulate him, she caught the mischievous delight on his face. “You are just trying to distract me!”

Dresden chuckled again, “Is it working?”

Jamie was thoroughly exasperated. “What am I going to do with you?”

Dresden couldn’t resist. “You want a wish list?”

Jamie blushed, and it made Dresden’s heart flutter. She shook her head and tried to keep a straight face as she snapped. “Oh, shut up, you big Brute!”

As Devin carried his precious Elisia back through the tunnels, she had finally stopped trembling and had relaxed in his arms until he thought that she had fallen asleep. He realized he was mistaken when he heard her soft voice speak to him aloud, “Devin?”