Discovery (Hybrid Book 1) (19 page)

Tenset helped them pin her back on the floor, and she vaguely heard him whisper ‘sorry’ as a sharp pain in her neck sent her spiralling into darkness.

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A
s Chesara finally relaxed into unconsciousness,

Tenset stood up and rounded on his Uncle.

“Did you have to say that? The situation was salvageable, I could have talked her back round, she’s as changeable as the wind. A little sweet talking would have had her eating out of my hand in a few days.”

Tamas spread his hands in surprise. “My dear nephew, you aren’t getting attached, are you? I’m sure we’ll get her to co-operate one way or another, and your personal fun and games don’t have to stop.” Tenset ground his teeth, he felt like a ten year old again, being chastised for playing with the ‘common’ children.

“You truly mustn’t equate lust with any more serious feelings for an animal, even if it is beneficial for ‘relieving tension’.” 

Tenset’s fist landed squarely on his uncle’s nose and he watched as the man who had made his life a misery ever since his father had been lost, found himself rapidly seated on the floor. As Tenset stalked out of the office, needing a little quiet time with the horses to calm down and decide just what the hell he was going to do, he heard Tamas speaking to Melton and Baxter.

“Poor boy. He’s quite overcome with emotion. It’s amazing the effect a pretty face can have on the young.” The guards sensibly remained silent. “Put her in the interrogation room with Mr. Temple. Shackle him so she can’t see him. Do not touch her.”

C
onnor’s control was hanging by a thread, and it was fraying, second by second. Chesara was in an incredible amount of distress. Her adrenalin levels, heart rate, and blood pressure indicated a severe flight or fight response was occurring. He forced himself to calm down, getting himself as upset as she was, wouldn’t help her in the least.

As he concentrated on slowing his own heart and breathing rates, he heard a sound that both elated and depressed him.  The voice was muffled, but even from down here he could hear Chesara screaming curses.  He couldn’t make out all the words, but those he did even made him blush. He fought the urge to laugh at the plight of the poor soul who’d produced the outpouring, but considering that it was likely to be Tenset, his grin widened.

When the cursing stopped and her vitals dropped alarmingly, he couldn’t stop himself from gripping the bars of his cell and bellowing her name. He kept shouting, until he heard the main door to the cellblock opening a few minutes later. By straining his face against the grate, he could glimpse the door opening, and the guard that had accompanied Tamas earlier, walked down the corridor holding a very familiar, limp figure in his arms. A younger guard accompanied him, although his eyes were on Chesara, rather than Connor.

“Oi, quiet down you. She’s just sedated. We used the hypo from your kit, just in case.” He stopped by Connor’s cell so he could see she was unharmed. Connor glared at him, although he appreciated the man’s behaviour.

“Don’t worry she’s fine. I can’t say the same for Lord Tenset though. His nose looks like a tomato, and I think he’ll be talking in a higher pitch for quite a while.” The guard seemed rather amused by the whole incident, but Connor failed to see the funny side. Chesara had never physically attacked anyone in her life. Causing harm to another person wasn’t part of her nature, or her training.

The second man grinned at him. “Did you teach her those curses? She’s got a mouth a deep space pirate would be proud of.”

The Guard holding her stepped back as Connor reached a hand through the grate to touch Chesara.

“Sorry no touching, you’ll see her again in a minute, you’re both being put in the interrogation room. Although I’d prepare yourself, bad things can happen in there. I’d strongly recommend going along with whatever Lord Tamas says, for both your sakes.” Connor watched the man carry the limp form away, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

Ten minutes later, the pair were back. The younger one unlocked his cell door while the one who had carried Chesara stood back, covering Connor with a stun baton.

“Now don’t do anything daft son, we’re taking you to her. Be nice and you won’t get a shock.” The older guard carried on chatting as he walked Connor down the corridor in the direction he’d carried Chesara.

“My name’s Melton by the way, he’s Baxter. I don’t know how long you’ll be here, some of our ‘guests’ are short stay, some are long term. It’s my job to make sure prisoners are fit enough to answer questions. So if you need anything, feel free to ask. I can’t say I’ll help, but you can ask.”

This man sounded quite reasonable, so perhaps he might be persuaded to help them. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.

“Don’t get the idea that I care about you any more than my job entails. Lord Tenset has been very gracious to me and mine, and I’m loyal, every staff member is. Save your energy and don’t waste your breath trying to sweet talk any of us. You’re going to need it.”

The guard indicated the solid metal door at the end of the corridor. “Walk right to the back of the room, don’t stop, and don’t touch her, understand?”

Connor nodded once, and waited while Baxter opened the heavy door. He dew in a sharp breath as he saw Chesara chained wrist and ankle to a metal table in the centre of the room. She was now clothed in only a short white shift and was still deeply asleep. The thought of their hands on her, touched a nerve deep inside him.

A buzz from the stun baton reminded him of the untenable situation they were both in. Him being unconscious as well wouldn’t help her in the least.

“Easy does it son, carry on moving. I don’t want to have to use this.” Melton’s calm voice came from behind him.

Still keeping his eyes glued to her, Connor moved to the back of the room, were a set of shackles hung from the wall.

Melton indicated he should back up to the wall and raise his hands. He stared at them impassively as Baxter snapped the wrists cuffs into place, followed by the ankle restraints. He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud when he’d thought, ‘at least we’re together’ till Melton shook his head slightly.

“You might change your mind about that over the next few hours. My advice is to sing loud and sing fast, for her sake as well as yours.” Before he left he gagged Connor with a length of white cloth.

At least this room smelt a little better than his old cell, although if they continued to withhold food and water, the problem with the stink from the bucket would become increasingly unimportant. He could smell Chesara’s familiar vanilla and berry scent, but it was somehow a little off. He drew air in through his nose, trying to work out what it was. Then it hit him. She smelled of Tenset, they hadn’t even let her wash afterwards.

The jealous surge he braced himself for didn’t materialise. If he’d hurt her, it would be a completely different matter.

It took what was probably only an hour for Chesara to start to come round. The series of twitches, winces and groans were very familiar to him. She’d always been a volatile personality, and she hated being sedated. He accepted over the years that it might be more distressing for her than it was for other people. She certainly wouldn’t enjoy the bright electric light in the room, or her surroundings. He didn’t know whether it was good or bad that she wouldn’t be able to see him, but being tied with her hands above her head, would certainly piss her off.

“Fucking hell, mother fucking son of a fornicating Kackbad, he’ll be singing in the girls’ choir for the rest of his fucking days when I catch up with him.”

Behind her, Connor smiled, and thought ‘that’s my girl’. But with the gag in his mouth, he could only be an observer.

“Hey Tenset, is this the way you treat all your girls? You really have to tie them up to get them to stay with you?” she shouted.

Connor could see her vital signs increasing as nobody replied to her. Being ignored had always pissed her off, although she almost constantly moaned about people staring at her. Other people had complained about her double standards, but he understood where she was coming from. Chesara wanted people to notice her as a person, not as a scientific oddity. Unfortunately, that was exactly what she was.

“You limp dicked moron, let me loose you coward. At least pretend you’ve got some nuts left and come talk to the poor defenceless tied up female, I promise I won’t hurt you again.”

Connor tensed as the door opened, and his heart fell as a coldly smiling Tamas stepped into the room. To her credit, Chesara didn’t appear in the least bothered, although her vital signs increased.

“Hey Tamas, do you think you’re more man that your pencil dick nephew? Come on; let me loose so I can see the family resemblance in teeny tiny bollocks.”

Completely ignoring Connor’s presence, Tamas shook his head in disappointment as he approached the bench where she was restrained.

“My Dear, didn’t your mother teach you that a potty mouth isn’t attractive? Oh sorry I forgot your mother was an animal as well,” and he smiled sadly at her.

“At last someone who knows how to play properly. Did your mother teach you to insult whilst you sucked her disease-ridden fanny? Or did the royal guard keep her too entertained?”

Connor winced as Tamas’ face paled rapidly. Chesara might be giving herself a mental high five for getting to him, but this wasn’t a man she should get away with baiting like this. Perhaps he’d been too lenient on her all these years, he’d found her irreverent behaviour entertaining, and being honest with himself, he’d probably encouraged it. And now she was going to pay the price for his mistake.

“Enough with the child’s play. Will you agree to influence Harmon’s offspring?”

“Not in a fucking month of Sundays, shithead.” Connor could imagine the bright smile on her face and his heart dropped another notch. This was going to be painful. It only remained to be seen, which one of them it would be painful for.

“I’m only slightly disappointed that you said that, as it means I can now move to other means to gain your compliance. What would you prefer, pain and humiliation for yourself, or for a loved one?”

The smile on Tamas’ face was the exact opposite of the expression Connor thought Chesara was now wearing.

“Although you thought you were alone with Tenset last night, you provided quite a show for the guard staff. I know how much discomfort it caused when he, shall we say delayed. Would you like to see if we can reproduce that effect again? I’ve got quite a few willing participants for our little experiment lined up.”

Connor found himself straining mindlessly against his restraints, but rather than being cowed by the threat of abuse, Chesara bit back, even though her voice was now a little shrill.

For the first time, Tamas’ eyes met Connor’s, and a smile tickled his lips.

“Actually most of that sounds quite entertaining. As much as you might think otherwise, my purpose where you are concerned, is to gain your compliance, not to cause you undue distress. But don’t assume that I won’t use every piece of leverage available to get what I want.

“I’m certain you’ll be comforted by the presence of someone dear to you.”

Tamas swung the table around so she could see him were he hung against the wall.

“Do you really want him to watch you beg to be taken by all of guard staff Madam Envoy?”

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself, you son of a fornicating Kackbad?”

He strolled over and removed Connor’s gag. “Try and persuade her to co-operate my dear fellow, unless that is, you fancy a floor show. You do know if the pleasure option doesn’t work we’ll move on to more painful options for you both. Which would bring me a great deal of personal satisfaction.” Tamas gave them a cold smile and left the room.

He waited until the footsteps receded before speaking.

“Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” Connor knew she hadn’t been hurt in the altercation an hour ago, but she’d certainly been in pain last night.

“Tenset? No, he’s the one hurting,” she said quietly. He could almost read her mind; she was feeling guilty for hurting the man who was at least partially responsible for their current situation. He might not be jealous of Tenset for touching her, but the man still had a great deal to answer for.

“Tenset’s a big boy Kittycat. He’ll cope, even if he’s a bit sore for a while.” She didn’t reply.

Now his mind had been eased on her current physical condition, he moved swiftly on to their future. Although he didn’t hold out much hope of convincing her to harm someone, let alone a baby, on purpose.

“Chesara, you can’t let them do this to you, just do what they say. Whatever it is, we can fix it later.”

She stared at him; regret clear in her eyes, before she closed them.

Her silence worried him. The feisty woman who’d given as good as she’d gotten in the verbal sparring was gone, to be replaced by the inexperienced girl she really was.

“Kittycat, talk to me.” he pleaded and his heart jumped as she turned her captivating green eyes on him.

“Do you know what they want me to do?”

He nodded slowly and he knew exactly what she was going to say. He was proud of her, but just for once, it might have been nice if she’d taken off the healer hat and thought about herself. Then again, if she had, she wouldn’t be his Chesara.

“I’m so sorry I’ve got you into all this, but I can’t purposefully condemn a baby to a lifetime of disability; I just can’t do it.” Her eyes were so sad.

Connor closed his eyes in acceptance of her wishes, but he knew what torture could be like, it was part of his training. She had no idea what could be done to them, and from the look in Tamas’ eyes, and this room, he wasn’t inexperienced at hurting people.

The possibility of her holding out was minimal. The only slight ray of hope was that they needed her fit enough to continue to play a role for the Harmons, so a great deal physical torture for her was out of the question. She couldn’t heal herself.

It was highly likely that they were being monitored. He couldn’t risk sharing that they might only have to hold out for a matter of hours, days at the most, before a rescue team found them.