Living Nightmare (27 page)

M
adoc felt like someone had snapped a giant rubber band against his brain.

He was back inside his real body, crumpled in a heap on the floor with Nika. His stomach heaved dangerously. He tried to extract himself from her so he wouldn’t throw up on her, but before he could, his stomach settled and his head’s spinning began to slow.

Madoc let out a low moan, unable to stop the unmanly noise from escaping.

Nika was panting. “Sorry. It’s not usually that rough.”

Madoc helped Nika sit up until her back was propped against the couch. “I would really prefer it if we never did that again.”

“I’ll try to warn you next time,” she said.

At least then he could brace himself.

“Do you know where Tori is?” she asked.

Tori had sent a barrage of images into his head a split second before shoving him and Nika away. Those images were there, in his mind, but were too much of a jumbled mess to make sense of. “I’m going to have to sort out the images first. It may take a while.”

“You know we don’t have much time.”

“I know. But I also know that we’re not going to rescue her and the others alone. We need to gather the men—go in with everyone we can find. We’ll go back to Dabyr and talk to Joseph so we can plan our attack.” He wasn’t sure if Joseph would let him come along or not. He might simply lock him in a cell beneath Dabyr until Nika’s new Theronai was found.

The idea of being imprisoned like that made something dark and dangerous rise up in him. His soul might not have completely died, but he clearly wasn’t rid of the blackness that had nearly consumed him. He was going to have to fight it back and struggle to do what he knew was right.

Maybe he could convince Joseph to let him go on this one last mission. They would need all the help they could get, and there weren’t many men alive who were better with a blade than he was.

“I told you I’m not going back there,” said Nika.

“I’m not going to imprison you. I really wish you’d stop worrying about it.”

“I have to worry. There’s too much at stake.”

She was right about that. She just didn’t know how right yet. “We’re just going back to gather the men.”

“You won’t try to make me stay there while you go after her?” Her voice sounded uncertain, untrusting.

“If we need you, you’ll be right by my side.”

“Exactly.
If
you need me. You won’t. You don’t think you need anyone.”

“I need you,” he said. “Without you I die. Isn’t that enough?”

“No. Not even close. I want what Helen and Drake have. What Paul and Andra have.”

“We can have that, too,” he lied, unwilling to crush her dreams just yet. She’d have them—just not with him. “It’s going to take some time. I can’t risk your life now, while you still have so much to learn. You don’t even know how to protect yourself.”

“I’ll learn.”

“Before Tori’s baby is born?”

“Yes. I’ll go into Gilda’s mind. Learn from her.”

Madoc lifted her hand, pointing to her burned fingers. “Looks like you tried that with Helen and it didn’t exactly work out, did it?”

“I need to do this, Madoc. She’s my sister. I promise I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

As she uttered the words, Madoc felt them settle over his shoulders, their weight reassuring.

Maybe this was one of those times when he needed to give in. Compromise. She’d promised to be careful and was now bound to abide by that promise. Maybe this partnership thing meant he needed to give her something in return. It might be the last thing he ever gave her.

Playing nice wasn’t his strong suit, but a lot had changed in the past few hours. For Nika, he had to try to be a better man.

“I promise that we’re only going back to Dabyr long enough to gather our forces and to figure out where Tori is. If I leave to fight, you can come with me. Okay?” It still gave him an out. If Joseph locked him up, Nika would have to stay at Dabyr, where she’d be safe.

Nika nodded. “That wasn’t exactly a promise never to imprison me, but I’ll take what I can get for now. Tori has to come first.”

“Good. Then it’s settled. Let’s grab Drake and Helen and head home.”

 

John woke to an empty bed.

It wasn’t the first time it had happened, but it had never before hurt like it did now. He and Meghan spent yesterday together talking, laughing and getting to know each other while road crews worked to clear the highways. Her rental car had been towed so it could be repaired. John had thought she’d stay with him at least until it was done. Especially after last night, after making love so many times he swore he’d be able to tell the difference between her and a thousand other women simply by the way she breathed, by the feel of her skin.

Apparently, he’d been wrong.

The note she’d left on her pillow said she’d taken a cab to the airport. She had to get home, back to her life.

What about his life?

It seemed so empty and bleak without her in it. She’d brought music to his world, and now that she was gone, everything was gray silence.

John wasn’t about to let it end like this. John had met countless women, but Meghan was the first one who made him consider what his future could be like if he shared it with someone else. For the first time, the idea of forever with the same person was not an alien concept he couldn’t wrap his head around.

The only problem was, John had to find her.

She hadn’t left her phone number, and a quick search online for her name turned up no listed number. He did, however, remember her mentioning the name of the place where she worked.

Phoenix was a hell of a long way away, but not nearly as far as he was willing to go for a woman like Meghan. Besides, it was too damn cold here, anyway.

John showered, packed a bag, and was on his way to the airport less than fifteen minutes later.

 

Madoc struggled with the images Tori had put in his head while Helen drove the four of them back to Dabyr. Drake was on the phone, speaking to Nicholas about rallying the Theronai. Apparently, Joseph was gone and unable to issue the order to have those who were out return.

It also meant that he couldn’t sentence Madoc yet.

Whatever. Madoc couldn’t do anything about that, and if he didn’t unscramble the thoughts Tori had put in his brain, it wouldn’t matter whether the men were ready to go into battle. They wouldn’t know where to go.

Nika sat in silence beside him in the back of the car, staring out the window at the sun as it rose overhead.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like to live without the sun, can you?” she asked him.

“The Sanguinar seem to be okay with it,” said Madoc, hoping to distract Nika from worrying about her sister. Seeing the pain on her face broke his heart, and he wanted to do whatever it took to wipe it away.

Nika shifted in her seat, turning toward him. Her eyes matched the color of the sky behind her, and for a moment, Madoc forgot all about their job.

She was so pretty. So delicate. He had no idea how he’d gotten lucky enough to have her for his own, but he knew for certain that he would do whatever it took to keep her safe and make her happy for as long as she was his.

Once they found Tori, he’d convince Nika to stay at Dabyr with him. They’d keep each other company, make up for lost time, and find comfort in each other.

He only wished that he’d be free to go out and hunt down the creature who’d raped Tori and who knew how many other girls, and choke him to death on his own dick.

As he allowed the notion of what she must have endured to enter his thoughts, rage pounded through him, making the confines of the car seem too small.

Nika’s hand fluttered to her throat, trembling as she touched the luceria. “I don’t know what you’re thinking over there,” she said, “but I don’t like it.”

Immediately Madoc squelched the thought and focused instead on the scenery passing by them. “Sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

He was going to have to learn to control himself better. He couldn’t allow the link he now had with Nika to upset her.

Madoc pulled in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. One thing at a time. First, he had to untangle the mess Tori had given him and make sense of it. That was step number one. After that would come finding Tori and facing his sentence.

Nika touched his hand. “You’re frustrated. Angry. Afraid. I’ve never seen you afraid before.”

“I’ll get over it.”

“Have you figured out where we’re going yet?” asked Drake from the front seat.

“I’m working on it.”

“Work faster. Nicholas is calling everyone in, but they won’t stay long. You know how it is.”

Madoc did. In addition to hunting and killing every Synestryn they could get their hands on, the men were also all searching for the women they knew were out there. Besides Tori—who was thought to be dead—there was at least one more female Theronai roaming the world. Jackie, daughter of Lucien, who’d fathered both Helen and Lexi.

It was a race to see who could find her first, and the only thing giving hope to his fellow Theronai.

“I know,” said Madoc. “I’m doing what I can.”

“Let me help,” offered Nika.

“I don’t know how you could. Tori didn’t put these images in your head. She put them in mine, and they’re so scrambled together I can’t make sense of them.”

“Maybe I can. I know the way Tori thinks. I’ve been in her mind for years.”

Madoc shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

Nika unfastened her seat belt and crawled into his lap, straddling him. The heat between her thighs burned through his jeans, and he set the land speed record for fastest erection ever.

Madoc shifted, trying to unpinch his manhood. The motion made Nika bounce on top of him, which of course, made her breasts jiggle beneath her cotton shirt.

He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t stop himself. All he could think about was how good her hard little nipples had tasted against his tongue, how they’d tightened even more when he’d sucked them.

As if she were reading his thoughts, her nipples puckered, pressing against her shirt.

She wasn’t wearing a bra. As small as she was, she didn’t really need one, but that meant all he had to do was lift up her shirt and he could kiss and lick and suck her nipples until she begged for more.

That thought stopped him cold. Nika wasn’t likely to beg for more of what he’d given her last night. He’d hurt her. Made her bleed.

“None of that,” she chided. “It was perfectly normal and I’m not going to let you make me feel bad about it.”

“You’re reading my thoughts?” he asked, ripping his eyes away from her tits, just in case.

“You asked for my help. Besides, I think I like some of those thoughts you’re having. We’ll try that whole sex thing again later.”

When they weren’t in a moving car. With an audience.

Helen was driving. She glanced in the rearview mirror and met Madoc’s gaze. “I think a bit of privacy might be in order here,” she said; then his ears popped as she put up a soundproof barrier of air around him and Nika.

“They can’t hear us now, can they?”

“Nope.”

A slow, languid smile lifted Nika’s mouth and Madoc could do nothing but stare. He still hadn’t forgotten a single one of his fantasies involving her mouth. Only now that it was the worst possible time for him to be thinking about them, each one of them came back in rapid succession.

“We’ll try all that, too. Soon,” she promised. “But you’ve got to stop thinking those naughty things and focus on what Tori gave you.”

Right. Tori. They had a very young, very scared, very pregnant girl to save. The fact that she also happened to be Nika’s sister was just added motivation.

Madoc valiantly ignored his boner and closed his eyes so he wouldn’t be distracted by Nika’s mouth again. He focused on the tangled snarl of images Tori had forced into him and let them all flicker through his mind. They went by so fast, he couldn’t make sense of them. They were just a blur of light and color, too insubstantial to actually understand.

“We need to slow them down,” whispered Nika.

Madoc heard her with his ears, but he also felt her voice inside his head, too. It was odd having her this close, but not uncomfortable. She seemed to be able to invade his thoughts without taking up any space, without crowding him.

He felt a stream of power flowing out of his body, heating the luceria around his finger as it passed into Nika. He had no idea what she was doing with the energy, but whatever it was, it felt nice. Pressure inside him eased. He pulled in a deep breath, feeling her breasts press against his chest.

It was going be so nice to get her naked again, just once more. This time, he’d be gentle. Careful. He’d take her slow and easy. There’d be no more blood. No pain. Only pleasure—so much of it he’d be able to wash away all memories of how he’d ripped her virginity from her and left her bleeding.

“Stop it. I’m tired of you beating yourself up over that. I enjoyed myself quite a bit.”

“Not nearly as much as you should have.”

“How do you know?”

“I know. Next time, so will you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

There was a buzzing feeling in his skull; then suddenly, something about the images zooming through his head changed. They slowed down until they were flipping through his mind at a rate he could actually see.

Like a bizarre slide show, each flash of events passed through him. Most were of dark cave walls. In some, he could see the chubby arms and legs of the girl Tori had once been as she looked down at herself. In others, her limbs were longer and thinner. In the next moment, she was chubby again.

“The order is jumbled,” said Nika. “We need to sort it out and get back to the night she was taken.”