Protection: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (19 page)

W
e’ve included
one of Vivian’s popular paranormal romances, Shifter’s Ascent.

Turn the page to start this sexy, thrilling shifter romance!

I
’d like
to thank my beta-readers: Haley, Echoe, and Olivia. Thanks also to Brooke, Sarah, and Margaret – just in general. Love you all!

T
essa knew
the question was coming, and she knew her response: she’d die before she yielded to her captors. In truth, she felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to hold on much longer. She could feel death’s cool presence lurking in the corners of her prison cell. Funny, she’d almost come to think of the space in a possessive manner, as if she owned it.

“Have you changed your mind yet, Miss Anderson?” came a deep voice.

The question wafted into the florescent-lit prison cell. It battered at the fragile remnants of Tessa’s sanity. Every day, the same question. The same scenario.

A dark-haired man with cold eyes would slide open a slot cut in the otherwise unmarked white door. He’d speak to her through the slot, as if it were normal to demand answers from people he’d kidnapped and locked in… wherever she was. Some kind of mental institution, judging by the sterile, austere looks of the place.

“Have you changed your mind yet, Miss Anderson? Are you ready to cooperate?”

His questions never varied from that precise selection of words. Tessa strained to make out the nuance of his voice, but it difficult to hear through the door. It was the same soundproof, thick steel as the rest of her cell. Lined with a thick layer of baffling material, the walls served as soundproofing, and to keep the occupant from self-harm. Like everything in the six by six room, it was all the same shade of perfect, blank white. White sheets, white plastic cot frame, white walls, white floor… even the tee shirt and scrub pants she wore were icy-white.

“Are you even listening anymore, Tessa?” the man asked, sounding frustrated.

Tessa paused in her cyclic thoughts. He’d deviated from routine. He’d said her first name.

The man asked the same two questions, and then waited in silence. When she refused to answer, as she always did, he left.

Shortly thereafter there would be punishment, issued by two unflinching female nurses. It had been like that every single day since she’d arrived, and she thought she’d been here at least a week.

In the time Tessa had been captive, there had been no explanation. The man hadn’t specified how Tessa could help. He hadn’t explained why they had kidnapped her. He hadn’t said or done anything, except to tell her his name and demand her cooperation.

I am James, and I am here to ensure your compliance, he’d said.

All they wanted was an agreement from her… but what would she be agreeing to? A weak voice in the back of her head begged her to just agree, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Anyone who kidnapped her, held her captive, and hurt her was not getting any help from Tessa Andersen. Plain and simple.

“Tessa?” the man prompted again. He sounded… concerned? Something about his anxiety chilled her to the bone.

She took a deep breath and tried to focus. Something was happening, and she needed to gather her wits about her. Cocking her head, Tessa waited to see if the voice would continue. There was a long silence before the slot slammed shut, making her jump.

In moments, the smooth white door panel swung open to reveal the two blank-faced nurses. Looking at the two women, the wrongness of their empty expressions filled Tessa with a clawing feeling of fear.

They weren’t human, not the way Tessa defined it anyway. The first time they’d entered her cell she’d struggled hard, pleading with them. She'd tried everything to make them react.

Tessa realized that there was something wrong with the nurses. Something essential was missing from them, and it was awful to witness. How that essence was removed, she shuddered to guess.

Today, Tessa didn’t even put up a fight when they started to hook the electrodes to her chest and temples. She didn’t have the energy to do battle today; she’d need all her energy to recover afterward. Knowing what was about to happen, her body clenched with fear. The knowing was almost worse than the actual pain.

The first jolt of electricity arcing through her mind was always the most excruciating. There was no way for Tessa to prepare for that kind of pain. The nurses would hook up the electrodes and step away. They pressed buttons on the machine attached to the electrodes. Then pain would radiate through every molecule in her body. They would shock her over and over. Until she gritted her teeth so hard her gums bled. Until she cried out, until she screamed. Until she prayed for her heart to give out, anything to stop the pain. Finally darkness would find her, and her last thought would be that she hoped she didn’t wake up this time.

Tessa closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sought the quiet place in her mind that beckoned. It offered peace, or at least solitude.

One breath out, one breath in. Slow and steady. She had to focus on something other than her impending punishment.

“Just a moment. I’d like to speak with her again before you start,” came James’s smooth voice.

Tessa opened her eyes to find the gorgeous young man standing next to her, addressing the nurses. The two women didn’t so much as blink. They left on silent feet, unable to resist his command.

James looked down at her, his lanky height putting a great distance between them. Dark, close-cropped hair and dark brows drew her gaze. His piercing ice-blue eyes bored into her, just as they had the first time they’d met.

Tessa tried to remember exactly how long ago that had been, but the details wouldn’t come. Her eyelids drooped, and she felt herself slump forward. She knew they must put something in her food to keep her docile, and they always fed her exactly an hour before the questioning began. Whatever they put in the food turned her world to hazy echoes, melted her bones, made her long for sleep.

“Whoa, whoa,” James said, reaching out to steady her and prop her back against the wall.

Tessa forced her eyelids open, trying to muster a hateful glare. She never wanted anyone to touch her again, much less the man who had tricked her and brought her here.

“I need you to listen to me, Tessa. I know you have no reason to trust me. You must despise me.”

He took a deep breath, his gaze boring into hers.

“I brought you here to help you. I know you don’t understand, but you will. For now, I need you to understand that it’s time to give in. You can’t stand many more compliance treatments, Tessa. Your body has already quit fighting, and if you don’t agree… I can’t help you if you refuse to cooperate,” he said. His voice was soft, almost tender.

Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a circle of black plastic. He turned it to reveal a mirror, and positioned it to reflect Tessa’s face. She sucked in a breath as she looked at herself, at the blue-black bruises ringing both her eyes and marking her cheekbones and neck. Her skin, already pale, was now almost translucent. Her vibrant head of blonde ringlets looked matted and disheveled, their golden hue dimmed to an ashy blonde. She’d lost enough weight for her cheekbones to have grown sunken, giving her a skeletal semblance.

“You see, don’t you?” asked James.

Tessa turned her slate gray eyes upward to meet his gaze, fighting to stay awake. This conversation was important, and she refused to let her body fail when there was hope of salvation.

“Yes,” she said, her voice a thin whisper.

“You understand, then. You’ll cooperate?” he asked, looking hopeful.

Tessa looked right at him for several long seconds before responding.

“No.”

James’s face darkened in frustration. She watched the struggle play out on his features. He composed himself, flashes of sadness and anger showing before the uncaring façade reappeared. He returned the mirror to his pocket with a sigh, pulling out a sleek black cell phone instead.

“I didn’t want to have to do things this way, Tessa. It’s not your fault you were born to demons. It’s not your sister’s fault, either,” he said, his words measured for effect.

Tessa’s eyes snapped up to his face, then down to the phone. She struggled to understand what he was telling her.

“Camilla, isn’t it?” he asked, flipping through files on his phone. Turning the screen around, he flashed a picture of Camilla in a cell just like Tessa’s. She wore the same white cotton top and pants, looking so like Tessa but for her dark brown curls and green eyes. She was staring at the camera, defiance flashing in her gaze.

Tessa’s heart flip-flopped, and she felt a lone tear escape to track down her cheek. Tessa had stared the nurses down just like that on her first day, challenging. Now she fought to stay conscious.

A muffled scream sounded from somewhere nearby, the open door breaking the soundproofing seal . Tessa couldn’t tell the gender of the voice, but she went cold inside.

Her baby sister was here, in this hell. Camilla was all Tessa had, and vice versa; their parents had passed away years ago.

Somehow Tessa had managed to drag Camilla down into the mud, imprisoning her with these monsters.

A scream of rage erupted from Tessa’s throat. Then she was moving, slashing and clawing at James’s face, backing him into a corner with the ferocity of her anger. The man made no attempt to fight back or even defend himself, though he could have ended her fit of pique with a simple blow. His eyes were dark with sudden emotion, and for a fleeting moment Tessa could have sworn it was more sadness than anger.

The nurses reappeared, each grabbing one of Tessa’s arms to restrain her. James straightened. He brushed his fingers over a long scratch that Tessa had landed on his cheek, his fingers coming away red with blood.

“Attacking me isn’t going to do you any good. I’m not running the show here, Tessa. Like you, my blood is demon-tainted. I’m fit for nothing except to lure more of our kind here so that the Legion may help them. Kill me, and you’ll just get someone worse in my place,” he said. His tone was somber and sane, clashing completely with his talk about demons and legions.

Something in his nonchalance turned Tessa’s stomach to acid. She growled, but the nurses were too strong for her to resist. She’d used up her energy. She sagged against the bed as the nurses slipped a plastic restraining tie over her wrists and pressed her down onto the bed.

James stepped up to the bed, looking down at her. His disappointment was more than evident.

“This is the last time I’ll ask, Tessa. The next time, I’ll ask your sister. Have you changed your mind about cooperating?”

Tessa’s head dropped to her chest, shame and fear flooding her veins. Tears came in earnest, threatening to overwhelm her ability to speak. Fighting for a deep breath, Tessa whispered her response.

“Just tell me what you want.”

“Don’t worry about that for now. Just rest,” he replied.

James stood as if satisfied, dismissing the nurses with a wave of his hand. He stopped at her side for a moment, patting her shoulder. Tessa recoiled, flinching.

“Everything will work out, Tessa. Do everything you’re told, and you will live,” he whispered.

He turned and left, closing the door behind him. The blank white wall where the door had been gave Tessa chills.

Despite James’s assurances, Tessa was certain that her agreement was a fatal decision. She’d just signed her own death warrant, without a doubt.

Her mind spun, exhaustion and questions whirling until she felt sick. What could these lunatics want so much that they’d kidnap and kill for it? What would they do with Camilla? Was there any way to save her sister from the same fate?

A creeping sense of mortality, tangible as a clock ticking, thickened the air in Tessa’s cell until she could not breathe.

Closing her eyes, Tessa laid down as best she could with her hands still cuffed behind her back. The nurses hadn’t taken the electrodes off, and they were uncomfortable against her skin. A garbled laugh escaped her lips. She had the distinct feeling that the petty discomfort she felt now was nothing compared to what she would face in the coming days.

Tessa breathed in and out, summoning the peaceful bliss of sleep. It was the only small comfort she could give herself in whatever short amount of time she had left on the Earth.