Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series (34 page)

She was vaguely aware of the car door opening. After her kidnapping by the Arra, and her subsequent rescue and fight with the creatures, drifting down into the luxurious darkness of sleep had been welcome if not inevitable. Not much time had passed since Thomas had told her to go lie down in the back seat. She trusted that if her body switched back into her true form, he would protect her from the others.

He had promised he would take her to his apartment when they were done here. It would be a new sanctuary to replace the little cottage she adored. But the move would be their first step toward their new future together. She didn't care if his place was at the bottom of a sludge pit. If Thomas was with her, it would be their refuge.

In the distance, she could hear crickets chirping. An owl hooted from somewhere in the woods. Roni waited for Thom's presence to enfold her, but as seconds ticked by and she didn't get that flood of warmth coming over her, she stirred.

Why was he standing there with the back door open?

The rasp of her legs across the leather seat reassured her she was still in her human form. But it was a struggle to rouse herself enough to question him.

She never expected the hard body to come down on her like a metal press and shove a wad of foul-smelling wetness across her nose and mouth. Her body jerked at the noxious odor poisoning her lungs. Lifting her hands to pull away the 474

fumes, an intense coldness swept over her, and she felt her arms suddenly and painfully gathered behind her back.

Another iciness encircled her wrists, punctuated by two sharp clicks.

She made a brief struggle to sit up in the seat, but the body holding her down was bigger than her. Even with her greater Ruinos strength, Roni found herself disadvantaged by initially being on the bottom. She opened her eyes just as a black bag came down over her head. But by that time, the chemical on the rag covering her face was drawing her away from herself. She felt herself being lifted. Any protest on her part was met with a grunt as she was dragged from the backseat and hoisted over a wide shoulder. She nearly passed out when her belly hit the shoulder, knocking all the air out of her lungs.

For a few moments, she flashed back to the abuse she'd been made to suffer on the Arran ship. To the beatings and the degradation. They had used nearly every kind of torture device on her to force her to comply with their demands.

It wasn't the Arra taking her this time. The Arra didn't use chemicals to weaken their prey. Nor did they resort to blindfolds or old-fashioned police handcuffs.

No. This time her abductor was human, and it didn't take her many guesses to figure out who the perpetrator was.

If she wanted to, Roni knew she could send out a mental distress call to Thomas. He would be tailing them in seconds.

But she held herself back. She continued to fake her helplessness so that Cowven would take her where he planned to kill her. Take her where it would be private, and 475

where there would be little chance of anyone discovering them once he decided to do his dirty work on her.

Only this time he wouldn't be facing a helpless human female. He would have to answer to one very powerful and very righteously angry Ruinos female. It was dark, and there was no way this guy was going to have control over her any more.

Smiling to herself, Roni let the man carry her where he wanted. She would leave Thomas out of this one until she needed him. Let me be the last one. Let me be the one to make restitution for every woman he's terrified and killed.

Sooner or later he would release her hands. Sooner or later he would put her down and take the hood off of her head. And when he did, God help the puny human male.

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They didn't go far. Roni bore the bouncing and juggling that pushed bruises into her stomach and lower abdomen in silence. From the jostling she was getting, she guessed Cowven was taking her into the woods near the house.

Apparently the man felt he could get a perverse delight in claiming his next victim close to where she lived, rather than on the streets where his other victims had been discovered.

And right underneath the noses of the local police force.

Roni could sense the distance growing between her and Thomas, but their connection remained strong. Every now and then, a touch as gentle as a breath of air would caress her heart and mind, an inquiry to see how she was doing. To see if she was asleep, and if not, if she was comfortable. She always made sure to send back an equally loving response.

She didn't want to tell him her real location or circumstances.

Not yet. Not until it was necessary. Yet there was still that possibility that he would find her missing when he went back to the car. When he did, and he came searching for her, then she would let him know everything.

But for now, Cowven was taking her into the forest where he planned to kill her. The man had no idea how badly things would turn out.

During the rough transport, the rag soaked in stomach-churning chemicals had worked itself loose and fallen off her face. The bag around her head continued to reek of the stuff, 477

but at least she could draw enough air to counteract the crap he had tried to suffocate her with.

The only thing she had to contend with were the handcuffs nearly cutting off the circulation to her hands. If she could manage to get him to remove them...

Play scared, a little voice in her head urged her. Play the part of the victim. Beg for mercy. Get him to come to you.

Then there will be no way he can escape. Then there will be no chance of making a mistake and letting him get away.

Roni had absolutely no fear that the Crescent City Cutter would be able to make good his intentions. She had faced worse than he could ever offer. Her true skin bore more scars than he could ever hope to inflict. It would take no more than an urgent sense of terror to bring Thomas charging to her rescue. But this wasn't Thomas' fight. This man wasn't his problem to settle.

Cowven had set his sights on her. And, by God, he was going to find out just how pathetic his little act of domination truly was.

Suddenly they stopped. She could feel him panting for breath. Rather than alert him to the fact that she was fully conscious, Roni continued to lay limp over his shoulder.

Presently he began moving again, but she had the impression he had changed directions.

Another tender tendril wove through their connection. Roni let it touch her with velvet fingers, stroking her, keeping her calm. He believed she was dozing, but she knew it wouldn't be much longer before he would be ready to leave. Time had 478

become a crucial factor. Cowven had better stop soon and try to deliver the killing blow, or else her plan would fail.

As if on cue, they came to a gradual stop. Cowven had determined this to be the best spot to do what he'd set out to accomplish, and without warning he dumped her on her back on the bare ground. The impact rattled her, but somehow she managed to keep from crying out and alerting him.

Concentrating on keeping her breathing regular to deceive him into thinking she was still under the influence of his knockout drug, she listened intently to his mutterings as he walked a short distance away. He messed around in the trees for a few minutes, then came back for her.

To her surprise and relief, he unlocked the handcuffs and removed them. Then he dragged her over to the trees and hoisted her up, balancing her on his shoulder. Roni felt the rough bite of rope go around each wrist as he tied her. Once he was finished, he moved back to let her dangle like a carcass ready for disembowelment.

Roni almost smiled to herself when the bag was suddenly jerked off her head. To cover up her wakefulness, she moaned loudly and rolled her head forward.

"Wake up, bitch." A sharp, stinging slap across her cheek made her bite her tongue. She uttered a little squeak of pain, blinking her eyes in dazed amazement. With the bag gone, she could finally take a deep breath. Immediately, Cowven's acidic, oily reek filled her nostrils.

"Look at me," he demanded, out of breath.

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She focused her eyes on the man standing less than a yard away from her. He was holding the biggest knife she had ever seen, and he licked his lips as she gasped in fear.

"Thought you could escape me, didn't you, bitch? Thought you could get the cops to watch over you and protect you, stupid cunt."

She looked upward to see that he had tied her between two trees, forcing her arms to stretch outward in a semi-cross. He had hoisted her into the air until she could barely stand on tiptoe. Roni struggled to test the ropes. They were thick hemp, not nylon, and she hid the second smile that rose to her lips. As she expected, Cowven took her struggles as a vain attempt to free herself.

"Go ahead and try, whore. Those knots are too tight for you to work loose."

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered, making her voice quiver. If she turned her wrists slightly, she found she could brush the rope with her fingertips. Perfect.

His eyes raked over her. In the moonlight, his face looked pasty white. The man never went out in the sun. He was overweight and flaunted a flabby physique. Roni wondered if he had ever been laid in his life by someone he didn't have to pay to help him get off.

Cowven snorted in disgust; his hand adjusted its grip on the ugly-ass knife. "I thought it would have been obvious by now. This city, this world, would be a whole lot safer without the likes of you prancing around, selling your body and infecting God knows how many poor bastards."

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Infecting? "What are you talking about?" Roni questioned.

"I haven't done anything to you."

"Your kind has always been the bane of mankind," Cowven growled. "You're riddled with diseases and other filth." He motioned toward her. "Just look at the way you're dressed.

Running around in the middle of the night with hardly anything on. Then running around in broad daylight with that tight black leather shit on."

Black leather shit? The man had been stalking her, she realized. And the part about diseases and other filth...

"What's the matter, Cowven? Did a prostitute stick you with AIDS or something?"

From the way his head jerked up and his eyes narrowed, she realized she had struck a nerve. Before she could react, he shoved the knife into his belt and reached behind him. His other hand grabbed her roughly by the hair and jerked her head downward. Sudden biting pain burst through her skull before she could smother it.

Immediately she sensed Thomas's response. His surge of anger at her abduction and treatment was a bright, burning flame that began to grow steadily hotter as he started to come for her. A second later, a ball gag was shoved into her mouth. Roni coughed, nearly choking on the foul-tasting rubber.

The burst of pain Cowven inflicted upon her had been unexpected and too sudden for her to hide. Thomas was coming straight for her, guided by their connection as surely as if she had turned on a beacon for him to follow. She had to act soon, or else Cowven might spook and run. And they 481

would be right back where they had started, trying to find him.

"Go ahead and try to use that smart mouth again, whore,"

he spat into her ear. With another hard jerk, he released her hair and stepped back to examine her.

Blinking back the tears that had unexpectedly appeared, Roni managed to sniff. Okay. This had gone far enough. She noticed him examining her body. With her arms raised above shoulder level, the hem of Thomas's t-shirt was just below her bellybutton.

Cowven's gaze froze at the sight of her smooth mound. He took a step toward her, hand out, as if to run his fingers over her inner lips. To feel the baby-soft skin. Roni managed to move back an inch on tiptoe, away from his reach. Her actions riled him further. Seeing his eyes tighten into slits, she watched as he pulled the big knife from his belt and took another step toward her.

"Try that again, cunt. Let's see how far you can retreat with my blade eating through that diseased pussy," he almost choked, and he hefted the weapon to make a downward slash.

Now.

Roni changed.

She did it slowly so that Cowven could get a good, long look. As her human skin sloughed away, she kept her eyes locked on his, studying every gesture, every quiver, every growing moment when his surprise turned to shock, and then into absolute terror. When she had become fully Ruinos, Roni drew back her lips, baring her dagger-like teeth, and hissed, 482

"What's the matter? Never had one of your victims fight back before?"

The ropes fell from her wrists; her talons had sliced through the hemp like a torch through butter. She took a step toward him and gave him another teeth-baring smile. "Well?

I'm waiting, Cowven. What were you planning to do with me?" To make her appearance all the more frightening, she lifted her arms and unfolded the thin membranes of skin. Her hands reached outward with their talons glittering in the dim moonlight.

Cowven shrieked suddenly. Swinging the knife in an arc above his head, he bolted toward her, eyes wide with adrenaline-sustained fright.

Grabbing his wrist took no effort. What she didn't expect was for his other hand to lock around her throat and begin squeezing. His thumb pressed into the lower part of her neck.

She could feel his nails begin to draw blood as his grip tried to strangle her.

"You're gonna die, bitch!" he cried out, throwing all of his weight at her to try and knock her down. However, it wasn't enough to offset Roni's greater strength. While her one hand still held the wrist that gripped the big knife, she tried to pry his other one from her neck. The fingers were clamped down as solid as a steel vise. Already she could feel herself struggling for air. "Abomination!" he hissed into her face. The smell of his breath nearly made her gag.

He gave her absolutely no other choice. Flexing her fingers, Roni lifted her free hand and brought down her talons hard and fast. The five-inch blades sliced through the wrist of 483

the hand clutching her throat. Cowven's scream of pain reverberated through the woods.

Dropping the knife, he clutched his bleeding stump and backed away. "You bitch! Oh my god, you bitch!"

The man was literally whirling around in a circle as blood flew everywhere. Roni knew that if he bled to death, he would not get the kind of justice he deserved. At least not the kind she felt he had earned. Quickly, she stripped off her t-shirt and ripped a length from the remnants. A quick flying tackle knocked the guy on his back, where she could straddle him and tie a tourniquet around the squirting arm.

Thomas would be here any moment. She could feel his rapidly pounding heart after hearing the screams of pain. The taste of his worry was almost palpable. For that split second, her attention was diverted from the blubbering man underneath her. And it nearly cost her. She didn't see him find the fallen knife with his good hand.

A wind gusted through the trees, blowing aside the leaves enough for the half moon to reflect on the steel blade of the weapon as it arced upward toward her chest.

Roni caught sight of it from the corner of her eye at the last second and turned. The blade nicked her shoulder and began to tear down the inner part of her arm. She reacted instinctively. Her other hand sliced downward, and her sharp talons neatly severed muscle and bone, removing Cowven's other hand at the wrist.

A fetid stench, the likes of which she had never smelled before, filled the tiny clearing just as the sound of feet crashing through the underbrush came to her. Struggling to 484

get off of the man who was writhing on the ground, Roni lost her footing and fell to her knees. At that instant, DeGrassi burst into the clearing, pistol aimed. He took one look at her blood-splattered appearance, and a dozen emotions flew between them.

T'korra!

I'm all right. Save him.

Change!

DeGrassi lunged to wrap Cowven's other arm with the rest of the t-shirt lying on the ground. Roni managed to shift into human form just as Tayson and four other officers burst into the grove. All the while Cowven continued to cry out, even as two officers went over to assist DeGrassi.

A flashlight washed over her. Tayson shouted for someone to bring her a blanket as she huddled in a tight ball. More flashlights lit the clearing, bringing the blood spray into stark relief. As DeGrassi came over and reached out to help her to her feet, shielding her nudity from the others, she could see an officer go over to examine the remains of the ropes dangling from the overhead limbs. A third officer prodded something on the ground with his foot. It was one of Cowven's hands.

Cowven was half-led, half-carried out by two officers. The man was weeping openly now. Roni watched dispassionately as DeGrassi lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the cottage.

The man would carve up no more women. The Crescent City Cutter would no longer haunt the city or her. His reign 485

was over. And to Roni, he had gotten almost everything he deserved.

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