S.A. Price (9 page)

"Nothing so far. Cristof has acquired about thirty girls, thirty-one with you. I think he fancies himself that would-be snake king from that Conan movie. I think he’s hoping to break them and turn them into his own personal harem, but then again that’s just speculation. I do know of two girls that were disposed of, but that’s before I arrived in the unit. Apparently one of them, a girl named Anya, took the commanding officer with her when she escaped and slit his throat. They caught her though."

he sighed. "So I’m supposed to gain your trust, by giving you a room, which I’m going to do. And then seduce you into a night of sex, which I’m going to pretend to do. So tonight, you will be sleeping in a

~36~

bed, and a shower and everything. Tomorrow we will see each other on and off, and then the plan will go into effect. I’m counting on you."

She nodded. "See each other how? And can I have a change of clothes? I can’t escape looking like this."

"Already taken care of. I have fatigues and a t-shirt and boots for you, though if they are going to think this little seduction is going to work, you’re going to have to wear the white shorts and tank top that’s in the room. I’ll bring the clothes with me tomorrow. And remember I’m supposed to seduce you, so tomorrow we will spend the time together, have lunch, breakfast... and a walk of the grounds, which will be beneficial I think."

"I think so too...” It would be good for her to walk around and get familiar with the place. “So where is this room?"

Homer nodded. "One floor up."

"How did you find us all? Those girls...me... how could you choose?"

"I’m not sure how they do it, I’m not on recon." he blushed. "I read an interview with you a year or so back, saying how you are into training, and you visit a gun range." He looked up at her. "You are the best shot they have."

She grinned at him despite herself, "Well I was slated for an assassin movie, so I thought I’d better at least figure out how to hold the things. Turns out I have a knack for targets, didn’t get the part though. You look pretty military... is that who's behind this?"

"No, but he’s hired out a bunch of ex military, it’s how I got the job." he stood and offered her his hand. "Guy’s name is Cristof, and he's the high priest of the Lamia cult. I don’t know much else about him except he’s a pompous arse and wears a medallion of a snake, and quite the nancy blue robes all the damn time."

She smiled at his description despite herself. "And why do they have you guys with us? Why not themselves?" She took his hand standing thankfully, the pain in her calves had disappeared.

"The lamia project. We are guinea pigs. If it works," he scoffed, "Then they want to make sure there’s no side effects before he takes the plunge himself. I don’t know about you but I wasn’t a big fan of being experimented on in the actual military, I’m damn sure not going to do it here."

"I guess not... never been experimented on before to be honest. Though the whole "taking the plunge" thing is a little creepy. I take it, it hasn’t worked so far then? No snakey powers for the boys?"

"No, and he’s demanding results."

"There’s always faking them..." She sighed as her stomach growled.

"I don’t know how this shit is supposed to work, but I don’t think there’s really any faking of turning into a snake. Come on let’s get you some food and to the room. I’ll fill you in on the rest.

She nodded walking with him, "True, but why would he want to turn into a snake?"

"Got me, I’m completely baffled myself.

"Personally I'd rather be a werewolf... or a cat. I could be a cat, something with fur. I’ve never been a fan of the snakeskin look."

He shrugged. "Eh, there’s something sexy about snakes though."

If only he knew, she mused letting him walk ahead of her. He had a great ass on him and a body that just screamed power. Normally that didn't attract her at all but damn if he couldn't hold her attention. Kidnapping wasn't necessary she really hadn't been joking about the two bottles of house red. She sighed forcing her eyes away from the view. It had been too damn long but not so long that the wounds from her last relationship had healed. "In my experience they tend to all be jerks.

Although that's been my general experience with all men..."

"Are we talking about snakes or men?" he mused, looking over his shoulder.

"Both, my last boyfriend decided to tell all to a newspaper... under priced the scoop too. He was a real snake." She forced a grin Frank had been human but it didn't stop him telling every dirty sex secret they'd shared to the whole world. He’d broken her heart.

~37~

"Brutal. Though I think I read that one, and I gotta say, if you were half as adventurous as that said, I might have to weasel a date out of this when it’s all over."

"You get me out of this and I'll buy the wine." She moved closer to him hoping that his warmth would chase away the memory of Frank’s betrayal. "So did you really have my poster?"

He turned and smiled at her again, bending. "Still do."

She beamed at him, god help her. If he was just suckering her in to kill her then it was working.

"You do not... you're a little too hot for that sort of thing..." There was no reason she couldn't flirt with her kidnapper would be killer, ok there was every reason but flirting was what she did when she was nervous. Besides she could always use her feminine wiles to charm him a little, keep herself from being expendable.

He smirked and reached up, holding her chin. "When we get outta here, I’ll show you."

"Oh I'll hold you to that..." She smiled taking a small step closer so their bodies were inches apart; his heat and scent enveloped her. "Don’t suppose there’s any chance of a phone in the room?"

"Sadly no, but there’s one in the Jeep."

Ah the mythical jeep. She nodded stepping back from him, "Good I'll be able to call for help from there..."

"Damn right. Call the fucking cavalry in, get this fucking place cleared."

"I'll try... what will happen to you?"

"You think I have lasted this long without having a plan for myself. I’ll find you, by that time you’ll owe me a date."

~38~

NINE

Elise woke to the ghost scent of Merrick in the room and groaned. After the night she had, the day before it also, she was not looking forward to the day ahead. Whatever Merrick was planning couldn’t end well for her, and she was going to have to figure out how to salvage everything so that there would be no bloodshed.

That was the trick though. While usually very peaceful, the nests coveted lands with hunt-able areas and natural barriers. The east had the best land and was easily defendable, with the mountain rings of the eastern seaboard, and the lush forests that the logging companies hadn’t started in on yet.

It was one of the reasons why Ramona wanted her daughter’s fledgling nest there, as a foothold. Now, well she could out Elise from Knossos West, and that was unacceptable. This issue called for some looking into the council charter, to see what damage can be undone by Merrick’s foolishness. That was going to take time she didn’t have, as she knew at the first opportunity she was going to get challenged.

There was nothing to be done about it though; she was to meet the council by ten AM, when the research and development teams got to the ranch. Winging it was the only option, and leaving the fate of over thirty snakes in the northeastern territory in Merrick’s capable hands didn’t sit well with her.

She might still want him and love him, but after everything, trusting him was not an option. All he had proven was that he was still a selfish bastard, and the only difference was that his selfishness didn’t involve her in a positive way like it did before.

It was killing her that she was still so attracted to him. He had sat there last night, all but begging for her forgiveness, telling her that she was still his heart and she couldn’t believe him. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t reacting to his nearness. It didn’t mean that as her rational mind cursed him, her body was jumping for joy at being close to him, feeling his heat and smelling the scent that was pure and unadulterated Merrick. The scent she missed above all else.

It took everything she had in her to not take him up on his mating offer the night before, took everything to not run into his arms and breathe him in. Mating wasn’t something that was supposed to happen to cement treaties, or to make up for lost time, as she had told him once before. Mating was done because of the love that was shared, and the proof that as a female, you could handle a strong and virile male. There wasn’t anyone stronger then John Merrick and once upon a time, she counted herself lucky to be the captain of his heart. Now, she just felt foolish. Mating to Merrick, if it was ever to happen, and she doubted that highly, was something that had to be epic, and she had half a mind to refuse him and hope he pined for her the rest of his days. Of course the down side to that was she would pine for him the rest of her days, like she had for the past fifteen years. She knew she would never move on, it just wasn’t an option, despite her posing last night. It was either John Merrick’s bed and heart, or none at all. There was the distinct possibility that it would be the latter, given the circumstances. He was going to have to pull off the deal of a lifetime for him to even be back in her good graces, and as much as she wanted him to fail, to feel the pain he’d caused her, she knew that if anyone could pull it off it was Merrick.

~39~

She groaned and finally got out of bed, putting the ring on her bedside table, and padded to the shower for a session of ‘wake me up’ orange peel shower scrub and hopefully less over analyzing.

She emerged from her shower fifteen minutes later, physically clean but her emotions still in turmoil. Not back in my life twenty-four hours and already you have managed to warp everything I know. Why can’t I just not love you! She thought as she donned a pair of low-rise slacks and a fitted green button down short-sleeved shirt. She knew the answer though, and fate was a cruel mistress when she wanted to be. Haven’t I suffered enough already? Fifteen years alone, thinking he’s dead, mourning his memory and his love to find out he’s been here the whole time and inches from my grasp? Can the cosmic gag reel get any more pathetic? She sighed and pulled her quickly drying blond locks up into a twist and secured it with a large heavy wooden barrette, the only thing that would hold the thick coils of her mane back from her face in an elegant fashion. She looked good, professional, and authoritive, and that would go far with her only option, to bluff. She turned as the door to the bedroom opened, and Myra walked in with a stack of papers. Apparently she had been busy.

“So what did you find?”

Myra nodded stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. "A few things caught my eye."

"Oh please share. Anything right now to get my mind thinking about anything else."

"Well, look at this." She passed Elise a few sheets of paper. "An auction receipt for a rare Astikian text book, The Astikian's believed that by worshiping snakes, more importantly snake shifters that they themselves could absorb their powers. Sound familiar?" She asked rhetorically before continuing, handing Elise more sheets. "These are for roughly the same gig but from different cultures throughout the world. Asia, India, northern Europe. They were all bought by separate people, but the accounts seem to be the same. I'm having trouble tracking it though."

"Well if it was a text collector then it wouldn’t be hard to trace, so we can rule that out. Do we know anyone in Shadow Heights that might be able to help?" she asked looking at the page in front of her. It outlined a myth of the Delphyne, a sister of a Titan in Greek mythology that was said to be a Lamia. "This myth, the Delphyne, she’s a goddess right? Or was worshipped as one once? This is something I want more info on. When Beryl gets here, I need her expertise on this." she mused.

Something about the myth was niggling at her.

She shrugged, "Well I'm sure she'll be able to help me out with a few things, I have a few questions I need her to clear up for me. There’s been a few cults popping up here and there. I found them because they've been claiming themselves as religions for tax benefits of all things. It started with one three years ago and now they have about seven over the US. A guy called," she checked her notes. "Cristof Ansley, a French aristocrat, he claims that he's discovered the secret to eternal youth.

They say they worship the old gods, Delphyne's noted as one of them along with a few choice others that they shouldn’t even know about." She shook her head. "Anyway so I did some checking and this guy is heavily into his dark arts. He's raised a number of red alerts from a few different people most notably the French police. He was the prime suspect in the ‘Fusion murders’ five years ago, seventeen bodies were found in the French countryside all ritually killed and tortured. They only found seventeen but they suspected that there are more, a lot more. They brought him to trial but they couldn’t make anything stick. He jumped country soon after, no idea how he made it here with his record though. He’s a real piece of work."

"Interesting, very interesting. And kudos for getting the information Myra, at least no one can say we aren’t efficient, and it will help with our standing." she said quietly, quite pleased with the upper hand.

"And how is our standing?" She asked carefully.

Elise sighed. "Well, Merrick, that prick, didn’t make anything easy for us."