Unchained (Men in Chains Book 3) (6 page)

Yes.

He hated the idea that something they might end up having to do often would be a source of pain for her. He sought around in his mind and finally said,
Listen, I don’t know if this will work, but get a good grip on the chain in your hand then lift it to touch the chain at my neck. Can you do that?

Yes and right now I’d try anything.

He felt her movements as she worked her hand out of the pocket of her jeans, gliding her fist up his chest to make sure she didn’t drop the chain.

She shifted just enough to bring her hand against his neck. The moment the chains connected, he felt a sudden jolt of power erupt between them and Shayna cried out.

Are you okay?
Had he just hurt her?

It’s so much better. I can’t believe it. The connection has created a surge and the pain is leaving.

Good. I was hoping for that.

He breathed a little easier. The chains were functioning in a surprising way even though she hadn’t yet put hers on. That she could siphon his power without actually wearing the chain and forging the bond meant something, though he wasn’t sure what. The only thing he could deduce was that, for whatever reason, they were extremely compatible in terms of his power and her ability to siphon.

A few minutes later he swung north then began his descent into the Dark Cave system, miles away from the nearest improved cave. He knew Daniel’s setup well, since a good year prior he’d snuck inside and spied on it, believing one day he’d return to tear the operation apart. He hadn’t exactly planned on bringing a human female here, but she needed to see what was happening to tens of thousands of innocent human women every day.

He landed her at the far northern end of the system, a place he knew Daniel ignored. During several scouting missions, he’d never once seen a security team in the vicinity.

Shayna glanced around then smiled. “Hey, this is just a cave.”

“Yep. Stalagmites and stalactites. Completely unimproved.”

She stepped off his foot and took a moment to rearrange the chain, wrapping it around her wrist several times, then lacing it afterward through her fingers. Clearly, she didn’t want to lose it, and he didn’t blame her.

She turned in a circle. “I’m still so stunned how well I can see in the dark.”

“You’ve definitely tapped into my power. And you really do feel okay?”

Shifting to face him, she nodded. “The moment my chain connected with yours, the resulting wave of power quickly wiped out the headache. It was amazing. So yeah, I’m fine.”

He stared at her and what he’d felt on the sidewalk in Seattle, as well as in flight, returned. He was so drawn to her. He moved close and took her arm gently in hand. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

His heart pounded as he stared into her light-blue eyes. He wanted to kiss her again, but he wouldn’t do that to her.

He watched her lips part as a sliver of concern appeared in her eyes. “Of all that I’ve experienced so far,” she said, shaking her head slowly, “what has surprised me the most is this.” She waved her hand between them. “I know you want to kiss me and I want you to as well, which makes no sense. I don’t really know you, and yet it’s as though I’ve always known you.” She lifted her hand that held the chain. “And these don’t lie.”

“No, they don’t. They can only amplify what’s already there.”

“I know this won’t make sense, but what comes through is that I can trust you. It would be foolish to act on it, though, wouldn’t it? I mean, even another kiss might be asking for trouble.” Her gaze fell to his lips. He sensed her desire, as well as her astonishment, that she was even thinking about kissing him.

“Completely foolish,” he murmured. The air crackled between them, and he drew a little closer, not surprised when she took a small step as well so that only inches separated them.

Maybe because he thought it possible he’d never get the chance again, he closed the distance, pulled her into his arms, and settled his lips over hers.

Shayna’s voice moved softly through his head,
Marius … yes.

She surrounded his neck with both arms, pressing up against him.

He couldn’t believe he was doing this, that he was kissing her for the second time. When her lips parted, he slid his tongue inside and couldn’t repress the groan that followed.

*   *   *

Shayna could hardly breathe as Marius kissed her. She clung to him as though kissing him had become air to her starved lungs. She didn’t understand her drive toward him at all, except for the obvious—she was painfully attracted to him.

He smelled so good, like summery grasses. Each drag of air had made her want him more, a sensation she’d tried to repress.

When he’d taken a step toward her just now, her feet had moved almost on their own. Now she was in his arms, her body pulsing with desire, the chain vibrating around her hand, saying, “Yes, yes, yes.”

She knew the chain had done this, at least in part. She only wished that she’d met him at a Seattle bar and not under these difficult and bizarre circumstances.

When he began to pull back to end the moment, she withdrew as well, though her breathing had become erratic. He held her gaze and for a long moment, just looked at her. She couldn’t imagine his thoughts, but she sensed he felt bemused, like he didn’t know what to do with her.

She stood very still, waiting. He turned away from her and she felt his thoughts slide and his emotions grow dark. She’d felt this from him before, a powerful wash of guilt that led to feelings of unworthiness. Something tormented Marius, something so horrible that he couldn’t even feel right about kissing her.

In this moment she felt her age. She was far too young to be dealing well with a four-hundred-year-old vampire who seemed to be filled with remorse.

Instead of saying anything, she drew inward as well, tapping into what life experience she had, the things she’d studied, the classes she’d taken in psychology. But nothing came to mind, no special synthesized wisdom that she could use to get Marius from where he was to a place where he might be willing to take her back in his arms.

Time to shift gears. “Is the Dark Cave system far from here?”

He made a half turn so that he met her gaze over his shoulder. He gestured with a toss of his hand. “We’re already here. This is just a distant cave from Daniel’s primary improved caverns.” He glanced at the floor of the cave, then back to her. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry for that.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You gave me what I wanted, that’s all. And I loved it.”

He stared at her for a long moment, his expression now grim. “The blood-chains are already creating a connection between us, can you feel it?”

She nodded. “I can. It’s such a strange experience.”

“It is that. And it’s raw and magnificent and hard as hell to withstand.”

“I would agree. It’s amazing.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

“No, should I be?”

“I don’t know. I would never want to hurt you, Shayna, but I’m afraid you’ll get hurt.”

She figured something out and moved close to him, putting her hand on his arm. “Until right this moment it didn’t occur to me that what we’re experiencing would be new ground for you as well. But it is, isn’t it?”

“I’ve never worn a blood-chain before.”

“And you’re worried about me.”

He released a heavy sigh. “Yes, I am. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Okay.” She nodded briskly several times. She analyzed the situation and decided it would be best to forget about this moment and move on.

She’d told Marius she would do this, to look at what she understood to be Daniel’s sex-slavery operation, involving human women, but she’d already made the decision that she needed to return to Seattle. This was not for her on any level. She was in no way trained to be part of what seemed to be a war within Marius’s world or to deal with him personally. “Then how about we shift our attention back to making a trip through Daniel’s operation.”

He turned toward her and held out his arm once more. “Good idea.”

But suddenly Shayna didn’t want to see what it was that Daniel did to women from her world. She’d read enough articles about human trafficking to know that if it came close to any of what she’d learned, the images would probably never leave her mind.

It was one thing to be tucked up in Marius’s bed with a fire burning in his fireplace and hearing about how vampires in his world steal human women and make sex slaves out of them. But it was another to travel halfway around the world and see it in person.

She crossed her arms over her stomach. “Actually, maybe you should just take me home right now. I don’t plan on staying despite how horrible this reality is.”

Marius lowered his chin. “It’s the only thing I’m asking, then I’ll take you home. But I need you to see how bad this is and why, against every principle, I would have brought you here in the first place. I’m asking you to have courage, most likely more than you’ve ever had in your life, and to see beyond your own life and plans.”

She felt sick to her stomach. Why had it suddenly become her job to solve either problem, the war in his world or the issue of trafficking? “Marius, please don’t make me do this. I just want to go home and resume my life.”

Only then, when she lost heart, did he come to her, planting his hands on her arms. “You can do this, Shayna, and I need someone from your people to see what’s being done to innocent humans. We’ve lived a secret life apart from your human world, but maybe that needs to change in order to protect women just like you.”

Taking the ball out of the vampire court and lobbing it into her very human one calmed her down. She knew in her gut she had to do this thing. Maybe he was right. Maybe if she saw what was happening, she could report back to the US authorities and get the kind of help that was really needed to resolve the issue. She could still help, just not in the intense, chain-bound role she was currently assigned.

“Okay. Fine. I’m ready, but I’m really hoping that we’ll do this fast. Get in, get out.”

He nodded, then drew close, offering his booted foot once more.

As she stepped on top of his foot, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Despite the tension in the air, her proximity to Marius got to her all over again; honestly it was all she could do not to bury her nose in his neck and just take a whiff. Did all vampires smell this good?

Ready?

That he could breach her mind so easily once more sent another layer of sensation flowing through her.

I’m ready.

Still, she flinched as Marius shifted to altered flight and immediately spun them in a circle and headed not up but down. She had that nauseous, roller-coaster feeling
You’re traveling fast.

Have to. The speed keeps us invisible, but this will be a short trip.

She put her chained-up hand against his neck anyway. This time she felt a quick surge of power that seemed to set a block in place, preventing the pain. It was wonderful.

The next moment he slowed but didn’t leave altered flight. They hung suspended at the end of a long hallway.

A large, muscled vampire walked away from them, down what appeared to be a central aisle. Minimal lighting was strung along the ceiling in twenty-foot increments of bare, sixty-watt bulbs.

Can he see us?
she asked.

No. I have us cloaked in a heavy disguise. Only Daniel would be able to see through this, or maybe Quill and Lev, my half brothers who serve him.

Shayna was hardly listening. She could hear moaning as well as a sound she hadn’t been able to place until she realized it was a cacophony of women weeping.
What is this place?

An initial holding cell. The women are incarcerated here first, for a few hours. Most of them are raped at this point, a few kept pure for other harsher experiences down the line.

He started moving down the two rows of cells in which there were anywhere from one to three women on a cot, most of them huddled together, faces grimy, bodies bloodstained, eyes swollen from crying.

Screams erupted twenty yards away.

The guard stopped at what was an open cell door and smiled.

As Marius drew near, Shayna heard the guards laughing first, then some heavy grunting and more screams. She caught a glimpse inside and her stomach turned. Several of the guards were taking turns raping the two women in the cell.

I’m sorry you have to see this.

Shayna hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place, but Marius was right. These women were human captives, and every nationality appeared to be represented. If she turned away without even observing, she was part of the problem. To not acknowledge their suffering and torture was to dishonor each and every one of them.
Isn’t there something we can do?

I’m afraid not. If we stopped and disrupted this crime, we’d be hunted down by the thousands of guards in this system. I’d probably be killed and you’d be put in one of these cells.

Shayna shuddered at this bald description and said nothing more.

The hallway ended, turned at a right angle—and Shayna gasped, for another hall extended farther than she could see. There were more guards and as Marius moved past the end of yet another long, double row of cells, and another, and another, the same scenario repeated: more weeping and screams from the women, laughter and grunting from the men.

Her own tears started to flow and she couldn’t make them stop.
Marius, how many rows are there of just these initial holding cells?

Can you see the horizon?
He kept moving.

Shayna turned to look but it went on and on.
Oh, God.

Marius’s voice sounded distressed inside her head.
Shayna, thousands are brought here every week. Thousands die. Try if you can to process that number.

I don’t know how much more I can take.

Marius suddenly shifted course and flew straight up. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she knew he held her in the middle of solid rock.
Shayna, this is the tip of the iceberg. Don’t you understand? I showed you this part to help get you used to what the rest of this operation will look like.