Chapter Nineteen
“Hi, Lucien,” Sophie said as they swung into traffic and then stopped, a cold chill running down her spine. “How did you know my name?”
He smiled. “Relax. Your boyfriend called your name before he passed out. When you showed up, I assumed you were Sophie.”
“Oh.” That made sense. The Mustang made a right turn and Sophie glanced at the street sign. Tulane Avenue. Well, they were on the right road. This was just a nice college kid, helping her out. She was only worried and jittery because Michael was hurt.
A short distance later, the assorted buildings of the university hospital and the clinics came into view. She breathed a sigh of relief as Lucien slowed the car and turned into an adjacent lot to park the car.
“Thanks so much,” she said, reaching for the door handle. “I really appreciate your help.”
“No problem,” Lucien said and leaned over to pull the door closed. “There’s just one more thing, though.”
“What?” Sophie asked uneasily, aware that although he wasn’t touching her, she was trapped between the seat and his body.
“Just this,” he said.
Sophie felt the sharp sting of a hypodermic needle in her arm. Her vision began to blur and she struggled to open the door, but her arms were sluggish, as though weighed down with bricks. She started to scream, but her throat closed and her tongue felt thick.
Lucien put the car back into gear. “The effects will wear off in about an hour,” he said, “but you may wish they didn’t.”
Then he laughed.
****
Dimly, Michael was aware of voices around him.
He tried to remember what happened. He’d been standing on the sidewalk, waiting for Sophie— The car!
His warlock adroitness had discerned the danger seconds too late, which meant the car had been warded.
Balor’s work, no doubt, but Michael hadn’t sensed the heavy, black power that hung in Balor’s aura.
The driver had been human, which was good or he’d probably have more than broken ribs.
He squinted, slowly opening his eyes to a glaring white light overhead. Colors swirled around him as he tried to focus. He was attached to some kind of machine.
“He’s wakening,” a female voice said briskly.
A man in a white coat bent over him, shining an obnoxious flashlight into his eyes. “No dilation,” the doctor said, “but I still think we should do an MRI.”
He was in the hospital. Now he remembered the ambulance and the sound of Sophie’s voice drifting toward him. An MRI was out of the question; they’d find out he wasn’t totally human. His ribs were almost totally mended too. There wasn’t a logical answer he could give to that.
“No MRI,” he said distinctly as he began to sit up.
“Lie still. You’ve had a concussion,” the doctor said with a firm hold on his shoulder.
Michael’s head was totally clear, but he did as the doctor asked. “I really feel fine,” he said. “No MRI. I—I’m claustrophobic.”
“We can give you a Valium,” the doctor replied.
He did not need to be taking drugs. They’d limit the control he had on his powers. Michael shook his head and sent a telepathic message. Since the doctor was concentrating on him, the message went through easily. “Nope. Don’t do drugs.”
The doctor hesitated, frowning. “All right. We’ll keep you for observation for a few hours.”
“I need to make a phone call, then,” Michael said.
“Sorry,” the nurse replied. “Cell phones aren’t allowed in the ER.”
He sighed, wishing he could just get up and walk out, but that would call too much attention to himself.
He gave the nurse an appreciative look and smiled.
“I understand. Could you make the call for me from a landline?” When she agreed, he gave her the hotel number and a message for Sophie.
A few minutes later, he was alone except for the machine monitoring his vital signs. Thankfully, those were all human.
As he pushed himself into a sitting position, something niggled at the back of his mind.
Why wasn’t Sophie out in the waiting room?
He was sure she had been there on the street.
Surely, someone would have told her where he was taken.
He closed his eyes, envisioning the hotel room, seeking a mind-link.
Pendragon picked up his telepathic signal. “What’s going on? Where are you?”
“At a hospital. Never mind that. Where’s Sophie?”
“Don’t know. She came up here to tell me about the Sword, then said she was going down to meet you. She said she’d bring me some ice cream.”
“Forget about the ice cream for a minute. What time is it?”
“Nine o’clock. Why?”
He’d been in the ER a little over an hour. Where in the hell was Sophie?
He stretched his mind-link, searching the surrounding area. Nothing. It was like she’d disappeared into thin air.
Then the hair along his nape began to prickle, always a sign of imminent danger. He looked around the room, probed the hall with his mind. Nothing there. But still…
And then, faintly as though from a great distance, he felt Sophie’s presence, accompanied by a thick, murky, dense fog. Balor. Dear Goddess, the demon had Sophie!
Michael began tearing off the various pads attached to him.
Machines beeped and he could hear footsteps running down the hall toward him. He muttered an incantation, cloaking himself from human sight, and slipped out the door as two nurses brushed past him.
And then he heard Sophie scream.
****
Pendragon was waiting for him when Michael burst through their hotel room’s door, under his arm the steel case holding Excalibur.
“Do you know where she is?” the dragon asked.
Michael shook his head. “I got a small impression that she was north of here and then the mind-link went black. She may be unconscious. We’ve no time to lose. Get into your cage so we can leave.”
Pendragon snorted smoke. “I’d be a hell of a lot more effective if I could return to my original form.”
“I’m going to summon Tanio,” Michael said, “but we need to be outside when he appears. I don’t want to have to deal with the police finding a full-grown dragon and blown-out walls.”
A short time later, Michael screeched the brakes to a stop almost as soon as they had driven past the fairgrounds and into the city park. “This will have to do,” he said as he opened Pendragon’s cage. “Thank the Goddess it’s dark.” Chanting an incantation, he lifted Excalibur high.
“Tanio, I summon thee!”
****
When Sophie slowly awakened it was to the sensation of lying on damp grass.
She could hear water lapping nearby, but it lacked the salt smell of the Gulf.
Pontchartrain, she thought groggily as she opened her eyes to dim light.
They must be in a very secluded area for it to be so quiet and dark.
As she struggled to sit, she felt a metal chain hit her arm and realized that she also had a metal collar around her neck.
Lifting the chain, she followed its length a short distance to a stake driven into the earth. She was chained like a dog.
A chuckle sounded from behind her. Twisting around, she saw three men not far away. One of them was Lucien, another was the kid who had been on the Charleston street and again on the boat. The third man was deep in the shadows, but it was he who spoke.
“You did well, brother,” he said. “She’s a fine-looking piece of ass. I think we’ll wait just a bit until her brain is fully functioning before we take turns screwing her. I want her to feel the full impact.”
Her muddled brain tried to absorb that information. “You…want to rape me?” She looked from one young man to the other. “Why? Either of you could have your pick of girls your age—”
The shadow man laughed again. ‘Well, maybe Landon could pick up a girl his age, but you have no idea how old Lucifer is.”
Lucifer? His name was Lucien. Wasn’t it? Lucifer was the devil—Her blood chilled. The guy in the shadows had called him brother. Was he…Balor?
Demons had her! She tugged frantically at the steel collar, but it held fast.
Balor stepped out of the shadows and walked toward her, adjusting the patch over his eye.
“You’ll be needing this to unlock the collar,” he said as he held up a key, “but we’re not ready for that just yet.
First, we’ll have a little fun.” He reached down to jerk the chain, sending Sophie sprawling face down into the grass.
Balor placed his boot between her splayed legs.
“Don’t make this too easy for us, okay?” He laughed as she scrambled away.
“That’s better. The reason you aren’t bound is because we—at least Lucifer and I do—like a woman with a little fight in her.
Regrettably, for you, you won’t be able to get too far away. ”
“Why are you doing this?” Sophie asked when she’d backed as far away as possible from him.
“That should be obvious. For Excalibur, of course. Landon did a fine job of getting the warlock out of the way so we could hold you for ransom.”
“We haven’t found the Sword.”
Balor adjusted his eye patch, lifting it just a bit, and Sophie doubled over in pain as if a knife had seared her.
“I’d suggest you don’t lie to me,” he said. “You’ve been followed everywhere by Landon and by Lucifer, and by my pet, Sigurd.”
A low snort came from behind a stand of trees and Sophie swung her head in that direction just in time to see a white hide slide past the trunks. Another low roar sounded, accompanied by smoke.
“Sei still!” Lucifer commanded.
Balor picked up the chain again and tugged.
Sophie dug her feet into the soft ground and grasped the collar to avoid being choked.
Balor tugged harder and she stumbled forward.
“It’s too bad your warlock won’t be around to watch the three of us rut with you,” he said, “but you can tell him how good it was after we get the Sword.”
“Rape isn’t my idea of fun!” Sophie hissed as she was forced to take another step forward.