15. Chapter 15
The transition from the light of the cave to the tunnel felt like being plunged into darkness again and Marissa did her best to stay calm.
She could feel Cooper”s presence getting farther and farther away as they moved down the tunnel and panic rising up to grip her throat. A deep breath filled her senses with the damp smell of dirt, the sharp burn of old sand and a strange musk she”d always associated with lizards and snakes.
She sent her breath out through clenched teeth and pursed lips and felt her heart rate start to slow, even as her limbs trembled with the effort to keep still. Everything in her wanted to jump up and run to Cooper but she could still feel the bindings around her arms and legs and knew she wouldn”t be allowed to move until her captors were ready.
Even if their conversation had seemed to indicate that they considered themselves her rescuers, she couldn”t know what they considered a rescue.
And she didn”t think they”d be as kind to Cooper.
At least she still had her clothes on, she thought. That was always a good place to start.
Light started to reach them from further down the tunnel and Marissa”s heart started to pound again. The strange itching at the back of her brain started again and she realized she hadn”t noticed when it stopped. Cooper had said something about sound dampeners being used to increase their ability to speak telepathically and she knew that had something to do with the strange feeling.
They turned down a tunnel and the itch increased, along with a strange buzz, as though there was a swarm of bees that she could just hear through the thick stone walls. Another turn brought them into another cave with bright lights and the low hum of people talking.
Her assumption that she was secured to the cot she was being carried on was confirmed when she tried to shift to look around at the cave. She was facing a wall that had obviously been worked smooth instead of left as natural stone and she couldn”t move to see any of the people she could hear.
”Is that her?” a woman”s voice asked. ”I”ve got the room all set up. I wondered when you”d get around to bringing her to me.”
Marissa couldn”t hear the reply but she knew there had to be one because the woman spoke again.
”She can”t be that much trouble,” she said. ”He didn”t have her long enough to-”
To what? Marissa wanted to ask. What was Cooper supposed to have done to her?
”Well, let”s get her in there and I”ll take a look,” the woman said.
A door opened and she was carried past a door frame before they set the cot down on what looked like a tiled floor.
”Let her loose and then go,” the woman said. ”No, I”m not talking to her tied up like this. And you can”t stay. I don”t care that she”s some kind of soldier, you know what the women they bring in here are like.”
Marissa fought the urge to explain she wasn”t a soldier, she was a Marine. Fortunately, whoever the woman was arguing with released whatever had been holding her on the cot and she fell backwards to lay flat. The disorientation of the abrupt change was accompanied by a familiar wave of nausea and she fought to focus on the people around her.
Her eyes darted first to the cloaked backs of the people that were walking away, leaving the room if they were doing what they”d been told, then to the woman bending over to study her.
At least, she thought it was a woman.
Her skin…wasn”t.
If she”d been standing still, Marissa would have thought the woman was carved out of a pale, milky jade. Instead, as she moved, the edges of the scales that covered her caught the light and shimmered briefly.
She was so fascinated by the movement of colors and light that it took her a moment to realize the woman had asked her a question. A hard blink let her focus her gaze on the woman”s face. Her mouth and nose were shaped like Cooper”s though her eyes were a deep, chocolate brown and definitely human.
”What?” Marissa asked. ”What”s going on?”
The woman gave her a close mouthed smile. ”You”re a little disoriented,” she said. ”That”s normal for girls in your situation. I asked you what your name was.”
”I am Major Marissa Ozark of the United States Marine Corps,” Marissa answered and sat up. The worst of the nausea had subsided and she started to look around.
”Oh, they did mention you were some kind of soldier,” the woman said, her voice soft and lilting. ”They don”t usually get their hands on female soldiers. Can you tell me where you”re from, dear?”
”I am Major Marissa Ozark of the United States Marine Corps,” Marissa repeated. ”Please identify yourself and this location.”
The room looked like it had been built into a natural cave, with the walls smoothed to make them easier to use and more pleasant to look at. The tiled floor was actually made of thousands of small mosaic tiles in a pattern that looked abstract from where she was sitting.
”My name is Ae-cha, a healer of my people, and you are in my office,” the woman said. ”I”m here to help you.”
”Great, then you can tell me where to pick up my boyfriend and where the door is,” Marissa said. ”Because I need to get back to base yesterday.”
”I understand you”re in a hurry to get home,” Ae-cha told her. ”And it”s good that you remember you have one. This is a positive step.”
”Ma”am,” Major Ozark started, ”I don”t think you have any idea who or what you”re talking to. I have to get out of here now and unless you want to face the wrath of my people, you want me out of here now, too.”
”And who are your people?” Ae-cha asked, leaning down to look Marissa in the face.
”I am Major Marissa Ozark of the United States Marine Corps.”
Ae-cha sighed. ”Yes, you”ve said that more than once now. I am familiar with the name though I don”t understand why you think it”s the most important thing to tell me. I can”t get you home if you”re not willing to talk to me.”
Marissa”s jaw set. ”What do you want to know?”
”You were found in the company of a male Chelion,” Ae-cha said, a satisfied smirk twisting her lips. ”We are familiar with their tactics and attitudes towards females. What did he do to you?”
”That is none of your damn business,” Marissa snapped.
”Oh, dear,” Ae-cha said with a shake of her head. ”I was afraid of that. Do you not remember the physical details? Or has he convinced you that nothing has happened yet?”
The lizard woman”s tongue flicked out near Marissa”s face and she flinched.
”Who the fuck do you think you are?” Marissa demanded. Her confusion had turned to anger and it was swiftly becoming rage.
”I”m here to help you but I can”t do that if you won”t talk to me,” Ae-cha told her. ”I can see this is making you upset. That”s also a completely normal response from women who have had their freedoms violated by the Chelions. Can you tell me anything about what happened to you?”
”Screw you, lady.”
Ae-cha gave another heavy sigh. ”I was hoping to do this the easy way but you”re giving me little choice.”
With a speed Marissa had never seen from a human, the lizard woman struck. Her right hand held the top of her head in a crushing grip, while her left hand forced her chin up to look into her eyes.
Ice poured down her spine and through her veins while she felt Ae-cha try to bore through her eyes and into her mind. The migraine that flared behind her eyes joined the scream that rang through her ears.
And then it was gone.
As though someone had dropped a solid wall between her and the assault, Marissa could still feel her trying to get through but nothing worked.
Something wet slid across her lip and she tried to direct her breath to blow it away.
Ae-cha jerked back and the first thing Marissa saw as her vision came back into focus was the splatter of blood across her face. She reached up to wipe at her lip and came away with the blood that had been dripping down her face.
”Why does it burn?” Ae-cha hissed. ”Human blood doesn”t burn. What did he do to you?”
”I don”t know what you”re talking about,” Marissa said. ”How do you know human blood doesn”t burn? Who do you think did something to me?”
The lizard woman was on her feet and moving to the other side of the room before Marissa could finish the last question. Not that she needed an answer.
Ae-cha turned to her, a white powder covering her face that she was wiping away with a soft white cloth with short, precise strokes. ”I”ve gotten enough human blood on me from the other women who have been kidnapped by the Chelions. They come in covered in scars and lacerations, hysterical from the pain and trauma. You try cleaning the wounds on a screaming, thrashing trauma victim without getting any blood on you.”
She snorted and tossed the cloth on the counter behind her.
”Most of them don”t have the presence of mind to spit it in my face.”
Marissa frowned. ”The only trauma I”ve suffered has been at the hands of your people. Cooper has been nothing but nice to me.”
”His name isn”t Cooper,” Ae-cha told her. ”And I don”t want to know what society you come from where kidnapping and rape is ”nice”.”
”He didn”t-” Marissa started, then stopped and swallowed. ”He didn”t rape me.”
”Oh?” the lizard woman”s eye brows didn”t raise because she didn”t have any, but her face shifted in a way that suggested it. ”You consented to the mental bond, then? Will full knowledge of the possible consequences? You agreed to let him take over your mind?”
”No,” she allowed. ”But he didn”t, either. I got the feeling he didn”t know it was possible. And he hasn”t taken over my mind.”
Ae-cha snorted again. ”Please, if he told you that, he was lying. The Chelions have been hunting human women for centuries to force that bond. It”s one of their most basic primal urges, to the point where they”ll kill each other and anybody between them and their intended victim.”
”He”s not,” Marissa started again, then stopped when she heard Cooper”s voice in her head.
Don”t, the voice said. Not yet.
”Not like that?” Ae-cha scoffed. ”I expected a warrior woman like you to know better but it”s obvious he”s clouded your judgment.”
Marissa rolled her eyes. ”You don”t know anything about me or what I”ve been through in the last days, weeks or months. So I”m going to go with fuck off and die. Where”s Cooper?”
Ae-cha”s mouth opened in a toothy grin. It was the most alien she”d looked yet and Marissa shivered. ”Cooper is somewhere he can”t hurt you. Hopefully soon, he”ll be convinced to let go of the hold he has on your mind. Until then, this process is going to be unpleasant.”
Energy radiated up Marissa”s arms and spine until she was completely immobilized where she was sitting on the stretcher. Ae-cha crossed the room towards her with obvious intent, sending a chill of fear through her.
When Ae-cha”s hand landed on the top of Marissa”s skull, she realized that she could move something after all. Her mouth fell open in a scream.