“I would never hurt you,” Lucius said to me, speaking for the first time since I’d entered. His rough voice washed over me in sensuous waves.
“Is that so? You jerked me off the street. Locked me in your home. Yesterday you jerked me onto the dance floor and wouldn’t let me go.”
“I’m sorry for that.” He didn’t sound sorry. In fact, he leered at me. “I was…overcome, seeing you again. But I didn’t hurt you, you have to admit.”
I pressed my lips together, admitting nothing.
“We’re all civilized adults,” Jonathan said. “And I assure you, Hunter has learned his lesson.”
“I want to believe you.” I forced my eyes to fill with tears. “I really do, but do you see the way he’s looking at me? He isn’t sorry. Not really.” I couldn’t accept Hunter’s apology or Jonathan’s assurances because the stage had to be set for my abduction. It had to appear Hunter couldn’t win my affections through conventional means. Later, when I left, he would be able to speak to Jonathan about “buying” me. Jonathan would then speak with EenLi. And EenLi would then come after me. Once I discovered what magnetic device EenLi used to transport his “cattle,” I’d have the pleasure of killing him.
Ah, life suddenly seemed so good.
“I think…I think I need a moment alone,” I said. I placed a shaky hand over my heart. I’m sure Lucius already searched the house, but I wanted to do my own search. He might have missed something. If there was any information about EenLi, the abducted, about the portals or solar flares, I wanted to know it. “Will you excuse me?”
“If you want fresh air, there’s a veranda down the hall. Just off to your right,” Jonathan said.
“I won’t be gone long.” I knew Lucius would distract them if I didn’t come back in a timely fashion.
This was going to be fun.
Chapter 17
Of course, I didn’t go to the veranda.
For privacy, the guards had been sent away and were no longer inside. Remaining alert, I strode to the first room I came to. Surprisingly, it wasn’t locked. I stepped inside. The scent of bleach and lemon permeated the small, dim space. A cleaning closet, I realized happily. They were often overlooked as inconsequential. I ran my fingertips over several bottles of cleaner as I looked for a trash receptacle.
There, in the back. Grinning, I bent over it and riffled through the contents. Dirty napkins, an old pair of shoes. I sighed. People used computers and digital notepads, so paper—rare as it was—was hardly used anymore. Still…a girl could hope.
Next, I found a bathroom. It, too, was open. Blue-and-white marble flooring, an antique porcelain tub. Fake plants in every corner. But nothing of importance.
The only other room in this hallway was a laundry. Large and wide, the area overflowed with clothes and servants, poles for the material, and dry-spray hoses that ejected the cleaning enzymes. I stood in the doorway, watching the women work for a moment, hoping to catch sight of something of Jonathan’s. Maybe he’d left something in a pocket.
Suddenly a thick, hairy male arm reached from behind me and clamped over my mouth. I was pulled into a hard body, and it wasn’t Lucius’s. The scent was different, not as clean. The feel was different, not as muscled and hot.
The man kicked my knees, and I buckled to the floor. I winced, but I didn’t fight. Not yet. Not until I knew what was going on. Had Jonathan already contacted EenLi? Was this my abduction?
“I’ve got her,” a deep male voice whispered.
“Hurry,” another man said, his voice frantic. “Before someone sees us.”
They dragged me outside, and I glanced up, squinting past the intense light. My abductors were human and dressed entirely in black, guns strapped to their sides. Jonathan’s guards, I realized. In fact, the one holding me was the man I’d seen positioned at the front door when I first arrived. Excitement at last sparked in my veins. This had to be it! I hadn’t expected him to act so quickly.
“Be careful with her. Don’t damage her skin. Don’t pull her hair too hard.”
“Will you shut up? I’m doing the best I can. We’ve got to hurry, or we’ll be seen.”
The man who held me by the hair cast me an evil, greedy smile. “We’re gonna sell your skin and hair for a fortune, pretty girl.” He jolted into motion, hefting me up by the waist and carting me away from the house. The other man followed quickly behind us, tossing nervous glances over his shoulder.
They weren’t here to abduct me. They were here to de-skin me!
Cold, haunting fury replaced my excitement. The bastards wanted to flay the gold skin right off my body. Sell it. Hurt me unmercifully. My fury intensified with every step my tormentor made, but I didn’t utter a sound of protest. Alien voice was as incriminating as human DNA or fingerprints. That was why A.I.R. had strategically placed high-frequency recorders and satellites all across the globe. If an alien was ever implicated in a crime, his voice was logged into a database, then used to trace his whereabouts.
I doubted my name was located in any of the databases—Michael would have seen to that—but I couldn’t risk it.
I didn’t want to be linked to the slaughter about to happen.
My captor squeezed me even tighter, almost cutting off my air. Once we reached a cluster of thick bushes that hid us from view of the house, I tangled my feet in his legs, tripping him. As we fell, I twisted toward him and slammed my palm into his nose. He hit the ground, collapsing on top of me and howling in pain.
Gasping for breath, I rolled out from under him, already jumping into position to attack the second man. I crouched and lashed out with one leg, sweeping both of his feet off the ground. He flailed midair, then landed with such a loud thud, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he cracked his skull. As he lay there moaning, I sprang up, whipped the knife from his waist-band—the very knife he’d planned to use to peel away my skin—and slit his throat.
He gurgled, became silent.
Everything happened so quickly, the first man only now realized what had transpired. Blood poured from his broken nose as he stared, wide-eyed, at his friend. A roar of rage and horror erupted from him, and he leapt at me, hands raised to choke the life from me.
I held the dripping knife steady, waiting, waiting until he reached striking distance. Only then did I swoop low and gut him, sharp silver sinking into human flesh. His own momentum sent the blade deep.