Damned and Desired (26 page)

“We should leave now.”

“Brad. I have to go back.” She handed him the keys to the car. “The demoness won’t allow me to return after this.”

“Are you insane? You are
not
going back. Stay here. If they come, I’ll protect you.

My powers have completely returned.”

Dante gave a dry laugh. “It won’t help. They can find her. If she stays, they’ll send Drones.”

“But if you go back, won’t they destroy you for sabotaging their plans?” He seized her hand. The temptation to stay was great but she didn’t have a choice.

“Tarik thinks his experiment caused the damage in the core. I’m responsible for releasing my friends. I’m only guilty of getting too personal with mortals, not sabotage.”

“You’ll be punished,” Dante said.

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“I know.” She turned to Brad. “I can’t stay. I’m a danger to you. If Anartia breaks free, I have to go too.”

Eternity with Gwyllain and Tarik was like a death sentence now. Even if Tarik managed to free Anartia, she’d always be exiled from Brad. Prygos didn’t feel like home to her anymore. She couldn’t look Brad straight in the eyes. The pain she was sure to find there would break her for sure. The pain she felt didn’t matter as long as he was safe. She’d make Dante swear that no Drone would harm him.

Dante stood beside her. “Not if you give up your immortality for good.”

She inclined her head. Would she ever totally trust Dante? “How is that possible now? If the demoness finds out, she will have me hunted down and destroyed for deceiving her.”

“Not if she believes you were lost intradimensionally,” Dante said.

“How can you do that?” Brad asked.

“There is a risk but if it works, you can live as a mortal on Earth.” Dante turned to Sakari. “You will never be able to return to Anartia or Prygos. Do you understand?”

“Yes. You think it’ll work?”

“Sure.” But Dante didn’t look convinced.

“What are you planning?” Brad asked.

“The theory is, if she loses the nebula stone during the journey she’ll return to the original point of entry. She’ll then break connection with Anartia, including her immortality.”

“I thought I would be lost between worlds if I entered the portal without the nebula stone.”

“You would but if you enter
with
the stone, then lose it during the passage, you won’t complete the journey.”

“I’d return to where I started?” she asked.

He nodded. “As long as the stone isn’t broken until after you return. I’ll break the stone when I arrive on Anartia. Once the stone is destroyed or broken, you’ll lose your connection to Anartia. Without that, you can’t receive the energy needed to maintain your immortal lifeforce. Gwyllain will think you’ve been lost intradimensionally.”

She now knew the risks. She would give up immortality if she could be with Brad and if she could get away from Gwyllain. “They won’t be able to find me,” Sakari said.

“More or less,” Dante said.

Sakari turned to Brad. ”There’s a chance to stay here but it’s dangerous.” She searched his face for approval or a suggestion for another way out. But his expression was neutral.

“It’s your life and your decision. Both choices are dangerous for you. I can’t help you with this,” Brad said in a soft but firm tone. His gaze met hers, and his eyes revealed strength and desire so intense it gripped her heart.

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“Decide now, Sakari because I’m returning to Anartia.”

She nodded to Brad. “For one more night with you, I’d risk my life.”

He gazed up at the sky and sighed, looking oddly vulnerable. She turned back to Dante. “Let do it.”

Brad grabbed her into his arms, crushing her to him. His mouth was pressed to her hair, her mouth, her neck. “Come back to me and I’ll never let you go again.” He kissed her hard, deep, with desperate passion.

“I must go.” Sakari placed a hand on his chest, feeling the hard strength beneath her fingers and trying to fight back the heavy emotion threatening to spill out of her. “I’ll see you soon.” Her vision blurred a bit but she blinked back the tears. She wouldn’t let him see her cry.

“I’ll be here.” He gripped her hand almost painfully, his gaze locked with hers, then he released her.

He gave Dante a short nod.

“Remove your nebula stone,” Dante ordered as they walked toward the portal.

Brad followed.

In the distance, she could hear the sound of an ambulance siren.

She handed the pendant to Dante and walked toward the portal.

“No, not yet. You will hold my hand while I have the stone as we enter the portal, a moment later I will release you. If all goes well you should return here. I will destroy the stone when I get to Anartia.”

“Let’s do it.” Sakari didn’t want to think about the consequences. She knew this was her only chance and she also knew there was a chance it wouldn’t work.

Dante held out his hand. “Place the stone in my palm and hold onto me. When I loosen my grip, let go. Do not grab the stone and do not knock it out of my hand or you will be lost between dimensions forever.”

She nodded.

“Walk with me.”

She glanced back over her shoulder at Brad. Her heart broke to see him vanish as they stepped into the portal.

* * * * *

Dante landed at the edge of the cliff—the seas were rough as usual, rain pelted his face and the heather field. All was back to normal, more or less. At least the earthquakes seemed to have stopped for now. Before entering the temple, he placed the nebula stone on the ground and crushed it with his boot heel. He hoped Sakari had made it back.

Once inside the temple, Dante crossed the great hall to greet the demoness.

Gwyllain sat in a tall chair, motioning him with a wave of her hand. She wasn’t 148

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entertaining any Drones and Tarik was nowhere to be seen. He was back in the lower chambers putting Anartia back together, Dante supposed.

Hiding his reluctance, Dante stood before the chair to speak to her. “Good day, mistress.” She wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell her. The demoness had on one of her shimmery red sheaths, see-through and clinging. Surrounding her on several red satin cushion were three slave women and three slave men waiting to serve her, looking a bit weary. Around the giant pool a number of female Drones lingered waiting to give their offering to Tarik and on the other side of the pool, male Drones anticipated the demoness to request an opportunity to give their offering of chi. A co-ed harem.

Tarik emerged from his chamber looking a bit disheveled. He approached Gwyllain. “All is well for the moment. Anartia is stable again and in need of a new supply of bio-energy to replenish what was lost and to repair the damage.”

Gwyllain fumed, impatience strained her face. “What happened?” she shrieked.

“The surge fractured the crystals in Anartia’s core. I’ll make adjustments next time.”

Dante looked at Tarik.
He’s lying. He must’ve have found the crowbar. Why isn’t he
telling her the truth?

“Where are the Sha Warriors? How did they escape?”

“Escape?” he glanced at Dante with a worried look then relaxed. “I released them before any more damage could occur.”

Dante realized that Tarik didn’t want his mistress to know why his experiment was a failure and how the Sha Warriors escaped. Dante suspected Tarik had other reasons for keeping the information from Gwyllain. He and Tarik now had a secret to keep, a dangerous secret. Tarik would probably expect a large favor in return sometime.

Gwyllain narrowed her eyes, skeptically. “Dante and Sakari were assisting you?”

She didn’t sound convinced.

“Of course, mistress. They were a huge help,” Tarik said, giving Dante a warning look.

The demoness sighed in frustration. “I really thought we were going home this time. I really thought I was going to kill my malicious husband.”

“In time, my love.” He patted her shoulder. “Revenge will be sweet.”

“Yes, it will, won’t it?” That thought seemed to perk her up. She placed her hand on his. “Finish with your Drones, quickly. Then meet me in my garden.”

A muscle twitched at his jaw. “It will be my pleasure.”

She waved him away.

Dante scanned the room. All the Drones were in service again. There were still over fifty. Years ago, Drones were rotated with decades of inactivity where they could live free on Earth as mortals. A resting period. Living on Earth was easier for Anartia.

Drones could draw in some bio-energy from Earth to support their immortality without draining this artificial dimension.

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Until Tarik was able to repair and redefine his instruments, the Drones would be expected to supply excess energy for their world’s needs and Tarik’s work.

“Where’s my favorite handmaiden?” she demanded, sipping wine from a crystal goblet and waved off Tarik when he tried to rub her shoulders.

“Handmaiden, mistress? But you made her into a Drone,” Tarik reminded her in a pleasant tone.

“Yes, because you needed more Drones.” She glanced over her shoulder and looked up at him with an icy glare. “And why are you wasting time and not receiving offerings? You must return to your laboratory and continue your experiments. I don’t want to remain here any longer than necessary.”

“Yes, mistress.”

Gwyllain huffed and glared at Dante. “Where is Sakari? I want a cool cloth. My face is heated now. She was always at my side when I needed something. She’s still my handmaiden and will take that duty again as soon as we return to Prygos.”

Dante stepped up. “Mistress, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Sakari is gone.”

“No, you’re mistaken. She must be on Earth.”

“She was lost in the portal.”

The demoness raised a brow. “How? What did you do?”

“She went through the portal ahead of me. When I reached Anartia, I found this.

Sakari was nowhere.” He held up the nebula stone pendant. A broken fragment of the round stone dangled from the cord. “This was on the ground at the portal’s gate. It must have slipped from her neck.”

“Oh, no.” Tarik groaned. “She’s lost.”

Gwyllain handed her goblet to one of the slaves and placed her hands firmly on her lap. “Well, go back into the portal and find her,” she commanded.

“He can’t,” Tarik said. “If the stone was broken during her journey, she couldn’t have survived.” He locked eyes with Dante, passing a silent message.

He knows. Tarik knows she’s alive. I hope she made it. This was his second lie. What’s Tarik
up to?

Gwyllain stood and walked to the large windows and looked out. A flicker of sadness crossed her face. She recovered quickly and approached Tarik, leaning against him, kissing his mouth, his neck. The first time Dante had seen any affection in the demoness in a long time. Tarik held her but Dante saw no passion in his eyes. To be trapped in exile with a woman you were not in love with was quite a punishment. And to maintain that deception for a thousand years was quite a feat.

“The skies grow dark on Anartia and I can hear the seas are rough again. The energy needs to be replenished,” Gwyllain said. “There is much to be done before we can return to Prygos.”

“Sad but true, mistress.” Tarik kissed her. Over Gwyllain’s shoulder, he mouthed the words, “Valdon” and “Sakari”.

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Dante took that to mean that Valdon could be a threat to her. Dante believed she could also have two other enemies, Zorian and John Reilly. Dante had deceived Zorian and was also friends with her. If Zorian had brought Haley to Anartia for revenge, he might still be angry. How had Zorian known of his fondness of Haley? Had Valdon seen them together? He would have to warn her.

Gwyllain strolled over to the pool and glanced at each of the half dozen male Drones waiting to give their offering. Any one of them could be John Reilly. None were looking at him suspiciously. None looked familiar but they could’ve changed form.

Many Drones did over the years to hide their identity on Earth. He had time yet to search and find his enemy.

She selected three males but by the look on her face, her patience was running thin.

“Take off your clothes and follow me,” she commanded. “And you’d better know how to please me.” Then she stepped up to Tarik, her jaw tight and body stiff. How quickly her mood changed. “Do whatever it takes and get us out of this hellish part of the universe. I want to go home to Prygos so I can murder my husband.”

“Yes, mistress.” Tarik pointed to all the female Drones. “I have many offerings to receive. I doubt I’ll have time today to work in my laboratory.”

“You can do three at a time in your chamber, can you not?”

“Yes, mistress, of course. And then meet in your garden?”

“I suppose you need to work in you laboratory. We’ll need to have pleasure another time.”

Dante didn’t miss the twitch of a smile at the corners of Tarik’s mouth. “Very well, mistress. It’s a sacrifice but it’s necessary.” He crossed the room and was about to select his Drones when Gwyllain jumped up and interceded.

“Wait.” She crossed the room, her hips swaying seductively beneath the red sheath.

“You, you and you,” the demoness directed, clearly expecting to be obeyed at all times.

Their world had come close to destruction but she was still in control. “Follow Tarik and give him his offering. Then help him with anything he needs.”

Tarik marched off to his private chamber, not looking too disappointed with his selected entourage even though his mistress had made the selection for him. He disappeared down the corridor. The three young women Drones nodded and hurried to catch up to Tarik. She turned to Dante, glaring at him. “If you do not have an offering, I suggest you return to Earth and get busy. Tarik will need new Sha Warriors for the next stage of our escape.”

Gwyllain stalked out of the room with her three male Drones following her.

He left the temple, grateful to return to Earth to find new Kithra and Sha Warriors.

John Reilly was still among the Drones. He had time to think of a new way to find him.