Deliverance Read online

  By the time they made port in Nagercoil, India, a week later, Samantha couldn’t even stand. Breathing was difficult and all she wanted to do was sleep.

  “She is going to have to drink blood,” Liam said as they snuck off the ship with the captain’s blessing. “She’s too far gone to just survive off of steak and iron pills.”

  Nik’s face was hard as he nodded agreement. “I’ll take care of her,” he promised.

  25 BC

  Iliana was surprised at how quickly Turney managed to win the affection of the rest of the village. Everything went well while he stayed with them. The weather was perfect, the crops grew abundantly well, and no one got sick. Turney was completely at ease and walked around the village with great confidence, as if he reigned over the people. The strange part was how everyone deferred to him, even the elders. Everyone looked up to him like he was a god. When Iliana teased him about it, he looked at her and said, “But I am a god.”

  She giggled at his joke, and he just smiled his sinful grin at her. She was drawn to him in a way she’d never experienced before. He was the type of man she could see herself marrying. He was stronger and more capable than any other in the village.

  When Turney joined the men on hunting trips, they came back with twice the amount of game than they usually took. Iliana was pleased to note that Turney paid more attention to her than any of the other maidens. Perhaps he felt a pull to her in the same way she did him.

  She’d tried to ask him questions about where he was from, but he always made up stories instead. “I am just one of many gods in my world,” he said one day as he watched her work in her garden. “But here, I am the only one.”

  “Do you think I could ever visit your homeland?” Iliana asked. She couldn’t imagine a village full of men like Turney.

  His magnificent face turned inward. “I do not think I shall ever go back.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was sad, but moved her hand to touch his face in comfort. He grabbed her wrist before she could. Turney inspected the earth coating her fingers and then let go to smile at her. “I love it when you touch me. But please wash your hands first.”

  Hastily brushing her hands over her dirty skirt, Iliana glanced down. “Sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

  Turney patted her back. “I know. Don’t worry about it. I told you so that it was brought to your attention.”

  She laughed nervously and went inside to wash.

  Chapter 6

  The vibrations of the vehicle rocked Leisha from side to side and the smell of exhaust fumes mixed with the fabric softener of her clothes. After the immortals had bound her with heavy chains and put her in a coffin, they violently dumped her into a car. Listening to the different sounds and reverberations, Leisha surmised that they drove for a short while. The clinking of a thin metal door and voices echoing told her they parked in a large, empty building. She was jolted and her head cracked against the top of the coffin as they carried her upward. Loud engines roared and she knew they were on a plane. Since there wasn’t a big bustle of activity or conversation, she could only assume that the plane was a private jet of some kind, but the immortals would have the audacity to fly her on a commercial airline if they knew they could get away with it. She had no way of telling how long they were in the air, but the flight felt like an eternity. By the time they transported and moved her around in another car, she had no clue what the climate might even be, let alone what part of the world.

  The car came to a halt and the engine turned off. Leisha heard a click and then the squeaks of hinges that needed oil. Then the murmur of several voices. Suddenly, her coffin was lifted up. It felt like she teetered for a moment and then righted. The immortals were carrying her somewhere. There were occasional comments around her.

  “You finally got that bitchy vamp?”

  “That’s right! This one is gonna get some serious payback before we rip her stupid blonde head off!”

  A loud thud pounded in her ears as she was jolted in the coffin. They hadn’t lowered her too far before they dropped her, so she assumed she was on a table or cot of some kind.

  When they opened the coffin, Leisha got a brief glimpse of a bare light bulb dangling from a slightly stained ceiling before the immortals crowded around and blocked her view. She pulled her knees into her chest as one of the men leaned down with his arms outstretched. She kicked him in the eyes with her bound feet. The cracking of his cheekbones were loud in the quiet room and he cursed, but four other immortals immediately came forward and hauled her roughly out of the box.

  They dropped her onto a metal table lined with gutters that led to a drain in the tile floor. They took the chains off her feet first, a total of six immortals holding her with bruising force while one placed her ankles in stirrups. Two of them pulled out a set of sharp blades while the others held her down. Leisha prepared herself for pain, but they only cut her clothes and nicked her flesh a little in the process. The ripping cloth resounded in her ears and she tried to get free, but it was no use. After her skin was exposed to the chilly air, they proceeded to lock her wrists to the table and then a large, metal clamp was placed over her hips and chest to keep her from moving at all.

  A few of them gave her punches and slaps across the face as they left the room. One woman worked up a bunch of saliva in her mouth and spit on Leisha’s cheek, the spittle trailing down to her hair. None of them said a word.

  Once the door closed behind them, Leisha took as deep a breath as the clamps over her chest would allow, and released it through trembling lips. Steady. Don’t let them see your fear.

  Her solitude only lasted a few minutes before the heavy, steel door swung open.

  “Arthur,” Leisha greeted in a congenial tone. “It’s been, what? Three . . . four years? You look exactly the same as I remember.”

  The council member glared down at her through brown eyes. “Yes,” he agreed darkly. He walked over to a high cupboard and pulled out a disposable poncho, the new plastic smell filling the air. “The last time I saw you was the night you led the vampires to infiltrate our base. Your actions led to the slaughter of half our council, not to mention hundreds of great warriors.” Unfolding the cheap material, he then pulled it over his head, covering the dark blue Gucci suit he wore.

  Giving an awkward shrug, she grimaced. “Would you believe me if I told you that I had nothing to do with that?”

  “Would you believe me if I said I forgive you and that you’re now free to go as you please?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be so snarky about it. A simple no would have sufficed.”

  He took a step toward her, then seemed to think better of it. “I’ve been looking forward to this meeting for some time.” He turned and opened a low cupboard. Instead of having shelves like the other one did, this one only contained a silver table that Arthur wheeled out. She couldn’t see anything but the top layer of the table, which contained an assortment of knives—some sharp and gleaming, others dull and rusty—and tubes filled with green, yellow, and orange fluids. “Especially since we now have your son in our custody. Looks like we finally are going to win this age-long battle.”

  Heart seizing, Leisha tried to show no reaction. How did they capture Liam and Samantha? The only way they could have taken them was if they killed Nikita. “Don’t get too cocky, Arthur. That’s usually when something bad happens.”

  “Is that what you did?” he asked. “You thought you were safely hidden away and got too comfortable?”

  “Perhaps.” She looked up at the ceiling, her back taut. “Who was Katie?”

  Arthur shrugged. “Just one of our human employees.”

  “Didn’t know you had any of those.”

  Picking up a small, rusted blade, he smiled. “I know.” He pressed the knife into her side. It punctured her skin in a harsh pressure, and Leisha clenched her jaw against the sudden sharp pain. �
�We learned that humans are able to get close to vampires without them detecting anything.” He slid the incision up to her ribs and Leisha gasped. “Of course, we had to be careful with you since you can read minds. So we got Katie. She’s a wonderful actress, and can keep her mind focused on her role so that she doesn’t think of anything else while she performs. And, with the help of hypnosis, there was no way you’d be able to read more of her mind than we wanted you to.” He pushed into her fourth rib.

  Leisha grunted. It felt like he was practically chipping into her bone. “How did you know my escape tunnel led out into the park?” she grated out. She wanted to scream at the agony, but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

  Arthur smirked. “We all thought that would be the obvious spot.”

  Despite the burning pain, Leisha laughed.

  Arthur drew his hand back, his eyes narrowed. “What’s so funny?”

  “Do you think I’m that gullible?” Leisha taunted. “The tunnel doesn’t lead to the park because, you’re right—it’s the most obvious place to have it there.” She could feel the triumph shining through her eyes. “You don’t have my son.”

  Sighing, Arthur turned back to his weapons. “It was worth a shot. It’s easier to get you talking when you think you’re already defeated.” Grabbing one of the vials, he opened it and upended the orange liquid over her open cut.

  Rivulets of acidic agony shot through her. It felt like he’d mixed vinegar and hot sauce together and put them on her wound. Leisha clenched her jaw to keep from crying out. The pain wasn’t going away; if anything, it was getting more intense. Sweat broke out over the back of her neck while goosebumps sprouted on her arms.

  Without taking his eyes off her, Arthur picked up a small metal clamp from the table. Before she knew what to expect, he seized her jaw and forced the clamp between her pursed lips. A grating sound echoed through the room and seeped into her nerves as he turned a crank that forced her teeth wide apart. Cool air made her mouth feel dry and she tried to bite down to break the clamp, but it was too strong for her jaw. He grabbed a different vial filled with clear liquid and poured it over her tongue. It had to have been some kind of acid, because Leisha’s tongue literally melted in her mouth. She gurgled a scream as grainy bits threatened to choke her. As Arthur pulled out the clamp and stepped back to put it away, Leisha spit out the remnants of her mouth and teeth. Charred flesh filled the air and her throat convulsed from the agony.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Arthur said. “Why do that when I wish to interrogate you? Well, first off, I hate hearing your snarky comments.” He picked up an aluminum baseball bat. “And secondly, I’m not interested in asking questions right now. You see, all of us harbor some resentment toward you since we so graciously housed you in our base and then you betrayed us.” He practiced a hard swing. The bat whistled as it flew around his body. “So I thought it would be good for morale if we all had a chance to spend some alone time with you first.” Lifting the blunt weapon over his head, he used his whole body to crash it down on her chest. Her bones cracked and splintered at the impact, and her lungs flooded with blood, forcing her to hold her breath. “After everyone has had their turn, we’ll start asking you some questions.”

  Chapter 7

  Days flew into nights and into more days. Time had no relevance for Leisha anymore. All she knew was that she wanted to die. She’d tried to get her body to give up a few times, but her vampire endurance would kick in and prevent her from that blessed escape.

  She’d lost count of how many immortals had come to exact their revenge on her. They all took great pleasure in making her scream. For a while, Leisha’s pride made it worse. She’d kept silent as they battered her body with aluminum bats, bare fists, and blades. She clamped her lips shut when they repeatedly stabbed every part of her body. No area was left unmolested.

  And some of the men took advantage of her situation to demean her in ways only men could. Leisha was all too familiar with rape. But Ptah had actually been attracted to her when he’d used her for his sadistic pleasures. These men did it solely to wield power over her. Leisha wasn’t sure which kind of violation was worse.

  But the immortals that came to use her as a punching bag got frustrated at her silence, so they came up with more creative ways to break her and make her scream. One method was pouring acid over her eyes. She couldn’t help herself from calling out as the searing pain wormed deeper into her eyes until they were completely disintegrated and the acid moved on to the membranes and brain matter deeper in her skull. Regrowing eyes was a painful process, especially since she was in dire need of blood.

  When they left her alone, they switched off between two tortures. The first was to make it as hot as a sauna, which made her sweat out precious blood that she needed. The second was to leave flashing strobe lights on for hours at a time. The glaring light seeped through her eyelids when she tried to shut out the obnoxious rhythm of blinding white flashes. If she hadn’t fed so recently before she’d been taken, she would have died already.

  In the times when she’d tried to die, Leisha forced herself to remember that Samantha was linked to her and would die along with her. But in her darkest moments, she couldn’t bring herself to care anymore. And that was when she broke. Tears would have escaped if she’d had any fluid in her body to spare, but they didn’t come. Instead, great, heaving sobs shook the unhealed wounds all over her body.

  It was the same moment Arthur came into her cell.

  “I see my immortals have done their work well.” He approached and a familiar face entered behind him. Leisha couldn’t remember his name, but knew she’d seen him at the shack three years ago when the immortals had tried to steal her newborn baby from her.

  She stopped her body from sobbing when they entered, but her stomach quivered with the effort.

  “I think we’re ready to begin the questioning. Willem has been patiently waiting for his task in all this. I’ve allowed him the privilege of torturing you while I get the information I want. He wanted to be the one to break you, and it certainly looks like you’re ready, doesn’t it?” He sounded downright jovial as he explained everything.

  Arthur picked up a scalpel from the buffet of weapons available to anyone who entered. He walked to Leisha and held his hand over her head, hovering a few inches above it. He then proceeded to nick one of his fingers. Two very small drops fell onto her tongue. Leisha didn’t even get to swallow them. The blood absorbed directly into her taste buds.

  Because it was immortal blood, it was enough to allow her to produce saliva again. She let her mouth fill with it, then swallowed in an attempt to soothe her dry throat.

  “All right, Willem,” Arthur waved the younger looking man forward. “Feel free to do whatever you like, just as long as she can still speak.”

  Nodding, Willem strode to the table and grabbed the dull, rusted knife. Why do they always go for the dull one? And the rusty one certainly took its toll on her. Willem moved to her feet and pushed the blade deep between her big toe and her second one. Leisha gasped and tried not to show the distress on her face. He moved to the next section and the next until all the sensitive areas between each of her toes had been severed to her heel.

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to make this easy on all of us and just tell me where your child is,” Arthur ventured. When Leisha glared at him, he snickered. “It’s probably for the best. Willem tells me he has much planned for you. I’d hate to deprive him.”

  The subject of discussion took that opportunity to slice off the bottom of her foot at her Achilles heel. He cut through the muscle there and ripped off the entire section. Leisha cried out. Her foot was throbbing in time with her heart. She wasn’t sure if she could take more.

  But she did, as Willem gave her the same treatment on the other foot, then grabbed a different knife to dig under her knee caps. All the while, Arthur asked many questions that Leisha refu
sed to answer.

  By the time Willem was working her hip bones out of their sockets, she was screaming at the top of her lungs, “I don’t know! I don’t know anything! I don’t know where he is anymore!” It was all she said, and it was mostly true. She had no idea which ship her smuggler associate would have put them on, and they probably had already docked, which meant that Nikita could have taken Liam and Samantha anywhere by now.

  Amidst her screaming, Leisha registered that the large door to her cell had opened, but didn’t think much of it until she heard a throaty feminine voice. “What the hell is this?”

  Forcing her eyes opened, Leisha saw Rinwa standing just inside the room. Her sunglasses covered her eyes and her mouth was pinched into a moue. “Is this why you’ve been sending me out on those menial tasks,” her daughter demanded of Arthur. “You’ve been keeping me busy because you didn’t want me to be here while you tortured my mother!”

  Before Arthur could reply, Willem went to her. “Rin, we finally got her! After all this time of hunting her down. Can you believe it? I wanted it to be a surprise for you. I know how much you’ve wanted her dead.”

  Sliding off her sunglasses and revealing her silvery blue eyes, Rinwa gave Willem an arch look. “You thought this would make me happy? Keeping me in the dark like this?” She glanced over Leisha’s broken body. “Willem, you’re a jackass.”

  “Rinwa,” Arthur said sharply. “What is done can’t be undone. Move past this.”

  Leisha watched as her daughter clamped her lips into a thin line and her eyes shuttered any emotion that might have been seen.

  Arthur smiled. “Now, I’m willing to look over your insubordination. In fact, you deserve to have a turn to beat that filth.” He waved a hand at Leisha. “After all, you’ve suffered at her hand longer than any of us.”