Chapter 16

I love you more than you deserve. Fucker.

-Brooklyn’s secret thoughts

Brooklyn

My body hit the floor with a solid thud, and I jolted in pain.

My elbow hit the concrete with a loud smack, and I knew instantly that it was broken.

White hot pain rolled through my vision as I rolled over and vomited as the pain washed over me.

“Tie her up,” a familiar voice ordered.

A familiar voice that I hadn’t heard in a very long time.

I forced myself to open my eyes and stared at my brother, Charles.

“No,” I croaked.

My brother smiled, showing his crooked teeth that glowed yellow due to not taking care of them.

The last time I’d seen him he’d had a beard that reached down to his nipples.

Now it was shorter and came to just about shoulder level; however, everything else about him was the same.

He hadn’t changed at all in the years since I’d last seen him.

“Surprised to see me?” he asked.

I nodded.

I was surprised.

“Get her tied up!” he snapped again, and it was then that I saw the men in the room around me.

And the other tables.

And the cage.

Shit.

There was a dragon in the cage.

A beautiful brown and white one that resembled more bronze, rather than brown, the longer I stared at it.

That must be Merrick’s dragon.

Speaking of Merrick, I looked over to the wall where I’d heard a body hit the ground shortly after us getting into the room that we were in, and saw him lying on the ground, blood seeping out of his ears, nose, and mouth.

My heart hurt.

Not because he’d attacked me, but because I could clearly see that he’d had no choice.

He literally couldn’t not do it, and it’d cost him.

Big time.

He was dying.

I could tell.

And I knew he’d brought me here under protest.

The blood where he’d fought the pull proved it.

He’d slipped me a note that I’d read by the brake light glow, and I’d clearly seen the letters he’d quickly scribbled onto an old receipt from a supply order.

He’d said only a few short words.

There’d been another geis that I hadn’t realized was there…nor had Ian.

One that was sort of a ticking time bomb.

If I wasn’t brought to the compound where the man said to bring me, who I now knew was Charles, then he’d kill him. After he killed Merrick’s sister.

And then he’d practically forced him to do it by taking complete control of his body, which I knew couldn’t be done by anyone other than another dragon rider.

And Merrick had fought it.

He’d fought it so hard that even his eyes were bleeding from his attempt not to deliver me to my brother.

He’d been willing to let his sister and dragon die to make sure that I lived, but in the end he hadn’t been strong enough.

I wasn’t sure anyone could be. Not against that kind of power.

My eyes went to the other two tables where a man and a woman lay.

The man only had eyes for the woman, and the woman looked at her brother with a broken heart.

I could guess what was going on here.

The man on the table was probably the other dragon rider that’d forced Merrick to do his bidding, and the girl was probably Merrick’s sister.

An impossible task if I did say so myself.

The man had wanted his mate to live. The woman had wanted her brother to live. The brother had wanted what was best for everyone.

Look around, my mate instructed me.

I couldn’t though, because in the next instant I was yanked up by my arms, and my elbow screeched in protest.

I could practically hear the bones of my arm grinding together at the move.

I’d almost managed to block the pain out due to some weird healing power that I knew I got from Nikolai.

Now, though, it was as if it’d happened all over again.

Any healing that’d been done to it while I was lying on the cool concrete, was abruptly halted by my rough treatment.

I screamed as white hot lighting shot up my spine, and vomit surged up my throat.

I emptied the contents of my stomach onto the man at my side, coating him from chest to shoes and everywhere in between.

I was dropped once again, and I took the moment to open my eyes and look around, pushing the pain brutally away with sheer force of will.

Force of will that I’d borrowed from Nikolai in a desperate move to not only save myself, but the others in the room with me who also didn’t have a choice.

Easy, Nikolai’s ripple through my mind said, making me calm slightly. I’ve got you.

I took everything in through a pain filled haze.

The room, or should I say cabin, we were in, was a one-bedroom open styled floor plan. One side of the large room was the kitchen, where we were currently located. The other side housed a bed and wardrobe, as well as a bathroom behind a curtain.

The single window that led to the outside showed nothing special.

An old curtain hung partially over the old glass. Trees were beyond the glass, lining the entire view.

Then I continued to survey, even when I was picked up once again.

This time by a different set of men, not including the man I’d puked on.

My eyes finally went to the lone door, and I was glad to see that it had glass, allowing me to see out.

And as they moved me closer to the front door where the hospital bed lay, I got a good look outside the window.

Excitement coursed through my veins as I saw the water tower.

To most it wouldn’t be that significant.

However, this one had a huge ‘Dallas’ painted on the side in red, white, and blue lettering.

It’d been special to the city having been donated by an old war vet that’d left all his money that he’d been able to save in his lifetime to the area of Dallas where he’d grown up.

He’d requested that the money that he’d donated be put to good use on something that would benefit the entire community.

And since they had needed the water tower, they’d bought it.

Then had declared it, ‘Teddy Reed’s water tower.’

Got it, Nikolai said. I need to talk to Keifer and the boys. But I’ll be back.

Then, just as suddenly, I was once again alone in my head and able to concentrate on my immediate surroundings again.

I’d deliberately ignored the table at my side, but now I finally gave in to my sick curiosity and looked down at the instruments on the smooth surface.

“I wasn’t going to torture you, since you’re my sister after all,” my brother said. “But you’ve pissed me off today by not following directions. So now you’ll do what I tell you to do, and like it. Do you understand, sis?”

I wanted to slap him, but the special part of me that hadn’t known I’d existed, i.e. control, stayed with me long enough for me to take whatever medication that he’d just given me.

I wasn’t picky about what they’d given me.

Nikolai and I had had a long discussion on what would happen to my body now that I had special healing capabilities.

Anything, such as Motrin or Tylenol would likely affect me for only a short period of time.

Nikolai’s sister was working on a way to lengthen the effectiveness of the drugs, because when someone got hurt and needed to be sedated, whomever was having the procedure done on them, repeatedly got knocked out by physical means because they couldn’t make them stay still any other way.

“Are you even fucking listening to anything I am saying?” my brother snarled, pulling my hair back so hard that a fistful of hair was in his hand as he shook his fist in my face to show me.

I shouldn’t have done what I did.

I should’ve stayed calm.

I should’ve let Nikolai do what he needed to do.

But I didn’t.

I reared back with my legs, then sent both straight into his chest.

It hit his breast bone with a crack, and I very clearly made out the sound of ribs breaking.

I was thankful for my boots that I’d worn.

I’d intended to go for a small walk around the lake, and due to the rain we’d had the previous night, I’d prepared for the possibility of mud.

I’d worn them out of deference to my mate, who continually said I needed to be more careful about the mud. That a good pair of boots would likely save me from a snake bite if it ever came down to it.

I’d worn them, even though they were incredibly uncomfortable.

They proved to come in handy now, though.

Almost out of reflex, I closed my eyes and started concentrating.

My head started to pound as my body became more aware of the pain I was in.

However, my attempt to use my veil had worked, and I disappeared from sight only moments later.

Rolling to my feet, I gritted my teeth against the pain in my arm and moved to the door, freezing when a man stopped in front of it, blocking my exit.

“She’s around here somewhere,” the man said. “You need to get up off your ass and find her.”

That was directed towards my brother. Stupid asshole.

I was happy to see him still writhing in pain on the ground, almost gleeful, in fact.

“Seriously?” the man asked. “What do I pay you for?”

Charles grimaced in pain and lifted his knees up under his torso before pushing up to his haunches.

“Kill her,” he said gravely. “Fucking kill her. She’s ruined my life; she doesn’t deserve to live.”

How in the hell had I ruined his life?

I took a step backward and stepped wrong, bumping the small table at my side.

My hand automatically went out to stop the lamp from falling, but it was the one that had been broken upon my arrival, meaning I screamed.

Letting the lamp drop to the ground, I limped, slightly hunched over, to the side of the room, directly behind where my brother had managed to get to his feet, albeit pitifully.

My brother looked around the room frantically, almost as if he was waiting for me to beam him over the head any second.

And technically I would have…if I had something to use.

I wasn’t sure I could lift anything at this moment in time.

Instead, I sank down to my butt, letting my back slide against the wall until my backside met the cool tiled floor.

“Listen, Robert,” Charles said, a slight wheeze in his voice. “She’s not going to leave. Not with knowing who all is here. Let’s just get the good stuff started. She’ll show herself when she sees what we’re doing. She’s a nurse. Don’t they take oaths or something?”

I gritted my teeth and let my head fall down to my knees, my broken arm dangling uselessly at my side.

“Fine,” ugly Robert said. “I’ve got my stuff right here. I’ll take the geis off of him, and you can see how to do it for next time.”

My eyes widened in shock as they walked over to Merrick and picked him up by the arms, half dragging, half carrying him to the kitchen table that was only a few feet from my face.

I swallowed bile as they let his body flop down hard, his head hitting the table with a soft thud.

He was beyond feeling it.

His eyes weren’t even open, and I was fairly sure he was only a few minutes away from death’s door.

“Why are we taking this off of him?” Charles asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier if we let him die like this?”

“He won’t die with the geis on him. It’ll keep him alive just by the magic in the power object,” Robert answered, lifting up Merrick’s shirt and showing off the tattoo that was on his left side. “I weaved words into the ink, forming the image. Once the image and ink are gone from his skin, he will be able to die if you choose for him to.”

I leaned forward, curious how they were going to get rid of it.

I wasn’t left wondering.

Seconds after the thought crossed my brain, Robert pulled out a wicked looking blade, then sliced the skin right off of Merrick’s side.

The tattoo disappeared with the skin, and what was left was just a gaping hole from hip to ribs.

Blood welled, and the muscles of Merrick’s side were exposed by the horrific act.

“There,” Robert wiped the blade off on Merrick’s back. “That should be enough. I want my money.”

My brother pointed to the box that was on top of the kitchen counter, and Robert went directly to it, stopping only long enough to check that there was indeed money in it before he left, closing the door to the cabin softly behind him.

Something about the way he left so abruptly had me wondering why.

Why, when he’d spoken about his plans with my brother and then abruptly left meant there was a motive behind the act.

I didn’t know what, but I knew better than to show my hand.

I would wait, no matter what.

Nikolai would be here soon.

I knew it.

I could feel it.

My brother hissed, staring at Merrick, then he scanned the room.

“I’m going to fucking torture him until you show yourself,” Charles growled.

Then he did just that, and he didn’t stop at just Merrick.

He’d started in on the other dragon rider and Merrick’s sister when torturing him didn’t work.

Sickened, I prayed.

God, please hurry, Nikolai, I pleaded.

But he didn’t answer, and the worse was proven yet to come.