The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

CHAPTER 1 – Keeping Elaina





It had become mostly a game to us as we diligently tried to outwit our endless pursuer. He was a strange monster that fancied my best friend as his mate. It would never happen. I could have saved him the trouble simply by telling him the girl was in love with me. He would not have listened. In his mind, she belonged to him as much as the long, black cloak he continually wore while prowling the dark streets in search of our presence.



Elaina swore the thing had to be a vampire with his strange ways of always creeping upon us in the dead of night when little was stirring about. We had become restless sleepers always assuming he was just around the corner waiting for his chance to snatch her away from the only person who had never…would never betray her.



I was laughing recklessly as I burst out of the back door of a popular, gay nightclub. I know the clientele would hassle the lovely male following us in an attempt to get him to stay.



Honestly, he was handsome enough to make me feel utterly plain. I was a homely excuse for a lover, but Elaina refused him for me. I was far more grateful to her than I would ever admit. Elaina Du’ Tres was a perfect, model-petite, strawberry blonde with ample body mass in all of the right locations to make men stare. Her stunning, gray-blue eyes and trim waistline caused women to hate her with envy and she was shy. It was a compelling mix of a sultry siren and an innocent virgin that had made many men weep when she could not be tamed by them. She was mine…For now, all I cared about was she was mine.



Behind her back, I caught a flash of red in Sebasti’s handsome, brown eyes as he was detained by a group of amorous males on the prowl. He met my eyes with a barely contained fury as he turned a dazzling smile on the college boys that won him every set of eyes in the club.



His hair fell to just past the waistline of his expensively tailored suit hidden under the foreboding duster. There was a flash of diamonds on the face of his watch as he turned his shapely wrist to keep the men distracted from his escaping prey.



Elaina passed me with a hint of fear and relief in her eyes that dispelled the guilt I felt for ditching him in this place to fend for himself. The slam of the heavy door behind us was a satisfying sound as we ran down Howitzer to Aspen to hail a cab that would take us miles away from here before he could get loose. Sebasti’s honor kept him from catching us. I had realized that over twenty-five years ago. He wanted Elaina, but not damaged, or scared of him.



I kept a careful watch behind us as Elaina ran ahead to flag a cab. The college boys had definitely done the trick. Sebasti was too polite to ignore the youths, or make them feel as if they were beneath such an obviously rich prospect.



I slid into the waiting vehicle suddenly exhausted of our games. Sebasti had garnered nothing within Elaina except desperation. Unfortunately, he had finally gained a grudgingly given dose of respect from me. I couldn’t help feeling the guilt grow every time he saw beauty slip away from his well laid traps. “That was a close one, Lou…”



“He is getting better at this,” I admitted trying to hide my own frustration from her eyes. Could she tell I was slipping because I wanted him to come closer? I could not lose Elaina to him, yet…I feel a need to reward his efforts by letting him see her, hear her, smell her close by. He was growing angry and all of that rage was aimed at me. Could he not see that I was following her wishes to keep her free of his affections? “Wipe that worried look off of your face. He is not getting good enough to get past me,” I assured her.



“Lou…I do not like him,” Elaina grumbled. “That one really scared me. He got too close! I need more bodyguards. Ones that carry really big artillery,” she specified ruefully. “I want him gone!”



I was about to protest that her idea was too much when she reached up and pulled me down for a lengthy kiss. The cabbie made a sound too akin to desire to ignore. Loving a public display as much as Elaina, it had the proper effect goading me into deepening the kiss and using my tongue and lips to fully explore every heated fold of her mouth. A helpless sound of longing escaped me. She pulled her hands around my own and slid them up under her silky top brazenly.



I sent a glance at the cab driver. He looked young and shocked, but too damn turned on to do more than watch the show.



The silky sheath covering Elaina’s sexy body was damp from the mist tonight. She wore nothing beneath it and her perky breasts just begged to be noticed coloring beneath the clear material. I could see it. A little more moisture and the young boy driving the cab would too. Elaina was never shy about exposing her body, just her mind. I licked at her shirt letting my tongue finish off the thin bits of white covering them. When I drew back to admire the view, I heard a pained groan from the front seat. It made me smile.



“Just drop us off at a high priced hotel as far from here as you can get us, please…”



The cab driver met my eyes thoughtfully before he nodded in agreement. Elaina pulled the shirt off while I was distracted by the emotionless, blank face on the ardent, little male. The look on his face bothered me, but I couldn’t place why when Elaina was tugging my crisp white linen shirt out of my suit pants like a paid whore.



“Stop talking, Lou…I am sure he doesn’t want to hear it,” Elaina complained. I still harbored a small slice of guilt for stealing her away from Sebasti. The man really believed she was his soul mate. “Make me feel better, Lou,” she whispered in my ear, “Make him go away. Get him out of our heads, Lou. Please, help me banish him.”



Elaina ran her hands and those long sharp nails up and down my sensitive back until I closed my eyes and nearly purred for her. She knew how to persuade me. I would do anything to feel her nails stroking over the smooth skin of my body. I exhaled in desperation trembling to return the pleasures she knew she was inflicting in me. I forgot the cabbie immediately, not smart…She moved her hands, one into my scalp and the other into my suit pants to scratch over the cheeks of my rump in sheer temptation. It was enough…Lords above, it was more than enough.



My hand sought to find the delicious wetness I knew I would find awaiting me. She gasped and laid back across the seats of the cab as I worked her into a feverish passion. I lifted to see her glazed eyes in that drugged face. Raising my hand, I sucked my middle finger up into my mouth tasting her cleverly in a way that never failed to tighten her body erotically for me.



“Oh, Gods…Lou…”



“As sweet as rain,” I whispered over her lips as I went back to edging her body skillfully up a long torturous ascent of tight muscles, quivering skin, goose bumps, ragged breathing, and heat.



I forgot the cab driver . She was pure as snow, clean as rain, as soft of flowers and as wet as the morning dew. I glanced up and saw love in her eyes. It never failed to stun me when I saw such a perfect, famous soul…in love with a nobody like me. I am plain. I am drab. I am nothing to rival the woman lying beneath me. She deserved someone who could stop a room with glory…like Sebasti. My thoughts drove me to push her limits unnecessarily. I used my kisses to steal the very air from her lungs, causing her to grow light-headed as she moved under the weight of my much heavier body.



She shattered in a release they probably heard in our flat in Hollywood. She yelled at every gasp until I deemed she had enough and released her. Elaina lay limply like a petal drunk on the sunlight. She only opened her eyes to watch me clean the dewy juice off of my hand with a curling tongue. The sight made her shiver and her eyes grew hot again.



“I am so glad you are the only bodyguard I need to keep me happy,” Elaina stated in that odd, husky tone she gets after a really good orgasm.



When I glanced out the window, I instantly knew we had been betrayed. The cab driver was pulling up to the hotel where we had spent last night. There were already two limos and a media van out front.



“Oh, no…party’s over, lover,” I warned in an angry tone as I looked up at the young face of the cabbie. “You go on up. I want to talk to our little friend a second.” Elaina got out surrounded in seconds by bodyguards and media hounds. “Alright, who are you?” His face had looked too young to pay much attention, but he must have been old enough to put on the payroll as a flunky spy.



“I am nobody you need to worry about just yet,” the guy stated in a friendly voice that sounded older than he looked. It was the smirk that made me not like him.



“Try to stay that way, will you,” I warned before following the super hot model into the firing squad.



“Miss Du’ Tres went out to a club for a couple of drinks. I am sure all of you have done worse in your lives. There were no men involved except one overly exuberant fan who recognized us. We ditched him at another club and returned here. Are there any more questions I can answer?” Of course there were, I thought behind my fake smile as I diverted everyone’s attention away from Elaina’s attempt to run away from the pressures of fame, fortune, media, and her now infamous stalker. The topic was swiftly forgotten when Danny mentioned needing to get to a photo shoot in Florida on time this weekend. I had completely forgotten it. There weren’t any arrangements made for transportation. Hopefully, Miss Du’ Tres’ excellent staff had foreseen the oversight and corrected the issue by now, I thought frantically.



Danny helped me to gently muscle the camera and mike men out of our way. We headed for the lobby and a bank of safe looking elevators.



When I entered the first one to slide open, I looked back and saw our managing producer’s assistant lean down to speak to the cab driver. “Danny, who was driving our cab,” I asked him.



He looked back startled by my question, but the doors had already snapped closed. “I didn’t see the driver. Why? Did you not ask to be brought back here?”



“Hell no, I told him to take us to the hotel farthest from where we were and handed him a bunch of cash to get us miles away,” I muttered in frustration.



“It could be a coincidence. Perhaps this was the farthest,” he suggested. “I will look into it. Any one of a thousand cameras had to have caught his face. You did say it was a guy, didn’t you?”



I nodded already distracted by the millions of details Elaina and I needed to keep in mind at any given moment. Danny saw the look and knew it was a waste of his breath to continue the conversation.



I thought of something else to say, but noticed a silly smile at the corner of one side of his lips. “What is it?” Startled, he glanced at me and flushed like a school boy caught at a prank by a teacher.



“Oh, nothing…” He stammered a couple of more odd fragments flustered and lying to cover whatever had caused that strange smile.



“Did anyone plan the transportation to the photo shoot? I haven’t…”



“Yes, ma’am…Masterson said he had a guy on it. He said he had to hire someone to take care of all of the ‘little things’ you are forgetting. I told him you needed the help. He should have hired you an assistant several years ago. You can’t be the head of planning, Elaina’s best friend and her best bodyguard without needing a little help sometimes. He said ‘Good…Then, this guy can just be the planning manager and she can just be the bodyguard from now on’.” Danny mimicked Masterson very well. I could hear the fury in the managing producer’s voice as he repeated it to me.



“Did I just get demoted?” Danny winced and nodded. “I did! I just got demoted…that creep,” I hissed.



“Consider it a promotion,” Danny advised. “You were hired for planning, became a bodyguard by circumstances and now you are just the bodyguard. Better pay, less work load,” he pointed out with a little wriggle of his eyebrows. “Lucky broad,” he teased. It made me laugh.



“Yeah, you are right, Danny. That evil little twerp actually did me a favor. I can’t wait to tell him how much I appreciate the help he has provided.” We were both laughing when the elevator opened on the top floor. I could hear Masterson’s whiney voice yelling in a side area. Elaina flashed me a frown as we passed by catching a short bit of dialog.



“I can’t believe you walked away from a half of a million dollar photo shoot! What were you going to do this weekend? I bet you were not planning to be in Florida…Do you have any idea how damaging it would be to your career to blow off two sessions in a row?” I sighed as we passed out of the range of his voice.



“So…Who is the new planning director if it is no longer me,” I asked softly.



“I don’t really know. An astute young lad from around Maryland by the name of Thaddeus Hall,” he stated dryly. “I have no idea how Masterson found him. Someone said he just walked in off of the street dripping wet from the pouring rain while he was ranting about your latest escapades.”



“And Masterson just hired him on the spot,” I squealed angrily.



“That would be the way of it,” Danny drawled with a wry grin. “His credentials haven’t even come back from the check I am running on him yet.” A sizzle of alarm stopped me in my tracks.



“Get me his profile, Danny! I don’t want him near Elaina until I know who he is,” I snapped.



“Masterson isn’t stupid. He told the guy he couldn’t have access to his starlet until it came back clean.” Danny led me into Elaina’s room as we checked to make certain it was entirely empty.



“Alright, you lucky broad,” he stated with a grin. “Elaina should be here in a minute. Looks like you get the first shower. Is there any way we could trade places and you would let me be the one to wake up curled into Miss Du’ Tres’ hair?”



Danny took one look at my face and backed away laughing. “Just a joke, but you being the only female guard on staff kind of guarantees you a job here. Elaina wouldn’t put up with a guard in her room any other way!”



“What Elaina does in her room at night is no one’s business, Danny,” I warned softly. He blinked at me strangely and I realized I was being too hard on him. He didn’t know…and I was being an ass. No one knew about us, but if the cab driver was now a paid member of the staff...that could change. “I am sorry. Masterson hiring someone without clearing him first has put my nerves on edge,” I stated with a weak little wave. “Plus that stupid cab driver is bugging me!”



“Look, I will go get Elaina myself and bring her to you. Get undressed and hop into a hot shower. If I am really lucky, I will get a glimpse of you getting out through that crack in the door you like to leave so you can hear what is going on in the other room,” he teased playfully with a little push towards the bathroom door.



“Hey,” I rounded on him in surprise. “How did you know about that?” He escorted me to the bathroom door and wiggled his eyebrows happily. I stopped the door from closing between us. “Danny…”



“What? I had to open the door to give Elaina her day planner one day! It was an accident, I swear. I was wondering where you were and caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. Damn, you are hot, too…” I shoved him out the door and slammed it as my face flushed in embarrassment. I heard his fingers drum against the wood before he turned away.



“Prick,” I swore. He was such a playful flirt. All of his teasing normally went over my head, but he had seen me naked. “Oh, shit…” Danny could recall every detail of a person who showed up at an insignificant party many years ago. Then, still tell you every name on the guest list and who showed up uninvited.



I started undressing with the door firmly shut, despite not liking the vulnerability of it. I could not hear what was happening outside of the door. Not that Danny couldn’t bring up a clear picture of what he had seen any time he wanted to remember it. He had a nearly perfect photographic memory, which was why he was the head of security and so good at his job.



Before I stepped into the shower, I opened the door. There wasn’t any point of hiding it now; the damage had been done. The outer door opened just as I was stepping into the tub. I glanced back and sure enough…Danny’s eyes were memorizing every inch of my skin hungrily. His lips parted and he ducked his head to exit the room quietly.



Elaina noticed where I was standing and gave a low whistle. “What was that about,” she asked coming up to the door.



“Why didn’t you tell me Danny had come into the room while I was in the shower? Hell, Elaina…He has already seen me! You know that man never forgets a detail.” She laughed softly at my indignation, leaning against the door jamb provocatively. “It is not funny!”



“It is actually,” she purred seductively biting her lower lip playfully. “I keep telling you that you are a sexy little thing all undressed and sopping wet. You might believe it now.”



“He said I was hot,” I whispered face flaming as she burst out laughing.



“Oh, but baby…I tell you that all of the time,” she purred taking her own clothes off to join me in the bath. Needless to say, we shut the damn door.



Danny stuck his head in the door before the rays of dawn could fully cover the bed. He gave a low wolf whistle. “Damn, if that isn’t a view. Rise and shine, ladies, we have a plane to catch. Out of the jammies and into your swim suits and shorts! I’ll be happy to get out of this chill air.”



Elaina pushed the sheet off of her head mumbling as she glanced at her clock, “It is seventy-five degrees in here.”



“Exactly,” Danny agreed pretending to shiver. “Brr…Give me weather hot enough to make a gal’s clothes come off and I am a happy man,” he teased. I threw a pillow at him. “Can I help you get dressed?” Elaina threw a pillow. It missed by a mile. “Careful or I will have to drag your lazy butts out of there,” he warned.



“Coffee,” I snapped throwing the sheet away to glare at him. His eyes bugged out and fell from my eyes appreciatively.



“Strike that, you are not in your jammies,” he stated in a much lower, less teasing tone. My face heated, but I hoped it wasn’t noticeable. I didn’t clutch the sheet back up but it was an effort pretending I didn’t care that he looked. He sucked in a deep breath and drug his eyes back up to mine grudgingly. “Coffee,” he whispered to himself, “coffee I can do.” He backed up and shut the door without another word. Elaina snickered.



“I don’t want to hear it,” I complained in appalled horror.



“Gees, when you decide to tease a guy, you go all out, sweetheart,” she drawled giving me a quick kiss.



Everything went normal until we were heading out for the plane doing all of our little last minute checks. Danny met up with me just at the bottom of the ramp. “New guy is on board. His papers came in last night and I approved him,” he warned, “so don’t flip out if you see a stranger on the plane.” He glanced up to smile at the flight attendant checking off names as we passed.



“You are the last two on the list, sir. Everyone is on board,” she chirped happily preening for his attention. Danny nodded in full work mode looking distracted. I nearly smiled knowing how little he was looking forward to getting in the air.



“Load ‘em up then before we are late taking off,” he rumbled as he escorted me to the only two empty seats near the doors that the attendants were latching closed.



Gracefully, he allowed me to sit on the window side to avoid anyone that had to stumble back to the bathroom later in the flight. “Just don’t open it, I will end up in the restroom throwing my guts into the little blue stuff those toilets are filled with,” he warned uneasily.



“You remind me every time we fly. I don’t think I am going to forget.”



“Sorry, I know you know,” he said sheepishly, “but if I ever get out of the habit of saying it is the one time I will be with some jerk that forgets, or never knew it to begin with.”



He sat down buckling up with his wide shoulders brushing mine comfortably. “Shit,” he swore glancing at me strangely.



“What did I do now,” I teased.



“I keep getting a picture of you that pops up at the wrong moments,” he grumbled. “I might have to sleep with you or fire you over it….” I grinned at him knowing he wasn’t serious for even one second. “You are ruining me, woman!”



“Danny, it is your own fault you saw me. You shouldn’t have slipped into the room so silently; I would have heard you and stayed behind the curtain.”



“It is a habit,” he complained. “I am a security chief. I am supposed to sneak up on people.” I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek like I have done a hundred times before.



He closed his eyes and mumbled. When I gave him a questioning glance, he took my hand while looking around to make sure no one was looking and pulled it into his lap where it pressed it down beneath his own. My eyes grew round.



“Exactly,” he whispered with a smirk.



“Gees, Danny, maybe you should take that trip to the bathroom now.”



“I can’t…we are taking off,” he stated through clenched teeth.



He pulled a magazine over our hands and casually rubbed himself between his leg and our entwined fingers. Out of sheer stupidity, I didn’t try to pull away. As old as I was, I had never had the feel of a fully aroused male in my hand and all I had to do was not pull away to enjoy it. The decision was an easy one.



Danny leaned his head back with his eyes closed pretending to ignore the world as he usually did during a taxi and take off into the vast height of the skies. He really hated flying, but this once he barely seemed to notice what would normally have his fearless body tense with anxiety.



When it was safe to unbuckle and move around, he took the magazine and fled to the bathroom. I was grateful we had the back seats so he wouldn’t have to pass anyone on the way. I hid a grin knowing what he was doing in there.



When he came back, he ruffled my hair like I was a kid and sat down to do a crossword puzzle while I finished reading the book I was on. He was sleeping before I closed it, and once more I was struck by how cute he looked while he was asleep.



I curled up and drifted off staring at his face. He is my closest friend when Elaina isn’t around to pay attention to. As I slept, I wondered for the very first time what it would be like to touch him as a lover. Would his hard muscle repel me as I had once believed, or would it just be a different kind of love? I knew everything there was to know about Danny, and other than Elaina…he knew me.



I mumbled grumpily as the intercom buzzed. A soft brush against my temple settled the irritation. “I will get it, Lou…Go ahead and sleep.” I felt the feathery brush of his lips over my cheek before he went to see what the pilots wanted from us. The fact that he had kissed me was almost enough to wake me up in discomfort, but not quite. I was too happy to drift back into slumber to worry over it. I knew Danny was fond of me. Why should it bother me? He was all of the time flirting. It didn’t mean anything.



“Louanne, wake up.” I pushed at him, but didn’t immediately hear his laugh of bemusement. Something was wrong…Elaina! My eyes popped open and cleared.



“What is wrong? Where is Elaina?”



“Damn, that is the fastest I have ever seen you wake up, Lou.” Danny slid into his seat, talking low. I knew no one was in immediate danger. Danny couldn’t keep still enough to sit when he was upset about something. He buckled in.



“The landing strip is closed due to an unexpected ground shake that settled spots of the runway too low to use. They have rerouted us to a tiny country strip out in the orange fields. It isn’t far away, and they have visually checked it for settling, but they haven’t had time to run any heavy vehicles over it yet. We are landing right now…”



“So it could rupture while we are taxiing over it…”



“That is the idea I had, too,” he groused in apparent frustration.



“It isn’t an option. We can circle around until they check it. I won’t put Elaina in any danger!” I tried to get up, but Danny stopped me.



“It is too late, Louanne! I have already tried to reason with them. Can’t you feel the dip? We are already descending to the field!”



I could feel it. I panicked. I shot a hand to the window and Danny hissed as it flew up to show the ground below coming up at us fast.



“Oh, God…” Danny turned pale as a ghost eyes widening in terror. “I am going to be sick, Lou!” I closed it up as quickly as I could while his ashy face grew flushed. Seconds later the aisle stank of vomit. He hadn’t had time to get the little bag the attendants made certain he kept as close as he could without it bothering him. I felt bad, but at least he had turned away from me to do it.



The wheels struck the ground and both of us tensed up in alarm. “If I ever get off of this plane, I am going to be too damn scared to get back on one again,” I squeaked in fright. He gripped my hand, closed his eyes and sweated until the plane slowed down. I knew he would be pissed at me when it stopped, but for now he clung like a panicked child hyperventilating and near to passing out.



The flight attendants all swarmed Danny the second the plane began to turn for its final stop. He looked so tense, pale and shaky and it was all my fault. I had never before seen him so scared. His wild eyes popped open accusing me angrily as they washed his face, cooled his forehead and neck, and made soothing sounds enjoying the chance to pet and coddle the gorgeous man. I couldn’t take the guilt trip he was laying on me, so I shuffled out of my seat almost causing one of the cooing women to step in the mess as I left the plane, heading for the pilots who were just walking down the stairs.



“You could have gotten us killed,” I growled at them. “How could you commit to a decision to land when you didn’t even know if it was safe? Are you fucking suicidal? Elaina Du’ Tres could have been killed! How would you explain that if the plane had crashed? She could have been maimed, or burned, or something awful!”



“Ma’am, we were just doing our jobs,” the older one stated firmly. “Your planning manager vetoed waiting. He said we didn’t have time and needed to be on the ground the second the limos showed up.” He pointed. A line of dust marked the progress of a set of cars arriving.



“Personally, I wasn’t too thrilled with the decision either. It is never a pretty sight when the senior pilot is sweating as he lands the damn plane. I am not afraid to say, I about threw up myself on this one.” The pilot continued off of the plane to check for any damage to the landing gear while the other went to scope out the runway for depressions. They still had to take off again.



I thought I saw a flash of metal in a near tree line. It broke my attention from cursing out the planning director. I glanced behind me, but knew Danny wasn’t feeling up to checking it out this soon. Elaina would be coming out of the plane shortly and the sight wasn’t secured. I couldn’t take the chance that some egotistical maniac with a gun or a camera was lying in wait for her. I headed for the trees at a quick clip being very careful to check the trees, the ground, and the surrounding area while never losing sight of the target area ahead.



I heard Elaina call my name and sped up. If she could see me, she was a sitting duck at the top of those steps. I saw a shadow dart into the trees. He was dressed as a hunter and held a rifle. Probably just a local out hunting, but I couldn’t take that chance. I had to challenge it. He ran. A jolt of adrenaline shot through me and I shouted for backup. Before I could get into the trees, the ground beneath me shifted opening up a gaping hole. All I could hear was the scream and I wondered if it were my own, or Elaina.



When I woke up, I thought I had been buried alive. I could smell the freshly turned earth. The grass roots trailing in my face let me know I wasn’t deep into the ground.



Then, I remembered falling. Where was everyone? Why was I still in a hole? Perhaps I had only passed out for a second, I thought. I could still get out on my own and Elaina wouldn’t have to worry long. I started calmly searching for a way up to the surface from the long trench I was lying in. All I found was a coffin-sized hole that I was trapped inside. Had the hole I fell through fallen in and closed behind me?



I felt a hand run down my side and screamed. Then, I felt silly. “I am in here!” They must be digging me out, but why couldn’t I hear anything? It was as silent as a tomb. Only the sound of dirt moving around as I shifted or thumping the ground as it fell around me broke the silence.



“Help me, guys…” I struggled to listen more carefully. Someone was close by. I started clawing at the dirt above me determined to help them uncover me, but the dirt began to collapse and I couldn’t breathe.



I had to stop and hold my breath until it settled.



I felt hands caressing me and squealed again, “Help…Help!” A whisper of sound traveled by my ear causing me to stiffen in alarm checking all around again only to find the dirt walls, but someone was in here with me. I could hear him breathing. “Danny,” screamed in terror wishing he were here right now.



“Shh…” I stilled too afraid to move. I got over it and searched frantically for a small hard shape. I was looking for a radio, a microphone, a cell phone, anything that would explain the deep rumble of the male voice and breathing near my ear. The earth below my body felt like a hard chest, but when I dug my fingers into it I came up with a handful of loose soil. It scared me worse than the plane landing.



“Danny! Help me, Danny! Elaina…” I pounded at the soil above me and it all came loose falling in to trap and smother me as I screamed. I felt like I was falling suddenly and I could feel someone holding me tightly as the ground around us shifted about turbulently. I knew we were falling even deeper and it scared me to think I would not be able to dig my way out.



We fell out into empty air below us. I screamed and it echoed. The person holding me twisted to take the weight of the fall, but when I grabbed at him, I came up with another handful of dirt and the utter silence of the cavern I had landed in. I screamed and screamed, but it did little good.



The cavern had now widened out into a ten by ten perimeter that was too tall to touch the ceiling. It was pitch black and my eyes hurt trying to see anything in it. The first thing I noticed was the lack of roots. There were not even tree roots now. I was deep within the earth and not likely to ever see the light of day again. The coolness was the second. Despite knowing it was a doomed attempt, I tried to climb up the side of the walls.



Instantly, someone was there pulling me back to the ground below, touching me, comforting me, attempting to calm me as he kept my feet firmly planted on the ground. I lashed out grateful to have something to fight, but the body I struck crumbled into nothing. I could hear the dirt pelt the ground and searched it to find nothing but loose soil in a pile at my feet.



Panic didn’t even begin to cover my reaction to it. I went crazy trying to escape, trying to beat up the person who kept trying to keep me there and calm me, and freaking out worse slapping at the dirt that fell around me when he dissolved into no more than a pile of soil again and again.



Finally, the shape pinned me to the wall holding me there firmly and carefully. I stilled…I just breathed frantically letting the muscled form seep into my brain so I knew I wasn’t as crazy as I felt. He was there.



Danny sat worriedly on the makeshift camp chair too tired from searching and pacing to move as he listened to a fireman and a cop try to tell him there wasn’t a hole, or a body to be found. It was nearing dark. The hunter had been locked up swearing his innocence and even the dogs were starting to look bored. They wanted to call off the search.



Elaina had long ago had to be sedated and drug away to sleep. The photo shoot had been postponed. Danny rubbed the back of his neck trying to figure out what had happened. Only he and Elaina had seen Louanne fall into the ground chasing the gunman. Now, she was gone like she had never been here. How was that even possible?



People stared at him waiting for him to make the call. It was too dark. The dogs couldn’t find any clues, and he knew the humans couldn’t do any better. “Alright, go home. Maybe tomorrow we can find some trace of her,” Danny conceded reluctant to let her go. She wasn’t just an employee to him. She was a close friend. Maybe the police chief saw the agony in his eyes as he told them to go, because he gave him a sympathetic smile.



“Happy Halloween,” he stated softly as he turned away. Danny stiffened in shock.



“What did you say?” His ragged voice rang hollow in the sudden silence around them.



“Happy Halloween,” the chief said confused. “It is All Hallow's Night, though I suppose it does sound spooky right at this second saying it,” he admitted. He apologized as he cleared everyone out.



“Kurt!” A man came running up to his side. “Where is that box of loony letters we keep on Miss Du’ Tres’ fan mail?” The chief paused as he listened to the conversation with a curious frown. Kurt’s brow wrinkled as he thought about it.



“It is back at the office, but I can have Milton send you something if you think it is relevant. Have you thought of something? What are we missing, boss? Do you know who took her,” Kurt asked hopefully.



“Halloween…I know there was one that said something about Halloween! Find it for me. Fax it to the hotel,” Danny growled anxiously getting up to pace over the air field one last time while Kurt spoke on the phone. Two remaining policemen watched him looking sad.



Finally, he got in the car and drove like a man possessed to get to the hotel.



The fax was there waiting for them at the front desk. It was a copy of a fan letter they had received weeks ago and nearly forgotten. The neat precise handwriting on the paper had a feminine flair to it, but rereading it now left a bad taste in his mouth.



“I thought he meant Elaina…Gees, I thought he was after Elaina!” Danny swore and felt sick leaning over and breathing rapidly to ease the discomfort.



Kurt snatched the paper out of his hand and read it, swearing at every line he read out loud. Listening to it wasn’t much better, but Danny closed his eyes imagining a certain face behind the hand that wrote the words:



‘My patience is at an end, my sweet. All of our games will mean nothing if I cannot have you. The longer this goes on, the more frustrated I grow…



I will have you. Make no doubt of that. Please, try to forgive my impatience on this matter and try not to be afraid. I would never harm you, my love. You are a part of my soul. May this soon be as clear to you as it is for me...



You must say good-bye to all those that you love. I will understand this and give you time to do so…



Do not ignore this. Only I will be there to wish you a merry night on Halloween.



Until then…my love…let the games play out as you like, but come Halloween you will begin to play a game of my choosing as I have so patiently played this game of yours as you chose it.



I will dream of Sam’hain and the night you will become mine for the rest of eternity….



S.’



“Sebasti,” Kurt growled angrily. “Damn it to hell! Sebasti has her!”



2007, (Jenna Karro). All rights reserved. No republication of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without express permission of the author.

COMMENTS

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ImageMaker
15:48 Nov 07 2009

Wonderful story! I'm totally hooked. I have no idea what is going on and I'm panting to find out.

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RomaMarieNightwing
16:24 Apr 03 2010

Very Creative & well written!

Suspensful & dynamically gripping!

So watcha waiting for; Publish it!

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jennaKARRO
23:31 Apr 14 2010

Thanks Roma, you are a sweetheart. Perhaps I am looking for a few more people to say that to me.



I don't think "Until my parents croak" is a very good answer, so I won't say it...

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POST COMMENT

Two months were nearly gone, and no one could find a trace of Sebasti. Danny watched Elaina with the planning manager discretely. Those two had been spending a great deal of time together since Louanne disappeared.



Danny sighed throwing his cold coffee in the sink in utter disgust. The decorations and smiles were grating on his worn nerves already. Danny missed Lou with all of his soul, and wasn’t good at hiding it. The happiness had gone out of his job the second he had lost her. Maybe it was the guilt, he thought to himself. It wouldn’t be the first time guilt ruined a man. He should have been there with her, and he knew it.



Leaning over the sink, Danny felt weary in a way he shouldn’t. It was too early to feel this bleak in his soul. Someone touched him on the shoulder gently. “Any sign of her at all, Danny?” He glanced back in question. He shook his head at Kurt, who had taken up the slack caused by Lou being gone.



Danny looked across the room and his eyes turned a little hard as they met Elaina’s questioning gaze across the room. Kurt saw the look and didn’t like it. “Maybe you should take a week off, man. Go home…Spend the holidays with your wife.”



Danny suddenly snorted in disbelief. “My wife,” he hissed. “Is that some kind of joke, Kurt, ‘cause it sounds like it from where I am standing?” He pushed off of the sink and threw the empty cup away angrily.



“You married her, boss,” the man bravely pointed out in his usual soft tone.



Danny sighed again. Yes, he had. Debra was scared, alone, and knocked up. How could he let her go home when she was sixteen and her dad wouldn’t believe it was her older, step-brother’s child she was carrying? The idiot wouldn’t do anything to stop the boy, or help her through the pregnancy until she could let the adoption agency take the kid. She had begged him. Being as soft-hearted as he naturally was inside, he had offered to help, but he had never touched her.



Debra had a room in his house, clothes to wear, food to eat, a car and a credit card at her disposal. All that and a husband offering to pay the bills while she needed it and divorce her as soon as she was legally able to stand on her own two feet.



Lou had teased him about being too kind to be a man. She had said he was like a wonderful lady buried in the body of a great, big bear of man. Danny had naturally taken offense at the idea. Lou had smiled sadly and softly replied in her quiet way, ‘I meant it as a compliment, Danny’.



It hadn’t taken long to realize that Louanne and Elaina were more than close friends. It had appalled him at first. Lou had carefully apologized for insulting him and he realized what she thought about his avoidance of her.



It took a little effort on his part to be friendly with her that first week, but he genuinely liked her. She made it easy to be sweet. Eventually, it had come naturally to him again. He had realized that it made very little difference. Louanne had always been unique to his way of thinking. It explained a lot of those differences, but not all.



Louanne was a mysterious puzzle that he had been slowly putting together. Each piece gave him a clearer picture but he still didn’t know what that picture would be when finished. He missed her. He missed her smile, and the sound of her slow sarcasm, or her laughter. How could Elaina sit there and not fret over her childhood friend being gone…her lover? It wasn’t right.



Thaddeus Hall scowled at him darkly when he caught him glaring at Elaina for the thousandth time. Danny excused himself, leaving the room before he could come over and act like a fool to tell him to chill out or something equally stupid. Kurt followed on his heels like a good lap dog, but it did little to dissuade Mr. Hall from following them.



The guy looked like a scrawny, rich accountant. Kurt noticed the matching frowns and decided to remove himself in case Danny wanted to beat the hell out of the twerp without a witness. They went into the staff’s security room where Danny was surrounded by the familiar grid of monitors showing Miss Du’ Tres’ grounds to him and recording everyone’s secrets.



“You won’t be able to find him unless he wants to be found, you know…”



The oddity of the comment and the certainty in the man’s smooth face bothered Danny on so many levels. He turned angrily. “What do you know about it?”



Thaddeus Hall studied him for a tense moment. “He will never hurt her,” he said.



“What? Are you an FBI profiler all of the sudden? How the fuck could you know what he is doing to her? It has been months! If she could come back, she would! If she could call us to say she was okay, it would have been that first fucking day!” Danny turned around to look at the screens moodily. “Look, I have seen this guy. He could have any girl he wants and he goes and kidnaps one that has been running from him for years. That doesn’t sound very friendly to me…”



Danny sounded sad enough that it broke his own heart to hear it. Obviously, it didn’t have the same effect on the little bastard across the room, though, he thought as he heard the next comment. “I know that she is not yours,” Thaddeus stated softly as Danny turned back to him in narrow-eyed fury. The security chief’s face flushed when the bookish freak practically dared him to dispute what he was saying.



“You have no idea what I think…She is my friend,” Danny snapped. “I am worried and sick with it! How dare you waltz in here talking all this trash like you have all of the answers? Who the fuck do you think you are? You don’t know me, you don’t know Louanne, and you damn sure shouldn’t know Elaina, but that isn’t my business.” Danny pushed past the man to walk swiftly down the hall.



“Mr. Tilden,” the planning manager called after him frustrated by his attempt to end the conversation. “Mr. Tilden, do not make me chase you,” the little man snapped.



Danny heard the shorter guy walking briskly behind him and smiled at the pleasure it gave him. A soft, yet solid, hand curled lazily along his wrist to stop him. He kept walking. Danny was shocked when his entire body was suddenly jerked backwards by a hand that should have fallen away limply when he tore past it. He turned expecting to see some huge bouncer bodyguard, but only Thaddeus Hall stood in the hallway smiling at him like a contented little cat. “How the hell did you do that?”



“Ah, I have your attention now, I see,” the little shit preened arrogantly. “Mr. Tilden, I am only trying to help you. You are driving yourself into the ground over this. You cannot find her, so stop looking. You cannot have her, so stop dreaming. The man who took her will not hurt her. He loves her.”



Danny snarled in irritation at his snotty attitude. “How do you know? You can’t tell me, because you don’t know, do you?” Danny fervently wished he could be certain the psycho wasn’t torturing and raping her, but no one knew…he might be doing just that.



“Danny, please…Listen to me. She is safe,” Thaddeus said firmly not giving up on his defense no matter what Danny said against it. It made the security chief wonder if he knew something the police didn’t.



Danny looked upset and he knew it, so he channeled the sadness and grief into anger. Mr. Hall frowned. “I saw Sebasti the night they came home from their little excursion, Danny. You have been looking for the mysterious cab driver who found them…It was me. I saw him…Okay. I know far more about this than you think I do. Please, trust me.”



“Get your ugly face out of my sight, you spying sack of shit! I don’t care what Masterson hired you to do. I am in charge of keeping the girls safe; I failed them! I will do whatever it takes to correct that mistake. Don’t stand in my way,” Danny warned him furiously.



Thaddeus purposely moved to block his path to the door. “Why not,” he asked softly still calm despite Danny’s growing anger. “It is a futile attempt…a waste of your time…and your life if you continue to pursue it.”



“Get the hell out of my way,” Danny snarled at him.



“Not until you tell me where you are going,” Mr. Hall stated sadly. “Elaina is worried about you, Danny.”



The nerve of him, Danny thought in disbelief. “Elaina is a fucking whore!”



A flash of light in Mr. Hall’s commonplace eyes startled him just before he smashed into a wall hard enough he had to look for the semi that had hit him. He slid down it slowly as the planning manager walked closer to him.



“You are upset and you do not understand,” Thaddeus said with a soft frown, “but say that again and I will kill you, Mr. Tilden.” He knelt as Danny hit the floor to look him sternly in the eyes.



“You and what army,” Danny growled breathlessly feeling like a rib was sticking him in the lung sharply.



Thaddeus grinned at him. “Do I really need an army, Mr. Tilden? I like your fire. You remind me of myself. Now, I think you need to go see a doctor. Shall we?”



Danny reached up to take his hand, but passed out before he could stand up. He felt a strong grip catch him and was surprised as the world fell away.



Danny woke up just where he had expected to be the next morning, minus the all night drinking hangover and a policeman waiting at his door. His ribs were bandaged tightly. It hurt to breathe.



Danny got out of the bed gingerly to find his clothing muttering, “I’ll be damned if I am standing here in this stupid gown when someone comes in here if I can help it!” He had everything on except his shirt when the door opened and he smelled Italian food.



“Oh, good, you are awake.” Thaddeus Hall came breezing into the room loaded down with a sack and two large drinks. “Do you want me to help you with that?” The food hit the nearest table and the bookish fellow was instantly at his side taking the shirt away from him as easily as if he were a small child. “Put your arms down and slightly back,” he advised. Sighing, Danny stood there and let him slide the shirt over his arms to rest upon his shoulders. “There you are…”



Danny started buttoning it watching him warily. “This is my apology,” the guy stated sheepishly as he held out a drink. “Do you want to eat in here, or can I carry you home?” Danny just glared at him. “Mr. Tilden, I am sorry I hurt you.”



“Yeah, right,” Danny muttered as he took the beverage. It was his favorite. That fact only irritated him even more, but he had to admit it would have been worse if it had been something horrible that he couldn’t drink. “Get me out of here. I hate hospitals.”



“It would be my pleasure,” Thaddeus sighed as he gathered up the bag of food. “I have already signed your release papers, and paid the bill.” Danny ignored him. When they were outside, he paused to wait for him. “My car is right over there,” he stated as he pointed to a little, black Mercedes.



“You have got to be kidding me,” Danny grumbled staring at the thing.



“What,” Thaddeus asked sounding amused. Danny just shook his head in disbelief. “You really do not like me, do you, Danny? I am curious…do you have a reason for it, or is it simply because I stepped into a spot you believe belonged to your friend?”



“Maybe I just don’t like your face,” Danny grumbled being an asshole.



Thaddeus blinked in surprise. “I would say I cannot change that, but I can…Get in the car.” It took Danny a minute to ease into the low-slung vehicle. “Sorry, I guess I should have bought something normal.” Danny gave him an odd look trying to discern if he was being sarcastic, or not. “I’ll drive slowly, I promise…”



Danny grinned nervously. “I would really appreciate that right about now.”



“Ah, can I ask a favor? Could we possibly keep it to ourselves that I broke your rib?”



“Like I want to admit a little dweeb like you can pick me up and throw me,” Danny stated with an incredulous look on his face.



“Dweeb…Is that how I look to you?” Thaddeus started the car with a testy frown that bothered Danny, but he kept his promise to drive easy.



“How do you know for certain that Lou is safe?” Thaddeus glanced at him and his frown grew more worrisome. “You sound so bloody sure. If you know something I don’t, please, tell me!”



“I can’t…I am sorry, Danny. You wouldn’t believe me if I could.” Thaddeus picked up the phone. “One of Antonie’s representatives will be fine for this, I think,” he stated into the receiver. “Yeah, I need help, but I can’t talk about it over the phone,” he stated softly glancing at Danny. “If you think that is necessary,” he agreed. “Sure…I will be right there.”



Thaddeus hung up the phone. “Detour…hang on,” he explained. Danny kept his mouth shut. He had asked for answers, and he was afraid he might just get them. “Hang back when we get there. I don’t know if you are allowed to even see the person I am going to meet, so try not to antagonize anyone.”



Thaddeus swung into a driveway in the richest countryside in the entire state. He stopped the car at the gate and said his name into the security box. “Appointment…one guest…civilian…”



“I will inform him, sir…Drive around,” the crisp voice stated dryly.



Danny guessed he wasn’t a welcome addition. “Where the hell are we?”



“Just keep quiet, Danny,” Thaddeus Hall snapped irritably. “The less you say here, the better it would be for you right now. I can get into serious trouble over this, but I can’t sit and watch you let this eat you up day in, day out like a cancerous mold!”



A man in an expensive, pale gray suit came out of the house and down the long, front steps at a brisk pace to meet the car as it circled the drive. Danny snorted at the pretentiousness of the house and man, but Thaddeus stiffened in horror. The planning manager’s widened eyes told Danny there was something about the man that he wasn’t seeing. Thaddeus put the car in park a little too fast and hopped out to meet him.



“Thaddeus, welcome to my home. Please, relax…I have guests, so can we go out back? Bring your friend with you,” the guy stated politely as he turned slightly waiting to lead them away from the car.



Thaddeus looked back at him worriedly as Danny climbed out of the low-slung car. It was a painful experience that he seriously didn’t want to do again, but he wouldn’t miss this for anything. The guy stopped, looking at him patiently. Once he was free of the contraption, Danny studied the guy more closely. The man smiled slowly turning back to face him allowing his in-depth perusal.



The guy was around six feet tall and had the chest of a professional football player with the tapered waist and slim hips of an athletic swimmer. His chocolate eyes were slightly yellow and darkly framed with lashes so thick it looked like he was wearing eyeliner. His long, black hair held a tint of brown and flowed in bouncy, curly waves like a pricy female model in a shampoo commercial. While Danny was studying his face, he tucked back his hair behind one ear to allow him to see the black diamond stud he wore in it shaped like a skull. The guy’s pale skin only made the jewel stand out more clearly.



Then, he was offering Danny his hand to shake. Danny nearly drew back at the highly polished, manicured nails and black diamond watch he wore. The guy’s lips turned up in amusement as he asked, “Am I pretty enough to please you?”



Danny backed up a step and simply gaped at him in horror until the man laughed. “I am DeSago…Sebasti’s brother, and you must be Danny Tilden. Thaddeus has told me all about you. Shake, Mr. Tilden, you do not want to offend.” Even though the warning was light and amused, the look in those hard, brown eyes said he was not joking. Danny shook his head trying to process what he had just said.



DeSago turned back to Thaddeus. “I assume you are here to inquire about my brother again. I haven’t heard from him,” DeSago said bluntly. Danny finally shook his hand and once he let it go, he turned again to lead them into the back gardens. “Will you and Elaina be coming over for Christmas this year?”



When Thaddeus murmured, “I haven’t asked her yet,” DeSago chuckled.



“The joys of being mated, hmm…I see she is giving you problems, too. I told Sebasti that was not a set I would like to try to tackle. They are absolutely nothing like my lady.” A little boy playing with what looked like a full grown fox laughed and came running over to them. DeSago caught him up into his arms whispering softly into the six or eight year olds ear playfully. The boy stared at them, but DeSago did not introduce him to anyone. “I told you if I did not hear from him by New Year’s Eve…I’d look.”



“I need you to go now,” Thaddeus pleaded. “Elaina will never accept me believing that Lou could be hurt somewhere.”



DeSago looked at Danny when he answered him. “My brother may be impetuous and impatient, but he would never harm her. You know that.” The softness of his very voice sounded like a threat to Danny.



Obviously, it sounded like one to Thaddeus, also. He was careful when he lowered his eyes and stated, “I have never disputed you, but others do not believe me.”



DeSago looked at the boy. “Fine,” he said a little sadly. “I will check into the situation and get back to you about it. Go home.” DeSago walked further into the garden dismissing them rudely as he played with the boy forgetting they were even there behind him. Thaddeus began to relax as they fled back to the car.



Danny narrowed his eyes at Thaddeus once they were alone again. “You knew where she was all along, you fucking prick!” He snarled so viciously, Thaddeus turned back to face him with a censoring scowl on his face. “Why didn’t that fag just go out and get her to begin with?”



“Danny,” Thaddeus hissed in fear. He heard the man scream his name again beneath his own scream as he was jerked off of his feet flying backwards into the air towards the gardens once more.



Danny groaned when he landed lightly on the ground several hundred yards away. It still hurt with his broken ribs. He could still hear Thaddeus calling his name from what seemed like miles away now.



Suddenly, DeSago stood over him looking much larger now that they were alone together and quite angry by the look on his face. “Oh, shit…What the hell are you?” DeSago lifted him one-handedly with a cold smile on his face. He saw his brown eyes slowly turning red from the inside out…



Danny woke up sore all over and trying to remember how he got into his bed at the mansion estates. He got up to see Thaddeus sitting in his room. “Danny, what happened wasn’t my fault. I told you to keep your mouth shut while we were there! Why can’t you silly creatures listen to a thing I say?” Thaddeus stood up. “Can I help you in any way,” he asked in a far more civil and polite voice.



“How exactly do you intend to do that?” Danny held up one hand shakily. “Look, no offense, but I don’t know what you are and I don’t want you to come any closer right this second,” he stated firmly. Thaddeus frowned at him. “Aspirin, okay…Aspirin would be great, right now, unless you have something stronger.”



“I’ll go get it. I have your prescription in my suite downstairs. It will only take as long as the elevator moves. I am sorry; I forgot to bring it up. Are you okay? You were unconscious when I got to you…” Thaddeus waited looking more than a little concerned.



“I am going to take a bath,” Danny snapped at him. “Just bring the damn medicine, but otherwise leave me the hell alone!”



Thaddeus sighed in resignation. “Of course, Mr. Tilden…I will come back in a few minutes with what you ask of me.”



Danny walked into the bathroom. When he took off his shirt, he could see where someone had removed the bandage on his ribs. It looked like a red welt where something had almost sliced his skin open. “That would explain why my ribs are complaining so damn bad,” he whispered to himself. There was also a bruise on his left rib from where he had hit the wall.



Danny looked down seeing a tear on his pant’s waistband that should not have been there. The button had been ripped off and the waistline looked ragged. “Oh, no…I don’t even want to look,” he complained suddenly feeling unexplainable aches in places that should have no reason to hurt.



Pulling the pants off carefully, Danny swore when he saw the reddened abrasions on both of his legs and some even over and around his privates that ached like the dickens and itched like the devil. “What the hell did that prick do to me?”



It took him a while to run the bath and even longer, though he did it while the water was running, to get down into it. “Oh, shit,” he breathed sitting there for a minute while he waited for some of the pain to die down. Unfortunately, when it did his backside was as sore as his ribs and it didn’t take a genius to reason out the why of it. Danny leaned his head back and groaned trying to recall how long the bastard had toyed with him.



Try as he might, the only thing he remembered at the moment was looking into those red eyes screaming while he heard Thaddeus calling his name to the second he woke up in his bed hurting like he had been hit by a second truck. It couldn’t have been that long, but reaching down a hand presented him with undeniable proof that he had had the time to violate him thoroughly.



“Don’t call the bastard a fag again,” Danny hissed in anger.



“What did you say?” Danny looked back at the door startled. Thaddeus stood there with a glass of water in one hand and a pill in the other.



“No way did you have time to get that already,” Danny snarled. Thad didn’t even raise an eyebrow at his unfriendly tone.



“Gee, Danny…You look like you have been roughed up a bit,” Thaddeus stated casually as he came into the room a little more. “You really do have a way with pissing off powerful people.”



Thaddeus leaned over him holding out the medicine like a peace offering. Danny took it from him without the water. “That isn’t good for your digestive system,” he lectured him in a tone that would have done Danny’s strict Irish mum proud with stern disapproval. He further held out the glass shaking it suggestively. Danny snatched it and rolled his eyes as he drank it hurriedly.



Thaddeus looked down at the torn pants and the redness beneath the water in concern. “Are you certain you are okay, Danny? You never did answer me before.”



“Well, I don’t know. Give me a while to figure it out,” Danny stated sarcastically. “Right now, I am just wishing I hadn’t called him a fag, honestly.” Thaddeus’ face went completely blank as Danny spoke.



“I’ll sit in the other room. Call me if you start to feel dizzy, or tired.” Thaddeus left the door open. Danny was unsettled that he would actually try to be discreet.



Danny lay there just slowly feeling the medicine disperse into his body. He kept seeing those deep red eyes in his mind. “Thaddeus,” he called out eventually.



The slim, bookish fellow hurried up to the door. “Yeah, what do you need?”



“Help me out of here. I think I am about to pass out, or something equally stupid.” Thaddeus laughed.



“I didn’t think you liked having a guy in here and you want me to manhandle you now. Gee, Danny…I didn’t think you cared for me,” Thaddeus teased. Danny rolled his eyes. “How hurt are you?”



“Hurt enough that I can’t climb out of here without help drugged up the way I am, and I don’t want to drown.”



“Okay,” Thaddeus sighed grabbing him at the hips uncertainly. “If I pull at your shoulders, it will hurt your ribs. Just hang on to me,” he advised as he tightened his grip to pull. Danny lifted his arms soaking Thaddeus’ hair and shirt as he caught hold of him. “You know you aren’t bad looking for such a young child,” Thaddeus teased.



It made Danny laugh and then he groaned. “Oh, shit, that hurts…you bastard,” he complained. Thaddeus lifted him up and wiped the grin off of his face. When Danny was on his feet again, he glared at Thaddeus nastily.



“I really am sorry I hurt you,” Thad stated looking as sorry as he said he was. “I mean, you are what…forty? I feel like a child molester.”



“Okay, that is twice. I don’t want to know,” Danny sighed, “but how old are you?”



Thaddeus shrugged pretending to be casual about it. “Only a few thousand,” he stated softly. “DeSago is about two hundred and fifty thousand, so he makes me a little nervous.”



Danny just gaped at him for several minutes until a slight smile touched Thaddeus’ lips. “Okay, I am going to ignore that.” Thaddeus handed him a towel which he wrapped around his waist. “What the hell are you and don’t avoid the question?” Thad took another towel and began to carefully dry Danny off with it. “What are you doing?”



“For once in your life, shut up…” Thaddeus was taking a quick inventory of all of the marks on Danny’s back as he worked. “Do you need to put any antiseptic crème on these?”



“What there are more?” Danny didn’t bother trying to see them. His ribs were on fire from all of the movement already. “Right now, all I want to do is go to bed and pass out,” Danny muttered wearily.



Thad traced a bruise on Danny’s right hip. “Don’t get undressed in front of anyone for a while,” he told him thoughtfully. The bruise looked far too much like a handprint, too large and square shaped to be a female.



When Danny frowned and looked back at him with a joking, “Why? See something damning,” Thad glanced up at him uncertainly. “I take that as a ‘yes’. Is he always such an asshole, or does he just not like it when people confront him with the truth?”



“I don’t know. If I had known calling him a fag would get me fucked, I would have done it centuries ago,” Thaddeus teased.



“That isn’t funny! My ass itches and I don’t want to remember why…”



“I’d say wipe it better, but you just had a bath,” Thaddeus joked wryly. “You’d look good with long hair,” he added casually.



“Shut the hell up,” Danny snapped. “My Gods, are you even the same guy that has been hanging out with Elaina the last few weeks?” Thaddeus just laughed and ruffled his hair. Danny ducked away from him too hurt to try shoving him away. “Pervert…”



“We all are…You just got lucky enough to stumble into it,” Thaddeus drawled in amusement. “Get your cute ass into bed. Elaina is already starting to wonder where you are. Hey, didn’t I hear Kurt say you had a wife? Where is she?”



“Probably hiding somewhere,” Danny sighed. “She is really scared of people, especially strangers.” Danny went back into the bedroom and eased down on the bed. Thaddeus stayed safely on the other side of the room.



“Get some sleep. We will see you in the morning, Danny.” Thaddeus left pausing to place the prescription medication on the desk as he passed it.



Danny wrapped his ribs back up to keep from damaging them anymore and pulled on a pair of boxers in case Debbie was around. His head was hurting from fighting the drugs as he lay down wondering why he could not remember what had happened when he was assaulted by that creature DeSago. Had he knocked him out beforehand? It was highly possible. Thaddeus had said he was unconscious when he found him. Danny shivered remembering the anger in those cold red eyes.



Thaddeus’ attempt to ease his mind had backfired on him. If DeSago thought his little brother Sebasti was impatient and immature compared to him, Louanne was in serious trouble! There had to be a way to find her…



Danny picked up the phone and dialed the private line of a powerful person he knew in security for the government. He stayed on the phone until the last of his strength was sapped away by the meds. After he hung up and lay there quietly, he heard the door move and felt Debra crawl into bed beside him. She only slept with him when she was especially scared of something, but he was too tired to ask her what it was. Danny hoped it was only his being hurt and all of the strangers associated with it. He drifted asleep vaguely comforted by her presence.



By the middle of the next day, Danny was closeted in the security room when several high ranking agents came in to the building to take Mr. Thaddeus Hall in for questioning. Danny was recording the surprise on the fellow’s face as he was politely handcuffed and led from the building between a pair of armed guards. Thankfully, Elaina was still in bed having had a late night of sound-bite recording the day before. Kurt dealt with the situation beautifully running around clueless letting the agents have him. Danny knew he’d have to train him on the right way to handle the situation later, but for now his inexperience was a lovely sight.



Once they were gone, he went to the break room for a cup of coffee. Kurt found him there looking strangely at both his absence and his oddly satisfied smile. He didn’t feel the least bit guilty. If they were legit, they would be out in a few hours. If they had something to hide, good…Either way, they got what they deserved and paybacks were a bitch. Danny fully expected them to retaliate, but this way his conscious was clean. Several hours passed quietly, Elaina was wandering around with a puzzled look in her eyes when she couldn’t find Thad. Danny approved of Kurt’s confused silence. Then, Thaddeus returned looking grim-faced.



“You shouldn’t have done that,” Thad whispered where everyone in the room could hear not caring as he stared at Danny angrily. Danny pretended to be curious, but didn’t say anything to him in return. Elaina got up and went to him in concern, but he shrugged her off. She appeared stunned by it. Danny perked up. “Have you any idea what he will do when he gets out?”



“Unless he kills me, I think he has already humiliated me about as much as humanly possible, don’t you think,” Danny drawled softly.



“That is just it, Danny…” Thaddeus stared at him for a moment to impress his next words on him. “When you say ‘humanly possible’, it implies limitations we do not possess.” Thaddeus turned his back on him and went to the phone. Danny tensed recognizing the number he dialed. “One of his reps is fine…No, no…no emergency. Thank you.” Thaddeus sighed heavily as he waited to be connected looking over at Danny in bemused irritation. “I have trouble believing one man could cause so much trouble,” he muttered. A sound of someone’s voice came over the line softly and Thad hung up the phone without saying a word to them.



“Well, I know it wasn’t him you called, so who the hell was that? It is the same number you dialed last time! I demand an answer, Mr. Hall,” Danny snapped furiously.



“It isn’t anyone you need to concern yourself with,” Thaddeus snapped back. “I am leaving! I don’t need to be here when he comes to get you and quite frankly...I am in enough trouble already! I tried to help you and will likely get punished for my concern. I’ll be back, Elaina, but when he gets out of jail…You had best hide Danny!”



Elaina tried to stop him tugging on his arm pleadingly and he kept moving almost dragging her to the door before he growled, “The stupid sot can kill himself for all I care!” Stunned, she let him go. Thaddeus stormed out of the building.



Kurt’s snicker turned all eyes his way. “I thought nerdy types had more control than that,” he mumbled when Elaina glared at him.



“They do, but I do not believe our Mr. Hall is what he pretends to be…” Danny sighed as he spoke. Elaina looked guilty, so she must know what he was. Kurt looked thoughtfully alarmed. The rest of the staff left quietly.



“He is agitated and scared,” Elaina hissed when the room was empty except the three of them. “What have you done, Danny?”



Danny sat up letting his chair legs fall forward with a snap. “I was trying to find Louanne!” He calmed down when he saw her flush at his sharp tone. “You have no idea who Thaddeus Hall really is, do you, Elaina?” She shook her head ‘no’ nervously. “The stuff in his files is not accurate. I don’t know who he works for…but it isn’t us.”



“Danny,” she whispered numbly. “It isn’t what you think.”



“How would you know,” Danny asked calmly even though his insides churned.



“Thaddeus is here for me!” Her words started an argument with Kurt, so Danny went to the security room to watch the tapes and ponder the fact that Thaddeus had gotten out of jail so quickly. If he was clean, who was he? What connection did he have to DeSago and Sebasti? It really bothered him to not know…



Danny was preoccupied the next day expecting DeSago to show up and didn’t notice that he hadn’t seen or heard from Deb until he got home late that night. He had gotten into several arguments with the staff about this year’s company Christmas party where he had finally snapped that it would ‘freeze in hell before he organized it this year!’ No one else had braved his temper after that, but he had gotten some pretty ticked off glares during the day.



“Debbie, hon…are you home?” When she didn’t answer, he dialed up the cell phone number he had given her. There was only the buzz of the phone ringing and he didn’t hear it in the house anywhere. “Where the hell are you?” His nerves kicked up a notch hoping she was safe.



Danny knew better than not checking up on her more often, especially when she was already acting scared. He penned a quick note on the counter in case she came back while he was lying down. He wanted to go out to look for her, but his ribs were aching and it left him short of breathe. As he finished it, something wrapped tightly around his crushed ribs painfully. It didn’t take long for him to pass out.



Kurt was upset as he let the officers into Danny’s apartment. Several people had called in noises sounding like screams and the cops had come to Kurt when they hadn’t gotten an answer on his phone or his door. The first thing they saw was the notepad and pen lying in the floor. It screamed something was wrong, since Danny was too neat to leave it lying there for long. Then, they ignored it and looked closer. The prescription bottle said Danny was vulnerable and it sped up their search.



Kurt knew Danny had an odd connection to the local cops, but not one he understood. Still, the policemen looked worried about his boss as they quickly worked through the apartment to determine that no one was inside of it. One called Kurt into the bathroom to show him bloody handprints on the wall and tub. There were scuff marks on the door’s locking mechanism like someone had broken into the room.



They all hurried back to the kitchen. The senior cop waved him over and Kurt looked at it. “It is Danny’s handwriting,” he acknowledged quickly taking the time to read it. ‘Deb…The house may be unsafe for a bit. I am going out. Call me if you get in…I need to know you are safe. We need to talk…soon.’



“Well, he isn’t lying down,” one of the policemen states obviously, “and little Deb didn’t report finding him missing. I am going to go out on a limb here and say they are both in some deep shit. I have known Danny for some years. We were partners once. He is in trouble; I can feel it.” Kurt agreed with him.



“I am putting out an unofficial APB for him,” the other cop stated worriedly walking away from them as he keyed up the radio. He came back looking even more concerned. “The dispatcher said she just got a call from County. Danny’s wife is in the trauma center having surgery…” Swearing, Kurt beat the cop out the door and to his car, but they beat him to the hospital. Danny wasn’t there. The cops went from talking to the doctor to getting a warrant issued for Debra’s family. Kurt stayed to keep updated on her condition. Elaina joined him there later on.



2007, (Jenna Karro). All rights reserved. No republication of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without express permission of the author.

CHAPTER 2 – Expecting the Unexpected





Danny woke with a sudden jolt of pain. He swore barely able to breathe for the pain stabbing into his lung. His cursing startled something in the darkness nearby.



Danny held still trying to hear anything that would give him a clue to who or where it was. It was silently coming closer to him. Even as hurt as he was, he felt himself slipping into combat mode. No way would that bastard take him again without a fight, he swore to himself.



Then, he froze as a whisper of sound reached his straining ears. “Danny,” Louanne called softly and he felt the sudden sting of tears in his eyes as relief swept through him in a wave that swelled his throat. His voice was too choked up with emotions to answer her. Danny realized when she touched him that he had honestly believed she was dead. Danny wrapped her up too tight in his strong arms completely oblivious to the strain it placed on his broken ribs. He wanted to laugh in happiness, but he knew the tears were wetting his face instead.



“Danny…Danny, are you okay?” He tried to nod to answer her concerned question, but a sob slipped out and she probably realized why he wasn’t saying anything. She laughed just a little before adding, “God, I missed you, too…” Her soft words choked him up even worse, but it was the sound of her soft laughter that eased most of his fears. “You are the most protective guy I know, Danny. A real sweetheart…I am sorry I didn’t wait for you. I know how bad you would take it if something happened to me.”



“Careless witch,” Danny rasped out still hugging her tightly to him afraid she wouldn’t be real if he let her go. “You worried me half crazy! Do you have any idea what people are saying about me? About us…”



“That you love me,” Louanne teased. “Is that so bad? I highly suspect you do, and you know I love you back, teddy bear.” Danny raised his head up to grin at her.



“If you love me so much, why won’t you sleep with me,” Danny teased back embarrassed but not as much as he would if she were anyone else. Which only deepened his understanding of how much he counted on her being around, he realized. “Don’t ever leave me, Lou,” he stated far too seriously. “I have had a glimpse of my life without you in it and I didn’t like it.”



“Oh, Danny…You are the sweetest man,” she stated hesitantly.



“Lou, I know about you and Elaina…I have always known,” he admitted with a tight smile. “You should know she has been dating the new planning director since you came up gone. And the guy is pretty serious about her, Lou. As serious about winning her as Sebasti is on winning you…”



“Sebasti,” Louanne hissed softly. “What has he got to do with me? He wants ‘Lainie!”



“I thought…Didn’t Sebasti kidnap you?” Danny wished there was far more lighting to the room so he could see her face better. Several expressions crossed it swiftly…the last was anger, but he couldn’t say what had been there beforehand. “Louanne…are you alright, honey?”



“You look hurt.” Louanne’s voice had gone low in her anger. It was a voice he recognized very well. “Who did this to you? Your lip is bloody…your nose…your eye is swelling,” and he could tell she wanted to put bullets into who ever had hurt him. “Did Sebasti do this?” The fury in her face was aimed solely at his injuries and looking for a face to put the blame on. He could lie and let her hurt the man who wished to woo her.



“No…not Sebasti,” Danny stated with a heavy sigh. He couldn’t lie to her. “I haven’t seen him. Have you, Lou?”



“I don’t know. Someone comes here. I didn’t ever know who, but now that you have mentioned it might be Sebasti…I think it has been him all along! I thought he wanted Elaina! What the hell is going on, Danny?”



“So did I, but his last letter…Do you remember it?”



“Of course,” Louanne snorted. She remembered everything if it involved Sebasti. “All Hollow’s Eve…He planned to take her on Halloween.”



“Lou, baby…He stole you on Halloween! It has always been you he was after! We just assumed he wanted ‘Lainie!”



Louanne shook her head denying the truth in his words, but there was a thoughtfully puzzled look on her face. “No way,” she whispered. “He has always been so focused on Elaina. That can’t be right, Danny.”



“Lou…honey, DeSago told me Sebasti had you!” Danny glanced around suddenly wondering where the prick had been keeping her. “Where the heck are we?”



Danny was rubbing his hand casually over her cheek too relieved by her presence to really care where they were or how much trouble they could be in. Lou smiled at his distracted tone and the casualness in it when he was usually so focused on any situation, but it was really the look in his eyes as he stared at her that melted her heart. She smiled at him and didn’t care that it was the kind of fond look you give to the person you are dating.



“I am sorry, Lou,” Danny whispered to her softly looking a little vulnerable, “but you have to have seen how much I love you by now. You really scared me to death disappearing like that. It broke my heart, baby,” he growled roughly throat closing up.



“That is a hard thing to do,” she whispered knowing how caring he was, but also realistic and protective of his emotions. “I always did tell you; you are the best guy I know. I mean it too, Danny, you are…”



“Too bad you don’t like guys,” Danny teased with a gentle, fond smile that eased her worries that it bothered him. She looked at him concerned, but there wasn’t any betrayal, hurt or disapproval in him. “Hey, quit checkin’ me out! I am just happy I am at the top of the list; even if, it doesn’t do me any good to be there,” he joked merrily.



Danny leaned in to kiss her cheek lingering just a little longer than he had last time with his eyes closed and a happy, yet heavy ache in his chest. “I am just glad to see you safe and unhurt, Lou.” His lips must have tickled moving against her skin when he spoke because he felt her shiver in reaction to it. She leaned even closer hugging him up and he felt his eyes sting again. His face had finally dried and he didn’t want to squall like a baby again; Lou might take it wrong.



“Like a big surly bear,” Louanne teased him. “Who said it doesn’t do you any good?” Danny’s brow wrinkled as he turned looking to the side at her barely moving away to see her face in question. Just as he started to ask her what she meant, her lips closed over his and she turned the tables on his as his body shivered in pleasure and surprise. His heart clenched in shocked hope that he quickly squelched and he hesitated to kiss her back never taking any more than she was offering. It was Lou that deepened the kiss until his senses reeled and he had to draw away.



“Lou…” He protested, but it did little good. She licked and nibbled down his throat. It was wonderful, but he couldn’t believe she was doing it and fully expected her to stop. When her hands moved over his muscled abs pushing at his shirt as they explored him in a way he had barely dared to dream about, he sat back away from her. She used his leaning position to push him back down onto the earthen floor as she knelt over him doing her damned best to cover his entire chest, arms and neck with her body. “Lou, this feels…wonderful, but…what…”



“Shut up, Danny,” Louanne whispered kissing him so deeply he bucked up beneath her and had to restrain himself from taking over the kiss. His arms held her to him lightly when all he wanted to do was roll her over and tear her open beneath his feverish thrusts. He was a patient man, he reminded himself doubtfully, but Lou didn’t like men! He would never dream of hurting her, but her bare skin was hot against the skin she had uncovered of his own.



Danny elected to take a small chance while he had it running his hands over her delicate curves to feel the skin he had long dreamed of having pressed up to him. She was perfect, fitting into his every curve the way a woman should. She lay down on him and he closed his eyes biting back a possessive growl as her soft tummy slid over his taunt erection straining inside of his jeans.



“How far are you going with this, Lou,” he gasped. Danny opened his eyes to see her blink in surprise. His voice was low and gruff the way it was when his entire form switched into sex mode, and he could tell the sound of it was something she hadn’t expected from him further causing him to think she was just playing.



“Is this the way you normally seduce a woman,” Louanne asked him with a grin.



“Am I supposed to be seducing you, baby?” Danny drew his enormous hand along her oh, so tiny jaw and felt such tenderness swell up inside of him. “Is that what you want, Lou?” He was afraid to touch her now that she was really allowing it. He felt so big up against her, but he knew she was no lightweight. She could take down all of his men in battle, but never him. No, Danny had never lost to her. He had always pinned her in seconds to her laughing amusement. “What about Sebasti, love? Do you want to piss him off that bad? Is that why you are doing this?”



Lou looked confused as she sat up and he could have kicked himself for asking, but the second it left his mouth, he found he wanted to know the answer. “Would it upset you if I told you that was it? To piss off him and ‘Lainie…”



Danny tensed up a little and frowned. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Look, Lou…I would love to. I have never made that a secret between us, but…” Would he really turn her away, he thought in amazement. Hell no, but it would hurt. If he never got to touch her again, it would fester like a wound and ruin their friendship to know she had only done it in revenge. Was it worth losing her? No. “Yeah, I think it would, Lou…I think it would upset you too.”



“Danny, I…I have found myself wondering…occasionally…about you…”



“No way,” Danny joked laughing with a huge teasing grin. “Really,” he asked in surprise. When she nodded, he shook his head at her playfully. “Why didn’t you ever say so? I would have been more than happy to appease your curiosity,” he purred at her nibbling her throat until she swallowed making a little sound that he was determined to hear again…soon.



Danny rolled her beneath him and Louanne laughed. “God, you are nothing like Elaina! You are so powerfully…big,” she stated giggling. He paused uncertainly, thoughtfully nibbling down her throat to the bend of her collarbone.



“I am, Lou…very,” Danny stated firmly with a stern look on his face, “very…big.” He glanced up at her before taking a perky, little nub into his teeth to roll around lazily. Danny decided the hungry sound that was ripped from her throat was lovely thing and caused several others to follow it.



Before he knew what she was about, Lou’s hands were wrapped around him and slipping beneath to take in his measurements. Danny bit her skin in warning of the dangerous game she was playing. He teased her as she handled him, but when he felt close to losing his control he slipped lower to nip at her tummy letting her hands trail away. Danny took hold of her muscled rump in one hand and lifted her up to his waiting lips. She grabbed his hair before running her fingers into it more gently.



Two sets of eyes watched from across the room magically concealed and silenced. DeSago stepped forward with red eyes to stop Danny Tilden from touching his brother’s mate. A stern hand held him back as Sebasti stepped between his brother and the couple nearby. “Do you intend to watch that petty piece of human filth have her?”



Sebasti stared at him for a tense moment. “If I have to…”



“You can’t be serious,” DeSago snapped. “He is a jerk!”



“She likes him,” Sebasti mumbled. “You have no idea how vital that is…”



“She is your mate, Basti! Can you stomach to stand there while he is touching her?”



Sebasti glared at him. “She doesn’t want me touching her…Damn it! I would give anything if he could convince her that men are not the Anti-Christ! I don’t want to rape her and she…won’t…have me.”



“Wear her down; she has to give in eventually,” DeSago stated bewildered.



“Like you did, Des? No, I won’t do that to her,” Sebasti snarled. “I want her as wild and spirited as she is now! If I can’t have her like that, then I do not want her at all! Maybe the human can do something I cannot…”



DeSago stepped into him threateningly. “No,” he snapped advancing on him with a deadly look in his eyes. “I won’t let you be this stupid. It is embarrassing!”



Sebasti held his ground eyes glowing wildly. “Back away, Des! That is my woman, and you will…not…touch her!” DeSago stilled stunned by his younger brother’s rebuke. “Let her have what she wants. If you get in the way of that…”



“You will what,” he growled dangerously in a satisfyingly soft tone that made Basti flinch. “You are too young to challenge me, brother.”



“One thousand and seven hundred years younger, but I bet I could hurt you before you beat the hell out of me,” Sebasti stated bluntly. “Leave them alone…”



“You are not staying to watch, then,” DeSago taunted rudely.



“I…” Sebasti’s eyes and face fell unhappily. “I can’t…” He swallowed glancing at them uncertainly. “It is all I can do to shut her out and not interfere.”



“Then why are you doing it?”



“She has fled from me for a quarter of a century, Des. She has loved a woman and has never once given me a chance. I hold no place in her heart. She bans me from all but the smallest contact in her mind. There is no room for a man in her…”



“Give it a few…and I will show you that you are wrong,” Des snapped insensitively. His voice softened when he saw Basti flinch. “If you care so much, why are you letting him seduce her? It is wrong!”



“Perhaps I dream if she can love him, she may someday grow to love me too…” His brother’s saddened whisper stilled DeSago’s anger at him, but it caused his hatred of Danny Tilden to grow. Des firmed his jaw to keep his thoughts to himself.



“Someone has to stay...to make sure she is safe and unforced if she backs out,” DeSago gritted through his teeth furiously. Sebasti turned to regard his wife and her chosen lover critically. He walked over to kneel beside her and placed a light-as-air, feathery kiss upon her lips before looking back at his brother.



“You are a voyeur. You will probably enjoy the show.”



Sebasti fell away into seemingly nothingness as his soul moved into the soil below her before traveling away decidedly. Louanne jerked touching her face in confused surprise and again wiggling as the soil beneath her body caressed her from her neck to Danny’s hand tenderly.



Danny raised his head coming up to kiss her. It momentarily hid the tears behind her eyes. She could feel the hurt in the creature that had touched her so gently. Yet a part of her refused to believe that the thing could be patient, determined Sebasti…much less that he wanted her. Lou also felt him leave. If it was Sebasti, he was giving up the chase that she had so enjoyed for so long as Danny created a tempestuous swirl of new emotions within her. The tears were puzzling, but if it really had been Sebasti…If he really did want her and not Elaina…she would miss him, but she couldn’t get over the fear of the creature that had detained her here, or the fury in Sebasti’s eyes as she escaped him again and again.



Danny noticed her distraction and figured it was safe to speed up his seduction. By the time he was ready to try for more, the thoughtful frown on her face was long gone and she was fondling him eagerly.



Lou rotated her hips again driving him crazy at all of the sensations she was inflicting. “Oh, my Gods…you are huge!” A shiver of fear traveled up his spine and he looked over his back into the gloom behind them certain that he felt the hatred in a pair of red eyes watching him.



The ground of the cavern shook unnaturally rolling beneath them in ominous warning. It quickly settled but Danny felt a chill of terror. Lou dispersed it as she urged him to move and he forgot everything except the feel of her wrapped tightly around him…



It was Christmas, Danny thought in silence as he took a moment unnoticed up against a far wall watching everyone in bemusement. Kurt held Debra’s infant in his arms smiling down at her like a man firmly wrapped around her little fingers. Little Alisha had an admirer already.



Judging by the look in Kurt’s eyes as he glanced at Debbie in cautious worry over her health, Danny would need to divorce her soon. Kurt would make a far better husband for the girl. It was only a matter of time before Deb would notice it too. It would take a while, but she was already starting to trust him. That was good. He didn’t want to let her go too soon. The police had locked up her family for assault and battery and statutory rape. She had nearly died and lost Alisha. Kurt had stayed by her side every second until she was safe.



Elaina, on the other hand, had taken one look into Louanne’s face and known she had lost her. She wasn’t the least bit sore over it. ‘Lainie had grinned at him in approval, and accepted Thaddeus’ suggestion of a date. They were both hugging up as Thad maneuvered her beneath the mistletoe for a stolen kiss that turned into several. They were giggling happily.



And last, but certainly never the least…was Louanne, Danny observed still unable to believe she was his. They had woken up in the middle of a bright field of flowers dressed and alone. Lou had given him some serious looks that day. He had been determined to just be the same friends they had always been, letting her have her job back the moment they returned. She had surprised him slipping into his bed several nights a week since that day.



At this moment, Louanne was sorting the presents, camped out in front of the tree like a kid in a candy store with a free pass to anything she wanted. She was different…in some strange way that he couldn’t quite name. Lou looked older, more knowledgeable…there was something dark in her eyes. Danny also noticed a distracted frown on her face when no one else was looking, but it wasn’t a very big change. It was nothing he couldn’t live with, or forgive her for. After her kidnapping, he had expected to see her again as only a cold, cold corpse.



Louanne frowned holding a small gift in her hand, swiftly looking up for him. Years of protecting Debbie told him without words that the look meant trouble or fear. Danny hurried over to her side trying to do it casually so he wouldn’t alarm anyone else. “What is it, love,” he whispered kneeling down to hug her as he spoke nuzzling her ear to hide the seriousness in his voice from anyone glancing at them.



“This one is to me, but it isn’t marked. Is it from you?” Danny looked at the expensive jeweler’s box in shining red and golden ribbons cautiously. It was the size of a personal letter, or Christmas card, but thick enough for a watch. “It isn’t, is it?”



“No,” he sighed knowing who the likely culprit was. “Open it.”



“Are you sure?” Danny nodded with a tight smile to encourage her.



Inside of the box was a card in an envelope, and a letter peeking out from the edge. It was Sebasti’s style of writing, he could see. There was also a huge heart of gold in the box on a chain thick enough that little could break it. When she pulled it out, it was an inch by an inch and a half long locket around a quarter of an inch thick.



Lou opened it and gasped holding her hand up to her lips to hide her dismay. Slowly, she tilted it to where Danny could see. Engraved on the inside left was a decorative ‘S.’ in Sebasti’s signature, but what had startled her was the locket’s true contents. It was a cleverly crafted timepiece. In his oddly unique fashion, Sebasti had not only given her his heart, but was allowing her time, as well…



“You don’t have to keep it,” Danny whispered to her gently.



“Would it upset you if I did?” Danny considered it. He was grateful for every moment of her time he could have. It had never been his dream to actually get her.



Glancing around, he caught sight of the happiness between Thaddeus and Elaina. The creature looked up and saw him. Danny remembered his words ‘I know you want something that is not yours…’



Realizing from his words that neither Elaina nor Louanne were entirely human, Danny was thankful knowing someone would be there to protect and love her after he was long gone from old age. These creatures would not grow old as he would. They would have thousands of years to be together. Hopefully, he could just have a couple dozen.



“No, love…I hope you do keep it. I don’t think he means any harm by it…No harm at all,” Danny whispered lovingly kissing her fears all away. He personally saw to it that the locket was snapped securely around her delicate throat.



“Lou,” Danny whispered sitting at the edge of the bed gazing upon the stillness of his wife. “Lou, what is it? Wake up, baby. Talk to me…” Still, she didn’t move. It made him afraid for her. Not once in their long relationship had Louanne gotten sick, so what could make her lie there so still and pale when yesterday she was vibrant and full of life?



With a shaky step, Danny headed into the living room to grab his cell phone call a number he knew far better than his own.



“Hello, Danny…What do you need,” a softly amused voice answered. Danny usually laughed about the caller ID telling him who he was, but today it wasn’t the least bit funny.



Danny didn’t gasp or make a sound as a sharp pain stabbed him in the ribs hotter than a speeding bullet. He pressed his hand to it tightly waiting for the pain to subside, but he wasn’t fast enough, because the voice on the line instantly grew more alert. “Danny, Danny…Are you there? What is it? Answer me, Danny!”



“I don’t know,” Danny hissed turning it into a frustrated sigh before he could hear the pain behind the sound of his voice. “I tried to wake Lou up and she won’t budge. She’s all pale and sweat-soaked…I don’t know what to do. Do you think I should I call a doctor? Is that even possible with people like you?”



“No, Danny, it is possible, but not advisable. Is she bleeding anywhere? If she is injured, I have a number I can call to get a doctor for her, but don’t take her to anyone else. I can’t think of a reason she’d be unwell…We were just over there,” there was a pause as he was probably looking at his alarm clock. “My Gods, Danny…It has only been a few hours ago! We haven’t even been to bed yet. She was okay when we left there. Has something happened to cause it?”



Danny mumbled something about just going to bed and now she wouldn’t wake up. He should have expected the next comment, but it caught him by surprise in his agitated state. “Are you sure she isn’t just tired and ignoring you?” The teasing in his voice irritated Danny’s already frayed nerves even if he could hear the tension in the voice through the phone line.



“God damn you to hell, Thaddeus…It isn’t alright now! She isn’t ignoring me! Something is really wrong with her! You are the idiot in charge of this kind of thing, so get over here and figure it out! She won’t wake up! I have tried everything and if she wasn’t sweating and breathing I would think she was dead! Now, you get your ass over here and tell me what to do,” Danny snarled nearly breathless when he paused to catch more air into his aging lungs.



A sharp gasp broke off more angry retorts as his side throbbed again in pain. It was getting worse, and it worried him. However, Louanne wasn’t supposed to ever be sick and that worried him far worse than his own problems.



“Calm down, Danny. I am just trying to get you to relax a little while ‘Lainie gets dressed. I told you we hadn’t gone to bed yet,” Thaddeus stated softly. Meaning they had been humping like rabbits when he had interrupted them, Danny thought with vicious pleasure. “It is probably nothing serious. We can live through almost anything.”



“I want to know what is wrong, Thaddeus!”



“Maybe it is Sebasti that is hurt and she is helping him heal,” Thad suggested. “It is common among us, Danny, so stay calm. The last thing we need is to have to rush you to the hospital. We need you to relax. Go lie down beside her and ‘Lainie will be there in a second with me right by her side. I promise you we will handle this and she’ll be fine…”



Danny nodded forgetting he couldn’t see him as he hung up the phone. It didn’t take him long to get back to her side and he did as the little prick suggested lying down to curl into her side whispering all of the little things he had forgotten to tell her while they were awake that day. His voice trailed off little by little as he began to run out of things to tell her and worry overcame him again.



“You are going to be okay, baby. You can’t sleep through Valentine’s Day. It is your favorite. I know you; you won’t miss it for anything. Thaddeus and ‘Lainie are coming. They will take care of you. He promised me you would be fine. Don’t worry…I love you, Lou. I love you so much. You don’t need to tell me you love me back, so don’t sweat it. I know just how much you love me too.”



Danny picked up his cell phone that he had grabbed unconsciously on his way into the bedroom and dialed another good friend’s number. “Hey, it’s me…Yeah, can you come over.” It didn’t take any more than that. He hung up and closed his eyes to try to relax as he waited for someone to show up.



Thaddeus knocked on the door, but he knew Danny was in the bedroom and his hearing was bad. “Damn, I don’t have the spare key!” Elaina smiled at him nervously and patted his arm.



“It won’t do for us to panic,” she reminded him softly. “Lou is fine. It is Danny I am worried about. He hasn’t been in great shape this last month and the man is over sixty years old.” A puzzled frown graced her face before she came to the last of the sentence and Thaddeus glanced at what she was looking at swearing as he recognized the car pulling up behind their own.



“I am breaking the door in,” Thaddeus snapped as he kicked out swiftly to the sound of a giant thud.



“Oh, stop that!” The surly old voice behind him barely broke through the jarring his body received. The door didn’t even dent. “I have a key. You are going to hurt yourself doing that, you old fool. Do you really think Danny would have a door you could kick in so easily?”



Thaddeus didn’t mention that he was a lot stronger than the old fellow he looked like these days. His white hairs were all illusionary. The liver spots and wrinkles non-existent. “Can you open the door, then,” Thaddeus asked impatiently. “He said Lou wouldn’t wake up!”



There was a patient sigh from the old man facing him. “I can, but I don’t expect to like what I find when I do,” he mumbled as he put the key in the lock. Thaddeus glanced at ‘Lainie puzzled by him.



“What is that supposed to mean, Mr. Cooper?” Elaina was far calmer and more diplomatic, so Thad was glad she had asked the question instead of him. “Did Danny tell you something he didn’t tell us?”



“Well,” the old man drawled with a long suffering, sad smile, “you could say that.”



“Open that God damn door! Danny!” Thaddeus pushed past the old guy worried and too afraid to be polite by now. His worry about Lou had pushed out his knowledge of Danny’s age and health.



In the bedroom doorway, he stopped too afraid to even breathe as he looked at the two on the bed. They appeared to be sleeping soundly. He prayed desperately that it was that simple, but doubt filled his heart. “Elaina,” Thaddeus called wanting her to go check instead of him.



She moved past him going to Lou and touching her. The smile on her face showed relief, but quickly dissolved the moment she reached out to wake Danny. “No,” Thaddeus hissed leaving the room. Mr. Cooper nodded from his spot near the living room couch.



“I expected as much,” the old man stated softly. “Danny came to me a few weeks ago and gave me that key. He said I was to come over when he called, no questions asked. He left this…” A sealed envelope appeared in the old man’s hands even as Thaddeus shook his head denying what he was hearing and seeing. “He said you might not take it…said I was to give it to her if you didn’t.”



Before Mr. Cooper could walk past him, Thaddeus snatched the envelope out of his hands. “Are you telling me Danny knew he was going die,” Thaddeus snapped angrily. “Why? How would he know?”



“Just read that letter, Mr. Hall,” Mr. Cooper stated firmly. “It should explain everything. Now, if you will let me into that room…I will see to him myself. It was what he wanted.”



“What are you going to do?”



Mr. Cooper glanced at Thaddeus as if he was a silly child. “I am a coroner, Mr. Hall. I am going to do what people in my profession usually do around a dead body. Now, get out of my way…unless you want to go into that room before I get started,” he suggested.



Thaddeus shook his head. The old man nodded once as if he had expected his answer. “You might want to take his wife to the hospital. I am going to have to call in a few people in a little while and I don’t think she should be in there when they get here.”



‘Lainie was holding Lou’s hand beside the bed at their house when Louanne opened her eyes feeling exhausted and so weak she couldn’t bear to try to move. “There you are,” Elaina said softly with a welcoming grin as she noticed.



“Was I out long,” Louanne asked sheepishly. “I must have passed out. I am so tired all of a sudden.”



“It is okay. We expect it is something to do with Sebasti,” Elaina explained. “Thad said it was common. Have you heard from him lately? Can you try to think about it really hard and see where he is right now? He could be injured. That is what Thaddeus thinks…”



Elaina’s words put a scared look in Louanne’s eyes. She had gotten used to Sebasti’s odd moments of mental communion over multiple decades. “I hope not. No, I haven’t heard from him for about a month, or more. He said he was going somewhere else and it would be a while before he could check in with me because of a time difference, or something.”



Louanne concentrated and felt nothing. “I don’t think I can reach him. He must be too far away. Where is Thaddeus? I need to talk to him. What did he mean when he said he could be hurt?”



Elaina looked concerned. “I don’t know if he is up to talking. The last time I saw him, he was about to pass out from drunkenness. I’ll go check on him. You wait here, okay?”



“I am too wiped out to go after you,” Lou sighed sleepily. Elaina looked even more worried as she left.



Louanne woke again still tired and starting to get hungry. She climbed out of bed nearly dragging on the way to the bedroom door. The sight that met her there caused her to look around and see where she was. “Hey, guys…What is this?”



Elaina popped up off of the couch where Thaddeus was looking about as ragged as he ever had looked and smelled of every liquor known. “Lou, honey…You are awake! How are you feeling today? Is there anything we can do?”



“Yeah, I am hungry. I guess I could eat something and then call Danny. He must be worried sick if he has the two of you taking care of me while he is out,” Louanne teased sounding as tired as she was feeling.



“How are you,” Thaddeus asked softly. “Is there any way you can remember what happened? It might be important to know if you don’t wake up for a while. I might be able to figure out what is causing it,” he offered not sounding too worried or interested in the least.



“I don’t know what happened. One minute I was alright…I was sound asleep and woke up with a chest pain of some kind. I think I made a noise or something. It probably woke Danny up. Did he call you?”



“Yeah, honey, he did,” Elaina fretted. “I have some food in the fridge from when we ate. I can warm it up for you if you think you can manage to eat it.”



“I am not sick, ‘Lainie…just tired,” Lou protested sitting in a one soft chair to curl up across from Thaddeus who was looking at her strangely. “What is wrong with you?”



“Too much to mention, actually,” he mused thoughtfully with a heavy sigh. “We need to know what is causing you to be tired, Lou. Can you remember anything about when you got the sharp pain? The dream you were having when you woke…anything that might give us a clue as to how to stop it?”



“Stop what, Thaddeus,” Louanne asked testily. “Haven’t you ever been tired before?”



“Enough to sleep for two weeks without waking up,” Thaddeus snapped just as irritably. “Not lately, no. Humor me!”



“Thad,” Elaina cautioned severely. “If you can’t talk nice to her, you come in here and heat up this food. I'll try.”



“Two weeks,” Louanne repeated in a softly startled and confused voice. “I couldn’t have slept for two whole weeks.” Her sleepy expression cleared all of the sudden as she put together what they were saying and why she had woke up here instead of home. “Two weeks…Oh my Gods, Danny must be…”



“Danny is dead, Lou,” Thaddeus whispered looking away as he said it.



“Thaddeus,” Elaina hissed sharply. “Get in this damn kitchen right now!”



He got off of the couch and gave Louanne a red-eyed look of such misery she wondered why she hadn’t noticed how attached the two men had become. “They said it was a heart attack. He had medication he was taking for it,” Thaddeus told her with a searching look in his eyes. “Did you know he was having heart problems, Lou, or did he hide it from you too?”



“Heart problems,” Lou said considering it. “No, he doesn’t have heart problems. He has been a little short of breath lately, but he is…” Was, she silently corrected taking a deep breath before continuing in a softer voice.



“Danny was old. We all expected him to be old. We have all been changing in little ways to accommodate his age. We knew he was getting very old, but I thought he was still okay. He still went to work. How could he work if he wasn’t healthy,” Lou asked.



“I checked,” Thaddeus whispered. His voice grew more firm as he spoke. “He was placed in a supervisory position some time back that involved nearly all brain work and little to no physical activity. Several months ago, he was placed on permanent light duty. They knew, Lou. They knew and we didn’t.” Louanne knew who he meant…Kurt and Debbie.



“I am sure Danny just didn’t want us to worry,” Elaina interjected. “Are you still hungry, Lou? I can put all of this back in the fridge.”



“No, I need to eat,” Louanne protested. “I am starving, ‘Lainie. I know I shouldn’t be, but I am. I am so tired and hungry…” She drifted off vaguely looking disoriented and Thaddeus knew something was severely wrong.



“Lou, try to think about what happened…Were you dreaming when you woke up with the pain? Where was the pain? Can you describe it to me,” Thaddeus pushed suddenly beginning to grow more alert and concerned as he spoke.



“Lou,” he pressed when she seemed to just sit there looking dazed. Elaina started to snap at him angrily again and he waved her off so that she turned around angrily without a word to return to the kitchen. “Lou…”



“This is really important, Lou. Think about it and try to answer me before you go back to bed. I need to know,” Thaddeus pressed with a frown.



“Okay, I will try, Thaddeus, but…Danny,” Lou whispered. Her face twisted and she almost cried, but caught it just before any tears could fall. “I know he wouldn’t want me to dwell on it. He would say, ‘hey, look how long you had me for, baby. Did you expect it to last forever? We always knew this was a temporary deal, didn’t we?’”



Lou laughed and it even made dour Thaddeus crack a smile as the image took root in his mind. “It doesn’t feel temporary, Thaddeus. It felt real to me. Look how long I had him,” she pointed out. “How can anyone call that a temporary deal? It was a lifetime!”



“He knew we wouldn’t age the same way, Lou. I think he had a clearer image of it than you do,” Thaddeus sighed. “Danny was a rare kind of guy. He knew you belonged elsewhere and was thankful to borrow you even if it didn’t feel the same way to us. He was thankful for every day he had us because he knew it was never supposed to happen. Only it did, and we loved him,” Thaddeus added. Neither had noticed Elaina was missing until she crept back into the room with an agreeing smile.



“Danny was wonderful. Hard to believe, but he turned out to be a real gem, didn’t he, Lou,” Elaina mused. “I never have thought of him as competition back then. Do you remember? We were always running from that handsome shark of a man, but I never paid Danny any mind. I guess I should have. You saw him…”



“Oh, ‘Lainie…You had Thad. I didn’t think you would mind,” Lou stated giving Elaina a look that Thaddeus stepped between with an angry frown of disapproval. Louanne grinned at him impishly. “Thaddeus, you look like an old fart. You must not be taking care of her.”



“I take care of her quite well,” Thaddeus protested. “Is it my fault she is a total nymphomaniac?”



Louanne laughed at his pained expression. It was a completely male look of pleasure and pain and confusion all mixed up into a chaos of masculinity that she doubted she would ever interpret. “I don’t mind you being with her, Louanne; don’t take this wrong, but I went to a lot of trouble getting my wife to pay attention to me. I don’t want you to fuck that up for me.”



“That sounded distinctly like a back off,” Louanne stated thoughtfully looking at ‘Lainie with hidden amusement.



“It did, didn't it,” Elaina stated with an arch look of arrogance about her face. “He must be getting as old and grumpy as he looks.”



Thaddeus snorted something for ‘Lainie only to hear that changed her teasing eyes to a darker more thoughtful coloring that even after all of these years Lou recognized. “Speaking of old and grumpy,” Thaddeus sighed. “How are we going to go about our deaths? It is getting near the time people will wonder why we never go to a doctor, or get tired.” The strained look in the women’s eyes told him clearly they were not ready to accept what he was saying to them. “It can wait, but it needs to done in the next ten to twenty years. The later we do it, the more we have to hide. Without Danny…there isn’t much reason to pretend I am old.”



“I don’t know, Thaddeus…What about Debbie and the kids,” Elaina whispered. “You want us to just walk away and never come back? I thought you liked Kurt.”



“I do, but Kurt has his own people. He doesn’t need us and he never did. I will miss the kids, but we can always come back and see them, just not as us. We could return here as young couples and start all over again making friends with the younger folks we have always seen hanging around the fringes of the geriatric society.”



Elaina frowned at him in disapproval. “Thaddeus, this isn’t the time to be thinking about such things. It can wait.”



“Don’t you want to get to know them? I know you do. I have seen the looks in your eyes,” Thad pointed out.



“That isn’t what I am saying, honey…”



“You don’t like pretending to be old anymore than I do, ‘Lainie. We did it for Danny, and he has been gone for two weeks. Personally, the old town isn’t the same without him. I don’t like it.”



Both women sighed and he threw up his hands. “I don’t know why I bother to add my opinion to anything. I get out voted every time I think something is a good idea,” he grumbled. “Regardless, I want to know every detail you can remember about that night before you go to bed, Lou. I am not taking a ‘wait until later’ on that one!”



“Thaddeus, you are being a jerk,” ‘Lainie growled.



“Am I?” Thaddeus stared at her hard and Lou saw the look in Elaina’s eyes change as Thaddeus told her something in her mind that she couldn’t hear. “Tell me it isn’t important, ‘Lainie. I will leave her alone if you do.”



“No,” Elaina whispered. “No, you are right. Lou, can you remember?”



“What are the two of you not telling me this time?” Elaina looked at Lou’s hand that was holding and rubbing the pendant she always wore fretfully.



It took Louanne several minutes to realize why that would be important. It was the heart locket that Sebasti had given her for Christmas so long ago she had forgotten where it had come from. “Oh, yeah…I guess that would be important,” she whispered distracted again as she wondered where he was after so long of not hearing from him.



“I’ll get the food and give you a second to think about it, honey,” Elaina said leaving to go into the kitchen.



Lou rubbed her face and Thaddeus came over to kneel down beside her chair dropping the old man illusion that hid how very handsome the man truly was. He reached up and Lou fell into his arms for a warm hug. Sensing without words that she was falling apart and just plain needed it, he didn’t speak. She was grateful for it.



“You are taking this better than I did,” Thaddeus finally pointed out with a little laugh.



“I am too tired to get hysterical. I just feel…numb, Thad. I feel numb. I have since I woke up the first time.”



“What happened?”



“I don’t know. Nothing,” Lou protested. “I was asleep and I started hurting and woke up startled.”



“Think, Lou…What did you dream? Was a flash of anything just before you woke?”



“No…Yes,” Lou changed looking confused. “I saw the flash of a knife and felt a pain.”



“In your chest you said. Was it in your heart, Lou? This is important. Please, try to get it right.”



“Yes, I think it was. Why? What does it mean?” Thaddeus backed up and had a very worried look on his face.



Elaina set the tray down watching him with a horrified expression. “He thinks someone killed Sebasti!” Her hiss of dismay startled Thaddeus into looking up at her.



“It isn’t as bad as you are both thinking,” he protested. “He is more than likely still alive, but if the knife is still stuck into his chest he can’t wake up. He will be almost completely helpless until it is removed. If he is on most planets, they will bury him. That would help him heal, but if he has been taken captive by someone that knows what he is…It can be a very, very bad thing,” he finished softly.



“Slavery,” Elaina hissed. “You have got to be joking! People don’t still do that!”



“Elaina,” Thaddeus barked sharply, “don’t do that again! Stay out of my mind if you are going to blurt everything I think out like that. You don’t understand what the word means when concerning these kinds of people, so don’t start on me! Not about this…”



Louanne laid a hand on his arm and Thaddeus looked her in the eyes. “Do you think he is in trouble?”



“I haven’t a clue. Either he is dead, or in trouble…What kind of trouble could be a thousand things minor,” he admitted softly, “but if he is in bad trouble…time is a critical priority.”



“How often are people like us being taken,” Louanne asked.



Thaddeus frowned down at the floor hiding any chance to see his face, but Lou had an ace up her sleeve. She glanced up at Elaina and cocked an eyebrow in query. “Very often, Lou…” From the look in her eyes, Lou knew that Thaddeus thought Sebasti was in deep shit and sinking fast.



2007, (Jenna Karro). All rights reserved. No republication of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without express permission of the author.

Thaddeus got off of the phone looking grim. “You are not going to like this,” he stated softly thinking Louanne was asleep. “The people I was just talking to told me that Sebasti is a damn spy. DeSago said he was working a high risk job in a place no sane person will willingly travel inside. No one has dared to step foot there in so long few people remember it still exists,” Thaddeus stated.



“I don’t know what we are going to do,” he sighed thoughtfully. “The two of you are going to have to stay here and let me go after him by myself.”



“The hell you say,” Elaina snapped at him. “Someone else can handle it. You are not a body guard, Thaddeus. Lou would stand a better chance at defending herself than you could.”



“I beg your pardon,” he said loudly in indignation. He glared at her offended by her remark. “I may not be very old or very powerful, but I am not a female and I would fit in better if I were discovered. If they caught Lou, do you know what they would do to her?”



“She would have the time of her life until we rescued her from their naughty clutches,” Elaina mumbled taking him off guard until he choked on his next words with a sour face as he looked at the old woman pretending to sleep on the couch.



“That is just not right, woman…” Elaina giggled as he sighed looking down at her from behind the back of her seat.



“I don’t think I want to delve too deep into what the two of you did together before Danny and I came along to sweep you off of your feet, do I?”



“You were never interested in what was between us,” Elaina stated primly.



“Actually,” he drawled playfully, “I didn’t look into the subject out of respect for her being Danny’s wife. As alert as he was, all it would have taken was one stray thought and he would have been chewing my ass out for looking at her with that kind of expression on my face. He loved her, and it wouldn’t have been right thinking sexy thoughts about the two of you…”



Elaina leaned up and kissed him. “That is one of the sweetest things I have ever heard,” she murmured.



“Hmm…” Thaddeus reached down and lifted her out of the chair easily. “That sounded distinctly like a cue…Was that a cue?”



“You better believe it, you young hunk,” Elaina fussed pretending to be the old woman she was used to looking like. Thaddeus chuckled playing along.



“Do you think you can handle a young stud, grandma?”



“Oh, I think I can not only handle him…I think I can out maneuver and outlast him too,” Elaina teased back boldly.



There was a tell-tale pause before Thaddeus gave her his usual long suffering sigh of consternation. “You are probably right,” he admitted happily.



Louanne snuck out when they left to go into the bedroom changing back into her youthful look which no longer sat comfortably on her shoulders. She did it mostly to avoid sympathetic faces of the people who knew her. In her hand, she held Thaddeus’s cell phone.



After calling Charlie for a detailed report on Danny’s death, she decided to call Maggie. “I know that, Mags…He is the most infuriating man I know. I just think I need to talk to him, that is all.” Lou waited while Maggie tried to talk her out of it and began to feel like she was making a mistake. “No, it was about his brother…”



Maggie hung up the phone. Louanne swore startled that she would do that when a voice caught her off guard. “Hello, Lou, you wanted to see me?”



Louanne looked up and down the treelined lane and back at the man who had spoken to her. “Do I want to know how you did that,” she asked nervously.



“Probably not, and either way I am not inclined to teach infants how to behave unless they are…perhaps, my own,” DeSago stated firmly with his usual frown. “I thought you had something you wanted to say? Did you not ask to see me?”



“No,” Louanne said without thinking. His frown increased as he stared at her with a strange expression. “I called,” she said. When he simply stared at her some more, she added, “I know it sounds lame, but I was hoping to speak to you without having you right there frowning at me like I am a pest you can barely stomach.”



DeSago gave her a rare smile that was bordering on being seriously friendly. It surprised her until he spoke, “But you are a pest I can barely stand.”



“Why? I haven’t done a thing to you.” Her indignant outburst only succeeded at making him frown again.



“What did you do to Sebasti?” She didn’t answer. As far as she knew, she had not done anything to the man.



“What did he do to me,” she countered and made him smile again. This one was sinister and made her skin itch.



“I don’t know. Hopefully it was something good and worthy of our name,” DeSago stated watching her face for a reaction.



“It was…” Louanne stopped as she remembered all of the things Sebasti had done when he was trying to seduce her. Without the fear of what he was or being a male clouding her thoughts, it just seemed indecent and sexy as sin. “It was…”



Lou managed to make herself blush without being able to answer him. It made DeSago laugh merrily. “I always wondered before if he simply hadn’t known what he was doing, but obviously he was right all along. You just weren’t ready to accept him.”



DeSago touched her cheek fondly and Louanne flinched away looking disgusted. “You are a hard little demon to catch, I see…You will get burned by Basti if you don’t watch that attitude of yours, little one.”



Louanne shook her head at the switch in topic trying to catch up to whatever he was talking about. “I haven’t a clue what you…”



“He will only push your limits if he thinks you won’t mind him doing it,” DeSago explained patiently. “Run from Basti, and you will one day lose him…If you haven’t lost him already,” he added ominously. “Trust me, woman; you don’t want to lose the only true mate you will ever have.”



“Excuse me? I don’t even know Sebasti. The two of us have never really met. He chased me, caught me, and let me go. We haven’t talked. Not once…”



“Never,” DeSago asked doubtfully. “You haven’t dreamed about him once in all of the years since he has left here. I know he wouldn’t be that stupid.”



“Yes, I…Little things, but yes,” Lou admitted.



“He comes into my dreams to see if I am still happy and okay. We don’t talk. He just smiles at me or…little brushes of his hands,” Louanne mumbled blushing again much to his amusement.



“The only time he has spoken is when he told me he was going away and wouldn’t be back for a while. He told me he could still hear me if I wanted him, all I needed to do was think hard about him. Then, nothing until…recently,” she whispered.



“Recently, yes,” DeSago said calmly. “Thaddeus tried to explain it to me. You saw the flash of a knife and felt pain in your chest, but did he say anything? Did he think about where he was? Anything,” he urged.



“I don’t know. I wouldn’t know how to recognize it if he had,” Lou protested.



“Gods, you are too young to get anything out of. I don’t know why I am trying to ask you anything! Damn, Basti to hell for this! I never liked the little prick and now I am charged with trying to locate and rescue him…”



“You are,” Lou whispered. “I want to come with you.” DeSago looked interested in the idea unlike Thaddeus who would have screamed at her for suggesting such a thing. “I can help you if he wakes up!”



“Yes, you could, but you will be a liability if he doesn’t,” he stated grumpily.



“From where I am standing, you look like you could use all of the help you can get to figure this out. Who charged you to find him? Your parents, perhaps,” Louanne asked leadingly. DeSago gave her a patient and very irritated look that only the very old can do effectively. “I was just wondering if they were worried about him,” she whispered feeling silly and childish standing around the man.



“Yes, actually, they will be when they discover he is missing. Right at this moment, no one in their right mind would dare to tell them. Basti is the youngest and they didn’t think they were going to have any more kids when he came along, so he is by far their favorite,” DeSago stated grumpily. “I am hoping to find him first and then tell them.”



“Do you have other brothers or sisters that want him found?”



“A few, but they are not the problem…Antonio is. Anyone who has ever seen the Sieve Gadoma when he was angry, would not dare to turn him down when he tells you to ‘do something and do it now’.”



“The Sieve Gadoma…” The puzzled look in Lou’s eyes only made DeSago’s frown grow.



“My Gods, you are worse than an infant! The Sieve Gadoma is the guardian protector, or the most ancient of all of the ancients, for this world! Even an idiot of our people knows that much. Didn’t your parents teach you anything at all about our kind?”



“No,” Louanne snapped. “They died! I hadn’t a clue I wasn’t a normal human until Sebasti started this madness! No one has taught me much of anything…Thaddeus has tried when he can, but not diligently.”



DeSago’s face actually turned pale at her little outburst surprising her more than it should have. He even managed to look sorry for his abrupt rudeness for a second. Then, he opened his mouth and spoke surprising her even more with his words. “Alright, you can come…”



DeSago chuckled at her look of disbelief. “I don’t expect Basti would be a good teacher to a whelp like you that knows nothing of us. Besides, you distract him far too much while he is trying to get your attention and not offend you.”



“I guess I could take Dylan and teach you both as we go,” DeSago sighed thoughtfully.



Louanne couldn’t believe it. “I thought you said I was a hindrance and a liability! How could involve a child in this? Won’t he be worse trouble than a full grown adult?”



DeSago gave her a half patient considering look of disdain. “For your information, that boy knows more about us than you do. I am not leaving him here if I have to traipse around God knows where with you. If we run into trouble, he would know what to do!”



“I won’t! Is that the point you are making?”



“While I am taking care of it, he will probably have to show you what to do, because I won’t have time,” DeSago growled grumpily making her feel even lower, “so don’t insult my son again.”



Louanne started to protest thinking she had done nothing of the sort, but DeSago snarled, “Know this: I care for nothing else in the entire universe like I do that boy!”



Lou was speechless. She had no idea that the surly complacent jackass could care for anyone. DeSago just seemed too emotionless, but perhaps that was his age showing. He certainly didn’t look ancient. He was built like an ancient Greek warlord and had the face of a movie star.



A face that at this moment held a peculiar smirk, she noticed. “Get that smug grin off of your face! I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were my only hope of staying alive. I’d rather die first!” DeSago frowned at her again, but oddly it was more comforting than his smile.



“I am not even going to try to understand you,” DeSago sighed in frustration. “For the record, you have to understand me and not the other way around. Is that clear?”



“Perfectly…”



Neither of them looked thrilled or comfortable with this bargain, she knew, but the facts remained that they needed to work together to find out what had happened to Sebasti.



As little as she cared, she could not turn away and leave him if he was in trouble. It was her job to protect the people who needed it the most. Even in her wildest dreams, she had never imagined Sebasti needing her for anything…maybe that was why this situation disturbed her so completely.



“Be ready in two days,” DeSago ordered her. “I will come and get you. I won’t wait for you to stand around explaining things to your friends either. When I say ready, I mean ready.”



“Okay,” Lou growled infuriated at his disrespectful tone. He narrowed his eyes at her and turned away.



Lou blinked while he was walking away and blinked again in disbelief. DeSago was nowhere along the tree-lined lane. He had vanished as rapidly as he had appeared. Louanne turned and looked all around hastily. “I really want to learn how to do that one! If you weren’t such a prick, I would ask you to teach me.”



Lou scurried back inside almost certain she could hear the man’s dark sinister laughter in her mind mocking her. She went to bed since Elaina believed she was sleeping anyhow.



E

lsewhere…“Search the lowlands first and send several scouts into the mountains…He can’t be far. Tell the men to stick together when they are looking for him at all times. Bring me anything suspicious, but especially bring me a naked male travelling alone out here,” the captain grumbled in complaint.



His subordinate officer stuttered in paranoid protests, “Sir, I haven’t the slightest idea how he escaped. We did everything you told us to do!”



The captain considered being cruel. It was written all over his blank face if you knew the man as well as you knew yourself. The poor subordinate had no clue that his captain was contemplating punishing him for something he knew the poor officer had no control over. No one could have stopped this prisoner from getting away, he thought irritably.



“It wasn’t your fault,” the captain sighed through gritted teeth.



“Yes, sir,” the officer agreed without paying much attention to him. “I know it is; I just can’t figure out what I did wrong with…”



“It wasn’t your fault,” Captain Rimmerlain growled more firmly. “Flame has gotten away from every single person who has dared to trap him.”



“Flame, sir,” a nearby guard hissed in stunned surprise paling beneath his warm brown complexion as he spoke. “Why were we holding Captain Flame prisoner, if I may ask, sir?”



Captain Rim glared at him as he snapped ‘Insubordination’ in a tone that implied the guard was bordering on it for opening his mouth.



No one could hear the soft chuckle behind the nearby rock cropping. Likewise no one saw the pale, slightly pink skinned creature that crouched behind those very rocks. Nor did anyone see as that figure moved slowly higher into the charred red rocks that blended with his hair, or the lighter pink areas of ash that blended with his skin, as he avoided moving into the darkest places where the rocks were burned black.



There were several small openings that he could hide inside by fitting his limber frame into the tiny crevices while allowing his long hair to hide his paler skin from prying eyes. He passed two guards in this way who were scouting the rocks swiftly missing even the rock he had accidentally dislodged as he scrambled into the hiding place. The men never separated. Thankfully, they were lax in their scouting abilities.



Norn glared at the two as he made his way higher into the cliffs of the mountainous terrain. After a while, he stopped seeing so many troops looking high and low for his distinctive features, or any small sign of his passing. Norn didn’t allow his body to relax for a single second. He had made that mistake already. Unfortunately, as he hid himself in a tight spot near dusk, he realized that he had already made another potentially fatal mistake. The two men he was hiding from decided suddenly to stop and bed down less than two feet from where he was hiding.



Resisting the urge to curse, or flash fry the two unwary soldiers, Norn remained very still in his uncomfortable hiding place. He knew any motion or sound would cause one of the pair to raise an alarm.



Even as trained as he was, he could not resist the urge to slowly turn his head to look through his shielding curtain of hair. The guards started a fire near the wall where he was hiding to keep the lashing winds from blowing it out before it could grow warmer. Norn knew if he moved his eyes too swiftly they would catch in the light and give him away even through the thick red pelt covering them.



Norn sighed as the flames nearly licked his skin with heat. Any normal creature would have been getting third degree burns or a blast of inflamed hair, but Norn’s heavy pelt remained in place despite wind and flame growing warmer against him. It almost made him relax and he caught himself drifting back into the heat until he remembered something that frightened him.



“Look at the flames,” one man whispered in a low tone. Norn glanced at him and tensed waiting for what he already knew the man had seen. It wasn’t anything he could control, so Norn had no choice as he waited for discovery.



“Why are they turning blue near the cliff like that?”



“Captain Rim said we are chasing Captain Flame…It always burns hotter and higher near him,” the alert guard stated scanning the cliffs and nearby rocks suspiciously.



“How close does he have to be,” the sleepy guard asked suddenly turning more wary. The other one said ‘hmm’ thoughtfully as he looked around. “Hey, man…I asked you a question, you deaf idiot! How close?”



“That is what I was trying to remember,” the guard stated.



Norn narrowed his eyes trying to tell who was beneath that thick concealing armor. He knew most of the men in the troops, and chances are he knew this one too.



“I am sure he is nearby, but we already knew that. I’ll keep watch. You go on to sleep. I don’t think we should both be sleeping if he is out there. I know his habits well enough that I can spot his pink hide in these red hills even in the dark,” the guard bragged arrogantly. “Besides, Rim was awfully concerned that Flame would try to attack us if we split up. I wonder what he did to make Captain Rim so angry.”



“I don’t know, but I don’t like it…It was bad enough before I knew that creature was Captain Flame…



“Yeah, clever of Rim to not tell anyone who we were holding, wasn’t it? He should have told us who we were trapping,” the more wary guard mused. “Funny, I never knew Flame was so damn good looking in all of that heavy metal he wore.”



“You have got to be kidding,” the second guard snapped in a tone that drew Flame’s notice more than the openly sexual comment before it. “That man was spooky! It scares me to think I have been anywhere near it! Did you see its eyes?”



“Well,” the sympathetic male chuckled. “I knew Flame. I’ll wake you up if I see him creeping up on us.”



“Are you absolutely certain you would see him if he did?” The timid guard so wanted to close his aching eyes, but fear laced his questioning tone. Despite his weariness…or the soothing warmth of the fire…he was too afraid to settle down into sleep.



“Oh, yeah…I know I would see him,” the other male bragged firmly. His certainty made Norn smile.



The prey he sought was less than three feet away from the pair. Still Norn knew he couldn’t allow his restless body to relax as it began to ache from the niche he had used in a hurry to hide from the silent tread of the two outside. The wait seemed endless. Norn had to turn his eyes back into the crevice to keep the glowing redness from his discomfort from giving him away. It was flickering on the rock before him like the same flames that were behind his back.



Just when Norn was concentrating on the agony of holding still, and no longer worried about the two men at his back as he focused all of his attention on remaining still and wary, he jerked as a broad hand touched the small part of his bare back through the silk of his hair. “Don’t you move,” a very soft voice threatened dangerously against the edge of his ear.



Norn held still out of two parts fear that the guard would raise an alarm and he would not be able to escape again and one part anger that he would dare to order him around when he was helpless to do anything about it.



“I could have spotted that bright, fox pelt anywhere, Commander Nor’ander…”



Norn shivered nearly relaxing as he realized who the guard was beneath that thick plating. “Now, what are you going to do?” Norn kept his voice so low that no creature except their own highly sensitive race could have heard him.



“I know what I would like to do,” the male behind him sighed against Norn’s thick pelt of hair. “I would like to skin this mane off of your head and curl up in it every night…” The guard breathed in deeply causing Norn to shiver in a fashion characteristic to his clan. His kind did not like to be cornered when they were found.



“I have one question before I decide your fate,” the guard teased as his hand dipped into the rocks to travel under Norn’s legs to his dangling privates. Norn tensed, but he had to admit the guard handled him gently when he could have been cruel. “Did you take it…or did Rim?”



Norn almost growled as he slid back out of the crevasse and twisted enough to kiss the startled male. The shaky sigh that escaped his captive captor was a good sign.



“Wait here, Commander…” Norn held still tensed up to bolt the second the slow moving guard shouted for the others to come trap him. “Stay,” he whispered softly barely using any air traveling past his lips to calm the high-strung creature before him. The sound was softer than the wind over a non-existent blade of grass.



The guard pulled a knife and Norn jerked in fear upon seeing it and realizing he had seen that exact blade before…recently. Norn’s wide eyes flashed up at the guard and burned in angry awareness and alarm.



The guard knelt over his sleeping partner…and plunged the long, wide blade deep into the man’s chest without a single hesitation. Working around the blade, he swiftly stripped the armor off of him before he could bleed too badly. “It isn’t yours,” the guard stated softly, “but it is the best I can offer you at this time…” Nor’ander waited tensely in suspicion that this was another trap.



“Please, Commander…consider it an apology for what I did to you earlier.”



“Which part of it,” Norn snapped before he could control his ill-advised comment.



The guard grinned unabashed. “Well, I won’t lie and say I am sorry for taking a moment to entertain myself at your expense. I am sorry about hunting you down when Rim ordered it. He forgot to mention that it was you, sir. He said we were hunting,” the guard paused to look Nor’ander over suspiciously, “a free fox Commander…son of the prince of his people…by the name of Nor’ander Éire,” he finished softly.



“If he had told us we were hunting Captain Flame, half of the troops would have sat down in protest.” Norn smiled knowing how true that was; his men loved him. “You look good. I didn’t have a clue I worked for a nearly extinct Fox Clan Elder.”



Norn walked forward warily and moved straight over the fire as he came for the armor to conceal his distinctive features. Torun’s features softened in male appreciation since he had taken the helmet off to better convince Norn he was not going to betray him. “Gods, Captain…You…” The guard flushed and laughed softly moving away to the side to further put him at ease. “I don’t know if I should say you shouldn’t do that, or do it more often. You look damn near exotic without standing in a bonfire.”



Nor’ander finally relaxed smiling at him in mild amusement. “If you keep flattering me, I might think you were getting obsessive about it. I already know I don’t want you for a stalker. Who taught you to hunt so meticulously and quick like that?”



Torun shifted uncomfortably looking away sadly. “You don’t want to ask me that, Captain…especially not if you really are the Prince’s son…”



“You know who I am, Torun,” Norn stated as he pulled on the plated pants buckling them into place slightly surprised by how well they fit him. Either he looked amazed or Torun wished to end that line of the conversation because he chose to explain.



“I picked him because he was about your size, Captain.”



“You have really good eyes,” Norn said with a little sigh of frustration.



His careful attention to the little details was even more proof to the truth of how dangerous the guard could be if made into an enemy. Definitely not something a man like Norn needed in his life. Was there any way to end this without making an enemy out of the man? “Thank you for the clothes, Torun…”



“But you wish I had not seen you,” Torun finished in amusement when Norn paused. Norn eyed him warily.



“It complicates things for you, I know,” Torun admitted. “It is okay. I don’t mind. I know you are not overjoyed to have me anywhere near you, but when I heard who you were…I just thought maybe I owed you, since it was my blade that caught you in the first place.”



“I remember the knife,” Norn stated shortly and a bit grumpily.



“My sincerest apologies, sir,” Torun sighed again looking truthful. “Captain Rim uses my hunting skills often, but I never imagined he would use me against one of our own men!”



“Has he used you lately…besides me,” Norn asked suspiciously in alarm. That would certainly explain a few things, the Captain thought to himself.



Torun nodded at him wondering why he was so suddenly curious.



“Show me who,” Norn ordered him faintly as he hurriedly finished dressing.



“Yes, sir…but we will have to be gone from here come daylight,” the guard stated firmly.



“Someone will see the body and ask him what happened. I can promise you, he makes a very bad enemy…”



“How do you know he will survive the wound? It is a deadly blow to most of even our kind. You caught him by surprise; it could definitely be his last…”



Torun frowned interrupting him. “No, sir; that is the other reason I chose him. I have seen him survive such wounds before, even when taken unaware by a good friend.”



“That is a handy trait,” Norn mumbled wondering if Torun and the silently dead guard at his feet were friends, or if Torun had meant someone else.



Torun was swift to take off leading him to the place where the other captive was being held the second he saw Norn snap the last buckle closed on the stolen armor. They were well trained neither one making the slightest of noises as they re-crossed the barren rocks back towards the camp.



Norn began to suspect where Rim was holding his prisoner. Pushing past Torun, Norn crept over the ledge into a tiny crevasse that led deep below. Torun stayed up above keeping an eye out for any soldiers on lookout duty.



It was pitch black inside of the deep hole that swiftly widened into a small cavern that Rim had once used as a dungeon. This room had seen tortures but not of the deadly kind. It had been a room for play between the two secretive lovers.



Captain Flame lived up to his title as his body began to cast off a bright yellow glow throwing red and orange highlights onto the sulpherous walls. Norn wasn’t afraid of the sulpher catching fire, because he could control the heat and every other aspect of the blaze swelling like an elusive flame just above his skin.



In the firelight he could see lying on the floor, the distinctive long, curling mass of black hair from a man Norn knew very well indeed. He had just delivered a vital message to Norn several days ago. Rim must have caught him before he could leave.



Scared that his best friend of so long might have crossed a dangerous line by killing the messenger, Norn ran over and turned the limp body up to face him. There was a matching silver dagger in his chest to the one Torun had so recently used to catch a cunning fox.



Torun suddenly scrambled down into the cave nearly falling on him in his haste. “We have to go! They have found the body and are searching for the two of us! There are three men right above us and nearly a dozen more within shouting range of where they stand!”



“I can’t leave him here,” Norn protested angrily. “He risked his life to deliver…”



“We can’t get out. You have trapped us in here!”



“I can get out and I highly suspect you could also,” Norn hissed furiously. “My only concern is that he would never make it past the guards, but I can’t just flee and leave him helpless in here.”



“You can’t heal his wound and neither can I,” Torun snapped. Norn hadn’t thought of that, but Torun was right. If they couldn’t heal him, they couldn’t take him out with them.



“Pull the dagger out and leave him to take his chances on his own,” Torun urged. “It is the most you can do for him, Flame! We have got to go!” Norn nodded sadly as he pulled the dagger out.



The thick blood that spurted from his chest concerned him, so Norn took the time to pack the wound with thick dust from the floor. It wasn’t the rich soil he needed, but the sulpher would stop the bleeding. Still, his only chances rested on whether or not Rim would check on his prisoner any time soon.



Leaning close to the dead man’s ear, Norn whispered to him, “Forgive me, my friend,” while Torun waited for him impatiently. Then, the two of them tore out of the cave like two raging demons bent on the deaths of anyone who stood in their paths. They trailed destruction and havoc in their wake…



L

ouanne got the shock of her life in the form of a very realistic dream that wasn’t really a dream at all. ‘She was surrounded by the smell of the Arizona Hot Springs that she had once visited on vacation. It felt like she was paralyzed and couldn’t move a single inch of skin when she heard it…Sebasti’s voice. It was weak and filled with pain, but it was there.



“Lou…Lou…”



“I hear you. Where are you? So many people are concerned,” Louanne informed him.



“Sure,” he said barely able to be heard but she caught a strong sense of cynical amusement and self derision in his voice. “The Seive…”



“Yes, he is looking for you because your parents are worried. He has told your brother to look into it and find you quickly. Where are you? No one has a clue.”



“Red…r…red…planet…dangerous…”



“I gather that, or you would have come home to me already. I have been calling for you. I need you to come back. I need someone to talk to that doesn’t know me. Danny is dead.”



A strong wave of sympathy and regret washed through her and she knew they were Sebasti’s genuine feelings. He could have felt happiness, or a calculating deceit, but he was sorry Danny was dead and she was hurting over it.



Nothing could have proven how much he cared more than that. Sebasti wanted to come, but regret flooded him because he knew he could not be here for the first time ever when she needed him.



“How can I help you? Can I tell DeSago anything to help him find you,” Lou asked anxiously hoping she could get him out of trouble quickly.



“Flame…find…flame…know where…”



“What does a flame have to do with this, Sebasti?” Happiness filled her and she blushed when she realized it was because she had said his name. “Silly man, I can say that a hundred times and it doesn’t mean a thing.” She sensed that it meant something to him. In the dream, she consciously shook her head at his silliness.



“Flame…DeSago…red…planet…safe…”



She could feel his patience. Underneath it, she felt his rising frustration and his growing weakness. It was costing him energy he needed to talk like this. “Is there any way I can help you? I know I am connected to you in some way…”



Lou felt him smile. It wasn’t a smile on his face because she instinctively knew the reason she couldn’t move was because he couldn’t move. He sent her the smile anyway. Then, she felt herself pass out as pain and exhaustion hit her just before everything went dead.



2007, (Jenna Karro). All rights reserved. No republication of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without express permission of the author.

COMMENTS

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ImageMaker
15:54 Nov 08 2009

I absolutely LOVE this story!

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