“Haley, where are you going? We’re supposed to see Tarik.” Natesa pulled on her arm.
“If Dante came back, he’d bring Siren to her stall first. I have to check there first.”
“We can check, but then we have to see Tarik,” Natesa said reluctantly. “Or we’ll be punished.”
Haley entered the door to the temporary stable and found D.A. standing in his stall, munching on oats. He lifted his head to look at her. “They’re not back.” The emptiness ripped through her. “Something’s wrong. They should’ve been here by now. I should go back to Earth.”
“No, you can’t,” Natesa said, pulling her out of the room. “Valdon told me to keep an eye on you. There’s no time. You’d have to travel across the desert in leopard form. And Dante would be traveling by truck. What if you missed each other? He’ll be here.”
“What if he doesn’t make it?”
Natesa smiled. “Don’t worry, he will. The demoness would be furious if Tarik left without Dante. And Tarik will wait for Valdon.”
“You love him?”
Natesa shrugged as a smile twitched at the sides of her mouth, but there was something vacant in her eyes. “Come with me to see Tarik. We’ll tell him. He’ll wait.”
An alarm went off in Haley’s head. She sensed some kind of trouble with Natesa. Ambros said Haley could sense things about people. The short time as an immortal seemed to have fine-tuned that gift too. Either she wanted harm to come to Dante or she wanted him for herself. Both were bad intentions in Haley’s eyes. The image of the snow leopard started to take form. Quickly, she pushed it aside. She didn’t want to shift now.
As they entered Tarik’s lower chamber, Haley broke out in a cold sweat and terror paralyzed her muscles. Entering that room was the last thing she wanted to do. The memories still haunted her. But Natesa pushed her inside. This was where they’d taken her when she was abducted. They tried extracting her chi, nearly draining her completely. The hypnosis with Ambros had filled in the details.
Tarik stood at the control panel of switches, lights and dials. On the other side of the room, two muscular men and a woman stood beneath three massive quartz crystals hanging from the ceiling in an angular pyramid shape. All were naked, standing and heavily involved in a sexual encounter. Their clothes lay at their feet. Haley didn’t recognize them. One male was tall with spiky blond hair. Every cut of his muscles clearly defined beneath the pulsing lights of the crystals. His full lips were pressed against the woman’s ear. The other had dark hair and eyes and was roughly kneading her breasts with a fierce expression while the woman stroked his cock. The woman, a redhead with rounded but firm curves, humped the dark-haired guy’s thigh.
Beneath the pulsating glow of the crystals, the three of them fondled each other. Hands and mouths touching, probing, bodies writhing, stroking. Haley was mesmerized and getting wet and horny watching them. The blond pinched the woman’s nipples and she arched her back and leaned against his chest. The other one pressed his hand to her pussy, then slipped a finger inside her cunt, making her moan and lift up on her toes.
Vigorously, the woman stroked his thick cock, then reached behind her and grasped her other partner’s shaft and managed to work him too. The threesome, lost in their own ecstasy, paid no attention to their audience. With little effort, the woman had both men on the verge of orgasms. She was good.
Tarik laughed. “I always did enjoy an offering from Felicia.”
“Are you mad, Tarik? They’re Gwyllain’s bodyguards,” Natesa said. “Joren and Rylus aren’t supposed to leave her side.
“They were her bodyguards. Not anymore. They displeased the mistress when she found them having a threesome—wasting valuable chi.” Tarik turned to his instrument panel and adjusted a few controls. The lights from the quartz crystals shifted to a deep purple and the three groaned, their sweat-slicked bodies grinding in a uniform mass. The man with the dark hair lifted the woman’s legs and thrust his cock inside her pussy. Tarik made an impatient grunt. “They better make it quick. I’m almost finished.”
The room shuddered, equipment shook and lights blinked. Cracks zigzagged down walls and across the marble floor. Tarik ignored the disturbance. Haley braced herself against the doorframe and looked up at the ceiling, expecting it to cave in at any moment. He was a madman. He was going to blow everyone up with his machine. If only Dante would get here.
“What’s he doing?” Haley asked Natesa.
Natesa didn’t answer.
“Reassimilating them,” Tarik answered for her. “I need a bit more energy to assure Anartia’s passage. We’re at the critical point. The moon’s gravity is trying to rip us out of our dimension. If it does, we’ll enter Earth’s dimension and be destroyed. That shouldn’t happen.” He cranked the controls another turn.
“Won’t he hurt them?” Haley asked. A cold knot of fear tightened in her stomach as she considered her own fate.
The three naked bodies weren’t fazed by the vibrations in the room, the bits of dust falling from the ceiling. They continued groping, fucking, touching as if they were drugged, out of control. The blond man bent the woman over, gripped her hips and pumped into her ass or pussy, Haley wasn’t sure. Grasping her head, the man with the dark hair, guided her to his engorged cock, and she eagerly took him into her mouth.
A low hum pulsated from the crystals and increased with each click of Tarik’s dial. Electric arcs shot out from the quartz points but the threesome didn’t stop. Tarik leaned over his control panel and studied a digital read out. “Good, I’m getting a decent collection from them. I’ll be able to reassimilate them soon.”
“Tarik, don’t please.” Natesa released his arm.
“Don’t worry, my dear.” He patted her arm. “It looks worse than it is.”
Both Natesa and Tarik gave each other a knowing glance then they gave Haley an odd look. Was there something going on between them?
Haley wasn’t sure what was happening. Was he killing them or not? Natesa’s gaze shifted from the writhing threesome, to Tarik, the closed door, then at Haley. Natesa did look frightened. Were she and Haley in danger? What a fool she was to believe that she and Dante would spend eternity together. Haley, the High Sorceress? That must’ve been a lie too. But why would they go to so much trouble to bring her here, transform her into an immortal, only to reassimilate her hours later? They must have another purpose for her.
“Natesa’s right,” Haley said, hoping her voice didn’t sound shaky and scared. “Do you have to kill them? Isn’t there another way?”
“No need for you to worry, my dear.” Tarik continued to make adjustments on the control panel. “Everything is going smoothly.” Did immortals have so little regard for life? Is that what Dante meant by change in perception?
Haley leaned toward Natesa. “If I shift into my snow leopard form, I could attack him and you could turn off the machine.”
“No, we couldn’t. We don’t have the power to shift in his chamber. Not unless he allows it.”
“But Brad shifted when I was here the last time.” Haley checked to see that Tarik was still preoccupied at the instrument panel.
“Brad is a mortal with Earth-shifter powers. Tarik cannot control him.”
“Then what?”
Natesa hesitated then talked low. “Don’t try to stop Tarik. If you have a chance to escape Anartia, do it. Don’t ask why and don’t worry about me. And don’t trust Valdon.”
“Why should I leave?” Haley was confused. “I thought you were in love with Valdon.” She couldn’t figure Natesa out. Was she a friend or not? She thought Natesa was the type to manipulate or seduce anyone to get what she wanted. Had she miscalculated with Tarik?
Natesa bit her lip. It appeared as if she wanted to tell Haley more but didn’t dare. She moved beside Tarik who was busy adjusting dials. The others were motionless now. Their faces contorted in hideous grimaces as if their sex act had abruptly ended in pain.
Stroking Tarik’s back and shoulders from behind, Natesa kissed him on the neck. He reached around and drew her close for a moment and kissed her on the mouth like two lovers. Was Tarik this affectionate with all his Drones or did he and Natesa have a thing going?
Natesa broke free of his embrace and marched toward the door. “Valdon and Dante haven’t returned yet. We can’t leave until they return. The demoness won’t permit it. I’ll watch for them and tell you the moment they arrive.” She reached for the door latch and Haley was right behind her.
He pressed a button and a buzzing sound rang overhead. Natesa yanked on the door but it wouldn’t open. “No, it’s your time now, Natesa. I’ll check for Valdon and Dante. Don’t stall.”
Natesa nodded. “All the collections are completed? Couldn’t I go with you?”
“No!” Haley stood beside Natesa. She couldn’t just let him reassimilate her. What could she do to stop him? If he cared about her, why would he do this?
He cranked the controls to the maximum. “It’s like a normal collection, my dear. You’ll be fine.”
The threesome shrieked and stiffened. The crystals flashed like strobe lights. Haley’s stomach lurched and her head swam. The three bodies vibrated, then blurred into a single mass. Tarik made a few more adjustments and the blurred mass faded slowly into an amorphous cloud, then vanished, the pile of clothes and all.
Haley slid to the floor, her legs unable to hold her up. What kind of nightmare had she gotten into?
Tarik turned all the dials down. The flashing stopped and the lights in the crystals dimmed, then the humming stopped. All was quiet again except for a brief rumble in the walls. Haley couldn’t stop gasping for air, as if her ribs had turned into a heavy iron cage. She was going to throw up. Natesa placed a hand on her shoulder and helped her up. “Are you okay?”
Haley shook her head. Realizing her shivering was visible, she wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. She managed to remain on her feet. Glancing over at Tarik, she noticed he was busy with his equipment, realigning the crystals. The large stones moved and began glowing and pulsing with light again. “How can we get out of here?”
“I don’t know,” Natesa said quietly. “I’ll talk to him.” She walked over to Tarik. “Haley should take care of the horse creature from Earth.”
“I can’t afford any interruptions,” Tarik said. “That door stays closed until I’m finished with you.” He pulled Natesa into his arms, and Haley saw fear flash in her eyes.
“This soon? Will Haley be all right?”
Tarik stroked Natesa’s breasts through her shirt, then grabbed her ass. “It’s her choice. Like this was yours.”
“Tarik, I’m worried. I’d rather stay with you.”
“I’d liked it much better when you were a slave.” He grinned and pulled her T-shirt over her head. Haley stepped up to stop him, but Natesa gave her a warning look not to interfere. Resisting their master would only make things worse. He was still a master demon. But what could be worse than being reassimilated? Is that what he was going to do to Natesa? “It’s better if we do this now,” Tarik said. “You never feared me before.”
“Because I’m afraid what will happen after,” Natesa said with barely a whisper.
“It’s all for the best. You trust me, don’t you?” He tossed her shirt beneath the menacing crystals that were pulsing with a low hum and glowing.
She smiled weakly. “Of course. I love you.”
“I know, Natesa,” Tarik said. His stern expression drew all the warmth out of the room.
Haley took a step toward the instrument panel. Even if she could turn it off, how could she fight him?
“So this is it?” Natesa said, her voice cracking.
“You have nothing to worry about. It’s like all the collections I’ve done with you in here.”
“What about Haley? And Dante?”
He shrugged after a moment of hesitation, which gave Haley a chill that went to her bones. “They’ll be fine too,” he said.
Natesa leaned close to Haley and whispered so Tarik couldn’t hear, “Escape if you can.” Her expression didn’t flicker.
Escape where? To Earth?
It was too late to ask her because Tarik positioned Natesa beneath the crystals, unzipped her jeans and shimmied them down over her hips. After folding her clothes neatly at her feet, he took her into his arms once more and whispered something that Haley couldn’t hear, then stepped out from beneath the crystals. “I wish I could be with you, my dear.”
Why won’t she fight him? Haley couldn’t believe Natesa had given up. Christ, what could Haley do to stop this? A few hours ago, she hated the woman. Now, she wanted to help her. She took in a deep breath and tried to draw from the strength and power of the snow leopard. Think, dammit. Slowly, Haley crossed to the instrument panel. Could she damage it, turn it off? If she did, would she ruin their chances of returning to Prygos, or would they blow up?
Natesa groaned and closed her eyes as her hands slid over her body from her breasts, down her abdomen to her pussy, appearing completely lost in her sexual ecstasy. How could she enjoy that when she was about to be executed? Haley examined the dials and levers.
“Yes,” Natesa breathed. “I prefer your savage and rough hands, Tarik.”
While she was in the last throes of the incendiary scene, Tarik rushed to his instrument panel and made a few adjustments then returned to the outer sphere of the crystals’ power, watching Natesa. Haley reached the control panel and randomly turned dials. She had no idea what she was doing, but she had to try something. She turned them all. Mess up the adjustments so Natesa wouldn’t be reassimilated.