Authors: Lara Nance
Chapter Four
C
loaked figures filed into the dank basement one at a time, hooded heads down. Waiting at the other end of the room, Desmond’s nostrils flared at the smell of mold and dried blood. Gas lanterns hanging from hooks on the concrete block walls cast an eerie, flickering glow about the chilly underground room. He moved toward the men, weaving between the sparse objects scattered about: a few boxes, a wooden chair, and a worn leather sofa covered with a dirty sheet. Splashes of rusty brown marked the floor and walls.
De
smond motioned for the ten robed men to stand in a line facing the back wall of the basement. The men’s heavy, muffled breaths increased in anticipation, blowing through the black scarves covering their lower faces. Desmond’s lips curled. He loved these rituals, making them wear black cloaks, having them call him “Master.” It all added to the mystery and strengthened his hold on them.
Creaking footsteps on the rotted wooden stairs heralded the entrance of others
, along with a
thud, thud, thud
. Two more hooded men dragged the limp body of a man. His trussed feet hit the steps behind them.
Desmond’s eyes met those of the last man to arrive. Carlton prodded the victim and
, when he groaned, nodded to Desmond. The man still lived.
Excellent, the
beating hadn’t killed him. Yet.
Desmond
raised an arm, pointing to the back wall. The men carried their unconscious victim there and attached the shackles imbedded in the wall to his wrists. One slapped their victim’s face until his head lolled back, and his eyes flickered open. He moaned and dropped his head to his chest. A rustle of fabric accompanied the watchers shifting on their feet, shoulders rubbing together.
“I
bring you prey to fulfill your needs.” Desmond’s deep, resonating voice filled the basement. A cold shiver of anticipation fluttered across his skin. He ran his tongue along the bottom of his teeth, savoring this moment, of holding a person’s fate in the hollow of his hand. His fingers twitched. “Never forget who is your master. I can crush you or bring you pleasures. Follow my orders and you will have more victims than you can possibly imagine. But if you disobey—you die.”
The black
robes rustled, like vultures rustling their feathers.
“Yes, M
aster,” the enslaved men said in unison.
He raised his hands in a grand gesture
and allowed them to hover a moment before dropping them heavily to his sides. “Begin.”
Carlton
and the group surged forward, placing their fingertips at different areas of the man’s body. The barely conscious man had been beaten until only a thread of life held him to this world, but his suffering remained. Desmond closed his eyes, imagining the flow of misery-laden energy his men enjoyed. A delicious, surging pulse of terror-soaked adrenaline. Better than cocaine, better than heroin. It bound them to him. Slaves.
Once
the victim had been completely drained, one of the men loosened the shackles, letting the body fall to the floor in a heap, a hollow shell. The others stepped back, eyes large and glowing like bright moons, nostrils flaring, all of them staring at the lifeless mound on the floor.
Desmond made a flicking motion with one hand
, and several of the men stepped forward. They lifted the limp form off the floor to place it on the dirty sheet. One tucked the sides over the body so it was completely covered.
“Make sure you dispose of it better than the last one. No more dumpsters. I don’t want him found right away.” He threw back his hood,
eyeing each of his slaves until they flinched and hung their heads.
F
our men carried the body upstairs, quickly followed by the others. Carlton remained. He also removed his hood and studied his master. “Why does it matter when they’re found, Desmond?”
“I have plans
, and I do not wish them to be interrupted. There’s been one mistake already, leaving the girl in an alley before she was dead. I understand she ended up at the hospital and she’s going to live. You should hope she remembers nothing that will lead to us.”
“
We heard a police car coming. It would have been a disaster to let them find us before the Net is cast.”
“If we’
re sloppy in disposing of the bodies we may be discovered before I’m ready.”
“But dead is dead, no one will know who did it.”
Desmond scoffed. “You’re still so young, Carlton. There are many things you do not know about our kind.”
Carlton
directed a scrutinizing gaze at Desmond. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been with me for five years, but remember I am a thousand years old. I come from the spirit of the Gods. I understand the frailty of mortals in a way you cannot. These men are slaves to the tortured Light, but they have no will-power.
”
Desmond put out one wraithlike finger and trailed it down
Carlton’s cheek, the long fingernail scratching a red welt in its path. “My dear boy, even you are still ensnared with desire for the glorious hurting sensation. Am I not right?”
Carlton pressed a hand to his wounded cheek
as tears of pleasure welled in his eyes. “Yes, Master.”
“Ah, yes, the wonderful pain.”
Desmond leaned closer until he smelled the sweaty desire, a pungent, musky aroma he knew so well from centuries of enslaving others to his will. “See how it almost overpowers you?”
Carlton
trembled and nodded, obviously wanting more. He wanted the treat of taking Light from Desmond’s body, where horrifically painful memories from Desmond’s life produced an intoxicating elixir of pain-tinged Light. But it didn’t serve his purpose to give this treat too frequently. He stepped away, turning his back on the younger man.
“I have recently
sensed a presence I’ve not felt in a long time—a dangerous presence—one I curse with every cell in my body. I want to destroy him. But he’s also the only one who can stop us. We must be vigilant and keep an eye on these young converts of ours. They can be thoughtless and rash in their hunger. Soon I must send them out into the world, and they cannot make careless mistakes to mark our presence.”
Unbidden, his mind flashed to the past and the humiliating battle with his greatest enemy
, Bes, or “Rolf” as he called himself now. The fury of their battle ripped apart the temple where they fought, and it collapsed on top of him. There he stayed, weak and trapped, for hundreds of years. Even now the memory sent a surge of anger, almost overwhelming him. Unlike mortals, he was unable to produce his own Light, and Bes left him to die a slow and horrible death.
A grim smile curled his lips, for he
’d outwitted death in the end.
A shudder forced away the smile
. At first, he’d thought he would go mad and perish in his rocky tomb, but after days alone and weakened, a rat ventured near. He grabbed the creature with the last of his strength, and drained a pitiful amount of Light from its crushed body. A sip of Light and his hatred of Rolf gave him the will to survive. “This presence from the past disturbs me. Do you know why, Carlton?”
“You can’t mean the one who defeated you is here? In Norfolk?”
“He did
not
defeat me,” Desmond snarled, whipping away from the younger man. He paced across the room, shaking with fury. “I am still alive, so I was
not
defeated.”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
Carlton hung his head.
“You have no idea what I suffered
. I am disturbed because success is within my reach. I will not let it slip away. I’ve waited too long.”
Carlton
frowned. “So it
is
him?”
Desmond ignored his question,
lost in the past. Hundreds of years, buried alive until the workers came to excavate the old temple ruins and one wretched soul came within his grasp.
“It took me decades to regain my full powers, and amass the wealth I need to accomplish my goals.
My plans are ready to launch and I cannot let Rolf interfere until I am prepared to destroy him.”
Desmond stalked closer to
Carlton. Soon he would need to let Carlton take some of his Light to further his addiction, but not just yet. The need would ensure his servant’s diligence. He continued behind his slave. “You must make certain the men adhere to my commands. There can be no mistakes,” he whispered close to the younger man’s ear.
Carlton
’s eyes widened, sweat popping out on his face as his tongue snaked over his lips. “Yes, you’re right, of course. I’ll make sure they follow your orders exactly.”
“Excelle
nt.” Desmond circled back to face his young henchman. “Set them straight and return. I need you working on the computer program. I fear we may not have as much time as I’d originally planned to accomplish our goal. Readying the program must be our main focus.”
Carlton
’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve barely started hacking the television networks, and it will still be several hours before the links are in place to run the massive program.”
“I’m sure you’re up to the task. Make it happen, Carlton, and you may have a treat.”
Carlton
sucked in a breath, stumbled back, and gave a half bow before hurrying up the stairs after the others.
Desmond called after him, “Nothing must anger the
Huaca
, Carlton. Nothing.”
Chapter
Five
Cara steered her car into the parking lot of
Essence of Amber,
her cell phone pressed to her ear
.
She parked and after a moment, hit the END button with a grunt of frustration. “Damn it, Nicki. Where are you?”
This was the fourth call with no answer. E
ither Nicki wasn’t answering on purpose, or she didn’t have her phone on. Hopefully, she hadn’t met with any more problems. Cara didn’t want to hear the girl had ended up in the ER like the one Marc saved.
Amber’s natural food store sat on a side street
near the coastline in Virginia Beach. Cara climbed the front steps of the old two-story wooden house to the large front porch with rockers scattered about. Several patrons rocked away, smiling, nibbling on scones, and sipping smoothies. The old floor boards squeaked in time with their rocking. Wind chimes tuned to complement the seven chakras sent a tinkling melody across the light fall breeze.
Inside, Cara paused to inhale the delightful fragrances of sandalwood a
nd cinnamon. Amber stood behind the counter at the food bar. She handed a paper bag to a customer and smiled when she saw Cara. She raised a finger indicating she would be finished in a minute. Cara wandered over to a group of worn, plump easy chairs and loveseat gathered in front of an unlit fireplace. She crossed to the tall bookshelf behind the loveseat and fingered a few spines before pulling out a book to study the back cover.
The Healing Gift of Crystals
. Interesting.
S
ettling onto the sofa, she let her purse strap fall off her shoulder and flipped through the book. Many people believed crystals had magical properties, and, although she’d never used them in healing, the information here fascinated her. Maybe she ought to give crystals a try.
Amber
strolled up with a tray containing a pot of tea and four warm apple-cranberry muffins. She placed the tray on the small table positioned in the middle of the seating group and poured two cups of steaming tea. Cinnamon with a hint of nutmeg wafted through the air. Cara’s stomach growled and she discarded her book, dropping it onto the seat beside her.
“
Mmm
.” She crumbled the warm muffin in her fingers and Amber handed her a cup of tea. “These are great,” Cara mumbled between bites.
“
Being vegetarian isn’t all bad,” Amber reminded her for the four hundredth time. “Are you feeling okay today?”
Cara
swallowed. “Yeah. If I don’t think about Emmie, Tom, and what happened to Marc I’m just super great fantastic.”
Amber gave a sympathetic pout. “A
h, honey, I’m sorry so much happened to you yesterday. Bad enough thinking about all the…stuff with Marc. Thank God, it’s been a busy morning here which helped me not think about you-know-what.”
“Let’s continue not thinking about it. I want to have a pleasant day off.” Cara finished her muffin and licked her fingers for the last few crumbs. Not thinking about things was a good solution
, she decided. If you didn’t think about them, you didn’t have to deal with them.
Perfect
.
Amber chuckled.
“You can have another, you know.”
“No, one is plenty. I was thinking about going to the salon for a massage.
” She rolled her shoulders. “I think it would help my stress.” If she stayed really, really busy, everything would be fine.