He leaned over and untied her restraints. She should do something. The women in the movies always knew just what to do to try to escape. But she wasn’t brave and she had no idea what kicking him in the balls would do to her situation. He’d already promised her pain and she hadn’t done anything but be compliant. How awful would it be? She didn’t want to know.
“Hadrian, please let me go and I’ll make sure my father gives you whatever it is you want.” She was too close to begging and it felt pathetic, but really what did she have to lose?
“Sorry, Dr. Pettigrew, but this is happening whether you want it to or not.”
Chapter Two
Hadrian rubbed the bird tattoo on his biceps. It ached, but that was no surprise.
Everything in his body hurt most of the time and always would. Silent as the predator he was, he walked quietly through the dimly lit cabin to stare at Hadley. It was his cabin most of the time but she didn’t need to know that.
Despite what he was sure she thought about them, they weren’t monsters and he wasn’t going to tie her up in a jail cell. Not unless she became much more of a problem.
So far, other than screaming and yelling—something he would have done much more loudly than she had if he were in the same situation—she’d been a relatively easy unwilling passenger on their ship. Even if she did try to run or claw at him, he was fairly certain she could be easily restrained. It was better to simply leave her alone.
She slept soundly, as though it were the middle of the night and not the middle of the day, and he doubted he could wake her even if he did accidentally make some noise.
He couldn’t blame her. She’d been through an ordeal, and once left alone in quiet quarters it was no shock she’d all but passed out on the bed. Rest was good for her— tomorrow she would need it, if she were to survive what was to come.
He closed his eyes. How could they have made such a mistake? Or maybe it hadn’t been an error—maybe Jeremiah had led them to her on purpose. Even after all this time together as compatriots, Hadrian knew he’d never truly understand the other man’s motivations. He still didn’t know why Jeremiah had joined him in this insanity one hundred and fifty years ago.
Maybe it was better not to know.
Hailey would have been a better choice. It was clear Hadley led a productive life, which had surprised him. A member of the Pettigrew family who wasn’t devoting herself to the destruction of others or just completely wasting time was a rare find indeed. But now Hadrian was going to end that usefulness and drag her into the unfriendly light of realization and pain.
He shrugged. It was no less than her father deserved. Honestly, they could have done ten times more to her father’s—Zacharias’—family and it still wouldn’t have been proper retribution.
Unable to resist the urge, he kneeled down next to her bed and gently touched her hair.
It felt soft, just as he’d known it would. When was the last time he’d seen hair this color of red? He smiled in the darkness as he realized exactly when he had last seen it.
The few weeks when he had escorted Annabelle across the Sahara on camelback. It had looked just like this.
But it hadn’t been soft. No, they’d both been dirty and disgusting by the time they’d reached their destination. Plus he had found out later that she’d already gotten sick, although he hadn’t known it when they’d been riding around. He’d been too young to tell, too naïve to know the difference. Pettigrew loved gene manipulation but his science was flawed. Eight generations to produce another redhead, and this time the sick son of a bitch had managed two at the same time.
But Hadrian didn’t get involved with the Pettigrew women anymore. He knew better.
He would do this thing with Hadley, then he’d be through with them again.
Hadrian took himself into the bathroom. Quietly, so as not to disturb her, he closed the door behind him. He’d come in for his clothes but now all he could think about was relieving the ache in his balls.
Before he could overthink it, he pulled his cock out of his pants. Hadley’s face came to mind and he imagined her staring down at him while she did this instead of him. Groaning, he picked up his rhythm, clutching himself harder. He cupped the head of his erection, feeling the juices already leaking from the tip.
Shit, this woman made him so fucking hot that he’d barely touched himself and already juices coated his fingers. Her golden-red hair would hang down as she raised herself above him. Would she take him in her mouth? Her supple, juicy lips around his…
His cock exploded, surge after surge of cum releasing into his hand. He threw back his head and held in the shout he wanted to bellow into the night.
Hadrian might have stood there for a minute or an hour. He really had no idea. Finally, when he could breathe again, he took a hand towel and cleaned himself up. Peace filled his soul for the first time in more years than he cared to remember.
A loud buzzing in his ear made him jump up. Damn. He rushed into the room, looked down at Hadley, who slept soundly still, and rolled his eyes. Of course she couldn’t hear the sound. Why had he worried she would? Running out of the door of her cabin, he tried to keep his footsteps light. He closed the door behind him and listened for a moment to see if he could hear movement from her, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
He took the stairs to the deck two at a time and met Jeremiah at the top. Nodding briefly to the other man, he noted that Jeremiah had taken the afternoon to shave his head again. Someday he’d have to ask him why he bothered.
Shaking off his brief interlude, he got right to the point. “Did you get buzzed?”
Jeremiah shook his head and stared up the sky, worry passing over his blue eyes.
“No, my prince. You did?”
Hadrian nodded. He wasn’t going to bother correcting the “my prince” nonsense right now. It was pointless—his formerly blond-haired friend who was for today bald would never stop doing it.
They were out there, and it was more than one. That Jeremiah, and most likely the others, couldn’t sense them yet didn’t mean he’d been wrong. It was just another example of how heightened everything had gotten lately, especially for him.
Jeremiah barked orders loudly, instructing the others where they should be, what he thought was happening. Hadrian reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Protect the Pettigrew woman. I won’t lose her. We’ve come too far to turn back now.”
The other man’s eyes widened and Hadrian nodded. It wasn’t often he gave the other man such a direct order and he had no doubt it would be followed.
Hadrian strode to the center of the deck, deliberately putting himself out in the open. If they wanted him, he was there. He could feel his pupils dilate and he smiled. Oh yes, they were out there and he itched for a good fight.
His youngest crewman, Stone, rushed toward him, grabbing his attention. “We took the wrong one, Hadrian. Maybe we should give her back and go find the other.”
He shook his head. “We’ll never find the other one. They’ll be gone forever now. Count on it. This is our last chance, period.”
The air around him stirred and Hadrian had two seconds to refocus himself before a gold streak of light shot in front of his face.
Prize.
He swung around and reached forward, grabbing what seconds earlier had been thin air but now contained the body of a man twice his size and weight. Hadrian didn’t mind. He loved a good challenge.
“Ah.” With every ounce of his strength, he pulled the newly arrived man into his body space. If Prize wanted a fight, he would get one.
“I see you’re the same, Hadrian.”
Prize’s voice sounded gruff. It was almost hard to hear him, the result of part of a grenade landing in his throat years earlier. Hadrian had been responsible for that incident, and hearing the trouble Prize had uttering his words always brought a smile to his face.
“I’m always well, as you know.”
Hadrian shoved the three-hundr
ed-pound near giant backward to get a better look at him. Same brown hair and perpetually tanned skin, same muscle mass… Hadrian’s brief inspection told him nothing much had changed about Prize since their last encounter. That was good. It meant he still knew how to defeat him.
His opponent raised his hands as if in surrender but Hadrian didn’t let down his guard.
He knew better. He’d been tricked too many times before.
“I come as a messenger, nothing more.”
“Funny they’d send you to deliver a message, considering you can barely speak.”
Prize narrowed his eyes but didn’t move. Hadrian suppressed his grin, knowing what the control cost his opponent. “They want her back. That is all. Give her back and we can return to normal.”
Hadrian shook head. Not this time, not again. “Sorry, I’m not sure to what you are referring.”
“The princess wants her back.”
“She couldn’t care less and you know it. It’s been a long time since she had anything to do with her children. But good try just the same. Tell Pettigrew he’ll have to do better than that.”
“If you don’t give her back, we’ll take her back by force.”
“Ha.” Hadrian laughed—he couldn’t help it. The ridiculousness of that statement was more than he could handle. “Am I supposed to be afraid of that, Prize? The only person here who could be harmed by that encounter is the very same woman you claim to want to rescue.”
Prize moved forward faster than Hadrian could see, but he’d anticipated it and jumped to the side. He lunged, colliding with the golden light as it streaked to the side. The impact forced Prize back into solid form as they both slid on the deck toward the guardrail and into the water.
The freezing Atlantic surrounded Hadrian’s body but he made himself hold on to Prize.
He wouldn’t lose him just because he was cold. Wrapping his arms around the bigger man’s neck, he held on while Prize attempted to bring on the light he could mutate into and resurface at the same time.
They broke water together.
Teeth chattering, Hadrian still felt victorious. “You can’t shift as long as I have you, Prize, my man.”
“I may not be able to shift to the light, but I can still destroy you.”
Prize launched them both into the sky, forcing them onto the deck again, rolling them over so he landed on top of Hadrian. The crunching sound was the only indication Hadrian had that one of his right ribs had broken before the pain lanced its way through his body. He rolled left, ignoring it as he tried to get the huge mass off him.
“Bet that hurt, Hawky-boy.” It was the triumphant tone in the giant’s voice that made Hadrian furious. That and the use of a nickname Prize no longer had the right to use. Managing to pull his arm free, he elbowed Prize in the direct center of his neck. Prize made a choking sound and rolled away.
Hadrian jumped to his feet and scanned the deck, keeping one hand on his aching ribs. Without looking, he shook his head, letting Jeremiah, whom he spotted five feet to the right, know not to interfere. There was no way Prize was there alone. The man was strong but dumb, and he couldn’t have located their vessel by himself. That meant someone else was watching.
Inside his body, his ribs began to knit together and he wanted desperately to bend over to relieve the pain. They’d be healed within moments but they would hurt for days. He continued to scan the sky and wasn’t surprised when a large ball of flames appeared before him. It had been years since he’d last seen Wander but you didn’t forget something that disturbing. Hadrian took a step back. He needed to handle this just right or they’d all get blown up, which would hurt tremendously, and then Hadley would be gone.
Wander continued to float in the air in front of Hadrian, not yet taking form. “I thought you said you were the good guys.” He’d always lisped his “s” sound, which gave him the intonation of a talking snake. It was a strange image, even for Hadrian—a giant ball of fire that sounded like a reptile.
“Good and evil are relative terms, as you know. We are still monumentally better than you.” Hadrian ignored the sick feeling in his stomach. They’d made their decision to take Hadley, which meant they had to live with it.
“Good guys don’t steal women from their families.”
This was true and Hadrian couldn’t deny it. “Then maybe we’re not the good guys anymore. No one is. But I’m still putting an end to it. You can tell Pettigrew that. After all these years, it ends. I have his capabilities now. So he can give the princess back to me or he can watch person after person he cares about go through what Hadley is about to endure. I don’t care how many it takes. The princess comes back and we leave.”
Wander’s fire image dissipated, leaving in its place the human form he often took, dark haired and blue eyed. The women found him irresistible until they literally got burned. “I don’t know why you fight so hard to have her back. She’s not at all the same as you remember her. Not even a little bit.”
“She can return. She’s been too long under your care. If we get her home, it will change.”
“Nonsense.” Wander lifted bored eyes to the sky. “I’m not going to fight you, Hadrian. We couldn’t win, not Prize and me by ourselves, not without risking her, and Pettigrew was clear—Hadley comes home. Seems the H girls are rather special to him. Must be something to do with them being twins. Fates know E, F and G didn’t fare so well.” He shrugged as Hadrian forced the images of Emily, Fiona and Grace from his mind. He couldn’t allow himself to think of them—it was fruitless.
“If you feel that way, why not join with us, Wander? We would welcome you, as you well know.”
He shook his head. “No, Hadrian. I made my bed long ago, as did you, even though you can’t yet see it.”
Hadrian’s temper flared. “That’s not true and it’s a lousy excuse.”
“But Pettigrew did want me to express my seriousness. We will be watching you. We will get her back and there will be consequences if I don’t take her now.” “Ha. I wouldn’t trust her with you and Prize for a short second.”
Wander raised an eyebrow. “Just moments ago you offered me friendship.”
This was getting ridiculous. “Consider it a one-time deal for old time’s sake. It won’t happen again.”
“Well, then this is a token of my esteem.”
Too late Hadrian realized what was happening. Flames engulfed his body and he fell to the deck, roaring with agony. How long? How long would the burning take? This was the one and only maneuver Pettigrew’s soldiers knew to completely incapacitate him. And damn it, he’d given Wander the opening he’d needed to execute it.
Off in a distant corner of his mind, he heard a female scream. Damn. Had Wander gotten to Hadley? The light in front of his eyes dimmed and he felt nothing but extreme peace.
He loved this essence of nothingness—not a sound, not a word, not a deed could interfere in the sheer peace he felt in that moment. Unshed tears came to his eyes. He could see it in front of him, the home he’d foolishly left so long ago. The quiet red sky atop blue oceans, his sister’s laughing voice and the peace that came with service to the king filled him with pleasure inside.
His eyes flew open to the vast blue-green of the ocean in front of him. It was the wrong tint. He wasn’t back home. Sitting up, he examined the deck. The sky was in the beginning stages of turning pink as the sun fought the moon for control of the horizon. His back ached and his skin stung as if a thousand bees assaulted it.
Recovering from burning up was always one of the longest ordeals. The deck was empty of people—not a surprise. His men knew to leave him alone while he recovered, as he knew to do for them. Well-meaning ministrations only reminded him of how alone in this world he truly was.
Someday he would go back through the veil with the princess permanently and be among his own people, in his own dimension. He would never have to live in this sick, twisted version of life that the people here called reality.
His thoughts flew to
Hadley. Had she been the female voice he’d heard screaming in the distance? Had Wander and Prize taken her? Ignoring his pain, he leaped to his feet in search of some answers. Gripping the handle of the stair banister, he limped down into the galley. His men sat, grim faced, each looking more tired than the next.
“Hadrian.” Stone jumped to his feet first, his grin genuine. Hadrian reached out to squeeze his shoulder. At some point they would all have to stop thinking of Stone as the kid of the group. He had reached maturity a long time ago and deserved to be treated as an equal.
Hadrian turned his attention to Jeremiah. “Status on Hadley.”
“She ran up top while you were fighting. I didn’t notice until it was too late. I take full responsibility for that.”
With a wave of his hand, Hadrian dismissed his apology. Other than physically restraining the woman, something he knew Jeremiah was mentally incapable of, there was nothing the other man could have done.
“So Wander got her?” He closed his eyes. All the planning and the time and it was all for naught.
Jeremiah cleared his throat. “No, my prince. She saw you burn up by Wander’s hand, screamed, tried to rush to you. Gideon restrained her. She then saw you start to regenerate and fainted right down to the deck.”
Hadrian’s eyes flew open. “So she’s still here?”
Nodding, Jeremiah grinned. “Out cold in her quarters but still here.”
“And she’s a fainter.” That didn’t surprise Hadrian in the least. Tomorrow they’d use her to find what they needed and retrieve the princess. If she wanted to be unconscious for the whole thing, so much the better.
Chapter Three
Hadley pressed her face up against the cool glass of the giant squid exhibit at the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, her favorite place to think. The red skin of the tremendous creature glowed in the dark light of the tank. Hadley knew it couldn’t really see her— the tank had been designed that way. As far as the creature was concerned, all around it was the pitch-blackness of the deepest parts of the ocean.