Ember Ch. 05

Author's Note:

Something ate my comment so I thought I would put this here:

PallasAthena123 - Thanks for the compliment. Stryx definitely has some things to make up for, but there can't be any redemption unless he's a bad boy first. :)

Iamfirehorse - Ember is definitely independent and fiesty. More of that coming up.

Babyjane12084 - Stryx doesn't deserve her yet, but Ember will make sure he gets everything he does deserve.

44chicken - Here is some more.

PerryNormal - It looks like you made a comment, but I can't see it.

ZZchromosome - I hope you are still enjoying the story.

Avegiline - I'm so sorry about the cough you've developed. :)

I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to comment and vote for my stories. Hearing what works and what you think doesn't work helps me write a better story when I edit and add to what I've already written.

On to the next chapter!

**********

The address led Ember to a warehouse not far from the one she'd been held prisoner in. She'd arrived early, and if the lack of cars in the entire area was anything to go by, no one else was here. She parked the motorcycle a couple blocks away and walked back, studying the warehouse from across the street for a few minutes to decide what her best way in would be. It was easy to see the chained and padlocked door, and she was no lock pick, so that was out.

She walked down a few buildings and crossed the street, circling around so she could approach the back of the warehouse. She tried looking in windows but they were covered in years of grime. She finally found one that had been left half open and peered in, horrified to see campers like the ones they'd been held in, but also cages and tables that held what looked like torture instruments in addition to manacles and other restraints. There were even bottles of different colored liquids. She wondered if one of them was the stuff Dmitri had forced her to drink and doubted any of them had pleasant side effects.

She couldn't let them hurt Musette. She shoved the window open the rest of the way, wincing at the screeching noise, and hauled herself up and through.

Steeling herself she crossed the space to the tables and looked for something she could use as a weapon. She couldn't bring herself to touch anything on the tables. Just looking at it made her feel nauseous. Stomach queasy, she explored the warehouse instead and found piece of wood that would serve well enough as a club. Picking it up she swung it a few times. It would do, she wasn't trying for finesse.

The big door rumbled up and Ember hid behind one of the cages with a tarp draped over it. A black SUV pulled into the warehouse and two men got out. Ember's fist tightened around her club. The men went around to the back of the car and opened the cargo hatch.

As twins, she and Musette normally felt one another when they were near each other, so Ember was taken by surprise when they pulled Musette's limp body out of the SUV.

One of her wrists and her neck had bloody rings around them, but she didn't have any other marks on her. They must have drugged her again to knock her out. She didn't make a sound as they man-handled her to one of the campers and went inside.

Ember sprinted from the cage to the camper and listened at the door. Why couldn't she feel Musette? Guilt flooded her. She'd been safe and although she didn't know what else she could have done, she still felt there was something else she should have done to protect Musette.

"You don't have time for that," the second man said. "He's trading her for a different one. They'll be here any minute."

Fury roiled through Ember. Trading her sister like some sort of playing card, and she could imagine all too well what they were doing to her in the camper. Footsteps thumped inside the camper and the door opened. The two men exited and moved further into the warehouse.

Ember crept to the door and went into the camper.

Musette was unconscious, bound hand and foot, and laying a bed. Ember worked at the knots that tied her sister's wrists and ankles. "Musette," she whispered. "Wake up. We have to get out of here."

Musette's limbs flopped bonelessly as Ember sat her up.

"Come on," she whispered desperately. "I need you to wake up. We need to run."

Musette remained unconscious and Ember felt dread ripple through her. She should be able to feel her twin's presence when she touched her, even unconscious, but she felt nothing. What had they done to her? She'd figure it out later. Right now they just needed to get out of here.

"Okay," Ember whispered to herself. "We need a Plan B." She listened at the door to the camper and opened it slowly when she didn't hear the two men. Her original plan had been to get Musette and escape on the motorcycle. She'd wanted something fast and maneuverable, but Musette couldn't run or ride on a bike when she was unconscious.

The SUV was parked in front of the bay door of the warehouse, the driver's door had been left open, and so had the warehouse door. Desperation gave her strength. Ember draped Musette over her shoulder in a fireman's carry and pushed to her feet.

She made more noise than she wanted to, but the men didn't appear. Ember crossed the short distance to the car and opened the back door on the driver's side. She lay Musette across the seat and closed the door so gently even she hardly heard the soft click. She climbed into the driver's seat and found the keys hanging in the ignition.

Counting herself lucky, she took off the emergency brake and started the car, slamming the gear shift into reverse, her foot on the accelerator. The tires squealed as she reversed out of the warehouse, and that finally brought the men to see what was happening. Spinning the steering wheel, she whipped the big SUV around, shifted into drive, and sped away from the warehouse.

Where should she go? Where could they go? Their house was out. It seemed like everyone knew where they lived now. She felt like taking Mjesec's advice to run and never come back, but she needed to find an alternate means of transportation. This car could probably be tracked, so they couldn't use it for very long.

She still didn't have any money or ID on her, and neither did Musette. Musette didn't even have any clothes. How long would Stryx be gone? Maybe Selene and Ciaran would help them. No, her jeep. It had been abandoned with all her stuff in it, and it had been hidden. She had clothes, money, her phone. They'd taken the tracker off of it, so they couldn't find it again. She could hock all her camera equipment. It was expensive, top of the line—

Another black SUV came seemingly from out of nowhere and crashed into hers. Ember screamed as her head slammed into the window. Her SUV was pushed sideways until it came to a stop against a parked car and could go no further.

Dmitri got out of the other car and approached, a sadistic grin on his face as he dangled a set of manacles from one hand. He held a gun in the other. "I'm going to enjoy watching you struggle."

**

"This is the same area we were in yesterday," Melchior said. "Are you sure this is the place? It's not an old scent?"

"No," Idris replied. "This is new. Musette is close."

"So is Ember." Stryx was furious and he snarled the words. "Why is she here? How is she here? I told her to stay at the house."

Idris snorted. "You drained her. That's not the same thing."

Stryx glared at his friend and opened his mouth to speak, but Melchior hit the brakes hard enough to jerk them forward in their seats. They whipped their heads around to see why he'd stopped and gaped as they took in the scene in front of them.

One SUV had crashed into another, shoving it into a parked car. Ember had been stripped naked and was wearing manacles on her wrsts, but she was all fury as she held the chain connecting her manacles in her cupped hands and swung them at a man's head.

The man laughed at her pathetic attempt to her hurt him, but her swing had been a diversion and as the man reared back she spun on one foot, her other leg circling around. Her foot smashed into the man's face. He staggered back, hands flying to the nose she had broken for the second time. Ember laughed as she landed and continued her spin. Her other foot lashed out, catching the man squarely in his groin.

As he doubled over she used her cupped hands like a hammer, lifting them high and bringing them down as hard as she could on the man's head. Following him down as he collapsed to the ground, she straddled him and hit him repeatedly.

"You wanted to be between my legs. How's it feel?" Ember gritted the words out as her fists rose and fell. "I have to say it feels better than I thought it would."

"Holy fuck," Idris said.

"Her form could use some work." Melchior mused as he watched her fight. "But she's got spirit."

Stryx was out of the car in an instant, and by Ember's side. She didn't seem to recognize him and lashed out, but he caught her hands. "I will not hurt you. You are safe now." He stared into her eyes, trying to get her attention. The green eyes were hers, but it didn't feel like his Dragă was looking back at him.

Ember blinked, and looked around. "Musette." Pushing past Stryx she dashed to her SUV. Dmitri had smashed her window and dragged her out of the car by her hair before he'd forced her to strip and manacled her. Careful not to let the chain of her manacles touch anything she tried to open the rear door, but it was stuck. She climbed onto the bumper of Dmitro's SUV and slid back in the window, awkwardly trying to maintain her balance and not touch anything. She scrambled between the seats to get into the back with her sister.

"Ember!"

She ignored Stryx, running her hands over her sister. Musette didn't appear to have been injured in the crash, but she was still unconscious.

Ember screamed as metal groaned and the car shook. The cargo compartment door was wrenched to the side and Idris and Stryx looked in at her.

"Is Musette all right?" Idris asked.

Ember jerked her head up to meet Idris' gaze. The question had been innocuous enough, but there was something in his tone she didn't like. "I don't know. She was unconscious when they brought her to the warehouse and I can't wake her up. I can't feel my twin."

"Let us help you." Idris stripped out of the sweater he was wearing and offered it to Ember. "Here, you can dress her in this, then hand her to me so you can come out of there, okay?"

Again his words were reasonable enough, and it seemed like he really did want to help, but Ember hesitated.

"We'll take Musette to Selene and see if she can help her."

Help Musette. Yes, that's what she needed to do, even if it meant going back to the place Stryx thought he could keep her as a sex slave.

Ember accepted the sweater from Idris, ignoring Stryx's offer of his shirt for her, and folded the one of the seats down. She carefully pulled the sweater over Musette's head and arms, then maneuvered into the back, half carrying, half dragging her sister through the car with her.

Idris reached into pick Musette up as soon as he could reach them.

Ember watched Idris, not sure if she liked how he was looking at her sister, but was distracted when Stryx reached into the car and dragged her out into his arms.

She was startled and dropped the chain to her manacles. It hit the side of the SUV and stuck there.

Stryx raised his eyebrows.

"Mages made them," Ember said bitterly. "The chain sticks to whatever it touches."

Stryx held up her wrists to examine the manacles. "There's no place for a key, how do they come off?"

"Dmitri said he had the magic word, but I don't know what it is. He could move the chain, but I can't."

Stryx grasped the chain and pulled. It came away from the SUV easily.

Ember shrugged. "Maybe anyone not wearing them can move the chain."

His mind full of ideas for how to keep his Dragă safe, in his bed, and in her place under him, Stryx carried Ember to their SUV.

As they passed Dmitri, Ember looked down at him. "Is he dead?"

"Yes," Melchior answered.

Ember's face fell.

Misunderstanding her reaction, Melchior tried to comfort her. "You didn't kill him. You beat him unconscious, but I took his life. Do not feel bad."

"He knew the way to get these manacles off me," Ember said, holding up her wrists.

"Fuck. I'm sorry. I would gladly have tortured him for that information for you."

"Selene might know how to get them off." Stryx walked past the dead man and climbed into the car to sit next to Idris who had Musette on his lap. He draped his jacket over her and cradled Ember into his body, a little worried when she slumped against him instead of fighting.

Ember linked her hand with her twin's and decided it was okay to rest. She had her twin back and they were going somewhere safe, but why couldn't she feel her twin? What had that mage done to her? She wondered if she could find her twin like she had found Stryx. Closing her eyes, she called to Musette.

**********

Ember was back in her bedroom again. Her twin wasn't here, but neither was Stryx. And this time she was wearing clothes even though she knew she was only wearing Stryx's jacket in the real world. At least here her wrists were free of those manacles that stuck to everything.

She paced and tried to remember how Mjesec had showed her to look for Stryx. It hadn't seemed to take a lot of effort—he'd just shown up in the chair. She'd even been able to send him to where her physical body was when she—

Oh, no. What if she needed Stryx to make her come so she could look for her sister? Not that she had any problem with having orgasms. It was the strings, no, the chains, no, now it would be manacles attached to them. She'd seen the look in Stryx's eyes when he'd realized he could manipulate them and she couldn't. He hadn't put the manacles on her, but she had no doubts whatsoever he was not in any hurry to get them off her.

She missed her sister. The emptiness in their twin connection not only reinforced something had happened to Musette, it made her feel part of herself had disappeared, too. If Musette was here she would say they needed to—

That was it. Of course Musette wasn't in Ember's room. Musette would be in her favorite place. She hadn't tried to leave this room before. There'd been no need. She went to the door and yanked it open.

Half expecting to see a black abyss, she was relieved when it was just the hallway. She ran down the hall, through the living room and into the kitchen.

She still couldn't feel the connection, but she saw her twin sitting at the table. "Musette!"

Musette whirled in her chair, letting a spoon clatter to the table. She jumped up and ran to Ember and flung herself into her twins' arms. "I knew you would find me!" She pulled back. "Did you find me?"

Ember nodded. "I found you, and Dmitri is dead. We're taking you somewhere safe, but I can't wake you up, and I can't feel you anymore."

"We? You're with your tall, dark, and deadly?"

"Yes, they're taking us back to their compound. There's a woman named Selene there who might be able to help us wake you. Can you tell me what happened to you after Dmitri threw that power into our faces?"

Musette's face fell. "I don't know exactly. My memories are all fuzzy. I don't want to think too much about it yet."

Ember led Musette back to the table and they took their usual seats. She smiled at the empty ice cream container in front of Musette. Musette always turned to ice cream in times of stress. Or in times of happiness. Or for no reason at all.

Musette saw Ember's gaze and grinned. "This place, wherever this place is, is so weird. Watch this." She got up and opened the freezer. The empty ice cream carton on the table disappeared as she pulled one from the freezer. "I don't know if the old one goes away and a new one appears each time, or if I'm eating the same ice cream over and over again." She returned to the table. removed the lid, and picked up her spoon to dig in. "I never get too full. I don't even get brain freeze. I think this place might be heaven."

Ember smiled. "Of course heaven for you is an unlimited supply of brain-freeze free ice cream."

Musette laughed the laugh Ember loved so much. "Tell me about your mystery man. How did you make him appear out of thin air to help us?"

"You're not going to believe what's happened the last couple of days." Ember told her everything, beginning with the wolf talking to her telepathically in the park and changing into a woman, and ending with the crash and fight with Dmitri.

"So magic is real," Musette said when Ember finished her story. "We're really witches. Stryx is a vampire, and you're his Dragă."

Ember nodded. "You're taking his a lot better than I thought you would."

Musette waved a spoonful of ice cream at Ember. "I'm prepared for weird. And I did see your vampire appear out of thin air. He seemed rather...intense."

Ember snorted. "That's one word for him. But don't worry. I won't let them hurt you. Only one of them can go in the sun, and he helped me get away before."

"Dmitri's dead, but the mages that hurt us are still out there. Will we be safe if we leave?"

"They have the mage that hurt me. I don't know what happened to the mage Dmitri took you to. But we can leave, we don't have to stay in Port Storm." Ember took her sisters hands. "I just need you to wake up so we can go."

Tears filled Musette's eyes. "I don't know how to wake up. I came here when I heard you calling me, but I don't know where I was before that. I don't think I was anywhere."

"Can you remember anything at all?"

"Just being forced to drink stuff. It made me feel sick, but they kept forcing me to drink it. Voices kept saying something about separating my magic, but I don't know what they meant. I kept passing out."

"I'll tell Selene when I wake up. Maybe she'll know what to do."

"Don't go yet," Musette said. "I don't want to be alone. I wasn't here before you called me, what if this place disappears when you leave and I'm nowhere again?"

Ember felt a jostling, and guessed Stryx was moving her. "I'll stay as long as you need me to." She smiled. "But I think you're just keeping me around because you like the all-you-can-eat-brain-freeze-free-ice cream."

"That is a bonus." Musette tilted her head and eyed her sister. "Do you think I have a protector, like you do? We're twins, so it doesn't seem right you should get one and I don't."

Ember remembered the way Idris had cradled her sister in his arms and the look on his face as he gazed down at her and nodded. "I think you might."

Musette dropped her spoon. "You know him? Oh, you can't leave now You have to tell me about him!"

**********

Stryx picked Ember's sleeping form up from where she was curled up next to her sister. "You will keep watch? Alert me if she wakes or there is any change?"

Idris nodded. "I'll take her to Selene. I won't leave her side."

Stryx gathered Ember close and strode from the garage. He entered his room, made sure the door was locked, and carried her straight into the bathroom. Her wrists were still locked in the magical shackles, which gave him a number of ideas, but those were for later when she was awake. Right now, she reeked of fear and that man she had been fighting, and he needed that smell off her skin.

He started the shower and stripped. Carrying Ember into the shower he pushed the manacle chain against the wall above her head, and the chain held. Oh, he had so, so, many ideas for her manacles. He was sorely tempted to never let her out of them again even when he found a way to unlock them.

He slid his thigh between hers and braced her back against the wall. He washed her hair, and soaped and rinsed her body, feeling free to take his time and as many liberties with her as he wanted to, enjoying the way she responded to him even as she slept. Once she was free of the stench of the other man he buried his head in her neck and breathed her in.