The Order Ch. 13

"We always do," Caleb said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. He waited for everyone else to follow his lead before he said, "We'll even watch yours this time."

"Don't worry about me. Do whatever you have to do to get her the hell out of there."

"We will." Alexis nodded to emphasize his point as he added, "But when this is over, you'd better find the balls to tell her why you don't want her to leave. I may not be Caleb, but you don't have to be a mind reader to figure that one out."

* * * * *

The one thing Nadia could think of was the fact that they allowed her to keep her clothes on this time; probably because she only wore a tank top and an old pair of men's boxers she owned. As she stared at the ceiling of the dark chamber that looked more like a cave, she found herself counting her blessings instead of crying. She wasn't naked, she was chained to a table and not hanging from a ceiling, and they hadn't beaten her. They didn't need to when they spent their time using their powers to torture her. The tall thin one with green scaly skin merely sat and watched while the others took turns hurting her. He scared her more than the others did, primarily because he was the one who took her from the manor. He didn't have to work very hard to abduct her; the moment she began to fight for her life, terrifying images flooded her mind. It didn't take him long at all to have her crouched in a corner trying to hide from the thoughts in her mind.

The fat one with red and yellow skin preferred using telepathy to cut off the flow of oxygen to her body. That was when he wasn't busy stopping her heart long enough for her to barely touch death before he restarted it.

The next demon, the one that looked like it had a bad case of leprosy liked to urge the fat one on, giving him ideas on how to maximize her pain. After Nyx, there was no kind of physical pain she couldn't endure. Bastards. They were lucky she had no abilities of her own.

A cry of pain escaped Nadia as every single muscle in her body began to spasm and cramp unbearably. There was nothing she could to do alleviate the pain; every movement seemed to intensify a cramp in another part of her body. She heard them laugh while she hissed and grunted through the pain, determined to not give them any more pleasure. After what seemed like forever, the pain began to subside. Involuntary tremors took control of her body and for a moment, she closed her eyes. She was suddenly exhausted.

"She's resilient," Nebiros commented. He'd never seen a human capable of enduring what they did to her. Granted, they did nothing close to what Nyx did, but that she'd only screamed once was commendable. For a human, anyway. "But I grow bored, my liege."

"As do I," Astaroth replied. He stood from his seat and slowly walked to Nadia's body. "Such a troublesome human. You cost me a valuable member of The Order."

"Go to hell," she muttered.

Astaroth laughed as he said, "Where do you think this is, human? Disney World?" Placing his hands on either side of her head, he laughed again when her body tensed at the image of her being cut open he'd implanted into her mind. He continued with the line of thought, forcing her to envision her chest being pulled open and her organs slowly eaten by maggots. "Hell is a vacation compared to my realm."

Nadia couldn't move as dozens of disturbing images flashed through her mind. Being buried alive. Drowning. He made her relieve the torture she'd had to take from Nyx. She felt every lash of his whip, every cut from his blade. She heard the crunch as the memories of her bones breaking saturated her mind. Nadia wasn't chained to a table anymore; no, she hung from a ceiling as scalding water was thrown on her naked body. Tears stung her eyes as she heard Andrae's familiar laugh. He was here! He was going to save her!

"You're not doing it right," he told Nyx, "If you're going to stab her, you have to choose the arms or legs. You miss vital organs that way."

What? Why was he... How could he... She tried to speak, but she couldn't move. She was paralyzed

"I thought you only wanted to watch."

"I do. But if you're going to torture a human, do it the right way."

"At least I didn't mate the animal," Nyx laughed.

"Don't remind me. I did what I had to do to make sure she'd tell me what she knew."

"Even if it meant-"

"Even that," Andraemalek interrupted.

She meant nothing to him. He only wanted the information, not her. She'd been so stupid.

Astaroth laughed again as Nadia began to convulse uncontrollably. "Humans amuse me," he said to no one in particular. "I think we should start playing with them regularly."

"Indeed, my-" Botis jumped from his seat when the door to the chamber burst open and three sentries were thrown through. "We are under attack!" He ran forward to defend his lord but was immediately stopped when two other bodies were thrown at him.

Andraemalek calmly walked into the room as he announced, "This ends now." He looked at Nadia and was relieved to see that she was alive but the sight of Astaroth working his magic on her enraged him. He rushed forward to attack and easily dodged the knife that Nebiros threw at him. In retaliation, he threw one of his own a scant second before he was pushed aside by a sentry Liam kicked into the room. The battle had spilled into the chamber which only meant that his brothers made quick work of the guards Astaroth had placed to protect him.

Andraemalek continued on, determined to get to Astaroth and had to sidestep a blast of fire Jameson shot in his direction. Two sentries screamed in agony as they were burned alive but Andraemalek didn't care; he was steps closer to Nadia. He easily threw the three sentries that attempted to tackle him and found himself flipping Alexis over his back when his brother used him as leverage to kick Botis back. He ducked at the loud feral growl and almost laughed at the sight of Euan's cougar form lunging for the fat demon.

The sound of Nadia's scream brought his attention to the table she was chained to Moloch had taken the opportunity to sink his poisonous teeth into her tender skin. The toxins would slowly turn put her muscles into atrophy out if they left her unattended. Pure animalistic rage wafted through Andraemalek's body as he changed into his demonic form. He made quick work of ripping Moloch's head from his body and was barely able to jump out of the way before both Liam and Alexis were thrown into the wall in front of him.

"Fucking son of a bitch!" Liam roared.

Andraemalek suddenly found himself slowly falling to the floor as images of Nadia slowly deteriorating before his eyes consumed him. Her brown eyes glistened with tears as she whimpered and begged him to save her. He couldn't move, couldn't help her. "Nadia," he gasped. Her screams of agony were too much; she trusted him, depended on him, and he'd fed her to the wolves.

There was a voice in the distance, one urging him to get up, to keep fighting. Caleb. Andraemalek looked up and found his brother protected by Euan and Jameson as he mentally battled Astaroth. The leader of The Order had taken his hands off Nadia, but she no longer moved. Was she breathing? He couldn't tell, couldn't concentrate...

Andraemalek found himself being hauled to his feet by Liam. "Go get her!" the redhead screamed before he ran forward to attack the newest swarm of demons determined to protect Astaroth. Andraemalek forced himself to move, to pull the Blade of Abraxis out of its protective sheath as he stalked toward Astaroth. The more he moved, the clearer he thought. Without hesitation, he plunged the blade into Astaroth's back and found himself growling in fury when the demon shimmered out of the chamber. As much as he wanted to tail the son of a bitch, he had to get Naida back to the human realm. He waked to the table and stared at her unmoving body for a moment; she was sweating profusely and her breathing was shallow. The poison was working much faster than he'd expected. Andraemalek made quick work of breaking the chains that kept her locked to the table and lifted her limp and overheated body into his arms. "I've got her," he shouted as he watched Jameson ignite the remaining demons in the room, "Let's hit it!"

Liam ran to his brother and placed his gloved hand on Nadia's forehead. Even through the thick fabric he felt the life draining out of her. "She's fading fast."

"Get us out of here," Alexis said as he ensured the livelihood of his brothers. There were cuts and quick forming bruises, but they were fine. Nadia on the other hand... "We've got to get her to the manor."

"Don't let her die," Andraemalek threatened as he prepared to shimmer them back to the manor, "Don't you dare let her die."