Finally, her words seemed to take root. His eyelids narrowed and his lips pulled tight against his teeth, revealing the tips of those deadly fangs. "How can I see you now, then?" he asked, mirroring her thoughts.
"I wish I knew," she said on a sigh. Would others be able to see her, as well?
"So. Another curse is to be heaped upon me. To see, but never to touch." He turned his head from her, as if he couldn't bear to look at her another second. That was the treatment she'd expected from him, but it still hurt. You deserve it. Take it like a warrior.
At least he no longer thought himself crazy.
"Why aren't you with Brand?" he demanded.
Brand, the dragon shape-shifter who had been cursed right alongside them. "I don't..." What? She liked Brand, but she wasn't concerned with his treatment. He had not fought his captivity like Zane. He had embraced the thought of an Amazon owner. Other than Lily, that is. Lily had been too young for him, and he'd been nothing more than a maid for her. Since she'd released him to the ownership of the other Amazons, though, he'd looked nothing but content.
But even if he had not been enjoying himself, Nola still would have chosen to watch over Zane. His strength and determination, and even his wildness, drew her.
Maybe because that wildness had never truly extended to her. Even when she'd stabbed both of his shoulders with spears, he had not attempted to hurt her. He had cried out for her, wanting to be with her.
"Why haven't you used your...gift to help you escape?" she asked, ignoring his question. Much as this man had to hate her, she wasn't ready to voice her softer feelings. Even she didn't understand her change from tormentor to tormented.
His cheeks heated in embarrassment, but still he did not face her.
He'd once used that gift on her. Had slipped inside her dreams and showed her how good it would be between them. How he would kiss and taste every inch of her body, enjoy her, help her enjoy him. "You can show the Amazons the destruction you will unleash if they fail to release you."
"The gods stripped me of the ability when they sent me here. I can no longer enter dreams. Or create nightmares. They also stripped me of my ability to transport myself to other locations with only a thought."
Damn them! "There has to be a way to free you. I wish I could leave camp and visit your king. Word has spread through Atlantis that he is wed now to my sister, Delilah. They would help you, I know it. And maybe, like you, they would be able to see and hear me. But I am bound to this camp, as surely as if I were shackled. I cannot leave its boundaries." Or perhaps she could, now that part of her curse seemed to be lifted. She wanted to check, but couldn't force herself to move away.
Zane shifted even further away from her, and his chains rattled. It was another stark reminder of their doomed circumstances. "Why would you help me?"
"Because I--" She peered down at her hands. Her fingers were twined together and twisting the leather of her skirt. They wanted to be on Zane's body, learning his every nuance. What would make him gasp in pleasure? What would make him moan? "I owe you. I hurt you, and I'm sorry for that. Sorrier than I can ever express. I want--"
"Enough," he growled, cutting her off. "I don't want your apology. I never did. I've always wanted you...your body."
Need trembled through her. "Yes." Yes. That's what she wanted, too. "But you can't touch me. How..."
"We will figure it out. Climb on top of me."
She did, straddling his waist. His eyes closed, and he arched up. She imagined his hard shaft rubbing against her and moaned. "Zane, I--"
The entrance to the tent flapped, and Amelia strode inside. "Well, vampire. I have decided--" Her eyes widened, and she stopped. "Nola? What are you doing here?"
Nola jumped up as though burned. She wanted to scream in frustration, but held her tongue. One question had been answered, at least. Others could see her. "Hello, Amelia." Did she sound as breathless to the warrioress as she did to herself?
"We thought you were dead."
"You thought wrong."
Amelia's dark gaze swung to Zane, then back to Nola. "Either way, you will move away from my slave."
"Nola," Zane said, and there was a warning in his tone.
A warning of what? Nola didn't face him, but squared her shoulders and forced her expression to harden. "How is he truly your slave when you have not yet battled every female who would lay claim to him? Amelia, I challenge you for the vampire."
Chapter Four
"Hurry! She'll return any moment, and she'll have others with her. Perhaps the entire army."
Zane watched as Nola tried and failed to jerk the head of his chains from the iron pole they were attached to, a pole that was anchored deep in the earth. As before, her fingers merely passed through the object.
His shock had yet to diminish. Nola was here; Nola thought to help him. After her announcement, his captor had stormed out of the tent with every intention of speaking to the Amazon queen. Nola wanted him for her own.
Earlier when she'd apologized to him, it had not been remorse thickening her voice. It had been desire. Then she'd climbed on top of him without hesitation, had moaned when he'd arched into her. He hadn't been able to feel her, but oh, just the thought of doing so was enough for him.
"How do you propose to fight her?" he demanded. "You cannot hurt her, and she cannot hurt you."
"I didn't want to fight her. I wanted time. And why are you just lying there?" She peered down at him, hands on her hips, dark hair streaming wildly around her delicate face. There was the soldier he knew. "Fight free!"
"You will come with me? If I escape?"
"If I can, yes. I want that more than anything," she added in a whisper.
Again, there was no hesitation. There was even a flicker of hope in her magnificent eyes. She truly did not hate him.
What had brought about this change in her? Doesn't matter right now. Everything he'd craved these many months of his captivity--Nola, freedom, a chance to be together--was now being offered to him. No longer did he feel cursed. Never had he been so blessed.
He couldn't feel her? So what. Being with her was more important.
He was suddenly fueled with a fervor he had never experienced before, not even when he'd been whoring for the demon queen, desperate to save Cassandra. He wanted this. Would have this. Just as...soon as...he broke...free. For what seemed an eternity, he pulled hard at his wrists and ankles, straining so forcefully his bones eventually gave way.
Out came both his ankles; out came both his wrists. The pain of it nearly bowled him over as he sat up, then stood to trembling legs. He didn't care. He was free at last.
"I hear them," Nola gasped. "Come on." She made to grab him, but her hand misted through his body. "Damn this!"
There was no sensation, no chill, but the knowledge that she had tried to touch him caused him to shiver rather than shudder. From the very first, it had been that way. Others he ran from. Others he abhorred. Her, he only yearned for more of. Why?
"This way." She raced to the far end of the tent. "Raise the flap."
He lumbered to her, stumbling constantly, and did as commanded. All the while, his battered body screamed in agony, black winking over his vision, stomach threatening to heave. Vampires were fast healers, but he'd been without blood too long, the few sips he'd had earlier already used up.
Outside, light poured from the crystal dome surrounding all of Atlantis, heating and stinging his now-sensitive skin and making his eyes water. This kind of reaction had only happened once before. On that cursed island of the gods. The reminder of his time there infuriated him and that fury gave him strength. Tent after tent dotted the surrounding land. Amazons were scattered throughout. Some were bent over a fire and hammering at weapons; some were hanging animal hides.
"Walk behind me," Nola said, "as if you are my slave."
She moved forward, head held high. Behind him, he could hear a murmur of voices inside his captor's tent. Amelia had returned, and she had indeed brought an army
with her. Zane kicked into motion. Thankfully, no one paid them any heed--until a horn blasted. The Amazons around him straightened, a few even reaching for weapons.
"Run," Nola shouted, picking up speed. "Run."
No longer content to remain behind her, he matched her pace. A forest loomed a few yards ahead, thick trees promising cover.
"Nola!" someone shouted. "Stop!"
"Vampire," his captor screamed. "Not another step. I will punish you."
Zane tripped over a rock. He lurched forward, his broken ankles unable to support him. When he hit the ground, he hit hard and lost every bit of oxygen in his lungs. Grimacing, he lumbered back up. Started running again.
All the while, Nola encouraged him. "You can do it. I know you can. That's the way. Just a little farther." But when they reached the trees, she stopped and screeched. "No! No, no, no."
He, too, stopped and faced her. He tried to grab her, but as always before, encountered only air. "Come. Now."
"I can't. It's like a wall is blocking me." Frantic, she tossed a glance over her shoulder at the scowling Amazon warrioresses bearing down on them. "Go. Please. Just go."
He remained in place, the screams in his head no longer for his bodily pain. He couldn't leave this woman behind. But he couldn't stay here, broken as he was. He was no good to either of them. Damn the gods to Hades!
"Will they attempt to punish you?" he asked.
"They can't hurt me. They might be able to see me, but I'm untouchable, remember?" She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Now go, before they take you. They will not be as gentle with you this time."
"Nola..."
"Zane. Go. Please. Save yourself. You are not meant to be any woman's slave."
A muscle ticked below his eye. "I will come back for you. Soon as I'm healed, I will come back." As he spoke, he walked backward. Only when she was blocked from his view did he spin and run.
Chapter Five
Nola faced off with her sisters. They formed a menacing half-circle around her, each glaring at her.
"You freed my slave," Amelia growled, and several warrioresses booed and hissed at Nola.
She had always been something of a tribe outsider, so she wasn't surprised at the cold welcome. "He isn't yours, but yes," she said proudly. "I freed him."
A frowning Kreja stepped forward, separating herself from the masses and placing herself nose-to-nose with Nola. "I want five of my elite armed and hunting the vampire within the next five minutes."
Footsteps echoed as the warrioresses complied.
"And you," the queen continued, "you know the punishment for stealing your sister's slave?"
"Yes," Nola repeated. The punishment--a savage, wish-you-were-dead whipping. Not that they could administer it. But even if she'd been tangible, she would have risked it. Zane's freedom was worth losing the skin on her back. At the very least.
"Delilah returned and told us you lived still, but that did not stop our worry for you. And now I find you here, working against us. Why would you do such a thing?" the queen asked, sounding genuinely curious rather than enraged.
"The vampire had endured enough at the hands of the Amazons. Like us, he is a living being with feelings. He is courageous, wild as the animals in this forest and fierce beyond imagining."
And he would return for her. She trusted him.
Never before had she trusted a man, but she trusted Zane. Having watched him these past few months, she knew he was not the kind of man who made vows lightly. She knew he did not say things simply to placate his audience. Oh, yes. He would return.
What they would do when he reached her, she didn't know. She only knew that she needed to be with him. To see his face and hear his voice. She could live with any curse, as long as he was alive and well and with her.
Kreja sighed. "Wise words, but that does not change what you have done. Not only did you free a slave, you freed your sister's slave. For that, you will deal with Amelia in the battle arena. She will be armed. You will not. Afterward, if you survive, you will be whipped, as is our custom."
The queen reached out--and wrapped her fingers around Nola's suddenly solid forearm, dragging her toward the arena, Amelia close on her heels. Nola gasped in shock. What...why...how was it possible?
"I will not go easy on you," Amelia snarled at her.
They can touch me. Which means they can hurt me, Nola realized, dread sweeping through her.
Would she be alive when Zane returned?
Zane reached the vampire stronghold and collapsed at its gates. His strength--gone. His wounds--unhealed. Followed as he'd been, he wouldn't have been able to hunt for food. Broken as he was, he'd been unable to capture a single animal and feed himself.
Thankfully the guards recognized him. He was hefted over a shoulder and carted inside the palace. The touch disturbed him, but he didn't fight it. He was in too much of a hurry and knew this was the best way. By the time they reached his personal chamber, there was a buzz of activity, his name being whispered from everyone's lips.
"Blood," he rasped as the guard lay him down on the bed.
That guard tilted his head, offering his own neck.
Zane shook his head and closed his eyes. "Glass." He would not take from a living source. Still couldn't stomach the thought--unless that living source was Nola. Once, when he'd ensured she would welcome him by invading her dreams, he had tasted her. The sweetness of her blood...the decadence of her moans...and he'd reveled in every nuance of her. He would not overshadow that precious memory by taking from someone else, even in his desperation.
How did she affect him this way?
Perhaps he did not mind her hands on him because he saw himself in her eyes. Saw vulnerability and pain, fear and yearning. Perhaps they shared a similar past; she'd alluded to such a thing once before, when they'd been pitted against each other on the island. That meant someone had hurt her at some point in her life. Hurt her deeply and unequivocally. Zane wanted to destroy that someone, bit by bit.
Warm hands settled on his shoulders and shook him.
His eyelids fluttered open, a growl in his throat. When he saw that Layel loomed above him, glass in hand, he forced himself to relax against the feathered mattress. "My king, I--"
"No talking just yet. Drink," Layel said, placing the glass to his lips. Tall and leanly muscled, with white hair and blue eyes, he was an eerily beautiful sight that reminded Zane of both his rescue from the demon queen and the horrors he'd endured at the hands of the gods. "Drink."
Zane opened his mouth, and the sweet nectar of life poured down his throat. He swallowed greedily. Once again, warmth spread through him. Warmth and strength and determination.
He had not lied to Nola. He was going back for her. He would conquer that damn camp and everyone inside it. Nola will not like that. Those women are her sisters.
Well, they damn well should not have tried to enslave him, he thought darkly. But he knew deep down that he wouldn't hurt them. Not really. For Nola, he would simply send them on their way, claiming the camp as his own and remaining there until she could leave.
"Good now?" Layel asked.
"More," he said when the supply ran out. He'd need every ounce of his strength to conquer the Amazons.
Layel cut his wrist, filled the glass with his own life force, and offered it up. This time, Zane was able to hold the glass on his own. He drained every drop. When he finished, he licked his lips and faced the king.
"I am ready to talk," he said. "You escaped the gods and their island." He grunted as his wrists and ankles popped back into place. "Did you win their game?"
The king's lips slowly lifted in a grin. "Delilah did. She saved us both. We have been searching for you since the moment of our return, but the Amazons hid you well."
"Have you news of my sister?" a female voice asked.
Zane looked past his king and saw Delilah standing in the doorway. She was petite in appearance, but as fierce as Nola on a battlefield. Her blue hair was falling
around her shoulders, and worry was etched in the violet depths of her eyes.
"She is alive," he told her, and she expelled a relieved breath. "And she is mine."
"And does she agree with that statement?" Delilah's head tilted to the side as she rubbed at her slightly rounded belly.
Slightly rounded. A baby? Layel was to become a father? An ache bloomed in Zane's chest. He'd wanted children with Cassandra. Had dreamed of them. Yet that, too, had been denied him. Until...now?
With Nola...You cannot truly touch her, you fool. That dream is still dead. He couldn't make himself care, however. As long as he had Nola, nothing else mattered.
"Well?" Delilah insisted.
Did Nola wish to belong to him? she'd asked. He thought so, yes. She had helped him. She had even wanted to go with him. But she was also a warrior to her core, an Amazon warrior at that, and they only tolerated men during mating season. He wanted far more than that. No matter the circumstances. He wanted what Layel and Delilah clearly had.
"We will see," Zane said, kicking his legs over the bed.
"You only just returned," Layel said. "Where are you going?"
"To get my woman." This one, he wouldn't let get away.
Chapter Six
Grunts, groans and the clang of metal against metal roused Nola from her troubled sleep. She wanted to rise, to see what was happening, but could not force her body into action. Her back was a mass of agony, the skin flayed completely. The rest of her, well, it had not fared much better during her battle with Amelia. Nola had won, her determination stronger than any weapon, but she had not emerged unscathed. There were deep sword slices all down her arms, stomach and legs.
She lay on her bed, her stomach pressed into soft blankets. Alone, always alone. No one was allowed to help her. Not in any way. Amazons healed as slowly as humans, so she knew she would suffer like this for many weeks to come.
Outside, a scream echoed. Her muscles were heavy as stones, and she didn't have the strength to drag herself upright. Or gather food. Not that she even had the strength to eat. She wanted to help her sisters, though. Despite what had been done to them, she loved them.