Broken: (Ignite, Book 2) Read online

Laura eyed him. “Yes.”

  His fingers traced the pattern on her thigh as it inched up towards her hip. “But not you.”

  “I guess not.”

  His hand reached the edge of Jace’s shirt and he pulled it up slowly. Her stomach clenched as it was revealed and she tried to move away from him.

  He looked her in the eyes. “You find me repulsive.”

  She nodded, speechless and scared. Hell yes.

  “It’ll be okay, I promise.” He leaned closer and ran his finger through her hair. “I’ll be gentle if you want me to be.”

  She shook her head, trying to shake his hand off and it only managed to make it easier for him to trail his finger down her neck and the front of her shirt. He climbed on the bed and straddled her.

  “No, no.” She shook violently. She tried to huddle into herself, but her restraints and him on top of her gave her no room for movement. He pulled her shirt over her head, resting it over the back of her neck.

  Tears sprung in her eyes and she pleaded. “Don’t do this. Please.” She pulled on her restraints and they dug into her wrists.

  He grinned at her. “Don’t beg. It isn’t becoming.” He leaned close and kissed her, shoving his tongue in her mouth. She bit his tongue and he jerked back. “Damnit.”

  He examined his tongue; it was bleeding. He leaned over and grabbed her chin. “Don’t do that again.”

  Her eyes steeled. “Don’t kiss me again.”

  He laughed. “I can see why Jace likes you.” Suddenly he stopped laughing and cocked his head. He sighed. “I guess we’ll have to attend to this later.”

  He pulled her shirt back down and relief poured over her. He walked towards the door but she called to him. “Cherry, do you mind putting the blanket back over me?” Shivers rolled down her body in waves and she struggled to control them.

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine.”

  ❦

  Cherry burst through the door. “Looks like our time’s up.” Laura scrambled up, pulling her blanket up with her mouth.

  “Mmph Jace comth? Wampg happenth?”

  He stood over her. “Oh you heard that did you?”

  She shook her head, moving the blanket with her. “Hearph whamph?”

  He ripped the blanket out of her mouth. “What else did you hear?”

  “I didn’t— I didn’t hear anything.”

  He straddled her again and she bucked, fear seizing her. “No, no.”

  He leaned over, putting his hands against the wall so that his weight was against the wall. She yanked her elbow forward, striking his nose with it. Blood spurted from his nose and she hit it again with her other elbow. He jerked back holding his nose. “Why you little—”

  A red rivulet slid down and he licked it. He gripped her shirt, crushing his mouth to hers. His lips slid through hers, smearing coppery juices as he pulled her closer with his hand. She head-butted him and he swore.

  “Guess you didn’t learn from last time.”

  He slammed her head against the wall. She reeled against the pain, feeling lightheaded. His hand clutched at her body, searching. She screamed, raging against his assault. “Stop, stop.”

  “Why should I?”

  “My sister died.”

  He stopped. “What?”

  “My sister died. I know what that kind of pain feels like.”

  “You’re lying.”

  She shook her head. “My dad shot her. On accident.”

  He kneeled back.

  The door burst open and a knife whistled through the air.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Blood splattered on Laura’s face as it slid through Cherry’s bicep and he yelped. He had only a second to pull it out before Jace, dripping wet, charged him. Cherry used his leverage on the bed to jump towards Jace. They collided mid-air, their wings spread to support them as they grappled in the air. Jace was faster than Cherry and he managed to climb atop of him and Cherry dropped to the floor. His wings crushed and grey feathers floated through the room. Jace punched Cherry in the face.

  Laura tried to reach for the knife, but it was too far. She slid down and pulled her legs up, reaching for the knife with her feet. It was one of her kitchen knives. It wouldn’t do much to Cherry but maybe she could use it to cut herself free.

  Cherry grabbed Jace’s hair and yanked. Jace pulled back, ripping his hair out and screamed. Jace jumped up and smashed the dressers on Cherry. Shattered wood flew everywhere and Laura covered her face with her forearm.

  There was a snap and a scream: Cherry plunged one of the legs of the dresser into Jace’s leg. Jace grit his teeth and pushed all his weight onto Cherry’s chest and Cherry exhaled. His face turned red and he slapped at the side of the dressers, trying to move them, but Jace was too heavy.

  Cherry kicked Jace’s knee and the momentary pause allowed Cherry to get his feet under the dressers. He pushed up with all his might, and Jace and the dressers slammed against the wall. A crack traveled up to the ceiling and water began to trickle in.

  Laura reached for the knife again but suddenly Cherry was on top of her. He grabbed her by her hair and ripped her from her bindings. Her other wrist snapped, both of them flopped helplessly as Cherry threw her down on the bed. She felt lightheaded; she was going to pass out.

  “I’m going to kill you.” Jace growled as he rushed towards Cherry but Cherry had the knife over her chest. Cherry grinned. “Uh huh, Jace, I wouldn’t do that.” Laura gasped and held very still.

  Cherry gripped the knife tighter, digging it in to her skin and Laura couldn’t breathe.

  Jace stopped short and held his hands up.

  “Okay.” He panted, doubling over and looked at Laura with pain in his eyes. “You win.”

  ❦

  Jace and Laura were tied together on the floor, side-by-side, leaning against each other. Their hands were bound behind their backs, with their chest and ankles tied to the bed with angel-hair rope.

  Laura’s wrists burned and Jace wiggled towards her. “Laura, lean forward.”

  She did, groaning at the pain. Then a warmth enveloped her wrists and she sighed, relieved.

  “Thank you.” She leaned onto him and rubbed her head against his chin; she felt her heart calm down. They were together. “I feel so strange. Like we’re in a movie or a comic book or something. I never thought I’d be tied up, especially like this. It feels kind of silly.”

  He moved his head in rhythm to her movements. “Well, I don’t think Cherry is the brightest of the bunch.”

  She laughed. “So what does that say about us?”

  He moved so she could look into his eyes. “Laura, I promise we will get out of this.” She felt so weak, so vulnerable, that all Cherry had to do was get ahold of her and he could snap her neck like a twig. But somehow, being with Jace, it didn’t matter.

  She smiled. “Even if we don’t, I’m happy you’re here.”

  “No.” He looked at her sternly. “We will get out of this.” Ferocity emanated through his eyes.

  “I always feel safe with you Jace, even if it seems like I am not.”

  He leaned down and kissed her softly, gently. “You are safe with me.” He closed his eyes and leaned on her forehead. “You’re safe.” His voice was a whisper and his floral fragrance made her smile.

  She shivered and Jace dragged the blanket off the bed with his mouth and they managed to cover herself with it. Then he huddled close, trying to warm her. The crack in the wall had grown and water was filling the room.

  “Where are we, Jace?”

  He swallowed hard. “At the bottom of the lake. Sometimes we have places like this to keep out of sight of the regular population. It must seem kind of weird to you.”

  She shrugged. “Weird can’t begin to describe my life these past few months.”

  “I know.” He rubbed her head with his chin. “I’m sorry.”

  “Amazing. Wondrous. Beautiful. Those are the words I would use to describe them.”

  He pulled back
. “Laura, it’s all because of me that you’re in this situation. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be safe at home with your family.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I would be at home with my family. But I wouldn’t be safe.” She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. “You make be safe, Jace. My sister may have died that night but I wasn’t living until I met you.”

  He stared at her in surprise. “And you always laugh at me when I say things like that.”

  She swallowed hard and nodded, serious. “I do.” She felt a burning in her chest, the fusion of Jace’s soul to hers. If anything ever happened to him, she wouldn’t last.

  They could hear Cherry talking in the other room. What did Cherry want with them? What was so important about little old them? She studied Jace, his fine angular features and perfect eyes. Even for an Angel he seemed dignified. What was it that Cherry said about bloodline? “He’s been talking to someone on his cell. I think he sent them a picture of me earlier.”

  Jace tried to listen in. “He’s telling them he has us both but I can’t hear what they’re saying on the other line.”

  “Jace, I’m really sorry.” Fear shone through Laura’s eyes. “You shouldn’t have come here for me.”

  His head whipped towards hers. “Laura, no.”

  “Really Jace. I didn’t want you to find me, I didn’t want you to come. I didn’t want you to end up here, like this.”

  She wanted to touch him and hold him and cry because he gave himself up for her. She wanted to cry and scream and shout.

  Her chin dropped to her chest. They were never going to get out of this. They were both going to die. Either while Jace was trying to set her free or maybe even before that. Even if they did manage to get out of their ropes, how would she make it to the surface?

  “Laura, look at me.” She looked up.

  “I promise. I’m going to get us out of this. We’ll be fine.” His eyes darkened. “And Cherry will die.”

  She gulped and nodded. “Okay.”

  “What happened to your wrist?” Dried blood wrapped around her wrist.

  She looked guilty. “I sawed my way through the chair.”

  “Oh, Laura.”

  She shrugged. “I did what I needed to do. That and Cherry broke them also.”

  He growled. “He’s dead. I never want him, or anyone, to harm a single hair on your body.”

  She wanted to reach for him, to trace his face and hold his hand. Desire burned through her and she kissed him. She pushed against him as hard as she could, pouring all of her despair, hate, passion and lust into her kiss. He pushed back and their kiss drowned out the walls, the ropes and binding, Cherry in the other room, and the lake above them. There was nothing but the other, only dreams and desires, pain and heartache.

  Cherry opened the door.

  ❦

  “Ugh. Come on, lovers. It’s time to go.” His lip was raised in disgust.

  Jace jerked his head to Cherry. “Where are we going?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know? Come on, get up.”

  Laura stared at him defiantly. Ugh, she realized she still hadn’t punched him in the throat and the urge to do it right this moment was overwhelming. “We can’t get up.”

  Cherry looked at Jace. “Jace?”

  “What do you want with us Cherry? What do you want with me?”

  Cherry laughed. “You thought you could just come here and they would leave you alone? That’s funny.”

  “Then why don’t you let Laura go? You have me now. You don’t need her anymore.”

  “Jace, no! I’m not just leaving you here. I did that before and I’m not doing it again.”

  Jace looked at Laura, pain radiating from his face, trying to get her to understand. Then he looked at Cherry. “Please, Cherry. You’ve got what you want.”

  “How do you know it’s not Laura that we want?”

  Jace raised one eyebrow. “Don’t insult my intelligence.”

  “It doesn’t matter. She’s been promised to me. As a reward.”

  Jace jumped up, ripping the angel hair binding them, and faced Cherry, his hands in fists at his side. “She’s not yours for the taking.” Laura looked at Jace in shock.

  “That’s not your choice. You’re not in charge here.” Cherry’s face was red, angry.

  Jace growled. “I said she’s not yours.”

  Cherry sneered at him. “You just don’t like not being in charge anymore, isn’t that right? You can’t stand that someone else is giving you orders.”

  “You will not take her. Over my dead body.”

  Cherry pulled his knife from its scabbard. “That can easily be arranged. She’s the only thing stopping me from slitting your throat anyway. They promised me her, in exchange for you, alive. But now I’m having a hard time seeing why I can’t just kill you and take her anyway.”

  Jace grinned menacingly. “You know you have no chance of killing me.”

  Cherry pulled his knife back. “And all it would take is a flick of my wrist and Laura would be skewered like a BBQ on the back wall.”

  Jace grew red. “Do that, and it will be the last thing you ever do.”

  “I’ll go.” Laura’s voice was small, so low that ordinary humans wouldn’t have even heard her.

  They both whipped their heads towards her. Jace kneeled in front of her. “Laura, no. You have no idea what he wants.”

  “Oh, I have somewhat of an idea.” She faced Jace with steely eyes. “It’s the only way. I can’t get out of here alone anyway, I need one of you to help me make it to the top, or I’ll drown. And you can’t carry me and fight him at the same time. I need to go with him.”

  He leaned his head on top of hers. “Laura, no. We’ll find a way.”

  She shook hers. “I can’t let you take a chance.”

  “Well, it’s decided then.” Cherry’s booming voice interrupted their exchange and he ripped Laura from the bed. Her wrists and ankles screamed in pain and she doubled over. “No more chit chat.” He pulled her up and tears of pain streamed down her face. She punched him in the throat. He doubled over, coughing, and she yelped. Holding her wrists, she fell to the floor.

  Jace gripped Cherry’s shirt but Cherry already had a knife to Laura’s throat. He stared deep into her eyes. “Do that again and I’ll kill you.”

  He yanked her off the floor and faced Jace.

  “Make one move and I’ll slit her throat. And then, I’ll clean her blood off my knife with your feathers, after I cut your throat.”

  Red and furious, Jace fisted his hands and folded them over his chest, unwilling to test Cherry’s speed, and Cherry grinned. “I thought so.”

  He backed up, gesturing Jace to go through the door first. The water was to their calves now and Laura knew that there would be nothing left of this room after a few hours. Not that she had any desire to return.

  They walked through another room, furnished only with a desk, an old wooden chair and a cell phone that lay on top of the desk. There were grates on the floor, where water could filter out when they entered but they weren’t enough to stop the flow from the crack in the other room.

  Cherry left everything there and they hesitated before the door.

  Laura grit her teeth against the pain in her wrists. She noticed her old coat. “Aren’t you going to bring the coat?”

  Cherry sneered at her. “I figure after this is all over, I’ll be seeing her in hell soon enough.” Cherry gripped Laura tighter before she could respond and nodded to Jace. In unison, Jace opened the door and Cherry shot through it, carrying Laura with him who gulped in, filling her lungs with air. Jace followed right behind them.

  ❦

  Laura didn’t make it. She tried to hold on as much as possible, burying herself wretchedly into Cherry as her lungs grew more and more desperate for air. They sped through the lake and she saw Jace watch over her carefully, as Cherry gripped her tight.

  When she woke up, Cherry was holding her with his fists in her sternum. Water thr
ow-up drained from her mouth, the rank smell filling her nostrils and clothes.

  “Great,” she muttered, wiping her mouth.

  As soon as Cherry let her go, she fell to the ground and Jace, watching her with a worried look on his face, kneeled next to her. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I just feel a bit light-headed, is all.” He fumed, fussing over Laura and healing her wrists. Again.

  When he was done, he stood up and punched Cherry in the face. “You could’ve swum faster.”

  Cherry grinned, licking the blood leaking from his lips. “And give her whiplash? You just can’t be happy, can you?” He gripped her arms tight and pulled her in. “Let’s go.” His wings stretched out and they flew into the sky.

  ❦

  They didn’t go far; they entered the caves that were on the other side of the lake. They walked, it was too tight for them to fly, trudging down the old mining tunnel until they veered off on what looked like a carved out trail. It smelled like copper and stale water, and Laura could hear flapping wings. Even though what they were likely to encounter would be much worse than bats, she still hoped there weren’t any where they were headed. The darkness enveloped her and she stumbled. Cherry took her elbow, pushing her forward. “Move faster.”

  The light grew brighter as they came upon a large cavern and Laura gasped in awe. Stalactites hung from the ceiling that had to be as tall as a skyscraper, except in the middle where the cave walls stretched into the sky. She followed the walls up and up until she saw a large hole in the ceiling where an Fallen entered. “Why didn’t we just come that way?"

  Cherry’s answer was to nudge her forward.

  The Fallen was wearing the same thing that Urban’s group had worn before: a black leather uniform. It strung tight against his chest, complete with a bow around his back and feathered arrows sticking out of a quiver. Laura watched him float to the floor of the room, where two other Fallen met him, and they began to talk as he walked forward.

  Laura tried to look for any tunnels moving out, somewhere they could escape. She stared in awe at the sparkling blue and green lake down the way. If circumstances were different, she would’ve stripped down and taken a swim. A small tunnel branched off the lake and she wondered where that led.