Page 22 of Concluded
Like the congresswoman.
There had been more to the tale, something about portals, but Achilles hadn’t paid much attention.He regretted that now.Clark had been rescued via the intervention of the empath.Together they’d killed the bad guy.Achilles wished he’d also paid more attention to the details of how they managed that.
Unfortunately, Achilles didn’t know any empaths.And unless Henry and Con could track him down, nobody was going to come riding to his rescue.But at least Clark’s adventures suggested that these opponents weren’t invincible, which was promising.They also hinted at a possible motive for the congresswoman to capture Achilles: to recruit him.So probably the best thing he could do now was decide how he was going to handle it when she tried.
Achilles sat back down and concentrated.This might not save his life, but it sure beat watching reruns ofSpanos Screws Everything Up.
* * *
A bright lightblazed on so suddenly that all Achilles could do was cry out and cover his eyes with his arms.He was just as blind now as he had been in the darkness, and the onslaught hurt, but change was an indication that new events would unfold.He did his best to steel himself for whatever came next.
Which did no good whatsoever when crushing agony again tore through his body, so terrible that he couldn’t even draw breath to scream.
The pain ebbed very slowly.As it did, he became increasingly aware of voices.
“…lift him up here.He’s too heavy for me.”That was a woman’s voice, Achilles thought.
A man’s voice followed.“Jesus, Ashley.Jesus.He….You….”
“Help me, goddamn it!”
Hands on Achilles’ body.And because his nervous system was still experiencing aftershocks of the torment, touch hurt too.He groaned and tried to get away, but nothing seemed to be working properly, as if his brain were trying to distance itself from the mess.The hands raised him up and then set him roughly on a cold, hard surface.After a binding of some kind clicked around one wrist, he made another attempt to move but was too weak.Within moments, both wrists and ankles were fettered to whatever surface he lay on.
And the conversation was still ongoing.The man said, “You didn’t tell me you?—”
“Did you think it was all cuddles and rose petals?”snapped the woman.“You know what our goal is.”
“But I don’t?—”
“Shut up, Dee.I’ll explain it to both of you when he’s capable of listening.Which’ll be soon.Bureau agents can take a licking and keep on ticking.Look at this scar collection.”A hand—the woman’s, Achilles presumed—trailed down a few of his newest wounds.
Then they stopped talking, although it sounded as if one of them was breathing harshly.Achilles moaned and slowly pried open his eyelids.Blessedly, the light was at reasonable levels, and his vision gradually came back into focus.
He was on his back, still naked, arms and legs slightly spread.The ceiling was plain white and perhaps twenty feet above him, although it was hard to tell from this angle.Two people stared down at him.One was the congresswoman—Ashley, he presumed.The other was a fortyish man with hazel eyes and a disordered mop of curly dark hair.Ashley beamed as if she’d just opened a wonderful gift, while the man seemed pale and shocked.
“Martell,” Achilles rasped.Speaking fucking hurt, and his voice came out weak and broken.But hey, at least he’d found his target.
The man twitched and gave Ashley a guilty look.“This isn’t right.”
“Says who, babe?Look, he showed up on his own—that wasn’t my doing.But he could turn out to be a nice bonus.I just needed to make sure he was in a position to listen carefully.”
“You’re… torturing him.”
Ashley heaved an aggrieved sigh.“Honey, do you know what these Bureau people do to people like you?People who are special?They murder them, that’s what.And those victims are the lucky ones.The unlucky ones get locked up in teeny tiny cells in the middle of nowhere for the rest of their fucking lives.Isn’t that so, Agent Spanos?”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.While Achilles had never killed any humans who used occult methods in dangerous ways, he knew that other agents had.In fact, Santiago had said that during his assignment before the bear shifter, he’d shot a necromancer who’d been attempting to raise a personal army of the dead.And on a few occasions Achilles had been to the prison that Ashley alluded to, deep inside Nevada.It was true that the inmates were kept in solitary confinement and, with only one exception that he knew of, were never released.
But her statement also wasn’t exactly the truth.“Not all of them,” said Achilles.
That brought another sigh.“You people are brutal for your purposes; I can be brutal for mine.Only difference is, I’m better at it.”She fluffed her hair.
“You won’t win.”Achilles hoped he looked more convinced than he felt.
“Oh, honey, we already have.All we need now is to get a few little details in place.Which I’ll be happy to explain.I’m even going to offer you a way out.Let’s call it salvation.”She chuckled.“But first, a teensy reminder of what I can do.”
She made an odd gesture with her raised hand.Before Achilles could say anything else, the pain flooded back.
CHAPTER10
