Page 87 of Fighting for Her Heart
Meanwhile, Zuben doesn’t seem to notice a thing, barely wincing as the silver touches his body, he just keeps staring ahead as if he’s engrossed in reading. I watch in horror as they insert the long needles into his veins, and attach them to plastic tubes leading into blood collection receptacles. This process was hidden from me when it was happening to us. I only saw the trap we were in once there was no chance of escape.
The darkest skinned of the witches opens Zuben’s pants and then strokes his penis. Once he’s fully erect, she takes careful measurements.
My stomach roils, realizing they did this to me too while I wasn’t aware. Realizing this is why the sheath they use to collect my spunk fits so precisely each time they force me to ejaculate.
“That should do it,” Nora says to the other witches. “He’s secure.”
Turning toward the room’s entrance, Nora waves her hand. The room glows for a moment, blue light from an unseen source, and then she turns back to her witch friends. “Let me handle this.”
Handle what? I wonder. Then one of the witches comes over to me. She adjusts the contraption coming out of my veins and my blood starts to drain once again.
“Shall we milk him as well?” The witch asks the others. “Or should we wait, given our visitor.”
“Go ahead and milk him,” Nora says. “I’ll handle the Illuminant. She is harmless.”
“What the hell?” Ember’s voice draws my attention to the doorway. “I’ve been worried sick about you guys, and you’re down here having an orgy?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ember
Nothing about todayhas turned out how I expected, but this maze-like series of corridors is insane. Each time I hit a corner, it turns in a different direction, and although I’ve lost all sense of space, I feel certain that, not only have I been going in circles, the route I’ve taken doesn’t even make logical sense and must all be based on an illusion.
As soon as Zuben and Mom went down the stairs, I raced into the church and grabbed the trap door before it fully closed. A priest was lying on the front pew, soundly sleeping, and so I left the trap door open as I descended the stairs to the basement.
But almost as soon as I hit the bottom of the stairs, the light from above disappeared, as if the door had shut, and even with my night vision, there’s nothing to see in this crazy series of tunnels, more like an underground maze.
Remembering a strategy I heard about navigating mazes, I keep my right hand on the wall, and turn at each dead end, and then I test out the next direction to the right at each junction.
The tunnels are quiet, unnaturally quiet, and I long ago lost the sound of Zuben’s heartbeat. Or Mom’s.
I lost the sounds the moment Mom and Zuben went down the stairs. Are they lost in this maze too? If so, I will find them.
Each time I hit a new roadblock in this never ending maze, a new level of panic hits inside me. I’m just retracing my steps, going around and around in a never ending void of blackness. This can’t be real. It must be an illusion created by the Keepers of Light to protect their headquarters.
Can I break their spell using magic?
Taking hold of the amulet, I concentrate, tightly closing my eyes. Light builds inside me, but like usual, something is blocking it, trapping it inside me. I open my eyes, but nothing has changed. I’m still in this endless black maze, going nowhere, and I may never be able to use or control my magic.
Releasing the amulet, I pound my fists into the wall beside me. The walls vibrate under the force of my arms, making them seem physical, tangible, even though I’m sure they can’t be. Turning another corner, a hint of blue light comes from another junction to my left.
Abandoning my right hand on the wall strategy, I race toward the light. I hear voices. My heart rate triples as I turn the corner.
One of the voices is Mom’s. The others are also female, but I can’t make out any words. Where are my men? Why can’t I hear them, never mind even sense them?
The blue light glows brighter. A large wooden door appears out of nowhere and the light’s glowing from under it. I pull open the door.
Then stop in shock.
Mom is trapped in a cage, while Zuben, Axe and Ryker are scattered around the room on plush chaises, each of them feeding from the throats of a naked woman, and those women are writhing against the men’s equally naked bodies.
“What the hell?” Hurt and anger build inside me. “I’ve been worried sick about you guys, and you’re down here having an orgy?”
I catch myself. This is an illusion. It must be an illusion. I fight to think logically.
Apart from Mom being trapped in a cage, the room looks like a nightclub, soft lighting and sexy music pumping through the air.
“Ryker! Zuben! Axe!” I call out, but none of them reacts. It’s as if I’m not here.
