Page 85 of For Love & Torture
Chapter 38
Isabel
I can barely breathe as the air has become so cold and all of the pushing bodies are nearly suffocating me. Then I feel a hand close around my wrist and I’m being pulled by someone in front of me. I can’t see who it is.
I’m forced through the crowd then pulled to one side, and suddenly realize I’ve been dragged out of the crowd and into my office. People continue to rush by in a solid pack, and I turn to find myself alone with a tall man with a wolf mask on. He’s wearing a black cape over a black suit.
The door slams shut behind me even though no one closed it. A small light shines, illuminating the room a bit. “Bart?”
He just stands perfectly still then takes off the mask, and I see it is Bart. “You left me.”
“I did. And I won’t allow you to take me again. It’s best you don’t even try.” I’m not trying to intimidate him, but I am trying to let him know it won’t be as easy as it was the last time. I’m not jumping into a car with him and letting him take me anywhere.
“You and I both know I have certain powers others don’t have.” He takes a step forward, and I take one back.
Holding out my hand, I let him know what I know “You’re just a human, Bart. You have no special powers. That dark spirit you follow is simply using you. You’ll never be immortal the way it’s promised you.”
“You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, Isabel.” He turns and walks to the corner of the room where the psychic told us he’d opened a portal. “And you will be coming with me. You can make it easy or you can make it hard, but you will be coming with me.”
The letter opener on top of my desk glistens as the little flashlight he’s placed on the desk catches it. He doesn’t notice it as he’s too busy looking in the corner, and I ease up to the desk and pick it up, holding the sharp object behind my back.
I’ve never contemplated killing anyone in my entire life. It’s odd how quickly my mind goes to how I can take this man out. One quick jab to his neck and I might hit his jugular vein, rendering him nearly helpless. And he’ll bleed out pretty quickly.
Even though the man is pure evil and plans on killing me, I still don’t want to end things that way. Not if I can help it. So I try to talk some sense into him. “Bart, I’ve seen a psychic. She was spot on about everything she said. And she said this dark spirit is lying to you. You don’t have to do this. And she also said that taking my blood to give to this thing will kill me. You can’t bring me back to life by putting your blood into my veins.”
Spinning around, he glares at me. “If you think you can say a thing to me that will lessen my belief in my master, you’re sorely mistaken. I don’t care what your psychic said to you. My master takes care of me. If he doesn’t have the power to make me immortal then how do you think I can travel through portals?”
“Bart, I was also able to travel through a portal to get away from you. I don’t know how to explain it, but some spirits can make it so that living, breathing humans can travel through them too sometimes, I suppose. You need to believe me about this.”
“And what about how I can control women with nothing more than my mind?” He looks at me with such hatred in his dark eyes. “Why is it they do everything I ask of them?”
“I suppose the dark spirit has infected them somehow. I don’t have all the answers, Bart. I don’t claim to. But I believe what the psychic said to me. The light overpowers the darkness and it always will. And I follow the light.” I step back, getting closer to the door. “Did you put bombs in the club, Bart?”
“As if I’m going to admit to that. You’re ridiculous.” With a step forward, he eases toward me.
I keep stepping back nice and slow until my back is against the door. Then I reach down and turn the knob behind my back. With a lunge, he grabs me before I get the door all the way open. “No!” I should, but his hands clasp around my neck, choking me and ending my scream.
My feet leave the floor as he picks me up. Up I go until he has me over his head and I look down at him. A smile curves his lips, and I see his incisors are sharp once more.
A trick. I know that now.
I’m not afraid, I keep repeating to myself. Then I recall the words Penelope told me to recite over and over. The light surrounds me, shutting out the darkness. Nothing is more powerful than the light. I can’t say it out loud, but I can think it.
My hand still holds the letter opener, but I hold off from using it as I say the words over and over in my head.
Bart moves backward, taking me with him toward the corner of the room. He’s planning on using the portal to transport us both to wherever he had me before, I’m sure.
The door flies open, and I see Grant. So does Bart, and I’m released, falling to the floor.
I cough and sputter as the air comes back into my lungs and I scramble to move my body as far away from the men as I can get. Crawling on my hands and knees to hide under my desk, I keep an eye on Grant.
He’s furious and sounds like a raging bull as he tackles Bart, sending them both to the floor in a heap. Their fists pound each other’s bodies as both men make ferocious sounds. And then the air grows cold as ice, and I know Bart’s dark spirit is here.
“The light surrounds me, shutting out the darkness. Nothing is more powerful than the light,” I recite out loud. Over and over, I say the phrase and feel the cold tightening around me.
It’s only a scare tactic. It cannot harm me. I know that. I believe that with everything in me. I can’t believe my eyes as I watch Grant fly up into the air. Suddenly he’s flung backward, hitting the wall with a bang and somehow he’s stuck there.
Bart stands up, breathing raggedly. His face is bleeding from all the hits he’s taken. Grant’s lip is busted but other than that, he seems okay. Bart walks slowly toward Grant. “You dare to think you can keep her away from the one who wants her. You are a fool. The master I serve is far more powerful than anything you’ve ever known.”
