Pleasures of the Night(77)

“Hell.” Philip’s hand fisted with white-knuckled force around the hilt of his weapon.

They kept going.

Finally she found him, his black garments a stark contrast to the white outfits the other poor blokes were wearing. “Oh my god,” she breathed, her stomach churning dangerously. His head hung low, his chin to his chest, his body held upright by no discernible device. Lyssa ran to the chamber and banged on it, trying to find a door or some way to open it. “Aidan! Aidan, answer me!”



The thought that he might be dead made her so ill, the room spun around her.

“Watch out!” Philip grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way.

A flash of movement in her peripheral vision was her only clue to Philip’s distress until a blade whizzed past her, almost severing her arm.

“Christ!” She feinted to the left as the Elder lunged toward her again.

“Kill her, Lieutenant,” the Elder ordered, just before he stumbled back from Philip’s parrying sword with such force that his hood fell to his shoulders. “What are you doing?” he cried.

Philip thrust her behind him and fought back. “How do I get the captain out of there?”

“He is sequestered for the benefit of all.”

Lyssa gaped, horrified by the sight of the man inside the robe. He looked like a corpse, his skin papery thin and wrinkled, his hair a shocking white. He glared at her with pale eyes, and she knew, without a doubt, that he wanted nothing more than to murder her.

“I’ll ask you again, Elder,” Philip said, nearly catching his opponent with a swipe to the abdomen. “How can we free Captain Cross?”

“I’ll never tell you!” the Elder promised viciously.

Lyssa watched in stunned amazement as the two men, so different in appearance—one youthfully virile, the other risen from the grave—clashed in a show of skill that she couldn’t help but admire. She retreated step by step as the battle continued, finally coming to a halt with her hips pressed up against the edge of a counter. Risking a glance at what she was up against, Lyssa saw a computer console similar to the one she had seen in the cavern, but a great deal smaller. The writing on the touch panel was foreign, but the rounded slot for a key was unmistakable.

Okay. Taking a deep breath, she ignored the shivers that wracked her body and tried to imagine what type of key she should be looking for. Then she felt it.

Looking down, she was startled to find a rounded key hung from a chain in the center of her palm.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, awed at her power in Aidan’s world. No need to hunt things down, apparently. A quick check with the lock proved that she had the right key. Now she just had to help Philip get rid of the Elder.

“Got it!” She grinned as she imagined a pitcher with a handle, and it appeared in her hand. Fat at the bottom with a narrowed lip for pouring, it looked exactly like the Kool-Aid mascot. She waited until the perfect moment, then leaped into action, bashing the Elder on the head when he came close enough.

The glass shattered; he made a gurgling noise and then collapsed at her feet, his sword clattering to the ground. Left with a pitcherless handle, Lyssa tossed it aside and dusted off her hands on her wet pants legs.

“Whoa,” Philip said, his swinging arm stilling in midair.

“Here.” She tossed Philip the key, and he caught it in his free hand. “Get Aidan out of that tube.”

He moved over to the console. “I’m on it.”

Philip powered up the touch pad. A moment later, a loud hiss of air signaled the opening of the chamber, and Lyssa hurried to it just in time to catch a stumbling Aidan.



“Baby,” she murmured, her legs spread wide in an effort to bear his weight.

He clutched her tightly to him, straightening, his cheek nuzzling against hers. “You’re wet,” he noted in a slurred whisper. “And not for the reason I’d like.”

“Sex fiend,” she retorted, her throat tight with relief. Part of her had been terrified to see him so helpless, this man who was larger than life. Even when he was asleep, there was a taut alertness about him that never let anyone forget how dangerous he was. He had lacked that in the tube. “Are you okay?”

His large hands cupped either side of her spine, pulling her hard to his body until there was no space between them. He held her like that for a long moment, then she felt his head lift and his frame stiffen as he processed their surroundings.

“No, I’m not okay. I’m pissed and freaked out. What the hell are you doing here?”

“Saving you.”

“Fuck.”

“Can you stop thinking about sex?”

Aidan’s reluctant chuckle rumbled against her chest. “Hot Stuff, you drive me crazy.”