Pursued(151)

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, baby,” he said roughly. “There’s only one ticket out of here, and it’s got your name on it.” He looked at Draven. “There’s one more thing—we had a plant with us, a branch with long thorns and red berries.”

“Oh, you mean this?” Seemingly from out of thin air, Draven produced the wilted skrillix branch. “I wondered why you had it. After all, what would a happily bonded couple want with a branch of the infamous ‘pain vine?’”

“It’s to break our bond,” Elise said quietly. “It’s not right and it’s dangerous to us.”

“But you have to send it back to the Mother Ship with Elise,” Merrick added quickly. “I’m pretty sure they can break the bond even without me there, but she has to have the skrillix to do it with.”

“So you want to break your sacred Kindred bond? How very refreshing.” Draven grinned broadly at both of them. “But you don’t need to travel back to your Mother Ship to do that! I can manage it for you right here.”

“No, Draven, you can’t,” Merrick said flatly. “A soul bond is a very delicate thing.”

“You wound me.” Draven put one perfectly manicured hand to his chest. “Do you mean to say you think me indelicate? My dear hybrid, I’m quite offended by such an implication.”

“Merrick wasn’t trying to be rude,” Elise said quickly. “It’s just that the skrillix branch has to be put in the same stasis machine I was in originally, when Merrick found me, in order for it to work.”

“Oh, no, no, my dear,” Draven protested. “That’s only necessary if you want to break the bond painlessly. But we don’t care about that silliness, now do we?”

“Yes, we fucking well do care,” Merrick growled, but Draven had already called over a pair of tiny imps with dirty gray skin and was rapidly giving them instructions. They ran off as a pair and returned moments later with a cup filled with oily black liquid and a syringe.

“Now, then,” Draven continued, placing the implements along with the wilted skrillix branch down on a nearby table. “Let’s proceed, shall we?” Rapidly, he stripped the branch of its berries and squeezed them into a pulp, letting their blood-red juice run into the black liquid in the cup.

Merrick ground his teeth together. After everything they’d gone through to get those damn berries, and here this bastard was, ruining them all! He opened his mouth to protest again, but Draven was picking up the skrillix branch once more.

“Lovely long thorns, aren’t they, my dear?” He gestured with the plant to Elise who grew pale and shrank back against the steel table she was strapped to.

“Please,” she whispered. “Please, no…”

“Ah, I see you have some experience with the more, shall we say, interesting aspects of the skrillix,” Draven smiled languidly. “I would simply love to hear all about it, but unfortunately if we don’t get you and your little ship pointed toward the rift soon, the Kindred will close it. And then where will you be?” He lifted the branch again. “But fear not, my dear, these thorns aren’t for you—not this time. They are for me.” Pricking his finger, he let seven dark red drops fall into the cup. “I have no soul, you see,” he continued, swirling the contents of the cup to mix them. “So my blood will act quite nicely as a solvent for your bond.”

“You’re crazy,” Merrick said hoarsely. “You don’t know what the poison in those thorns can do to you.”

“Oh yes, I do.” Draven pricked his finger again, seemingly just for fun this time. “I’m touched at your concern, but please don’t be worried for me—I’m immune to the effects.”

He offered the cup to Elise, but she shook her head. “No. I don’t want your blood inside me.”

“Oh no?” Draven raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, well…how hurtful. Especially when you consider there are much more painful parts of myself I could put inside you, my dear.”

“You fucking lay one finger on her and I’ll kill you,” Merrick growled.

“Don’t worry.” Draven waved airily. “We don’t have time for pleasantries like nonconsensual sex any more than I have time to find out why your lady love so fears the skrillix’s sweet kiss.” He looked at Elise. “We have a fold to catch before it unfolds, my dear. And since you won’t be persuaded to take my little mixture by mouth…”

Plunging the syringe into the black, oily contents of the cup, he pulled up the plunger, filling it with the viscous stuff. Then, despite Merrick’s hoarse shouts for him to stop, he connected it to the tubing running into Elise’s arm, and injected her with the awful looking mixture.