His muscles were so f.u.c.king tired, and he now let the exoskeleton hold him in place and support his weight. Within the next couple of hours, if they'd leave him alone, he'd probably be tired enough to sleep in this position. His captors had let his arms down a few times, locked in place so he couldn't move or use them, but at least it let the blood flow back into them.

They'd just moved his arms back up, his hands once again at the back of his head, and speared a needle through his tongue. Someone was using the strap on the back of his thighs - they were up to six strokes every time he refused an order, now - when he heard Kendra in his head as the doors to the torture chamber flew open.

It's us, Eric. Hold on just a few more minutes. We need to neutralize the room before I can release you.

The man who'd been strapping Eric was thrown to the ground, his legs and arms ripped off, and then Kendra grabbed the next person, did the same.

Kendra ripped the arms and legs off the people Eric had a.s.sumed were vampires. Some of those he'd suspected as being shapeshifters, she slammed into the ground until their skull caved in, but most were restrained with what he a.s.sumed was silver rope and wire. When the only people standing in the room were Kendra and the three men she'd come in with, she very efficiently released Eric from the contraption, as if she were familiar with it, with zero fumbling.

"Don't stand just yet, some of the needles and clamps will pull if you do. Let me get them all out."

Within moments, he was free of every clamp and needle, and she sat him on the floor and kneeled in front of him, his face cradled in her palms. "I need to go into your memories, see what they did to you. I won't do it without your permission, though. You've been violated enough and I won't add to it."

Eric shook his head, unwilling to let her see his humiliation.

"Okay, but so you don't get mad at me later for not telling you my plans... if I know who hurt you, I can deal with them appropriately. If I don't, then I'll kill everyone in the building, whether they've come into contact with you or not, just on the off chance they hurt you."

"You can't do that." After all the screaming, his voice barely worked, and she looked to her side and asked someone, "Orange juice?"

Someone handed her a bottle, then a straw, and she held it below his mouth, offering the straw.

The citric acid burned his throat, but also felt as if it healed him, and washed away the taste of so many men's c.u.m. He might have thrown eight ounces of water up, but the orange juice was perfect. How had she known?

He didn't get a chance to ask, though, because she said, "Okay, Eric. I won't go in your mind without permission. Aaron Drake and his wife are going to get you out of here. I can't travel the route they'll take you, but it's the fastest and safest way to get you home."

Eric shook his head. "No, don't leave me."

She motioned towards someone else, and he brought her a bag as she said, "You don't want to watch me kill nearly two hundred people, Eric. I'll be with you before sunup, and I promise you'll be safe with Aaron and his wife."

"No. Don't... I don't think more than seventy or so people hurt me, used me. You can't kill that many!"

She pulled a pair of men's sweatpants from the bag, helped him into them as she answered, "Then let me see who hurt you, and how, so I can give them an appropriate retribution."

Eric looked sideways as he heard a noise, and was horrified to realize the people lying on the ground with their legs and arms ripped off, were still conscious and awake, blood pouring from the gaping holes where their limbs had been.

"They aren't dead?"

Someone levitated him a few inches off the ground, pulled the pants up, and gently put him back down.

"No," Kendra answered, "They'll grow their limbs back in a few months' time, if someone feeds them. Without a regular blood source, regular feedings, the strongest will grow them back over the next couple of years or decades, if someone buries them in the earth. I haven't killed anyone yet."

Eric looked towards the main trainer and demanded, "Call me Master."

The trainer smiled - smiled - and said, "Go f.u.c.k yourself."

Eric looked at Kendra and said, "You have my permission."

He felt her in his head, but thankfully didn't relive the experience as she watched.

She must've fast forwarded through it, because it didn't take her longer than maybe ten minutes to go through most of his night and all of his day, into the night again.

When she opened her eyes and met his gaze, he saw an icy chill in her eyes, and suddenly understood everyone who'd hurt him was about to die a very painful death. He'd saved the innocents, but had just given the people who'd hurt him a terrible death sentence.

"Is there anyone you want to watch die? Or would you rather leave now?" The ice of her voice made him shiver. He'd been told she was a force to be reckoned with, and was one of the most powerful vampires in the country, but tonight, he could see her power in her eyes. No, it was more than that. He could feel her power.

He was about to ask if she had to kill them, when she said, "The best way for me to be sure no one ever hurts you again, is to make an example of those who hurt you this time. Every man who put his c.o.c.k in your mouth is going to have his ripped from his body and stuffed down his throat before I remove his head from his torso and then do what is necessary so he can never regenerate, never come back."

She glanced at the head trainer, back to Eric. "The ones who caused you the most pain will feel unimaginable agony before I remove them from the earth, never to return."

Abbott stepped into the room, nodded to her, and she dispa.s.sionately acknowledged the unspoken message with a small tilt of her head before telling Eric, "You can stay and watch me take care of the ones responsible for most of your torture, or Aaron and Sophia can take you somewhere safe. I'll be there as fast as I can."

"I'd like to go, please."

"Abbott will levitate you to the gateway, and then there'll be less than ten steps you'll need to take before arriving at a safe place. Can you manage ten steps, or should I make other arrangements?"

He gave a weak smile. "I'll manage."

Chapter Sixteen.

Kendra watched them go, and then turned to the head trainer, the one who'd hurt Eric the most.

She started by cutting his eyelids off, and stuffed them up his a.s.s. She wanted to be sure he watched what she did to him.

She slammed his arm against his shoulder, gave it a few minutes to begin attaching, and then cut every one of his fingers off, making sure he felt every slice. She crammed them up his a.s.s, ripped the arm off again, and then did the same with his other arm.

His right leg was next, and she shattered his kneecap first, before cutting his toes off and poking them into his r.e.c.t.u.m. She followed with his left leg, repeating her actions, and then stood to retrieve pliers from her pocket.

She used her talons to remove his tongue - the knife wouldn't hurt anywhere near enough. His tongue went up his a.s.s, and then she tuned his screams out as she pulled every one of his teeth, before poking them in after his tongue.

His wordless screams filled the room as Kendra cut the head of his c.o.c.k off with a saw-toothed knife, crammed it up his a.s.s, and then ripped the rest of his c.o.c.k from his body before sending it to join the head. She carefully cut a hole in his s.c.r.o.t.u.m and pulled each t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e out, tearing the connective tissues until she held them in her hands. She then ripped his s.c.r.o.t.u.m off, and crammed the whole mess up his a.s.s.

Vampires lose all muscle tone in their bowels soon after their rebirth, so this a.s.shole wasn't going to expel anything she put up it.

Someone in their rescue party had propped the other de-limbed vampires up, so they could see what she did to the head trainer. The shapeshifters still conscious had been immobilized with silver and were also situated so they could watch. She could smell the terror in the room, as well as the distinct smell of urine, where some of the shapeshifters had p.i.s.sed themselves. Whether from the pain of the silver, or the fear of what she'd do to them, or a combination, she didn't know - or care.

Her focus was on the head trainer at the moment, and she opened his gut, pulled his intestines out, and wrapped them around his throat. "Just to remind you that shortly, I'll be removing your head from your body. Permanently."

She ma.s.saged his lower intestine, pointing out how she could see the shape of his fingers, his c.o.c.k, and making sure he saw.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Oh, no, it's right here... up your a.s.s."

She once again opened her knife, and made a slice along his jawline. "You shaved Eric? I'll scalp you." She worked the skin of his face off, pulled it over his skull, and then tossed the morbid helmet up to the observation area, followed by his limbs so she could be sure he didn't get close enough to them to connect. Next, she skinned a portion of his torso, taking time to cause extra pain around his nipples, and then closed her knife, put it back in her b.l.o.o.d.y pants pocket, and reached into his sternum, dug her fingers in, and pulled it apart.

The man was still conscious, horrified, in agony, and he knew death was coming soon. Kendra would've like to drag it out more, but she only had another seven hours until dawn, which meant she had to kill everyone in six hours.

Still, she could make him wait a few hours for death. She stood and looked around. When her eyes met the man she would deal with next, she could see the terror in his gaze, and smelled his panic and fear from twenty yards away.

Six more vampires received the same treatment, and then she moved to the shapeshifters. She offered a few shapeshifters and vampires the option of answering her questions in exchange for a painless death - the ones who hadn't been terrible to him, who'd used him without being s.a.d.i.s.tic about it. She learned Natalia had been due back last night, and was on her way now. Of course, Natalia would sense the pain and death coming from the mountain miles before she arrived, and would likely turn back. If she happened to have several strong vampires with her, they might show up and fight, but Kendra didn't think it likely.

Abbott's decision to send Natalia home in his plane, and ordering the pilot to not arrive at her nearest airport until nearly dawn, had likely saved Eric's life as a free human. Natalia wouldn't have hesitated to bite and enslave him, no matter that he was under The Abbott's protection.

Kendra quickly and efficiently snapped the necks, broke the brainstems, and took the hearts of a few more vampires and shapeshifters when they answered her questions, and then started in on the ones who'd raped his mouth.

When she made it back to the fourteen who'd been responsible for the worst of his treatment, she finished pulling their sternum apart, reached into their chest, and held their lidless gaze as she squeezed their hearts, watching the life leave their body. Finally, she took the heads off the vampires' bodies and made sure the brainstem was totally destroyed. The shapeshifters would all stay dead, with their hearts squeezed to a pulp, though since a few of the strongest could sometimes recover, she crushed their heads, scooped their brains out, and painted the walls with them.

Vampires don't turn to dust, or automatically turn to what they'd been had they died as a human however many years ago. Their bodies decay and rot just as anyone else's, once they are dead with no chance of coming back. Vampire blood is thicker and more concentrated than human blood, but shapeshifter blood is pretty much the same, and Kendra was soaked in both.

She found a shower just off the torture room, and cleaned up before walking with Abbott to the section housing the human slaves who worked for the Media Council. Knowing how things would likely go, she'd brought a change of clothes.

A few conversations told her these people were more than happy to do nothing but watch movies and television shows all day, and report on all vampire or supernatural activity. The other section had people who did nothing but read books, also happy to not have to stop reading to go to a real job.

As Kendra left the locked down wing of the underground fortress, she told Abbott, "We'll need to make sure someone responsible and kindhearted is put in charge."

"Let's go talk to the supernatural employees who had no part in Eric's capture, torture, or humiliation, see if we think one of them might be capable of taking over... if not permanently, then temporarily, at least."

Aaron's helicopter had flown them to the area, and they'd jumped from it a few miles away, those who could fly carrying those who couldn't.

When they finished interviewing everyone and had put a few in charge until the Interspecies Council could step in and make decisions, Abbott contacted the helicopter and had it land this time. They no longer needed the element of surprise.

They were in the mountains of South Carolina, and it'd taken forty minutes to get there, but took only thirty to get home, now that they weren't having to worry about stealth.

Chapter Seventeen.

Part of Eric wanted to see what happened to the men who'd tortured him, but he was afraid of what he'd see Kendra do, and was so d.a.m.ned tired, he knew he couldn't stay.

Kendra had sat Eric on a towel, and Abbott moved him and the towel together, as if he were on a flying carpet. He went across the room, out the door, down a path, and to a huge hemlock tree, where Aaron Drake helped him stand.

"Eric," said Abbott, "meet Sophia Siyanko-Drake. She's going to get you safely home, but it's important you do everything she tells you. If all goes well, you'll be in a safe place in less than two minutes. If there is a problem and you get separated from them, don't eat or drink anything, and tell everyone you are the guest of the Swan Queen, and you demand to be taken to her. If they say they can't find her, ask for The Summer Queen. Understand?"

Eric nodded, and Abbott continued. "As bizarre as it seems, Sophia is going to walk you into the tree. I trust Aaron and Sophia with my life, and with your life."

Sophia wrapped an arm around him, Aaron put his hand at the middle of Eric's back, and the three walked through the tree into another world. They stepped out of a different tree, and were standing in front of a loud waterfall.

"Okay Eric - now walk with us through the water. Easy as pie."

He took a few steps with them, through the falls, and they ended up in a cool cave with a different waterfall at their back.

Another man was in the cave, waiting for them, and Eric tensed until Sophia squeezed his hand and said, "He's with us. It's okay." Sophia looked to Aaron and said, "I'm going back long enough to move the gateway, in case someone saw us use it as we left. I'll take Jonathan."

Aaron nodded, kissed her, and watched her go with Jonathan without a word.

Turning to Eric, he said, "We brought you back to Chattanooga in less than ten steps, but getting you into the house will take another forty. I can't levitate you as Abbott did, but I don't mind carrying you."

No way was he suffering further humiliations, even from someone trying to help. He shook his head and asked, "Can you help support me, so I can walk?"

"Certainly."

It took a while, but they made it to a hallway, and finally a bedroom.

"This bathroom has a walk-in shower, without a lip to step over. There's a bench so you can sit and rest. You'll find more sweatpants and a clean t-shirt on the bathroom vanity, as well as a toothbrush and cup. Feel free to use the toothpaste, mouthwash, soap - whatever you need. I'll have a basket of fruit brought down, as well as some fruit juices, and you look like a bacon man... so a half pound of cooked bacon, as well. I have excellent hearing, just say my name if you need or want anything else, including company. My instincts tell me you wish to be alone for now, but if that changes, let me know. There isn't a phone in here, and I'll ask you not to try to contact anyone until Kendra can a.s.sess the security situation. However, I won't keep you from it, so if you insist then I'll bring you a secure phone. You aren't a prisoner, but I hope you'll help me keep you safe until Kendra and Abbott arrive."

As Aaron turned to leave, Eric said, "Thank you. If there's ever anything I can do to repay you..."

Aaron looked at him a few seconds before saying, "Abbott's my friend, and Ranger's my employee. I stepped in for the two of them. I've known Kendra a long time. We aren't close friends, but we're friends, and I've been worried about her for the past couple of decades. Sometimes, the oldest vampires grow bored with life, lose interest, and begin to make bad decisions until one eventually gets them killed. Kendra wasn't there yet, but she'd lost her joy, her ability to face each day just... happy to be alive. You've brought her back to life, filled her with joy again, given her a reason to live. You can thank me by not hurting her. I know what happened was bad, and no one will blame you if you turn your back on all supernaturals because of it, but I'm asking you not to make any rash decisions." He turned to go, but then rotated back to add, "This doesn't mean you shouldn't be true to yourself, it just means you don't walk away from her because you're scared, or mad. If you care for her, find a way to make it work."

When Kendra made it to Aaron's house, Eric had showered, changed into a shirt and different sweatpants, eaten, and was sound asleep. She wanted to lick him all over, heal the wounds from the needles and clamps, but he needed his sleep. Aaron had put him in a windowless, subterranean room, so she showered again, dried her hair, and climbed into bed and lay with him, holding him until dawn took her consciousness.

Eric awoke starving and thirsty, and walked to the fruit basket, replenished from last night. He'd eaten all the grapes and most of the strawberries, and it was full of both once again.

A note said to come upstairs when he was ready, and offered the promise of an actual meal.

The clock told him it was nearly five in the evening, and Eric was still tired, but thought he might go upstairs, eat an actual meal, and then go back to sleep. He needed to talk to Kendra eventually, but... d.a.m.n, he was tired.

He brushed his teeth again, rubbed his bald head, and went upstairs.

Sophia met him at the top of the steps with an appraising look before she said, "Come to the kitchen and tell the cook what you want. If we don't have ingredients for whatever you want, we can send someone out for them."

She followed him to the kitchen, and he took a seat at the island she pointed him towards, and told the cook, "I'd love a whole pan of fried potatoes, and a huge steak, if you have them."

She laughed and turned to the refrigerator, pulling out a plate of steaks marinating in a clear gla.s.s dish. "You'll fit right in here, Mister Eric. Steak and fried potatoes, coming up."

Another man stepped into the kitchen, and Eric froze until he recognized him from the cave last night.

"I'm Jonathan," the man said. "I'm Sophia's lead bodyguard. Aaron is working, so I'm with her. We normally have four men on her, three outside with one in the house, but because of last night's events, we have two in the house and six outside. You're safe here, Eric."

"Thanks," Eric said, uncomfortable with the knowledge he'd brought danger to Aaron's house and wife. "I'm sorry for the disruption. When Kendra awakens I'm sure we'll get out of your hair."

Sophia came back in from the pantry, her laughter a ray of sunshine. "Oh, extra guards because of whatever issues have come up are pretty much a weekly thing around here. Jonathan just bought a house a couple of miles from here, so he can get here faster in the middle of the night. Aaron is my primary bodyguard when he's home, but if he's called out in the middle of the night..." she shrugged. "Anyway, really, don't feel as if you've disrupted our routine. We're good." She sobered. "Are you okay? I smell some damage, but without looking, I'd say it's mostly topical wounds and bruising? If it's anything more, we can get a doctor here to look you over."