"You don't have to make your decision now. See how the night goes and you can choose then. It would be normal to be exhausted after the adrenaline wears off." He smiled as he presented an out for her. This time it didn't quite reach his eyes. She hadn't meant to inspire misgivings.

The opportunity to set things right vanished when headlights shone directly on her as a limo pulled into the gravel lot at the top of the driveway. In the spotlight, every tiny move was highlighted. And her dress probably blinded the driver.

Oops.

"Come on, E." He held out his arm to her as if they were really off to some luxurious formal event.

She couldn't help but grin as she threaded her hand through the gap between his elbow and his ribs. When they got to the stairs, he stepped down then acted as though their careful descent was due to her shoes or the restrictive skirt of her dress, instead of masking his slightly uneven gait.

In reality, she was wearing flats. Ellie had learned that lesson the hard way, thanks. And her dress was extremely comfortable since the entire thing stretched and flowed. Probably not an accident either, just in case she had to run or duck for cover.

Both of them were wearing GPS locators, microphones and cameras. She worried about the criminals busting them for that, but Lucas insisted they wouldn't know.

He led her to the waiting limo. Instead of handing her into it then rounding to his side of the car, he let the chauffeur take that role.

Earlier, Lucas had prepared her for that, saying there was no way he'd let her get in the car and shut the door before he was in there with her. Simply as a precaution. Apparently there was a lot of protocol he had developed for these kinds of situations in his military days. Things she never would have considered.

Ellie trusted him completely.

So when she met his eyes over the roof of the car and he gave a barely perceptible nod, she ducked down and got in simultaneously with him. They linked hands immediately, scooting next to each other on the bench seat. From her place in the middle, she could see there was another man in the passenger seat.

The only thing she could make out was the back of his head and he didn't speak. Not once.

For that matter, neither did the driver. The whole thing set off her creeptastic sensors.

She shivered. Lucas put his arm around her shoulder and tucked her against his side.

It took quite a while for them to wind their way down the mountainside via Lucas's intentionally absurd driveway. When they passed through the gate, it automatically swung closed behind them.

Ellie barely restrained herself from kneeling on the seat to look out the rear window at the place that had become her safe haven. She wanted nothing more than to be back on the other side of that wrought iron, in bed with the man beside her. Soon, she promised herself.

His hand squeezed hers twice in a row, the signal for calm down.

Ellie tried to relax, bringing her bouncing knee to a standstill.

It wasn't easy. Something about the interior of the car made her feel like she was trapped again. With no way out. Suddenly, opening the door to tuck and roll didn't seem like a bad plan.

Lucas rubbed his thumb over her knuckles in a steady pattern intended to soothe. It wasn't quite working.

She took deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating. They'd pulled onto the highway when she finally managed to get her heart rate under control.

Unfortunately, that was when Lucas's thigh tensed against hers.

"You're going the wrong direction," he said to the driver. "We need to be heading north, not south."

A grunt was the only response.

Ellie looked at Lucas, but he remained calm, at least on the outside. Where his hands rested in his lap, he did the most terrifying thing she could imagine.

He made a ring out of the fingers of one hand then poked his middle finger through it.

That was as loud as a scream of terror from him. She read his intent loud and clear. FUCK!

A rushing in Ellie's ears made her think she might be blacking out, scared shitless. But then she realized what it really was. Water over a dam. The limo sped across a bridge that led into the industrial sector of the city. Definitely not on the way to the casino.

Oh God, where were these guys taking them?

Lucas gripped her hand tight. He squeezed in the code they'd set up to mean abort followed by the one for run.

Very funny. Where was there to go now?

Ellie knew what he wanted. She prepared herself.

The instant her car door opened, she would fly out of it. How could she, though, and leave Lucas behind? How would she know he was right behind her?

She steeled herself to do what needed to be done. Survival mode descended on her like it had all those months ago when she'd forced herself to march out of Morselli's lair to freedom.

It was dangerous, because she was afraid of cracking, but she looked over at Lucas. His eyes flew everywhere as if cataloging their surroundings and trying to formulate a plan. Hell, that's probably exactly what he was doing. At the same time, she could see that he'd put one hand in his right pocket, where she knew he had a weapon of some sort. Not a gun, he couldn't have managed that, but she knew he had tricks up his sleeve.

She prayed they were enough to see them safely home.

Both of them. To his house in the mountains.

Why the fuck hadn't she told him that's what she wanted when she had the chance?

He'd been very stern that once they were in the car they shouldn't talk and she assumed that went doubly now.

It wasn't long before they rumbled over some railroad tracks and turned into a crumbling lot. At the far side of it was a run-down warehouse. Windows busted out, it seemed that grime was the only thing holding the structure together. It looked as if it had been abandoned for years.

Apparently, some parts of it were still in use. By these thugs.

They rolled to a stop and Lucas gave her the run signal again. She prepared herself, coiling her muscles to spring the moment the door was open.

However, she didn't expect the passenger to turn toward them at the last instant.

He smiled at her, staring directly into her eyes as he lifted out his knife and flipped it open. "It's good to see you again, Pretty. When I spotted you at Lucky's Bar and realized who would be joining us tonight, I could hardly believe it. You always were one to get in trouble, though."

Ellie clutched her chest. She thought she might be having a heart attack. The driver got out and opened her door, but her legs were frozen. It couldn't be him!

"RUN!" Lucas screamed at her. He opened his door and kicked it hard enough to take out one of the men who were standing nearby to assist in their intake to this nightmare facility. She knew whatever waited for them inside would not be good.

But the moment of hesitation had cost her their only chance.

The terror freezing her insides and sending her back in her mind to those horrible days kept her from escaping.

Lucas went immediately to Plan B. He snatched her right hand in his and tugged her out his door. Or would have if the driver hadn't grabbed ahold of her left hand. The men played tug of war with her, making her fear she was going to snap like a wishbone.

She hoped Lucas got the bigger piece of her, at least.

Ellie let some of the animal they'd turned her into last time surface. She leaned down and bit the man keeping her from Lucas. She felt her teeth break the surface of his skin before he instinctively jerked his hand back, freeing her.

Lucas nearly tumbled when the pressure released in an instant. It helped him yank her from the car. By the time she'd cleared the vehicle, he was already taking people out with some version of martial arts. He used the car door as a shield, limiting the angle of attack for the oncoming goons.

The world seemed to turn more slowly or something because she watched in sick fascination as he elbowed a guy in the face, dropping him like a sack of potatoes before reaching for the man's gun.

He had it out and aimed before she could even see through the blur.

Still, there were too many to be dissuaded by a single weapon. So as he fired the first shot, taking a man down, he also kicked out, slamming another in the chest. The impact knocked both the man he'd kicked and the person behind him, whom the sucker crashed into, back.

Ellie watched Lucas's flurry of motion, so well ingrained that it made him look like an ass-kicking machine. He kept her blocked from the encroaching danger, easily dispatching four men before one got a blow in to the side of Lucas's face. He spat blood and kept going-shooting, punching, kicking and otherwise impressing the hell out of her.

Or at least he would have if it were some generic demonstration filled with dummies and targets instead of living, breathing-mostly, though some had stopped-angry humans.

One of Lucas's kicks resulted in his pants getting stuck over his prosthesis.

With a weakness to aim for, the thugs grew more vicious. One approached carrying a baseball bat. He snuck up from behind the car, out of Lucas's field of vision.

"Look out!" she screamed, but it was too late.

The man swung right for Lucas's knee on his residual limb.

He buckled.

It took a second well-placed strike to take him down.

Even then, he fought from the ground. He fired his gun until it ran out of ammo. Then he threw it at the next man who tried to attack, hitting him square between the eyes with a sickening thud.

Despite his best efforts, Lucas had to admit they were outnumbered. No man was able to win in odds of twenty or better to one.

When people started to beat on him, Ellie threw herself into the fray. No way would she stand by while they maimed him-or worse.

Unfortunately, if he wasn't able to take them on, she had no chance. Still, she would go down swinging. It only took a minute for her to be subdued, squashed to the chest of a man she would know anywhere. His vile odor, like black licorice and cheap alcohol, washed over her, making her want to retch.

Lucas groaned and got to his hands and knees, crawling toward her.

Someone kneed him in the face, but he kept charging. It was the most determined and completely impossible thing she'd ever witnessed.

"Let him go," she begged her old guard. "Do whatever you want with me, but let him go."

"I'm gonna do whatever I want with you anyway, Pretty. Look how you're all dressed up for me too." He sniffed her hair, making her shudder.

"No!" Lucas roared, somehow finding the strength to surge to his feet once more.

It didn't matter.

The guard passed Ellie to the limo driver, who got blood all over her gown. He was rough as he snarled in response to the injury she'd inflicted. They would make her pay for that. She knew it. And still she fought.

Pointlessly.

She watched in horror as the guard took out his knife and stabbed Lucas. He dodged at the last second, taking the blade to his upper arm instead of his chest. Still, he howled, making everything inside Ellie shrivel and die.

This couldn't happen.

Not to him. Not to her. Not again.

More reinforcements spewed from the warehouse like ants on a dropped piece of candy. Blood soaked the ripped sleeve of Lucas's suit. When he couldn't stay upright any longer, they let him drop in the dirt.

Ellie sobbed.

"You like this piece of shit?" The guard kicked Lucas hard in the ribs for effect.

He didn't grunt or move except from the force of the blow.

"Oh God!" she screamed.

Was he dead?

"Say goodbye, Pretty. Better hurry before he's gone."

The guard leaned down and said something to Lucas, low enough that she couldn't hear. It must have been something horrible, though, because he twitched, trying to get up again.

The guard punched him in the jaw. Lucas's entire body went limp. Out cold.

Please let him only be unconscious.

Stay down, Lucas, she begged in her mind. Stay down.

And then he didn't have a choice. The guard jammed his thumb on the proximal lock of Lucas's prosthesis and yanked it off. He put it under his arm and said, "A trophy for my collection. Saves me from cutting out his eyes."

He admired the drawing Ellie had done for a moment before turning to the limo driver and ordering, "Leave him here to bleed out. It should take a good, long while. Be very painful. Make sure he suffers."

With that, he snatched Ellie and dragged her kicking and screaming toward the warehouse.

She didn't care what he subjected her to from then on. He'd already done the most painful thing possible. Sobbing, she watched Lucas's still body until he was out of sight. Lost to her.

"You're in for a treat, boys. This one's a sex fiend. The rougher you are, the better she likes it." He grinned at her. "Isn't that right, Pretty?"

"Fuck you!" she snarled.

"Yes, you will. We have a lot of time to make up for."

Chapter Sixteen.