Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

wasn’t a part of her that felt clean, no part of her that felt as if it was hers. He had done that. Stavros. Even with the wild wind slamming into the vil a and her sisters close, she felt terrified of him. He seemed invincible. El e kept her head down, not wanting him to see her utter defeat at his hands.
    â€œSheena.†His voice was deceptively gentle, compel ing her to look at him, her heart in her throat. “I want your obedience. You wil have to live here of course, but I wil make your world an incredible one. We’l have our children and our home away from everyone. You’l be protected and so wil our children. Here, where I can make certain no outside influences adversely affect our lives.â€
    He sounded so reasonable. She couldn’t help but wonder, with her sitting there naked, wrapped only in a blanket, bruises and whip marks crisscrossing her body, how he could sound so sane and reasonable.
    â€œYou beat me.â€
    His eyelids flickered and her heart jumped, frightened she’d pushed him too far. It was such an edge, a balance, trying to maintain a semblance of control when she real y had none. Control was an il usion.
    â€œI punished you, yes, because you misunderstood what I wanted from you. I want obedience, Sheena. I wil take care of your every need, see to your wants and desires, even the ones you don’t know you have, but in return, I need you to give yourself completely to me. Body and mind whol y into my care. My wants and desires should always be your first thought.â€
    Like a slave. Like the women his brother had stolen and crammed into his freighters to sel into a life of hel . She felt resistance pouring through her mind and fought to hold back her natural use of power. She didn’t need him to beat her again. Her breath left her lungs in a deliberate long rush and she nodded her head. “I thought you were testing me, testing my strength.â€
    She shivered beneath the blanket and glanced again at the sky—at the clouds. Had it been her imagination? Was her mind playing tricks on her? The clouds looked like huge boiling cauldrons, a witch’s ancient brew, roiling and whirling darker and darker as they spun. The rain lashed the glass, dimming the room even more. She hoped it hid her expression and the terror building inside her.
    Stavros had known she was psychic—that was why he wanted her—not because of any attraction to her, but because he wanted children from her. It was the reason he hadn’t al owed his brother too close to her. She closed her eyes and pushed her face into the blanket. She could already be pregnant. It was possible—even likely—that a child already lived inside her.
    â€œSheena?†Stavros left his seat and came to her, one hand sliding through the tangle of hair. She hated that. Hated him touching her hair. Hated having to sit, trembling, waiting for him to decide what she could or couldn’t do. Whether she would receive pain or pleasure and she hated either from him.
    The lights dimmed, went brown and she heard his swift intake of breath. El e’s head jerked up, triumph rushing through her, adrenaline pouring into her veins, fil ing her, giving her strength. She could feel the energy field wavering, the noise in her head receding and power seeping in.

    El e threw back the cover and half stood. Stavros stil had his hand wrapped in her hair and he jerked her backward and down, taking her to the floor.
    Crouching over her, his eyes maniacal, his other hand fumbled in his pocket and he brought out a syringe, pul ing the cap from the needle with his teeth.
    El e fought him, but he knelt on her, one knee shoving hard into her stomach as he plunged the needle into her neck and depressed the syringe. Almost immediately the world began to fade, the edges getting blacker and blacker.
    Stavros bent over her. “I wil find you, Sheena, and I wil kil everything and everyone you love. There is nowhere you can hide from me.†His mouth mashed down on hers, splitting her lip, biting her hard, tearing at the soft flesh deliberately.
    Merciful y the blackness spread until she couldn’t hear, feel or see anything at al and she just let the dark take her.

    5
    JACKSON climbed into the helicopter and took his seat beside Jonas and Aleksandr Volstov, Abbey’s fiancé and former Interpol agent. He glanced at Ilya Prakenskii, Joley’s fiancé.