Part 2 (2/2)

She wept for me.

For a long time after the dungeon door had clanged shut, the prisoner continued to stare at the place where the girl in his dreams had stood. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the spot where he'd last seen her any more than he could stop the endless circle of his thoughts.

She shed tears for my pain. She tried to save me-to help me. She even shared my torment.

No female had cared for him in such a way in more years than he cared to count. Not since before he had become the trained, deadly killer he was today. Pope'nose had told her all that-had told her about his past, his kills-and still she had defended him.

Why? he thought, remembering the look in her big eyes. He longed to know their color. Why did she care? Was it because she dreamed of me too? Will she ever come back?

But even if she did, what good would it do? He was nearly at the end of his strength-his power and stamina completely sapped by the d.a.m.ned verium. In fact, the extra scoop Pope'nose had sprinkled over him before she left might well mean his death. As strong as he was, the thirst and weakness were stronger-slowly they were killing him.

He was already on his knees but now he sank lower, ignoring the jolts from the pain collar as he went. Finally, he lay on his back with his head in the stream. He could feel the cool water running through his hair but it did nothing to wash away the deadly verium. Nothing could do that until the seal was broken. Until he got at least a mouthful of the life-giving water past his lips, the barrier of the dust was complete and una.s.sailable.

And since there was no way to break the barrier without someone willing to help him-to give him the kiss of life-he was probably going to die.

As his eyes closed, his last thoughts were of the lovely girl with the sad eyes and the honey blonde curls. He hoped he would dream of her, just once more, before he went. Truly, she was a lovely sight-a beautiful last vision to rest his weary mind on before he crossed the threshold to the other world.

”G.o.ddess have mercy on me,” he croaked through parched lips.

Then his eyes closed and he knew no more.

Chapter Four.

Shouldn't be doing this, Maggie thought to herself as she crept along the corridor that led to the dungeon. This isn't part of the plan at all. I'm just supposed to get the doc.u.ments and go-that's all.

But even though the remote to the collar had been found and she now had the Kindred doc.u.ments in her possession-they were in fact in the compressed form of a pill-sized pellet and stuffed down the front of her bra-she found she couldn't just leave. When Lady Pope'nose had politely asked if she wished to spend the night, Maggie had agreed without even thinking about it. She had lain in the plush bed she was given until the early morning, arguing with herself but she couldn't talk herself out of the plan that had formed in her mind.

Somehow, she was going to set the prisoner free.

This is stupid, Maggie, she told herself even as she checked to see if the coast was clear outside his door. It was hard to tiptoe around in the tight green dress and ridiculously high heels and for a moment she wished she had left the shoes behind. But if she was caught, she wanted to say she was just out for a stroll. It would look bad for her to be sneaking around in her bare feet. It looked, well...sneaky.

He's a murderer-maybe even a psycho, she thought, as she surveyed the prisoner's unguarded door. He might kill you if you let him go.

But that was just what Lady Pope'nose had told her. Probably she was lying or exaggerating. But even if she wasn't, Maggie couldn't forget the look on his face as he had nodded to her. Had she been imagining the respect and grat.i.tude she saw there? She didn't think so. Are you willing to bet your life on that? asked a little voice inside her head. Maggie didn't know.

She got to his door, expecting to find it locked. Instead, it opened easily with only a little creaking. Wow, Lady Pope'nose was really confident in her security system. Either that or some careless slave had left the door unlocked.

Somehow Maggie doubted that. Considering that even a minor infraction could result in mind-bending agony, it didn't make sense for the slaves to be anything less that super scrupulous about every task they did.

No, it was more probable that the door was unlocked for the same reason that Lady Pope'nose left the key to the prisoner's chains inside the cell with him-it was just another form of torment. A way to taunt him with the freedom which was so close and yet so maddeningly out of reach. A way to- Maggie's thoughts cut off abruptly when she got a look inside the cell. The prisoner was sprawled on his back with his head in the stream, unmoving.

”Oh my G.o.d!” Quickly she closed the door and ran to kneel beside him, almost tripping over her high heeled shoes. ”Hey,” she whispered as loudly as she dared. ”Hey, you. Uh...” She didn't know what to call him. ”Hey, wake up!”

To her intense relief, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing those strange, pale blue eyes.

”You,” he murmured again, just as he had when he first saw her.

”Yeah, it's me,” Maggie told him. ”And I'm going to get you out of here if I can. Just hold on a second, okay?”

She hopped up again, nearly tripping on the shoes again, and ran to get the key. When she got back to him, she realized she would have to roll him over since his hands were chained behind him and he was lying on his back. But this was easier said than done.

”Oof,” she gasped as she shoved at one broad, muscular shoulder. ”You weigh a ton! And I thought I ate too many cupcakes.”

”Haven't eaten...much of anything lately,” he groaned and gave a hoa.r.s.e laugh. ”Sorry...not much...help.”

”It's okay,” Maggie told him. With a final shove she rolled him up on one side, exposing his bound wrists. A very tight, muscular a.s.s was also exposed and she realized, to her embarra.s.sment, that he wasn't wearing any kind of underwear under the ragged loincloth. Well, what did you expect-silk boxers? she asked herself, quickly pulling the cloth back in place. It's not like Lady Pope'nose's dungeon is a five star resort hotel! He's lucky to have anything on at all.

Trying to put the glimpse of his naked flesh out of her mind, she got back to the problem at hand. His wrists were chained together and connected to the wall behind him by an even longer, thicker metal chain. But there didn't seem to be any kind of keyhole or locking mechanism in either part of his restraints. Maggie looked at the chains and then at the strange, k.n.o.bby key in her hand. How the h.e.l.l was this supposed to work?

Experimentally, she waved the gray metal k.n.o.b key over his bound wrists. To her relief, the chains parted immediately and simply fell off with a clank and a clatter.

Perfect-now to deal with the collar.

Maggie was a little afraid to touch it after the huge jolt she'd gotten earlier but she set her teeth and forced herself to reach for the latticed metalwork with its blinking yellow lights. To her relief, she felt nothing but a mild tingling in her fingertips as she touched it. It had a complicated series of rods and levers holding it closed but Maggie loved puzzles. After a few moments of fiddling with various components, she found the pattern and was able to pull the horrible thing off him. It fell with a clatter and a splash into the little brook and the blinking lights went out.

Good riddance! Maggie turned back to the prisoner and noticed that he had yet another collar on. This one was a plain, flat black leather one with no lights but it still made her fingertips tingle when she touched it. Hmm...well, that one would have to go too.

”Wouldn't do that,” the prisoner growled softly as she set to work, trying to find the opening to it. ”That's my...inhibitor. Dangerous...without it.”

Maggie paused but only for an instant. ”Is it giving you pain?” she demanded, still tugging on the collar.

Slowly, he nodded. ”Always.”

”Then it has to come off.” She reached into the pocket in the folds of the ridiculous green dress and produced a small, sharp pair of nail scissors. She hadn't had any idea what she would do with them when she stuck them into the hidden pocket-maybe she'd imagined using them as a lock-pick of some kind. But now she was glad she had them.

”Hold still,” she warned the prisoner. ”I don't want to slip and cut you.”

”All right.”

”Uh...” She hesitated again, the scissors poised to cut.

”What?” He looked up at her, one eyebrow arched in question.

”It's just...I mean...you're not going to kill me once I set you completely free, are you?” Maggie blurted. ”I mean...I really don't want to die. I'm only twenty-five and-”

He surprised her by laughing hoa.r.s.ely. ”Don't you think... you should have thought of that... before you started stripping off my chains?” He spoke haltingly, as though his tongue was too thick in his mouth.

”I...I guess so,” Maggie whispered.

”You must think I'm a real b.a.s.t.a.r.d. No, blondie, I won't...won't hurt you. I'm...in your debt...” He looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers. ”And you...you're in my dreams.”

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