Dark Desire
Chapter 21
Zander
drifted in and out of consciousness. There were times when he remembered,
vividly, what had happened to him. Times when he tried to crawl out of bed
only to find himself pinned down and a pinprick in his arm, sending him back
into dark oblivion. He wished he could stay there. One time he came awake to
hands caressing him, wet lips kissing him and Zander tried to lash out at the
person. Then a familiar voice was there, whispering in his ear. Alcazar.
Telling him that he was safe, that no one would hurt him again. Zander was
desperate to believe him. When
Alcazar kissed him, Zander kissed him back. And when he felt the pinprick in
his arm, he welcomed the darkness.
*
* * * *
Jason
met Trent at the back entrance. Trent was the guy Elizabeth had hooked him up
with. He was willing to help them get Zander out. For a fee. He disabled the
security system long enough for Jason to get in. Trent had also set things up
to be the guard watching Zander that night. So it was an easy in and should be
an easy out.
"I
have a van at the end of the west drive," Jason told him. "Can you
take Zander to it?"
"No problem." Trent locked eyes with Jason. "Got my
money?"
Jason
held the man's gaze. "In the back of the van. Black duffle bag."
Trent grinned. "Nice doing business with you." He let himself into
Zander's room, yanked back the covers and picked the kid up in his massive
arms. He was heading back out when Jason stopped him.
"Where is Elizabeth?"
"Three
doors down," Trent replied, then he headed off with his cargo.
Jason
half ran down the hallway. He found the door locked but he kicked it open.
"Elizabeth!"
She
was sitting at the window. "Jason!" She ran into his arms. "You
have to get Zander out of here."
"He's already on his way out. Now we have to go." Jason started
pulling her towards the door. Then he heard it, a commotion. "We're out
of time."
"Yeah...we are." Elizabeth blinked back tears. "This way."
She grabbed his hand and led Jason out of her room and down to the end of the
hallway. She had talked to Trent and Elizabeth knew that master suite would
offer his only chance of escape. It had a balcony that led down to the
gardens. He could make a run for it from there. So Elizabeth led them into
Alcazar's room, only to spin around and head back out. She closed the door and
locked it with the key Trent had given her. She heard Jason pounding on the
door and swallowed a sob as she ran down the hallway, screaming at the top of
her lungs. She would create a diversion for Jason, and pray.
*
* * * *
Trent
got Zander to the van and laid him down in the back. There was a blanket
folded up and he used it to cover the kid. Then he grabbed the black duffle
bag and was ready to leave when he heard a shout. Trent pulled his gun and
didn't hesitate, he fired a round of shots.
Jason
showed up in time to see Trent take a hit and keep on shooting. He fired his
own gun even as he dove behind the wheel of the van. He had left it running.
Jason put it in gear, stamped on the accelerator and took off. He didn't slow
down until they reached the outskirts of the city. And even then he pushed the
speed limit. Two hours later they arrived at a private airstrip. Jason carried
Zander onto a waiting plane and settled him into a seat. Zander never stirred
and seeing the needle marks in his arms, Jason could understand why.
"Take off," Jason told the pilot.
"I thought there was to be three of you, sir," The pilot countered.
"You thought wrong." Jason's voice was clipped. He hated having to
leave Elizabeth behind, but he would make damn sure her sacrifice was not in
vain. She had risked everything for Zander. To save him. So Jason would do
just that. He would save Zander. For Elizabeth.
*
* * * *
Luis
was furious. He trashed his office then he had Elizabeth brought to him. He
slapped her and she glared at him, defiantly, as she pressed a hand to her
reddened cheek. "You will be punished!" Luis promised her.
Elizabeth smiled. "I don't care. You can't hurt Zander anymore. So do
your worst."
"I intend to," Luis purred, and he was pleased when Elizabeth
shivered in reaction. Then he stalked over to the open door and bellowed,
"Fire up my plane. We leave in one hour." Luis knew that Jason
Morgan would try to get Elizabeth back. But he would have to find her first.
And when the time came, Luis was certain that Morgan would be willing to make
a trade. Zander...for Elizabeth. He would just have to bide his time. And Luis
could be patient, if it meant getting what he wanted. And he wanted Zander
back.
*
* * * *
Jason
rubbed a hand over his face then dropped into a nearby chair. Three days had
passed since he had gotten Zander away from Alcazar. Three days and nights of
hell. And it wasn't going to be over anytime soon.
Upon arriving at their location, a private island, Jason had contacted a
doctor to examine Zander. He had been horrified by what he had learned. If
repeated rapes weren't enough for Zander to deal with, the drugs Alcazar had
pumped into him had left his system dependent. The withdrawals he had suffered
for the past two days were just about killing Zander. Jason had hired two
nurses to help him take care of Zander and the doctor was on call at all
times. But just watching Zander puke his guts up, then twist around in agony
was wearing Jason out.
The
good news was that the doctor had just examined Zander again after they had
cleaned him up, again, in the shower. The low-grade fever he had developed was
gone. The withdrawal symptoms, the pain and puking had eased up. Zander was
still in loose restraints, and the doctor had put in an IV, but he was
sleeping somewhat peacefully at the moment. Dr. Sorato had told Jason that the
longer Zander slept, the better. That it would now be a healing sleep.
But there was bad news as well. The physical aspects of the rapes and drugs
were easing, but now Zander would have to deal with the emotional and
psychological aspects of it. Dr. Sorato believed that Zander would crave more
drugs when he woke up and Jason would have to deal with that. As for the
rapes, that was going to be an issue in itself. One that would have to be
dealt with at the time, since Dr. Sorato couldn't even begin to guess at what
Zander's psychological state would be.
Jason
didn't want to think about that now. He was tired. He closed his eyes and
drifted off. But he came awake with a start, a few hours later, when he heard
Zander crying out. Jason moved to the bed and watched as Zander thrashed about
a bit. He was tugging on the restraints and mumbling something. Jason leaned
in and heard the name *Peter*. He had no idea who Peter was.
"Zander?" Jason thought it would be best to wake him from whatever
nightmare plagued him. "Zander...wake up." Jason reached out and
touched his shoulder, pulling back when Zander's eyes flew open. "It's
okay. You’re safe now."
"Who are you? Did Sorel send you? Where am I?" Zander tugged at the
restraints, his eyes wild with fear.
"Zander...you
know me. I'm Jason."
Zander shook his head, still tugging at the restraints. "I don't know
you. Where the hell am I? What do you want with me?"
Jason
looked into Zander's eyes and saw genuine confusion and fear. He wasn't sure
how to respond. "Look...I'm a friend, okay? I'm trying to help you."
"You
don't work for Sorel?"
"Sorel
is dead."
Zander was stunned. "Dead? Are you sure?"
Jason nodded. "Yeah...I'm sure." But he wasn't sure about anything.
"Look...just relax for a bit, okay? I have to make a phone
call."
"Where am I? And why am I in restraints?" Zander couldn't keep the
fear out of his voice.
"You were hurt...someone hurt you and it's a long story." Jason ran a hand over his head. "I need to call someone, then I'll try and answer your questions." He walked out of the room, grabbing his cell phone off his belt. He punched in Dr. Sorato's number and hissed, "Get your ass over here now. Zander is awake."
© Shelly 2004