The first guy was on his feet again, and he was pissed. Kelan waited for his next move, but was distracted to see someone else coming out of the far door. How many would he have to fight before he could get Fiona free?
Kelan tried to slip between the newcomer and Fiona, but the first guy stopped him. They exchanged a few punches, but when the newest guy started to roll Fiona’s table away, Kelan had to finish the fight fast. He did a roundhouse kick to the guy’s chest. He stumbled backward, and as he righted himself, he pulled out a switchblade.
Fiona was being rushed from the room. It was taking too long to deal with this guy. Kelan pretended he was focused on what was happening with Fiona, letting the guy lunge toward him. At the last moment, Kelan caught his wrist, turned it back toward his attacker, and thrust it into his chest.
No one else challenged him, so he was free to race after Fiona. He slammed through the doors she’d just been taken through. The room was a black void. Before the door shut behind him, he noticed another door on the opposite side. He checked it, but it was locked.
“Hello, Mr. Shiozski.”
How did they know him? Where had they taken Fiona?
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Why?” He remembered his comm unit and turned it on, but wasn’t sure Max could hear him in the metal box he was in.
“Because you are the War Bringer we’ve been told was coming.”
Kelan went still. He thought of the tattoo he had on his right arm. He’d gotten that ink before he went into the Army. It was the skull of a Lakota warrior. A red bandana was tied around his forehead, holding back his hair. On the other side of the skull were the words, in big block letters, War Bringer. Kelan had designed it as an appeal for the protection of his ancestors against the enemies he would encounter. Its meaning was personal for him, yet this disembodied voice was talking about it as if it had meaning of another sort.
He wasn’t going to let that oddity distract him from his purpose. “Where’s Fiona?”
“You shall have her, soon, if you are successful in the competition.”
“Who are you?”
“No one of importance.”
“Why did you take Fiona?”
“It was her destiny.”
Great. These were the fruitcakes that had the other half of his soul. “All right. You’ve had your fun. Game’s over.”
“No. In fact, it’s just beginning. Fiona is in the next room. Go to her.”
The door opposite him opened, showing another long, narrow room. Fiona lay on a pallet on the floor, in a thin blue beam of light. The whole room was padded in white fabric, like something out of an asylum. As soon as Kelan stepped through the door, a panel slid shut behind him. The room moved then paused. He heard heavy doors close on the other side of the steel panel, then the room rocked as if in motion.
It wasn’t a room at all, but the trailer of a big semi.
Kelan walked over to Fiona. A thick acrylic panel separated the two portions of trailer, blocking him. He sat down, folding his legs as he assumed a traditional yoga pose, facing her. He took the earpiece out of his pocket, put it in his ear, and lowered his face, letting his hair and posture obscure him from any cameras that might be watching him. “Max, you read me?”
No answer.
“Max, come in.”
Nothing.
Either the comm unit was broken or the truck was blocking the signal. He’d leave the earpiece in until they stopped at their destination. Hopefully, it wasn’t so far that it would be out of range.
He looked over at Fiona’s prone body. He hadn’t noticed before, but the silk gown she wore was nearly sheer. He could see the dark shapes of her nipples.
As he watched her, she started to rouse. She pushed herself to a sitting position. Her now long blond hair spilled about her face. She brushed some of it out of her face, then held it and looked at it, frowning.
She glanced his way, then tilted her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Kelan!”
She scrambled toward him, but the long gown she wore inhibited her progress. She huffed a ragged breath, then gathered the fabric away from her legs and crawled over to the clear panel that separated them. She flattened her hand against it. He raised his hand to cover hers. Maybe, if they held still, their palms would heat the acrylic, and it would be as if they were actually touching.
“I can’t believe I’m seeing you,” she said, her voice muffled by the dense panel between them. “Is it really you? Or is it another dream? I don’t know if I’m awake or asleep even now.”
“It’s really me, Mahasani.”
She nodded. Tears slipped down her face. “How long…how long has it been?”
“A day.”
“It feels like a lifetime. Kelan—they said they had Casey, too. Is she also missing?”
He shook his head. “She’s safe at Blade’s. They lied to you.”
“Thank God.” She looked up then around at their container. “Where are we?”
“In an eighteen-wheeler, headed somewhere.”
“Why? Why is this happening?”
Kelan shook his head. “I don’t know. One of our captors said a whole bunch of stuff about destiny.” He didn’t tell her one of them had said she was King’s daughter. Princess Fiona. He nodded toward a bruise on her cheek. “They hurt you.”
“I fought them when they tried to take me. Then again at the house out on the plains.” She closed her eyes as the memories flooded her mind. “Kelan, there are girls being held there against their will. Minors being used as sex slaves.”
His fingertips pressed into the glass. “Not anymore. We got there just after you were taken.” He also didn’t tell her the bastards had tried to burn the little house down, occupants and all. “The girls have been taken to the hospital. They’ll be cared for in shelters.”
“They aren’t criminals.”
“I know.”
“What’s going to happen to us?”
“We’ll find out soon. Stay calm. Do what they say.”
“What if they separate us?”
“I will find you. I will always find you, Fiona. Let’s see what they’re up to.”
“I’m afraid.”