Page 87 of Dark Lover

“Bitch,” he said, seizing her. “You’ll pay for that.” As he wrestled her more tightly into his embrace, Sam realized what he meant to do.

She glanced back at Ian.

He was standing and ready to use his power again. The monk was also poised for battle. Then the monk looked at her, eyes narrow, and he vanished.

Ian cried out in furious dismay.

Sam inhaled. She didn’t want to leave him, but…

As she was hurled upward with Hemmer toward the ceiling, she waited for the incredible blow that would surely come as her head hit the plaster. But her skull never made the contact. Instead, the ceiling vanished as they whirled past the city rooftops, into the clouds, the night sky. And they were flung at the speed of light past stars and moons, past the sun. The pain was blinding. It began to rip her apart and shred her into pieces. But Sam did not scream.

Not even once.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Scotland, The Past

HEAVY GRAY SHADOWS WERE pressing her down. She tried to push them out of the way, but she was so groggy, so weak. Where was she? What had happened? Her entire body was on fire, hurting like hell. The wracking torment made it hard to breathe. Maybe there wasn’t enough air. She couldn’t pull the cobwebs of heavy gray out of her way. Suddenly determined, she tried to swim up through them to the light.

She wondered if she was drowning.

As she had that surprising thought, she opened her eyes and saw near blackness. Beneath her hands and fingers, her bare legs, she felt hard, rough stone. She lay in a pool of moisture.

Her first thought was that she lay in a pool of her own blood.

Sam sat up immediately, gritting against the pain. As she did, she felt the shackle on her right wrist. The fog in her brain lifted. She’d just leapt through time with Rupert Hemmer.

Now, she recalled everything.

It was becoming easier to breathe. Had he taken her back to 1527? He could have taken her anywhere, to any time. As she wondered about that, she had the sudden feeling that Hemmer was more than he appeared to be.

Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness. She strained to see. And she realized she was not alone.

She didn’t care about the rodents, whose scurrying was audible. But then she heard human breathing. Finally, she could make out the shapes of other people huddled together, not far from her.

It took her one more moment to realize that the other people were also prisoners, and that they were behind bars.

Sam inhaled, meeting several pale stares. Somewhere behind and above her, a torch or fire was lit. Sam realized that she was in a dungeon.

The prison was a large, rough stone chamber. It was windowless, and clearly underground. Facing her were the cells with iron bars. The men and women she was imprisoned with were gaunt skeletons in rags. They looked as if they’d been left in the dungeon for years.

Sam looked at the shackle on her wrist. She was chained to the wall. She tested it, using barely any strength. It seemed solid enough.

“You can’t break free,” Rupert Hemmer said.

Sam looked up at Hemmer as he paused before her. He was an incredibly incongruous sight. He stood above her in his custom-tailored, pinstriped suit, with two huge, barbaric thugs. Sam felt their evil and knew they were tainted. They wore short jackets, dark hose and knee-high boots with pointed toes. Each carried a long sword and a dagger strapped to their belts, and each held an axe.

The first order of business was learning exactly where she was, and in what time. “Thanks for the ride,” she said. “But I don’t appreciate the scraped knees.”

Hemmer laughed. “I have to hand it to you, courageous Sam. You didn’t make a sound during the leap and you didn’t shed a tear. I’m almost sorry we had to knock you out.”

“I’ll bet. And, Hemmer? I hate to say this, but you can’t use me against Maclean. He’d have to care and he doesn’t.”

“Then we’ll just use you,” he said, shrugging. His smile was chilling. “I make it a point to rid myself of those like you whenever I can.”

Other than a few scrapes and bruises, Sam wasn’t hurt. The moisture on the floor wasn’t blood, but she had become aware of the dank, stale odor in the dungeon. She decided not to think about what the moisture might contain. “I’m not afraid to die.” She smiled at him. “But I promise, I will take you down with me when I go.”

Softly, Hemmer said, “I don’t think you’ll be singing such a merry tune in another moment.”