His Redeemer's Kiss Read online

  Now she trusted those feelings. At first, Tani’s gifts had confused and scared Lily. People with gifts were the hunted, but not here. No one here was a prisoner, and many of them were gifted. It was the exact opposite of what she had been living with, of the way she had been living period.

  “Diego assures me the one you spoke with isn’t from Tenorio’s compound.”

  Lily nodded. “I had guessed he wasn’t after the first night. He hates what he is,” she said, remembering his self-loathing, knowing exactly how he felt because she’d felt the same way for a very long time. She realized those feelings were partly why she was able to reach out to him. There was a strong sense of acceptance between them. Both of them had suffered. Both of them knew pain.

  “I know how he feels. It surprised me more than anything to be able to hear him so easily, and to have him answer. Except for you, that hasn’t happened very often.” She tucked her chin into her chest with a guilty apology in her voice. “I shouldn’t have said anything to him, though. It was unthinkable. What if he had been trying to trick me? To give away where we are?”

  An understanding smile hovered on Tani’s features, framed by the length of midnight black hair cascading around her. “That, I can guarantee, wasn’t the case. Diego would have never let him near enough to harm anyone, or to let someone discover where you are. If it had been a trick, Diego would have done more than ask him to leave the area.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “Diego would kill him?” Lily knew she didn’t want anyone killed, not just for talking to her.

  “If that is what it takes.” She said this without a trace of remorse, and Lily couldn’t doubt her. Diego was taking every precaution at all hours to ensure they remained hidden and undisturbed. His vigilance amazed Lily every night. “No one here will be harmed or found again. Albert will eventually be stopped, but right now, the people in this house are the important people. That means you and Tabitha too.”

  Lily placed the book of poetry on the stand by the bed, noting the near silent hum of the monitor closest to her. “I don’t know how she managed to survive as long as she did,” Lily continued in a torn whisper, the terror of their time flooding her mind. It was nearly impossible to avoid the memories entirely, and tonight, it seemed they were right on the surface. The unintentional scare Joaquin’s voice had caused had probably prompted their insidious return.

  “Don’t think about it,” Tani said, offering a touch of comfort again, pulling her away from the sucking strength of the never ending replay of her tortures. “You know it will always be there. You need to be stronger to face them, to put them behind you enough where they can’t hurt you anymore. All of you do, or the memories will trap you in their control and destroy you all over again.”

  “I know.” Her voice sounded brittle as she fought the tears and the memories.

  Soothingly, her voice floated over Lily, calming her before it all got out of hand. “One day at a time. You will get better. All of you will.” The constant flow of comfort and understanding helped Lily to distance herself from the pain of her imprisonment. She knew Tani was right. It would take time to move beyond it enough to function normally again. For whatever normal was.

  Tani stood from beside Lily and, with a final assessing look at the monitors, disappeared through the doorway. She’d been spending time with all of them to help them find a stability to begin to heal and over the last several months, all of the girls had made some incredible discoveries about their own resilience. No one made any cynical remarks or belittled them for their fears. It was constant support, around the clock. A moment later, laughter and the sound of chaos in the kitchen reached her from down the hall. Only one person made that much racket in the kitchen. Houston would be cooking again, but she’d be the last to complain about real food. He obviously loved being able to do it too, as much as he made for them all.

  Lily sighed and stretched, rubbing the back of her neck with steady fingers. It felt so decadent to simply move. After three years as a guest of Albert Tenorio, she had forgotten how it felt to be able to breathe, eat, talk….everything, without being watched like a bug under a microscope, knowing it and unable to avoid it. To simply be relaxed enough to do those things naturally.

  Every minute detail was watched and catalogued day and night, from when they went to the bathroom to how they ate their meals. Lab rats were treated better. They were at least left alone once they were in their cage. All Lily and the others had had were their cages. She and the others were never alone, always watched, either by the many cameras or by the guards.

  She had lost count of the beatings, of the needle injections and tests, wanting nothing more than to never remember them at all, but they haunted her. Blood had stained her skin from their malicious methods, night and day. So much time stolen from her, her life, her family. Lily had no idea if anyone knew she’d disappeared, if they’d tried to find her, of anything. She’d only discovered when she’d been rescued that she’d been a prisoner for three years, Tabitha for almost seven, and still alive, somehow. Whether Lily’s family had looked for her or not, she didn’t know. Her school, her dorm room, her life, all gone.

  Without Tani there to distract her, the images and remembered agonies fell on her like a frozen wall of stone, suffocating and paralyzing in its weight.

  Silent sobs racked her body as each memory clawed her from the inside out with a vengeance. Her arms wrapped around her middle as she fought to keep them inside, fought to restrain the gruesome scenes from detection from those in the cabin. Even if those flashes of pain strangled her for the effort. She was stronger. She refused to let them win, to continue to wound her.

  Her head dropped to her hands and she rubbed her temples, gulping air in harsh swallows to push away the pressure of the memories, of the unforgettable pain, while she slowly won the battle to keep her sanity. The memories came and went, and often in ruthless doses, but each blow by blow replay of her history brought her closer to moving past it. She knew she would.

  Oxygen filled her lungs, and she blew it out along with the anguish and pain. Time. All she needed was time. She was strong, and getting stronger. She was healing, at least physically. Breathe in. She had another chance. Breathe out. She would survive. She would live again.

  “Lily? Are you all right?”

  She gasped, taken by surprise, and snapped her head up to search the room, but it was empty beyond Tabitha’s bed. She was unsure if she should expect him there or not. He sounded so clear, so close. She trembled at the worried masculine voice whispering into her mind.

  It was a shock every time she heard him. She was telepathic, Tani was too, yet Joaquin’s voice from out of the blue, reaching out to her so easily, unsettled her. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you until tomorrow,” she answered him, twisting her fingers together to stop their shaking. She breathed deeply, forcefully slowing her beating heart when she realized she was alone, and he was only talking to her. She was still safe.

  “That was my intention, but you’re hurting.” His voice was like a velvet caress, warm and cocooning in its low timbre. It washed over her and she immediately felt better, immediately felt herself falling into the wonderful tone of his voice, into the calming cradle of his words. “I have to help the one who has helped me. It is only right.”

  An almost imperceptible quiver of her lip brought it up at the corner. She was surprised and wondering at his concern. “I’m fine.” She wasn’t ready to discuss her past with anyone, much less a disembodied voice, no matter how comforting it was to hear. “How did you know?”

  “It seems I can find you the same way you found me. Your…distress couldn’t be ignored.”

  She shook her head, rubbing fingertips over her eyes to remove the signs of her pain. “How is this happening? I’ve never met anyone who could talk to me so easily.” Aside from Titania, her experience with other telepaths was very limited. Tabitha was able, but it wasn’t her strongest talent, and Diego never spoke to her so intimately, tho
ugh she knew he could. She sensed Joaquin was thinking about his answer when he didn’t reply right away.

  His voice hummed in her mind. She realized he was making an effort to not frighten her more, keeping his voice low and sedate. “Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t remember the last time I felt another person’s pain, or was able to hear their thoughts.” He seemed as confused by their connected ability as she was. She thought she heard a low rumble of laughter when he added, “You knocked the wind from beneath me. At a moment in time when I needed to know I wasn’t alone, you shouted at me.”

  She felt the burgeoning grin and dipped her chin, hearing the rich sound of his voice. Her hands folded in on her lap. “I am sorry for startling you.”

  “Never apologize for saving me.” It flowed over her like the gentle admonishment it was, firm, but at the same time, he would never accept any apology for it. “You don’t know the truth about me, and someday I may tell you, but you have given me something I had forgotten existed.”

  “What?” she asked, perplexed.

  “Compassion. I can sense your suffering. It hovers in your mind. Maybe someday you will tell me what happened that makes you cry on the inside. Yet, when I was at my worst, you helped me when I needed it. It is only right I repay your kindness.”

  Unease flitted across her mind. At a distance, she felt almost secure in her private conversation, but the idea of meeting him face to face made her shake. She didn’t know Joaquin, if he was really a threat to her, to any of them, or if he was hunting for them. If he was trying to trick her into exposing their hiding place. The fear of those unknowns almost made her nauseous, but she quickly swallowed it down. She could barely stay in the same room alone with any of the other men in the house, and she knew none of them would dare hurt her. Yet, here she was, talking, even if it was over a distance, to a complete stranger. No one but Titania dared to physically touch her. Would she be able to talk to him if he stood right in front of her, to look at him? She trembled in the chair where she sat at the idea of it.

  “Repay? How? Why would you want to repay something so small?” she asked, hiding the shake in her body from her thoughts. “I shouted at you,” she reminded him.

  “I will find a way. You have given me a reprieve from my own loneliness, Lily. I am indebted to you for that.” She shook her head at the mild arrogance in his voice, a man who would do as he says and no less. “You need to go eat with the others. They are worried about you.”

  “How do you know?” she immediately demanded. She searched, listening to the chaos of voices in the cabin, but found it was only her in the bedroom watching over her friend. She was taking longer than usual to join them, but he couldn’t have known that!

  “Because Diego knows I am talking with you and has made his displeasure known to me.”

  She felt herself wanting to smile at the thinly veiled disgust in his response. “How does he know?” She tilted her head, listening to him, and to the noises of those in the house. While no one was rushing to tell her it wasn’t safe to be talking to him, or that Joaquin was a danger to her as Tani had said he wasn’t, she was just as glad he was out there and the people in here knew it. She wasn’t exactly sure if she should take it as a good sign or not, especially if he was telling her the truth and Diego did know he had reached out to her again.

  “I didn’t hide it from him,” Joaquin explained. “He doesn’t trust me with cause. Our natures make us solitary men. The connection I have formed with you disturbs him. I am doing as he has asked. I am far away to not frighten you. Though should you ever have need of me, I will only be a whisper away. You are safe with me, Lily. I promise you.”

  She didn’t understand. What did he mean that they had formed a connection? How much could he read from her? Could he do more than hear what she physically directed toward him? Could he read her mind, sense her agitation, her pain, or the cause? How far was ‘far away’? Was it far enough? Was she putting the whole household in danger by talking to him? The possibilities gave her a chill, and she rubbed her palms down her legs to chase the shivers away. “Diego can talk to you too?”

  She knew she heard an annoyed growl come from him. “Yes, he’s been listening to every word.”

  She stifled the gasp. “How gifted are you? How close are you?” Real fear that she’d led him—anyone—right to them made her quake where she sat.

  “That is something that will be answered in time, and I am far away. You have no need to fear me because I can talk to you. I know you are scared of this, and of me, for more reasons than I know right now. I don’t want you to fear me. Ever. Take a deep breath. That’s it. Are you feeling better now?” he asked her, warm concern in his tone again. “Well enough to go eat? Diego’s female is coming for you. I have outstayed my welcome, it seems.”

  Not two seconds later, Tani popped around the doorframe again. “Houston almost has dinner ready.”

  “I’m coming.”

  “I have to go, Joaquin.” She stood from the chair, making sure the book was marked for the next reader. Tani made a quick check on Tabitha and then turned, catching Lily’s gaze before heading out to the hall.

  “Just tell me you are feeling better so I can rest in peace tonight.”

  She trailed behind Tani, toasted herb and pasta aromas floating on the air, making her mouth water. “Yes, Joaquin, I’m feeling much better.” Lily’s steps dragged a pace when she realized she did feel better after talking to him. His interruption had dispelled the anguish of her previous memories completely. She wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable with the discussions happening between them, but she didn’t feel threatened by him either. Then again, having him somewhere far away may have had a lot to do with her level of ease in her ability to talk to him. She prayed he was telling her the truth, and he wasn’t as close as his voice sounded. That he was only talking to her out of concern, and maybe a sense of duty. There was no way to determine how close he could be, but she knew Diego wouldn’t let him near the house regardless, no matter who he was, or what his intentions were. She didn’t want to think of why he may have connected to her, other than she’d had enough of his whining. “You have been very kind to me tonight, Joaquin. Thank you.”

  “I always will be. That is my promise to you. Goodnight.”

  As the first conversation had floated into silence, he was gone again.

  * * * *

  “You are challenging my patience,” Diego warned, appearing only a few yards from where Joaquin rested in the V of the large tree branch several miles from the petite cabin. One foot dangled, swinging with ease as Lily’s flowing voice faded out of his ears, but with Diego popping up in front of him, his foot stopped. He wasn’t surprised at Diego’s arrival, only that it had taken him so long to come and do something about Joaquin’s conversation with Lily. When he hadn’t left at Diego’s menacing orders, which only Joaquin had heard while he’d spoken with Lily, he’d come himself to make sure Joaquin abided by his command. Joaquin knew better than to think they were simply requests to vacate the area.

  “You were asked to leave. You have not.” Silvery eyes flashed as anger lit their depths.

  “Why should I go anywhere when she is in pain and you’re doing nothing to help her?” he demanded. The immensity of what he’d felt when he’d reached out for her again had been staggering. “If she is under your protection, then you are failing.” He sneered. “She’s in incredible pain. She’s hiding it to not alarm those around her.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk. Joaquin wasn’t convinced the vampire before him wasn’t the cause behind her pain, especially as closely as she was being watched by everyone inside. The fear of what could be happening behind those walls prompted his worst nightmares. Joaquin wasn’t close enough to Lily to find those secrets imbedded in her memory. Diego’s insistence to leave wasn’t encouraging him that he’d find out, either.

  “What is it she fears, that she won’t discuss? Are you controlling her? What are you doing to her?” Anger ro
se within Joaquin, sliding under his skin like a current, but he managed to keep his feigned relaxed position sitting on the branch, barely. Hopefully, he’d find out something, but he wasn’t expecting it. Given a chance to get closer to the house hidden in the crisscrossed canopy of trees, he would be able to find out more on his own, but getting closer almost guaranteed retribution from Diego. For the moment, he could wait. But not for much longer. He was growing more adamant in finding a way to remove Lily from her close-knit watchers.

  Joaquin straightened until he was standing before Diego. An unmoving silence was the only answer he received to his questions. Something was different about Diego compared to his other run-ins with the Brethren, but Joaquin’s growing fascination for Lily was making it difficult to pinpoint what those differences may be, or to care enough to make them priorities. Deception was often the game played between the Brethren. He was waiting to see what Diego had planned. Just because he didn’t appear ready to filet him where Joaquin stood didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. He felt Diego’s eyes on his every move. Caution was the word of the moment.

  Diego frowned, his irritation with Joaquin’s persistence apparent in the growing glare of his gaze. “Leave. Leave here, forget her. She is cared for. That is more than you need to know.”