Surrender: Saving Setora Book 6 Read online

  “We’ve already got men hunting down information on the whereabouts of the women. Later, I’ll show you what we’ve found so far,” Mayhem said. “Seems crazy, but hell, at this point, everything is. In the meantime, we need some way to make sure we keep Julian from working his Violet shit on D and Setora again until the specialist gets here.”

  I nodded and glanced at our Captain of the Guard. “Hawk has been doing some exercises with Setora. Yantu stuff. You were going to start doing something stronger with her, right Hawk?”

  “Yantu witchcraft.” Mayhem put his head back, his mistrust obvious. “You’re kidding, right? Is this what we’re left with, Sheriff?”

  Hawk shot me a flat look.

  Good going, Steel. Foot, meet mouth.

  “Not magic, General,” Hawk told Mayhem. “There is no magic involved.”

  Mayhem didn’t look convinced. He glanced between Sheriff and Hawk like he was looking for any other way.

  “Trust me, I know what you must be thinking, Mayhem,” Sheriff said. “Yantu techniques are hard to accept for me, too. But keep an open mind. Hear Hawk out.”

  “Captain?” Mayhem ashed his cigar.

  Instead of taking his seat, Hawk squatted at the side of the table. “I’ve been working with Setora on the Don-Shi technique.”

  “Don…what?”

  “Don-Shi. It’s a technique by which the Yantu keep unwanted emotions and dreams—or in this case, people—from entering the mind. I was helping her use it to keep Julian from getting into her head. But like all meditation techniques of this kind, it takes years to master, and it’s never perfect. Since I’ve started training her, the dreams come less often, which, I hope, means that, along with Doc’s drugs, the technique is helping her keep him away. But either he’s too strong, or Setora hasn’t reached a level of skill that allows her to shut him out all the time. Before we came here, I’d proposed using more intense techniques, hoping they’d be more effective.”

  Mayhem puffed on his cigar again and leaned back. “What do these techniques involve?”

  I could hear the doubt in his voice, but if Hawk noticed it, he didn’t let it deter him.

  “Partly, it involves building up a mental wall—what we call a Fortress—a stronger one than I’ve already been working with her to create. But combined with the mental abilities Setora has, ones that allow her to connect with other Violets, I’m hoping they may also allow her to sever her connection with Julian, perhaps permanently.”

  Setora’s mother stared at Hawk, her eyes huge and filled with fascination. “This is incredible, Captain.” Her voice was so soft, I could barely hear her.

  Setora grinned.

  Mayhem heaved a sigh and leaned toward Hawk. “Forgive me, Captain. But are you suggesting that Setora can use nothing more than her mind to cut Julian off?” He looked at all of us. “Does this sound as crazy to the rest of you as it does to me?”

  “As you said yourself, General Mayhem, nothing’s crazy anymore,” Pretty Boy said with a shrug.

  I hummed in agreement.

  “Right there with you,” Sheriff said. “But if you think about it, if Julian is a Violet and has the ability to infiltrate minds, then it’s logical to assume that strong Violets like Setora could do the same. If there’s anyone to teach mental control, it would be a Yantu. I’ve seen Hawk do some pretty amazing things.” He sat forward, his eyes serious. “Look, we’re running out of options here. We’re going to use every tool available. Especially if the drugs aren’t as effective as we hoped. And as Doc said, we can’t rely on drugs much longer.”

  Mayhem sighed and ran one hand through his graying hair. “Captain, can these techniques you’re talking about help Dalathine as well?”

  Hawk lifted his shoulders. “Hard to say without knowing how strong she is, or if her abilities are as highly developed as Setora’s appear to be. But they might. I’m willing to work with her. It would take her longer than we have time for to learn the more advanced techniques, but since it seems we’ll be here for a while, I can teach D a few of the basics. Techniques you and Stitch can implement with her the way I have with Setora.”

  D’s eyes widened on Hawk, then she turned her gaze to Mayhem. “Master, please let me try.” When he looked down with a heavy sigh, she covered his hand with hers. “If Captain Hawk can show me a way to stop this man from making me hurt you or anyone else, I have to try.”

  “I don’t want you overdoing it.” Mayhem laced his fingers with hers. “You need rest. Exercises don’t sound like rest, D.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “As General Sheriff said, we seem to be out of options, Master. A few days is a long time to wait for another solution, if this doctor even has one. And we have no idea how long it will take to find the Ladies of Shana Ra. Julian could pop up anytime between now and then and make Setora or I do who knows what to whom. I have to try.”

  Setora reached across and took her mother’s hand, giving it a supportive squeeze.

  Mayhem heaved a sigh. “Well. The last thing I want to do is to subject D to some off-the-wall technique I know nothing about, but I don’t see another way to keep her or the rest of us safe. We’ll talk more about this, but for now, we should all get some sleep before dinner, and then get some food into us.”

  My stomach growled, and Sheriff and Pretty Boy both grinned at me before everyone agreed. When some of us began to get up, D spoke.

  “Wait, Master, there is something else I need to tell everyone before we go.”

  We all waited.

  “There’s something I said while Julian was in my head. Do you remember, Master? About the Mark?”

  Mayhem nodded slowly. “‘I call to those who bear the Mark.’”

  “Right. And what was the other part?” PB asked. “I shall make…something…’”

  “‘An army I shall make of them,’” Sheriff finished for him.

  “From,” Mayhem corrected. “He said, ‘An army I shall make from them.’”

  “There’s a difference?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Setora said. “Well, there could be, Master. ‘Of’ would suggest ‘they’ are the army, whoever they are. ‘From’ could suggest that an army may come from them. As in a bi-product of.”

  “But who’s they?” I put in.

  “That’s the question.” Mayhem gave his cigar a last puff and carefully put the half-cigar out. “But we’re getting sidetracked here. D, you wanted to tell us something about the Mark?”

  “Yes, Master.” She shifted forward on the couch. “Master, sirs… I think I know what the Mark is. If I’m right, it’s something that Setora and I both have. Us, and some other Violets, but it’s extremely rare.”

  Mayhem’s eyes widened. “You mean…”

  “Gah!” Doc smacked his forehead with his palm. “How did I miss that?”

  “Miss what?” Pretty Boy and I both demanded at once.

  Setora swallowed and met her mother’s gaze. “The stari,” she said quietly.

  “The thing on your thigh?” Pretty Boy stared at Setora.

  Her cheeks turned gorgeously pink. “Yes, Master.”

  “But what does this all mean?” I asked. “What does he want them for?”

  Whatever it was, I would die before I let this Julian fucker get his hands on Setora, or her mother, the woman I could see she loved so much.

  “I have no idea, sir.” D shook her head. “But whatever he’s planning, it’s huge. I can feel it. And whatever it is, we—my daughter and I, perhaps every Violet in the world—are vital to it. Whatever his plan is, he needs us to fulfill it, and he’ll do anything to get us.”

  Mayhem set his hand on D’s back. “Well then, this specialist better have answers. And in the meantime, we better hope whatever Captain Hawk does, it keeps Julian away long enough.”

  I wholeheartedly agreed. And if Julian ever got near Setora, I’d beat him to a bloody pulp and bury him in the deepest hole I could find.

  Chapter 3

  The Ways of Piratesr />
  “Setora.” Hawk’s voice floated through the dreamless haze of blissful sleep. A finger playfully tickled my cheek like a feather. “Kitten, wake up.”

  I opened my eyes and rolled over in the enormous bed that dominated the bedroom Mayhem had given Steel. Hawk’s amber eyes filled my vision, a warm, heavenly sight. I smiled sleepily. “Master.”

  “Dinner time, Kitten.”

  At the foot of the bed, Steel yanked the blankets off me. “Up you get, woman. I’m starving.”

  I grinned at him. “More than usual, Master?”

  Someone gave a familiar guttural laugh from across the room.

  Steel’s eyes widened. He laughed but spun me onto my stomach and gave my ass a healthy smack. The sting wiped away any lingering fatigue and produced a whimper from me, even while my sex tightened.

  “Don’t make me drag you out of that bed,” he growled.

  Oh, how badly I wanted to just snuggle deeper into the thick, comfortable bed, but I knew better than to try that. I could hear amusement in Steel’s tone, but I also knew he’d make good on his threat.

  As soon as we’d all left the clubhouse, my Four had given me time to give my mother a hug before they insisted I rest. Hawk and Steel had taken me to Steel’s room. I’d been surprised when Hawk hadn’t left us alone.

  If my masters had been protective before, it was nothing to how they’d been when we’d come into this room. In case Julian had decided to make me his puppet again, both of them stayed with me. Hawk also cuffed my hands using a set of manacles he’d had in his bag. I glanced over at the nightstand. The manacles were sitting on top of it, along with the key to them.

  As soon as we’d come in here, Doc had given Steel access to a stronger sedative than the Anapine in hopes it would be more effective against Julian’s influence. I’d slept without dreams, which I hoped meant the drug worked this time. Steel had given me enough of the drug to put me out for several hours, and by the setting sun outside the bedroom window, it had worked.

  They’d also stationed Beast by the door. Climbing out of bed, I saw him sitting beside the doors to the bedroom portion of Steel’s suite, watching the three of us with amusement.

  “Protection duty for you, huh, sir?” I gave him a reassuring smile, and he nodded, getting to his feet.

  Beast picked up the tranquilizer gun that was lying on the floor beside him, holding it across himself like a cane, but nothing about him suggested wariness or unease. Not for the first time, he looked so relaxed, it was hard to believe this was the same dangerous man I’d seen at Lord Falnar’s dinner table.

  I straightened my frock, shutting down the nervousness at the idea that the men saw fit to take so many precautions.

  Hawk laid a beautiful white cadris on the bed for me. Beast gave us all a wave and stepped out, closing the doors. I stripped and started dressing for dinner.

  “All three of you watched over me, Masters?” I tied the strings of the sleeveless cadris top at my nape. “Isn’t that overkill?”

  “No amount of protection is overkill when it comes to you, Petal.” Steel kissed the top of my head and then sat on the bed, pulling on his boots. He was otherwise dressed, his open cut showing off his massive chest and bulging arms the size of tree trunks.

  I shook my head at him. “I love you too, Master.”

  Hawk tied the top’s bottom string at my lower back, and his warm lips brushed my shoulder. “Did you have any dreams this time, Kitten?”

  “No, Master. Nothing. That was the most peaceful sleep I’ve had in a long while.”

  “Good to hear.”

  I turned my back to the long, full-length mirror on the wall and admired what I saw there. The top’s backless style left the gorgeous tattoo Sheriff had put on my back, the reaper skull and crossbones with the violets, clearly visible. It also displayed the Legion’s stamp of ownership, or more specifically, “The Four,” written at the bottom of the tattoo. No one who saw me would doubt who owned me. My heart swelled with adoration for them, with the sense of family that came with knowing that I truly belonged to the Dark Legion.

  I ran a comb through my hair while the men finished dressing, Hawk pulling a black t-shirt on and then slipping on his leather cut.

  “Fuck, Petal, if we left it up to you, you’d be in here combing every hair one at a time for an hour.”

  I sighed at his impatience and raked the comb hurriedly through my hair, opting not to style it lest Steel decide to eat me instead of waiting for dinner.

  On the way up to the room, I’d asked Hawk if we could try one of the more advanced meditation techniques he’d mentioned in the clubhouse, but he maintained that such techniques required a lot of time and a long discussion beforehand, something better saved until I’d had time to recuperate from everything that had happened in the Grotto. A few good meals and more restful sleep were essential first.

  With the absence of the dreams, maybe I wouldn’t have to do those exercises. The way Hawk talked about them, they sounded more dangerous than I was ready for.

  Once we were ready, Hawk and Steel escorted me to dinner, Beast following behind, tranquilizer gun in hand, but remaining a pace back, our unobtrusive guard.

  At the doors, Beast handed Hawk the gun, and Hawk and Steel bade him goodbye, Beast giving me a nod before he departed. Considering his difficulty with noise and crowds, I wasn’t surprised he opted out of joining us for dinner. If the sound coming from the dining hall was any indication, there was a very loud, boisterous crowd in there.

  When we entered Mayhem’s extravagant dining hall, I looked around in surprise. The room was nearly as large as Lord Falnar’s Grand Dining Hall had been, and decorated almost as elaborately. Torches mounted on the walls every few feet gave the otherwise cold, grey stone a warmer look and brightened the room. A huge candelabra with dozens of candles hung from a ceiling as high as those in the corridors of the Hold. Six long tables dominated the room, all of them laden with silver and gold platters and jewel-studded goblets. The finery reminded me of the hoard in Pretty Boy’s rooms in the Grotto and proclaimed the Angels of Mayhem for the pirates they were.

  The whole room was filled with the talk of dozens of men seated about the tables, already digging into a sumptuous feast of roasted chickens and glazed hams. Bowls of gravy, grapes, berries, and rolls were being passed around, along with freshly filled, steaming dishes brought in by several of the Angels’ prospects.

  “Hawk, Steel, join us. Sit your woman down and fill up.” Mayhem waved us over from the head of the center table.

  Seated in her customary place at his right, my mother gave me a warm smile. Steel and Hawk brought me over to Sheriff, seated at the other end of Mayhem’s table. I took my seat on Sheriff’s right. Hawk put the tranquilizer gun near Doc’s chair a few seats down, then he and Steel took the two seats on my other side. This put us right across from Sinister, Savage, and Reaper.

  Sinister bid us hello around a mouthful of ham, his brother waved, and Reaper raised his goblet.

  “Sleep well, Princess?” Pretty Boy asked, helping himself to a large slice of glazed ham.

  “Better than I have in a long time, Master,” I said.

  “No dreams, sweetheart?” Sheriff asked quietly.

  “No, Master.” I beamed at him. “Whatever Doc gave me, maybe it worked.” I looked at Doc. “What did you give me anyway, Doc?”

  Doc sipped from his goblet and set it down. “Doxerine. It’s heavier than the Anapine I was using before. Let’s hope it’s working and Julian didn’t just decide to take a holiday, because I gave you about as much as I could without having you out for a week.”

  “Think of all the fun you could have had, Hawk,” Pretty Boy teased.

  Reaper almost did a spit-take.

  “Funny.” Hawk smiled but leaned into me. “When I take you, I want you to know everything I do.” He winked.

  My insides danced.

  A few latecomers entered the room, including T-Man, Blade, Grim, Bear, the fo
ur guardsmen Hawk had brought from the Grotto, and a few of the men from the Angels of Mayhem. My eyes widened when I saw Cherry, looking pale and shaken at T-Man’s side. What was wrong with her? I had a funny feeling she wasn’t just afraid of him this time.

  A realization hit me, and my heart dove into my stomach. Had she somehow found out the Angels used to be the Death Blades? I’d meant to ask Mayhem if his men had found her when they’d finally hunted down the poachers in their MC, but I hadn’t had the chance. I’d have to ask him later, but if he had, I had to wonder how she’d ended up sold to that Captain What’s-His-Name she’d told me about.

  “Do you ever show up to anything on time, T-Man?” Sinister asked good-naturedly? He gestured for him to sit with the three ex-Brothers of Brimstone.

  T-Man shrugged and pulled out a chair for Cherry beside him. “Why would I do that? Then I can’t make my grand entrance.”

  Everyone laughed.

  T-Man sat and raised a brow at Cherry when she didn’t take her seat. “What are you waiting for, long legs? Sit your ass down here.”

  Cherry shook her head and muttered something under her breath I didn’t catch, then sat and pulled the seat closer to the table.

  Reaper gave a surprised snort.

  “What was that?” T-Man leaned over, his hand to his ear, but I had a feeling he had heard whatever she’d said.

  “Nothing, sir,” she mumbled. But she shot me a helpless look across the table. Then she caught Sheriff’s gaze. For some reason, his eyes danced with amusement. When I looked at Cherry again, her ears had turned red.

  When I was able to catch her eye, I lifted a brow, silently asking her if she was all right. She gave a subtle shake of her head. Leave it, her expression said.

  Except I caught her looking uneasily at Mayhem and the other Angels.