Arielle Immortal Struggle (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 7) Read online

  It wasn’t long before the Mercedes turned off the interstate. They drove past a couple of shopping malls and after another fifteen minutes, they entered a nice subdivision with fairly large homes surrounded by tall walls and private gates. It made a lot of sense that they would rent a residence with this type of privacy for their sinister motives. The black Mercedes turned right on Fern Street. Troy drove past them and glanced over. He noticed that it was a dead end street. He parked the car at the next lane over and they stepped out quickly.

  They darted down the street and reached Fern Street in a few large strides. Peering around the corner, they saw the black car stopped in front of a two-story home at the end of the cul-de-sac. A six-foot wall was erected around it, preventing the view of the first floor from the street. A huge iron gate with an electric device and cameras on either side provided extra security for the occupants.

  The car was sitting idle, waiting for the gate to open. As soon as the car started to move, so did the four immortals. They were inside the garden before the car even cleared the gate, moving at high velocity, totally invisible to the car’s occupants. Huge hedges surrounded the house walls and that is where the guys found concealment when they stopped moving. They watched the garage door pull up and give access to the black car. As soon as the garage door came down, the guys moved again like lightning.

  Sebastian and Ian went around the back while Troy and Christian scaled the wall with one jump and accessed the house through the window on the second floor. They were to wait upstairs hidden from the goons until Sebastian and Ian made their appearance. Their mobiles were set on vibrate and Sebastian was going to notify them via text as soon as they had Arielle.

  Sebastian and Ian walked around the right side of the house and noticed steps leading downward to a huge back yard. This house had a full light basement, but no doors that would provide access to the house. Three midsize windows in the back had iron bars on the outside, making it very difficult for a burglar to break in. There was nothing behind the house but empty fields, making the house quite private from curious neighborly eyes.

  They crept along the wall and peered inside the first window. The room was dark, and the cloudy skies made the inside view even darker, but their immortal eyes could see perfectly each and every detail inside. It appeared abandoned. Moving to the next window, the results were not much different but for the fact that they could see numerous huge boxes piled up in the middle of that room. Creeping along the wall, they reached the last window and carefully peered inside.

  Sebastian skimmed over the contents of the room in disgust. Two chairs with scruffy covers, a tall cracked chest against the wall, and four old pictures that hang lopsided on the walls. Dirty brown wallpaper covered the walls, making the room seem even more depressing. His eyes finally rested at the half broken bed with the small nightstand and a half broken lampshade on top of it. His eyes zeroed on the small body coiled up on top of it. He stared in shocked horror, recognizing the shirt and the jeans Arielle wore that morning. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words choked in his throat, and he closed it again as he allowed these ugly visions to bleed into his brain one after the other.

  “I think it’s Arielle,” Ian whispered.

  Sebastian nodded his head in clear wretchedness. He grabbed the iron bars with both hands, ready to bend them open, when they heard the lock on the door click. They pulled back out of view. Voices filled the room as heavy footsteps crossed the old broken floor that cried out in agony with every footstep that landed on it.

  The conversation that followed had Sebastian growling and seething in fury. If not for Ian to keep him under control, he would have leaped into that room before the next word was uttered.

  “She’s here,” Vitorio said, pointing at the bed.

  A shocked voice was heard a few minutes later.

  “Good God! What happened to this girl?” Colton asked as he put his hand on Arielle’s shoulder and turned her over to her back.

  “What do you mean?” Vitorio muttered.

  “The girl’s face is swollen and bloody, and her body badly bruised,” Colton hissed, utterly disgusted. He noticed the thick layer of dried blood on Arielle’s cheek and down the side of her neck. Her shirt and the worn out bed comforter were soaked in blood. “The girl is barely breathing!” he bellowed in disbelief. “Did you even check?”

  “I told you she felt down the stairs,” Vitorio protested through clenched teeth. He didn’t like the attitude thrown at him from the Belarus boys.

  “This is not just falling down the stairs,” Aiden added angrily, standing next to Colton and looking down at Arielle. “What the fuck really happened in here? If something happens to this girl, Rainer will have your ass.”

  “The bitch hit me,” Mauritsio jumped in, defending the situation.

  “The girl hit you?” Colton asked appalled.

  “Yes, she kneed me in the crotch, and I backhanded her. She then came after me, and I hit her again. My ring ripped her cheek open. I was not going to sit and take it. She asked for it and I let her have it,” Mauritsio spat out in clear anger.

  “You idiot, don’t you understand that you might compromise the whole assignment? You need your hostage in good condition in order to be able to negotiate successfully. What if Gaulle wants to see her before he provides the secret documents? What then?” he shrieked.

  “Fuck him. I don’t give a shit what he wants. I thought you guys were here to handle this. Things don’t always work out perfectly. If they did, we wouldn’t need you,” Mauritsio said, menacingly.

  “Well, now I’m convinced that you are an idiot,” Aiden said and shook his head.

  “Is she still unconscious?” Vitorio asked.

  “I’m going to ignore your question, because it frankly makes me mad,” Aiden said.

  “It. Was. Not. Our. Fault.” Vitorio enunciated each word separately, angrily glaring at Aiden. He tried to cover his poor judgment about Mauritsio’s outrageous performance as well as his own. He was the one that pounded the girl’s small bruised body against the wall right after she plummeted down the stairs and allowed Mauritsio to hit her again.

  “I don’t give a fuck whose fault it is right now. It happened during your watch; that’s all that matters,” Colton screamed, glaring back at Vitorio.

  “How bad is the girl?” Aiden asked Colton.

  “She seems to have lost quite a bit of blood from the cut on her face and her breathing is frail. She is unconscious, but she’s still alive… no thanks to you!” he yelled, staring at Vitorio and Mauritsio threateningly. “I’m going to put a call through to Vasily and attempt to repair this horrible situation. In the meantime, I think you two should go pack your shit and get the hell out. Just leave! You’ve done enough damage,” Aiden screamed sharply.

  Vitorio frowned contemptuously and, turning around, he motioned to Mauritsio and they left the room.

  “Colton, come with me, and help me find something to clean up the girl’s face,” Aiden suggested, eyes burning with fury. Footsteps pounded the crackling floor once again and the door slumped closed.

  Sebastian peered inside once again and the room was empty. He grabbed the bars and pulled them apart. With one movement, he had the window wide open. He didn’t hesitate. He leaped, catching the edge of the windowsill, and propelled himself inside the room. Ian followed in his heels.

  They ran to Arielle’s bedside and stared down at her bloody face and bruised body in stunned disbelief. Sebastian’s world crumpled, his mind frozen in place and the pain in his chest expending. His eyes widened in complete shock. He inhaled sharply, and for a short moment, he thought the floor swayed beneath his feet. His joy of finding her suddenly faded into horror. The most astonishingly beautiful image in his head had become the most gruesome.

  Sebastian bent down and set his hands flat on the bed to take a closer look. The bed springs creaked under his weight. He then slipped his hands under Arielle’s body and, lifting her into his arms,
he held her against his chest protectively. How could it be possible that he felt his heart breaking in a million shards if his heart had been dead for over five hundred years? And how could it be possible that he felt tears flowing if he couldn’t cry? His eyes drifted over her face and down her broken body, and relentless pain spread across every fiber of his body. The blood was pounding his veins like a sledgehammer. He bent down and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead.

  “Hey, baby, I’m here…I’m here…you’re safe now,” he murmured. “Baby, can you hear me?”

  Arielle was not responding. He pressed another soft kiss to her forehead. “Oh God! Arielle, please wake up, baby. I love you,” he muttered despondently. The anguish that spread across every nerve in his body was tormenting. He was too worried about her condition to think straight.

  Ian instinctively raised his hand and gripped Sebastian’s elbow, interrupting his tremulous thoughts. “Sebastian, come on, man. We need to take her out of here before they come back.” His voice was supportive.

  Sebastian turned to face Ian and took a short minute to process his request. He finally nodded in agreement. His eyes narrowed and his expression changed to that of a man in control of his faculties.

  “Take her to the hospital,” he murmured. “Troy, Christian, and I will finish the job. Please call the others.” His anxiety was fading away slowly and it was being replaced by fury.

  “What about her parents?”

  “Let’s wait on that,” Sebastian said thoughtfully.

  “Why?”

  “Ian, we need to have a good story as to how this happened. Where was everyone? How did we find her? All these questions will come up and we need to have good answers.”

  “You’re right. I’ll take her to the Royal Sussex County Hospital and I’ll wait for your call to give me the details on the story before her parents arrive,” Ian said.

  Sebastian’s face crumpled at the thought of Arielle’s parents. This was becoming a redundant thing. He had met them at the hospital over their daughter more often that he wanted to remember. He forced a smile and nodded, eyes distraught. “Yes, I’ll call you as soon as we’re done here.”

  Ian moved promptly toward the window. The rain had stopped, and a cool breeze caressed Ian’s face as he scaled the windowsill and landed softly outside. He then turned to face Sebastian. “Let me have her,” he said, stretching his arms to take Arielle.

  Sebastian looked over his shoulder, reached through the window, and placed her carefully into Ian’s arms. “Please take care of her,” he murmured, anxiously.

  “Sebastian, she’s safe now,” Ian said and gave his friend a reassuring smile.

  “Take the car. We don’t want to raise any questions about you showing up at the hospital without a vehicle. We’ll be there as soon as we’re done here.”

  Ian tucked Arielle snugly in his arms and took off, disappearing into the thin air.

  Sebastian fished his mobile from his jean pocket and texted Troy. Arielle is safe. She’s on the way to the hospital with Ian.

  Where are you? Troy texted back.

  I’m in the basement, ready to come upstairs. And you?

  We’re on the second floor. We can hear the goons somewhere on the main floor.

  Let’s meet on the main floor. Sebastian responded.

  He put the phone back in his pocket and left the room. He walked down the corridor and mounted the steps soundlessly. Reaching the top of the landing, he crept up to the door on his right. Colton was on the phone, facing the other way. Aiden was on the computer, checking through some information on the screen. Mauritsio and Vitorio were gathering pieces of equipment scattered all over the room and placing them in their cases.

  “Vasily, the girl is in horrible condition,” Colton said, quite agitated

  “What do you mean in horrible condition? What happened?” Vasily asked.

  “She had an accident, according to Jorrit’s men and on top of that, they beat her up,” he continued, glancing at Vitorio and Mauritsio, but they completely ignored him.

  “Those sons of bitches! I thought they were professionals,” Vasily’s voice boomed from the other end of the phone.

  “Well, all I can say is that I hope Gaulle doesn’t ask to see her before he surrenders the documents,” Colton said darkly.

  “Tell them to get the hell out of there and go back to Brussels. I’ll call Jorrit and he will prepare the welcome committee for them,” he said venomously.

  “I already asked them to pack their stuff and that is exactly what they are doing right now. Aiden and I will try to clean up the girl and make her comfortable. We want her to be able to talk if Gaulle wants to hear her voice.”

  “I know you guys will do a good job,” Vasily said. There was a short pause. “When are you calling Gaulle for the meeting? And has Jorrit send the last photos to Gaulle?” Colton asked

  “One hour from now? And yes, he already sent the photos to his office.”

  “Good… One hour will give us time to take care of the situation here.” There was another long pause. “Call me when the girl is in better shape,” Vasily said.

  “All right, I will.” Colton replied and ended the call.

  Sebastian moved to the opening of the door, but he was still totally unnoticed. It seemed that Troy and Christian had captured their attention as they now stood at the bottom of the staircase that led to the upstairs floor.

  “What the fuck?” Colton yelped. He could not believe what his eyes were seeing. His brain could not process the sight of the two men. Their sudden appearance didn’t accurately register. After a short pause, he collected his thoughts. “Who the hell are you?” his voice boomed.

  Troy smiled wide and took two steps into the room.

  For the next second, Colton sat reluctantly in silence, unsure if he was going to have his question answered. Troy let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes impatiently, but kept his mouth shut. Colton’s eyes lingered over Troy uneasily.

  “Who…,” he began to ask again, but Troy cut him off with a sharp move of his hand.

  “You don’t need to know,” Troy said firmly.

  Sebastian moved inside the room and stood right behind them. All four thugs whirled around to face him. Sebastian’s arctic look drove terror into their minds. Troy and Christian walked farther into the room and closed the distance between the goons and Sebastian. The air in the room turned icy in a matter of seconds. The four goons sidestepped and placed themselves against the wall, facing three very angry immortals.

  Colton took a deep breath, willing bravery. “What in hell is going on here? Who are you? What do you want?” he muttered and swore audibly.

  “Where did you come from?” Vitorio interjected, sounding genuinely surprised.

  A slow smile crept up and lit Sebastian’s face, but it didn’t touch his eyes. “We came from hell with the orders to bring you back with us,” Sebastian replied, venomously. His frigid voice was arctic enough to freeze the blood in their veins.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Mauritsio mouthed, completely baffled by Sebastian’s statement.

  “If you broke in here to rob the place, take what you want and leave,” Colton interrupted, hoping to rid of the three unwelcome males that were now standing in the middle of the room glaring at them. “This is beyond belief,” he muttered under his breath. Then darting his angry gaze between them, he shouted once again, “Take what you want and get the hell out of here; we’re not going to stop you.” He really didn’t have time to deal with some measly thieves or their motives. Time was of the essence, and they needed to move on with the assignment, but surprisingly, nobody moved.

  “So what are you waiting for?” Colton hissed, glancing between the intruders impatiently.

  The image of Arielle’s wounded body clouded once again Sebastian’s thoughts. He struggled to remove the physical pain that was outpouring from every single muscle in his body and embrace calmly the present situation in hand.

  C
hapter 11

  SILENCE HAD STRETCHED beyond terribly uncomfortable. Sebastian remained entirely still and an unnerving smile painted his angry face. “We’re going to kill you, slowly and painfully,” he hissed. “Especially you,” he furthered, pinning Mauritsio’s stunned face with an icy stare, allowing coldness to creep into his voice.

  Colton drew a sharp breath and exhaled deeply. “Un…unbelievable,” he mumbled and glanced around in stupefied surprise.

  He stared spitefully at Sebastian. Rage boiled inside at the thought that Sebastian was mocking him.

  Silence stretched again for a long moment, and finally, Colton started to laugh uncontrollably. Mauritsio, Vitorio, and Aiden turned and stared at Colton, not understanding the humor in the situation. Eventually, Colton stopped laughing, and coughed trying to clear his throat. He formed a serious look and let his gaze sweep over the three intruders. His lips lifted in a sarcastic smile. “So… you are going to kill us?” he scoffed. “Who is really going to do that? He asked and grinned wide. “You three?” his hand made a motion in the air between Troy, Christina and Sebastian. “Where are the rest of your playmates?” he mocked. He then broke out into laughter once again, trying to keep the atmosphere as smug as possible. Aiden, Vitorio, and Mauritsio joined Colton in his bizarre hilarity.

  Sebastian, Troy, and Christian remained unmoved, stone-faced. They didn’t share in the assassins’ enthusiasm and cheerfulness. Fire flashed through their immortal eyes, scorching the laughter right out of the assassins’ throats.

  Vitorio moved first. Sprinting forward, he pulled his right arm back, suspending his balled fist next to his ear, and with all the force he possessed, he sent it toward Christian’s face. Christian dodged quickly, avoiding the blow. Missing his target, Vitorio tried to resist the forward force, but lost his balance and flew headfirst past Christian, bouncing off the opposite wall and collapsed onto the floor.

  Colton, Aiden, and Mauritsio were watching in stunned silence. Totally humiliated, Vitorio bounced right back up, cursed out loud, and threw his body weight as hard as he could against Christian. His breath came in frayed gasps and his eyes glazed with rage. Christian’s fist moved fast and caught Vitorio in the middle of his chest. Silence fell in the room like a death screen as everyone heard the horrible noise of Vitorio’s body bones shattering. Vitorio’s breath hissed, and blood spattered out of his mouth. Christian lifted his other hand and, grabbing Vitorio around his throat, he lifted him off the ground as if he were completely weightless. His fingers squeezed tightly. Vitorio tried to free himself by thrashing wildly, desperately. Christian’s grip was deadly; he didn’t budge. Vitorio’s eyes widened. Then they rolled back in his head and he stopped moving. Christian released him and he dropped to the floor with a loud thud.