61

Vae Victis!
Aislinn was getting sick of passing out. She never knew where she would be waking up. This time she was in a sitting position and her hands and feet were still tied. It occurred to her that Rafe must have thought she was fairly dangerous to think that tying her up unconscious and sick was necessary.
The pain was subsiding but she still ached all over as if she had the flu. She opened her eyes to find that she was in a car. Probably a limo. She was on a black leather seat which was facing a seat on which sat Rafe and Jenna. Rafe was leaning back and looking out the window, oblivious to the fact that Aislinn’s eyes had just opened. One hand was on Jenna’s knee. She didn’t appear to care or notice that Rafe was touching her. At the same time she was staring at Aislinn with a vicious glare. Aislinn didn’t know what this particular glare was for. Jenna could probably come up with a reason to glare at the pope. Aislinn could only figure that Jenna was still dwelling over Cullen. Rafe’s other hand was stroking a golden tan lioness who was lying at his feet. The lioness appeared to be pleased by the petting as she was purring her approval.
Jenna reached down and touched Rafe’s hand on her knee. “Your new pet has awakened.”
Aislinn was becoming more and more cognoscente. She realized with a great deal of embarrassment that she was the only one who was naked. Well, unless you count the lioness. She immediately burned a brilliant shade of red. Then grew angry at herself when her obvious upset appeared to please both Rafe and Jenna. Rafe was in a causal suit that looked to be tailored and Jenna was in a loose fitting but expensive looking red silk dress. Between the blonde haired bimbo in the red dress and the greasy looking weasel in a suit sitting on black leather limo seats with a lion at his feet a person would have thought that they were in some bad rock video. The thought caused Aislinn to roll her eyes. She leaned into the leather seat and felt her body aching. She closed her eyes with the intention of going back to sleep.
“Aren’t you even curious where we’re going?” Rafe asked in a way that might have been friendly if it weren’t for the fact that she was tied up and naked.
“No,” Aislinn answered without opening her eyes.
“Usually there’s more fight in you lamb. I am curious what has you so defeated,” Rafe cooed in irritatingly fake sympathy.
Aislinn didn’t answer. She could feel Rafe squirreling around in her brain. She made her mind go blank. She refused to give him ammunition for abusing her. The way she saw it, she couldn’t protect her body from him, but she sure as hell wasn’t giving him her mind again.
Rafe pulled his hands from the two women, braced his elbows on his knees, pressed his hands together and leaned toward Aislinn. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his voice seethed, filled with threat. “Do you remember what I told you about blocking me lamb? Or were you too out of it to remember out last conversation?”
Self preservation being her number one priority, a thought suddenly occurred to Aislinn. The more she fought him the more she had found she could do. She didn’t really know her limitations, but she seemed to manage things she wanted to do badly enough. She let a picture float into her mind of what she remembered of their last conversation.
Rafe smiled and sat back. “That’s it lamb.” He continued to work himself into her mind. He figured she was tiring of fighting.
Aislinn was glad it was working. She let him in just far enough to see what he expected to see. Beyond that she stayed safely inside herself. She waited for his reaction.
“I’ve always been impressed with your talent Aislinn. I had thought it an unusual thing to find in a human outside of the Circle.”
Rafe was fishing and Aislinn knew it. She wasn’t sure what he was after finding out but she wished that he would get to the point. She wasn’t feeling well enough to play this game right now and she let him in far enough to catch that thought.
He chuckled. “Fine,” he answered her unspoken comment on his behavior. “I was informed by one of my men in the Arnauk clan that your grandmother has paid the Arnauk a visit. Personally escorted to the building by the female alpha.” The fear that Rafe picked up on after his statement wasn’t purposely given to him. “So I did some looking. It seems that you and I are more alike than I had thought,” he said jovially. Then his voice suddenly dropped and took on his usual deadly monotone. “Why exactly did you keep this from me?”
Aislinn didn’t see a reason to not tell him the truth. As long as he remained focused on her and left her grandmother alone. “I didn’t know. She never told our family.”
Rafe watched her as she spoke. She could feel him in her mind and she let him reach a place that would give him the impression that she was telling the truth. That wasn’t hard since she was. She figured it would get more difficult if she had to make him believe a lie.
“So then,” he continued, “I suppose you’re going to expect me to continue to believe you were never trained to use your abilities?”
Aislinn didn’t answer him. She knew it wouldn’t matter what she said to that one.
“Fine. I’ll leave this for now. But don’t think that the topic won’t be revisited. Especially if you continue to develop skills miraculously out of nowhere. Let’s just hope it won’t be necessary for me to bring her in after we’ve destroyed the Arnauk and question her.”