Chained by Darkness (Sensor Series, Book 2.5) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About Susan Illene

  Acknowledgments

  Chained

  By

  Darkness

  By Susan Illene

  Chained by Darkness

  Copyright © 2013 by Susan Illene

  All right reserved.

  This book, whole or in part, may not be copied, scanned, or reproduced by electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying or the implementation of any type of storage or retrieval system) without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. Please do not participate or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials. Purchase only authorized editions.

  www.darknesshaunts.com

  ISBN-10: 0991155602

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9911556-0-6

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events portrayed within its pages are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not meant to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, undead, or mostly dead is purely coincidental.

  Dedication

  To anyone who has ever set a goal for themselves that no one else believed was possible—and then achieved it. The world is a better place for all the dreamers within it.

  Sensor Series Reading Order:

  Darkness Haunts

  Darkness Taunts

  Chained by Darkness

  Chapter One

  There comes a time in a man’s life when he looks back and wonders what he might have done differently. When he realizes a series of events brought him to a point where he can no longer alter his course. Death is easy. It’s the waiting to die that proves difficult. Endless weeks spent in a black hole, deprived of every sensation, and Lucas still didn’t know how he could have changed anything. He wasn’t a man to wallow in regret, but they’d left him with far too much time to think.

  His body had long since gone numb. The bite of the chains, holding him suspended in four directions, were the only reminder that he still lived. Not even oxygen reached this hellish place. He’d have killed for a breath of air, but his lungs had caved in as soon as his captors sealed him inside the dark tomb.

  Total sensory deprivation.

  His enhanced vision couldn’t see a damned thing and the manacles were spelled with magic to suppress every one of his powers. The frigidity of the place kept his naked body uncomfortable, but he could handle that. It was the endless waiting that was getting to him. He fought to hang on, to not lose his sanity—for however long it took.

  He felt certain this was his longest stay in the hole yet. Remiel and his angelic cohorts should have killed him already, but Lucas suspected they wanted to make him suffer before the end came. The fools seemed to forget he’d been a regular guest in Purgatory for centuries. He could endure it, so long as he didn’t think of her. The memories might have helped keep his mind occupied during the endless hours, but they also reminded him of everything he’d lost. He needed to stay focused if he was to get out of this current predicament.

  A loud screeching noise broke the monotony of silence.

  Lucas lifted his head as the heavy door sealing him inside opened. A rush of air surged into the room and he sucked it in, savoring every bit as it entered his lungs. It took several short breaths before he could fill them completely. He squinted against the light filtering in through the doorway. Even with the shadowy figure blocking much of it, he still needed a moment to adjust from the darkness.

  The first thing he noticed was the man’s swirling gray eyes. They glowed with an eerie light common to his kind. Then he saw the wild mane of silvery hair that ran past his shoulders—a less frequent trait. Lucas knew exactly whose hulking form stood there. Kerbasi. The man in charge of all living prisoners in Purgatory.

  Fucking bastard. If ever there was a man that needed killing, it was him.

  “I do hope you’ve calmed that temper of yours down. I’ve never seen you quite this…out of control upon arrival,” Kerbasi mused.

  There may have been a minor altercation when they brought him in—he’d definitely not gone gently into this good night. Before, they’d always sentenced him first and then taken him to a prison cell before anything else happened. He’d hoped for a chance to argue his way out of confinement and hadn’t been too pleased when that opportunity got shoved into the dark. They’d changed the order of things this time around.

  “Free me from these chains and I’ll show you control,” Lucas growled.

  Kerbasi stepped forward. “Something about you has changed since your last visit. What could it be?”

  Lucas cleared his mind of any telling thoughts. They would only be used against him.

  “The only thing that has changed is my tolerance for you, guardian. It now ranks somewhere between mosquitoes and YouTube commercials—annoying and practically unavoidable.”

  Kerbasi shook his head. “You say the strangest things, nephilim.”

  The guardian pressed his cold hand to Lucas’ forehead. It felt as if hundreds of needles pierced his skull as Kerbasi worked to penetrate his mind. Lucas gritted his teeth and focused on food. Not a difficult thing to do. He was hungry enough to rip a cow open just to get a chunk of steak out of it. Too bad this place didn’t have livestock—or any native animals for that matter. On the rare occasions they did serve food, he couldn’t identify it.

  “You never cease to amuse, nephilim. Is our hospitality not up to your expectations? Not to worry, I’ll provide an opportunity for you to win a meal soon enough.”

  “I’m sure you will.” Lucas knew what the guardian had in mind, but he didn’t care. Anything would be better than sitting in this black hole for much longer.

  Kerbasi pressed into Lucas’ mind with more force. “I have been informed you’re here because you failed to protect your sensor. Did you finally give up on your duty after all this time?”

  Images of Melena flashed through his mind before he could stop them. The look on her face just before he’d been taken away. How she’d tried to argue with the archangel, Remiel. Lucas had wanted to resist leaving, but she would have joined him in the fight if he had. Watching her die once had been enough.

  She’d become important to him and seeing her lifeless body after the demon attacked her had almost driven him insane. Willingly going with Remiel had been the only way to keep her safe, especially since he and his brother had used forbidden methods to resuscitate her.

  “How very intriguing,” Kerbasi said. His eyes scrunched closed as he continued to penetrate Lucas’ innermost thoughts. “After centuries of hatred for sensors, you’ve grown feelings for this one. I never thought I’d see such a thing happen.”

  “Get out of my head.” He tried to think of something else—anything else.

  Kerbasi latched onto a thread Lucas had worked to hide more than any of the others. The guardian used his considerable power to pull it loose. Lucas had grown strong over the past two and a half millennia, but in his weakened state he couldn’t
protect his mental barriers against an attack like this. It was undoubtedly one of the reasons he’d been kept in this black hole for so long. It took a lot to weaken him to the point he couldn’t defend his mind.

  “Her name is…Melena,” Kerbasi said, shifting closer. His robe brushed against Lucas’ bare chest.

  Hot and raw images poured out so clearly they had both men sucking in their breath. The mind-meld must have amplified their intensity. Lucas could feel his hands gripping Melena’s hips as he buried himself deep inside her body. He could hear her screams of pleasure and see the look of rapture on her face. She’d been tight and wet, wrapping herself around him until he couldn’t tell the two of them apart. He’d never felt sparks flare between him and another woman, but with her it was like an explosion of fireworks. In a way he couldn’t quite explain, it was as if she was made for him.

  If he’d known it would be that way between them, he wouldn’t have been able to resist her for over eight years. It was those images of her that had helped him get through the past weeks. They’d only begun to put aside their differences before he left, but those last days with her had changed him. All the burning hatred they’d had for each other had turned into passion. He’d spent much of his time in the black hole examining their time together and wondering where it might have led. Would things still be the same for them if he ever got out?

  “You enjoyed her body very much,” the guardian mused. “I can almost feel the immense pleasure you had from mating with her. These physical desires…they are strange to me, but I must admit she does have a certain appeal.” The guardian’s hold loosened ever so slightly.

  There wouldn’t be a better opportunity to strike. Lucas jerked his neck forward and smashed his head into Kerbasi’s face. The man leapt back and swiped at his nose where an outpouring of blood ran down. It only took moments for him to heal, but even giving the guardian a brief taste of pain satisfied Lucas. Not many prisoners got a chance to hurt Kerbasi.

  “Touchy about her, are you?” he asked, rubbing his bloody hand on his dark robe. Amusement reflected in his swirling gray eyes.

  “Stay the fuck out of my head.”

  Lucas had no shame when it came to Melena, but that didn’t mean he wanted to share his memories of her with a man who’d only use them as a weapon. Especially a man who’d never even had sex. Who knew what he might dream up at night with those images in his head now.

  The guardian’s gaze ran down his naked form, still stretched out by chains. Lucas had inadvertently grown hard while he’d relived the memories of Melena. He refused to feel any embarrassment about that either. Let the dickless man before him look.

  Kerbasi shook his head. “You have it all wrong. I’m no more impotent than you are. The difference between us is that I do not feel the need to succumb to pleasures of the flesh.”

  And that was exactly why Kerbasi was such a tight ass. Too many millennia without getting laid would do that to a man.

  Lucas lifted his lips in a feral grin. “Are you sure it isn’t the lack of available females around this place that curbs your appetite? Perhaps it’s just as well—I can’t imagine any woman would willingly touch you anyway.”

  The guardian frowned. “I will not allow you to draw me into these pointless conversations. We have more pressing matters to attend.”

  “Found a new method of torture you wish to try on me?” Lucas asked. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d pulled him from the black hole for that.

  Kerbasi’s lips curled up. “Oh, no. We must get you ready.”

  “For what?”

  The guardian stepped out of the room and came back with a large cauldron. Lugging it closer, he swung it out at Lucas. Ice cold water splashed over him and ran down his body. It couldn’t have been more freezing if it had come from an Alaskan river in the winter. He had to fight the urge to shiver.

  “Today marks the beginning of your trial. They tell me you have a strong chance of being executed after it’s over. I am most interested to see if you can talk your way out of it this time.”

  Chapter Two

  Bright light blazed ahead as they rounded a bend in the tunnel. It shone like a beacon of hope and freedom—a mockery Lucas didn’t find amusing. The chains binding his hands at his back prevented him from reaching up to shield his eyes. He bowed his head instead and kept his attention on the ground as he made his way past the loose rocks and chunks of ice that kept cutting into his bare feet.

  It had been a long journey to the topside of Purgatory through frigid tunnels carved into the earth long ago. Fissures in the ceiling allowed rivulets of water to fall into a light stream along the path before sliding away. Steam swirled around his legs. He had the uncomfortable sensation of being hot and cold at the same time.

  Kerbasi had given him a dark robe to wear and nothing else. Even the permanent residents of this hellish place didn’t wear much more—the fools. If they spent even one day in the mortal realm, they’d never want to come back. Heaven would lose its ignorant minions in a New York minute. Now there was a thought that deserved exploring. Then again, even the humans didn’t deserve to have the natives around here thrust on them.

  A stoic guardian with wavy black hair stood at the tunnel exit, holding a spear upright in his left hand. He wore his dark gray wings out and visible, though he was smart enough to keep them folded at his back. Kerbasi usually kept his hidden. Lucas’ lips twitched in memory of the time he’d nearly ripped one of the guard’s wings off. Over three centuries later the damage could still be seen in the jagged line where the feathers didn’t grow properly. That particular guardian served below, but he’d learned to keep his distance and rarely exposed his plumage anymore.

  Kerbasi and Lucas stepped through an invisible shield. It fizzled over him, reminding him he’d only made it through because they allowed it. The heat wave that came next scorched his skin. It would burn a human body and leave them dead in minutes. As it was, his normally golden tone turned red quickly since he didn’t have the strength to fully protect himself.

  His eyes and body adjusted after a few concentrated moments. He swept his gaze around his surroundings and saw nothing had changed since his last trip through. Ethereal forms, representing human souls, moved at a sedate pace on the towering mountains behind him. They had a soft glow and were shaped similar to their former bodies. Lucas knew they were up there cleansing themselves of misdeeds too minor for Hell, but too immoral for a direct trip to heaven.

  He’d never been allowed near them. The guardians must have suspected he’d be quick to inform the souls they were wasting their time trying to please divine beings who had no concept of how to live a real life. Why bother? It was nothing more than a ridiculous game as far as Lucas was concerned.

  A crunch of sand drew his attention. The archangel, Remiel, landed a short distance away on the beach that stretched between the mountains and sea. His pearly white wings tipped with gold flared out as he took a few steps to slow his momentum. They gleamed in the bright light before he folded them behind him. If Lucas ever got a chance to fight that one, he wouldn’t bother with the wings. He’d go straight for his chest to test the theory on whether he had a heart or not.

  Remiel’s eyes reflected the same golden light that could be seen on a nephilim—except the archangel’s were more intense. The other features of the two races varied, but that one characteristic was always the same. Such as where Lucas had blond hair, this particular archangel had auburn. He’d started cutting it closer to the head. Lucas assumed he liked the orderly appearance it gave him. When he’d worn it loose and down to his shoulders it had looked wild and disorderly.

  Melena had a similar shade of hair to Remiel’s, but hers was glossier and had darker undertones. It had always felt silky when he’d run his fingers through it. He missed taking her hair into his hands and watching her eyes turn soft when she’d normally kept them distant. It’d been his own fault she’d been reserved around him. He’d put her on guard since the moment the
y met.

  Lucas shook his head. He needed to stop thinking of her if he wanted to keep his mind on the matters before him. She had a way of distracting him even when she wasn’t around.

  He and the guardian closed the distance from the archangel and stopped a handful of paces in front of him. If a human could observe them, they’d see three large men—all close to six and a half feet tall wearing robes that did little to hide their muscular bodies. Power radiated in waves from the two unshackled males so that any supernatural could feel it. Lucas knew that though he’d been weakened for the moment, he could still scare the piss out of a mortal if the urge struck him. The wary looks Remiel and the guardian kept shooting his way told him that much. He preferred to choose his moments of rebellion carefully. This wasn’t one of them, but they didn’t know that.

  Kerbasi nodded at the archangel. “He’s all yours. I’ve weakened him sufficiently so that you shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

  Lucas fisted his chains in his hands. The guardian was a fool if he thought he’d truly subdued him. Kerbasi shot him a look that said he’d caught that thought. It didn’t matter. Lucas could shield his mind from him at a distance if he needed to, but it was a waste of energy for the moment.

  “I’m not concerned,” Remiel said, grabbing Lucas’ arm. “We have our own method for keeping him under control.”

  Perhaps they did, but without their special powers they’d be nothing against him. The fools rarely fought against real adversaries. Their lack of experience made them weak as far as he was concerned. Even now, Lucas had to struggle against the urge to pull away from Remiel’s hold. He needed to be compliant around the angels until he could come up with a plan.

  Kerbasi’s gray eyes swirled lazily. “Ah, yes. You prefer to freeze them so there is no struggle at all. It takes the fun out of things.”

  Lucas had to admit, the guardian at least had a sense of adventure. The angels were pathetically boring.