Deliverance by Adrienne Monson Read Free Book Online Page B

comfort. He grabbed her wrist before she could. Turney inspected the earth coating her fingers and then let go to smile at her. “I love it when you touch me. But please wash your hands first.”
    Hastily brushing her hands over her dirty skirt, Iliana glanced down. “Sorry. I didn’t think about that.”
    Turney patted her back. “I know. Don’t worry about it. I told you so that it was brought to your attention.”
    She laughed nervously and went inside to wash.

Chapter 6

    T he vibrations of the vehicle rocked Leisha from side to side and the smell of exhaust fumes mixed with the fabric softener of her clothes. After the immortals had bound her with heavy chains and put her in a coffin, they violently dumped her into a car. Listening to the different sounds and reverberations, Leisha surmised that they drove for a short while. The clinking of a thin metal door and voices echoing told her they parked in a large, empty building. She was jolted and her head cracked against the top of the coffin as they carried her upward. Loud engines roared and she knew they were on a plane. Since there wasn’t a big bustle of activity or conversation, she could only assume that the plane was a private jet of some kind, but the immortals would have the audacity to fly her on a commercial airline if they knew they could get away with it. She had no way of telling how long they were in the air, but the flight felt like an eternity. By the time they transported and moved her around in another car, she had no clue what the climate might even be, let alone what part of the world.
    The car came to a halt and the engine turned off. Leisha heard a click and then the squeaks of hinges that needed oil. Then the murmur of several voices. Suddenly, her coffin was lifted up. It felt like she teetered for a moment and then righted. The immortals were carrying her somewhere. There were occasional comments around her.
    “You finally got that bitchy vamp?”
    “That’s right! This one is gonna get some serious payback before we rip her stupid blonde head off!”
    A loud thud pounded in her ears as she was jolted in the coffin. They hadn’t lowered her too far before they dropped her, so she assumed she was on a table or cot of some kind.
    When they opened the coffin, Leisha got a brief glimpse of a bare light bulb dangling from a slightly stained ceiling before the immortals crowded around and blocked her view. She pulled her knees into her chest as one of the men leaned down with his arms outstretched. She kicked him in the eyes with her bound feet. The cracking of his cheekbones were loud in the quiet room and he cursed, but four other immortals immediately came forward and hauled her roughly out of the box.
    They dropped her onto a metal table lined with gutters that led to a drain in the tile floor. They took the chains off her feet first, a total of six immortals holding her with bruising force while one placed her ankles in stirrups. Two of them pulled out a set of sharp blades while the others held her down. Leisha prepared herself for pain, but they only cut her clothes and nicked her flesh a little in the process. The ripping cloth resounded in her ears and she tried to get free, but it was no use. After her skin was exposed to the chilly air, they proceeded to lock her wrists to the table and then a large, metal clamp was placed over her hips and chest to keep her from moving at all.
    A few of them gave her punches and slaps across the face as they left the room. One woman worked up a bunch of saliva in her mouth and spit on Leisha’s cheek, the spittle trailing down to her hair. None of them said a word.
    Once the door closed behind them, Leisha took as deep a breath as the clamps over her chest would allow, and released it through trembling lips. Steady. Don’t let them see your fear.
    Her solitude only lasted a few minutes before the heavy, steel door swung open.
    “Arthur,” Leisha greeted in a congenial tone. “It’s been,