Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Sapphire Angel looked up as Valik approached the cage with two of his guards walking behind him. His expression differed from his previous visits. Before, he had been full of curiosity and excitement, clearly excited about probing her secrets. Now his jaw was set, and he marched with a purpose.
“This is your last chance,” he said after he stopped in front of her. “Share your secrets with us.”
Sapphire Angel blinked, but said nothing. She continued to cover her naked form as best she could, with one arm across her breasts and with her leg turned sideways.
“No?” he said. “Then how about Altor Unitas? Who is he? He doesn’t show up in any databases.”
Again the superheroine said nothing, but this time because she had never heard of Altor Unitas.
Valik sighed and nodded to the guards. One of them stepped up to the cage, holding a set of handcuffs in front of him. A thick chain connected the cuffs. He tossed the restraints through the bars of the cage and they landed on the floor a few feet from Sapphire Angel.
“Put those on,” the guard ordered.
Sapphire Angel frowned and looked away from the men. If they thought she was going to handcuff herself, they were mistaken. And since they didn’t enter the cage to force the cuffs on her, it meant they didn’t realize just how powerless she was. Or perhaps Valik had learned about the necklace and wasn’t taking any chances.
A loud clang sounded behind her, startling her back to attention. She spun her head and saw a solid metal gate had dropped into place in place on one side of the cage, covering the bars.
“There are three more of those,” Valik said. “Put on those handcuffs, or we’ll seal you in and pump the cage full of the same gas Mantis used to capture you.”
Mantis. Her face flushed at the thought of the man who had gotten the best of her. If she ever got out of this situation, she’d see what she could learn about him. To get out of this situation, though, she needed to be alert, so she reached forward and grabbed the handcuff. She glared at Valik before clicking the cuffs over one wrist and then the other, leaving her arms in front of her.
The guards stepped forward, and one unlocked the cage. She shrank away from them as they reached in, each seizing an arm and yanking her from the floor. They dragged her out of the cage as she whipped her head back and forth, looking for any means to save herself.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, panic in her voice.
“I wanted to avoid this,” Malik said. “But if you won’t talk willingly, we have someone who can make you talk.”
Sapphire Angel swallowed. That didn’t sound good. She thought back to the StarPrime case, when Raven Tristan had captured and tortured her, prying every last secret from her lips. Those memories still haunted her sleep, at least once a week. She couldn’t endure such torment again.
The guards carried her lithe body between them, with her feet sometimes dragging across the floor, sometimes dangling and kicking. They led the helpless heroine from the room and to the elevator. The elevator descended one floor, and they forced her out into a maze of halls, the guards hoisting her between them as Valik led the way. After several turns into identical-looking hallways, they came to a steel door.
Valik pushed the door open, and the guards pulled the naked heroine into a small office. A metal desk sat in the middle of the room, with paper strewn about its surface and a computer monitor in the middle. A glass window looked into an adjoining room, but she didn’t notice the room beyond. In front of her stood one of the most intimidating men Sapphire Angel had ever seen.
“Gregor, here she is,” Valik said to the man. “The esteemed Sapphire Angel, as promised. Don’t let her diminished appearance fool you. You probably wanted to start with her in her costume, but we’re still studying that.”
The man stood well over six feet tall, and his black t-shirt and black pants stretched at the seams. A triangular tattoo surrounded his right eye, and he had close-cropped hair and a small goatee. He showed his teeth, in what was not quite a smile, revealing silver caps over his incisors. The guards dragged her close to him, continuing to hold her by her upper arms.
“Well, well, well,” he rumbled in a deep voice, his malevolent grin growing.
He walked left and right, surveying her naked form with his arms crossed. The massive man paused in front of her, when without warning his huge hand shot forward, seizing her by the chin and throat. He didn’t squeeze, though. Instead of hurting her, he seemed to be trying to intimidate her. She tried not to swallow. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing she was petrified.
“You are a special treat for me,” he said, his powerful voice rumbling over her. “I have some special talents in getting information from people. But a couple years back, Mr. Devlin decided he despised torture. I had to put those talents on hold, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he’d need those skills again. I never dreamed, though, I’d get back in the game by putting the mighty Sapphire Angel through the ringer. You’re gonna be fun.”
He reached to her shoulder, taking strands of her hair between the thick fingers of his free hand. She cringed away from him despite herself. She couldn’t help but compare this man with Raven Tristan. The difference was obvious. Tristan had extracted information from her with a cold professionalism, but hadn’t seemed to enjoy hurting the superheroine. This brute was different. His eyes alone told her he relished the prospects of causing her pain.
“Just as pretty as everyone says,” he said, releasing her hair as his eyes ran up and down her naked form. “But I bet underneath that shiny outside, you’re soft. I’m gonna enjoy hurting you and pulling your secrets from you. It’ll be fun to break you, superheroine.”
She met his gaze with a glare, trying to maintain an aura of defiance. She might not have her necklace and powers, but she was still Sapphire Angel and wouldn’t let him intimidate her. Or at least that’s what she wanted him to think. Inside, she was quaking.
They faced off, neither breaking eye contact. After several seconds, he interrupted their contest by reaching up, taking her left nipple between his fingers, and squeezing. Hard.
She yelped, twisted away, and glared back at him with a mix of anger and disbelief, her mouth open.
“Didn’t like that?” he asked with a chuckle. “Then don’t play games with me, little girl. That’s nothing compared to how I’m gonna hurt you. I think we’ll see you’re not so tough.”
She held his gaze, burning lasers at him with her eyes. He glared back, but his eyes held a touch of mirth in them. He was enjoying this. The chirping of a guard’s radio interrupted the moment.
“Yes,” the guard said, touching his ear piece. Listening to words the others couldn’t hear, he nodded.
“It’s for you,” he said to Valik. The guard tried to remove the ear piece, but discovered the cord running down through his clothes didn’t have enough slack. Instead, he unplugged a cord from the radio clipped to his belt, and handed the device to Valik.
“Yes,” Valik said as he pressed a button on the radio.
“Change of plans,” a voice said through the speaker on the radio. It was Mark Devlin. “Our buyer wants to purchase her as well. We’ll be there with him by the afternoon or evening tomorrow. Double check everything over in building ‘C’ right now, and then before we get there, get her over there so she’s ready for him after he inspects the other products. Don’t harm her.”
Gregor’s face contorted, and his eyes flashed to Sapphire Angel, as if he were watching a prize catch slip away. Valik tensed, and his face grimaced.
“But we are close, sir!” Valik exclaimed. “I can sense it. She’s wiped out. She will break. I know I said I didn’t want to do this, but we almost have her!”
“Don’t touch her. It’s not open to debate.”
Valik gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and exhaled, before replying. “Very well.”
He handed the radio back to the guard.
“Gregor, come with me. I have some questions for you.” He turned to the guards. “This will just take a moment.”
Gregor and Valid stepped through the interior doorway, entered the room beyond, and closed the door. Sapphire Angel watched them leave, wondering if they were plotting to disobey Devlin, so Gregor could have a turn with her. Her eyes darted about the room. It was a mess, and she mostly saw paper. But then she spotted them, almost within reach, on the desk in front of her. A pair of scissors.
Sapphire Angel relaxed her body and leaned backward toward the two guards holding her, as if exhausted. She sensed them change their hold, extending their arms to prevent her from getting too close. That gave her the room she needed, and as she gave a glance behind her, she kicked back at the guard to the left, aiming her heel toward his groin.
Her heel struck home, she didn’t wait to see its effect. She lunged forward, pulling free from the surprised guards and reaching for the scissors with her handcuffed hands. She grabbed them, and in the same motion swung back and up toward the other guard. He was coming forward, and his momentum prevented him from turning away in time. The scissors drove into his cheek, embedding in his flesh as the heroine released them.
He howled and stumbled back, reaching for the instrument. Sapphire Angel hopped on one foot and lashed out with the other, driving her foot into his face and sending him crashing backward. She saw the other guard stumbling to his knees and holding his hands to his groin. She darted for the door. The chase was on.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
When Valik was mentioning someone who could “make [Sapphire] talk”, I initially thought he was talking about Mantis, but then I remembered that he didn’t want to let Mantis in on too much of the research. And he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to want to do the stuff that her actual interrogator, Gregor, does; instead, Mantis is mostly---if not entirely---business and nothing else. Gregor’s so unsettling, though.....great job with his writing. I couldn’t discern entirely on whether or not he was purely intent on just torturing her until she cracked or actually violating her completely, though I’ll choose to think the former on that.
Seems as though the lure and temptation of money---that would come from Sapphire being sold to Nassar and Azari---blinded Devlin from a more thorough, patient approach; he called off Valik’s entire interrogation solely for that, and it definitely looks like he’s going to “pay” for it now (no pun intended). I wonder how (or even if) things would’ve been different if Devlin hadn’t been enticed by Nassar’s offer for Sapphire.....if he had just agreed to let Nassar in on WarTech’s projects and nothing else. The deal on paper, though, actually seemed good for everyone but Sapphire; WarTech would get a lot of money, and Nassar and Azari would get their own “trophy” in return.
Speaking of WarTech, something tells me that Gregor and Valik really shouldn’t have left Sapphire alone with the guards.....looks like she’s on the verge of escaping now! Let’s do this! (And I’m hoping she can get her costume back.....having her completely bare like that can’t possibly feel good for her.....)