No Man's Land Read Free

stood in the punishment room and tried to maintain her composure. It was no use. She’d begun retching the moment she’d walked in, and although she managed to wrestle her empty digestive system under control, she couldn’t stop the shaking that wracked her body. This was so much worse than she’d ever imagined. Everything in the room reminded her that there were things she dreaded more than death.
    Pierre stood beside her, no doubt to keep her from killing herself before they had a chance to extract maximum pain and agony. There was one chair in the room, and Kelly refused to go near it. It looked like an execution chair with straps for arms, legs, and even for the head. Fully strapped in, the neck would be open and free. Lots of other parts would be too.
    Trays on wheels lined the walls, their silk–draped surfaces filled with neatly lined tools. Picks, saws, hammers, pliers, drills, torches. The padded walls ensured total soundproofing. The smell of the room was even worse than the appearance — bleach and cleaning fluid that did little to cover up the overwhelming scent of blood, vomit, excrement, and fear. Pierre grinned gleefully, fairly dancing in anticipation. There was nowhere for Kelly to look that didn’t remind her of what was coming.
    The door clicked open and the Prince walked in flanked by two male vampires. He nodded toward her, and she could have sworn she saw a flash of amusement in his bored eyes. The two males grabbed her by the arms and took her to the chair, strapping her in. She didn’t resist. It wasn’t like she could fight two vampires, evade Pierre and the Master’s son, then somehow manage to escape from a resort filled with loyal vampires. Even if she did, where would she go? Better to take her punishment and die with some dignity.
    Calm. Calm. You can get through it, girl. You’re strong enough to endure anything they do to you . She could do this. There would either be a lot of pain, and she’d live, or a lot of pain and she’d die. Either way, it wouldn’t go on forever. Kelly tried everything she could think of to calm herself, but it was impossible when she was strapped to a chair and facing shining torture instruments.
    One of the older vampires took a metal apparatus, and gripping her jaw, shoved it into her mouth. The device held her mouth open. Even with her vampire strength, she was unable to move her jaw, the strap across her head holding her immobile. Suddenly Kelly realized what they meant to do. Whatever resolve she’d had fled. She trembled uncontrollably as her heart pounded and tears flooded her eyes, blinding her. Rough, calloused hands pinched her jaw, bruising and digging into her flesh.
    “Let me,” a deep voice said. Strong fingers gripped her jaw and expertly hit the pressure points. Her fangs snapped down, exposed.
    Tears poured from her eyes, and her breath came in fast pants as she felt the scrape of metal on her right fang. White light blinded her. Pain made all conscious thought impossible as the fang was yanked from her mouth. Kelly heard herself scream as if it were another person. Blood and venom from her glands filled her mouth, and she choked and sputtered instinctively to keep from inhaling the fluids. Crimson bubbled and spat from her mouth as she gasped for air. She’d barely had time to recognize the pain when she felt the metal on her second fang.
    “No, no, no,” she begged as coherently as she could with her mouth pried open and the flood of blood threatening to pour down her lungs. Again the hand held her jaw and she felt the white–hot pain as the fang was yanked from her mouth in one pull. Everything went dark.
    She came to, not sure how long she’d been unconscious, and realized they were unstrapping her from the chair. Was that it? They only pulled her fangs? Not that removing her fangs was light punishment. A vampire’s fangs were deeply embedded into the bone of their jaw, and nerve endings filled the tooth and canals leading to