Chapter 99

Hotch clenched his teeth to hold the scream back that wanted to escape with the powerful lash from the leprechaun's holy whip. The red-headed man had used enough force that the whip had actually sliced into the flesh of his back and side, and while that would have been bad enough, the whip had burned into that slice and the lingering pain told him that the holy water permeating the whip was still burning into him.

Hotch tried to pant through the pain as the demented Irish creature smiled. "Don't hold back, git. Your screams are meant to help teach the others," he told him and reared back again as he laughed.

Hotch's stare bore into him. He knew that his screams would give leprechaun satisfaction, so he was going to hold them in as long as he could.

When the whip cracked against him again, it sliced upwards across his back and up onto the back of his neck, and a long groan left him, making Red laugh again. "I'm a master with a whip, git. I can 'it a penny off the top of a pole, so I can 'it ye anywhere I want to," he instructed and readied the whip again.

Hotch blew out a breath and mentally cringed at the soft cries coming from the cell, and he hoped that the beings weren't actually watching. The cell was behind him, and Hotch knew that Red had positioned him like that on purpose so those in the cell could see the full brunt of the damage the whip was causing.

"Ye are too tall for these ceilings, so how 'bout I help ye take a load off," Red started and then flicked the whip towards the floor.

As soon as Hotch realized the man was aiming at his bare feet, he tried to pull them up, but the end of the whip caught the top of his left foot. With the pain that shot up his leg, he was sure that a couple of the thin bones had been broken by the force of the blow, but he still held back his anguish. He bent his leg back to keep his weight off the wounded foot and out of reach, and he balanced on the balls of his other foot hoping that it would allow him to dodge a little quicker.

He couldn't get that lucky. Red lashed out again with blinding speed catching Hotch's other foot making a small yelp leave him because that time, the whip wrapped around and flayed the sole of his foot open. With not being able to support his weight any longer, Hotch tensed his arms hold his weight as he tried to control his breathing as his whole body broke out into a sweat which had more to do with the pain coursing through his body than the heat of the place.

Red's eyes glowed crimson as he gave his target a menacing look. "Ye will scream, git," he issued and then aimed for Hotch's arms.

The long whip wrapped around both of the vampire's arms several times, and it took everything in Hotch to hold back his screams. As he hung there, panting, he had to blink a few times to be able to focus on the leprechaun as the sweat from his head dripped into his eyes causing them to burn almost as much as the holy water in his wounds.

The red eyed man studied him and then huffed. "Maybe you are a hardchaw." He advanced to Hotch and looked him in the eyes. "But that's only five. Let's see how many ye can take before ye are begging me to stop."

Hotch swallowed as he stared him down, but inside he was cringing. His body was already trembling a little, and he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

After two more lashes, Red sighed. "Maybe I'm jus' not hitting ye hard enough," he wondered and then flicked the whip again.

That time the whip wrapped up across Hotch's back and around the side of his head, and the end of it caught Hotch's right ear splitting it in two, and that made Hotch scream.

A guffaw reverberated through the passage as Red nodded. "That's more like it, git, but I want louder and deeper, more anguish and pain," he told him and readied the whip again.

XXXXX

Kahlan stuck out her hand to the angel, but as soon as hers connected with his, she gasped as her whole body tensed.

Chuck's eyes grew cold. "Let her go, you son. . ." he started as he moved toward the mysterious man.

"Easy, Charles," the angel said as he held up his other hand and Chuck froze on the spot. "I'm not hurting her, I promise."

Chuck's whole body shook as he tried to move, but he couldn't. He couldn't even speak.

After another second, Kahlan relaxed and looked at her best friend. "It's ok, Chuck. I'm alright," she assured him.

Chuck stopped struggling, but he still didn't like the fact that the angel had yet to release his hold on the woman he loved like a sister.

After a couple more seconds, the man let her go and smiled. "Better?"

His hold over Chuck also stopped, and he immediately went to Kahlan. "Are you ok?"

Kahlan frowned and then took off the bandage that Chuck had put on her wounded hand. When her eyes found her hand healed completely, her eyes snapped to the angel.

He shrugged. "My healing abilities are one of the reasons those people kept me in that cage."

Chuck grab her hand and inspected it closely. When he found it to his approval, he locked eyes with her. "What did that feel like?"

She took a deep breath as flexed her hand a few times. "It just got warm, and the heat radiated up my arm." A sheepish smile grew on her face. "I don't know how to explain it, but it felt good, kind. . ." She shook her head. "I don't know."

Emerell smiled again. "It was the least I could do. Thank you for letting me out of there," he told her as he gestured to the cage. "That has been my prison for over an earth year."

"You've been stuck in that tin can for a year? Jesus," Chuck muttered and then winced as he looked at the angel. "Oh, sorry."

Emerell chuckled. "It's alright, Charles. I'm used to the way you human's talk. I know that you didn't mean anything bad by it."

Kahlan eyed the cage and then shook her head. "That thing's not even big enough for you to lay down in."

The angel shrugged. "I don't think they were worried about me being comfortable, child, and besides, I don't sleep like you all have to."

Chuck's eyes grew wide. "So for 24/7, for over a year, you were either sitting or standing in that damn cage?"

The angel took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes."

Kahlan's head shook in disbelief, but the angel grinned. "Which is why I would love to find some clothes and get out of this room, if that's alright with you."

"Of course," she told him and then gestured to the door. "You're free to go wherever you'd like. You can go back home or wherever you want to, but I would greatly appreciate you telling us everything you could about these hunters first."

The heavenly being frowned. "But I owe you my freedom and thusly offered you my services. Do you not want me to stay with you?"

She shook her head. "After being locked up and used for over a year, the last thing you need is someone else controlling you. You don't owe us anything."

He studied her a moment and then nodded. "Thank you, child."

"But I would like to sit down and have a nice conversation before you leave."

He laughed. "Of course. There used to be a nice diner a couple blocks over, and while I don't have to eat, their pancakes border on divine. If it's still there, that would be a nice, quiet place to have a chat."

Chuck laughed. "I could use some lunch."

Kahlan smiled. "Then let's find you some clothes."

XXXXX

By the time Red wound the whip up and put it back in the cabinet, Hotch was basically delirious from pain, shaking, and hoarse from screaming as he hung limply from his chained-up wrists.

Red laughed as he reached up and unhooked the chain from the ceiling letting Hotch fall to the floor with a croak and several whimpers. Red leaned down by him, grabbed his soaked hair, and looked him in the eyes. "Now you know what it is to be a git, don't ye?" When Hotch didn't offer any remark, he frowned and studied him a little more. "Are ye even still in there?"

He huffed and dropped Hotch's head with a thump as he stood up and wiped his blood covered hand on his pants. "And that's what happens when you do something ye're not told to do!" he yelled to the other occupants of the cell as he pointed at the suffering vampire.

Most of the beings were too scared to even look at him, and some of them were even crying over the horror they had witness.

A vile smile spread over the leprechaun's face as he went down the passageway. "That will be the last problem I have out of them," he muttered to himself and then started whistling a joyous little tune.

When Red's tune faded completely, a young dwarf went to the bars and stared at the vampire. There wasn't a part of Hotch's exposed upper half that wasn't cut, burned, and bloody. He cringed and then looked at the older dwarf that pulled him away from the bars. "Is he gonna die, ma?"

The older dwarf sighed and then pulled him down next to her as she sat down and leaned against the wall. "No, Dag, vampires are immortal."

The younger dwarf shook his head as his mother wrapped her arm around him. "I bet he's wishing he could after all that."

The female dwarf's eyes roamed to Hotch. Soft whimpers were escaping him as he trembled, and she winced. "I bet he does, too. Now try and go to sleep."

He snuggled into her side, and she laid her head on top his and closed her eyes. We'll all wish that before this is over.

XXX

Once everyone in the cell was asleep, the di sma hopped out of the shadows and went to Hotch. The leader of the little pack sniffed at Hotch's face, but he was too out of it to even notice them, so he squeaked at him companions. They all went about sniffing the wounded vampire and then they gathered in a group right in front of Hotch's face.

After a few quite commands, three of the di sma went to Hotch and pushed on his head until they rolled it and he was facing the ceiling. The spotted leader then proceeded to jump up onto Hotch chest causing Hotch to moan, but the little furry creature quickly covered Hotch's mouth with his thick tail to muffle the noise.

When Hotch quieted down, the little creature curled in on itself and then straightened back out with a small, glass vile in its little paws. Using his teeth, it took the stopper out of it and then poured the liquid contents into Hotch's open mouth.

When Hotch started to choke and cough, the di sma quickly shoved his mouth shut. Even though Hotch was only semi-conscious, he still fought get his breath. The spotted one chirped frantically and three of his buddies jumped up to join him. Two helped hold Hotch's chin up to keep his mouth closed while the other held Hotch's nose shut effectively making Hotch swallow.

When Hotch groaned again, they all let him go, and he sucked in air as they stilled so they wouldn't disturb him. After a few seconds, Hotch's head lulled to the side signaling that he was completely unconscious and finally out of pain, and they all jumped off him except the spotted one with tropical blue eyes.

He crawled closer to Hotch's face and nuzzled Hotch's cheek as a soft whine left him. He sat up and studied the vampire. After a moment, he licked Hotch's chin, squeaked at him, then jumped off to join his companions, and they disappeared back into the shadows.

XXXXX

As Sebastian nervously paced on the roof of a nearby building, Christian cleaned himself off. Once he was done, he looked at his friend. "Are you going to ignore what we have found out about that woman?"

Sebastian stopped and looked at him. "Maybe that angel had an effect on your taste buds or something."

Christian huffed. "You don't believe me?"

Sebastian sighed. "It's not that I don't think you believe it, but there has to be some other explanation," he insisted. When Christian opened his mouth to argue, he cut back in. "Aaron has fed on her, he would have known," he insisted.

"Would he? When you bit Maria and tasted her love for you, would you have been able to discern any nuances in her blood?" he asked as he moved closer to him. "Besides, Aaron's too young to discern anything about the blood he drinks."

The detective mentally cringed because Christian was right, and he suddenly worried that maybe Kahlan not being completely human is what made her blood so powerful for her husband.

"Her heart doesn't even beat all the time!" Christian insisted. "You couldn't even hear it at her house when she came down."

Sebastian winced. "She also knows when we show up, and no human has ever been able to do that."

"She resists compelling, too."

A thought suddenly came to Sebastian, though. "But David is with her mother. Aaron would definitely know if she wasn't human."

"But what about her father? Does Aaron know him?"

"I believe the man was dead before Aaron met her, if I'm remembering correctly."

Christian sighed. "We need to get to the bottom of this before we find Aaron."

"But even if she isn't fully human, Aaron still loves her. That wouldn't change his mind."

"No, but it may impact whether or not she gets brought across." He licked his lips as he winced. "We may have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Sebastian wilted. "He would hate us."

Christian inhaled deeply as he nodded. "I know, and with as powerful as he is, they may not be an easy task. It would probably take all of us."

Sebastian ran a hand down his face, and then sighed. "We may not have to worry about it if we can't find him."

Christian clasped his shoulder. "I am sorry, my friend. I know how much you care for him already, but you know what happens when supernatural beings are made into vampires. You know the horrors that arise. We cannot subject the world to that let alone all of the wonderful people we have met here."

As much as Sebastian didn't want to admit it, he knew Christian was right. Knowing he was right, though, didn't make him feel any better about it.