Aleximanus slogged forwards along the gravel path that weaved through the overgrown weeds, wincing as the cobbles dug into his bare feet.
Tyon’s carriage came into view behind a curve. He and Hazel were hugging, stealing kisses among words. Aleximanus smirked. They behaved like youngsters at their first experience with love. Well, maybe it was their first experience. He’d been the same with Chloe, swept into a whirlwind of love and passion, feeling truly alive for the first time.
Hazel and Tyon didn’t break their hug when he walked over to them, but stopped kissing.
“What did he say?” Hazel asked, her face half buried in Tyon’s chest.
“He believed me. He’s waiting for me at the Green Gables and wants to see both of you.”
“Did he confirm that Kaela is with him?” Tyon slanted him a glare.
“No, and he didn’t promise he’d bring her, but it’s our best chance.”
Tyon didn’t relax. The tension riding his shoulders spread to his back and thighs. Aleximanus couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t have risked Chloe’s life for anything in the world, but his daughter was in danger, and Hazel could take care of herself. She was a lust-breather and smart. Not even the Hierophant would resist.
“When are we going?” Hazel asked, smoothing her bodice Tyon’s hands must’ve rumpled.
“We have an hour.”
“An hour?” Tyon’s veins on the back of his hands stood out like pulsating ropes. “We can’t be ready in an hour. We haven’t finished studying the Green Gable’s layout and ground.”
“This is what we have.” He opened the carriage and retrieved his shoes. “We’ve rehearsed the plan enough times.”
“Perhaps we need a better plan.” Tyon widened his stance as if ready to wield his sword.
Aleximanus tied his shoes. “The more we plan the more we risk unforeseen events. I’m better at improvising.”
“And how did it go the last time you improvised?” Tyon flexed his fingers. “My knights were ambushed.”
Aleximanus straightened. The captain’s words hurt. He slid on his jacket and turned his back to Tyon. After all these years, after all that happened between them, Tyon’s words were like a stab in the gut, a knife twisting in his dark soul. “The Hierophant killed my wife and kidnapped my daughter. I’m not going to apologise for loving my family. I’m not like you, a cold machine that can forget about having a heart.” He must’ve stroked a nerve because Tyon stiffened, and his cheeks turned a shade paler.
“It was difficult for me as well,” Tyon said, almost slurring. “But the rules were made to keep loved ones safe. I’m not going to apologise for being the captain my knights needed.”
Hazel muttered something, and Tyon groaned in reply.
Aleximanus jumped into the driver’s box, the evil inside him roaring to be unleashed and attack Tyon. “We need to go.” He waited for Tyon and Hazel to be inside before urging the horses forwards. Tyon had been his captain, and he would’ve died for his brothers. But Kaela came before anyone else.
~ * ~
HAZEL SHIVERED SO much her teeth almost chattered. Leon’s mansion, the Green Gables, loomed over them, dark and menacing like a bad omen. It was the first time her lust remained quiet, like a cat pretending to groom its coat while keeping an eye around.
Aleximanus stepped out of the carriage, a hand closed on Tyon’s elbow. The rope tying Tyon’s arms and wrists dug into the fabric of his jacket without making him look any meeker though.
She’d talked too soon about her lust. The cat raised its head and flapped its tail, suddenly interested. Seeing mighty Tyon with his wrists tied in front of him stirred her blood. She took a mental note to use a rope to tie him down next time they were in bed together. If they survived, that is.
He seemed to follow the pattern of her thoughts as he pierced her with his intense golden stare. Together they marched to the front door among rubbles and rusty benches. Once, it had to be a great mansion with red-brick walls, arched windows, and trimmed hedgerows all around. It was easy to picture ladies in silk gowns and gentlemen in tuxedos strolling the park. Now it stood like a bad memory no one wanted to bring up again.
The double door stood ajar, and Aleximanus pushed it with the tip of his shoe. “Hazel, I’m going to lift the bond when we’re in front of the Hierophant. We need all the power you can muster. Are you ready?”
No. “Yes.”
Tyon shot her another glance and mouthed, “I love you.”
Her insides melted with love and longing. “I love you, too,” she mouthed back.
Their footsteps echoed in the high-vaulted ceiling of the foyer. Candles from the sconces on the walls shed their orange light on the dark stone floor, without warming the place. Cold and darkness dominated the wide hall, and another shiver rippled through her. Dark drapes covering the windows were the only furniture, and the faint smell of blood lingered in the air.
Aleximanus wielded his obsidian dagger and pressed it on Tyon’s side before stopping in the middle of the room. A shudder of fear caused her skin to pebble with goose-bumps.
Footfalls approached from the sweeping stairs that coiled like a snake, and Leon crept into view, slow and lethal like a snake. His dark suit and waistcoat made him one with the shadows. Only his burning black eyes were distinguishable.
“What do we have here? Visitors.” He trudged down the steps with the easy authority he always emanated.
Hazel’s mouth grew dry. She stifled the urge to yell at him and claw his eyes out of their sockets for having used her, hurt her, and killed those poor girls. But in that moment, Aleximanus lifted the bond. It was like a rubber band snapping. The whiplash slapped her, and she nearly flinched.
A swish of cold air stroked her cheek, and it was like taking the first breath of fresh air after having spent hours in a room packed with people. Her power stretched within her, roaring and uncoiling, and her fear and resentment towards Leon vanished into a bubble of hot need. She smiled. Anxiety evaporated. Even the cold biting her skin was gone, replaced by seething heat.
The real Hazel retreated in a corner of her being while lust took over and dominated her body. She didn’t fight it. The success of the plan depended on her ability to distract Leon.
Runes were carved on the walls and glinted in the moonlight filtering through the drapes. They were the same odd symbols she’d spotted days ago on the blackboard of Leon’s office. If she’d known back then they were evil charms, she would’ve run for the hills, but wouldn’t have met Tyon.
Leon returned the smile, running his tongue over his teeth. “Captain Sebastyon is at my mercy, and sweet, beautiful Hazel is now one of us.” He spread his arms. “I couldn’t have asked for more. Aleximanus, I’m impressed. Bravo.” He clapped his hands. “I’m curious though. I sent two sin-breathers to Tyon. What happened to them?”
“I killed them,” Aleximanus replied without missing a beat. Despise spilled in his voice. “I wanted to be the one to bring you Hazel and the captain.” He pressed the blade on Tyon’s side. “Now you’ll give me my daughter back.”
Tyon winced and pretended to struggle against the ropes.
“How did you subdue the mighty captain?” Leon asked.
“He didn’t.” Hazel strolled forwards, swaying her hips. She tugged at the tie of her cloak and released it. It pooled at her feel in a swish of fabric, revealing the flimsy, tight lilac gown she was wearing. A thin layer of mauve satin enveloped her body, leaving her décolletage bare and very little to the imagination. No stay, no chemise, and no undergarments. The neckline stopped right above her nipples that were pebbling in the cold air and the excitement charging it. A long cut on the side revealed her leg up to her hip.
Tyon let out a low growl like a wounded tiger, but Leon’s hungry gaze raked over her. She unleashed her power. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff and finally jumping. It was like flying. Her lust permeated the air with the scent of jasmine and shot towards Leon full force. He staggered under
the impact, his eyes widening.
“I enslaved Captain Sebastyon.” Her voice was all smoky and husky while she caressed a breast.
“I see.” Leon’s chest rose and fell as he licked his lips. “I can understand why it was so easy to corrupt Sir Morris and unleash him against you. He became obsessed with you. You’re a natural born temptress.”
She ran a hand over her curves, buying time to give Aleximanus and Tyon the opportunity to study the place. “Why did you set that cur against me?”
“I needed you jobless, nothing personal, but he had to drive you out of the museum.” He chuckled and ogled her again. “Apparently, my own plan bit me back though. The fool was so full of anger and resentment towards you, he ransacked your house and forced you into Tyon’s arms.” He shot a glare of pure hatred at Tyon. “I fuelled Morris with too much evil.” He clucked his tongue. “But my guess about the hallow was correct. I knew when I watched your aura turning green that one of the relics you were restoring was the hallow, and you looked so in love with the owl.”
She didn’t regret having met Tyon, but she wanted this bastard out of their lives.
He flipped two fingers. “Come here.”
The real Hazel cowered in a corner, horrified by the thought of kissing him or touching him, but her lust didn’t care about her reservations.
She stroked her body again, enhancing the curve of her hips. “Can’t we spend some time alone? So I can show you how I charmed the crusader.” She came almost chest to chest with him, smelling his cologne, and gave another push to her power.
Tyon groaned and squirmed, and Aleximanus punched him hard in the stomach. A frisson of alarm slithered through her when Tyon moaned and bent over, fists clenching so hard the knuckles whitened. She turned her attention to Leon.
He put his hands on her hips, his erection pressing against her belly. “Take him to the dungeon,” he croaked without glancing at Aleximanus. “Follow the stairs down, lock him in a cell, and wait for me there.”
“My daughter?” Aleximanus insisted.
Leon’s eyes glinted. His fingers dug into Hazel’s flesh. “How dare—”
She took his hand and shoved it underneath her bodice. His attention snapped back to her, and his fingers pinched her nipple hard enough to make her whimper both in pleasure and pain. She ignored the hurt and anger rippling Tyon’s muscles.
“Just tell him where she is, so he’ll leave us alone.” Hazel rubbed his erection.
Leon closed his eyes. “Your delectable daughter is the dungeon. Go now.”
Footsteps padded, the noise overcome by Tyon’s roar. The hurt in his voice curled like spiky vines around her heart. She wanted to run to him and tell him he was the one, but seducing Leon was the plan, and it was working.
Please, forgive me, my love.
She gave another shot to her lust, and Leon moaned, grabbed her arse, and squeezed. The phoenix on her palm burned, and a faint blue light suffused the air. For a moment, hope kindled in her chest, hope that everything would be all right and that she had nothing to fear.
Leon didn’t flinch at the light, too busy staring at her breasts. He lowered his head, his lips parting, and she let him kiss her.
~ * ~
THE MOMENT TYON left the main hall, he yanked the ropes loose, striding along a dimly lit corridor. Rage was a beast trapped inside his chest, scraping at him with sharp iron claws. His thoughts drifted to Hazel, the sensual swing of her hips, her scanty gown, and the heavy-lidded gaze she’d given to Leon. He closed his fists into tight balls, digging his nails into his palms and missing his cilice. But pain restrained his power while anger fuelled it, and anger was burning hot in his veins now. They needed all his energy for this mission.
He wanted to rip Leon’s chest open and stab his evil heart. Wrath pounded in his head, a steady beat that formed black halos in his sight.
“Don’t think about it,” Aleximanus said, stomping next to him.
“Easy for you to say.” He couldn’t think of what was happening above him, of Hazel’s lust getting free, of Leon’s fucking paws on her body.
A tick started in Aleximanus’s jaw, but if he had any comment, he kept it for himself.
The long corridor stretched in front of them, dark and deep like the throat of a monster. Cold clung to Tyon’s skin, and despite his hot temper, it caused him to shiver. Evil lurked in the shadows and tainted this place with its mark.
A row of armoured doors lined a wall. The flickering flame of a single gas lamp shed barely enough light to make out the locks and a small opening on the middle of the door protected with bars.
Aleximanus darted from one door to another, frantic hands grabbing the bars. “Kaela? It’s me.”
Tyon breathed in the smell of humidity and decay, in the unsuccessful attempt to calm him down. Something else lingered in the air, a sweet scent like cinnamon.
Aleximanus’s desperate call ricocheted off the walls, and his hurried footsteps slapped the stone floor. Tyon followed the scented trail.
“She isn’t here.” Aleximanus’s chest rose and fell in quick beats, hands shaking. “She isn’t here. The bastard lied.” Desperation crept in his voice, his eyes turning all black, swallowing the light.
“Shut the up, sin-breather.” Tyon put his hands on the wall under the gas lamp. The stone felt slimy and cold beneath his palms. The scent teased his nostrils again. It sneaked from between two stones in the wall.
“W-what is it?” Aleximanus shivered, perhaps in fear or anger or both.
Tyon faced him. It was the first time he saw the head of the sin-breathers utterly undone, a quivering mess of concern and rage. Pity and sorrow for Aleximanus flared inside Tyon’s chest. Maybe Aleximanus knew exactly how Tyon felt knowing that Hazel was alone with Leon. “I think this wall hides a passage or a cell. Do your ghost trick and go through this wall.”
For once, Aleximanus didn’t argue, but did as told. His body shook and became translucent. The air vibrated. He smoked his way through the wall and disappeared.
Tyon touched around the stones, searching for a lever or a jagged angle. A muffled cry drifted from the other side of the wall. Either Aleximanus had found Kaela, or he’d fallen into a trap.
Tyon pulled at a slab slightly bending onwards, and the grind of stone against stone reverberated off the walls. He could only hope Leon was too busy with Hazel to not hear the noise. Disgust clogged his throat and burned his gut. He’d kill the bastard just because he dared touch his Hazel.
Dust fell from the junctions between the blocks when the stone shifted. He shoved the concealed door inwards, and it screeched again. Bloody hell.
Candlelight glimmered in a narrow room that had barely enough space for a person to crouch on the floor. Aleximanus sat next to a young woman in a worn brown gown, dark blonde hair matted and tangled. They wept in each other’s arms, wrapped like bindweed. Cut ropes lay on the dirty floor.
Tyon gazed away to give them a moment of privacy, but they didn’t have much time. “Aleximanus, we have to go.”
Aleximanus staggered to his feet and dragged his daughter with him. “This is Tyon. You can trust him,” he said to his daughter in a soothing voice.
She glanced around, squinting at the glow in the corridor. Her bedraggled hair caught the light and gleamed with a crimson hue.
“Can you walk?” Tyon asked, ushering them out.
“Y-yes.”
Her feet bled though, and a cut on her calf was raw and red. The ropes had left angry marks on her wrists and neck, and she was too thin and frail to have eaten properly. Tyon marched ahead, wielding his white blade. Aleximanus’s whispered comforting words from behind him.
They arrived at the landing, and he paused on the corridor that led to the hall. He didn’t need to shut Aleximanus up. He fell silent and pressed his daughter’s face against his chest, muffling her sobs. Another corridor stretched on their left towards the back of the house. From the mansion’s layout they’d studied, the corridor had to b
e the service hallway, once used by the household and that headed to the rear entrance.
He nudged Aleximanus and pointed at the left corridor. Aleximanus gave a nod.
Screams and thuds echoed from the main hall. Feminine moans, and male grunts.
A hard ball of anger blocked Tyon’s throat and weighed on his chest. His mouth went dry with the harsh taste of wrath. It was sheer torture, staying here and listening to another man having his way with the love of his life. The floor gave a lurch, and he closed his eyes to keep his power down. Leon might be distracted, but he’d guess Tyon was free if an earthquake started.
Aleximanus squeezed his shoulder almost painfully, breaking the moment. “We have to go.”
“Hazel.” He snarled.
“I’ll take care of her while you escort Kaela out.”
“No!” Tyon hissed. “You leave, now. Hazel is my responsibility.”
The grip on his shoulder tightened. “You’re blind by anger. Not even an anger-breather could’ve made you so mad. It’s better if I deal with this.”
Aleximanus’s words held logic, but Tyon’s heart pounded too hard, too fast, and too loud for him to listen. “I’ll slay him.”
“And you’ll die trying, and Hazel will be lost.” He offered him Kaela’s trembling hand and swallowed. “Je te confie la vie de ma fille. Je te prie, mon Seigneur, prends-vous bien soin d'elle. Garde-la en sécurité.”
I am entrusting my daughter’s life into thou hands. Please, my lord, take good care of her. Keep her safe.
Tyon’s anger deflated, rushed out with a long exhalation. What Aleximanus had pronounced wasn’t simply a request. It was a binding vow of trust from one knight to another, based on honour and trust. If Tyon accepted, he couldn’t break the deal without losing his honour and status of knight. And he couldn’t refuse. Sodding bastard. Aleximanus had trapped him. But it’d be Tyon’s occasion to pay the debt he owned Aleximanus for having failed to help him.
He glanced at the trembling young woman whose eyes held horror and maturity beyond her age. As a knight, his first duty was towards people in need, people who couldn’t defend themselves, and he’d honour his knights’ code. His heart was bleeding for Hazel, but she was a lust-breather now and not in immediate danger. His emotions shouldn’t get in the way of saving an innocent although it was hard, so very hard to ignore the obvious noises of wild sex drifting from the hall. The feminine whimpers, the thumping, the screams of ecstasy. His mind filled with visions of Hazel naked, sprawled in front of Leon who fucked her hard.
The Pact of the White Blade Knights Page 26