Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade)

by Stephanie Rowe

“It’s you,” Jordyn said suddenly. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it.”

  Rhiannon went still, then looked at her boss. “What’s me?” She had a feeling Jordyn wasn’t talking about Poison Ivy. Jordyn had already come to a definitive conclusion about that one, and Rhiannon had been too shocked to figure out how to deny it quickly enough. So what was she talking about now?

  “You’re one of us. You’re running from someone. You’re hiding from a man. Who on earth could hurt you, a woman who can summon the very earth to help her? Who could make you afraid?” Jordyn’s voice was gentle now, so full of understanding that the tears suddenly burned in Rhiannon’s eyes for the second time that night.

  Rhiannon’s hand instinctively went to her hip, where she used to keep her dagger. Right now, it was back in the bag, because walking around with a ruby dagger attached to her hip wasn’t exactly citified. She hated that she couldn’t wear it all the time in the city. She felt naked and vulnerable without it. “He’s dead.” She hoped. She thought. She prayed. “But his friends aren’t.”

  The significance of her words was like thick tension dropped into the night. Chills trickled down her skin as she articulated the fear that had been haunting her for five years. The fear that the monsters José had been cultivating would come after her and find her, demanding payment for what she had done to their leader. And if somehow, someway, José had survived, and he was personally hunting her… Oh, God.

  A dark, desperate side of her knew that he probably wasn’t dead. If she’d killed him, she would have felt it all the way to her soul. She’d felt nothing…which was a very, very bad sign.

  She had wrenched herself free from his grasp once, but she was no fool to think she could get away from him again. She’d gotten lucky, and she could never go back to that hell. She was done fighting. All that was left was hiding.

  Jordyn sighed, suddenly looking ten years older again. “What can I do to help you?”

  Oh, if only it were that easy. Rhiannon shook her head. “No one can help me. It’s so much more than you can understand. Than anyone in this world can understand.”

  Jordyn cocked her eyebrow. “In this world? Where are you from?”

  Rhiannon didn’t answer. It was too much to explain that she hadn’t meant another planet. Just a life experience that was so different from this one that it was like an entirely different world. And she wanted to give no shred of information that could be used to expose her.

  After all her years of experience, Jordyn would understand that sometimes secrets were a woman’s only defense. Jordyn nodded once, but then surprised Rhiannon with her next statement. “I can make the videos disappear,” she said. “What if I did that? Could you stay? Could you help?”

  For a split second, Rhiannon was tempted. But then she shook her head. “If I did it, every time I helped, I could get caught on video again.”

  Jordyn smiled, and this time, it was a smile that bred hope into Rhiannon’s heart, because it was a smart, strategic smile of a female born to be a warrior. “Planning is everything, Rhee. I’m very, very good at strategy, and I really hate men who hurt women. We can work around things like video cameras.”

  Rhiannon stared at her, and sudden yearning coursed through her. It had been so long since she’d had a friend, a woman she could count on. She’d been ripped from her life fifteen years ago when she was barely sixteen years old. She’d spent ten years at José‘s mercy, barely surviving a hell that had almost destroyed her. The five years she’d been on the run ever since had been both a gift of freedom, and a constant living terror that at any minute, she would be found.

  But Jordyn gave her hope. For a moment, she was filled with a burning desire to say yes to her, to team up with this admirable woman and help others. But even as she thought it, the familiar shield closed around her heart, shutting out the humanity and emotions that had been her downfall. Silently, she shook her head as she reached for her purse. “I’m not that woman anymore, Jordyn. I’m sorry.”

  She turned to walk toward the door, but Jordyn’s voice stopped her. “I think you could be, Rhee.”

  Rhiannon looked down at her hands, and she saw the scars on her fingers. “No,” she said softly. “I can’t.”

  Then, without so much as a backward glance, she walked out of the first place that had felt safe since the day she’d walked away from her tribe to hunt the man who had become her captor, her lover, and her destruction.

  Chapter 4

  Zach lowered his sai from Rohan’s throat, his muscles taut with readiness. He would not stay with Rohan and the others. He would not subject Thano or himself to this kind of manipulation. But now was not the time to try to disappear. Rohan was ready. He’d never let them go. Not right now. Not when he so clearly had a plan for Zach. He would have to bide his time before disappearing with Thano and Apollo. “What do you want from me?” His tone made it clear that Rohan wasn’t going to get it.

  “Come.” Rohan turned away, striding across the clearing to a particularly thick cluster of trees. The shadows surrounding it were unnaturally dark and impenetrable, even for a rainforest. It was early evening, and shadows were stretching, but darkness held that one section in its ruthless grasp.

  Zach looked over his shoulder at Apollo. “Be ready to take him away from here,” he said quietly. “Don’t let anyone take him off you.” He felt asinine talking to the horse, but Thano always acted as if the horse could understand. Right now, the equine was his only ally.

  To his surprise, the stallion met his gaze, the dark brown eyes wise with intelligence. The horse nodded once, ever so slightly, and turned away. He began to crop the low vegetation, but as he did, he carefully, subtly began to inch his way to the far side of the clearing, preparing his exit.

  Damn. The horse had gotten it.

  Zach nodded at the animal, then turned to follow Rohan. He kept his sai out and ready, as much against Rohan as in preparation for whatever it was that held the darkness in such tight thrall.

  His long black cloak swishing behind him, Rohan strode briskly across the clearing. His body was as muscular as it had been all those centuries ago, but there was a leanness to him now. It was as if his flesh melted away and left only muscle and aggression behind. He moved with the grace of a wildcat, his strength rippling beneath the surface. His legs were clad in the black fur of the dreisen tiger, a mythical beast known for its great bravery and loyalty. Had he killed one? They were revered and honored beasts according to legend. Terrible luck came to those who dared to take the life of one of those creatures.

  He recalled that Rohan had been wearing the same fur when he’d known him all those centuries ago, but back then Zach hadn’t understood the significance of it. Now he did.

  Rohan didn’t even look back as he stepped into the shadows, instantly enfolded by the darkness. Zach didn’t think that he’d dematerialized, but rather that he’d simply entered an area so dark that no light could penetrate.

  Zach slowed as he reached the dome of blackness. He hesitated, rapidly assessing his options. They could make a break now. No one was around to stop them. But if he left, what would happen to Thano? What if this was the only way to save him?

  He couldn’t let Thano down. He had to find out. Rohan might be a treacherous bastard, but he had powers far beyond anyone Zach had ever met. He glanced over his shoulder to see Apollo watching him intently, his master still strapped securely across his back. “You’re in charge,” he said to the horse. “If I don’t come back, get Thano back home.” He had no idea where home was in relation to where they were, but he had a feeling the horse probably did.

  Apollo stomped his front hoof once in acknowledgment, his black face bobbing in a nod.

  Wondering if he was going insane thinking the horse was supporting his battle strategy, Zach turned back toward the woods. He paused for a split second, reaching out with his preternatural senses. But he could hear nothing but absolute silence, see nothing but impenetrable blackness, and smell nothi
ng but the dampness of the jungle around them.

  There was no way to know what he was about to encounter, and he had no backup.

  He gripped his sai, wishing he had access to the one weapon that had been able to defeat Rohan, the one weapon that made him more than the other warriors. Fire had once been his weapon of choice, a destructive force that could take down almost any threat.

  But it was no longer his to call. Even the little connection he’d been hanging onto seemed to have disappeared over the last few days, leaving him with nothing but his sai. Most Calydons would have no problem being left with the steel weapons that had chosen them. Not so with Zach. He’d always relied on his fire, and the sai felt like an imposter in his hands.

  But that was all he had, so he was going to make it work for him.

  Steeling himself to do whatever was going to be necessary, he strode into the blackness after the man who’d betrayed the Order so long ago.

  The moment he stepped over the border, Zach felt like a thousand pounds of pressure was bearing down on him. He could barely lift his leg to take another step, and the weight around his chest was so strong he could barely suck in a breath. And it was pitch black. Utter and complete blackness.

  Swearing, Zach flicked his finger, trying to call up a flame to give him light. Any flame. He didn’t even need a fucking fireball. Just a damned spark.

  But there was nothing. Not even a spark of the raging inferno that used to explode off him if he so much as sneezed. Now? Not a damn thing.

  Shit.

  This wasn’t good.

  There was a crack and a flash of black light, and then a blue light suddenly flared ahead. Zach squinted his eyes against the sudden brightness. He could see the glowing outline of Rohan, standing ahead. He’d called out his sword and was holding it by his side. The blade was glowing blue, lighting up their space.

  Quickly, Zach looked around, taking inventory of where they were. It was immediately apparent that they were still in the forest. He could see the tree trunks, the bushes, and the canopy of trees above. But everything was cast in an eerie blue glow from Rohan’s sword. It was as if the rest of the forest could not penetrate the bubble they were in.

  As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that Rohan appeared to be standing next to a man. Zach eased forward, and he tensed when he saw it was a Calydon. The warrior was strung up, dangling from a tree, his feet several yards above the forest floor. His arms were chained above his head, and thick manacles encircled his ankles. His head was drooping down as if he were unconscious, but his muscles were taut, as if he were ready to launch an attack at any moment. Then Zach noticed something that made his gut clench.

  He had no hands. They had been cut off at the wrist.

  “What the hell is this?” He raised his sai again, moving into a ready position. “What did you do to him?”

  “He’s one of mine.” Rohan was still standing beside him, his sword hanging loosely in his right hand.

  Disgust was a sour burn in the back of his mouth. “This is how you treat your team?”

  “This is how I try to save their lives.”

  The chained warrior moved suddenly, lunging toward Rohan with speed Zach had never seen before. The prisoner attacked Rohan, trying to take him down with his bare feet. Rohan raised his sword, for a few brief moments, a vicious battle ensued between a warrior’s feet and Rohan’s sword. The warrior’s hands and arms were not accessible, because he had no fucking hands to hold his weapon with, so it was his feet that he attacked with, unleashing incredible precision and force.

  Zach stood ready to defend himself if the fight came his way, but he didn’t interfere. He didn’t care who won. All that mattered to him was that these two crazy bastards stayed in this darkened bubble, and didn’t go back out to where Thano lay defenseless and unconscious. But hell, he could barely comprehend the speed, strength, and sheer violence of the battle between Rohan and his prisoner. Impressive as hell, but at the same time…Zach’s fingers tightened involuntarily around his sai. Could he protect Thano from them on his own, armed only with a sai? He gritted his jaw, refusing to truthfully answer his own question.

  The skirmish took less than a minute, and then the warrior was unconscious again, courtesy of a devastating blow to the head by Rohan with the flat of his sword, an impact which sent sparks of blue electricity crackling violently through the other warrior’s body. His scream of anguish ripped through the night before he collapsed again, his body swinging rhythmically from the chains as he descended into oblivion once more.

  “Explain.” Zach kept his sai up as Rohan lowered his weapon. What kind of leader treated his team like that? “What the hell’s going on?”

  “This is Trevor Swan,” Rohan said. “He went rogue twenty-three days ago.”

  Zach glanced again at the poor bastard strung up without his fucking hands. “You did this to him because he met his sheva?” The curse of the Calydon was to go rogue upon meeting and bonding with his sheva, the soul mate he was destined for. After completing the bonding stages, he was destined to go rogue and destroy all that mattered to both of them. The only way to stop him was for her to kill him. Once he was dead, she would be so overwhelmed with anguish over the fact she had killed her mate, that she would take her own life. It was a bitter, hellish way to go, especially for Calydons, who were driven by strong passion and desire…which was why Zach had taken precautions long ago to make sure he never ended up with a sheva.

  With the recent possible exceptions of a few Order members, there was no happy ending once a Calydon had met his mate. The only way to stop the curse was for either the sheva or the Calydon to be killed. The Order killed the Calydons to protect the innocent, except when the Order was involved, in which case it was the sheva who was cut down…until recently the Order had started letting their shevas live. Now, things were all fucked up, and Thano was paying the price.

  Zach ground his jaw as guilt attacked him. If only he had adhered to the ancient tradition that he and Dante had started of killing shevas to save the lives of the Order members, Thano would be sitting around, cracking jokes, and being an irreverent ass, instead of being strapped down on his horse like a crazed monster.

  Zach could still remember that moment when Ryland had finally found the woman he’d been hunting, that moment when electricity had flooded the air. He’d known there was something going on with her. He should have taken her out right then, but no, he’d become complacent, accepting the modern way of thinking, forgetting the true danger of the sheva. And now Thano was going to die because of it.

  “No,” Rohan said, “there was no sheva for Trevor. He was on a mission for me, and he went rogue. I haven’t been able to bring him back.”

  “Really?” That caught Zach’s attention for a moment. It was rare for a Calydon to go rogue on his own. Not unheard of, but rare. Not that it excused Rohan’s treatment of him. “So you strung him up and cut off his hands? Because that certainly seems like the kind of thing a good leader would do.”

  “His hands are not cut off,” Rohan snapped. “They have been rendered useless. It was the only choice I had to keep him from trying to kill us, and forcing me to make the choice I don’t want to make.” The steely edge of Rohan’s voice made Zach snarl. His voice was cold, showing no compassion or regret for what he had done to the man who worked for him. The bastard was like pure ice.

  And what did he mean, Trevor’s hands weren’t cut off? Zach narrowed his eyes, moving closer to the imprisoned warrior. As he neared, he saw a black outline where his hands should be. Another step and he could finally see that his hands were actually still attached to his wrists. They were encased in black webbing that seemed to undulate as it crawled over his flesh. He’d never seen anything like it before. “What the hell is that?”

  “He can’t call out his weapon if he can’t hold it,” Rohan said. “But in a few days, the webbing will become a part of him. It will consume his hands and begin to move down his body. Eventually, it will over
take him completely. At that time, I will either have to let him die, or free him to become a rogue that I will be forced to kill.”

  Zach swore under his breath, his skin crawling at the fate of the warrior before him. “Is that what you plan to do with Thano? Because there’s no way I’ll let you do it.”

  “Thano is sufficiently unconscious. As long as he stays that way, I will not have to act.” Anger suddenly seemed to course through Rohan, and the already heavy air thickened. “This is not how it should be, Zachary. Our warriors should not be held hostage by an ancient demon curse to go rogue. These are good men, honorable soldiers who do not deserve this fate.”

  Zach didn’t buy into the outrage. He knew Rohan was a man who would slaughter an innocent to further his own agenda. No one and nothing was allowed to stand in the way of Rohan’s mission, which had once been to protect the earth realm from the demon beasts that snuck out of the nether-realm to prey upon the innocent. Who knew what his mission was now, but it certainly wasn’t about the wellbeing of the poor bastard who was strung up. Rohan was a man without mercy, every single time.

  “Even if Thano wakes up and attacks everyone,” Zach said quietly, venom lacing his voice, “if you so much as breathe on him, I will hunt you down and destroy you and everything that matters to you. And you know I can do it.”

  Rohan didn’t know that the weapon Zach had bested him with so long ago was no longer accessible to him, and Zach wasn’t about to tell him that the kid who had once held back an epic volcano of fire by erecting a fire wall could no longer even toast a damned marshmallow on his palm.

  The cloaked warrior went still, perhaps remembering the time Zach had brought him to his knees so long ago with an array of well-placed fireballs. “I will do whatever is necessary to protect my team,” Rohan said. “Your Thano will not be permitted to harm anyone.”

  Zach walked up to him, striding evenly across the clearing until he was standing in front of the unconscious warrior that Rohan claimed to be protecting. “What the fuck are you playing at here, Rohan? You bring me in here to show me one of your own warriors who has gone rogue. You can’t heal him. All you can do is string him up like a monster, and yet you brought Thano here under the pretense that you could save him from being rogue. You lie. You can’t save him, can you?”