Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade)

by Stephanie Rowe

  He stared at his little girl, riveted by the sight of her in the flames, smiling and waving, her eyes so full of love, an innocent face that had no idea what her father was going to do to her.

  “Is that your daughter?” Jordyn walked up beside him.

  He could only nod, too overwhelmed to speak.

  “She doesn’t seem to hate you.” Eric was on his other side. “She looks like she still thinks you kick ass. You might want to take that into consideration, you know, when you’re doing all that self-hate shit that’s keeping you from saving Rhiannon and Thano.”

  For a moment, Zach didn’t move, then their comments registered. He looked over at Eric. “You can see her?”

  “I’m not blind, so yeah,” Eric said. “But then again, I’ve got this thing about spirits. They like to talk to me. I’m kind of simpatico with them.”

  “You, too?” Jordyn sounded surprised. “I’m the same way.”

  “Really? We should have sex and compare notes.”

  Jordyn smacked him. “Shut up.”

  Stunned, Zach looked back at his daughter. He had thought that he’d been imagining her. But if Jordyn and Eric could see her…was she real? Had she come back to see him? Stunned, he lurched to his feet, his heart pounding. “Madeline?” His voice was harsh and rough.

  She nodded, and put her little hand over her heart, their little symbol that they’d always used to show their love for each other.

  Numbly, he put his own hand over his heart in response. “I love you, too, Madeline.” She nodded, and then faded away, vanishing into the fire that raged behind her, taking with her centuries of guilt and fear. “She’s okay,” he whispered, as a thousand pounds of weight seemed to drop from his soul. “She’s okay, wherever she is.” She was okay.

  “But Rhiannon and Thano aren’t,” Eric said, conversationally. “Time to light up, sparky.”

  “Yeah, I think it is.” Energized by a force he hadn’t felt in years, Zach leapt to his feet. This time, when he reached inside his soul, he was met with the fierce, raging power that had once been his. Gone were the ironclad trappings of fear and guilt that had locked down his power for so long. Determination leapt through him, and a sense of calm and control settled around him. With intense precision, he held his hands out to his sides, palms up toward the sky as he let the heat begin to sizzle and burn within him.

  Centuries of shutting down his fire had given him control that he hadn’t had before. As he manipulated it exactly where he wanted it, he realized that he’d spent so many centuries controlling it that it no longer controlled him. He felt like he was connected to every flicker inside his body. Staring up at the wall of fire in front of him, he called to the inferno that burned within. Flames began to lick at his heart and travel through his stomach. It was burning hot, and yet it didn’t hurt. His skin began to glow, a bright orange and blue that could barely contain the fire radiating within him.

  “Holy shit. Now that’s impressive.” Eric took Jordyn’s arm and pulled her back. “I think he’s going to blow.”

  His chest began to burn. Orange and blue flames danced on his flesh. They raced up his chest and over his shoulders. They sped down his arms to his palms. He held his hands wide, and towering tornadoes of fire stretched high from his palms. He raised his hands, lifting the whirling dervishes higher. Then he slammed his hands together. The funnel of fire exploded around him, trapping him in a sphere of flames. Encased in his protective cocoon of flames, Zach sprinted toward the wall of fire.

  He leapt into the fire, and was instantly engulfed in flames. But this time, they could not touch him. They couldn’t break through the protective shield he had erected around himself. Fighting fire with fire, he ran through the barrier, and burst through into a clearing on the other side.

  Rhiannon was on her back in the center, motionless and limp, wearing some flimsy gown that barely covered her curves. José was standing above her, unfastening his jeans. Around him were twenty warriors, all of them staring at Rhiannon, waiting for the show to begin.

  “Get the hell away from her!” Fury tore through Zach, and he hurled a fireball right at José. The fire god looked up, and unleashed a matching fireball a split second before Zach’s hit him. The two flames exploded in the air above Rhiannon, hitting so hard that the ground shook from the explosion. José‘s warriors whirled around, and the night was filled with cracks and flashes of black light as they called out their weapons.

  But this time, unlike at the crater, they had no chance. This time, the real Zach was in the house. Not even breaking stride, he unleashed flaming spears in all directions. The orange weapons streaked through the air, sliding right through their steel weapons and plunging straight into their hearts. Their screams of anguish filled the air as their blackened hearts shriveled, and they fell, clutching their chests.

  José unleashed a battle cry and hurled a fireball at Zach. Zach swatted it aside, and leapt through the air, sailing over Rhiannon, his arm coiled as he spun another fireball in his palm. “No!” He bellowed his outrage as he threw the flaming orb at José.

  The Calydon ducked, but Zach followed up with another strike, so fast that it hit José before he could react. The fire god screamed with outrage and spun toward him, nothing but a faint burn on his stomach.

  Zach swore as José attacked, not at all slowed down by Zach’s fire. They crashed into each other, flames erupting in all directions as they battled. Zach could feel José‘s heat burning his flesh, but his shields were strong…but so were José‘s. For every blow he rained down on the fire god, José seemed to grow more powerful, absorbing Zach’s fire as his own…

  Shit. He realized José was taking Zach’s fire into his own body and using it to strengthen his own power. Each time Zach hit him with a fireball, it was making José stronger.

  Swearing, Zach broke free and retreated several yards, catching his breath as José circled him. Between them lay Rhiannon, her body deathly still. Rhiannon. Wake up. You have to get out of here.

  Yeah, they didn’t have the sheva bond, but he felt like he should be able to connect with her telepathically. They were too connected not to be able to find each other. Rhiannon! Get up!

  But she didn’t move, and he felt no energy in her mind. Was she dead? Fear hammered at him, and for a split second, he was tempted to burn the wards off his arms and try to connect with her. If she was his sheva—

  “She’s not yours!” José screamed his outrage, and leapt at him again, raining flaming arrows down on Zach.

  Zach flung up his own shield of fire, but the assault was so violent and so penetrating that he couldn’t fend them all off. The arrows plunged into his flesh, burning his skin even as he dissolved them. He kept retreating, drawing José away from Rhiannon and toward the edge of the circle, even as the arrows kept hammering at him. He couldn’t fight back, because it would just make José stronger. Frantic, he assessed his options, sweeping though his choices.

  José suddenly unleashed a bloodthirsty scream and hurled a massive fireball right at Zach. He swore and slammed his fists together. The impact ignited a tremendous explosion that blew up the fireball before it hit him. The explosion threw him backwards through the ring of fire. He landed on his back at Jordyn’s feet, and then skidded across the ground, shooting past her.

  “Get up!” she shouted at him. “Rhiannon needs— Oh… that must be José. God, I wish I had my gun.”

  Zach leapt to his feet as José charged toward him. The ring of fire was gone, and Zach felt the immensity of power rolling through José. He was twice as powerful as he had been, and Zach realized he’d been splitting his power to maintain that ring of fire, and now he was channeling it all into the attack. He hammered at Zach, a relentless assault of flaming weapons, coming in such rapid succession that Zach could barely block them. He had no chance to attack him. No chance to regroup, no chance to do anything but try to keep his shields strong enough to stay alive.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jordyn ru
n to Rhiannon, and kneel beside her. She shook Rhiannon, but got no response. Jordyn then looked up, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head at Eric. What? Denial roared through Zach, a deep-seated fury at what Jordyn was trying to tell Eric.

  Rhiannon had to be okay. She had to be. She had to be!

  With a roar of fury, he suddenly went on the offensive, attacking José as fiercely as he was being attacked. He hurled fireball after fireball, moving forward toward his enemy, hammering relentlessly. José grinned and moved forward as well, both of them surging with power as they advanced on each other, José was still feeding off Zach’s assault, getting stronger with each blow.

  Well, fuck that. If José could absorb Zach’s fire, then why couldn’t Zach do the same thing? Zach dropped his shields and let the arrows hit him. The first one struck right in his chest, and he staggered. The second one hit his gut, and he went down on his knees. But he still didn’t shield them. He just accepted them into his body, drinking in the fire that was trying to kill him. Bring it on, he gasped, as his body shook with agony. I want it. He closed his eyes as he lost his balance and fell onto his stomach, unable to hold himself up. Again and again he was hit, and he just lay there, opening himself to the fire. He felt as if his internal organs were burning up, incinerated by José‘s assault.

  “Get up!” Jordyn screamed at him. “Get up, Zach!”

  He didn’t move.

  He cracked open his eyes, and saw Eric with two swords, charging at José from behind. Jesus. The stupid bastard. He’d never take him down. “Get her out of here,” Eric yelled at Jordyn, just as José flung him backward with a burst of flame. Eric was catapulted into the air, and he disappeared into the darkness of the jungle, still shouting commands at Jordyn to get to safety as he sailed out of sight. There was a crash and a thud, and then silence from Eric. Shit! No more were allowed to die for him!

  Zach’s gaze shot to the women, and he saw Jordyn trying to drag Rhiannon’s inert body away from the fire, but flames were raging all around them, ignited by the fire raging between the two warriors. The women were trapped. They were going to be burned.

  Horror welled inside him, numb, terrifying horror. Rhiannon was going to burn to death in his flames! “No!” As he screamed in rage, he felt something shift inside him. José‘s flames stopped attacking him, and they merged with his, becoming a part of who he was. Strength and power exploded through him, and he lunged to his feet, insane with terror for Rhiannon. He slammed a fireball at José, throwing him backward a hundred yards as he raced toward the last spot he’d seen the women before the fire had cut them off from him. The flames were torrential now, destroying everything in their path. He charged though the fire, searching desperately for his woman. “Rhiannon,” he bellowed. “Where are you?”

  “Zach!”

  Jordyn’s scream came from his left, and he spun around. He burst through the flames and saw Rhiannon and Jordyn huddled in a tight ball, trapped by the fire that was only inches away on all sides. He leapt over the flames and landed with his feet on either side of them. He had no time to get them out. He had only one chance, and this time, it was going to work.

  He called out his own fire, the one that had killed his daughter, and he swept it around the three of them, erecting a flaming shield. The sphere took shape instantly as he crouched over them, encircling both women with his arms. As he did it, he pushed the heat of his fire to the exterior of his sphere, knowing that the heat alone could kill them.

  Flames and heat hammered at him from all sides, but he fought to keep his shield around them, and to keep the heat at bay. Jordyn’s arms were still around Rhiannon, and she looked up at him, her face flushed and red from the flames. “See what happens when you stop fighting who you are? I’m good, aren’t I?”

  He was not in the mood for therapy right now. “Rhiannon,” he said. “Wake up!” He gave a gentle mental push at her. She was so close that he should be able to feel her, but still he couldn’t. Fear began to lick through him, and he shoved harder at the heat, trying to protect her. “Rhiannon!”

  Again, no response.

  He was almost overwhelmed with the need to pull her into his arms, but he couldn’t break the circle of protection. He knew his touch had helped her before. “Come on, Rhee.” He shifted his weight enough so he could move his leg against hers. “Pull up her dress, Jordyn. I need skin to skin contact with her.”

  Jordyn leaned over to Rhiannon and slid her dress up enough to expose her leg.

  “My jeans,” he ordered.

  “I don’t undress men anymore, just so you know,” Jordyn grumbled as she yanked up his jeans and shoved his sock down. “Men need clothes.”

  He moved his leg against Rhiannon, and this time, he felt the warmth of her skin against his. His heart seemed to skip for a second, and then electricity poured through him. He could feel her life force weakening. He could hear the slow thudding of her heart. He could sense the enormity of her soul, all of it weaving through him with such beauty that it was almost overwhelming.

  Using the connection between them, he pushed all his life force at Rhiannon, pouring all his healing energy into her. He didn’t even care that he couldn’t call upon the sheva bond to connect them. He didn’t need to. Her soul was such a part of his that healing her was like breathing life into his own heart. Come back to me, my love. I’m here for you.

  She coughed suddenly, her body shuddering as air surged back into her lungs. She opened her eyes, and her gaze met his. “Zach?” she whispered, her brow furrowing in confusion. “I thought you were dead.”

  He grinned, elation flooding him. How was it possible that one woman’s voice could change his entire world? “Never. I had to rescue my woman.”

  She smiled, a smile so filled with affection that he was filled with a sudden urge to do a Tarzan chest-pounding thing and claim her as his own. “You were almost too late,” she pointed out.

  “I know. Sorry about that. “

  Jordyn wrapped her arms around Rhiannon’s shoulder. “No sex while I’m here. That would just gross me out.”

  Rhiannon turned, her eyes widening in surprise. “Jordyn? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m on vacation. It was a total surprise to find you unconscious, about to be raped by your ex, while Zach here set the jungle on fire trying to save you.” Jordyn looked up at Zach. “What now, big guy?”

  Forcing himself to tear his gaze off Rhiannon, Zach looked around. The flames were raging around them, becoming even fiercer, and he knew José was feeding them. “I think—”

  Rhiannon suddenly sucked in her breath and stood up. “He’s calling me,” she whispered.

  “What?” Zach rose with her, changing the shape of his protective dome to accommodate her new position. “You can’t go there—”

  “I can’t help it.” Agony coursed through her eyes. “I can’t stop myself.” She started to walk, and Zach swore, moving with her to keep her protected.

  “Rhiannon!” Jordyn grabbed her arm. “Stop it!”

  “Get off!” Rhiannon flung Jordyn away, and the woman fell backward, tumbling into the fire.

  Swearing, Zach widened the sphere of protection, just barely getting it wide enough to keep Jordyn from burning up. “Get up,” he snapped at her “Get back over here!”

  Jordyn scrambled up, racing over as Rhiannon broke into a run. Swearing, Zach kept pace with her, and so did Jordyn, who was frantically shouting words of empowerment at Rhiannon, words that were making as much difference as using a squirt gun on a forest fire.

  He couldn’t grab her to stop her, or he’d lose control of the sphere keeping her from being burned. Fucking José didn’t even care if she burned up. He just wanted to exert his control over her. “Rhiannon,” he said. “Look at me.”

  She didn’t even turn her head, but waves of anguish poured off her.

  “Dammit, Rhiannon! I love you! Can’t you feel it?”

  She still didn’t look at him, and started running faster
, away from him, into the fire, toward José, but tears were pouring down her cheeks.

  Zach ran with her, and Jordyn kept pace, her athletic build having no trouble keeping up with them. Shit. How could he reach her?

  “You have to kill José,” Jordyn shouted at him. “Or she does. One of you does! It’s the only way to free her. The sheva bond is too strong.”

  Rhiannon was running in a dead sprint toward José, and it was all Zach could do to keep the sphere moving along with her, keeping it big enough to protect both women. “There has to be another way,” he yelled back. “He needs to stay alive until I can save my teammate!”

  “You have to make a choice,” Jordyn yelled. “You can’t save them both!”

  “I have to!” Suddenly, they reached the end of the fire, and burst out into the jungle. The flames stopped, as if contained by an invisible wall, and they were surrounded by lush, green vegetation. Rhiannon’s realm. That was how to do it. This was her world. Her power zone. He dropped the flaming shield, freeing them all. José stood between two massive trees, his hands on his hips, a smug look on his face to see his sheva racing toward him.

  Well, fuck that. This was her world now. Zach touched her arm, and sparks leapt through them. “Rhiannon—”

  She whirled toward him suddenly, and for a moment, elation swept through him. She had come back to him. Then there was an explosion and a crack of black light, and then in her hand was José‘s sword. It was then that he saw the anguish in her eyes, and he knew that something was terribly wrong. “Rhiannon—”

  “I love you, Zach. I’m so sorry,” she managed, tears streaming down her cheeks, just before she plunged José‘s sword right into Zach’s heart.

  Chapter 22

  Rhiannon screamed in horror as she watched herself plunge José‘s sword into the heart of the man she loved. She staggered back, the scream still reverberating in her head as she watched Zach clasp his chest and go down to his knees. How could she have done that? How could she be so weak as to have let José force her to hurt him?