Outrage tore through her, and she called forth more power. The earth shook, and she heard Jordyn scream. Wind howled around them, and her hair whipped violently against her cheeks, but Zach’s grip on her did not falter.
Rhiannon. José‘s voice drifted through her mind. You must kill him. It’s the only way to break these manacles. Kill him now.
Yes. She closed her eyes and dove deep inside herself, summoning forces that she’d never been able to access before. Her mate was dying. She had to save him. There was no more fear. No more hesitation. Just the untamed, raw need to save the man she lived for. The wind increased, and trees were torn out by their roots. They slammed into her and Zach, hammering at his arms where they were locked around her back.
She gasped at the pain, and felt a rib crack from the impact of the tree. The pain broke her concentration for a split second—
“I love you.” Zach’s words breathed in her ear, and then she felt his lips press against her temple. “I will love you until the end of time, Rhiannon.”
She went utterly still, every part of her body strung tight, utterly focused on the feel of his mouth against her flesh. It was as if time was suddenly suspended, put on hold until all that remained was this moment, this anticipation, this touch of his lips. Her body was shaking with the need to kill him and save José, but she couldn’t move, not while Zach’s lips were on her skin.
He feathered another kiss along her neck, and then another. “You’re more than my sheva,” he said. “You are the woman that my heart lives for. I’m not bound to you by a pre-created bond that defines us. I’m bound to you out of love. Out of respect. Out of admiration. I’m bound to you because you are the woman who has brought my soul back to life.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes as his deep voice reverberated through her. She felt as if he was caressing her heart with his love, soothing the cuts that had made it bleed for so many years. She became aware of his body wrapped around hers. She noticed the strength of his muscles. She breathed in his scent, a scent so raw and masculine that it made her body shiver with awareness…not lust. Something more. Something deeper. Something beautiful.
“Zach?” She whispered his name, almost afraid to say it.
“I’m here, sweetheart.” His grip on her didn’t loosen.
Tears filled her eyes, and she pressed her face against his neck. His whiskers prickled against her skin, a familiar roughness that felt so right. Her heart was thudding against his chest, her breasts flattened against him.
José‘s voice screamed through her mind. Rhiannon. Help me. Now. You must kill him.
She scrunched her eyes shut and buried her face tighter against Zach’s neck. “He’s making me want to kill you,” she whispered.
“I know.” He kissed her again, his lips brushing over her hair.
“I want to kiss you,” she whispered against his neck. “I need more of you to hold him off.”
“I agree, but if you lift your head, those vines are going to wrap about my neck. I think you could actually sever my neck with those things, and that’s just not the way to end the day.”
She managed a strangled giggle as the vines continued to dig at them, trying to slide between their bodies. “We have to destroy the staff,” she whispered. “I think that will weaken him enough to kill him.”
There was silence for a moment, and she remembered that he needed the staff to save his friend. Tears burned in her eyes as the vines slammed into them. José‘s mental pressure hammered at her, screaming at her to save him, and she could feel her shields starting to crumble, despite the protection of Zach’s embrace. The wind picked up again, and she felt José urging her to start uprooting trees again. She knew that if she hit Zach enough times, the trees would break his arms and make him unable to hold her so tightly. A fraction of an inch was all the vines needed to rip him off her.
She burrowed deeper against him, her body shaking with the effort of fighting off José‘s command to kill him. She had minutes, maybe seconds, until she caved. “What do we do, Zach?”
Chapter 23
Zach could feel Rhiannon trembling violently against him. Her skin was cold and clammy, and her heart was thundering. The air was so thick with the weight of José‘s energy that Zach was actually feeling a little lustful toward José as well, which was pretty damned impressive. How the hell was Rhiannon resisting as much as she was? Because he knew she was. He could feel the love pouring out of her, fighting back at José, while she pressed herself more tightly against him, using their bodies to protect her.
But José‘s energy was growing more virulent, rising in a dangerous crescendo of desperation fueled by his need to survive. Zach knew they had only seconds left before they were both consumed by José‘s power. Swearing, he glanced toward the staff that was still tight in José‘s grip. That staff was Thano’s only chance, and it wouldn’t work without José, leaving them in an impossible situation. “What is it about that staff?” There had to be another answer. Another way.
“He burns them with it,” she said. “When they go rogue, he burns them. It brands them.”
“With his brand?”
“No. It’s a double crossed sword with a circle.”
Zach went still. “That’s the symbol of the Order of the Blade. I saw it on Dante’s arm.” Son of a bitch. “The staff isn’t his. It’s an Order staff. It’s not his.” Would it work for someone else?
“No one else can use it.” The pressure grew thicker, and she let out a yelp. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his own mind, and threw up his mental shields. He reached out with his power, trying to protect them both with a protective shield, but his ability to connect with her mentally was limited without a blood bond or the sheva bond. “They’ve tried! The flame dies when it’s not in his hand!” A tree uprooted behind them. “Watch out!”
“The flame dies? So it’s about the flame?” He rolled them sideways, and the tree slammed down where they’d been, hitting the ground so hard that the earth shook. “You did that?”
“Yes, sorry.”
He whistled softly. “Damn, woman, remind me never to piss you off in an argument.”
“Never piss me off in an argument. There. I reminded you. You’re welcome.” Another tree tore out of the earth. “Incoming!”
He logrolled them again—
“Watch out!” A second tree was streaking toward them like a bark-clad missile.
“Shit!” Too late for them to move, he turned his hand toward it and threw up a wall of white-hot fire. The tree ignited as it hit the flame. For an instant, it looked like a blazing staff of fire, then it disintegrated into millions of burning embers.
“A burning staff,” Rhiannon said, echoing what was in his mind. “Maybe you can control the staff. Maybe it’s fire that controls it, not José—” Then she shouted another warning, and he looked up to see five massive trees hurtling toward them. Son of a bitch. There was nowhere to go.
“Call them off!” he shouted at her.
“It’s not that easy! He’s forcing me to try to kill you!” Power rolled off Rhiannon, so hot that electricity sparked between them, but José‘s energy increased exponentially at the same time. She screamed with fury, and the trees skidded to a stop, hovering less than a yard from them, thousands of pounds of force suspended above them by the tenuous thread of control she had on her mind.
Her body was shaking violently, and her fingers were digging into Zach’s shoulders. “I love you,” she whispered. “I really do.”
“I know. I’m pretty hot. It’s understandable.”
“He’s too strong.”
“Not for both of us.”
She tensed. “If we kill him, then the staff won’t work on Thano.”
“I’ll use the staff, you’ll be free, we’ll save Thano, and then we’ll toast our greatness with champagne. It’s all good.” He didn’t know if he could do it. José‘s fire was different from his, and he was a fucked up bastard when it came to things that burned. He might set h
imself on fire, he might be a useless pit of nothing, or maybe he could power the staff. He had no idea if he could work that staff to save Thano… No. Fuck it. He was going to find a way, because there was no other alternative. I swear I won’t let you down, Thano. He gritted his teeth “On three, sweetheart. We’re going to kill him.”
“Kill him? I can’t do it—”
“Yes, you can. Kiss me.”
She wound her arms more securely around his neck. “If I move away from you, the vines will go around your throat. Do you really think now is the time to be decapitated? Because that’s what José is telling me to tell them to do. I like you the way you are.”
“We need to connect more tightly. You know physical connection gets it going for us.” The trees above them dropped several feet and he swore, instinctively rolling over so Rhiannon was under him. She stopped them inches from his back, so close that the branches dug into his skin.
Her face was still buried against him, and his cheek was tight against hers, leaving no space between their throats for the vines to slip between them and rip them apart. “On three,” he said again. “We kiss, a major, soul-searing kiss. We use that physical connection to strengthen us both. I use my cords of fire, and you use the trees, and we turn them both on José. We do it together.”
Her fingers dug into his shoulders. “And if it doesn’t work? And if I kill you?”
“I’ll still love you until the end of time. Killing me won’t change that. I’m a little deeper of a guy than that. You should know by now that I’m not some shallow guy who requires a woman who won’t kill him. Seriously, Rhiannon.”
She let out a strangled laugh, and he felt the branches dig in deeper. “I love you, too.”
“I know. On three.” Shit, he hoped this worked.
“One,” she whispered, tightening her grip on him.
“Two,” he said, gritting his teeth as the weight of the trees pressed harder on him.
“Three!”
He lifted his head from her neck and kissed her. As his mouth caught hers, the vines snaked around his neck and locked down in a vicious noose. He held his breath, trapping oxygen in his lungs as he deepened the kiss. Rhiannon responded instantly, her mouth hot and decadent as she kissed him. Her lips parted, and his tongue slid against hers. Desire flooded him, a lust that was a hell of a lot stronger and better than the one José had tried to thrust on him.
As before, electricity seemed to leap between them. His power magnified a thousand-fold, and he poured it back into Rhiannon. Her breasts were crushed against his chest, and her mouth tasted so good. As they kissed, the vines cut deeper into his neck. He felt the trickle of blood along his skin, and he knew that Rhiannon hadn’t broken José‘s hold yet.
He ran his hand through her hair, sweeping the tangled locks aside to caress the back of her neck. The vines wrapped around his arms, and jerked them back away from her. She locked her arms around his neck, gripping tightly as she kissed him more frantically.
The kiss grew carnal and desperate, two souls screaming for each other in the howl of battle and threat of death. The trees dropped further, pinning him more tightly on top of her. His cock was straining against his jeans, pinned against her stomach as the trees crushed him on top of her. Swearing, he deepened the kiss, pouring his soul into their connection. “Come—” He coughed, unable to talk over the vine crushing his throat. Come on, Rhiannon. Come back to me. He called out his sai in a crack and a flash of black light and sliced through the vine choking him. He gasped, sucking in air as he kissed her again, knowing he had only seconds until she sent another one. “I love you,” he said. “I fucking love you.”
“No!” José‘s voice tore through the night. “Kill him, you bitch! Kill him!”
The moment José shouted that, Zach felt Rhiannon stiffen beneath him. He pulled back to look at her, and he saw tears brimming in her eyes. “No,” he whispered, sliding his finger gently along her jaw. “All you have to do is follow your heart, babe. That’s all. Just look inside—”
She gripped his hair, her fingers clenching tightly as she kissed him back. Power surged between them, and he felt her kiss change—
He was suddenly ripped off her, dragged across the forest floor by the vines. Swearing, he severed the vine with his sai, but another one grabbed him around the throat before he’d even finished severing the first one. They attacked from all directions. His sai was ripped from his hand, and he called it back. It tore free and hurtled back to him, but the moment it hit his hand, it was ripped free again.
The vines wrapped around his throat, tighter and tighter, cutting off his air, slicing his flesh.
Rhiannon rolled onto her stomach, her palms flattened on the dirt as she gasped, fighting for air. Her body was lean and taut, her hair ragged and wild around her shoulders. She was no longer the contained, controlled woman he’d first met. She was raw, untamed power, and the earth around her undulated.
She looked right at him, and he saw a tree hurtling toward him, its broken branch aiming right for his heart. Beyond her, he saw José roll onto his side. The fiery bonds holding him were flaring now with unnatural strength, indicating that José was merging with Zach’s fire. It would be only moments until José would be able to harness it. It was now or never.
Zach had no time to take down the tree she was sending toward his heart. He looked right at her. “I believe in you.” Then he stopped defending himself against her, and flung all his energy at José, leaving himself completely open to her attack.
***
Zach wasn’t going to protect himself from her.
Rhiannon gasped in horror when she saw Zach turn his attention to José when her trees were almost upon him. I believe in you. His words vibrated through her, deep in her soul, and she struggled to her knees. I believe in you. She slammed her hands into the dirt, thrusting her fingers through the earth to the roots below. She closed her eyes, reaching for the energy that had once defined her, the good, life-giving purity of nature.
Kill him, now, bitch. You are mine.
Bitch. The word grated through her mind. The degrading, horrible word that the man who purported to be her protector used on her. A word that she’d had to live with for so long. A word that had become a part of her soul. Until now. Until Zach had flooded her with kindness and warmth. Until Zach had looked at her like she was worth everything the world had to offer. Resistance flooded her, battling against the consuming power of José stripping her will.
José suddenly screamed, and she raised her head to look at him. Zach’s flaming bonds had turned purple, and smoke from José‘s body filled the air. He fought against them, and black flames tangled with Zach’s, fighting for supremacy. Save me, Rhiannon. Now! I command you.
“I love you, Rhiannon.” Zach’s words were accentuated by a gasp as her tree slammed into his chest, piercing his ribs and impaling his heart.
Her hands still buried in the dirt, she looked at Zach. She looked at José. Both men on the verge of death. Her hand would be the final blow in one of their deaths. José, with his brutal voice pounding in her head, hammering at her, compelling her. Zach, with his calm intensity, his utter faith, and his absolute conviction that she could choose her own path despite the brands pulsing on her arms, owning her.
The wind howled around them, whipping the flames into a frenzy. Slowly, fighting for every inch, she raised her palm toward Zach. She wrapped her mind around the tree that was buried in his chest. She felt José‘s command to drive it home, and her muscles shook as his power flooded her.
Zach didn’t even look at her. He was entirely focused on holding José with his bonds of fire. His eyes were pitch black, and his face was pale as blood dripped down his neck, minutes away from being strangled or decapitated. But his hands were out, and flames were pouring from his palms, streaking at José, hitting him again and again and again. He wasn’t trying to save himself. He was letting himself die, using every last vestige of his strength to try to kill José so she would
be free.
Not to save his friend, because killing José risked killing Thano.
Not to save his friend, because if Zach died, he would not be able to wield José‘s staff.
Not to save himself, because he wasn’t even bothering to address the tree lodged in his chest and vines about to rip off his head.
No, in the face of everything he was enduring, his only focus was to kill José for one reason: to free her.
He wasn’t sacrificing everything that mattered to him because of a sheva bond, but simply because he loved her. Just love. Unconditional love, even though she was trying to kill him.
That was love.
That was worth dying for.
That was worth living for.
With a roar of power, she whirled toward José. “It’s over,” she shouted. “It’s over!” She leapt to her feet and flung her hands out to the sides, palms raised toward the sky. “Come on,” she shouted. “Help me!” The jungle surged to life in a chorus of music more beautiful than she had ever heard it sound before. The tree impaled in Zach’s chest turned into a white flower that spread healing life through his body. The vines slithered away from him, and streaked across the ground toward José.
I command you to save me! Kill Zach! You are mine! José‘s power thrust into her mind, and she didn’t care. She didn’t feel it. It was a sound that hammered at her from a distance, like a hurricane banging on the outside of a secure building protecting her: loud, dangerous, but unable to penetrate.
“No!” She called forth trees, vines, plants, and even the earth itself, the wind whipping around them as the jungle attacked. They converged upon him, ripping at his defenses, plunging through the fire he was trying to burn them with. Zach moved up beside her, and took her hand, the white flower still resting in the middle of his chest.
Electricity surged between them, and the fire erupted from Zach’s palms, like the sun itself had exploded from him. At the same moment, a massive, twelve-inch coil of vine shot out of the ground and wrapped itself around José‘s neck. He screamed and tried to burn it off him, but Zach hit him too hard with fireball after fireball, holding him trapped as the vine tightened and tightened and then—
Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade) Page 28