Hunt the Darkness (Order of the Blade Book 11)

by Stephanie Rowe

  She looked up at Lucien in shock. “I’ve never felt like this. It’s amazing.”

  He smiled, a smile so beautiful she felt as if the sun had suddenly lit up her world. “I’m glad I can offer you this,” he said.

  She moved closer, her body literally calling her to the stones. She wanted to cradle them to her heart and envelope them in her energy. She closed her eyes, letting their power wash over her. The uncut ones were powerful, but these were something more. “They aren’t from the graveyard, are they?”

  “I don’t know.” His voice was a whisper against her ear. “You tell me. Reach into them and tell me where they are from.”

  Instinctively, she obeyed, broadening her connection with the stones, diving deep into their core, searching out their histories. “I feel grass,” she said. “Fresh air. I think they’re from the earth realm.”

  “Where?” His voice was distant, barely penetrating the magic of the stones that wrapped around her. “Where are they from?”

  In her mind, she saw a towering majestic mountain topped with glistening snow and ice. A radiant blue sky sang its glories, and a golden sun was stretching across the earth. The mountain looked familiar, and her heart gave a tug. “I know that mountain,” she said. “I’ve seen it.” Home. It felt like home. The jewels felt like home…no, not home exactly. Something more. Something deeper. At the base of the mountain, she saw an old, stone castle, resplendent in its beauty as it rose above a humble town. Her heart leapt with longing, and she knew she’d been there. It felt right. Somehow, right.

  A face flashed before her eyes. A boy. Dark hair. Blue eyes. A devilish smile. He held out his hand to her, as if tempting her to break rules he didn’t believe in. Instinctively, she reached toward him, needing to touch him, trusting him—

  Something ice cold hit her fingers, and she jerked her eyes open.

  Her fingers were touching Lucien’s bare shoulder. “Oh, God!” Her entire body dissolved instantly, and she sped toward the door. She tried to go under it, but it was closed so tightly, there wasn’t a gap big enough even for the particles of her body. She realized suddenly that his room was lined with something other than the stone that it had been carved from. It was lined with a substance she couldn’t penetrate. She was trapped.

  She reformed against the door, crushed against it, staring in horror at Lucien.

  He was smiling, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. “Your touch is like the silken caress of an angel,” he said.

  She clutched her left hand to her chest. Her ring finger hurt so much that tears swam in her eyes. What had she done? She’d touched him? On her own?

  Still holding the wineglass, Lucien walked toward her. She shrank against the door, but there was no exit. The image of the boy was still radiating in her mind, but she forced it away. Instead, she focused on Lucien’s face. She forced herself to think of how he’d thrown Maria to the ground. She pictured Ashlynn’s beleaguered body as she’d tried to crawl from his bedchambers when Sophie had found her. She flooded herself with every reminder possible of Lucien’s true nature until her body was pulsing with fear.

  He reached for her cheek, and she dissolved instantly, before he’d even gotten near her.

  He dropped his hand, his brow creased in thoughtfulness. “Interesting,” was all he said. He reached toward her belly, and she dissolved, but all he did was turn the doorknob that she was standing in front of. “You’re dismissed for the evening.”

  She stared at him, startled by the sudden reprieve. “I am?”

  “Yes.” He was studying her so intently she could practically hear his thoughts reverberating through his mind. “I have to assemble some items for tomorrow. Be here as soon as the hunt is over.” He drained the glass, then tossed the empty goblet at her. She caught it instinctively, her fingers cradling the precious vessel. “Take those with you, my darling, for tomorrow, I shall have more. So much more.”

  He bowed low, but this time, her heart didn’t leap at the gallantry. All she felt was fear, because she knew what he was going to do. He was going to use the jewels to get to her. It had worked tonight, both in his room and with Rikker. How many would he have tomorrow? His chambers would be resplendent with them, she was certain. Just the idea of it, made her soul burn with yearning, a betrayal of the worst kind.

  The jewels were her weakness, and he was going to exploit it. And…it was going to work.

  He raised his head, his dark gaze boring into her. “Tomorrow, Sophie, you will be mine. I promise.”

  “Never,” she hissed, as the image of the dark-haired boy flashed through her mind again, still reaching for her as if he were entreating her to come to him. “I’m not yours.” She just threw the goblet at him and fled, racing down the hallway and away from the jewels that had just betrayed her.

  Chapter 8

  Vlad slowed the motorcycle as they bumped over the tree roots. They were deep in the southern Oregon forest now, and he could feel the taint of darkness over his skin. Gabe was relaxed on the back of the bike, his balance so precise that he was no longer holding on.

  They’d passed a small village a short time ago, one that looked like it had once been thriving, but now was mostly empty, except for a few people moving about. One old lady had saluted Gabe as they’d ridden by, and he’d shouted a greeting.

  The engine was too loud for Vlad to ask questions, and he wasn’t going to stop until they’d reached their destination. They’d been on the road for sixteen hours, and he was tired and hungry as hell, but he’d refused to stop, except for gas.

  “Up here,” Gabe shouted over the roar of the engine, pointing ahead.

  The bike shot over the crest of a hill, and then Vlad skidded to a stop, just barely stopping on the edge of a massive crater that felt like it was leaching evil. “What’s this?”

  Gabe swung his leg off the bike and walked over to the edge of the pit. “Kane Santiago, one of the Order members, is from here. His father was a demon, and he came from here.” Gabe crouched on the edge, extending his hand over the pit. “This somehow connects to the demon realm.”

  “Excellent.” Vlad toed his kickstand into place and joined Gabe on the edge. The rocky slope extended downward, straight into darkness. There was a thick taint in the air, almost a repellent, making him want to leave. But at the same time, there was an unnatural compulsion to go closer, a compulsion that came from the very pit itself. “Does the pit go to the demon realm?”

  “No, but we’re close, somehow.” Gabe looked up, scanning the woods. “It’s around here.”

  Vlad glanced around, but the woods all looked the same. Swearing, he fisted his hand. He didn’t have time for a random search. He looked down at his hand, and saw the band on his ring finger was churning violently, almost as if it were trying to leap off his hand.

  Gabe was studying it, too. “What’s that?”

  “A ring that binds me to a woman in the demon realm. She’s calling to me through the ring. That’s why it looks like that. She’s in trouble.”

  Gabe whistled softly. “Like the sheva bond.”

  Vlad raised his brows. “What’s a sheva bond?”

  Gabe rose to his feet, shoving up his sleeve to show Vlad the weapon branded on his arm. “Every Calydon is bound to meet his soulmate, called a sheva. As their bond tightens, she begins to develop markings on her arm that match his. With each additional mark, she’s more able to connect with him, including calling his weapon to save herself.”

  Vlad considered that. “That’s good shit.” If Sophie had been able to call him or use his powers to protect herself, that would have been a much better situation.

  “No, because fate determines that he goes rogue and murders a bunch of innocents until she kills him.” Gabe jerked his sleeve back down. “Several of the Order members have bonded with their shevas, but it’s not going to hold. Fate is going to demand her due, and we need Dante back before that happens, or we’re all fucked.”

  Vlad contemplated the magnitude of Gabe�
�s task. “How are you going to find a soulless body in the demon realm? It could be anywhere.”

  “I have a blood bond with him. I’ll track him through that.” Gabe paced the rim of the crater. “Once we’re inside, we split up. I’m going after Dante, and you can get your girl. We meet back at the entrance point to get out.”

  Vlad nodded. “Works for me.” He thought about the blood bond. “How does the blood bond work?”

  Gabe glanced over at him, and then his eyebrows went up. “You don’t know how to find her?” he said, far too astutely.

  “No.” He didn’t have time to randomly search the demon realm when he got in, and he sure as hell didn’t have time to search the woods for the entrance. The state of his ring told him exactly how fast he had to find her. “How does it work?”

  Gabe narrowed his eyes. “Are you blood bonded with her?”

  “No.” He held up his hand. “We’re connected through the ring, though.”

  Gabe studied the ring thoughtfully. “It might work. Try focusing on it. Close your eyes and feel it. That kind of connection is powerful. See if it can guide you.”

  “Connection? Shit.” Vlad hadn’t connected with anything in a couple hundred years. He wasn’t sure he even knew how. But it made sense that it might work that way. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on the pain in his hand…but he got nothing. He started to shake his head, and then he felt Gabe’s hand on his shoulder.

  “Picture what she looks like,” Gabe said quietly. “Picture the sound of her voice. The color of her eyes. What she smells like.”

  Vlad took a deep breath, trying to slow his mind back to a past of long ago. He remembered her golden locks tumbling around her shoulders as he coaxed her to jump off the forbidden rock. Her blue eyes were the color of a sky just before sunset, with almost a hint of lavender. He could hear her laughter, the sheer, pure laughter of someone who hadn’t yet learned that laughter was more optimistic than the world deserved. He remembered climbing out his bedroom window to meet her by the river, where he taught her how to throw a dagger and shoot a bow and arrow.

  The scene shifted, and he saw her eyes again, this time wide with terror as she fell. Once again, he was reaching for her, but this time, he couldn’t catch her. No laughter this time, just her scream, tearing apart his soul. Sophie. He felt his hand reach out, stretching for her, and for a split second, he thought he felt the smoothness of her skin, the warmth of her touch.

  And then it was gone, drifting out of his reach, sliding further and further…

  He began to walk, following the image in his mind. It got further from him, and he began to jog, moving faster and faster until he was sprinting through the woods, fighting desperately not to lose the image in his mind. He was getting closer and closer, and he lunged for her, his hands outstretched—

  Cold water closed over his head, sucking the oxygen from his lungs as he plunged into a mountain pool. Swearing, he kicked to the surface, his boots heavy with water. He stroked to the side of the pond, hauling himself out of the water just as Gabe appeared, only moments behind him. “Yeah, that worked,” Vlad said sarcastically as he coughed, trying to clear the water from his lungs.

  Gabe was down on his knees, staring into the water. “Calydons were originally created by drinking water from a natural spring tainted with demon magic,” he said. “Water carries their taint. Water. Of course, water.”

  Vlad froze and whirled around, staring into the water. It was shimmering and clear, with visibility reaching twenty or thirty feet…but still he couldn’t see the bottom. “You think that’s it?”

  “It makes sense.” Gabe looked up at him, his face eager. “How do we use it? Can you get us across the border?”

  Vlad ignored the water dripping from his clothes as he studied the mountain pool. “Sophie was taken across the border into the demon realm, which means it’s possible. They pulled her across.” He braced his hands on the rocky ledge by the water, his mind working as he thought. “We need to get pulled across,” he said. “The power needs to come from the other side.”

  Gabe looked at him expectantly. “Can you make that happen?”

  “I might.” He looked at Gabe. “You want to go for a swim?”

  “Hell, yeah, I do.” Gabe grinned, his face vibrant and alive. “Just give me one second.” He paused, and Vlad felt the pulse of psychic energy coming from him. There was a brief wait, and then Gabe grinned. “I just contacted the team and told them where I was, and what we’re doing. It’s too late for them to stop me, but they’re going to haul ass here to try.” He grinned. “We might need their help later, so I’m giving them a heads up—”

  There was a sudden burst of energy, and Vlad looked up as six Calydon warriors shimmered into existence on the other side of the pond.

  “Oh, shit.” Gabe blanched. “I didn’t think Kane was around to teleport them. We gotta go.”

  The tallest Calydon shouted, and Vlad saw a dark-haired warrior begin to fade, as if he were going to teleport right to where they were. Fuck that. He wasn’t going to be stopped! He grabbed Gabe’s arm and they both dove right into the water.

  The water churned above them, and he felt the rush of waves as the other warrior leapt in after them. Vlad swore when the teleporting warrior appeared beside them, reaching for Gabe. Vlad flicked his finger at him, and the warrior flew backwards, slamming into the rocky side of the pool. At the same time, Vlad increased their speed, hurtling them toward the bottom with dangerous speed.

  Behind them, he heard the others swimming, but the teleporting one didn’t catch up. Down they went, faster and faster and faster until—-

  Crash!

  They slammed against something so hard that for a moment, Vlad couldn’t breathe. His entire body shouted in protest, and even Gabe clutched his shoulder, grimacing at the pain. Still holding his breath, Vlad spun around to see what they’d crashed into.

  It appeared to be the stone floor of the lake. Both men began to feel quickly across the stones, searching for a gap, knowing that the others were closing in fast behind them. Every rock felt the same, and Vlad was running out of oxygen. They had no time—

  His ring was burning again, jerking his attention to his hand. He immediately closed his eyes and pictured Sophie again, focusing on that moment when she’d fallen into the abyss. This time, he felt the response in the ring, and he consciously followed it across the bottom to a crevice in the rocks. He pressed his hand to the crevice and reached out with his mind past it.

  He felt life. Something was alive on the other side of the rock.

  He waved at Gabe, who swam over to him. The men locked wrists in silent understanding, and then Vlad turned his attention to the living matter on the other side. He swept into its cells, taking control of them with well-practiced speed. He turned it toward them, and forced it to reach out toward him and Gabe, forcing the living energy on the other side to summon them.

  Vlad felt the moment that the life force on the other side of the rock began to pull on him. He tightened his grip on Gabe, and then drilled his focus down on the other side, forcing it to pull on him, to suck his soul and his body across the border. The pressure grew and grew, until his body bowed with pain. He heard Gabe’s grunt of pain, and then he felt the water pressure shift, indicating that their pursuers were closing in.

  He looked up as the teleporting Calydon appeared above them. He reached for Gabe—-

  “No!” Vlad thrust all his energy into the living matter on the other side. He felt its roar of protest at being controlled, and then he was sucked right through the rock, dragging Gabe with him.

  He felt like his body was being torn into pieces, shredded into bits, and then suddenly, he crashed to the hard ground, landing so violently that his breath was torn from his body.

  Gabe fell on top of him, his body weight nearly crushing Vlad.

  Swearing, Vlad shoved him aside, and leapt to his feet.

  Standing ten feet from them was a man with bla
ck horns, a heavily muscled body, and massive wings that stretched twenty feet in either direction.

  And he looked kinda pissed.

  “Maria!” Sophie flung open the door to her friend’s lodgings, breathless from having run so far.

  Maria had apparently fully recovered from the healing. She was wearing black leather leggings, a black bodice, and she had seventeen weapons strapped to her body. She whirled toward the door when Sophie shoved it open, a dagger aimed at Sophie’s forehead. “Sophie!” She lowered the dagger and leaned against the dresser, all the strength dissipating from her body.

  The sudden and complete slump of Maria’s body made it clear that her friend wasn’t actually recovered at all. “Maria!” She raced over to her friend, and the two women hugged briefly, until Maria pushed her back and studied her.

  Relief rushed across her face. “You’re still coherent and sane. You didn’t have sex with him, did you?”

  Sophie shivered. “No, but he used jewels to tempt me. It’s going to work.”

  Maria swore. “This is it. It’s over. We have to get you out.”

  “Out of where?”

  “The demon realm, of course. That’s the only place Lucien won’t be able to reach you.”

  For a split second, Sophie was too stunned to respond. “What? There’s a way out?”

  “There has to be.” Maria sighed and sat down. “My brother pulls women across the boundary every day. There has to be a way to go the other way.”

  Hope faded as quickly as it had flared. “We’ve been over this a thousand times, Maria. It’s always a dead end. Why would this be different?”

  Maria met her gaze. “Because this time, if we don’t do it, my best friend is going to die. That’s what is different.” Sudden tears shimmered in her eyes. “I’d never survive your death,” Maria whispered. “You’re all I have.”