Hunt the Darkness (Order of the Blade Book 11)

by Stephanie Rowe

  “The souls of the people the demons have trapped here. They’re all dead now.”

  He reached out with his mind, searching the cavern below for living matter, but he found none. She was right. They were dead, stripped of their eternity by the demons. He felt the sheer magnitude of the dearth of life force, a crushing emptiness that made his soul ring with hollowness.

  He knew then that he couldn’t survive down there. Living matter was not only his power, but his source of life. There wasn’t enough for him to live off of down here indefinitely. It was empty of the brilliance of life, which was creepy as hell.

  And they were still going deeper.

  Sophie paused at a crevice in the rocks that appeared to be an opening to a small cave. “Put Damon in here.”

  Vlad raised his brows. “We’re leaving him behind?”

  She nodded. “He’s a demon. They don’t want him. I—” She hesitated, her gaze shifting toward Gabe’s. “I don’t want him to know where I’m taking you and the others.”

  Vlad understood then. “You don’t trust him?”

  She grimaced. “He’s Maria’s brother, but he’s still a demon. What if he had to make a choice between me, and his sister? Or me, and his kingdom?” She shook her head. “Put him in there. He’ll be safe until he recovers.”

  Vlad saw the pain in her eyes, and he knew how difficult it was for her to leave Damon behind. Guilt, and worry for his safety, but her fear of what he was ran even deeper. He swore under his breath, and ducked into the cave. It was narrow, but it stretched deep into the mountain. He jogged several hundred yards into the cave, then carefully set the demon down.

  Damon didn’t move as he rolled to the floor of the cave, and Vlad studied him. With his wings and horns retracted, he looked like a human male, strong and badass, but also human. A demon. Sleeping. Harmless, at the moment. He crouched down beside him. “Would you have betrayed Sophie?” he whispered.

  There was no reply, and after a moment, Vlad stood up. He glanced around the cave, noting that it was barren. Instinctively, he reached out with his mind to scan for living matter, but there was none. Damon was alone, without threats.

  Vlad knew he shouldn’t trust the demon lying there. The dude had attacked him, and all. But as he shifted the position of Maria and Gabe on his shoulders and headed back toward the entrance, he couldn’t summon up any hostility toward him. He’d defended his home from invaders, and Vlad respected that. Additionally, Vlad had seen the bond between Damon and his sister.

  He’d once had that bond with his own sister, and he’d failed her completely. It made him feel emotions he’d shut down a long time ago, emotions that made his chest ache…emotions that made him feel alive again.

  As he stepped out of the cave and saw Sophie waiting for him, those emotions became stronger. Sophie. She turned and smiled at him, a brief, tight smile that made his heart turn over.

  He wasn’t going to fail her again. No matter what it took.

  Chapter 13

  A short while later, Sophie almost sagged with relief when she saw the white rock glistening above the vast wasteland. “That’s the marker to the opening,” she said. “Come on!” She broke into a run, her heart pounding as she leapt from rock to rock. The lava was cooling fast, and Rikker and the others would be out here soon. She was the only one who could read the stones well enough to traverse the graveyard safely when the lava was flowing, not that she’d ever let on about her talent.

  Vlad was right behind her, keeping pace with an effortless ease that both made her nervous and relieved her. If he were going to help her, she needed him strong. If he were going to turn on her, she wanted him weak and pathetic. She hoped she’d made the right decision in trusting him.

  She reached the white rock and knelt beside it. She placed her palms on either side of it, but just as she was about to move the rock, she hesitated.

  Vlad crouched beside her, Maria still held protectively in his arms, with Gabe draped over his shoulder. “I know you don’t trust me, Sophie. I get it. I blew it. I’d offer to put Maria down and walk away, but I can’t do it. You don’t owe me anything, but I will give my life before I’ll let you face danger alone again, I swear it.”

  She bit her lip, desperately trying to make the right decision. She’d learned so well not to trust men of any sort. Only women. If she took him into the only safe place she knew in the demon realm, and he turned out to be a danger to her, there would be nowhere else to hide until she figured out a plan. “Vlad, I don’t know you. We might have the same ring encircling our fingers, but that could be anything.”

  “I know.” He swore under his breath. “Release my hands. I need to show you something.”

  “What? No. You might—”

  “Do it, Soph. We don’t have much time.”

  It was the way he’d said Soph that did it. The casual affection in his voice was too genuine to be fabricated. Even though she didn’t remember him, there was something between them, something real, something that she wanted desperately to uncover.

  Ignoring the trepidation rippling through her, she set her hands on the rocks encasing his hands. The stones heated up, and then dissolved into the finest mist, drifting off into the night. The only stone left behind was on his index fingers, trapping his magic within him.

  He met her gaze, undecipherable emotions roiling in his eyes at the fact she’d left the trace of stone on the finger he used magic for. “I won’t betray you,” he said softly. “I swear it.”

  She swallowed. “What did you want to show me?”

  He nodded, and then carefully set Maria and Gabe on the ground. He yanked his jacket off, and the metal spikes in the shoulder clanked as they landed on the hardened molten rock. When he grabbed the hem of his shirt, as if to yank it off, Maria shifted nervously. “Don’t!” she said, holding up her hand. “I don’t want to see—”

  The shirt came off anyway, and he flung it aside.

  For a moment, she was too shocked by the sight of his bare body to do more than stare. Maybe she did want to see after all. She was used to the demons running around shirtless, but they’d always been a threat, and any semblance of nakedness when it came to demons was only bad news. But with Vlad…it was different. His body wasn’t the smooth perfection of an immortal being whose physical body could never be destroyed. Vlad’s body was flawed and real: He was lean with corded muscle, and his skin rife with assorted scars, showing he was a man who could be hurt, instead of a demon who could just shift his skin whenever he wanted. Although he was strong and formidable, the scars changed everything. They made him breakable, and that took away all her fear of him.

  Vlad was not a demon. She didn’t know what he was, but he was different from all the monsters she’d lived with for so long. As she began to relax, her gaze instinctively slid off his shoulder to his muscular chest. The spattering of dark hair that tantalized down his belly toward a V at the waistband of his jeans was so deliciously human. He was male, pure, untamed male, and he was riveting.

  Instinctively, she reached toward him, wanting to touch him, to feel his skin beneath her palm, but her hand dissolved just before her fingertips made contact.

  Embarrassed and frustrated, she jerked her hand back, but Vlad didn’t seem to notice. He was pointing to the front of his shoulder. “You see this?”

  Dragging her gaze off his physical magnificence, she noticed a drawing inked across his right shoulder. It was an image of a castle with seven turrets, cast in the shadow of a mountain. Recognition rushed through her, and a lump formed in her throat. “Oh,” she exclaimed. “I dream of that castle!”

  “It’s where you lived.”

  “My home? Where I grew up?” Disbelief and a tremendous sense of longing filled her. She wanted to touch the drawing and trace every line of the castle. This was her home? Her childhood? The secret to who she was? “Which was my room?”

  He pointed to a small window in a turret. “This one.”

  “My room.” She move
d closer, staring intently, as if she could look inside the dark window and see the life she couldn’t remember. She traced it with her eyes, her fingers drifting across it, just above his skin. The drawing on his shoulder stretched out of sight around to his back, and Sophie gestured for him to turn.

  He obeyed and her heart seemed to freeze when she saw a teenage girl falling into a black abyss, her arms outstretched in entreaty, as if she were reaching for someone to save her. The girl was wearing a light blue gown with ruffles around the hem…just like the dress she had in her chambers, which she had worn for the first year she’d been in the demon realm. “That’s my dress.”

  “I know.”

  She glanced at him, her heart pounding. She treasured that dress, because it was her only connection to the life she could barely remember. It almost felt like an assault to her most private memories to see it etched into his flesh. “How did you know what my dress looked like?”

  “I was there.”

  As he spoke, her eyes shifted to the left side, and she noticed the image of a teenage boy etched on his skin. He was carrying a small bow and an arrow in his arms, and he was trying to shoot it as he ran. She could tell from the lines of his body that he was sprinting as hard as he could, but his feet were encased in what looked like quicksand, slowing him down. The look of anguish on his face was devastating, so vivid that she could feel his heartbreak in her own soul. His face was younger than it was now, less angular and softer, but there was no mistaking his dark eyes. It was Vlad, as a boy. It was the scene he’d described about the day that she’d been taken by the demons. For the first time, she felt his pain, and she understood the depths of the burden he carried.

  She reached out, wanting to touch the boy’s face, but her fingers dissolved before they reached his skin. Frustration tore through her, and she clenched her fist. Why couldn’t she touch what she wanted? Why?

  How would he have known all the details if he wasn’t there? She couldn’t imagine there was any other way. He was telling the truth. She suddenly noticed that the boy was bleeding from his chest. She looked closer, and saw a small dagger embedded in his heart. “You were stabbed?”

  “No. Not literally.”

  He grabbed his shirt and dragged it back over his head, cutting off her view of the tattoo. “The tattoo was my way of never forgetting my failure.” His voice was steely hard, almost cold, but she could see the tautness of the muscles in his jaw as he dragged his jacket back on. “That tattoo is magic. The knife will not disappear until I’ve corrected my failure.” He met her gaze. “I never thought I’d have the chance, but I do. I’m not failing you again.”

  She felt the truth of his words in her heart, and her throat tightened. “What if I don’t want your help?”

  “You’re getting it anyway.” He leaned forward, so close that she could feel the heat from his breath on her lips. “I swear on my sister’s soul that I will never, ever hurt you. Do you understand?”

  His sister. He had a sister? Who was dead? Sudden, almost unbearable sadness seemed to cascade through her. “Do I have a sister?”

  He shook his head. “No, but you and my sister were close. Best friends. My parents threw her into the demon pit as well. She’s dead. I know for sure, because I got her out, but she died in my arms.” The pain in his eyes was so great, belying the lack of emotion in his voice.

  Suddenly, he was no longer a stranger who had invaded her home and claimed to be her husband. He was a man who had suffered greatly, and still carried the pain. Demons didn’t feel emotional pain, just lust and desire and hate. Maria felt emotions, but that was different, because she was a woman and half human. Vlad’s pain was intense and almost overwhelming, and she wanted to hug him, chasing away his anguish.

  Of course, she couldn’t hug him, or even touch him, so she simply moved her hand so it was right next to his cheek, as if she could touch him in comfort. “You’re different than they are,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “I’m a piece of shit bastard of the lowest kind. There aren’t many like me around. I’m special that way.”

  To her surprise, she burst out laughing. “That wasn’t what I meant. I meant you’re actually a living, breathing human being in comparison to the demons.” Her smile faded. “You feel. They don’t.”

  He stiffened. “I don’t feel. I just have to make things right. It’s my duty and my responsibility. That’s all.”

  She smiled at his denial, uttered in the midst of the pain she’d just seen so stark in his eyes. She’d seen what men were like who didn’t feel, and Vlad was not one of them.

  He met her gaze. “I will not abandon you, Sophie. Ever.” He went down on one knee, and went to lift her hand. It dissolved the moment he tried to touch it. His brow furrowed, but he didn’t react. Instead, he braced his forearm on his knee and leaned forward. “I offer you my life,” he said, his deep voice resonating through her like a hot wind. “It is yours to use as you wish. I hereby commit that I will sacrifice my life to preserve yours, should it ever become necessary.” He bowed his head, and for the first time, she could see the prince he had once been. “It is my humble duty to serve you, Princess Sophie. Accept my offer.”

  Tears filled her eyes at his genuineness, and silently, she nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. For so many years, she’d been battling alone. To have Vlad by her side, backing her up, was almost too much to conceive of.

  He nodded, but there was no triumph in his eyes. Just grim determination that probably should have terrified her, except that it didn’t. She trusted him, and she believed in her own judgment. “Okay, you can come with me and be my servant and personal bodyguard, but if you try to harvest my soul, I’ll destroy you. I’m handy that way.”

  It was his turn to grin. “Sounds like a plan.” He swung Gabe over his shoulder, and then scooped up Maria. “Lead the way, Cap’n.”

  “Cap’n? I guess that will do.” Captain? She liked that he’d made her boss. It made her smile, actually, and she was still grinning when she settled herself in front of the rock again. It was a heady feeling to have a man of Vlad’s strength and talents deferring to her. She was so used to being around demons, who respected no one but themselves and certain female body parts. Maria had always been the badass, and all Sophie had been useful for was dissolving and hunting rocks. She kind of liked the way Vlad had handed her the reins. “Okay, so I’m going to dissolve the rock, to reveal a narrow crevice.” She studied him. “I hope you’ll fit. You’re kind of large.”

  “I can manipulate living matter.” He shrugged. “I can adjust.”

  “Really?” Huh. Was he like she was? Able to dissolve and slide into any opening? Interest piqued, and she wondered if he would have any answers about her dissolution issues. “After you go through, I’ll put the rock back and come through.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. I go last. I’m not leaving you behind.”

  Again, she wanted to smile at his stubbornness. There was something about having a man completely dedicated to her well-being that was just…well…awesome. “That won’t work. I have to go last. I’m the only one who can close the door. Stop being difficult and—”

  She heard a loud clang, and then the ground shook. She leapt to her feet, staring across the lava fields. In the far distance, she saw movement, and all amusement fled. “They’re already hunting me,” she said. “We have to go!”

  She didn’t wait for Vlad to agree. There was no more time for negotiation. She just dropped to her feet and prayed that Vlad would harness his protector instincts and do as she instructed. She dissolved into the rock and connected with it. As she’d done with rocks so many times, she bound herself to it, and the entire rock dissolved, as a part of her being connected with every fragment of rock.

  She couldn’t talk to Vlad from that form, but she felt his energy move past her. His shoulder brushed through the swirling mist of her body, and she felt the heat of his presence. Electricity leapt through her so powerfully that she almost lost her gr
ip on her non-corporeal state. With Rikker and Lucien, the brief physical connections had never felt like that. Those moments had felt like she was embedding her soul in filthy slime, but Vlad’s brush-by had been exhilarating and incredible. Was there more? Was this what it was supposed to feel like with a man?

  The ground shook again, jerking her back to the present and the direness of the situation.

  Vlad slipped beneath into the fissure that she’d opened, and she immediately shifted her position, separating herself quickly from the rock. This time, however, she placed herself below the rock in the crevice, and the massive guardian stone took shape above the crevice, blocking the entrance completely and sealing off the cavern from the outside. She was careful to mingle the bottom of the stone with the lava rocks, so that it was fused to the surface. No one would be able to move it, except for her.

  Satisfied, she slid lower and assumed her corporeal form again in the cavern below.

  She had just finished reforming when she heard a shout. She spun around to see a demon hound leap at Vlad, his teeth bared in fury. She realized instantly that a demon hound had started using it as his den since the last time she’d been there.

  Vlad held up his hands to block the attack and the dog’s teeth clanked into the stone that encased his index fingers.

  The dog yelped and pulled back, then whirled around, its red eyes focusing on her as an easier target. Before she had time to move, it launched itself at her, teeth bared. She yelped and stumbled backward, but there were no stones to latch onto, just the ancient metal walls that had been there long before she had been.

  “No!” Just as the dog’s teeth reached her throat, Vlad threw himself against the dog’s side, slamming him against the wall. The dog whirled on him, attacking viciously while Vlad fought him off. “Give me back my magic,” he shouted at her. “Now!” His leather jacket was shredded, and blood was cascading down his hand as the dog twisted away from him and went after her again. “Sophie!” He dove at her, shoving her out of the way a split second before the dog reached her. They skidded across the stone floor, and wound up with her pinned beneath him.