by Montana Ash
She raised the material slowly until it gathered at the nape of his neck, the cool air brushing over the lines and marks on his back, just as he knew her eyes must be. It could have been seconds or even hours later for all he knew, when he finally felt Ivy’s soft fingers brush against his back. At first, he remained tense and unsure, not liking the fact he couldn’t see her face and gauge her reactions. But by the time Ivy had finished her slow and very thorough exploration of his scars, he had relaxed under her gentle ministrations. She hadn’t spoken and neither had he but somehow the silence wasn’t awkward or fraught with tension. Instead it was … peaceful. How he could feel at peace when a sexy woman was tracing the evidence of his miserable childhood, he didn’t know.
And then, just when he thought she was done and he couldn’t possibly like her even more, he felt the softest, warmest caress over the raised, keloid scar low on his hip. Sucking in a sharp breath, he knew that touch was her lips. She spent the next ten minutes being just as thorough with her mouth as she had been with her fingers. She left no skin unmapped and he knew if kisses really did make things better, his back would be flawless by now.
Finally, she smoothed his shirt back in place and stepped away from him, “I’m sorry,” she murmured, voice full of compassion and pain but not pity.
Ensuring his face revealed nothing of the raging combination of like and lust going on inside his body, he turned, “Hardly your fault.”
Her dark eyes were luminous, deep pools of emotion he was sure he could drown in, “I’m still sorry.”
“Thank you,” he said, feeling a connection, deep and sure, rise up between them. Clearing his throat, he broke their shiny new connection. But he wasn’t worried now – he knew they could get it back. “Well, we have another big day tomorrow. We should at least try to get a couple of hours sleep.”
“You could stay,” she suggested, peering up at him with a clear offer in her eyes.
Oh, how he wanted to do just that. But he didn’t want to break the fragile friendship they had managed to forge tonight. And he wanted far more from her than just sex. “Not tonight,” he said, softly.
Her bottom lip immediately poked out in what was an undeniable pout. She looked so adorable and so put out, he couldn’t help saying what was on his mind. Max had said to be patient and he had been. The advice had gotten him this far but it had been a long time coming. Now it was time for him to do it his way.
“Are you going to freak out when I fall in love with you?”
Her bottom lip dropped even further when her mouth fell open, “What?!” Ivy’s voice was close to a screech.
Well, I guess that answers that, he thought in amusement. “Just relax,” he soothed.
“Relax? You expect me to relax? You just told me you’re in love with me,” Ivy practically wheezed the last few words out.
“No, I said when, when I fall in love with you. Sheesh, I barely know you, Ivy,” he shook his head. The look on her face said she thought he was completely insane. Maybe he was but he felt it was only right to give her some advance warning.
“When is just like saying you are! It’s not like saying if,” she informed him.
“I guess you have me there,” he acknowledged. It was sound logic. “Well … goodnight, Ivy.”
“Goodnight? Goodnight? That’s it?”
He stopped at the door, tossing a wink over his shoulder at the pale, trembling woman, “That’s it … for now.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
“How did you sleep?” he asked Ivy. They were currently in the Dodge driving to their next stop. They had another good two hours before they arrived and he was determined to pick things up where they left off the evening before. Predictably, Ivy didn’t respond. But he didn’t let it bother him, not now and never again. As far as he was concerned, he had her right where he wanted her. He had decided he would leave friendship-mode today and head into flirt-mode.
“Now Ivy, you’re not going to start the silent treatment again, are you? I thought we were passed this,” he tutted at her.
She flashed him an annoyed glance quickly before focusing on the road again. She had informed him she would be driving the moment they met at the car that morning. He had told her she was free to. All she had to do was fish the keys out of his front pocket – perilously close to not-so-little Lark. She had given him a droll look and informed him she would be delighted to – as long as she could use her sickle to do it. A few seconds later she was sashaying to the driver’s door holding the keys he had hastily yanked from his pocket himself.
“What can I do to make us friends again?” he asked her, voice full of cheer.
“You can apologise for what you said last night,” she snapped at him.
He sighed, making sure to exaggerate the sound, “Ivy, I wish I could. But then I would be lying, Ivy. You don’t want me to lie to you, do you Ivy?”
Her saw her hands clench on the wheel, although her expression didn’t change, “Stop that.”
“Stop what, Ivy?” he asked, the picture of innocence.
“Stop saying my name like that!” she fumed.
“Like what, Ivy? I can’t help it if you have a sexy name … Ivy.” He quickly faced the window, not wanting her to see the grin on his face. He was positive he’d heard a genuine growl that time.
“Lark …” her voice held a warning note.
“Tell me about baby Beyden. Were his eyes always that colour?” he quickly changed the subject, wanting to keep her unbalanced but also wanting her to talk about something that would make her comfortable.
Silence reigned for a couple of minutes before she finally blew out a breath … and then she talked.
*****
“Well? What do you think?” Lark asked, yawning.
Ivy cast him a glance. He was stretched out in the passenger seat, long legs in front of him and hands behind his head. He looked like a damn model from a fashion magazine. After a restless night spent repeating Lark’s insane words over and over in her head, she had expected the drive to be a tense one. And it had been at first – for her at least. But Lark had pushed it aside with ease and subtlety and she had found herself enjoying their time together once more. Although, there wasn’t a minute that went by that she didn’t hear his words resounding in her head.
She didn’t know what the man had been thinking, telling her that. But she was trying her hardest to believe he’d had some kind of brain fart. It was understandable, he’d had an emotion-filled night, confessing his true lineage to her, showing her his scars. She wasn’t sure what had possessed her, touching him and kissing him that way. She also wasn’t sure why he had let her see and touch him so intimately. But after hearing the shocking truth that he was the Captain’s son of one of the most notorious Orders in history, she’d had a compulsion to tend to him.
To think she had thought him naïve just because of his age. She had no doubt he had seen and lived through more pain and fear than her and Nikolai combined as rangers. How had he managed to stay sane, let alone retain such a sunny disposition?
“Knox is still ten minutes away at least,” Lark spoke again, clearly not bothered by her lack of response. “Do we wait or scout the area?”
Refocusing, she acknowledged that the three of them had developed a good routine over the weeks. One that involved all three of them working as a team and none of them ever lone-wolfing it like she had done that first day. But Ivy was starting to feel itchy sitting here in the car with temptation sitting next to her, looking all bored and limber and sexy.
“There are two of us. We can check it out,” she offered.
“Thank goodness! I tell you, I’m getting sick and tired of this car – with the exception of the company of course,” he smiled, charmingly.
She was too – and ditto for the company. She knew Lark was starting to feel the absence of his liege and Order and decided she’d give Max a call that evening to see how many more chades she wanted them to find. Ivy thought the nineteen plus Knox, making
an even twenty, was a darn good number. Before heading out, she had thought they might find a half a dozen who could be saved. But what alarmed her even more was for every chade they had been able to help, they had come across three times more than those they couldn’t. Those numbers were huge and Dex had definitely been correct in his estimations of chade numbers increasing. They were also fairly closely located to where Max and the main training lodge was too – another disturbing fact. They hadn’t had to travel further than ten hours away in any direction as yet.
Realising she was now sitting in the car alone, she pushed the door open, stretching out her sore back. She had forgone her ranger cloak today but she grabbed her sickle and headed around the front of the car only to find Lark staring at her, “What?”
“You were stretching. It pushed your magnificent chest out. I was leering at you,” he replied, happily.
Her steps faltered but she didn’t break stride. Although he had been fun and humorous and sweet and kind over the weeks, he hadn’t been all that flirtatious. He was apparently stepping up his game. She wanted to be annoyed or even a little scared by the prospect. But instead, she was excited. And more than a little flattered by the attentions of the much younger man who could literally have his pick of women.
“Checking out my tits?” she asked, bluntly. “I thought you were too intelligent for such base, male behaviours.”
He snorted, “Honey, there’s not a man alive too intelligent for that.”
She smiled, enjoying their easy banter. But as her feet stepped onto the grassed area of the paddock, she tensed up, “Do you feel that?” she turned to him.
He was next to her in an instant, frowning as he bent down to lay his hands on the grass-covered ground, “The earth is very unhappy.”
Ivy concurred and found it a happy coincidence that they had the earth in common as their element. She swept the area with her gaze, halting when she saw a series of shadows cresting the small hill about two hundred metres in front of them. “There’s definitely some here,” she spoke softly.
“Some?” Lark stood up, “More than one?”
“Oh, I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet,” she croaked.
Her tone had him turning around sharply and following her gaze. She felt him still and she knew why. Five. There were no less than five chades here. And all of them looked to be very far gone, perhaps too far gone for any of them to be saved. They crested the hill quickly, their dark shadows swiftly becoming tangible, pale bodies. And then they just stopped.
And waited.
And watched.
“What the fuck?” Lark breathed exactly what Ivy herself was thinking.
“Not good. This is not good,” she said. She didn’t know what instinct told her these chades were different. Not just unredeemable but something more – something evil. For once in her life she wanted to flee in the opposite direction. The way they were just standing there watching them, it was almost as if they had been waiting for them.
Next to her, Lark was silent and Ivy knew he was talking with his Order. He nodded a couple of times, his frown intensifying but he never once looked away from the threat in front of them and she knew he was capable of springing into action at any given moment. When the five silent, glaring chades suddenly became eight, Ivy gulped, “Lark? What’s the plan?”
“Max says they are all completely soulless. Not a single redeemable one in the bunch,” he responded.
“No shit! I mean, what are we going to do about them. I know we’re good but we’re not that good. We won’t win,” she informed him, feeling a little sick because she knew it was true.
“Max says Knox is almost here. He’ll help …” he trailed off as if he already knew what he was saying wouldn’t matter. He was silent for a couple of heartbeats, then; “Max thinks she may be able to use her powers through me like she does to heal the chades.”
Ivy looked at him, incredulous, “Are you kidding? Last time you all tried something new it almost killed you. And that was with benevolent powers at low wattage. What you’re talking about will require much more energy, not to mention a nastier type of power.”
Lark clenched his jaw, “Do you have a better idea? Max is our best bet.”
She had no doubt if anyone could save their butts, it would be the goddess. But … “And that will work? You only channel her to heal one chade at a time. There are eight of them,” she pointed out, still extremely unsure.
He shrugged, “We’re going to amplify the energy.”
The eight chades still hadn’t moved and Ivy felt a shiver run down her back. It was like they were waiting for something, as if they had a common goal. Historically, chades attacked randomly. They were not co-ordinated. This looked like something else entirely and she saw once again what Dex had been alluding to. The whole reason he sought Max out all those months ago was because he believed the chades were heading in Max’s direction with a shared purpose. Seeing the chades in front of her at this moment, she couldn’t help but think he was right. They were thinking. They had a purpose. And it absolutely terrified her.
“How are you going to do that?” she questioned Lark, trying to figure out the game plan.
He hesitated then said, “Ryker’s going to maintain the link with the Order and Max. That way, she’ll have a constant supply of vitality and won’t have to split her attention between recharging and channelling her powers through me.”
Ivy was liking this plan less and less, “How the hell will that work? If Ryker is maintaining the link with your Order, who’s going to be maintaining your link with Max? No way will she be able to do it.”
He continued to watch their morbid, silent audience as he answered in a clipped voice, “I’m going to maintain it.”
Now she was even more confused, “Only a potentate can do that.”
“I know,” he turned his head, looking her square in the eye, “I’m a potentate.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
As soon as Lark spoke the words, a barrage of questions hit his cerebellum and he winced at the noise level. He’d known this would be the reaction when he told his Order. Although, if he were being honest, he hadn’t really intended to tell them – especially Ryker. Max had known of course. It was what she had been referring to that morning on the beach all those weeks ago. She’d seemed very sure that Ryker wouldn’t care but that clearly wasn’t the case if his colourful language was anything to go by.
‘You’re a fucking potentate? And you never said anything? What the fuck, Lark!’
Lark swallowed, hearing the anger but also the underlying hurt in his Captain’s voice. The vibe coming through the Order link told him the others were feeling the same, ‘I’m sorry. But can we talk about this later?’
He knew he sounded desperate because that is exactly how he felt – bone wrenchingly desperate. The eight chades in front of him and Ivy were no longer standing still but advancing on them with slow, deliberate movements. There was definitely something off with them. More than off, he realised. Evil. They felt evil. The earth beneath him was practically screaming in horror at the betrayal from its guardians.
He felt the moment Max and his Order registered the advancing chades. Shock, disgust, concern. They obviously sensed what he did, that they weren’t your average empty chades, because the overriding emotion coming through the link? Fear.
‘No time,’ Max sounded anxious, ‘Ryker? Hold onto the others and keep the vitality coming. Lark? Hold onto yourself. Remember who you are.’
He was about to ask her what she meant by that when he felt power burst to life inside of him like a supernova. He arched his back, cracked his neck and flexed his biceps. Huffing, he eyed the inferior beings in front of him; they were nothing. They were ants and he was a god playing with a magnifying glass. He was invincible. He had the power to do anything and everything he wanted. He –
‘Lark! Lark! Focus, dammit!’
It took a moment to comprehend what the annoying buzz in his head was; a voice. There was
something familiar about the voice but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He also had the feeling that there was something he was supposed to be doing. But the colours and the connections everywhere he looked were astounding! Everything had an aura. Everything had a spirit. And everything was connected to something else. He could see colourful threads connecting trees and rocks and disappearing off into the distance. Some were strong and tangible, others looked like he could break them with a whisper. There were so many colours, he couldn’t even name them. But there was one that held him spellbound. It was strong and vital and pulsed like a heartbeat. It was green like the earth but sparkled like an emerald. It was coming from somewhere to his left and arching strongly but surely to …
‘Lark! Fucking snap out of it! You’re letting the power control you. You need to control the power!’
That annoying buzz sounded in his head again but this time, the sounds of them registered as words and he felt his stomach drop as his brain clicked back in with reality. Looking around him, he saw he and Ivy were completely surrounded by chades. She was at his left side and currently fighting off three of them while he was standing there rhapsodising over his prowess and the pretty colours! He wasted another precious second wondering if this was how Max felt all the time before launching himself into the battle. One swipe of his scythe and the chade in front of him disintegrated into nothing. Holding it up he wondered what the hell it had been imbued with, only to realise it was him which had been imbued – with Max. He was positively saturated in her power.
‘Don’t bother with your blade. Just look at them,’ Max’s voice boomed in his head this time.
He did as he was instructed and watched a bright, white light surge from his body and literally annihilate everything in its path. The chades simply vanished as if they had never existed and the poor, innocent earth scorched and blackened. He was about to turn to Ivy when the power left him in a rush and he fell in a boneless heap. Gasping a little, he turned his head … and felt his heart stop when he saw Ivy’s lifeless form on the now barren earth.