Inferno of Darkness (Order of the Blade)

by Stephanie Rowe

  It worked?

  Elisha. Dante sagged against her, wrapping his arms around her as he held her.

  She clung tightly to him, terrified to let go, terrified to lose their connection. But even as she held onto him, her arms were trembling. She was still so weak, too weak. Dante? What’s going on?

  I’m still bleeding from the blow to the heart. I need to heal that. I need to go into a healing sleep. I can’t hold us both alive until I do that. Come with me. Now.

  Sleep? Now? Here? Terror began to beat at her as she opened her eyes, looking past his shoulder. There were rocks all around them, trapping them. Which side of the veil were they on? Were they in the queen’s darkness, or had it retreated? I don’t—

  Then suddenly, a tiny orange fireball squeezed between the rocks. It hovered above them, twinkling brightly. Disbelief flooded her. “Dante? Is that Zach?”

  Dante groaned and lifted his head. “That damn kid better not kill us.” Then he tucked her more tightly beneath him and they both shielded their heads.

  The explosion was as violent and overdone as any of the others Zach had caused, sending the earth outward as it exploded. For a split second, emptiness and space hovered around them, and then the mountain began to fall for real—

  Suddenly strong hands yanked Dante off her, and she opened her eyes to see Rohan holding her. Zach had thrown Dante over his shoulder. No words were exchanged, and their two rescuers raced down the tunnel that Zach’s explosion had opened. They had only a split second before the cavern collapsed and crushed them all.

  As they ran, weakness began to flood her again, and she knew she needed Dante. He had connected them through their blood bond and brought her back from the edge, but it hadn’t been enough. She needed him to sustain her. She looked over, and saw his face was pale and pinched. The wound on his chest was raw and gaping, oozing too much blood. He was dying faster than he could heal himself, and so was she. “Rohan,” she gasped. “Dante’s dying!”

  He didn’t even look at her. He just kept running, faster than she thought was possible for a man to move. “I know.”

  Then they reached the opening to the tunnel and the warriors began to climb. Elisha fought to stay conscious, but each step they took seemed to drain the last of the energy from her. It was too late. It wasn’t enough. She was still going to die, and so was he. “Dante,” she gasped, reaching out blindly to him, not even knowing where he was.

  I’m here. His hand found hers, gripping tightly, and she felt his warmth flood her again. Not enough to save her, but she knew she would die with a smile in her heart, because Dante would always be a part of her soul…but he had to live for their son. “Fight for him,” she whispered. “Fight for him, Dante. You must live.”

  ***

  Dante fought to stay conscious as Zach and Rohan carried them out, but his need for a healing sleep was so strong he knew he would succumb within moments. He wouldn’t go into it without Elisha. He had to take her with him. Stay with me, Elisha. Stay with me!

  There was no answer, but he could feel the warmth of her spirit, reassuring him that she was still with him, still hanging on. He focused entirely on her, sending her the last remnants of his energy, the bare fragments of life he still contained.

  “Stop wasting your energy on her,” Rohan shouted at him as the warriors scaled the walls of the now-silent pit, climbing rapidly to the surface of the earth. “Heal yourself! You’re going to die!”

  “I need Elisha,” Dante gasped. “Need to save her.”

  “You need to save yourself!”

  Then suddenly, they were free, back on the surface, fresh air filling their lungs. The night was cool and clear, all vestiges of the roaring fire gone, leaving behind nothing but charred earth and smoking vegetation. “Put me down,” Dante gasped. “Bring her to me.”

  Zach set him down, but Rohan stood before him, still holding Elisha. Her head was lolled back against his shoulder, her body limp and frail. “Look at her arms,” Rohan said. “Look at them!”

  Dante’s pulse thundered when he saw his spears etched on her arms. The brands weren’t complete, indicating that they hadn’t done all the bonding stages. He had no idea what stages they’d done, or how many of the five they’d completed. All he knew was that it hadn’t been enough to complete the bond and trigger the fate that would destroy them, but they were connected enough that he could take her into his healing sleep and save her. An intense sense of rightness coursed through him for the marks on her arms. “She is mine. Bring her to me.”

  “Don’t you get it?” Rohan didn’t move. “She must die. You must let her go. She’s the queen’s successor. Her son will carry more power than both of you combined. It must end now. The circle must be broken.”

  “No!” Dante surged to his feet, staggering as weakness assaulted him. His foot was whole again, but his chest was too damaged. He could feel his heart laboring with each beat, fading fast. “She is mine—”

  “She’s your sheva!” Rohan snapped. “She will destroy you! She must die!’

  “She saved me!”

  “Her legacy is to save you! You cannot let her destroy the earth.” Rohan called out his sword in a wild explosion of white light. “She must die—”

  “No!” There was an outraged howl, and a fireball slammed into Rohan, knocking him backward. He dropped Elisha as he fell, and Dante caught her, collapsing to his knees as his body drained the last of his energy.

  Zach leapt over them and inserted himself between them and Rohan. Fire spewed off him as he continued to hammer fireballs at Rohan so relentlessly the other warrior could not recover enough to fight back. “No more innocents die,” he shouted. “No more women. You heal her. I will hold Rohan off. Go!”

  Dante didn’t hesitate. He could feel the younger warrior’s passion and anger, and he knew it was strong enough to sustain him. Rohan was solid and stoic, but no match for the nightmares haunting Zach. Without another word, Dante pulled Elisha against him and closed his eyes, falling instantly into the healing sleep, trusting the wild, untrained, undisciplined warrior to keep him safe from the man who was his best friend.

  ***

  Peace.

  It was the first thought that came to her mind. Peace. Her mind. Her body. Her soul. They were all at peace. Was this death? It didn’t feel like death. It felt like she was cocooned in a protected place of safety and warmth. She could feel life pulsing through her, a warmth that was unfamiliar, but beautiful.

  Elisha?

  Dante’s familiar voice caressed her. Confusion echoed through her, but then she became aware that it was his body creating the cocoon. His arms were around her, his legs tangled with hers. His breath was warm on her cheek. It was his heat and strength encircling her, infusing her body with a sense of safety and warmth that she’d never felt before.

  Hope fought to surface, and slowly, afraid to be wrong, she opened her eyes.

  Dante was smiling down at her, his dark eyes still swirling with the shadows he always carried. But there was a softness to them as well, a humanity that was just for her. She smiled back and touched his whiskered jaw. He was real, not her imagination. “Did we do it?” she whispered.

  He smiled. “We did. For now.”

  Disbelief filled her, and tears suddenly clogged her throat. Together, they held each other, the silent embrace representing all the words she couldn’t articulate. “We have each other? Really?”

  He pulled away slightly, brushing her hair back. “We have each other. We really do.”

  She nodded, pressing her lips together to fight off the tears. It was too much, the emotions she was feeling. Love. Relief. Hope. I love you.

  Not half as much as I love you. He kissed her then, the most beautiful, tender kiss full of love and promises that filled her soul so completely that suddenly, finally, all the pain and fear accumulated in her life seemed to vanish, chased aside by their mutual love.

  Dante broke the kiss and smiled down at her then, his eyes twinkling wit
h the same happiness and love filling her so completely. “We must be careful, though.”

  “Why?” She tangled her fingers in his hair. She could spend days in his arms, exploring his body and his soul. Now that the world wasn’t crashing down around them, she wanted to stop running and start living. She wanted to breathe deeply. She wanted to be with this man who had become her world. She wanted to learn every secret he had and find out all there was to know about him.

  “Because, as it turns out, you really are my sheva.” He pressed his lips to her forearm, and she saw the partial outline of his brand on her arm. The silver lines were beautiful, a symbol of their connection. “If we complete the bond, we will trigger the fate that destroys our kind.”

  “I’m your sheva.” The words sounded perfect. She traced her fingers over the brands, marveling at how right and beautiful it felt to carry Dante’s marks. After all they had been through, she could not muster any fear about linking herself to him. It was the way it should be, and exactly where she wanted to be. “Can’t we just decide we won’t do the final stages?”

  He shook his head. “No one has ever been strong enough to bond partially and stop it. It’s too strong.”

  “Like the sword was too strong?” She remembered all too well his refusal to accept the impossible.

  He grinned. “It’s stronger than the sword, my love.”

  “Not stronger than us.” She put her hand over the brand on his arm.

  “Nothing is ever impossible,” he agreed, but his eyes were weighted with the reality of what they were facing.

  She met his gaze, accepting the challenge ahead of them, but refusing to be overwhelmed by it. “So, what do we do?”

  “We live in the present, and we take it one day at a time.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. But right now, we have each other, for however long we can hold onto it.

  She nodded. After all she had been through, after what she had been prepared to face, every moment she had with Dante was a gift. “One day at time,” she echoed. She could live one day at a time, so why look beyond that? Each day with him was all she could want.

  He grinned, a smile that seemed to light up his face and strip a century of hard living from his features. “I love you, my princess.”

  “And I love you—”

  “She will destroy the earth,” Rohan said darkly. “As will your son.”

  Elisha twisted in Dante’s arms as he sat up, helping her rise with him. Rohan was sitting on a charred tree trunk, his cloak still draped over his head. For a split second, she had an image of a shadowed face, of haunted eyes, and she wondered if she’d caught a glimpse of him when he’d carried her out.

  Zach was pacing in front of Rohan, covered only in a charred piece of clothing draped around his waist, a concession to modesty that she suspected was for her benefit. “You’re wrong, you know,” Zach said. “She’s not evil. You are, Rohan.”

  Dante held up his hand to silence the discussion. “She lives. For now.” His gaze met Rohan’s. “Your visions do not always come true. You know this.”

  “This one is powerful. Terrible things will come from this woman. Terrible things will come from your son. And yet you have bound yourself to her.” Rohan was still sitting on the upended tree, no longer trying to kill her, as if he’d accepted that today was not the day for him to get to her, not with Dante and Zach as her guardians.

  Dante’s gaze glittered. “You would have me choose death, instead? She holds my curse at bay. We need each other to live.”

  Rohan was silent for a long moment, then he stood up and strode across the charred earth, staring out across the valley.

  Zach studied Dante. “I heard the Calydon speak,” he said. “The one who killed my family.”

  Dante pulled Elisha more tightly against him and studied the youth. “What did you hear?”

  “He said you were the new leader of the Order.” Zach went down on one knee and bowed his head. “I offer my services to you. There can be no more rogues destroying innocents. No more suffering. No more pain.”

  “I turned him down, as you know.”

  Zach raised his head. “Then give me the mantle. I have proven myself today. I will kill friends. I will kill enemies. I will strike down any rogue who does what Louis did to my family. I will do it.”

  A cold chill went over Dante as he looked into Zach’s eyes and saw the rawness of his emotions and the depth of his commitment. He knew he was looking into the face of a man who would never forget what had happened to those he had loved. A warrior who would never fall to the allure of power at the cost of what was right. Zach was a Calydon who was safe from the contamination that had destroyed his father, because Zach’s grief and anguish would never, ever let him forget. “You can’t control your fire,” Dante pointed out. “You’re a liability to everyone around you.”

  Zach narrowed his eyes. “I will never make that kind of mistake. I will never let my fire harm an innocent. Never.”

  And Dante believed him. For the first time in his life, Dante had met a warrior worthy of being in the Order. “Very well.”

  Zach’s eyes widened. “Very well, what? I’m the new leader of the Order?”

  “No!” Rohan strode back over to them, his body rigid. “He is too young,” he snapped. “He needs a leader to guide him.” Rohan pointed at Dante, his muscular arm taut, the brand on his arm almost vibrating with the intensity of his words. “It has to be you, Dante. It must be you.”

  “Me?” For a split second, Dante had a vision of taking up the mantle, of making the Order what it should have been. Excitement pulsed through him, and then he thought of his father, and what he’d become. “No.” Dante looked at Elisha. “I chose to bond myself with a woman,” he said quietly. “I’m the one who will go rogue. I’m the one who will need to be killed. I’m the one who’s not worthy—”

  “Really? Are you so certain?” This time, it was Elisha who challenged him, her shoulders pulled back with the same courageous strength he admired so much. “You found a way to save me, yourself, and all the innocents. You see solutions where there are none.” She laid her hand on his chest, over his heart. “You killed your father to save others. You controlled the sword that no one could manage. You used your love for me to your advantage. How can you doubt your strength? Your courage?” She gestured to the charred earth around them, signs of a battle they had barely won. “It doesn’t end today, Dante. It will continue. Someone has to stop it. Someone has to rebuild what was lost.” She met his gaze. “And that someone is you.”

  Dante looked around at the three people watching him so intently. He thought of the evil that had filled that inferno. Of the innocents like his mother who had died at the hands of his father. He thought of Zach’s grief at the loss of his family.

  “The Order will survive,” Rohan said. “Power fills a void. If it is not you who leads, it will be someone else. Someone not strong or wise enough to know what needs to be done.”

  Dante studied Zach, and he saw the truth Rohan spoke. Zach would make sure the Order continued. Zach, who was so volatile and angry, was roiling with power so raw that it could easily destroy him if he wasn’t trained. But at the same time, Dante now understood where his father had failed. Unlike his father, he understood what it took to make a Calydon worthy of being Order. He needed warriors whose emotions were ragged and raw, so intense the warriors could barely survive them. He needed Calydons whose emotions and baggage were so horrific that they would never, ever forget what mattered.

  Dante was not worthy of leading the Order, but he could see now that it could be possible to find warriors who could live the creed that the Order was founded upon. He could rebuild, and then take himself out before he, too, fell to the dangers of what he was. He looked at Rohan, the friend he’d had for so long, who had survived so much with him. “When it’s time, you will wield the sword that kills me.”

  Rohan nodded. “It will be my honor.”

  Elisha let out a soft sound of protest,
and he looked over at her. For as long as we have, my love.

  Tears filled her eyes, and she took his hand, holding it to her chest. For as long as we have. She smiled then, a tremulous expression of courage. “But just so you know, I’m going to fight for that to be forever.”

  He grinned, a new sense of hope and resolution filling him. With Elisha by his side, who knew what he could become? “Forever sounds damn good to me.”

  He knew they would fight to the end, for themselves, for their son, for a world where innocents did not have to die. Still holding her hand, he looked at the two warriors before him, and his smile faded. “It looks like we’re going to have an induction ceremony,” he said. “Zach, you in?”

  The younger warrior nodded, his face becoming grim and determined. “Always.”

  Dante nodded, and then to his surprise, Rohan knelt beside Zach, bowing his head the same way. Dante went still, staring at his friend. “You want to be Order?”

  Rohan raised his head. “There is no warrior besides you that I would follow. I swear my allegiance to you, until the day I must strike you down.”

  For a split second, Dante hesitated. Rohan was powerful and ruthless, a warrior who was always willing to sacrifice innocents for the greater good. He was a man his father would have chosen. Was he also a man that Dante could trust?

  Rohan raised his head, and Dante knew that Rohan sensed his hesitation.

  “What do you see for yourself?” Dante asked. “What do you see for your future?”

  “I cannot see my own.”

  For a moment, there was silence. Then Elisha’s soft voice echoed in his mind as she squeezed his hand. He has great pain, she said softly. Tremendous pain. Pain beyond words and comprehension. I felt it when he was carrying me.