Ezekiel’s eyebrows went up. “What kind of trade?”
“I’ll join your side if you leave Ana alone. She’s mine, leave her with me.” Ezekiel would believe that about him, his need to protect his soul mate.
Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed. “You are willing to come over to the dark side in order to protect her from me?”
“Yes.”
Ana’s hand tightened on his back. Elijah, this isn’t the way to do it. We can still defeat him. Don’t prostitute yourself to him. I can protect myself against him.
Elijah would have grinned at the desperation pouring off Ana, knowing Ezekiel would feel her response and believe Elijah was going against her wishes by aligning himself with Ezekiel, except he felt her true panic and realized she wasn’t faking it. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against him, brushing a kiss over her head. It’s okay, sweetheart. I won’t let him touch you even from a distance.
Ezekiel cocked his head and Elijah realized he was scenting the air. Elijah did the same and caught the scent of Ana’s fear and her revulsion, something she couldn’t fake.
But Elijah knew Ezekiel was catching nothing off him, nothing of the truth. He let his need to protect Ana ring loud and true, overwhelming all his other emotions.
The two males studied each other. Elijah kept his face bland and his heart rate slow and even.
Finally Ezekiel narrowed his eyes. “I am delighted by your change of heart, but forgive me if I’m not entirely convinced of your sudden willingness to turn against your team. Perhaps if you killed a few Order members, I would believe you.”
Elijah kept his voice calm. “Perhaps if you proved to me you would leave Ana alone, I would be willing to work for you.”
“No. Not work.” Ezekiel suddenly looked angry. “I have hundreds of Calydons working for me! I want a partner! I want family by my side! That’s what I want! Full emotional commitment!” He strode up to Elijah and drilled him with his gaze. “You are my family, Elijah. All the family I have left, and that is what I want from you.”
Elijah stared into Ezekiel’s eyes, and sudden recognition pulsed deep inside him. Recognition of that familial bond he had with no one else. He knew Ezekiel. They had a connection, a blood connection that bound them over thousands of years. Ezekiel was the one living being with whom Elijah belonged—
He cursed and stepped back, but not before Ezekiel smiled, true glee lighting up his eyes. “You feel it. You feel our connection.” He thudded Elijah on the shoulder, and Elijah had his star out and at Ezekiel’s throat before he could think about what he’d done.
Shit.
Like that was going to convince Ezekiel.
But Ezekiel simply smiled and pushed the star away with one finger. “You aren’t ready to accept our bond, but you feel it. I know you do.” He bowed deeply. “I invite you both to my home. We will come together as one.” His gaze went from Elijah to Ana. “All three of us.”
Elijah growled and pulled Ana tighter against him, as she tensed. “Not her.” He knew his plan had been to bring her along, but the anticipation in Ezekiel’s eyes made his skin crawl. His need to keep his mate far from danger was pulsing powerfully within him.
Ezekiel waved his hand dismissively. “Of course her. How will you protect her from me if you aren’t by her side? If you leave her, I will take her myself the minute she’s alone.”
Son of a bitch. Ezekiel was right. There was no way Elijah could leave her unprotected.
Tension flickered in Ezekiel’s eyes, and he glanced again at Ana, his lust making Elijah’s fists clench. “But if I take her, we will fight and I will kill you, my brother.” Fury made Ezekiel’s face tighten, a dark, lethal fury that made the hair on Elijah’s neck stand up. “And that will really piss me off. I swore it would be different this time, and it will.” He called out a weapon with a crack, and had a dagger at Elijah’s throat at the same moment Elijah put his throwing star at Ezekiel’s. His eyes were flickering dangerously. “If you fuck up my plans by making me steal Ana and put us at war, you both will suffer more than you can imagine. Don’t fuck with me, brother.”
Elijah tensed as Ezekiel’s blade pricked his skin, and he felt blood slide down his neck. At the same time, he was hit with such a raging loneliness emanating from Ezekiel that Elijah almost staggered. It was a vast void of swirling emptiness, of coldness, of brutal and debilitating loneliness, thousands of years of pain and suffering, of such intense longing for connection that he actually felt his throat constrict for Ezekiel’s pain. “We will come with you.”
I felt that. Ana’s voice was stunned. Dear God, how can a person survive that kind of emotional pain?
I don’t know. Elijah fought his reaction to it with every fiber of his soul, but he couldn’t keep his empathy at bay. He felt Ezekiel’s pain and he wanted to heal it—
Elijah swore and stepped back. He is the enemy, he reminded both of them.
Ana glanced at him, and he saw the concern in her eyes, concern that mirrored his own empathy for Ezekiel. He swore again as Ezekiel sheathed his dagger without another word.
Ezekiel recovered his composure and rebuilt his shielding, hiding everything but his darkness. Freed of the emotional connection to the ancient Calydon, Elijah’s resolve to kill Ezekiel came rushing back. Ana straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, her own resistance to the bastard’s charms reaffirmed as well.
She tightened her grip on Elijah. It’s as you feared it would be. He can manipulate us through our bond to him. Our affection.
He gave a brief nod. Yep.
Ezekiel beamed at them. “Let’s go to my house for proper introductions over tea and crumpets.” He grabbed both their wrists, his face darkening when Ana jerked out of his grasp and Elijah helped her do it.
“She touches only me,” Elijah growled as he moved Ana behind him. “I’ll bring her with me, but you don’t get to touch her.” There were limits to the game he’d play, and letting Ezekiel touch Ana was past it, no matter what. He simply couldn’t do it, not even to get inside Ezekiel’s lair and find his weakness.
Ezekiel’s displeasure pulsed at him, but he dropped his hand from Ana and held only onto Elijah. “As you wish, my brother,” he said stiffly.
Then the room faded, and then they were at Ezekiel’s mercy.
***
The world took shape around them, and Ana had a split second to notice they were in a wooded clearing before there was a booming crack of dozens of weapons being called out. The ground shook beneath a loud battle cry and thudding footsteps. A mass of Calydons burst out of the woods, weapons out, charging straight at them. “Fuck!” Elijah whipped out his throwing stars and started hurling them with blinding speed, taking out Calydons faster than they could approach.
Adrenaline surged through Ana. The urge to do an illusion rose hard and fast within her as she saw the warriors advancing, as their threat bore down on her.
She felt Elijah tense, and she immediately tried to shut down the illusion. Sorry. To her relief, it subsided once she focused on Elijah and his vulnerability, her instinctive need to protect him giving her the strength to hold it at bay.
The warriors kept advancing, and Elijah kept fighting. What was going on? She glanced at Ezekiel, but he was simply standing beside her, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
Don’t let Ezekiel into your mind, Elijah ordered. I’m killing to save your life, and that’s a stage of the bond. If he merges with us while I’m doing it, it will complete that stage of the bond for you both. Don’t let him bind us vicariously.
Oh, no. Ana hastily reinforced her mental shields against him, having no idea if it would be enough.
But Ezekiel wasn’t paying any attention to her, and she couldn’t feel his presence in her mind. He wasn’t trying to connect with her. He was watching Elijah fight, and the pride on his face was apparent.
“Are you testing him?” she asked.
Ezekiel’s gaze flicked to hers. “No. He doesn’t n
eed to prove himself to me.”
“Then why are you sending your warriors after him?”
He laughed softly, the indulgent laugh one might give an innocent child. “They aren’t after him. He’s merely in their way.”
“They aren’t?” Ana noticed suddenly that the approaching males weren’t looking at Elijah or Ezekiel. Each of their dark gazes was fixated on her. Elijah was right. She was the target.
She took a step backward as more Calydons emerged from the woods on either side of them, circumventing the blockade Elijah had erected in front of them. They raised their weapons and charged her, the deadly intent harsh on their faces.
“Oh, crap!” She stumbled backward, but Ezekiel caught her arm and cut off her retreat. His grip was unyielding and relentless, and she fought harder, panic rising as the warriors bore down on her.
Elijah swore and tried to fight his way toward her, but he was fully occupied with the mass of warriors attacking him. She shot a frantic glance at Ezekiel, her heart racing. “You’re going to let them kill me?”
He shot her a wide smile. “No, of course not.”
And then, before the significance of that statement could sink in, he stepped up beside her and called out a sword. The lead Calydon neared her and raised his spear to plunge it through her throat. His eyes were black with lethal intent, and she saw her death in his eyes.
Ana screamed, and Ezekiel thrust his sword straight into the Calydon’s heart.
The warrior dropped at her feet, his eyes staring sightlessly at the sky. Dead. Because of her. “Oh, God.” She stumbled back, horrified by the sight of another male dead, his life ripped from his body because of her. “Not again.”
“No!” Elijah’s outraged roar ripped through the air, and Ana’s forearm seared with heat.
Terror shot through her. Heat? The brand? Another stage?
“It is done!” Ezekiel shouted, and the Calydons ceased their attack instantly, dropping to their knees with their heads bowed. He smiled triumphantly at Ana as she sank to her knees in horror. “I killed to save your life, Ana. Another stage of the bond. Done.”
Elijah whirled toward them and sprinted over to her as she held out her arm to look at it, her arm shaking so much she couldn’t even see the marks. Elijah caught her wrist and steadied it enough for her to see a line form, traveling down her forearm parallel to the other line that had been the start of Ezekiel’s weapon.
Bile burned in her stomach, and Elijah’s hand tightened on her arm. His eyes blazed with fury as he turned toward Ezekiel. His muscles were straining with the effort of not attacking Ezekiel straight out. “You bastard.”
Ezekiel grinned, triumph dancing in his eyes. “You think I can stand back and not bond with my sheva? As I said, we will share her. Now come.”
He began to march across the field, stepping over the bodies of the Calydons he’d sacrificed, and Ana stared at Elijah, her heart racing. “Elijah, I can’t do this—”
“I know.” His grip was like a vise on her arm, his jaw flexing. “Fuck, Ana, I know.” His eyes were dark. “I’m taking you back to the Order. They’ll keep you safe and I’ll deal with Ezekiel.”
She shook her head once. “He’ll kill them all to take me. You’re the only one who can protect me against him, because he doesn’t want to kill you.” She couldn’t keep herself from shaking, her stomach roiling at the feeling of sewage coursing through her at the tightened bond with Ezekiel.
“Come along, kids,” Ezekiel called out. “I have a busy night.”
Elijah wrapped his hand around hers, dwarfing her hand. He cupped her chin, his hand so gentle against her skin, his body corded with fury. His green eyes were full of such anguish and torment, his soul breaking before her. “I can’t sacrifice you to him.” His voice was like steel. “It’s against everything in my body and soul to expose you to him.”
She clung to him, desperate for his touch, for his support, for connection with him. Only him. “I know.”
There was no need to say more. As impossible as it was to go forward with their plan, they both knew their only chance at beating Ezekiel was to stay where they were and to risk her. He would find her no matter where she went. There was nowhere to hide from him. Nowhere.
Elijah closed his eyes for a minute, then hugged her against him. She sank into his body instantly, the hard planes of his muscles enfolding her. She pressed her face to his chest, breathing in his musky scent, letting it ease the tension in her heart. I believe.
In what?
In you.
He pulled back to look at her. No longer was there stubborn rejection on his face at her declaration. His eyes were full of questions, of desperate hope for answers. What does that mean?
It means I believe we can win.
Something flickered in his eyes. Longing? Regret? He laid his palm against her cheek, his skin so warm. You do, don’t you? Even with the medallion?
She leaned her face into his touch, breathing in his strength and his passion. It’s just an old, metal coin, Elijah. The chain glimmered around his neck, and she wanted to rip it off. She went to grab it, and he closed his hand over it to block it.
It’s so much more than just metal. His resistance was back, tainted by that damned coin. You know it is.
Throw it away. She searched his face, opening her heart, showing him how much she cared, allowing him to feel the very depths of her commitment to him, to them. Make this about us, not something that happened two thousand years ago.
“Now!” Ezekiel sounded angry again, and she shuddered at the blast of evil he sent her way.
Elijah gave her a grim look as he took her hand. Together, they headed across the dead grass toward a tall, gray building with barred windows, cement walls, and a turret.
It looked almost like an ancient castle.
Or an ancient prison. She swallowed at the thought, at the memory of being trapped by Nate. Of being locked down again in a world of such horror.
Elijah tightened his grip on her hand. I’ll be with you the whole time, sweetheart. You’re not alone this time.
She held onto him fiercely. You have to believe, Elijah.
He looked at her, and she saw the doubt in his gaze, fed by a lifetime of indoctrination as to the legends of his kind. I’ll give my life for you.
That wasn’t believing, and she knew, in her heart, that they would never survive without faith. Destiny’s greatest power was that the Calydons believed in her. Their belief gave destiny power, in the same way that Ana’s illusions had power only because people believed they were real.
And as long as Elijah believed they were bound by fate, they would be.
And he believed.
Ezekiel let out a roar of outrage, and too late, Ana realized he’d been in her mind and heard their conversation. Now Ezekiel knew that they were there to betray him. “Elijah!”
Elijah’s throwing star slammed into his palm with a crack as Ezekiel flashed between them, grabbed them both and flashed again. Before they could blink, they were locked in a cell, and he was nowhere to be seen.
No longer honored guests, they were now his prisoners.
They were at the mercy of a man who had none.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Vaughn crept along the forest floor on his belly, moving in total silence, shutting down all tells of his presence. His heart wasn’t beating, he wasn’t breathing, and even his body heat had lowered to the temperature of the earth he was creeping across. He was invisible to all senses. The ground was damp on his belly, the scent of pine and fresh earth thick, the coolness of the air drifting across his skin.
He heard the sound of males talking quietly and elbowed himself up to look past a boulder wedged in the earth in front of him. Three Order members were pacing in the clearing in the forest, in urgent discussion. A woman was with them. Not Grace. One he didn’t recognize. Her hand was on the arm of one of the warriors, as if she was trying to restrain him.
One of the males was covered in sc
ars so brutal Vaughn almost shuddered. Quinn was there also, and Vaughn frowned, still unsure whether he could trust him. His mind said he couldn’t, but something about the other warrior burned bright in Vaughn’s mind. The third warrior he didn’t recognize, but it wasn’t one of the two who had nearly killed him when they’d stolen Drew from him.
He carefully began to summon his power, and the forest took on a green hue as his eyes began to glow. Quinn stopped talking and turned to stare at the woods exactly where Vaughn was hiding.
Vaughn tensed. No one could pick him up when he was in this mode, yet Quinn was looking right at him.
The others fell silent to watch Quinn, and then they began searching the woods with their senses, but they were unfocused, sending out signals that showed they weren’t sure what they were looking for.
But not Quinn. Quinn was onto him.
Vaughn’s muscles coiled and he readied himself to attack—
“Vaughn.” Quinn’s voice rang out in the woods. “We need your help to get Drew back. I know you’re pissed and blame me, and I hear you. But the shit’s about to go down, and we need your help.”
Vaughn hesitated. He was certain the Order had Drew already. It was a lie…
“You can always kill me later, right? It’s not like you’re going to take me by surprise either way.”
Vaughn dropped his head to his arms for a moment. Shit. What if Quinn was telling the truth? What if Vaughn took them all out, only to discover Drew wasn’t there? He hadn’t caught so much as a flicker of Drew’s energy or a hint of his scent. He’d assumed the Order was masking him. What if it was because Drew wasn’t there? And he didn’t know how to find him?
He wanted to kill them all, every last one of them, including Quinn, for endangering Drew and letting him get kidnapped. But fuck…revenge was nothing compared to getting Drew back safe. He knew he had one choice. He couldn’t take them out until he knew where his son was.
Son of a bitch.
Vaughn let his heart start again, resumed the rest of his normal body functions and allowed his form to take shape as he rose to his feet, revealing himself. Quinn was looking right at him even before he exposed himself, and the Calydon gave him a brief nod.
Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) Page 30