Grace opened her eyes a slit and gave a slight nod. “Let’s do Caleb’s death,” she whispered.
“Yes.” That could do it, forcing Ezekiel to watch the death of his own brother. Ana wrapped her arms around her sister and helped her sit up, stealing worried glances at Elijah as he ripped through the Calydons in his effort to get to Ezekiel.
Grace leaned back against her, her body shaking, and Ana rested her chin on her sister’s shoulder. “You ready?” Ana asked.
Grace nodded, her hands clutching Ana’s. They were cold, so cold, so pale from the loss of blood. “You start it.”
Ana checked on Elijah again and caught her breath as he took a hard hit to the shoulder.
Grace squeezed her hand. “We have to stop Ezekiel to get our males back. Do it, little sister. Make me proud with your dark illusions.”
Hah. The irony of her sister’s comment was not lost on her—
Sudden movement from Ana’s right caught her attention. She glanced to the side, then stiffened when she saw two of Ezekiel’s Calydons turn toward her and Grace. She gasped as they started running toward her with their weapons out, their eyes rogue red. Dear God, the entire place was spiraling! They were going to kill her and Grace!
“Do the illusion,” Grace shouted. “They’ll all be caught up in it. Do it now!”
“Okay!” Ana focused her energies and the air pressure in the room shifted instantly. She opened her bond with Ezekiel and picked up an image of Caleb from his mind.
Ezekiel reeled in surprise when she cast that likeness into the air. Grace added her energy, and together they pictured Caleb. The Calydons charging them paused, looking back and forth as their crazed minds tried to make sense of the image of the man who was the founder of their race.
“Come on,” Grace shouted. “It’s working!” The wind began to rise, whipping through the room, making their hair snap in their eyes. Before them, the image of Caleb came to life, living and breathing, so real. Ezekiel frowned at the image, then Ana felt him shake it off, telling himself it wasn’t real. He wasn’t being fooled by the illusion. Not yet.
“Death by illusions for Caleb,” Ana said. “Tap into Ezekiel’s emotions until he has no defenses.”
Grace gave a brief nod, and then they attacked Caleb with things no one but he could see, the same way Elijah and all the other members of his family had gone down. Caleb threw back his head and screamed, the same god-awful noise that Elijah was making. He ripped at his body, clawing at his stomach.
Then Ana felt raw, sheer anguish flooding Ezekiel. Triumph surged through her as Ezekiel bellowed in anguished protest. “No!”
Caleb called out his weapon, a glistening throwing star like Elijah’s. He plunged it into his own chest with a howl of heart-wrenching betrayal.
“Caleb!” Ezekiel ripped free of his chains, leapt to the floor and grabbed the illusion of his brother. Grace upped her concentration to create the feeling of solidity out of the illusion, and Ana kept hammering with the screams, the blood and the torture.
“This is your fault,” the illusion of Caleb screamed at Ezekiel. “You brought this upon both of us! You’re killing me!”
“I’m sorry, fuck, I’m sorry!” Ezekiel fell to his knees as Caleb doubled over in pain. “We were supposed to rule together.” Tears streamed down Ezekiel’s cheeks and Ana’s heart burned for his pain. She felt his suffering deep inside her, knifing away at her own heart.
No, no, no! She had to be strong. She tried to raise her shields against him, fighting to suppress her own emotions.
Grace snorted. “Nice touch, sis, with the guilt.”
Ana nodded, keeping her focus as she searched for Elijah. He was charging Ezekiel now, his throwing stars out, his face contorted with such crazed fury that she knew Ezekiel wouldn’t stand a chance. Her throat tightened at the thought of Ezekiel dying, and for a split second, Ezekiel lifted his head, as if to search for her, as if she’d accidentally broadcast his impending fate into his mind..
“Concentrate, Ana!” Grace ordered.
Ana jerked her gaze off Ezekiel and focused on Elijah, on the way his muscles rippled as he knocked aside the Calydons in his way, his gaze so intent on Ezekiel. His crazy, tortured gaze, so twisted with hatred and violence…I swear I’ll find a way to bring you back.
The way was clear now for Elijah, and she knew he was going to kill Ezekiel—
Then suddenly a movement from Elijah’s right caught her eye, and she saw Vaughn charging Elijah. His eyes were glowing green and his hands where curled into claws. A violent power emanated off his body that was so unnatural and so deadly. Elijah hadn’t noticed him, wasn’t even looking his way, he was so consumed by his hatred for Ezekiel. She gasped, gripping her sister. “Vaughn is going to kill Elijah to protect Drew, because Ezekiel is still in Drew’s body!”
Ana knew she couldn’t get there in time to save Elijah from Vaughn…but Ezekiel could.
“Don’t cut the illusion,” Grace shouted, pointing at the rogue Calydons that had been on their way to kill them. “They’ll come after us again!”
“I don’t care! I can’t let Elijah die!” Ana cut the illusion instantly, and Ezekiel’s head snapped up as he returned to the present, assessing his surroundings with instant comprehension. Ezekiel whirled around just as Elijah’s throwing star was descending toward him, and just as Vaughn’s glowing green hands were closing around Elijah’s throat.
Ezekiel’s voice rang in her mind. I can be killed by my sheva.
Ana blinked as heat seared up her arm. What?
“Run,” Grace shouted, leaping to her feet. “They’re coming for us again!” She grabbed Ana’s hand and dragged her across the room as the rogue Calydons spun around, searching for the prey they’d been hunting before the distraction.
Ezekiel launched himself at Vaughn just as he reared back to hit Elijah with the killing blow. The ancient Calydon screamed his fury at Vaughn for endangering Elijah and hurled him across the room. As Vaughn crashed into the wall with a violent thud, Ezekiel shimmered out of sight, disappearing a split second before Elijah’s throwing star cut through the air, right where his heart had been.
Without Ezekiel there to take the blow, the throwing star kept going, straight toward Ana.
She realized she had no time to avoid it, and Elijah’s eyes widened in anguish even through his crazed haze. Ana! His tormented shout ripped through her mind, then Ezekiel grabbed her, yanking her to the side as the throwing star grazed over the front of her neck, a tickle instead of a death blow.
Elijah screamed in agony and fell to his knees.
No, no, she shouted at him. You didn’t kill me—
“Ana!” Ezekiel grabbed her arms, his eyes frantic and thrilled. “We did it. You are mine!” He held up her arm, and she gasped in disbelieving horror as Elijah’s mark faded from her arm and Ezekiel’s final marks filled in.
Trust. Ezekiel had given her the power to kill him when he’d told her how he could die. And then, when she’d called off the illusion so that Ezekiel would stop Vaughn from killing Elijah, she’d actually saved Ezekiel’s life first by breaking the illusion that was making Elijah want to kill him. She’d risked her own life to save Ezekiel’s, even though her intention had been to save Elijah’s. Dear God. They’d completed the bond.
A deep longing rose within Ana, her entire soul screaming for Ezekiel even as bile rose in her throat.
There was a horrific scream as Elijah doubled over, clawing at his eyes. Oh, no! She’d let the illusion slip that he hated Ezekiel, and now he was simply consumed by his nightmares as the demons turned on him. He was in hell, true hell. “Elijah!” She struggled to get free of Ezekiel, but his arm clamped around her waist and he hauled her against his hard body.
“No. You are no longer bonded to him. You are mine.”
Ana stared into his eyes, the ancient hell they housed. She felt the heat of his body against hers, and she knew he spoke the truth. Her heart beat for him, her soul cried for him, h
er body needed him. She was his. He’d told her how to kill him, but she never, ever would.
Ezekiel was her life.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The battle continued to rage as Ezekiel ordered his men to grab Lily. Two Calydons who had been standing near the back grabbed her by the arms and dragged her across the floor. Her body was limp, her head lolling as they dragged her right past Gideon, who bellowed with rage and tried to grab her, only to get hit hard by several of Ezekiel’s Calydon’s, driving him to his knees.
But they didn’t hit him again. They let him stagger to his feet, and Ana realized Ezekiel was torturing Gideon on purpose, making him watch the death and destruction of his sheva. Elijah’s screams still rang in her mind and she twisted around to find him.
He was raging now, attacking himself, attacking anyone who came within reach, and she realized that in that state, he truly would kill her. Her throat tightened. I’m so sorry, Elijah. God, I’m sorry.
His body tensed, as if he’d heard her, but she knew he hadn’t. She was nothing to him, now, bonded to Ezekiel, none of Elijah’s marks on her skin at all. But God…she couldn’t let him die like that—
Lily was thrust before them, her eyes half open, her face furious. Ana grabbed for her friend. “You bastard—”
“Don’t argue, my love. No time for that.” Ezekiel pointed to Drew. “Lily, you know the rite. Perform it. Draw the power and bring my two halves back together again.”
Lily spat at him. “Never—”
He flicked his head toward Gideon. “I’ll kill him if you don’t do the ritual, Lily,” he said casually. “If you do it, then I’ll be whole, but your mate will still be alive, giving you a chance to save him. Is it really a choice?”
Fury flamed in Lily’s eyes, and she looked up at Drew, where he was chained up in Ezekiel’s body. He was conscious now, and fighting his bonds. “I don’t know the rite.”
Ezekiel thrust a yellowed scroll of paper at her. “You do now. Do it.”
Lily grabbed the paper and scanned it, her hand sagging from the weight of the paper, her body so depleted. She managed a desperate glance at Gideon, who was down on his hands and knees, gushing blood while Ezekiel’s Calydons stood around him, weapons out, waiting for the signal.
Lily sagged even further, then closed her eyes, and began to sing. Power crackled in the air, and Ana saw Gideon’s head lift. He stared at his sheva, though Ana had no idea if he could see her through his glowing red eyes. But his agony was so apparent in the defeated position of his shoulders, the utter desolation at the loss of his mate, that Ana could feel his grief.
Lily began to chant in a language Ana didn’t know, and Ezekiel’s grip tightened on Ana. She felt his anticipation, felt the strength in his mind as something began to shift in his being. She became more aware of the old body suspended from the rafters than the young one holding her arm, her soul being drawn toward it with merciless force.
She stared up, mesmerized as she felt Ezekiel regain control of his own body, his strength, his personality, his presence, magnified thousands of times, as was her need for him. She took a step toward the suspended body, felt her hands reach for him. Ezekiel. There was such need in her voice, such desperation, in her being…something in her mind heard it, and chafed at it, screamed that it was wrong that there was someone else…but she couldn’t stop herself. Ezekiel was everything. She fought it, she struggled, and there was nothing. He consumed her.
Lily’s voice rose in a beautiful crescendo, and Ana felt the moment Ezekiel meshed with his physical body, and his power crashed through the room. He threw out his hand and the woman Ian was trying to free screamed, her skin turned black and then she collapsed. Ian screamed with grief, but Ana knew it was over. The woman was dead, killed by Ezekiel’s mere presence.
Ana knew it was all wrong, that everything was wrong, and she couldn’t bring herself to stop it. All she could do was embrace the man whose entire being had overwhelmed hers.
“Holy Jesus,” Ryland whispered. “We’re fucked.”
***
Elijah shuddered at the sudden crash of power rolling through him, a swell of such intensity it rattled his body to the core, staggering him and stunning him. For a split second, all he heard was the scream of the demons and the bite of their claws, and then all he could feel was pain. Agony. Anguish.
Not his pain. Ana. She was being tortured.
He wrenched his head up, ignoring the demons ripping at him, slicing his skin off, stabbing at his eyes. All he could think about was Ana. Where was she? She needed him. He had to find her.
Elijah slitted his eyes against the pain, against the blurred vision. He saw her just ahead of him. She was staring up, reaching up…he followed her gaze and saw a black specter with claws and teeth, bottomless eyes of pure hell suspended from the ceiling. It was reaching for Ana. It was going to consume her. “No!”
He bellowed his protest, lurched to his feet and charged across the room, moving faster than he’d ever done in his life. He caught her around the waist, felt her grunt from the impact and bolted. Just ran. Had to get her away. Had to protect her. She struggled against him, and he tightened his grip, knowing that the monster behind them could never be allowed to have her.
There was a roar of rage behind him, and he didn’t look back even as the power in the room rose. He just held Ana tight and used his throwing star to clear the way. Bodies fell, and he didn’t care. Didn’t matter. Just had to get her safe. Her arms suddenly went around his neck and her legs went around his waist. “Elijah!” There was such emotion in that one word, such passion, such need, such love that it snapped through the haze consuming his mind.
And suddenly he knew. He knew it was Ana in his arms. He knew the monster was Ezekiel. The demons were gone, and he knew, with sudden certainty that they would never come back. He’d broken through himself and found his way. He wrapped his arm around her and felt tears fill his eyes. Ana. You did it. You brought me back. He didn’t glance back as he shouldered through the door, splintering it and bolted around a corner.
“Wait, wait! Stop! Look!” She shoved her arm in front of his face, and for a moment, he didn’t know what he was looking at. Then he saw the brands on her arms, and he staggered to a horrified stop.
“Fuck, no.” Bile retched in Elijah’s stomach and he wrenched his gaze to her face, her beautiful silver eyes that now lived for someone else. For a monster.
Her eyes filled with tears. “I live for him, Elijah, but it’s you I love.” Her arms tightened around his neck. “He’s calling for me. I have to go—” Elijah, his sheva can kill him. She started to struggle against his grip. “I have to go.”
Elijah tightened his arms around her, easily resisting her struggles while her desperate whisper echoed through his mind. Of course, she was right. She could kill Ezekiel. She was the one destined to do so. “You can kill him only if he goes rogue.”
“Let me go!” she protested, pushing at his chest. “I need to go back to Ezekiel!”
Elijah’s heart tightened at the look in her eyes. Of such utter desperation and anguish, from being parted from Ezekiel, but also from being parted from him. Somehow, her feelings for him had survived her bond with Ezekiel. He felt the presence of Ezekiel in his mind, and he sensed the ancient Calydon calling to him as well. Ezekiel was trying to bring Elijah back, and he wanted to go.
Elijah actually took a step toward the other room, toward his kin, and his arms loosened to allow Ana to return to Ezekiel.
She slid down his body and landed lightly on her feet. “He’s calling me.”
He nodded. “Me, too.”
“He’s too strong.” The air was thick now, noxious, and sounds of the battle were fading. Was the Order all dead now? Destroyed by themselves?
Elijah ground his jaw, but Ana didn’t move any closer toward Ezekiel. She didn’t take a single step, her fingers lightly resting in Elijah’s hand. Her eyes were bright. “He’s coming for us.”
Elijah t
urned his head, and saw Ezekiel step around the corner. He was in his own body now, a hard, weathered body that matched the millennia of suffering in his eyes. He had Drew by the throat and was dragging the boy along with him. Drew’s skin was gray and mottled, almost black from Ezekiel’s touch.
Ezekiel tossed the boy at Elijah’s feet. “I can kill with my mere presence again, poison whoever I want, but this is for you.” He gave Elijah a proud smile. “You will have the honor, my brother, my kin. You will end the legacy of the Order and stand by my side. No woman to come between us anymore, but we will find you another.” He raised his hand to Elijah, palm up, and extended his other hand to Ana. “Come to me, both of you. There will be no more loneliness for any of us.”
Loneliness. Elijah felt Ezekiel’s emptiness, his unbearable need for companionship, and he knew in his core that he and Ana could give it to him, could make him whole. And Elijah needed it, too. He had no family, no history, no place.
Elijah fell to his knees and bowed his head to honor his ancestor, and felt Ana kneel beside him. He felt her own loneliness and desolation reaching for Ezekiel, who could make them both whole, give them a place, give them what they needed—
Elijah. Ana’s voice was a brush in his mind, a desperate plea. It’s you who is in my heart. It will always be you.
Ezekiel stiffened and cocked his head. “Ana. I command you to come to me. Now. I need you.” And he did. His need was evident in every pore of his body and soul.
Ana sighed and stood up. She took a step toward Ezekiel, and then something snapped inside Elijah. “No!” He leapt up, tackled Ana and brought her down on the floor, tucking her beneath him to protect her fall.
Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) Page 34