Gideon [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book Two
Page 8
"We need to find that girl, then," Malakai said, nodding at Abel.
The other man stood and inhaled deeply. "Somehow, I feel she could lead you to your...woman."
Nodding briskly, Gideon ran his hand through his hair again and sighed. He could feel every vein in his forehead constricting, the blood rushing to his head in a wave of heated tension. He still could not fully grip the details of the newly gained information. All he knew was that he might just be getting incredibly closer to finding Esyth...and he would do any and every thing in his power to do so. His gaze flickered over Abel and Malakai once more, his eyes demonstrating a grey whirlpool of anticipation, curiosity and plain sadness. Trying to ease the emotion away, especially since he was standing before two men who had the potential to carve out his heart and serve on a platter in just a second, he swiftly brought back up his guard. Good information or no, he'd fight till the end if either of them tried anything.
"Why'd you leave him?" he asked.
Abel looked up swiftly to meet Gideon's gaze. The man was looking at Malakai but he knew the words were meant for him. Why had he left Deorci's regime? Hell, he'd never placed much thought into it but he knew he should have since he had been the devil's first right-hand man. But that had been centuries ago...and in the years that had passed by he had tried everything to forget the man. To forget that one wicked day.
Abel turned his back to both men, the taut muscles in his back rippling beneath a thick sleeveless vest, and across the bulge of his biceps.
"He ruined my sister," he finally said in a voice that was so strained, so raw it almost didn't sound like his own. Back still turned, he continued, "She was an innocent virgin... And he turned her into one of his whores." Gideon heard the sharp intake of breath just a second before Abel spun around, baring eyes of poorly disguised pain. "I was a fool then. But a fool who believed in protecting my family. Katarina had been my only sibling. She was all I had. I was mad!" He spat fiercely. "Sickened that the fucker had dared touch her! We were like brothers and he had sworn to leave her be... But those were the days I last used a man's word to vouch for his intentions."
There was a brief silence. Gideon stared deep into the stormy eyes of the man, reading into his pain and anger. Then his gaze moved over to Malakai who stood impossibly erect, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
"So what happened?" Gideon wanted to know.
Abel let out a weak laugh. "I challenged the bastard."
Malakai's head spun on his shoulders, subtle shock blazing in his eyes as he regarded Abel. And his voice didn't sound any less shocked, "You what?"
Gideon was actually impressed. For a man to challenge his leader--one such as Deorci--however close a friendship they had, required some damn serious balls.
Abel picked up the whiskey bottle this time....staring at the mouth of it for a moment before putting it back down on the table with a harsh sigh. "Yeah. And I lost... I grabbed my sister and we left. Who knows why he ever let us go." Abel shook his head forlornly. "The journey hadn't sat well with her. He'd been feeding off her energy... K-Katarina hadn't lasted three days. She died in my arms. The last thing she said was, ‘Elahk consè basterde se’."
"'Kill the bastard.'," came Malakai Baamel's sharp voice.
Abel released a deep harsh grunt, looked to the heavens with tear-stained eyes and then released a shuddering breath.
Gideon found all the current events quite fascinating. Yes, Abel Macintosh and he were enemies but he did feel for the man. Loss of a family member, a loved one was indeed something he could show empathy for. But Gideon stood where he was, staring at the man until he looked his direction again. "And what stopped you?"
Abel passed glances with a curious-eyed Malakai. Retrieving the bottle of whiskey from the table again, he swallowed down a mouthful of the intense liquid and chuckled dryly.
"What stopped you?"
Chapter Twelve
"You sure you don't want any of my men to accompany you?"
Gideon stared down at Abel Macintosh's hand, kindly extended towards him in a peaceful manner.
"No."
Seeing the uneasiness in the other man's eyes, Abel pulled back his hand and cracked a devilish smile. "How about a woman then?"
Behind Abel's head, Gideon could see the top of a familiar blonde and cursed lowly. His eyes then clashed with the ex-Kankul soldier's again. "What man offers up his daughter to a strange man? An enemy, at that?"
He received a deep rumble of a laugh as the response. "I have no enemies, Maruj. Whatever I've done in the past, I've put it behind me. I hate only one man and I so hope you slaughter him when you find him." A dangerous glint crossed his eyes...then slowly disappeared. "As for Mia, whatever gave you reason to believe she is my daughter?"
Behind Abel, Gideon could see the rest of his small group, comprised of eight men the least and six women going about what seemed to be their regular chores. Mia stood, leaned against the wooden wall of the dwelling he'd occupied the night before, dressed not in a silk dress, but brown leather pants with boots and a matching thick vest. Gone was the vulnerable vixen, there was a woman who obviously knew her way around a battlefield. Gideon shook his head and tried not to show the saucy grin now forming on his lips. He had been duped. "Who is she to you?"
Abel followed his gaze for just a moment and chuckled. "She's one of my best fighters. A rebel straight down to the core. Her greatest talent is with the dagger. Can throw three in two seconds flat."
"That's fast," Gideon whistled, impressed. For a mortal. He then looked Abel straight in the eye. "Does she know who you are?"
"Everyone here knows who I am, Maruj. And if you're trying to ask if I still use my Kankul...abilities, the answer is yes. Only to defend my group and myself. Like I've told you last night, this is not my fight. Else I'd gladly help you track down that fucker whether you liked it or not."
Releasing a small grunt, Gideon nodded in Mia's direction. "One of your best, you say?"
"You got it. She's swift too. Give her any weapon and she'll gladly use it like an expert."
"Well....regardless, I'm going to have to decline your—"
A silver glint came out of nowhere, slicing through the air so fast, it took him a full moment to notice the dagger coming towards him and between his legs. Something cold brushed against his crotch...and soon after, he could feel the cool kisses of the air across his sensitive flesh. A couple group members let out impressed whistles and it was then that Gideon turned his head towards the dwelling. She was gone. In fact, she was only a couple meters from him now, small pink lips twitching with amusement.
Anger sparked through him like a lightning bolt and before he knew it, he was advancing on the girl.
Out of nowhere, Malakai came dashing forward, blocking his view and obviously amused as well. "Easy there, Maruj. Let's just give this one a slap on the back and get going, shall we?"
Growling deeply, he gave Mia one last glance and then spun on his heels. "Let's get the fuck out of here before I kill somebody!"
Malakai chuckled, purposely taunting him. "You should be glad she missed."
Behind both of them, the girl chuckled deeply. Pure vixen. She then ran pass them to withdraw her dagger from a nearby tree trunk. Wiping the blade quickly, she then tucked it safely inside her belt.
"Sorry to disappoint you boys...but I never miss. Well, only on purpose."
* * *
A wide deserted plain of rocky, rugged landscape kept him walking nearly to insanity for three long days. If it were him alone—and Malakai Baamel wasn't so bad either—Gideon would have covered the entire land in only one. Only The First knew why he had decided to bring the girl along with him at the last second. Perhaps it was because he had been so impressed with her almost slicing off his balls. Why he was impressed, only The First knew that too.
"We've got at least five more miles to cover before we reach another village," Mia mentioned, using a hand to shade her eyes from the late afternoon's sun's glare. She cou
ld see the tops of buildings now. "And we have to do it while the sun shines!"
"I really hate to spell it out for you, missus," Malakai drawled in an irritable tone. "But if it weren't for you, we'd be long gone by now."
She gave both of them a hard glance and folded her arms. "If that's how you feel...then go ahead."
Gideon's lips quirked into a twisted grin. "Are you sure you'd want to be walking around here alone?" he taunted, giving her a quick upward glance. "Being all...female?"
Pivoting swiftly on one foot, Mia turned blazing eyes on him, one slender hand resting slightly above a well-placed dagger in the waistband of her trousers. "In case you've forgotten how sweet cold metal feels against your balls, I'd be more than willing to teach you one last time!"
Gideon arced one dark brow at her, a smile curving on his lips. So she wanted to play that game, did she? "Says the woman who begged her way into my bed last night."
The resentment in her eyes never went. Instead, she only stepped closer into his space, her tiny nose flaring with hot anger. "I did fool you, didn't I?" Her gaze swept his body slowly, lingering only briefly on the impressive bulge in his pants. "I've had better."
A deep grin came from Malakai and Gideon glowered, annoyed. Shaking his head, he then moved around the hot-tongued woman and walked on ahead. It really served no purpose taunting her any further or ending up doing anything he might regret. What he should be thinking about was finding Esyth. He could not understand why he constantly had to keep reminding himself when he knew the feelings he had for her weren’t simple lusting. He actually loved her, though his hard head often tried to tell him otherwise. He had noticed his attraction to her from that very first night in Amelia's apartment; when he had been restraining her, a sweet slender body squeezing tightly against his front. The sensations had been a mixture of heaven and hell. Sweet torture. And he hadn't taken his eyes off her from that point.
He'd noticed he'd been falling for her not very long after. Perhaps hours, which were like years to him, for such feelings had never happened to him before. The emotion had slammed into him like a force.....waking him from a cold dream of tiresome and meaningless lust which confused him even more. Why was he constantly being distracted from his purpose? Why was his aim to finding Esyth being removed from his mind so erratically...so often? Something was wrong.
Breathing deeply, Gideon inhaled the harsh sharpness of the dusty air. A thick cloud had now moved in to offer temporary shade against the sun. He wondered what destroyed the land so; dry rocky soils, no form of vegetation in sight. Digging the toe of one boot into the soil, he was surprised to find soft ground. Much softer ground than what he'd been walking on for the entire time. Stooping lowly, he brushed away the soil, his scowl deepening when the earth gave way....and sinking, swallowing appallingly into what appeared to be a well-formed trap at least ten feet deep and half filled with water; certainly to drown any unaware trespasser. That was if the land was really owned by anyone...or someone looking to catch someone.
"What the fuck?" Malakai cursed. "There could be dozens of those scattered all over the fucking place!"
Mia stood where she was, now alert and gazing suspiciously around. "I've never seen any like it before. We've scoured this land many times before and I can assure you that these weren't here."
Rising to his feet, Gideon breathed in deeply. "How long ago was the last time?"
She scratched her forehead. "A month the most."
"So they're new," Malakai groaned, staring down into the dark water. "These aren't any normal traps," Gideon remarked, stooping once again and inhaling. Every muscle inside him tensed. Incense. Then he shrunk back as if he'd been punched in the face, jumping to his feet, eyes blazing a brutal red, and grabbing Malakai by the collars. "Those are fucking Kankul holes!"
"Easy, Maruj," Malakai said, calmly. "I had nothing to do with this."
"We're wasting time arguing over this. We could be surrounded and we don't even know it!" Mia's hushed scream came echoing around them.
Gideon ignored her. "Don't bullshit me! I will rip you to fucking pieces right now. We both know it's your people who use incense. It's what Deorci had used to weaken my father right before he killed him!"
Malakai shrugged him off and shoved him aside. "Oh shut the fuck up! If I wanted to kill you, I could have days ago. I only have one desire...and that's Deorci's head. Whoever made that trap, Kankul or not, obviously knows you're out here."
Gideon felt the unbearable urge to hit something...or someone. His mind was uneasy, his emotions running in an erratic pattern, shooting in all directions. "Shit!" Running a quick mental note to contact Hadaen, he then took a swift calming breath and turned to Mia. "Walk carefully and test the ground ahead before you go on."
She mumbled a curse and rolled her eyes, irritably. But Gideon could see the worry within their depths. "Yeah, I know how to avoid traps like these, alright? No need to babysit me."
Feeling Malakai's intense presence behind him, Gideon turned to give the man a once over, and saying in clipped tones, "I might need your help in locating Deorci but that's all I need. I don't need to trust you. I'll fucking kill you if I have to."
Malakai remained in position, aware of the Marujan's threat. He didn't care really for Gideon's welfare. What he cared for was having Deorci's head on a platter so that he could stare at it every day and finally feel fulfilled. That's what he needed. But he couldn't help the sly smile that curled on his lips. "You keep making all these death threats, Maruj, but you fail to see that I'm a man who really doesn't give a fuck about dying. Even if I take my last breath a second after I see Deorci dead, I can assure you that I'd die a happy man." He watched while Gideon slowly turned to face him fully, catching a glimpse of the defensive look in Mia's eyes. Odd girl, that one was. She could jump one ship for another in a heartbeat. "But what about you? What would you do if you don't find your woman after all this?"
Gideon breathed fury. "I will find her!"
"But what if you don't?" Malakai met his gaze with just as much intensity, the tension between them just as hot as the raw hatred they really felt for each other. "What if she's already—"
"Don't you say it!" Gideon snarled at him, almost barking in his face. They were only a couple inches from each other now. "Don't you fucking dare say it! Or I swear I will rip your throat out right here and now!"
Malakai never backed down. Instead, his fists clenched and unclenched tightly at his sides, his eyes blazing with the intent to kill.
It wasn't until Mia's harsh gasp sliced through the silence, that Gideon looked away, glancing at her with a frown but never moving. Her eyes widened to saucers and it was then that he fully registered her terror and turned to follow her gaze.
A tornado of sand came rushing towards them, a good five hundred meters away. He narrowed his gaze to notice a group of men charging soundlessly ahead but he didn't miss their forms; the agile leap of their legs, the dark suits they wore....and the long slithering tattoo sketched on the arm of one of the men. Gideon's shock lasted only a couple seconds before he widened his stance and prepared himself to attack, his mana soaring through him like a warm dose of brandy. Through the corner of his eye, he could see the horror on Mia's face before she visibly took in a huge breath and drew her two swords from the latch at her back.
Malakai only smirked and folded his arms. "Well, this one doesn't come as a surprise," he drawled in a bored tone. "I can count ten of them. It'll be easier than taking candy from a Marujan baby."
Gideon cast him a nasty glare and said swiftly to Mia. "Stay in sight at all times."
"I know how to handle myself, Maruj." Her voice now rose above the roar of wind and sand, and the roar of the charging men.
But for Gideon, time stood still. It had been three years since he'd killed a man. And he'd do it all again now for Esyth's sake. For his sake.
His eyes flooded deep crimson, the red glow surrounding him in only an instant. Inhaling deeply, he sent a silent praye
r to The First for strength and then searched his soul for his most treasured memory of Esyth; her lying in his arms that last night before Deorci had attacked the Hub.
And he got all the strength he needed.
Chapter Thirteen
All three stood still, maintaining their positions as the Kankul soldiers surged towards them and the tornado dissolved in a swish just seventy-five meters away. But the men urged on, shouts of battle echoing around. Gideon counted mentally with every meter they advanced. Anticipation and anger were his fuels, his mana crackling with delight.
But at forty-five meters, one soldier advanced before the others and then drew to an abrupt halt, stopping the others in their paths. The man held a hand out behind him, warning his men not to move. Then he cocked his head to the side, his narrowed gaze moving past Gideon. They could hear his chuckle.
"Well well well... If it isn't Malakai Baamel. Last time I heard, you were dead."
"Just as dead as you are, Nathaal. What brings you to this side, I wonder?"
Nathaal smirked, his gaze shifting to the woman and then to Gideon. "And if it isn't His Royal Highness, himself. I seem to be caught between the urge to bow or falling to my knees."
The sarcasm in the man's tone did infuriate Gideon but the effect never showed. So when he responded, his voice was cool and collected. "I seem to find great preference with the second option because on your knees you will be when I rip your guts out and hand-deliver them to your beloved Deorci."
Nathaal stood perfectly still, a vein bulging at his left temple. The soldiers behind him shot awkward glances at each other. Then he opened his mouth and spoke. "I'm afraid you and your little posse you have here will not be making it any further. Your journey ends here."