Deliver Me from Darkness: A Novel of the Paladin Warriors

by Tes Hilaire

  A sick wedge lodged deep in Gabriella’s gut. If the woman died, Roland would be lost. If Roland were lost then so would she be. It was his defiance that inspired her. The belief that enough of his blood had made it into her to counteract the double whammy of her mother’s genetics and her vampire nature. It didn’t matter that Christos was dead; if anything that was just a score on the game board for evil. Without Roland to look up to, without Christos to pin all her hatred on? She’d fall. She knew she would.

  Squaring her shoulders, she brushed by Valin who’d stopped and was staring like a shell-shocked idiot down at the dying woman. “You fool. Either you do it, or I will.”

  Roland twisted his head around, his face mottled into a look of inhuman emotion as he bared his teeth at her. “I won’t turn her into what we are. I won’t turn her into something evil.”

  Gabriella jerked back as if slapped. Roland’s well-placed thrust to her heart was greater than anything Christos could ever have inflicted. “Am I evil? Are you? Truly? Are we?”

  A hand slipped into the crook of her elbow, pulling her away from Roland and into the solid weight of a man’s steadfastness. “Listen to her, Roland. Don’t let another Paladin die.”

  “Isn’t this,” Roland gestured at himself, “another sort of death for a Paladin?”

  Valin’s jaw set, but his gaze was accepting as he reached out and clasped Roland on the shoulder. “I may not like you, but you will always be my brother.”

  Gabriella sucked in her breath, watching the filmstrip of emotions flash across Roland’s face.

  Valin’s hand tightened, giving Roland a shake. “Do it.”

  Roland looked from Valin back to Karissa. Gabriella gnawed her lip, holding on to her breath. He had to do it. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she did: They both needed this woman.

  With a growl, Roland lowered the woman back to her bed of blood. In a movement too quick for the eye, he reopened a scabbed wound on his wrist and pressed it to Karissa’s lips.

  Gabriella watched, waiting for the slack lips to tremble, the throat to bob, for the teeth to grasp on. Nothing.

  “Karissa…” Roland pleaded, stroking her throat.

  Alarmed, Gabriella shook off Valin’s grip and moved to flank him. Maybe the woman was too far under? She pressed her finger against the pale throat, her gut sinking as she waited one second, two, three…No pulse.

  Chapter 25

  Karissa! Her name was a howling scream of agony, a soul-piercing cry of grief. Her soul answered, tried to reach out, tried to soothe. And couldn’t. She was in the abyss and falling.

  She didn’t want to die. Didn’t want to leave Roland. God. She cried out, tried to grasp onto something, anything. But there was no lifeline here.

  Something slid past her lips. Her mouth filled with something hot and sweet and slick, adding to the drowning sensation. A coaxing word. A plea. She swallowed.

  The world came alive.

  With a gasp, her eyes flew open. “Roland?” She choked on the thick liquid pooling in her throat and turned her head. Roland hushed her, pulling her up against his chest. She tried to grasp his shirt but failed. “Why? Told you. Trap. Shouldn’t ’ve come.”

  “Because I love you.” He pushed back her hair. “Forgive me.”

  Forgive him? For what? She was about to ask when pain hit her like a fist in the gut. No, not a fist, a fireball. She burned.

  ***

  Roland ran, cradling Karissa through the agonizing burn of her blood, anchoring her through the shredding of her being. Her pain was his pain. He could only hope that his guilt—like a knife in his gut—didn’t feedback to her. What had he done? Had he saved her only to kill her?

  “The damn stone walls. I can’t reach Logan.” Valin’s cursed words were a reminder that even now he might not have saved her. There was only so long Logan could stall. The moment he and the other Paladin entered the cave and came across the army Ganelon had prepared would be the moment Elder Calhoun would demand his son release the full power of his gift. Even Logan knew that the loss of his friend, a vampire, was far outweighed by the deaths of a hundred vampires.

  But it was not worth Karissa’s life. Or the life of the brave young woman who’d helped Valin find them. He glanced sideways at Gabriella, who ran beside him, her face contorted in worry as she watched Karissa writhe in his arms. With each of Karissa’s agonizing moans, with each spiked gasp, the redheaded vampire flinched. As if she felt it too. Why?

  “And you can’t, what was it you called it? Cloak us?” Gabby asked, her question directed to Valin’s back as he ran before them. He’d chosen to remain in human form a while in hopes of reaching through the thick stone walls to contact Logan. So far, no luck.

  “I can’t cover all three of you. One for sure, maybe two. Not three.”

  Roland doubted the Paladin could even do two, at least not with any sort of assurance. All it took was one small hole, one thin area, and Logan’s light would burn through. “Our only chance is getting topside so Valin can let Logan know and he can give us time to get away.”

  Gabriella skidded to a stop. Roland almost tripped trying to keep up with the abrupt movement. “Gabby, what’s wrong?”

  Valin spun around, his eyes widening in alarm when he saw they’d all stopped. “What are you doing? We have to get out of here, now!”

  She shook her head, starting back down the path behind her. “I’m fast. I might be able to go deep enough, find a spot to hide.”

  “Gabriella…” Roland took a step forward, heart torn in two directions. He always knew she was a brave girl, but he didn’t want her to sacrifice herself. Not for him, at least. Karissa, yes, but not him. His mouth firmed. “Valin, take Karissa.”

  Valin ignored him, he was too busy bearing down on Gabriella, his face hardened into cold fury, as if he would grab her, toss her over his shoulder, and spank her like he would a recalcitrant child. “I already told you that wasn’t possible.”

  “You said you can shield two.” And with that Gabby spun around, running back into the cave.

  ***

  Valin roared, his body vibrating as he stared back down the tunnel through which the girl had fled. What was the stupid chit thinking? He took a step downward and stopped, belatedly remembering that smacking some sense into the girl was not his only concern here.

  He turned back around, his shoulders sagging a bit as he looked at Roland and the female shuddering in his arms. In his defense, Roland looked as pissed as he did.

  “Does she do this sort of foolish crap often?” He tried for the joke, forcing himself to turn back up the tunnel. Roland’s hand shot out, grabbing him and forcing him to stop. “What?” he asked.

  “Go after her. You can’t reach Logan from down here anyway.”

  “And you two?” Valin shook his head. “My loyalty does not lie with some foolish vampire child who doesn’t listen to reason.”

  But it did. For some asinine reason it did. Maybe it was seeing her up in that dilapidated warehouse, a cloud-break away from extinction, yet possessing the bravery to try and send him after Roland and the woman rather than trying to bargain for her life.

  “Once Karissa and I reach the surface, I’ll make sure Logan sees us. He’ll do what he can to hold them off while we get away.”

  “And what if Logan is already in the tunnels?”

  “If he was already in the tunnels, we’d hear the fighting, or we’d be fried crisp by now.”

  Valin wavered, his body leaning forward then back as his loyalties tore at him. One girl. A vampire at that. He shook Roland’s grip off, then started forward. He needed to get Roland and Karissa safely to the surface so that Logan would know to call the retreat.

  A growl rumbled deep in his throat and he spun back around. Two steps and he faced Roland again. “This doesn’t mean I like you.” Then clasping his hand around the vampire’s head, Valin pulled Roland’s forehead to his. “Welcome back, brother. Now hurry, because I’m going to be really pissed if I c
ome out of here and you’re not around to settle the debts you’ve piled up here.”

  “Understood.”

  ***

  “Roland?” Karissa stirred in his arms, her sweet voice like a rainbow of light in this world of darkness. Her shuddering had stopped a few minutes before and he had hope that she’d come around soon. He hadn’t known how hard it would hit him though. She was alive. Because he’d turned her. Would she forgive him when she realized what he’d done?

  He tipped his head down, brushing a kiss over her forehead and soaking up her scent. Still flowery, with a soft hint of musk that was all Karissa. His pulse accelerated, blood pumping to regions that were not needed for running, while in the vaults of his mind his primal beast screamed out: Mine!

  How could so much be the same, while so much had changed?

  “Roland. Something’s different. I feel strange.” Her fingers dug into his chest, her panic evident in her voice.

  “Hush, love. We’re almost there.” He didn’t tell her that as soon as they were, they’d have to run again. Two vampires would never be accepted by the men he once called brothers. Valin and Logan were the anomalies in that equation. And Roland knew that when he converted her. And condemned her.

  Later. He’d worry about that later. When he had her far away from here. Someplace safe. Then he’d tell her. And if it would make it better, he’d even offer his knife to her and let her end the life of the monster who’d turned her. He cried at the thought of losing her so finitely. With no soul he would never see her again. But if it would ease her pain—a pain he’d caused when he’d let his selfish monster rule him—then he’d help her drive the knife home to his treacherous heart.

  A shift in the air, a slight brightening of the near blackness. They were close. First get them out of here. Contact Logan. Then run like hell to safety. He just prayed that the cloud cover held.

  He pushed himself harder, knowing every second counted. Every instant. But the moment he rounded the last bend he knew he was wrong. They hadn’t heard the fighting because it wasn’t in the tunnels, it was outside. The moment he crested the rising floor and caught sight of the violent battle creating those noises, his heart sunk even further.

  Holy fuck. How was he ever going to find Logan in all of this?

  ***

  Logan roared, slicing into another merker and sending a pulse of light inside it. He had purposely separated himself from his father and was ignoring the ever-increasing brutality of the slaps on his mind. He’d close the trigger-happy bastard completely off if he could do it without closing himself from any possible communications from Valin.

  “Come on, Valin. What is taking you so long?” he asked of the air and jumped a bit when the Paladin fighting beside him answered.

  “He might be dead.”

  Alexander’s answer to the rhetorical question was not appreciated. If Valin was dead, then none of the sacrifices they were making up here were worth it. More than one Paladin was wounded. The moment one went down for good it was all over. Logan would have to release the bomb. He’d sacrifice everything of himself for Roland, but he would not ask that sacrifice of another brother.

  Merker down, Logan spun about and sunk his blade into the back of the vampire that Alexander had been fighting. His aim was true and the blade sunk into the heart. No need for light with this one; a direct hit to the heart with a Paladin blade was akin to staking the creature with blessed wood.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re slipping, Alexander,” he said, wiping away the sweat and drizzle from his face.

  “Nah. Just thought I’d let you have some fun too. Besides, I’m a demon man, myself.”

  “You’re too kind.”

  Alexander’s grin faded. “Uh-oh. Here he comes.”

  Logan spun around to see his father advancing down on him, his own knife coated in blood and fury etched into his face. “Why haven’t you released the light? Are you trying to kill your brothers?”

  Logan’s jaw ticked. “I’m trying to save my brother.”

  His father came to a halt before him with a huff, tossing an annoyed glance at the newest enemy that charged at them. But Alexander was there and moved to intercept, allowing the elder—thanks for nothing, Alex—to focus his ire on his son. “Roland is no longer your brother. The only thing that matters now is saving the others. If you won’t do it for them, do it for your sister.”

  “Why do you think I’m holding off? It is for my sister, you fool. She is bonded and mated to Roland. If I call the light and kill him, it will be akin to killing her.”

  His father gave a sharp shake of his head. “She cannot be bonded to that…thing.”

  “She is. I swear it on my Paladin soul.”

  Calhoun Senior’s mouth worked, his irritation palpable in the air between them. “Roland has no soul.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “You. And how many centuries have you lived? How many true bonds have you seen? Three centuries? A half-dozen bonds maybe? Most of those when you were still a youngling? I’ve been here for over a millennium. I’ve seen hundreds. I will give you that it’s possible he could have been her mate, but what they have now is but an echo of what could have been. It’s not true.”

  Logan shook his head.

  “Look around, Logan. Are you willing to risk the lives of twelve Paladin on one man’s misplaced belief?”

  Logan raised his gaze past his father. In general the Paladin were holding their own. If they could just keep this up a few more minutes it would give Roland a fighting chance—

  Just then there was a loud blast. A shape, formed of shadow and evil, rose from out of the depths of the mine, reforming into a towering mass of claws and fangs and chiseled hooves. Demon. Master demon.

  “Oh, crap.” Time had just run out.

  Chapter 26

  Roland stumbled as the muddy ground shook beneath his feet. His senses were screaming in a way they hadn’t in ninety-four years.

  “Roland? What’s wrong?” Karissa gripped his arm, her body trembling from the after-effects of the change. He wasn’t sure how much of that was true weakness, and how much was the sensory cocktail of her new abilities. The smells, the increased vision, the pulse of life around them. He knew what she felt. Knew that it called to her, making her hungry. He had to get her away from here and to someplace where he could help her deal with her new instincts.

  “Nothing. Just a weird feeling.”

  He started forward again, picking up speed as Karissa was able to keep up. They were trying to skirt the outer edges of the battle and slip behind the ridge that the Paladin had taken their high ground on. He’d given up on finding Logan, but he didn’t dare start leaping around until they were past the danger zone. There was at least one Paladin out there with a rifle picking off the vamps doing aerobatic tricks.

  A vast roar rose above the clashing sounds of the battle just as another hit to his senses slapped Roland in the back of his skull. He stumbled forward, his arm shooting out to smack into the ground just as the vision overtook him.

  Logan stared into his father’s firm gaze, then back to the vile monster that had risen out of the mouth of the tunnel. A creature of shadow and evil possibilities brought here from Lucifer’s realm to form into a creature of chaos and suffering. Off to the side Alexander was already holding back a merker, but like all his brothers, his mouth had now begun to move in an endless chant that would be their only defense against the master demon that had been thrown into the middle of the fray.

  Logan’s eyes closed, his hands fisting. “I hope to hell you’re cloaking him, Valin.”

  Then he opened his eyes, lifting his arms up toward the heavens, and called down the light.

  “Roland!” Karissa screamed.

  Roland’s eyes snapped open. He was lying on his back looking up into Karissa’s pale face. Her eyes were wide, her brow knit with fear as she glanced from him toward the battle raging to the north of them. He turned his head. Everythin
g was in slow motion, the demon hanging in midair as it smashed up against the Paladin’s line of defense, the low roar of violent death. This was it. His vision. What he’d seen was an instant away.

  And Karissa was out in the open.

  With a roar he leapt up, tackling Karissa and taking her to the ground. She screamed in alarm, her cry muffled against his chest as he tried to gather up all her arms and legs and tuck them firmly under himself. He couldn’t cloak her in darkness, but perhaps his body would last long enough to shield her. Please, God. Please.

  The burn hit him at the same moment that light blazed in the sky. He closed his eyes, squeezing out the moisture as he tucked his head closer, kissing the soft curls of Karissa’s hair. So sweet. So soft. So perfect. If this was his last thought, his last sensation, his last moment, he was glad that it was with her. My heart, my body, for you. I love you.

  Roland…She wiggled beneath him.

  Ah, Gawd. Even now, even while he burned to death above her, he wanted her.

  Only he wasn’t burning. The burn had turned into a radiant warmth that seeped into his body, spreading out through his limbs.

  “Roland. Let me up.”

  He shook his head, squeezing her tighter underneath him. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t dead yet, but it would only be a matter of time. As a master vampire he was strong, but not enough to resist the light of heaven.

  “Roland! Open your eyes.”

  Hands clasped onto the side of his face. Alarmed that she’d managed to free her arms enough to expose herself thusly, his lids snapped open. Karissa smiled up at him, her pretty, bowed lips curved up enough to reveal her pointy little fangs. Damn they were sexy. He wanted her to bite him. Mark him. Claim him.

  He shook his head, tossing away those thoughts. Strange what he chose to focus on when he was dying.

  “You’re not dying, silly.” She jerked her head toward the battlefield. “But they are.”