Fallen Warrior (The Fallen Cross Legion Book 3)

by Aliya DalRae

  From the corner of her eye, Sasha glimpsed the dark form of a Kurai Senshi creeping up behind Viper. Without thinking, she reached into her pocket and grasped one of the devices she’d developed in her free time. Before the Dark Warrior reached Viper, she whispered a few words and threw the device at the enemy’s feet.

  Nothing happened.

  “Damn,” she swore under her breath. She’d been certain she’d be able to help. Now it looked like she would just be in the…

  A loud explosion rocked the area, throwing her, the Dark Warrior, Viper and several Soldiers onto their backs. The Legion personnel regained their feet immediately, but as Sasha worked herself onto her elbows, she saw that the Dark Warrior was missing a few vital parts.

  She quelled a wave of nausea as Viper appeared out of nowhere wearing a wicked grin that lit his face up like nothing she’d ever seen on the male. “That was a good one,” he said, dragging her to her feet. “Maybe not so close to the good guys next time? Hmm?”

  She returned his smile, but he was already gone, off to engage the next Kurai Senshi that crossed his path. Sasha hurried after him, making a mental note to tone down the incendiary part of the incantation.

  ~~~~~

  A sense of déjà vu wrapped itself around Merlin’s heart. The only saving grace he could find was in that Martin had no dagger to his belly. His shoulders were squared as he held his hands in front of him, palms out. Grey-green eyes, hidden by dark contact lenses, met Merlin’s as the male gave a slight shake of his head. Don’t do it. Merlin knew that’s what he was saying, but this was his chance to make things right.

  “On your knees, traitor. Do it now or watch another lover die because of your weakness.”

  Merlin lowered himself to the ground and knelt a few yards from where Takeshi held Martin. “You’ve got me,” he said. “Let the Soldier go, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “No,” Martin yelled, struggling for the first time against Takeshi’s hold.

  Takeshi’s grasp on him tightened as he pushed the sword against Martin’s throat, the trail of blood widening as the pressure on the blade increased.

  Merlin gasped, but he didn’t move.

  “You know what you have to do. Tell your lover to be still, and I will let him go when it is done. He is not one of us. His dishonor is his own to live with. Yours, however, is against the Clan, against the Kurai Senshi. You owe me this debt.”

  “Fine! Fine! Just don’t hurt him.” Merlin threw his hands up in an unintentional reflection of Martin’s. I’m sorry. He mouthed the words, to Martin, to Kioshi, it didn’t really matter in that moment. All that mattered was that finally he would be able to save the life that meant the most to him. He would die to protect the male that he loved. And should Takeshi go against his word and kill Martin anyway? Then at least, as Martin had said, they would die together.

  He reached into his obi and pulled out the tantou, the dagger that had once lay nestled in the belly of a male he’d sworn he’d love forever. He took a second to study the flakes of Kioshi’s blood, ancient specks of rust that Merlin had protected as though the male’s life still ran through the dusty remains. Gently, he placed it on the ground at his knees. He then untied the obi and struggled with the laces on his cuirass. Freed of its bindings, the chest plate fell away. Merlin threw it to the side… he’d never wear it again… and retrieved the dagger.

  Martin’s cries became like white noise, but Merlin’s focus remained on the dagger he lifted before him. As he had at the shrine, he placed the tantou in his palms and from his knees he bowed before Martin, holding his arms out and presenting it to him in offering. He then straightened, threw his shoulders back and grabbed the hilt of the dagger in both hands. He touched the tip of the blade to his abdomen, above and to the left of his navel, as they’d all been taught to do.

  Martin’s screams came to him from far away. “Don’t do it. This is crazy. It doesn’t have to be like this.” All words Merlin had said before, to Kioshi. But he understood now. He got why Kioshi had gone through with the ritual. It wasn’t because he thought they were wrong to love each other. It was because he couldn’t bear the thought of living without Merlin. Without Katsuro.

  Merlin should have joined him, shouldn’t have left him to die alone, but he was so self-righteous, so firm in his beliefs that who he loved should never be a sin. He didn’t realize he was simply ahead of his time by about a thousand years. If he had joined Kioshi, he wouldn’t be here now, forcing another male he loved to endure what he had. This was the right thing to do, for all of them. He had to complete the cycle so the world could move on.

  Takeshi’s taunts were unnecessary, in fact they barely registered as words, let alone anything that could hurt Merlin. The only thing that mattered was the dagger in his hand and the male at Takeshi’s blade.

  Martin continued to beg, to plead with him to stay his hand. Merlin tried to convey to him with a look that this was the only way. When that didn’t calm the Soldier, Merlin said the words he should have said weeks ago, months ago, but it turned out he was too much of a coward then as well.

  His declaration had the opposite effect he’d intended, though, and Martin’s struggles increased. Merlin silently begged for him to understand as he and his Soldier locked eyes. It was in those eyes that he found the strength to sink the dagger into his abdomen, burying the blade completely with only the hilt to stop him from pushing it out through his back.

  He drew in a lungful of air and exhaled long and slow. The blade was deep inside him, but he felt nothing, this physical pain a drop in the bucket compared to what he’d felt when he pulled the same dagger from Kioshi’s flesh. Nothing to what he would feel if he were forced to watch Martin die as well.

  He closed his eyes, focused on the feel of the blade inside him, he was one with tantou. One quick slice, left to right, and his part would be done. Takeshi would be more than happy to take his head and complete the ritual, then it would all be over.

  Merlin took one last calming breath and prepared himself to do what he should have done a millennium ago.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  T he battle was like nothing Sasha had ever experienced before. She thought her time with the Primeval had hardened her to pain and suffering, but nothing could have prepared her for this.

  Even with the brief light advantage, the Kurai Senshi were formidable and they adapted quickly. Soon she found herself incapable of moving without stepping over a Soldier’s body. Even with their greater numbers, the Legion fighters were no match for the murderous Dark Warriors.

  When things looked dire for Viper, or when she saw a Soldier in extreme peril, she dropped one of her bombs, close enough to help without creating more problems for the good guys, as Viper suggested.

  At one point, someone nearby yelled, and soon the Kurai Senshi took up a cry of, “Shoot out the lights.” Whether they came armed with weapons other than blades or took the guns from their dead or dying foes mattered not. Soon the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire and breaking glass. With each shattered globe, the lights around the Compound dimmed a bit more. If they weren’t stopped, the Legion would find themselves once again in complete darkness.

  Sasha saw a male taking aim at a nearby lamp and stepped toward him, prepared to do what she could. She’d barely moved when a steely arm grabbed her around the neck and pulled her against a hard chest.

  “You’re the bitch with the bombs, aren’t ya?” a raspy voice screamed in her ear. “I’m thinking Master Jonathon would be thrilled to have somebody like you in his service.”

  Sasha screamed and stomped on the male’s instep, struggling in his vicelike grip to get away.

  “You little whore,” he growled. Her mark had been true but did nothing to loosen his hold on her. She screamed again, more out of frustration than fear, and the male jammed his hand over her mouth. So, she bit him, hard enough to draw blood and make him swear again.

  The feel of cold steel against her throat was probably
the only thing that would have stopped her resistance. When the sharp blade bit into her skin, she gasped, but didn’t move again. Several yards away she spotted Viper in hand to hand combat with a black clad Kurai Senshi. She’d find no help there.

  “Come along nice and quiet, and I won’t knock you senseless before I tie you up. Either way, when this is over, you’re coming with me. Master Jonathon will reward me handsomely for bringing him a witch.”

  He dragged her toward the little shed where she and Viper had started the evening, and she let him. When they reached the building, he spun her around to face him. In the movement she managed to get her hand on the dagger’s hilt. A few whispered words, and the Dark Warrior’s grasp on her loosened.

  “What the…” He took a step back, and then another as the dagger in his hand took on a bright red glow.

  Sasha backed away, putting space between herself and the male as the red glow turned white hot. The male screamed a high-pitched wail and tried to shake the blade from his hand, but she’d made it impossible for him to release it.

  He looked up at her, his eyes wild with panic. “What did you do? What did you do?”

  Sasha ran for the side of the building, but the male’s screams intensified, horrible screeching sounds of pain and torment. She fell to the ground and covered her ears, scrabbling backward, unable to turn away as the male’s arm changed colors with the dagger. She’d nearly made it to the corner of the building when the dagger exploded, and the Dark Warrior disintegrated before her eyes. A thick spray of red mist coated her skin, her hair. She clutched her hands to her ears, trying to quiet the screams that continued to echo in her head, despite the male having been reduced to the viscous residue that now laid heavily upon her. Killing a male was one thing, she’d killed several already tonight. But this… she’d never intended… Her head swung from side to side, an effort to erase the images imprinted there. She had to move, had to get away.

  Sasha pushed herself around the corner of the shed, pulled her knees to her chest, and covered her ears again. The tighter she held them, the louder the echoes grew, piercing her brain with a macabre soundtrack to the movie replaying repeatedly in her head.

  Something touched her shoulder and Sasha scrabbled away, one hand in her pocket, reaching for…

  “Sasha. Sasha! It’s okay. It’s just me. Christ, put that thing away.”

  Viper’s voice pierced through the din of the battle still raging a few yards away and the echoes of that Dark Warrior’s screams in her head that wouldn’t be silenced.

  “Viper?” she whispered, though her eyes refused to focus.

  He touched her hands, removed… something… then palmed her face so she could see nothing but him in her line of sight.

  “You’re okay,” Viper said again, and she focused on the sharp angle of his jaw as he spoke. “You’re okay.”

  “That Warrior,” she said. “He… he just…” She angled her eyes to see past Viper, but he moved her face to his again.

  “Look at me, Sasha. Look at me.” When she did, he said, “You did what you had to do. I’m sorry. I couldn’t get to you in time, but you handled it. It was him or you, and if you hadn’t killed him, I would have.”

  His words struck a chord somewhere in the shadows of Sasha’s mind, yet she couldn’t wrap her brain around anything but what she had done. The arm melting off that Dark Warrior’s body, then the explosion, the red mist…

  Sasha shivered and subconsciously fell forward against Viper’s chest. She needed his strength and his warmth. Something to bring her back to the moment, to erase what she’d done so that she could do what she was supposed to do out there with the Soldiers.

  Viper lowered his hands from her face to her arms, but instead of pulling her close, he pushed her away and shook her, hard.

  “Pull it together, Sasha. You’re the one who wanted to be out here, who insisted you could help. I told you to stay behind, but you wouldn’t listen. I tried to tell you, there are a lot worse things out there than even Magnus showed you, but now’s not the time to process it.”

  Sasha swallowed hard. Where had the gentle male of a moment ago disappeared to? Had she imagined it? Because this was the Viper she knew and loathed, this heartless bastard who thought only of the job, of the work he expected her and everyone around him to bust their asses to complete while he paced circles around them, daring them to fail.

  He shook her again and all the irritation she’d felt from the male since the moment they’d met bubbled up inside her, blurring her vision, erasing the screams and the blood until all she saw was the hateful male before her, pushing her to be more than even he believed she could be.

  Well, she’d show him. He wasn’t the only one who could play at being an asshole.

  The third time he shook her she hauled off and slapped him.

  “There she is,” he mumbled.

  Sasha would swear she saw his eyes spark, but for the contacts he still wore, the half-slice of a smile that crept to his lips as infuriating as the rest of him. She pushed herself away from him and struggled to her feet, slapping away the hand he offered. She didn’t need his help, his or any male’s.

  “Now, if you’re done with your little panic attack, we have a battle to win.”

  Sasha narrowed her eyes at him, but behind the glasses she wore, he wouldn’t have seen it. Speaking of, it seemed to be a whole lot darker than it was a few moments ago. She removed the shades to wipe the bloody residue from the lenses, only to realize she didn’t need them anymore. She glanced up at Viper and he nodded at the field.

  “We have to keep them from shooting out what lights are left. If they get to them first, we might as well kiss ourselves and the rest of the Soldiers goodbye.”

  “How can I help,” Sasha said, doing her best to regain the courage with which she’d started the night.

  “How many of these do you have left?” he asked, holding up the object he’d taken from her, one of her incendiary devices.

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out three more. “This is it. That’s all there is.”

  “It’ll do,” Viper said. “Now here’s what you need to do.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  S asha crept around the edges of the battlefield, dodging skirmishes as she went. By Viper’s estimation, there were only a handful of Kurai Senshi left to contend with, but they were proving to be quite tenacious.

  She stuck her hand in her pocket and fingered one of the bombs she carried there, previously invoked to save time. She needed to be ready for Viper’s signal and he said there wouldn’t be time to activate the spells at that point.

  At his insistence she’d altered them slightly, taking away the “boom factor” as he called it and concentrating on the resulting fire.

  Most of the Legion Soldiers had fallen to either injuries or fatigue, their bodies scattered upon the blood-soaked ground in far greater numbers than she’d previously noticed. She stole through the detritus of war, doing her best to blend with the casualties.

  A small movement caught her eye, and she recognized Oz among the injured. He bled profusely from a head wound, and his arms were cut to ribbons. It must have taken a lot to bring him down, as he sported too many wounds for her to count at a quick glance. She made a move to go to him, but he shook his head, his meaning clear. Whatever she was doing, don’t blow it for him.

  She nodded but made a silent vow to find him again when this was over. There were too many injured and dead for Allon to be able to handle. Oz could easily be lost in the shuffle, and she wasn’t about to let that happen. Those who still fought were alive in part because of him and his contact lenses. He didn’t deserve to be forgotten.

  A gunshot rang out and the sound of exploding glass paired with a significant decrease in light. Whatever Viper was going to do, he needed to do it fast.

  As though hearing hear thoughts, Viper’s voice sounded through the clearing. “Kurai Senshi, what few you have left. I survived your kind once, and I’ll do
it again. You’ve been avoiding me, and I don’t blame you. You’re all godsdamned cowards. If there were any brave among you, you’d face me now.”

  Soldiers once engaged in swordplay found themselves without an opponent as five Kurai Senshi made their way to where Viper stood, his sword held high in the air. In what little light remained, his bare head gleamed as brightly as his blade. He’d discarded his duster at some point, revealing a tight t-shirt that clung to his broad shoulders. Black camouflage pants hung low on his hips, calling Sasha’s attention to his trim waist and long legs.

  Not the time to be ogling the hateful Warrior.

  Sasha refocused, taking in the entire scene spreading out before her. The five remaining Kurai Senshi now circled Viper, who had taken on a low fighting stance, his knees bent, sword held over his shoulder, parallel to the ground. When the Dark Warriors attacked, Viper became a dervish, spinning, slicing, dodging and cutting each of the Kurai Senshi in turn.

  A couple of Soldiers tried to join in the fray, but Viper called them off. Sasha didn’t understand, but carried out Viper’s orders, no questions asked, just as she’d done since she started working with him. The remaining Soldiers formed a circle around the fight, blocking the escape of any Dark Warrior who might choose to leave this last stand.

  Sasha sure hoped Viper knew what he was doing. She tried not to question the fact that this one Warrior meant to face five Kurai Senshi on his own. Ignored the churning in her gut that demanded her feelings about this ran deeper than she cared to admit. Sure, he’d fought well this night, was practically unscathed. But she was only just getting used the male. Should something happen to him, she didn’t want to think about how that would affect her future with the Legion.

  Mostly she didn’t want to think about him not walking out of that circle alive.