Stephanie Rowe - Darkness Unleashed
Page 10
"Is it, now?" Ryland met her gaze thoughtfully, then he took her hand and placed it on the creature on his chest. "Tell me, Catherine, could you protect me from this?"
The drawing on Ryland's chest seemed to undulate beneath her hand. She could feel the sharp pricks of scales, the heat of a body hotter than his should be. Was it more than a drawing? Was it actually a part of him, living and breathing on his chest? "Are you a dragon?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Of sorts." He met her gaze. "Can you protect me from it?"
She took a deep breath, and knew it wasn't worth it to lie to this man who seemed to see inside her soul. "I doubt it."
"If you're my guardian angel, you can." He tapped his fingers over his chest. "Because this creature is death, and it's your realm. As you said."
"Well, I don't know exactly what I can do." She shook her head, guilt suffusing her even though she wanted desperately to say all the right words that would make him help her. She might be up close and personal with death, with secrets that were as horrific as his, but at the same time, she was an angel. There were limits to what she could live with, and deluding a man into risking his life wasn't one of them. "I can't let you go in there under false pretenses," she admitted. "I'm not your guardian angel, and I can't protect you—"
"I believe you are." His fingers closed around her wrist. "Which means you can protect me from myself. I'll protect us from everything else." His eyes blazed with intention. "We're going in there, Catherine, and we're going to get Dante back."
She stared at him as horror and hope warred within her. "You're going with me?"
"Fuck yeah. We're getting Dante and your daughter, and then we're getting out."
Fear shuddered through her, and she shook her head. She didn't want to stay aligned with him. She needed her space from him, room to find her daughter. "No, I want to go alone. I can't protect you from yourself." She knew better than to trust a man or to align with one. What would he do to her when he realized she really couldn't protect him? She knew too well the power of a man with a vengeance. "Just take me to the entrance—"
"No." He held up his bound arm, dragging hers with it. "We stay together, angel. You help me find Dante, and I swear I will turn over the bowels of hell to find your daughter."
The promise in his eyes struck deep, making Catherine want to cry...at the same time it made her want to flee from him as fast as she could, before he could betray her forever, in the worst way possible. "I can't—"
"You can, and you will. We will. There's no other choice." His eyes blazed with adrenaline and purpose, and she knew he was on a mission that would not be denied. "I'm getting Dante back, you're going to help me, and that's the end of it."
"Hey, guys," Thano interrupted, riding up on his horse while Zach strolled up behind, carrying a load of firewood so high it hid his face. "Good to see you all are dressed."
Irritation flashed over Ryland's eyes and he turned quickly toward his team, shrugging his shoulders so his coat fell forward over his chest, sealing the monster from view. "Change of plans," he said. "We're going to the nether-realm to rescue Dante. We leave at first light."
The die had been cast.
The rescue mission was in gear.
But as Catherine listened to Ryland explain to his men about Dante's soul, and saw their suspicious glances cast her way, the emotion burning deep within her wasn't relief that she'd just found a savior to help her reclaim her daughter. It was the haunting sensation of dark, ominous dread, as if she had just unleashed the darkest shadow over the earth she loved so dearly, and it was too late to lock it back up again.
Chapter Seven
The campfire felt good.
Catherine knew she shouldn't relax in the soothing warmth, but she couldn't help it. She'd been so cold for weeks during her trek through the mountains, so worried about her daughter, the map, and the men tailing her. After all that effort, everything was falling into place. She had secured a team to help her breach the nether-realm. She wasn't being hunted. After carrying so much stress for so long, she had no willpower left to resist the temptation of sinking into this brief respite and trying to recharge.
She stretched her hand to the flames, drinking in the warmth and, more importantly, the light from the fire. She felt like a moth, lured to the flame in the dark of night, trying to pry strength from its roaring magic. She called to the brightness, absorbing it into her body. The fire dimmed, fading under her assault.
Zach gave her a strange look and flicked his index finger at the fire. It roared to life again, fed by his energy, while she drained it. Encouraged by the fact that Zach seemed able to replenish what she took from the fire, she harvested more of its energy. The flames dipped into dark shadows as she extracted the light.
Again, Zach flicked his finger at the flames, making them blaze up once more, but this time, he was studying her intently, clearly aware of what she was doing. She managed a smile, trying to look non-threatening, hoping he wouldn't stop feeding her light. She needed it desperately to stave off the decay of her soul long enough to save her daughter.
Plus, in truth, the warmth of the fire felt amazing, even aside from the fact it gave her light. Such a simple pleasure, to be warm, but she would never take it for granted again. Now all that was left was to find a way to sleep, somehow. She was so drained, she knew she needed to rest, but how could she? Since she'd reached the mountains, she hadn't dared slow long enough for more than an occasional brief nap, knowing that Ryland and the others were hunting her. But now that they'd caught up with her, now that they were surrounding her and offering her protection due to her apparent status as an Order of the Blade guardian angel, she felt almost safe.
She would never trust them, not truly, but she was smart enough to realize that Ryland's decision to escort her to the nether-realm was a gift she had to accept. She would take it, she would use his expertise, but she could never dare let down her guard. She would establish a plan to lose him as soon as it was reasonable. As soon as she could actually do it.
Her fingers traced the vine binding her to Ryland. He was several feet away, stretching the two feet of twine to the max. Would he try to put a new one on in the morning, when the sunlight dissolved this restraint? If so, how would she break it? She'd seen him try to cut it, but his blade had bounced off. A plant that an Order of the Blade weapon couldn't sever? What was it? There had to be another way to break it.
Until she figured out what it was, she had to be vigilant to protect herself against these warriors, and the choices they were going to make.
Through her eyelashes, she watched the interaction between Ryland and his teammates, trying to get a sense of who they were, of what the signs would be when they betrayed her. What did they value more than her? What would be the thing each would betray her for? Ryland valued Dante. She knew that. He would choose Dante over her and Lucy in a heartbeat, but that also meant that he would protect her as long as he thought she could help him locate Dante. So, the thing that made him least trustworthy in the end, made him most trustworthy right now. With him, she was safe for the moment.
Zach, she had no sense of. She studied the quiet warrior as he ate his dinner and looked over her map. His tousled hair was ragged, as black as the most barren of nights, a haunting eve when no stars and no moon lit the way. His eyes were a dark brown, not the bottomless black of Ryland's. Down his right temple, almost hidden by his hairline, was a six-inch scar. It was jagged and uneven, a brutal reminder of a battle lost. She knew Calydons rarely scarred, so she couldn't imagine what could have left such a mark on him.
The night was cold, although not as cold as when they'd been up on the mountains, but he was wearing only a T-shirt. His calf-length black leather duster was tossed over a nearby boulder, the metal rivets glistening in the moonlight. He was well-muscled and intense, but he kept his energy tightly wrapped, making it difficult to get a read on him. His loyalty to the Order had been evident in his initial reluctance to endanger her by takin
g her to the nether-realm, but once he'd understood that Dante's soul hung in the balance, he'd been on board. Loyal to the Order, but it was a different loyalty than Ryland's. Less visible. Less clear. She didn't know what drove him, and that made him dangerous and unpredictable to her.
And Thano. He was irreverent and sarcastic, always moving too quickly on his horse for her to get a sense of him. Her only real impression of him was the way Ryland looked at him, like Thano was the antidote to his hell. But now he was seated on the ground, finally still for the first time since they'd caught up to her, giving her the opportunity to inspect him more carefully. His horse was standing over him, his chin resting on Thano's shoulder as the warrior stroked the animal's face. She'd seen Warwick Cardiff, the black magic wizard who had kidnapped her, riding the beast, but there was no doubt that a bond had already formed between the stallion and his new rider. Was Apollo Thano's driving motivation? The thing that would compel him to betray her?
He turned sharply as she thought of him, his green eyes searching her out as if he, like Ryland, had heard her thoughts. There were hints of violet flecks in them, almost like tiny sparks of... "Oh my God." She sat up abruptly. "It was you." During her time in Warwick's merciless hands, she'd done things that still tormented her, things that had nearly destroyed her soul, things that had stripped her of time to find her daughter. The man sitting before her had haunted her nightmares for days, which could mean only one thing: that she'd visited him in her sleep, and that was never a good thing.
He raised his brows, but there was a sudden lack of mirth in his expression. "You just now recognized me?"
"Yes." She looked down at his legs, suddenly understanding why he was riding Apollo all the time. Thano was stretched out on the ground, leaning against a heavy log, acting like he owned the earth he was reclining on with such presence.
His long legs were stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His muscles were as thick and cut as Ryland's, teeming with strength, but there was a lack of life in his legs that spoke of damage that ran deep. She had not seen Thano stand up for even a second. When he'd dismounted from Apollo, he'd parked himself right on the ground and hadn't gotten up. Something was wrong with his legs, or his spine, or his body, or something. As the thought drifted through her mind, she suddenly realized what had happened. "Oh, dear God," she whispered. "I did that to you, didn't I?"
He didn't so much as shift in response. "Yeah."
She became gradually aware that Ryland and Zach had stopped talking, and were both looking at her. Her heart aching, she crawled across the dirt toward Thano and reached for his ankle, wanting to see what she'd done—
"No." Ryland caught her wrist, staying her hand just before her fingers brushed his skin. "Don't touch him."
She looked at him, her heart shriveling at the look of accusation on his face, the awareness of what a monster she was. "I'm not going to hurt him."
"You've done enough." He pushed her back from Thano, putting himself between her and his teammate, protecting the warrior from her.
As he did so, her heart sank. Did he really think she had hurt him on purpose? That she would do it to him again, in cold blood? Apparently he did, and the little bit of softness that had opened in her heart for him shriveled back up. If he believed her to be that kind of person, then she could be certain that his loyalty to her would go only so far. So, did he really see her as their protector, or did his instinct tell him the truth, that she was a significant danger to all of them?
"Tell me, Ryland," Zach said as he picked up a stone and held it in his palm. "If Catherine was the one who hurt Thano, why is it that you think she is our guardian angel? Seems to me that a member of the Order's guardian angel trinity wouldn't kick our asses like that."
Ryland glanced at Catherine, and she stiffened at the burning faith in his pitch-black eyes. Despite all the evidence, he still believed she was some great protector of his team. "Explain it to him, angel. Help him understand."
Angel? She realized suddenly that Ryland didn't see her as a woman. He saw her only as an angel, a beacon of beauty and wonder so true that even the broken body of his teammate couldn't dissuade him from believing in her goodness.
God, she wanted to be that woman who Ryland was looking at, the amazing, pure angel he believed in. But she wasn't. She wasn't what he wanted her to be. But in the heat of his gaze, the protest died in her throat. She didn't want that light to stop burning for her. It felt so amazing to have someone believe in her, to look at her with such reverence. It was a lie, an error, a belief based on a misconception, but in that moment, she couldn't bring herself to correct him. Instead, she simply shrugged. "I have no answer," she said softly, leaving her response open to interpretation.
Ryland narrowed his eyes, but Zach scowled and crushed the stone in his fist. "That means she's not our guardian," he said.
"I don't think she is either," Thano agreed, his voice deadly serious. "I'm not even sure she's an angel."
"I am an angel," Catherine said. "That, I can promise."
Thano met her gaze. "Do angels do what you did to me?"
She bit her lip. "Not all angels wear halos and float around in shining white lights," she said.
Ryland leaned forward. "Are you a fallen angel?"
She shook her head. "Fallen angels are those that started off good, who broke the vow they made." She shrugged. "There's no bar that I fell from. An angel of death has her own set of rules." She managed a small smile. "It's always best to stay away from us." She yawned suddenly, and a chill crept down her arms. What if she fell asleep with these men nearby? She looked directly at Ryland. "And never let us fall asleep." It was a request for aid, and when Ryland slowly nodded, she knew he understood.
Relief rushed through her, and she suddenly felt exhausted. Ryland would make sure she didn't kill any of them. She didn't have to fight the battle herself. Wearily, she leaned forward, opening both palms toward the fire. She pulled more light in, and the fire almost died.
Zach flicked it on again, but this time she saw Ryland and Thano watching her as well. She saw from their expressions that they had just realized what was going on between her and Zach.
"You feed on fire?" Ryland asked.
There was no point in lying. "I need light," she said. "Light keeps everything safe from me. Sunlight is best, but the fire helps."
Ryland shot a look at Zach. "Keep the fire going."
"But of course." The fire suddenly blazed in the night, spiraling several yards into the sky. The heat from it was tremendous, almost too much to bear, but she forced herself not to retreat, draining the flames of their light while the men watched. It struck her as unusual that not a single one of them had questioned her need for light, or been surprised by the fact she fed on it. As immortal warriors, perhaps they had seen so much that very little surprised them anymore. Either way, it felt good not to be looked at as if she were insane, and not to be treated as if she were a leper.
She managed a smile at them all. "Thanks."
Ryland nodded, Thano said nothing, and Zach pressed a kiss to the powdered remains of the stone he'd been holding in his hand. It burst into a cascade of yellow and orange flames. He tossed it at Thano.
The warrior snatched it out of the air and closed his fist around the flames. After about three seconds, he dropped it with a curse and shook out his hand. "Shit, that hurt."
Zach ground his jaw. "I guess you didn't get the ability to withstand all fire, then." He looked at Catherine. "What did you do to him? What powers did you give him?"
Catherine blinked. "What powers? I didn't give him any powers."
"No?" Thano held up his hand, and a violet ball of flame appeared on his palm. It was small at first, but as they watched, it slowly grew in size, until it was stretching almost two feet above his palm—
"Put it out," Zach ordered, and Thano instantly obeyed. "Don't push the tests too far," Zach said. "We don't want to wind up blowing up the planet by accident."
Catherine shook her head, guilt surging inside her. "I have no idea," she said. "No one has ever survived what I did to you." She met his gaze, forcing herself to see the damage she'd inflicted, praying that looking him in the eye might finally give her the strength to resist the pull of darkness that held her so ruthlessly and dangerously in its grip. She'd taken his soul, she'd fed upon it, and then regurgitated the remains back into his body. The wizard had forced her to do it with black magic that she couldn't withstand, but she still looked back, wondering if there had been some way to stop herself, if only she'd been stronger. "I'm so sorry. I truly am."
But she could see from Zach and Thano's expressions that she was not forgiven. She looked over at Ryland. He was studying her with the same dark expression he always had, as if he could see into the depths of her soul. There was still reverence emanating from him for the angel he perceived her to be, but at the same time, there were shadows circling his aura, dark shadows that made her shiver. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.