Darkness Seduced (Primal Heat Trilogy #2) (Order of the Blade) (16 page)

He and his assailant both paused in shock at the sight of Gideon’s hand wrapped around the weapon he’d intercepted in mid-flight. Then Gideon switched his grip and hurled it back at his opponent. It sank into the Calydon’s chest and dropped him instantly.

Gideon stared at the dead Calydon in surprise. Calydon weapons didn’t work for anyone but their owners.
Ever.

He should never have been able to do that.

There was an outraged cry, and his attackers charged. With Lily’s song vibrating in his mind, Gideon leapt to his feet and called out his axe. His assailants unleashed their blades. Weapons came at him from all directions, and Gideon reacted with blinding speed, defending himself against the assault.

Power consumed him. Strength and indestructibility screamed through his body. Gideon’s mind processed everything so quickly that it was as if the weapons flying at him were moving in slow motion, lagging uselessly behind his reflexes.

The world seemed to glow with brightness as Gideon wielded his axe, blocking each weapon before it could touch him or Lily. Twenty weapons, flying at him simultaneously, with the precision of the Calydons, and yet they were powerless against him. He took them out of the air, one by one, like he was swatting softballs instead of defying all the laws of the universe.

The weapons clanged into his axe and fell to the earth. Gideon snatched others out of the air before they hit the ground and hurled them back, finding its owner with deadly precision in an impossible task that was ridiculously simple.

Attack. Defend. Counter-attack.

Effortless. Easy. Child’s play.

It was over in less than a minute, eleven dead Calydons strewn around him. Gideon threw back his head and roared, drinking in the power consuming him, the strength, the utter and complete indestructibility of his body.

“Hell, Gideon. Where’d you learn to do that?” Kane was standing on the side of the clearing, his double spike flails clenched in his fists, the spiked balls dangling at the end of the studded chains. As always, Kane was naked from the waist up, his torso completely covered in scars, intricate carvings and designs. He was wearing black leather pants that were tight across his hips, black boots and a thin leather cord around his throat.

Gideon blinked and tried to focus on Kane, but his body was pulsing with such power he couldn’t bring himself down from the high. He couldn’t stop the pounding of his heart, the headiness of killing so many, so easily.

“Hey!” Kane hurled the flail at Gideon’s face, and Gideon caught it without even blinking. “Hell, man, what’s happened to you?”

“The music.” Gideon let the flail drop to the earth so he could drink in the power as Kane called his weapon back. “Do you hear it?” The bells were pounding in his ears, the earth vibrating beneath him. “Earth magic. For me.”

“Earth magic?” Kane echoed. “You mean Satinka?”

The music began to fade, and Gideon opened his mind, trying to absorb the last remnants of the magic. Needing more.

Kane cursed and raced toward him. “You’re killing her! Stop draining her!”

Killing her?
Gideon spun around as Kane dropped to his knees beside Lily.

Lily.
She was stretched out on her back. Her body was rigid. Her skin was deadly white. Her lips were ashen, and her eyes were staring blindly. The sight of her yanked Gideon back from his high and he sprinted over to her. He crouched beside her and pulled her onto his lap. “Lily! Shit.” Her skin was ice cold under his touch, so brittle he felt like it would crumble under his fingers.

“She’s not dead.” Kane had her wrist in his hand. “I can hear her pulse. Stop draining her now, or you’ll finish her off.”

He knew Kane wasn’t exaggerating. He could feel the life fading from Lily with every breath. Gideon swore and tried to sever his connection to her, but the music was still dancing in his head. He couldn’t stop himself from hearing it. He reinforced his mental shields and tried to shut down his mind, but nothing worked. The music was still there, calling to him, feeding him. There was no time to figure it out. He had to cut himself off from her instantly. “Knock me out.”

Kane didn’t hesitate. He swung his flail into the side of Gideon’s head. The blinding pain was instant and then there was blackness.

* * *

When Gideon woke up, Kane was pacing the small clearing, his hands clasped behind his back, his body rigid.

Lily.
Gideon jerked upright and looked wildly around for Lily.

She was lying right beside him in the sand. Her eyes were closed now, no longer gazing blankly. Her skin had returned to its normal shade, and her body was no longer rigid.

The music was gone from Gideon’s mind. It was over. “I’m so sorry, Lily.” Gideon gathered her in his arms and pulled her against his chest, rocking her gently as he felt his insides begin to unclench. Her body was limp, but warm, and he knew she was going to recover. Relief coursed through him and he rested his head against hers.

Kane stopped pacing and turned to face him. “You almost killed her.”

“No shit.” Gideon understood now what Lily had been talking about, her fear of tapping into her magic. He’d heard the tales about how it was impossible for a Calydon to resist the siren call of Satinka magic, but he’d never understood the true intensity of the power.

The grim reality of what he’d done settled on him. Lily had trusted him, and he’d failed her. Two women he’d failed—

Gideon suddenly noticed her sweatshirt was back on. Darkness swirled through him at the realization that Kane must have dressed her. Kane’s hands must have been on Lily’s body, touching her skin. Gideon slowly turned his head toward Kane, lethal danger taking root inside of him. “You put her shirt on?”

Kane was watching him intently, his flail in his hand. “Yeah. I did. Does that bother you?”

Gideon narrowed his eyes at Kane’s challenging tone, his hackles rising in aggression. “What are you talking about?” He kept his voice even, trying not to let Kane know how badly he wanted to rip his head off for looking at Lily half-naked. “Is she your
sheva
?”

Kane’s brows went up. “If she were, would you kill her?”

Gideon instinctively shifted Lily so his body was between Kane and her. “It would be my job.” But it was a lie. He knew it was. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d kill Lily if she were Kane’s
sheva.
He would kill Kane. The realization that he’d turn on his Order teammate so readily shocked him, but he managed to keep his face expressionless, not revealing the traitorous turn of his thoughts.

“That’s not what I asked.” Kane walked over and squatted beside Lily, his eyes dark with challenge. “I asked whether you’d be able to kill her.”

Gideon’s brands began to burn, his battle axe reacting to the threat of Kane too close to Lily. “What’s your problem, Kane?”

“Look at her arm.”

“Her arm? You’re claiming her?” If Lily was Kane’s
sheva
, Kane’s brands would appear on her forearms once they began to bond. Aggression churned inside Gideon, and he wanted to shove his axe through Kane’s throat. “She wouldn’t carry your mark yet,” he ground out. “You haven’t done any of the stages—”

Kane grabbed Lily’s wrist and shoved her sleeve up. “For hell’s sake, stop being such a thick-headed ass.
Look
.”

Gideon jerked his gaze down to her arm, and then his whole body tensed at the silver lines on her skin. “That’s
impossible
.” He grabbed her wrist from Kane, holding her arm out for a better look. But there it was. Thin silver lines on the skin. Intricate designs.

The lines didn’t match Kane’s brand.

They matched Gideon’s.

Numbly, Gideon turned his arm over and laid his arm next to hers. The lines on her skin were a perfect match for the outline of one of the blades on his brand. The first stages of bonding between a Calydon warrior and his
sheva
—his brand beginning to appear on her arm.

Lily was his
sheva.

“This is wrong. It’s a mistake. A joke.” Gideon rubbed his palm over her marks, as if he could wipe it off. Her skin became red, but the marks didn’t fade. Even as a cold dread claimed him, intense satisfaction pulsed through him, a deep-seated possessiveness that made him want to claim her like some ancient cavemen.
His.

Shit. He was screwed.

Kane inched closer, watching Gideon carefully. “Did you kill to save her when you guys plucked her out of Nate’s?”

Gideon swore. “Yeah, I knocked off a couple Calydons who were trying to take her out.”

Kane nodded. “It’s one of the stages of the bond. Killing to save the other.”

“I know what the damn stages are,” Gideon snapped. “This can’t be happening. It’s
impossible
. I had my
sheva.
She’s
dead
. Dead!” He gently set Lily back on the ground and jumped to his feet, pacing a small circle around her, not willing to get too far away in case more of Frank’s men showed up, but needing space.

Kane sat back on his heels. “Theoretically speaking, I should kill her.”

Gideon whipped around and had his axe at Kane’s throat before the other warrior could move. “Don’t. Touch. Her.”

Kane’s eyebrows went up. “Five hundred years ago, you stood there when Dante killed your
sheva
, and it didn’t bother you. It’s never affected you since. What’s different this time?”

Gideon had to work hard to keep his face impassive, to not correct Kane’s assumption. His
sheva’s
death had haunted him his entire existence; it was his motivation for everything he did.

He wasn’t interested in going through that again. Couldn’t go through it again. He couldn’t let another
sheva
die because she was unlucky enough to get paired with him. The guilt he’d been holding for five hundred years coursed thick and deep, breaking free of the dark place he’d kept it locked up in for so long.

Kane didn’t move away from Lily, carefully watching Gideon for any indication Gideon was going to try to attack him. “I’m not going to kill Lily,” Kane said.

It was part of their Order oath to kill the
sheva
of any Order member before the bond could turn him rogue. Order members were deemed too valuable, so their lives were always honored over their
shevas.
It was a brutal choice for warriors driven by their need to protect innocents, but they all did what they needed to in order to ensure the survival of those who could protect the world from rogues.

Gideon couldn’t keep his gaze from sliding back to Lily. She looked so vulnerable lying in the sand. Beautiful. Like an angel sent from the heavens to claim his soul. How in the hell had this happened? “Why are you willing to let her live?” Gideon had to know how much he could trust Kane.

“Because Dante’s dead. I’ll do whatever it takes to avenge his death.” Kane slowly stood up, his eyes blazing with rage at the mention of their downed leader who had been murdered by Nate less than two weeks ago. “If Lily can help us find those responsible for Dante’s death and stop Ezekiel from escaping, then I’m not killing her. Avenging Dante and protecting innocents from Ezekiel is what matters. If you and Lily want to destroy each other by succumbing to the bond, do it after I avenge Dante’s death.”

Gideon felt the intensity of Kane’s words, and knew Kane was telling the truth. He wouldn’t kill Lily as long as she could help them.

Gideon knew why Kane had been able to make that choice: Quinn’s
sheva
, Grace Matthews, had changed things for the Order. For the first time in the two thousand year history of their race, Quinn and Grace had managed to bond without succumbing to destiny and destroying everyone around them. Grace had been instrumental in taking down Nate, and the Order had been forced to adjust their views of her as a
sheva
. Between Dante’s death and Grace, Kane had new priorities other than killing Lily for being a
sheva
.

Lily was safe from Kane, for the moment. Gideon let the axe fall beside his thigh, and then he crouched beside her again, studying her closely, with the eyes of a man who was looking upon the woman destined to be his.

Her hair was golden and soft, tangled, but beautiful. Her face relaxed in sleep made her look even younger. Younger. Hah. He was over five hundred years old. Five hundred years of war compared with what? Twenty-six years of life?

Gideon noticed the faint yellow on her throat, and he hooked a finger over the collar of her sweatshirt and tugged down slightly to reveal an angry yellow and purple bruise. Anger roared through him, but he placed his palm over the bruise, forcing himself to remain calm.

He needed her to tell him who made every single mark on her body, and he’d kill each and every asshole who’d touched her.

Shit. That wasn’t the cool, collected warrior he needed to be, was it?

“Are you going to kill her for being your
sheva
?” Kane asked.

Gideon traced his thumb over her bruise, trying to rub away the pain that had caused it. “She’s suffered enough at Calydon hands.”

“So?”

Gideon glared at him. “No. I’m not going to kill her.”

“Me neither.” Kane spun the flail restlessly, the spiked balls singing through the air. “So, I guess we better figure out how to keep her alive, then, huh?”

Gideon brushed stray grains of sand off Lily’s cheek. “What are you talking about?”

“I may be willing to forego my Order oath to kill your
sheva
, but I doubt the others will feel the same. Just because Grace and Quinn are doing okay doesn’t mean that the curse is lifted. One win out of two thousand years isn’t exactly enough to bring confidence. If I bring you guys back to the Order, someone will take her out.”

“No one will touch her.” Gideon tightened his grip on his axe.

Kane’s hand fell on his shoulder, his fingers digging in. “You’d really fight an Order member for her? What the hell, man? You’re ice.”

Ice. Ha. Gideon was a seething cauldron of anger, possessiveness and heat right now.

But Kane was right. He had to find his way back to the cold, focused warrior who had triumphed for five hundred years. Gideon sheathed his axe, rapidly assessing how to handle the situation.

They still needed Lily to help them with the inscriptions on the stone. He had to take her back so she could do that. “The plan was to keep her isolated from the other Order members in case she’s someone’s
sheva
.” The word stuck in his throat.
Sheva.
How in hell’s name was it possible that she carried his brand? It was impossible.
Impossible.