Darkness Seduced (Primal Heat Trilogy #2) (Order of the Blade) (31 page)

She set the book on the ground and hopped to her feet, not bothering to dust herself off as she crossed the room and thumbed through a few more books. She seemed oblivious to Gideon, just intent on her work.

She fell silent as she flipped through the pages, and suddenly Gideon realized she was humming to herself. A quiet, cheerful melody that spoke of contentment and satisfaction. Music that wove its way inside him and made desire thrum through him like the steady beat of a drum. “Lily.”

She didn’t even look up, and she hummed louder as she got to another page, her anticipation clearly building.

As was his own lust for her, responding to the music she was calling. “
Lily.
”

“
This is it
.” Her voice was a whisper under her breath, so sensual the way it slid off her lips, as she crouched and pulled another book off the shelf. He could feel the excited thudding of her heart as she quickly flipped through the pages, and his body began to ache with the need to respond.

“You need to stop singing.” He couldn’t keep the growl out of his voice, couldn’t keep himself from leaning toward her.

Lily’s eyes widened at whatever expression she saw on his face. Heated desire simmered in her eyes, and she swallowed. “You look like a predator,” she whispered.

Something dark rumbled deep inside him. “Don’t look at me as if you like it.”

“I can’t help it. I do.” Her cheeks flushed. “The look on your face right now is why my magic responds to you. You’re dangerous, you’re deadly, and...” Her hand went to her throat. “This isn’t good,” she said.

“No.” He pulled himself upright and stalked across the office to the window. He gazed at the shadowed afternoon sky, heavy with rainclouds and took a deep breath. “Stop humming, and I’ll be fine.”

“I didn’t realize I was.”

“I did.” He turned to face her, needing to focus on anything other than the flush of her cheeks. “What did you find?”

“Right. I was working.” Lily seemed to pull herself together, and she stood up, dropping the books on a card table. Dust flew up, and she waved the cloud aside. “There are two possible locations.” She pointed to the map, and after a minute, Gideon grudgingly left the window to stand beside her, so he could see what she was pointing at.

Gideon caught a whiff of her scent, and his groin tightened, but it was simply lust, not magic. Without her singing, it was just his own need for her. He could handle his own desire for her. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, resting one hand on the table as he peered at the map.

“This map dates back to when Ezekiel was young, and this is where he was rumored to live.” She pulled another book next to it, and her hair drifted across his arm. It looked so soft and inviting, just begging him to slide his fingers through it—

“This is a current map of Oregon. If you compare these natural landmarks...” Lily pointed to a couple rivers and a mountain. “Then this is where it happened. Southeast Oregon, near where the forest ends and the desert begins.” She looked at Gideon. “Not that far from Nate’s house. It could even be on his property, depending on how much land he has.”

Gideon didn’t miss the tremble in her voice, the slight paling of her skin, and his hand went to the back of her neck before he could stop himself, his fingers kneading gently. “We believe Nate had been working for Ezekiel since Ezekiel was initially imprisoned. It would make sense that Nate would set up his home at a place that was significant for Ezekiel.”

Lily worked her jaw, her fingers clutching the table so hard her knuckles were white. “So, we need to go there. We need to find exactly where Ezekiel killed his father, and search for the information that will tell us where the actual rite has to occur.”

“Yeah, we do.” Gideon caught her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Can you do that? Can you handle going back to Nate’s?”

She lifted her chin. “Of course.” Her voice was strong, her eyes were determined, but he could feel the terror in her mind, the panic trying to consume her.

“We’re blood bonded now,” he said. “I’ll be able to find you no matter what.”

She nodded. “I know.” But there was no conviction in her voice.

His grip tightened, and his gaze bore into her. “No, Lily. You don’t understand.
I will find you.”

She stared at him, her green eyes haunted. “What if they kill you?”

“God, Lily.” He slid his other hand behind her neck, so that both were cupping her. “Don’t you get it? Letting you get hurt isn’t an option for me. It’s just not. No one’s been able to take me down for the last five hundred years, and I didn’t even have you to keep safe. Now? Forget it. Me getting killed simply isn’t an option.”

She grabbed his forearms, her fingers icy cold. “Your arrogance will get you killed.”

“It’s not arrogance. It’s reality.” Gideon pulled her closer and bent his head to press a kiss to her mouth. Red hot lust raged through him instantly, and he broke the kiss before it could take over. “I swear on my Oath I’m going to stay alive long enough to ensure your safety.
I swear it
.”

She didn’t take her gaze from his. “Okay, then. We’ll go to Nate’s.”

He felt the conviction in her voice, in her body, and something eased inside him. Something that had been bound for five hundred years. She trusted him.
She trusted him.
She, who had every reason in the world to hate him, to fear him...she trusted him to take her into her worst nightmare and bring her out alive.

Hell, he hoped he didn’t let her down.

But before he could think about it, there was a crash from the hallway. They both spun toward the door as a heavy thud sounded on it.

Gideon shoved Lily behind him. “I thought you said no one could find this place.”

He didn’t bother to listen to her answer as he held out his forearms and called both axes out with a loud crack, the blades glistening in his hands as he backed Lily into a corner, reaching out with his senses to try to identify their assailants.

The dominant scent he caught was Calydons. Dozens of them
.

Plus the three Order members who were hunting Lily.

“Dad! No! He’s on our side.” Lily tugged at Gideon’s arm to get him to release her, but he tightened his grip on her, searching the door for the Calydons he’d scented. They were coming. He knew it. “Lily.” Gideon turned her toward him, ignoring her blustering parents. Screw being pleasant. He had a
sheva
to protect, and that was all that mattered. “Calydons are coming. We have to get out of here.”

“What?” Lily stared at him, then
her
face went white. Hell, was he going to have to carry all three of them out of there? “They must have followed my parents.” She whirled toward her parents, and Gideon winced to see her mom scrambling backwards on the floor, away from Gideon, and Lily’s dad was trying to pull her to her feet. He was still shouting at Lily to run.

Their revulsion was palpable, and Gideon could feel it pressing against him and tainting the air. He could smell their horror in their sweat and he could feel the frantic thud of their heartbeats as they shrank from the monster who held their daughter.

Gideon clenched his jaw against the need to defend himself. Instead, he shoved Lily behind him and sprinted across the floor to pick up her mother. The woman screamed as he scooped her up, a sound of such brutal terror that he’d never heard before. She started pounding at him, and Lily’s dad jumped on Gideon’s back and started beating at his head with one of Lily’s books. Lily started yelling at her parents, trying to get them to calm down.

“Let’s go, Lily,” Gideon commanded, his muscles straining with the effort of trying to hold Lily’s mom still without hurting her. He grabbed Lily’s wrist with his free hand as he felt blood streaming down his face from her mom’s fingernails. He sprinted for the door, confident Lily’s dad would be on his heels as Gideon took both women with him.

Gideon burst out into the hall and skidded to a stop as the scent of Calydons overwhelmed him. It was coming from all directions. Through the air vents, down the hall, up through the floor. He could hear the rapid thud of heavy footsteps as they charged them. He heard the rasp of heavy breathing and felt the air pressure hum with their deadly intent.

“Oh, God, I can
feel
them.” Lily stopped beside Gideon, her shoulder pressed against his arm. “They’re everywhere.”

“Back inside,” Gideon snapped. He shoved Lily in the office and slammed his shoulder into Lily’s dad to throw him back inside. Gideon kicked the door shut, didn’t bother with the lock, and sprinted across the room to the window. He deflected Lily’s mom as she went for his eye, then he slammed his axe into the thick glass of the picture window. The glass shattered, covering all of them.

Lily’s mom paused in her attack, staring at the window. “Dear God,” she whispered, her voice stark with horror. “He’s going to throw us out.”

“For hell’s sake, what do you think I am?” Gideon snapped. “I’m trying to
save
you.”

Lily’s mom screamed like a freaking maniac and raked down his face with her claws again. “Let me go, you bastard!” Lily’s mom screamed. “Run, Lily,
run!”

Jesus. And he was the insane bad guy? Really? He dropped the woman. “Fine. Do whatever the hell you want.”

Lily raced over to the window and looked out, catching her breath. “It’s six stories, Gideon. It’s too far.”

Damn, it felt good to have Lily on board with him. Her calm focus was steadying, and he appreciated the fact that her trust of him was firmly resistant to her parents’ attempts to drive a wedge between them.

“Nah, six stories is nothing.” He grabbed Lily and planted a hard kiss on her, needing to show her parents exactly what stood between them. He grinned when Lily just smiled at him, as if she understood exactly why he’d done it.

Damn, he could love that woman. She was as tough as any Order member, wasn’t she? Calydons beating down her door, her parents on a rampage, a soul mate needing a boost to his pathetic male ego, and yet she was calm enough to smile. No wonder she’d survived all the hell in her life. She got tougher when things fell apart, and let herself fall apart only when she had the luxury. “You are fucking hot, woman.”

Lily looked surprised, and then smiled. “You’re insane.”

“
I’m
the one who’s insane? How about your parents?” Gideon whirled around and caught Lily’s dad by the throat as the man charged him with a letter opener.

Okay, that was it. He wasn’t going to accept any more interfering with his ability to keep Lily safe. Gideon shoved Lily’s dad up against the wall, ignoring Lily shouting at him to put her dad down. “Listen, buddy,” he snarled. “When you and your wife showed up here, you showed the bad guys how to find your daughter.” Rage pulsed through Gideon at the thought of them endangering Lily. “And if you think I’m evil, wait until you see them.”

Even as Gideon spoke, the scent of Calydons grew stronger and the footsteps got louder. Shit, he wanted to toss the man out on his ass and let him fend for himself, but he’d felt the love between Lily and her parents when they’d walked in. Yeah, Gideon was a monster, but there wasn’t a chance on this green earth that he’d pound another nail into Lily’s heart if he could help it. He was saving the whole damn family if he could.