Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) (39 page)
Read Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) Online
Authors: Stephanie` Rowe
Fury blazed in his eyes. “I will! I’ll fight to the death—”
“It’s not enough!” She slammed her hand against his chest. “The power’s in here, in your heart. You have to believe. If you don’t believe, it doesn’t matter how hard you fight! Can’t you believe in the power of your need to protect me?”
Sadness filled his eyes, and she knew then that it wasn’t Elijah’s broken mind that would doom them. It was his broken heart, his shattered spirit, his lack of faith in the man that he was. She laid her hands on his cheeks, desperate to help him see himself as she did. “Elijah—”
Ezekiel appeared in the room before she could continue.
The time had come, and they weren’t ready.
Despite his intentions to convince Ezekiel they were considering his offer, Elijah couldn’t stop himself from moving between Ezekiel and Ana, putting her behind him. There was simply no way Elijah could stand back and expose her to him. It just wasn’t going to happen, and they’d have to figure out a way around it, because that was the way it was.
The ancient Calydon was wearing a pair of sleek black slacks, an open collar dress shirt that was starched to perfection, a gold Rolex and a large signet ring on his left hand. He looked every bit the cool, razor-sharp businessman who could take a penny and turn it into millions with a snap of his ruthless fingers. He was giving off the aura of smooth, arrogant confidence, giving away nothing of the insidious, homicidal lunatic lurking beneath the surface.
Ezekiel’s dark eyes gleamed with interest, and he looked at Elijah with as much anticipation as he did with Ana.
He wanted them both, it was clear.
And that, Elijah was certain, would be Ezekiel’s downfall.
How it would transpire, he didn’t know. Ezekiel was more powerful than the entire Order combined, let alone Elijah. Yet according to the medallion, they could bring him down.
If he believed the medallion... Ana’s words reverberated in his mind, and for a split second, doubt flickered in Elijah’s mind. What if he didn’t have to be bound by it? What if there was a way to bring down Ezekiel without losing Ana? Raw yearning pulsed through him, and he tightened his grip on her. Dear God, if there was any way to save her…
Yes, by hell fire and damnation,
yes.
That was what he wanted.
He burned to look at Ana, to sweep her up into his arms and beg for her strength and belief, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off Ezekiel.
“You dropped your shields,” Ezekiel observed, unable to keep the undercurrent of excitement out of his voice. Hell, he was practically rubbing his palms together.
Ana set her hand on Elijah’s back, and he could feel how cold it was even through his shirt. At her touch, at her evident need for his protection, hatred burned deep in him for the male standing before him. An image flashed through his mind of attacking Ezekiel and killing him. Right there, right then, ending it all.
His Calydon nature demanded he respond to the threat and attack so he could protect his woman, himself and the Order.
But to do so would kill them both. Elijah had already proven to himself that he couldn’t take Ezekiel in a one-on-one. Now was not the time for blind faith in his fighting abilities. Not against Ezekiel. He had to focus and assess. He had to refrain from taking action until he knew how to triumph.
They had to face Ezekiel and keep him on their side until they figured out how to strike back. Elijah steeled himself and then said with a calm voice, “We felt your presence when we were having sex.”
Ezekiel’s face became shuttered. “Did you?”
“Yes.” Elijah suddenly knew how to convince Ezekiel that he was for real. He knew how to convince Ezekiel he would switch sides and go against the Order he’d served for so long. “I won’t share my mate, but I’m willing to make a trade.” His hand went behind his back and he brushed his fingers over Ana’s hand.
Ezekiel’s eyebrows went up. “What kind of trade?”
“I’ll join your side if you leave Ana alone. She’s mine, leave her with me.” Ezekiel would believe that about him, his need to protect his soul mate.
Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed. “You are willing to come over to the dark side in order to protect her from me?”
“Yes.”
Ana’s hand tightened on his back.
Elijah, this isn’t the way to do it. We can still defeat him. Don’t prostitute yourself to him. I can protect myself against him.
Elijah would have grinned at the desperation pouring off Ana, knowing Ezekiel would feel her response and believe Elijah was going against her wishes by aligning himself with Ezekiel, except he felt her true panic and realized she wasn’t faking it. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against him, brushing a kiss over her head.
It’s okay, sweetheart. I won’t let him touch you even from a distance.
Ezekiel cocked his head and Elijah realized he was scenting the air. Elijah did the same and caught the scent of Ana’s fear and her revulsion, something she couldn’t fake.
But Elijah knew Ezekiel was catching nothing off him, nothing of the truth. He let his need to protect Ana ring loud and true, overwhelming all his other emotions.
The two males studied each other. Elijah kept his face bland and his heart rate slow and even.
Finally Ezekiel narrowed his eyes. “I am delighted by your change of heart, but forgive me if I’m not entirely convinced of your sudden willingness to turn against your team. Perhaps if you killed a few Order members, I would believe you.”
Elijah kept his voice calm. “Perhaps if you proved to me you would leave Ana alone, I would be willing to work for you.”
“No. Not
work
.” Ezekiel suddenly looked angry. “I have hundreds of Calydons working for me! I want a partner! I want family by my side! That’s what I want! Full emotional commitment!” He strode up to Elijah and drilled him with his gaze. “You are my family, Elijah. All the family I have left, and that is what I want from you.”
Elijah stared into Ezekiel’s eyes, and sudden recognition pulsed deep inside him. Recognition of that familial bond he had with no one else. He
knew
Ezekiel. They had a connection, a blood connection that bound them over thousands of years. Ezekiel was the one living being with whom Elijah belonged—
He cursed and stepped back, but not before Ezekiel smiled, true glee lighting up his eyes. “You feel it. You feel our connection.” He thudded Elijah on the shoulder, and Elijah had his star out and at Ezekiel’s throat before he could think about what he’d done.
Shit.
Like that was going to convince Ezekiel.
But Ezekiel simply smiled and pushed the star away with one finger. “You aren’t ready to accept our bond, but you feel it. I know you do.” He bowed deeply. “I invite you both to my home. We will come together as one.” His gaze went from Elijah to Ana. “All three of us.”
Elijah growled and pulled Ana tighter against him, as she tensed. “Not her.” He knew his plan had been to bring her along, but the anticipation in Ezekiel’s eyes made his skin crawl. His need to keep his mate far from danger was pulsing powerfully within him.
Ezekiel waved his hand dismissively. “Of course her. How will you protect her from me if you aren’t by her side? If you leave her, I will take her myself the minute she’s alone.”
Son of a bitch. Ezekiel was right. There was no way Elijah could leave her unprotected.
Tension flickered in Ezekiel’s eyes, and he glanced again at Ana, his lust making Elijah’s fists clench. “But if I take her, we will fight and I will kill you, my brother.” Fury made Ezekiel’s face tighten, a dark, lethal fury that made the hair on Elijah’s neck stand up. “And that will
really
piss me off. I swore it would be different this time, and it will.” He called out a weapon with a crack, and had a dagger at Elijah’s throat at the same moment Elijah put his throwing star at Ezekiel’s. His eyes were flickering dangerously. “If you fuck up my plans by making me steal Ana and put us at war, you both will suffer more than you can imagine. Don’t fuck with me, brother.”
Elijah tensed as Ezekiel’s blade pricked his skin, and he felt blood slide down his neck. At the same time, he was hit with such a raging loneliness emanating from Ezekiel that Elijah almost staggered. It was a vast void of swirling emptiness, of coldness, of brutal and debilitating loneliness, thousands of years of pain and suffering, of such intense longing for connection that he actually felt his throat constrict for Ezekiel’s pain. “We will come with you.”
I felt that.
Ana’s voice was stunned.
Dear God, how can a person survive that kind of emotional pain?
I don’t know
. Elijah fought his reaction to it with every fiber of his soul, but he couldn’t keep his empathy at bay. He felt Ezekiel’s pain and he wanted to heal it—
Elijah swore and stepped back.
He is the enemy
, he reminded both of them.
Ana glanced at him, and he saw the concern in her eyes, concern that mirrored his own empathy for Ezekiel. He swore again as Ezekiel sheathed his dagger without another word.
Ezekiel recovered his composure and rebuilt his shielding, hiding everything but his darkness. Freed of the emotional connection to the ancient Calydon, Elijah’s resolve to kill Ezekiel came rushing back. Ana straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, her own resistance to the bastard’s charms reaffirmed as well.
She tightened her grip on Elijah.
It’s as you feared it would be. He can manipulate us through our bond to him. Our affection.
He gave a brief nod.
Yep.
Ezekiel beamed at them. “Let’s go to my house for proper introductions over tea and crumpets.” He grabbed both their wrists, his face darkening when Ana jerked out of his grasp and Elijah helped her do it.
“She touches only me,” Elijah growled as he moved Ana behind him. “I’ll bring her with me, but you don’t get to touch her.” There were limits to the game he’d play, and letting Ezekiel touch Ana was past it, no matter what. He simply couldn’t do it, not even to get inside Ezekiel’s lair and find his weakness.
Ezekiel’s displeasure pulsed at him, but he dropped his hand from Ana and held only onto Elijah. “As you wish, my brother,” he said stiffly.
Then the room faded, and then they were at Ezekiel’s mercy.
***
The world took shape around them, and Ana had a split second to notice they were in a wooded clearing before there was a booming crack of dozens of weapons being called out. The ground shook beneath a loud battle cry and thudding footsteps. A mass of Calydons burst out of the woods, weapons out, charging straight at them. “Fuck!” Elijah whipped out his throwing stars and started hurling them with blinding speed, taking out Calydons faster than they could approach.
Adrenaline surged through Ana. The urge to do an illusion rose hard and fast within her as she saw the warriors advancing, as their threat bore down on her.
She felt Elijah tense, and she immediately tried to shut down the illusion.
Sorry
. To her relief, it subsided once she focused on Elijah and his vulnerability, her instinctive need to protect him giving her the strength to hold it at bay.
The warriors kept advancing, and Elijah kept fighting. What was going on? She glanced at Ezekiel, but he was simply standing beside her, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
Don’t let Ezekiel into your mind
, Elijah ordered.
I’m killing to save your life, and that’s a stage of the bond. If he merges with us while I’m doing it, it will complete that stage of the bond for you both. Don’t let him bind us vicariously.
Oh, no.
Ana hastily reinforced her mental shields against him, having no idea if it would be enough.
But Ezekiel wasn’t paying any attention to her, and she couldn’t feel his presence in her mind. He wasn’t trying to connect with her. He was watching Elijah fight, and the pride on his face was apparent.
“Are you testing him?” she asked.
Ezekiel’s gaze flicked to hers. “No. He doesn’t need to prove himself to me.”
“Then why are you sending your warriors after him?”
He laughed softly, the indulgent laugh one might give an innocent child. “They aren’t after
him.
He’s merely in their way.”
“They aren’t?” Ana noticed suddenly that the approaching males weren’t looking at Elijah or Ezekiel. Each of their dark gazes was fixated on
her
. Elijah was right. She was the target.
She took a step backward as more Calydons emerged from the woods on either side of them, circumventing the blockade Elijah had erected in front of them. They raised their weapons and charged her, the deadly intent harsh on their faces.