Heart of Stone (17 page)

Adrian was on the bottom. Grabbing Three by the shirt, Adrian flipped them both over, slamming his opponent's head against the packed dirt with the impact. He shoved against Number Three's diaphragm with both hands to heave himself to his feet, knocking the wind out of the Warrior. A hard kick to the head made sure Number Three would stay down. Adrian turned to the last man.

Number Four had managed to drag Ben from the pickup. Ben put up a good fight, but he was over fifty and no match for a young Atlantean Warrior with super strength. Still, he made it hard for his captor to haul him very far before Adrian caught up to them.

When he saw Adrian coming after them, Number Four dropped Ben in the dirt and charged forward to meet the challenge. Adrian went after him with a blur of movements that had the younger man scrambling to counter. In the end, Adrian took him out with a leaping kick to the head that snapped him unconscious. Number Four dropped like a stone.

Ben struggled to get up, and Adrian went to help him. “Well,” the older man said, “I'd say you earned your beer tonight.”

“I'll hold you to that. Can you drive?”

“I think so.” Ben walked to the open door. “Damn, that window is going to set me back.”

“I'll take care of it. If I'd been paying closer attention, they wouldn't have gotten so close.”

“Ah, you did fine.” Ben slapped Adrian on the upper arm. “But if you really want to pay for the window, you can probably talk me into it.”

“I've got it.” Adrian scanned the dark parking lot around them. The four Warriors were still down, one or two groaning, but he had the feeling they were not alone. “Let's change hotels,” he said to Ben. “I don't like the security of the one we're at.”

“You mean how there's no security at all?” Ben picked up his tire iron off the ground and threw it behind the seat. “I assume we're dealing with the Mendukati?”

“I'd say so.”

“Then we'll do what you want to do. This is your area.” Ben grabbed a rag and swiped broken glass off his seat before climbing back into the truck. “Let's get out of here before they come to.”

“Agreed.” Adrian went to the passenger side. Number One lay facedown in the dirt outside the truck door, just coming back to consciousness. Adrian boosted himself into the truck using the back of the stirring Warrior, flattening Number One into the dirt again. When he was seated, he pulled out his cell phone and started looking for hotels. “Head back so we can get our stuff while I arrange for a new room.”

“You got it.” Ben started the pickup and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the four Warriors groaning on the ground.

*   *   *

Azotay watched them go. Normally he would order his men to pursue, but his focus was on the Warrior who had been with Wakete. And there was no doubt this was a Warrior, but not Mendukati. In fact he seemed familiar, eerily familiar, and that last leaping head kick had clinched it for him.

He hadn't seen that kick in nearly twenty years. The specialty of the Temple of Mneseus.

He turned away from the scene, his breath caught in his throat. Could it be? After so long?

Forget the carver. He could take him when he needed to.

He had to find out more about this Mneseus Warrior who guarded him. Where was the temple now? Who was the current maisu-ra, the Master Warrior of the temple?

Heart pounding, he telepathically ordered the troops back to camp.

*   *   *

Faith had more fun than she'd realized. She sat on a lounge chair and ate a burger and salad and laughed. Rafe and Cara kept up a lively conversation with Maria and John occasionally chiming in. Darius's parents still held back a bit, the shadow of the recent murders lingering like the scent of burned popcorn, but it was clear the family was very close. Even Tessa tossed out a comment or two, but she kept her sharp tongue silent when it came to Faith, settling for the occasional cold glance now and again.

Faith ignored her. There were other distractions that claimed her attention, such as Darius's warm body beside her on the lounge chair, his leg touching hers every now and again. He wasn't overt about it, but he would reach for things and brush against her. Subtly. Accidentally. His hand grazing her arm, his foot bumping hers.

She could have been eating sand for all she knew.

And now that she sat near Rafe, that disorienting buzz played at the bottom of her senses, like a bee flying near her ear. She knew it was a stone, but was it his or was it residuals from the Stone of Igarle? She had connected with the ancient stone, and it knew her now. Maybe it was affecting other stones around her?

She shrugged it off. She would work with the stone again tomorrow and start unraveling the chaos within it. Probably Rafe did have a focus stone of some sort that needed balancing, and that's what she sensed.

Then Darius reached past her for a napkin, his fresh-washed hair an inch from her nose, and she forgot everything else.

When he moved back to his seat, she set down her plate and sat back.

“You get enough to eat, Faith?” John asked. “We have s'mores coming later.”

“Oh, then I'm glad I didn't stuff myself. The burger was great, and I was thinking about another one, but I can never turn down s'mores. Better leave room.” Faith patted her belly.

John nodded. “Smart thinking.”

Darius set down his plate with a half-eaten burger, his second by her count. “I think I'm going to walk some of this off before s'mores.” He turned to Faith. “Want to come so I don't fall down the mountain?”

She considered for a moment. Going off alone with Darius hadn't been in her plans, but Cara had raised some questions she wanted answered. “Who could resist an invitation like that?” she said.

“Come on.” He stood and got his cane, then moved out of the way so she could get off the lounge chair.

“S'mores in an hour,” John announced. “If you're not here, I'm eating yours.”

“Not if I get there first, Dad,” Rafe said.

Darius shook his head. “My loving family. Be back in a bit.” He gestured for Faith to precede him, pointing to the paved path leading off the pool area. “We'll go down there. It's an easy walk and still close enough to tackle my brother if he goes for my share of the s'mores.”

“Your family's really nice,” she said, starting down ahead of him. “Well, as nice as they can be, given the circumstances.”

“Everyone seems to be on their best behavior. Trying to keep going despite the bad news earlier.”

“I guess so,” she said. “I never had siblings, though I grew up in an orphan camp with other kids. Still, it's not the same. And when my powers manifested and they knew what I was, things changed.”

A section of the pavement widened and curved to reveal a bench. Darius pointed to it, and she sat down. Murmurs of conversation drifted to them from the patio area, punctuated by occasional laughter. Close enough that they didn't seem alone, but isolated enough that they could be if they wanted to.

Darius sat next to her, hanging his cane on the armrest. “So a Stone Singer is treated differently from other kids?”

“Oh, yeah. A Stone Singer's the rarest of the elemental Channelers. As soon as my powers started to flare, the elders had a ceremony and gave me these.” She held out her hands with their spiderweb-like tattoos. “Every Stone Singer has borne these tattoos since time immemorial. The ink is made from minerals, the better to integrate stone with the singer.”

“Sounds like you didn't want them.”

“I was nine. I didn't know what I wanted.” She clenched her hands into fists and rested them in her lap. “Not that I have much choice anyway. I am what I am.”

“That's the same for all of us, I think.” He looked back as a laugh reached his ears. “I'm a Seer. I've always been a Seer. It's all I know. And until a few months ago, I thought my family constituted the sole survivors of Atlantis. Now I've learned differently, and I'm trying to get up to speed on this new world.” He smiled. “Please forgive my questions if I get too nosy.”

She shrugged. “All I know about Seers is what I learned from my people. So far, they seemed to have lied about just about everything.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “Unless you really do eat small children for breakfast.”

“Only on Thursdays.” He barked a laugh as her mouth dropped open. “Kidding, Faith. Wow.”

She flushed. “I know. You just surprised me is all.”

“I think we're surprising each other.”

“Yes, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I'm messing this up.” She dropped her face in her hands, then sat up again, smoothing her hair back. “Okay, so you know I was married.”

“Yes, to Ben's son. And he died.”

“Right.” She swallowed. “We weren't married for long, just a couple of years, but I've known Ben since my parents died. He was a teacher at the camp. I think I gravitated toward him because he was a stone carver. At any rate, one day Michael asked me to marry him, and it seemed like a good idea.”

“Maybe it was, at the time.”

“I think I just wanted to belong to a family.” She sighed. “Michael was an Echo. Do you know what that is?”

He relaxed into the bench, laying his arm along the back. “Never heard that term before.”

“An Echo is a Channeler who amplifies the powers of others. He had no active power, just the ability to make others stronger.”

“Kinda cool. Most of the time Atlantean powers don't work on other Atlanteans.”

“This is an exception.” She swiped her hand over her mouth. “I don't know why I'm even telling you this.”

“You don't have to.”

“I just want you to understand. You know, why I can't—” She shook her head. “Maybe I'm imagining things, but it seems like there's something between us. Chemistry. Attraction. Something.”

“I won't deny that. I felt it the first time we met.”

“Okay, so we agree there's something. Anyway, I don't know if I'm ready for that right now. Or if you're even thinking about that.”

“I do think about it.” He waited until she met his gaze. “I think about you. The other night, when I was meditating, I have to admit my imagination got a little … hot.”

His little half smile added wicked dimensions to the word
hot
. Her core melted at memories of those images, at the truth of his admission, of this moment. “You were thinking about me?” Was that really her voice, so breathy and low?

“I was.” He rubbed the top of the bench with his fingers. She wondered if he knew he was doing it, what he imagined he was touching.

“I had a dream about you, too, that night. And I can't believe I just told you that.” She jerked to her feet, her hand clapped over her mouth.

He remained still. If he'd made a move toward her, she might have bolted. As long as he didn't pursue, she stayed where she was, her muscles quivering with the instincts to either turn to him or flee. Or maybe both.

“So we connected that night,” he said.

“Maybe.”

“Perhaps because I was doing such high-powered healing work with stones, and you're a Stone Singer? Maybe you picked something up?”

She calmed at that, nodding. “That's one explanation.”

“And if it got … intense … maybe it's just that latent attraction manifesting.”

“It was intense, all right. That is, if you had the same dream I did.”

“We'll have to compare notes sometime.” He grinned at the appalled look she sent him. “Oh, come on.”

“I am not about to confide my secret naughty dreams to you, Darius Montana.”

“Naughty, huh?”

“This is getting out of control. I came here to do a job, not to have a romance. I don't have time for it, and I don't want it. Once was enough.”

“You're counting your marriage as a romance, I assume?”

“Closest thing I came to it, even if it did end in disaster.”

“I was engaged once,” he said. “It hurts when it doesn't work out.”

She nodded. “Cara mentioned that. Said she left when you got hurt.”

“Yes.” He winced. “She loved me, but she couldn't deal with a husband in a wheelchair. Kind of tragic now, but at the time it was devastating.”

Faith shook her head. “You're an impressive man, in or out of a wheelchair, Darius, at least as far as I've seen. I'm sorry she couldn't take it.”

“So my injuries don't bother you? Not even that first night when I needed my wheelchair?”

“I was surprised, that's all. No one warned me. Seeing a big, strong guy like you in a wheelchair just seemed … I don't know, ridiculous at the time. Wrong. You looked like you could tie the thing into a knot with your bare hands.”

“Not quite, but I wanted to once or twice. In the early days.” He patted the bench beside him. “Come back here. Tell me more about Michael.”

“That's a depressing conversation.” She eased back down on the bench. “Why don't you tell me something?”

“Sure, whatever you want.”

“What is a destined mate?”

He reared back. “You been talking to my mother?”

“No, Cara. She mentioned she and Rafe are destined mates.”

“Oh, okay.”

She arched her brows. “What does your mother have to do with this?”

“You know mothers.” He waved a hand. “She likes to set her kids up.”

“Ah, get them all settled down, huh?”

He shrugged. “Anyway, a destined mate is when two people are fated to be together, and their powers entwine to make them stronger.”

“But Cara has no powers, right? She's just human.”

“She's not Atlantean, no. But she is connected to Rafe through what we call the mating bond, and she has the ability to feed his powers if all else fails.”