Paladin (Graven Gods 1) (27 page)

Despite whatever darkness clawed at him, Paladin drove the way he did everything else -- with speed and iron competence -- as I watched his profile.

Normally I would have used the opportunity to savor his presence. Unfortunately, I was too aware of his uncharacteristic restlessness. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel in a rapid tattoo. I knew how close to the edge he must be to show it like this.

“
He needs me
,” Eris said from the sword I held across my knees. “
He’s got to filter out the evil
.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the kind of thing you could do while he was driving. It was going to have to wait until we were back home.

Along with all the other things we needed to get settled. My eyes drifted to those big, restless hands. Despite the tense situation, the thought of him touching me sent a hot rush of excitement through my body.

Paladin pulled into the driveway and turned the engine off. We sat there for a moment, listening to the engine tick. The silence felt tense, coiled with everything we couldn’t say.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. His wide shoulders looked knotted, as rigid as the line of his handsome profile. “Eris will absorb the worst, but some of it is sure to spill off on to you. It’s going to be… unpleasant.”

“I never would’ve guessed,” I said dryly. More seriously I added, “But if it’s that bad for me, it’s got to be a hell of a lot worse for you.”

“I am getting tired of trying to swim in this sewer.”

“Then why don’t we get it over with?”

Paladin scrubbed both hands over his face. “I don’t want to, but I’m afraid I may hurt you even worse than whatever you’d suffer using Eris.”

Despite the situation, I found myself smiling. Paladin did love me. He always had. There was a sweet comfort in that thought, and I knew that if he chose not to come back to my body, it wouldn’t be because of a lack of love. “Let’s go, Paladin.”

The first thing I saw when I opened the Victorian’s massive oak front door was Calliope. The cat came running, blue eyes huge with relief. “Oh, thank the Elder Gods, you’re home!” She leaped up into my arms, and I caught her automatically. It suddenly struck me how small she was compared to her outsized goddess personality. “I was afraid you got yourself hurt.” She nuzzled me, her little nose cool.

“It was nothing we couldn’t handle.” I grimaced. “Though a lot of people are going to be waking up with bruises.”

Cal eyed Paladin as he paced by to start up the stairs two at a time, his boots thumping on the faded carpet. “Trying to burn out some of the nasty through his knuckles?” More softly, she asked, “Did it work?”

“Not particularly. Eris is going to give it a shot next. Wish us luck.”

Calliope shot me a flashing blue look. “You be careful. Don’t lose yourself. Too many people need you -- especially Paladin.”

“I’m well aware of that.” I let her leap down and started up the stairs after Paladin.

As I climbed, I drew the sword, knowing Eris needed to prepare for the spell. Her cool voice spoke in my mind. “
The cat is correct. He’s entirely too close to losing himself. There is so much magic
…” Her tone turned grim. “
And all of it black as Valak’s hollow soul. The memories are eating him alive
.”

“Don’t encourage me, or anything.”

Eyes opened in my mind and blinked at me, huge and golden, but with slit pupils like a cat. Or maybe a reptile. Which wasn’t creepy at all. “
Why would I do that? You need to know what we face
.”

“That was sarcasm.”

“
Oh. Well. You needed to know, and now you do
.”

Yeah. Whether I wanted to or not.

Paladin stood in my bedroom, looking big and dark against all the pale flowered fabric and the spill of lace and fairy lights that surrounded my bed. “Kneel,” I demanded, and blinked, startled at the cold command coming out of my own mouth.

I gave the sword a look. “
Don’t do that
.”

“
Silence. I am working
.”

Paladin turned and looked at me, his dark brows rising. I started to explain that the command came from Eris, but he seemed to know as much already. Somewhat to my surprise, he dropped to his knees.

My hands brought the weapon around and rested it on his shoulder as though I was some historical monarch knighting him. I tensed, gripping the sword hard to make sure I maintained control. I wasn’t at all sure I trusted the goddess not to cut his head off.

“
I will not hurt him
,” Eris purred. “
Probably
.”

Yeah, that was what I was afraid of.

For a moment, we stood there like that, the blade just touching his corded throat. I looked down into that handsome face, the one I’d seen in so many daydreams and fantasies. Real at last.

But I’d never seen such anguish in those eyes. Their cool blue looked almost black now, boiling with the darkness inside him.

Abruptly rage flooded his gaze, and with it, evil so intense every hair stood up on my arms. I had to fight the desire to leap away from him and bring up my blade in defense.

“
Yes
,” Eris said, “
We definitely must do something about that
.”

A cool tingle rose from the base of my spine, racing up into my skull, branching at my shoulders and rolling down to my hands.

“
Chant this
,” Eris told me, as the spell appeared in my mind in a language I didn’t speak. The words spilled out of my mouth, and I knew I was saying them perfectly despite my ignorance of the language. I could feel their ancient power pulsing through my lips even as Paladin’s eyes widened.

I might not speak the language, but he certainly did. He settled back on his heels, and his eyes closed. The blade began to glow with a spill of dancing blue sparks, swirling faster and faster up the weapon’s length. My hands tightened, increasing the pressure of the edge on his skin, until I saw scarlet roll from the sword’s sharp edge. The cut wasn’t deep -- just enough to shed the blood needed to trigger the magic, letting it shoot into his jugular.

Eris’s magic rose around him, first sparks, thickening into a glow that grew brighter and brighter. I smelled ozone, sharp and clean in the air. The words of the chant became a song, syllables spinning into melody, rising higher and higher. I’d never had a gift for singing, and yet now the notes rang as pure and sweet as any operatic soprano’s.

I might have felt surprise if I hadn’t been so completely focused on the spell I sang to save my love. The magic whirled around us as the darkness began to drain from Paladin.

Cold.
The evil felt cold, reptilian, crawling up the blade like snakes of ice. Black ice. Swarming me. Fangs bit deep into my arms and legs, my chest, my face. I shuddered at the pain stabbing every inch of my skin.

“
Focus on the spell
,” Eris told me. “
If you let up, we’re all lost
.”

Jolted, I concentrated fiercely, sending the words soaring. I couldn’t let Paladin die because of me. We would survive this, as we’d survived everything else this hellish night.

The magic spilled and swirled and bit, and I clung to the song, enduring. I knew how to endure, from bullying and teenage drama to the loss of my parents, my brother, and Mary. I’d even endured having everything I knew about the world -- absolutely
everything
-- flipped on its head. I’d endured Paladin’s treks into the darkness before, and I’d endure this too.

I sang until I should have gone mute from the strain on my vocal chords. Eris’s power healed and sustained, so I was able to keep going until the vicious bites stopped and the pain drained, leaving only the clean, blue swirl of magic spilling out of the blade, back the way it came.

Back into Paladin.

Incredible magic, power such as I’d never experienced even among the gods who filled my life. Magic that flowed and filled me, intoxicating and pure. As intense as sunlight in the heat of August. As intense as a baby’s first cry.

As intense as Paladin’s love.

“
The girl is far more deserving than I knew
,” Eris said, over the pure, soaring notes -- for it seemed there was no distinction between the song and the magic. Barely aware of anything else, I sang the magic. Was the magic. “
Stronger and more determined even than her mother -- who was one of the strongest Avatars I’ve ever seen
.”

“
As I told you she was
.”

“
All of this magic must go somewhere. Shall we
?”

“
Not without asking her first
,” Paladin said, and asked the question.

And I, still singing, answered.

The power surged from Paladin yet again, bursting from Eris’s glowing blade to wind like ribbons of light up my arms in a heady rush that made my very bones vibrate. Every nerve and synapse in my brain seemed to overload with pleasure such as I had never felt, even in orgasm with Paladin.

Heat and light and Paladin and Eris, all of it storming into me.

Until the world went white.

* * *

I became aware of myself again. With a jolt of desperation, I realized I’d stopped singing. I opened my mouth but I could no longer remember the words.

“
It’s fine, child
,” Eris told me, her tone surprisingly tender. “
It’s finished
.”

Paladin’s face appeared above mine. “Are you all right?”

I blinked at him with dazzled eyes. “Ooh, I’m a lot better than all right.” Or anyway, that’s what I tried to say. What came out was more of an incoherent moan.

I sensed the approach of something hot and glowing. Something magic. Calliope appeared, staring worriedly down at me. She turned a snarl up at Paladin, flashing fangs that suddenly looked a lot sharper than I remembered. “What did you do to her?”

I had to work on my enunciation, so it took me a minute to get the words out. “I think,” I mumbled dreamily, “They made me a god.”

The cat stared down at me. “Oh shit,” she breathed, “They did!”

I started to sit up, but the room revolved around my head so fast I fell back with a drunken moan.

“No, you don’t need to try to walk just yet.” Paladin scooped me into his arms and rose with no more effort than I would have used picking up Calliope. As he carried me over to the bed, the covers flipped aside without anyone touching them. He put me down and tucked me in as if I were a little girl.

“Are you going to join me?” I asked and he smiled.

“Not just yet.” A gesture stripped me of Eris’ harness. He walked over, then hesitated a long moment, eyeing the weapon as it lay on the floor. I must have dropped it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, voice a little slurred.

He laughed shortly. “Wondering if she’s going to send me flying. Again.”

“
Tell him he’s safe, child
,” the sword told me. “
I only hit him because he made a better target than I did
.”

“You’re safe. She just blasted you because she couldn’t admit she blamed herself.”

“Yeah, that sounds like her.” Paladin picked the weapon up and slid it into its scabbard.

I thought about trying to seduce him, but sleep engulfed me like a marshmallow monster.

* * *

Paladin kissed me awake. I opened my eyes and gasped as awareness slammed into me. I could feel every stick of furniture in the house, Calliope levitating a can of tuna to the table as her power cut into it like a can opener, birds and squirrels rustling and chirping in the trees, the neighbors going through their lives all around us, oblivious to the magic in their midst, Graven sprawling out beyond that with its rumbling bustle and its thousands of lives. I shuddered, overwhelmed.

“Shhhhh,” Paladin said against my mouth. I opened my eyes to see his face flooded with the blue light radiating from my tattoos. “Concentrate on this. Concentrate on me.”

His kiss demanded my attention, nibbling my lower lip as I gasped. I had never been so aware of his power, the magic roiling just beneath his skin. I shuddered as the room spun around me.

“Summer, control your power. Focus on your body. You know how to do it.” And he was right. He’d left the knowledge imprinted on my brain’s circuitry in disciplined habits he’d built over twelve years. The blue light cast by my tattoos dimmed as I forced my power to obey my will, until all I felt was his body against mine. He smelled of soap, tasted of my mint toothpaste as his tongue explored my mouth

“That’s right,” he murmured. “That’s it exactly.” His hands drifted over me in tempting little caresses. “You feel so soft, even with all the fighting you’ve done, like silk over steel. So perfect. Oh, Elder gods, I love you.”

And I sensed the intensity of that love, burning sweet and hot. Yet I could also feel the edge to it, the need he had for my submission. He was, as Calliope had said, a dominant son of a bitch. And I was glad of it.

Paladin started stringing little bites over my jaw and down the length of my throat. I groaned in pleasure.

I needed to touch him. I found his solid shoulders with my hands, my fingertips exploring the muscle sliding under his skin, then down to his brawny arms. I touched his power tatts, and I felt sharp little snaps of energy, as if they carried static electricity rather than magic.

While I was distracted, Paladin was busy kissing his way along the slope of my breast down to the nipple, where he gave me a delicious swirling lick. As he tongued erotic sigils on my breast, he stroked downward over my ribs, feathering his fingers over my belly, teasing my navel with a fingertip, then sliding lower.

I tensed, but for once he didn’t give me what I wanted. Or at least not right away. Instead his fingertips danced down over the twitching skin of my thighs.

Sprawled flat on my back, I moaned. “Oh, Elder Gods, that feels so… so…” I might make my living with words, but Paladin knew how to render me incoherent with a flick of his fingers.

Something curled around my wrist, pulling my hand away from his silken hair. I looked around and saw a river of sparks pinning my wrists against the mattress and spreading both legs wide.