Darkness Arisen (12 page)

Ry gave him a cursory glance, revealing nothing. "Fitz, you're a non-entity right now for the Order. You're a liability. At any moment, you could kill yourself, and you see nothing but your own goals. We can't afford that right now. When I said you're out of the loop, I didn't just mean that you're off the front lines. The team took a vote. You are no longer an active member of the Order of the Blade." His eyes glittered. "I gave you a chance when I let you go after Alice just now, and you took that to align with her on your own mission, not the Order's. Trust is over. I'm calling it in." There was no regret in Ryland's eyes. Just the hard commitment built on a life of anger and torment that had consumed him for so long.

"Hell, man. I've been tracking Cardiff for six hundred years. If he's involved, you
need
me." Fury built inside Ian, disbelief that the Order was cutting him out. "I'm one of the best fighters the team has ever had."

"You
were,
before you fell victim to the curse. I know you're good. We all know you're good. But right now, you're not mentally fit. You're a danger to us all, because we can't afford to count on you."

Ian stared at him. "Of course you can count on me—"

"Can we? You think?" Ryland met his gaze. "You still want to know what you missed?" He gave Ian his full attention, his eyes blazing. "We went out in those woods with Kane and Sarah. There was a madman in there, and he took Thano. Fucking took him!"

"What?" Ian was shocked by Ry's revelation about their youngest Order of the Blade member. Thano was only thirty-five years old, but the cocky kid was one of the best warriors he'd ever met, and he always kept a sense of humor the rest of them seemed to have lost. "Took him? What does that mean?"

"It means, you selfish bastard, that this giant pit of hell appeared out of nowhere and sucked Thano into it. I got a good look down its throat, and there was nothing but living hell down there. Everyone else thinks he's probably dead." Bitterness flashed in Ryland's eyes. "I won't believe it until I get proof. Thano's too irreverent to die easily."

Ian swore, running his hand through his hair. He couldn't believe no one had told him that Thano had been kidnapped. Then again, Ryland was the only one he'd seen recently, and Ry had clearly decided to keep him out of the loop. "Where is he? What was the hole? Who has him?"

Ryland shrugged. "The demon who was trying to kill Kane is gone, but there was another male there at the end. Kane saw him, and he was the one leading the show. Once I get the angels secured, I'm going to find that bastard and get Thano back." Bitterness blazed in Ry's eyes. "If you'd been there, we could have saved him. We didn't have enough firepower. You're out, man. You're fucking out."

Son of a bitch. Ryland meant it. And Ian didn't blame them. Not entirely. By not being there, he'd weakened the team and exposed Thano. Bitterness coursed through him, bitterness for the curse that had taken so much from him and his ancestors already. "The team voted? Or is this one of your unilateral decisions?"

"The team. It was my unilateral decision to give you one more chance, and you blew it." Ryland turned away and faced Alice, who had been watching them intently, listening to the conversation. "You're coming back with me," he said. "You need to be protected."

Alice stiffened. "I'm not going back with you. I need to find my sister—"

"I'll find her," Ryland said. "I'll track her down—"

"She'll kill you," Alice interrupted. "You won't be able to get near her—"

Ian raised his brows at her claim. "Kill him? What kind of angel is she?"

Alice glanced at him, and said nothing, making Ian even more curious.

"No one can kill me," Ry said. "Not unless I choose to die. I don't have time to deal with Ian's shit or your loyalty." He held out his hand. "Come with me, Alice. I swear on my mother's soul that I will ensure your safety in a way that Ian never can." He glanced over at Ian, and pity flickered briefly in his eyes. "Sorry, man. But the Order trumps. Gideon and Quinn will decide if you're fit to be reinstated, but I wouldn't lay any bets in your favor right now."

Ian felt a ripple of energy in his mind, and he realized that Ryland had reached out mentally to their team. Had he called Kane? Kane Santiago was the only one of their team with the ability to teleport. He could be there in a split second, and he would be able to take Alice and Ian with him.

The last time the Order had deemed Ian unfit, they'd locked him in a dungeon for three months to keep him alive. This time, they hadn't simply deemed him unfit; they'd actually stripped him of his membership on the team. What would that translate to? Tearing his weapons out of his arms? Chaining him up again? Jesus, the Order was falling apart now that Dante wasn't around to hold them together. You didn't do that shit to teammates. You just didn't. You had to have faith in them.

He needed to be out here, on the front lines, with Alice, finishing this off. He'd been a part of this team for six hundred years, and his ancestors had all been premiere Order members. The Order was his future and his fate. It was the honor of his family. He couldn't be cast out. Dealing with the curse supported the Order's cause because it was to protect one of their best team members. Didn't they get that?

But as he looked at Ryland's stoic face, he realized the answer was no. The Order couldn't see past the failure in the woods, the loss of Thano. Son of a bitch. The curse was doing worse than killing his male lineage. It was stripping them of the very last bit of honor that they'd clung to: membership in the elite Order of the Blade. "Is the decision made?" He'd heard rumors of people being stripped of their Order status for good, but he'd never seen it happen, never heard any actual evidence of it really occurring. What the hell was going on?

Ry met his gaze for a long moment, and regret flickered on his face. "Fitz, you're putting personal agenda over the greater good. It's been too many times, and at too great a cost. They can't afford to count on you anymore. You'd do the same in their position. You know you would."

Jesus Christ. He'd failed the Order? Ian closed his eyes, stunned by the revelation. Shocked by how far things had fallen. If he went back there and they separated him from Alice...nothing would be fixed. He'd still be chased by the curse, fighting a losing battle to stay sane, and unable to focus on the one thing that mattered to him: the Order.

Fuck. There was only one option. To not go home until he'd proven himself the warrior he was. Until he'd broken the curse, freeing him to focus on the Order.

He had to disobey a direct order. There was no other option.
Alice?

She jerked her gaze to him, but as usual, didn't answer telepathically.

They'll stop us from going after Cardiff.

She looked sharply at Ryland, who was inching toward her, still jawing on about how he would serve her and protect her.

Kane Santiago will be here momentarily to teleport us. There is no way to stop him once he touches us. Our only out is to not be here when he arrives.

She met his gaze, and grim determination darkened her expression. She gave a slight nod.

Satisfaction thrummed through Ian at Alice's agreement, at her unwillingness to yield to the Order's demands. It took courage to go against the Order of the Blade.
You're my kind of woman, Alice.

She wrinkled her nose at him, but a small smile curved at the corners of her mouth.

Ian did a quick inventory of their options. There really weren't many.
Jump off the rock. The ocean will swallow us up. No scent. No sight. They won't be able to find us.

For a moment, she hesitated, and he knew she was remembering how violent the ocean had been. How it had been trying to kill her.

I don't have time to die either,
he said softly.
I'll keep us alive. I can do it.

She looked at him, and he saw the emotions warring inside her. Should she trust him alone, or put her faith in Ryland and the rest of the Order? Was aligning herself with the entire team a better choice for finding her sister? She wouldn't do that...but when she looked at Ryland again, Ian stiffened. Would she really choose to leave him? She would. He knew she would. His own
sheva
would walk out on him if she felt it furthered her goals. It was impossible that she could have that ability, but somehow, she did. His
sheva
was not bound to him the way she should have been—

Ian felt a faint disturbance in the atmosphere just behind him. Kane was coming! Time was up.
Now!
He leapt across the rock toward her, urgency making him move faster than Ryland had time to react to. He held out his hand to Alice as he sprinted toward the edge of the rock.

He wasn't going to stop. He wasn't going back to the Order.
Alice.
He thrust all his urgency into his voice.
Come with me.

"Hey!" Ryland's outraged shout echoed through the night. "Don't pull this shit, Fitz!" Ryland lunged for Alice, two men reaching for her, trying to claim her.

For an agonizingly long moment, she didn't move, her gaze going frantically back and forth between them. Ian didn't hold back. He just ran for her, his hand outstretched, willing her to reach out.
Come on, Alice. You trusted me enough to make love. You asked me to find you when you died. I did.

Her gaze locked on his.
I asked you to find me?

Yes.
He was almost to her now, only a fraction of an inch ahead of Ryland. He couldn't slow down or he'd be caught. It was now, or never.
Alice!

He raced past her, his hand still outstretched toward her, and she didn't move. She didn't take his hand. Shit—

Ian!
She lunged for him, and he reached back, his hand clamping around hers just as Ryland reached for her. Ian yanked her forward, and Ryland's hand brushed down her back, his fingers grasping only air.

Ian had no time to prepare her as they careened off the edge of the rock, free-falling a hundred feet into the still-churning ocean. It howled with fury, reaching up for them as they fell. He hauled her toward him, fighting to control their fall as they plummeted down.

Make yourself like an arrow,
he instructed.
We want to go as deep as possible or else Kane will be able to track us.

Deep? In that?
But even as she questioned him, she quickly straightened her body, her hands by her sides, her toes pointed. Ian wrapped his arms around her. He anchored her against his chest, mimicking her pose so that their bodies were pressed together into a single torpedo ready to plunge into the ocean.

The ocean will hide us. It's our only chance.
Even as he said the words, he heard Kane's shout from the rock above, and he knew that Kane would teleport into the water and try to snatch them out of it. Unless he couldn't find them.
Now!

Their feet hit the water, he sucked in his breath, and then violent purple waves consumed them. As they were yanked beneath the surface, Ian was shocked to see dozens of pale white faces appearing around them, like mist in the depths of the ocean. A silent screaming filled his mind, so shrill that Alice hunched over, covering her ears to fight off the pain. The faces swirled in and out, misty arms striking at them, drawing blood with each swipe.

The brands on Ian's arms burned as his weapons strained to be released so he could fight back, but he and Alice were moving too fast through the water. If he loosened his grip on her at all to free his hand for fighting, she would be torn out of his grasp.

So, he simply locked his legs and arms more tightly around her, using his body to shield her from their attackers. As their blades dug into his back, as their screams battered his sanity, as he and Alice plunged further and further into the depths, Ian eschewed six hundred years of training as a warrior and didn't fight back. He didn't defend.

He simply protected the woman in his arms.

* * *

Alice burrowed deeper against Ian, her body bowing under the agony of the piercing screams. Pressure built in her ears, until it felt like they were going to burst. The pain was beyond what she could survive, more than what she'd ever endured from the demons. The water streamed past, feeling like a thousand daggers slicing through her skin.
Ian!

Ian tightened his arms around her, his legs trapping her and drawing her into his body.
I've got you.

She felt his warm strength reaching out to her mind, and she quickly dropped her mental shields, knowing instinctively that she needed his help. His power flooded her mind, coating it with a protective shield. The pain from the screams lessened ever so slightly, blocked by whatever he was doing. Gratefully, she clung to him, to the respite he was offering, accepting the window he'd created to allow her to think, to react, to process.

Still holding tightly to him, Alice lifted her head, then went still with shock when she saw the faces of the Mageaan surrounding them.
Oh my God, Ian. They never show themselves.
Their mouths were open in gaping screams, their lips no more than white mist slashing through the water. Their eyes were bottomless pits of torment. Their souls broken and empty. Their faces contorted in fury and hate and the promise of death.

There were so many of them. Hundreds of them, as far as she could see, filling the ocean with an endless swarm of apparitions. The ones nearby moved closer, slashing at them with short daggers made from what looked like oyster shells. She realized that the stabs of pain on her back weren't from the ocean. It was the Mageaan, trying to kill them.

What are they?
Ian adjusted his grip on her, keeping her tight as they plummeted downward, still moving at a rapid pace.

These are the Mageaan. Welcome to your first sighting of fallen angels, sentenced to eternity beneath the sea.

Damn. I thought angels were the good guys.

Alice thought of Catherine, and she knew that was so far from the truth.
Not so much—
A massive Mageaan, twice the size of the others suddenly streaked across the ocean toward them, a glittery blood-red blade in her hand.
Um, Ian—