Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) (27 page)

Her response was instant.
What’s wrong? Are you okay?

Come in with me.
Even as he made the request, Quinn pulled her into the dream, steeling himself as Elijah’s torment continued to pummel him.

Quinn felt Grace’s presence in his dream immediately, a gentle warmth that put a silver hue on everything. He was distantly aware of her nestling up next to him in the bed, as she reached out to him for an understanding of what she was experiencing.

We’re in Elijah’s body as if we were living what he experienced.
Quinn didn’t have time for a slow intro, because the dream was still progressing.
Is he under an illusion?

There was a sharp stab of pain in Elijah’s neck and he looked up. Nate was standing above him, a dagger at the warrior’s throat.

That’s the man who has Ana!
Grace sounded shocked.

I know. His name is Nate.

Is Ana there?

I haven’t seen her, but we can only see what Elijah notices. She could be right behind him and we wouldn’t notice unless he turned around.

Nate’s eyes were glittering with anger and...amusement? “It pisses me off when people throw things at me,” Nate said, standing over Elijah, who was still down on his knees, gripping his pounding head. “Now, what the hell’s going on with you and Quinn? Did you kill him? Do you hate the bastard or what? Because that’s what I heard was supposed to happen, but all I’m getting from you is a bunch of loyalty for him. What’s the deal?”

There was a sudden assault of hatred in every level of Elijah’s soul, a brutal abhorrence that was pulsing and alive. Quinn was shocked by the intensity of Elijah’s emotions, by the sheer force of his hate. It was nothing like the Elijah he knew.
Grace. What’s going on with him?

Grace quickly turned her focus onto Elijah, taking Quinn with her as she traveled metaphysically through Elijah’s body. At first, there was nothing but a neutral gray, and then they got to his stomach. It was glowing with a deep iridescent orange, nearly pulsating with energy, wrapped around his core so tightly.

That’s an extremely powerful illusion.
Grace probed softly at it.

Can you tell me what the illusion is?

Hatred. True and relentless hatred. For you. I think he’s been fighting it, and he finally succumbed.

Quinn felt like punching the air in victory. Elijah hadn’t betrayed him voluntarily. Not on any level.
That’s what I needed to know.

Elijah reached behind him, pulled something from a strap across his back, and then he held out Quinn’s sword. “Is this what you want?”

Nate couldn’t mask his surprise. “You actually killed him?”

Elijah’s fist closed around the blade of the sword until blood dripped from his palm, then he dropped it with a clatter. “He’s dead.”

Nate’s eyes followed the sword, and so did Elijah’s. They both reacted in surprise when the weapon shimmered and began to fade.

“Shit!” Nate grabbed the weapon off the floor. “You lied! If you harvested his weapon at the moment of death, it wouldn’t fade!”

Quinn felt Elijah’s shock and his staggering relief. “I didn’t kill him.” There was awe in his voice as he fell to his knees, his palms pressing against his eyes. “I didn’t kill him,” he repeated.

“The illusion’s gone,” Grace whispered. “He just broke through it. The news that you survived pulled him through.”

Elijah’s head snapped up and he eyed Nate. Quinn was hit with the new rage building inside Elijah, directed at Nate this time. This was different than the tormented, anguished hate for Quinn. This was the cold, hard anger of a warrior on a mission. “You messed with me.” Elijah’s voice was low, laced with such lethal violence that Quinn knew Elijah wasn’t in control of his rage. He almost sounded...rogue? Shit!

Nate grabbed the bag of weapons and sprinted out the back door.

Elijah stared after him for a long minute, then he stood up, dusted his knees off, and took a quick scan around the bar, not giving chase.

Everyone was staring at him, beers frozen in people’s hands, darts hanging limply from fingertips. He growled, and everyone jerked their gazes off him and pretended not to have been staring.

Elijah searched for another moment, clearly looking for someone.

“I don’t see Ana,” Grace said. “Where is she?”

“Keep watching. Maybe we’ll see what’s going on.” Why hadn’t Elijah gone after Nate immediately? What or who could he be looking for that would be worth losing Nate, especially after Nate had forced him to kill Quinn?

Elijah didn’t find who he was looking for and abandoned the hunt almost immediately. Instead he sprinted after Nate, calling his throwing star out of his right arm as he went into hunting mode.

Quinn felt Elijah gather his thoughts, ratchet down his emotions and retreat into the cold, emotionless state of an Order member before he killed. Nate was going to die.

Elijah threw open the back door and stepped out into the dark night. There was no sign of Nate, so he eased to a stop to ferret out his quarry before taking action.

The night was quiet, the earth making crackling noises as the rain earlier in the day settled into the moist ground, the steady drips as the trees released the raindrops off the tips of their leaves. The scrabble of rodent feet, the hoot of an owl.

There was a scuffle from the left, and Elijah spun in that direction, his throwing star in his palm. Ready.

A woman stumbled into view around the corner of the bar.

Ana!
Grace’s anguish hit Quinn hard as Ana stumbled and went down on her knees. Her legs and arms were bleeding. Her shirt was torn. She had dark hair like Grace’s, but it was tangled around her shoulders, stuck to the blood on the side of her face.

Oh, God.
Grace’s voice was full of horror, and Quinn felt that same sense of disbelieving shock ripple through Elijah when he saw the battered woman.

The warrior didn’t hesitate. He strode immediately to Ana’s side and scooped her up in his arms, even as he kept his throwing star ready. Quinn could feel the trembling of Ana’s body against Elijah’s and he knew Grace could, too. Their minds were so merged that her tears wet his own cheeks, her anger made his own body vibrate.

“No, no, no.” Ana shoved at Elijah’s shoulder, trying to get him to let her go. “Put me down! I’m a trap! You have to run. Save yourself.”

“Screw that.” Elijah tucked her against his left hip to free his right hand. “Who did this?”

“Let me go!” She fought against him, her body twisting in panic. “He’s going to kill you!”

“Let him try.” Elijah tightened his grip around her, holding her snugly against his chest despite her struggles. “Nate did this to you, didn’t he?” There was a calmness in his voice that hadn’t been there before, a clarity to his thoughts, as if touching Ana had grounded him. Before he’d been a violent killer on the edge of rogue, now he was clear, focused and far more deadly.

Ana shook her head and pushed at his shoulder. “No, don’t. He’ll kill you. You have to go!”

“No.” Elijah gently wrestled her until she was pinned against him, his arms bulging with the effort of immobilizing her. “I’m not leaving you behind.”

She froze, staring at him with silver eyes that looked exactly like Grace’s. “But I’m going to kill you,” she whispered. “You have to leave me.”

“No chance.”

Her eyes widened with the realization that Elijah wasn’t going to abandon her, and Quinn saw such hope on her face that his own heart tightened for her. “What’s your name?” Ana whispered.

“Elijah Ross.”

“I’m Ana Matthews—” She suddenly groaned, and sadness filled her bruised face. “Oh, no.”

She’s about to do an illusion.
Grace’s voice whispered through Quinn’s mind.
It’s a dark one.

Ana sagged against Elijah. “It’s coming. I’m so sorry. I can’t stop it.”

“What’s coming?” Elijah tucked Ana closer against him as he raised his star, searching the night for whatever impending threat Ana had sensed.

“An illusion,” she whispered. “I’m what’s going to kill you.”

“An illusion?” Elijah shuddered and lost his grip on Ana. He barely caught her before she hit the ground, his body shaking so hard he could barely pull her back up to his hip. “You’re an
Illusionist
?” There was such anger, such hate and such deep-seated terror in his voice that Ana jerked her head up to look at him.

Her eyes filled with tears at whatever she saw on his face. “Oh, Elijah,” she whispered. “What did my kind do to you?”

But before Elijah could answer, the sky thundered and rain began pouring. Elijah held out his hand, then made a noise of shock when he realized it wasn’t rain.

It was the crimson red of blood. Drenching him. Cascading out of the heavens. Still hot as it ran down his arm.

Elijah cursed and pulled Ana tight against him, trying to shield her with his body, his Calydon instincts forcing him to protect her despite his clear horror at her revelation that she was an Illusionist. His body was shaking, his mind was a blurred mess, and he was talking in an old language Quinn didn’t recognize.

Anger, hatred, terror, violence whirled through Elijah and he staggered even as he tried to wipe the blood off Ana, his hands shaking as he continued to rant in some undecipherable language.

“Stop!” Ana was crying now, her tears mixing with the blood on her face. “For God’s sake, stop helping me! The illusion is a distraction so he can kill you, if I don’t do it first. Please, please, let me go!”

Wetness sloshed around Elijah’s ankles and he looked down at the ground. Quinn felt Elijah’s rising horror when he realized the blood pooled around his feet was rising fast and hard. Certainty rushed through Elijah that he was going to drown, an illusion-triggered response that wasn’t how the real Elijah would react to a threat. His emotions and perception of reality were being manipulated by the illusion, exactly how Quinn had first feared the fire in his house. Difference was, Quinn had shaken it almost instantly. Elijah was getting sucked in with no way out, and his pulse skyrocketed as he hauled Ana higher up on his body, desperately trying to get her to safety instead of trying to protect himself from what he thought was certain death.

Saving her instead of saving himself.

“Let me go.” Ana pulled back and tried to twist out of his grasp again. She accidentally grabbed his throwing star, and the point pierced her skin.

Elijah swore and jerked his weapon back. “Are you all right?”

“Please don’t die for me. I’m not worth it.” Ignoring his question, she grabbed his shoulders, her face desperate. “Run while you can.”

“Nate’s the one who hurt you, isn’t he? If I let you go, he’ll do it again.” Fierce protectiveness angered Elijah’s words and he tightened his grip on her.

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter—”

“It does.” Elijah’s voice was strained, his muscles tense as he spun around and started sprinting through the woods, away from the battle, away from his chance to kill the man who’d manipulated him. He cradled Ana tightly against his chest. “I’m not leaving you behind.”

She pummeled her fists against his shoulder, desperation making her frantic. “It’s a trap,” she said. “I’m just bait so he can hurt you—”

“No, Ana.” He looked down at her, and in his tormented mind was the clarity of a man who knew exactly what he was doing, who knew precisely the choice he was making. “I’m the man who is meant to save you.”

She stared at him, tears filling her silver eyes, as hope gave life to her streaked face. “Okay, Elijah,” she whispered, her voice raw with emotion as she slipped her bruised arms around his neck, a tentative gesture of acceptance and desperate faith. “Thank you—”

There was a flash of movement, and they both looked up as Nate lunged at them, a dagger gleaming in his hand. Ana screamed as Elijah twisted, tucking her against him as he dove to the side, hurling his throwing star at their assailant—

Nate’s blade plunged into Elijah’s throat.
Ana
. Her name tore through Elijah’s anguished mind, and then the dream went black.