Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) (39 page)
Read Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) Online
Authors: Stephanie Rowe
Several hours later, Quinn paused as he approached the gathering at the campfire, appreciating the sight of Grace huddled up with his team. It looked....right. They’d spent the last several hours searching the Internet for any information on Nate, or how to bring down Ezekiel’s walls, and they’d come up with nothing.
Nothing
.
Kane had teleported back from Ezekiel’s prison, confirming what they had already assumed, that the walls were indeed weakening. He and Ian hadn’t been able to find any reason for it, but he’d left Ian there to keep searching while he came back to report.
Zach had woken up, still under the illusion, and the Order had made themselves scarce until Gabe had hustled him off to get Drew. Gabe had checked in several times to let them know things were proceeding and they’d found the kid and the uncle.
But since then, there’d been no contact, and Gabe hadn’t responded to Quinn’s attempts to contact him. It had only been an hour, but it was long enough that Quinn was starting to get edgy.
As soon as Ryland finished relaying what he’d learned from Dante’s
mjui
, Quinn was going to pack up the team and head out after Drew if they hadn’t made contact with Gabe by then.
Grace was sitting by herself on one of the logs, so Quinn slipped in behind her, so his legs went on either side of hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, needing to feel her body against his. Needing her to rebuild his foundation before they went to war.
This morning, in the woods, Grace had given him sanity and humanity when he’d needed it most. She’d embraced him, given him all that she had and was, and her gift had branded him deep inside. She’d given him life, on her own, not because of any metaphysical bond driving them into each other’s arms and bodies.
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, and smiled when she set her hand on his thigh. Thano raised his eyebrows at them, but Quinn didn’t move away. Grace was his, and he wasn’t in the mood to hide it. His team would just have to accept that she made all of them stronger.
Ryland stood up, pacing restlessly, more on edge than Quinn had ever seen him. The warrior was already close to rogue. How close were they to losing him now? “I finished reading Dante’s
mjui,”
Ryland said. “Three Calydon and a woman approached the fishing shack. The short one walked up to Dante, and Dante greeted him by name, calling him Nate.”
Well, that was interesting. Quinn rested his chin on Grace’s shoulder while he considered that bit of information. “Dante knew Nate?” If so, there had to be information about Nate available somewhere. They just had to find it.
He laughed softly, thinking of the one person who they needed right now: the pain-in-the-ass self-proclaimed Calydon expert, Professor Lily Davenport. She’d gone underground a couple years ago, and they’d all been relieved to have the internationally known speaker off the radar. But shit, they could use her now. She could probably answer a lot of questions that they used to rely on Dante for.
Hell. Maybe they should try to track her down.
Ryland nodded. “Seemed as if Dante had invited Nate to come. Dante wanted to know what Nate knew about Ezekiel’s prison.”
Kane narrowed his eyes. “Why would he suspect Nate was involved? Who the hell is this guy?” He looked at Quinn for an answer, but Quinn had none.
“Nate said he’d found the tablet,” Ryland said.
“What tablet?” Thano asked.
Ryland shrugged. “Dante knew what he was talking about, though, and he demanded Nate give it to him. He was furious Nate would even mess with it. I’ve never seen him lose his cool like that.”
Quinn rubbed his jaw in Grace’s hair. “Did he get the tablet from Nate?”
“Nope. Nate didn’t even flinch,” Ryland said. “He invited Dante to join him, to give his weapons voluntarily so that Ezekiel could harvest his power and bring down the walls. After making the offer, he simply waited, as if he knew Dante would say yes.”
“An illusion,” Grace said. “He was trying to put an illusion on Dante to make him agree.”
Kane stood up, switching his flail restlessly from side to side, his scars vivid in the afternoon sun. “Dante’s too powerful to be affected by an illusion. He’d never betray us. Ever.”
“He didn’t,” Ryland said. “He told Nate to walk away while he still had the chance, said he was a fool to be messing with the tablet and Ezekiel.” Ryland looked around at the team, his body rigid as his voice leveled, going carefully devoid of emotion. “Then there was this hellacious screaming like millions of innocents were being tortured. Dante stumbled. Nate went for the kill, so Dante struck first and threw his weapons at Nate. The other two Calydons took the hits for Nate. Before Dante could recall his weapons, Nate got the killing blow in while Dante was still reeling from the screams.”
Kane spun to face him, his eyes haunted, his scars standing out on his body. “Dante really died? You saw his death?”
Ryland nodded. “Hell, yeah. I saw it. I lived it with him.” His jaw hardened. “He’s gone.”
Kane threw back his head and let out a visceral howl of anguish. Grace dug her fingers into Quinn’s thighs, and she started to rise, to go to Kane.
But before she could get to her feet, Ryland set his hands on Kane’s scarred shoulders and gripped him. Kane cut off his howl and jerked his head down to look at Ryland. For a moment, there was silence, then Kane dropped his head so his forehead was pressed against Ryland’s.
Both men closed their eyes, and simply stood there in silence.
No one else moved or even breathed while the two warriors, the ones who owed their lives and their sanity to Dante most deeply, faced the brutal truth of their mentor’s death. Quinn met Gideon’s gaze, and he knew they were both remembering Elijah. Grace entwined her fingers with his and squeezed. He didn’t let her go.
Finally, Kane lifted his head, and Ryland did the same. Their gazes met for a long moment, then Kane gave a slight nod, and Ryland thudded his shoulder once, then dropped his hands and turned back to the group and continued his story as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “As Dante died, he looked right at Nate and laughed. He said Nate would fail because he couldn’t get Dante’s weapons. He said the Order would hunt him down before he ever got another chance.”
“Damn right, we will.” Kane’s fist was bunched around the handle of his flail. “He’s mine.”
Quinn thought about what Ryland had said. “Nate couldn’t get Dante’s weapons because Dante used them to kill the Calydons and hadn’t called them back before Nate killed him, so there were no weapons in his arms for Nate to harvest. Dante did that on purpose.”
“Hell, Quinn. We’re up to our eyeballs in shit, we’ve got no idea what the hell’s going on, and the only one who would know is dead.” Gideon stood up, kicking aside the ashes from their fire.
Quinn surveyed the group. “Calydon weapons are being stolen, and it has something to do with why Ezekiel’s walls are falling. I bet Nate wants Drew because his weapons would have the same powers as Dante’s, since Dante is his father.”
“But why Dante? Why you? Why not the rest of us?” Ryland asked. “What’s the difference?”
Quinn frowned, and then he looked at Gideon. “The trainee that was killed at my house. You read his tag, right?”
Gideon nodded. “Yeah. Alex Drachman. Weapon was a spiked club. Lineage was—” His eyes widened. “Oh,
hell
.”
Quinn punched his fist into his hand. “That’s
it
.” Triumph coursed through him as he swung back to the team. “It’s the original twenty-one.”
Thano whistled softly. “You mean, the twenty-one men who teamed up with Caleb to take down Ezekiel two thousand years ago? The ones that made up the original Order?”
“Yeah. I’m a direct descendent from them. So were Dante and his son. And so was the trainee whose weapon he stole.” Quinn was psyched. He knew he was right. His instincts were vibrating, telling him he’d nailed it. “The stories talk of the ritual that bound Ezekiel in the prison. The legend is that it required a weapon donated from each of the twenty-one men who took him down. I’ll bet Nate wants to reverse that ritual, and he needs the same weapons as before. All of the originals are dead, so the next best thing is the direct descendants.”
There was a rustle among the men, a rumble of satisfaction that they were moving forward. “And the tablet?” Ryland asked. “Instructions on how to do it?”
“Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Hang on.” Gideon paused. “You’re the only one whose weapon he took that is still alive. Does that matter?”
Quinn frowned. “Nate wanted Dante to donate his weapons voluntarily so Dante would be alive when Nate used them to free Ezekiel. It was Dante’s being alive that was key.” Their gazes met. “Nate will use my power instead, since I’m still alive.”
Ryland rose to his feet. “The Order was created originally to protect the innocents from Ezekiel. That’s our number one priority.” His machete snapped out of his arm and into his palm. “We can’t let him use Quinn’s power to free Ezekiel.”
“I agree.” Quinn swung his leg off the log and stood up. “Our goal is still to find Nate and kill him, and get my sword back. But now we also need to find the tablet, whatever it is, and retrieving my weapon is of high priority. But if that fails and Nate gets away with my weapon and the tablet....” He looked around. “You have to take me out. We can’t afford to have him use my weapon to free Ezekiel.”
Grace’s shock hit Quinn like a sword in his gut.
No
. Her words were sharp with fury.
Don’t you dare sacrifice yourself.
He was startled by depth of pain in her beautiful eyes.
It has to be this way. It’s part of my oath.
But that’s ridiculous! Killing each other isn’t some moral sacrifice. It’s just insanity. What is wrong with you?
Surprise coursed through Quinn at her intense reaction, at her anguish. He wasn’t sure how to respond. It was automatic, the willingness of Order members to sacrifice themselves if necessary. No one would ever care about him more than their goal, not enough to try to stop him.
Grace—
“Quinn.” Gideon interrupted their conversation as he set his hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “I’ll wield the blade.”
Quinn met Gideon’s gaze. “I’ll look into your eyes at death.” It was a promise they’d made a thousand times, and he hadn’t really given a shit at the time. What the hell was the point? That was his life. He was a walking testament to the brutality of the Order, with his uncle’s blood on his hands.
But now, as his gaze slithered across the fire toward Grace, and he saw her tormented expression, his first thought wasn’t about doing his job. It was a raw fear about what would happen to Grace if he was killed. Who would protect her? Who would help her find Ana? Who would keep her from having to face all her burdens alone?
Shit. He shouldn’t be thinking like that. He should be focused on his mission.
But he damn well couldn’t.
Ryland lingered at the edge of the fire. “I’ll back up Gideon if he can’t pull it off.” His eyes flickered with bottomless torment. “I can do it no problem.”
“Stop it!” Grace jumped to her feet. “Are you guys serious? You’ll just knock off one of your own without another thought? How can you do that?”
Gideon’s expression was stoic from years of practice shutting down his emotions. “It’s not without thought, and it’s not without a great deal of pain. We’ll do everything not to get to that point. But we do what we must. We protect innocents from rogue Calydons at all costs, and Ezekiel is the greatest threat there is to innocents. To all of us.”
“You do ‘what you must?’ What kind of crap is
that
? Try standing up for those you care about, for God’s sake! How can you sleep at night, knowing that you killed one of your own?” She shoved at Gideon’s chest as Quinn slipped his arms around her and pulled her back against him, bracing himself against her blows.
“It’s who we are,
sheva
,” Quinn said, but the words felt foreign to him. They pissed him off in fact. Why the hell did this have to be the Order’s mode of operation? Killing everyone first instead of looking for answers? Grace’s questions made sense to him, and they shouldn’t.
He couldn’t afford to be thinking like this. He needed to be focused. He knew that containing Ezekiel was of utmost importance. He
knew
that.
“It’s
crap!”
Grace wrenched herself out of his grasp and he let her go. Her eyes were haunted with pain that jabbed Quinn deep inside. “I felt your grief when Elijah died and I know you care about each other and about living. And yet you’ll roll over and die? Admit you failed, give up, and take the death blow instead of fighting?”
Quinn ground his jaw. “It’s not failure if we defeat Ezekiel. It’s success.”
Her mouth dropped open for a split second before she recovered. “You’re telling me that by allowing Gideon to kill you, you come out the grand winner?”
There was a time when that statement would have made sense to Quinn. When all his boundaries were clear and simple. But now, looking into her silver eyes, glistening with the pain of his betrayal, he didn’t know anymore. “We do what we have to do. You’ll do it for your sister, and I’ll do it to save the damn earth if I have to.” He caught her arm as she tried to whirl away. “But hear me out. I’ll do everything in my power to make this shit go down right and to walk away standing, but if it comes down it, I’ll make the choice I have to make. “
Grace shook her head. “I don’t understand you. I don’t understand how you guys can murder people you love, no matter what the reason.”
Quinn swore. “Grace—”
“That love making session we just had was a lie, wasn’t it?” Her face was filled with hurt and the grim reality of who he was. “It wasn’t about you and me. All that intimacy was because of the bond. It wasn’t real, because you don’t have the ability to really care about me or anyone else, do you?”
She was wrong. He knew she was. He’d felt a connection that had nothing to do with the bond. “It was real, Grace. It couldn’t have been magically constructed, not something that intense.”
“Of course it was, because you wouldn’t let yourself connect like that on your own.” She flung her hand toward the rest of the group. “That’s why no one can break that
sheva
bond! Because you guys spend so much energy on doing your duty that you forget that the source of all your power comes from inside your heart! Damn all of you and your arrogance! Of course we’re going to fail. You’re all so damn tough that you won’t succeed.” She shoved past Ryland and Gideon, punching their shoulders to get them out of her way.
They both stepped aside and let her go.
Then the warriors looked at Quinn, waiting to see if he was going to go after her.
“This is good,” Ryland said. “Distance between the two of you is safer.”
Quinn gritted his jaw as Grace stopped at the edge of the trees, her hands over her face and her shoulders shaking. He knew she was giving him one last chance to make it right. To step up and say screw duty, he was going with his gut, which would mean claiming his right to live, hanging on to her, and charging into battle like an adrenaline-charged lunatic.
Hell, yeah, that sounded good right now—
Quinn.
Gabe interrupted his thoughts with his swift interjection.
Where the hell have you been?
Quinn turned away from Grace, focusing his attention on Gabe.
I was ready to come down there after you.
We ran into problems with the uncle. Sorry, mate, but I think he’s down for the count. I did what I could, but I couldn’t stop Zach from eliminating him without arousing his suspicions.
Grace’s shoulders stiffened, and Quinn realized she was hearing the conversation. He knew what she was thinking: another asinine and callous sacrifice for the greater good.
Quinn understood her point. He was well aware of the magnitude of the loss of Vaughn. He was a hell of a man, honorable and tough… Hell. Quinn couldn’t afford to think like that. He had to be ready to do what he needed to do. Grace was wrong. Their ability to shut down their emotions was what made them powerful warriors.
We’ll check on Vaughn as soon as we can. Did Nate contact Zach?
Grace’s disgust was evident in the look she gave him, and Quinn forced himself not to respond to her. He had to stay focused.
I didn’t notice any contact between them, but Zach appears to know where he wants us to take the kid. We’re on our way now.
Quinn’s adrenaline kicked on. This was it. It was time.
Where to?
The Gun Rack, where Nate killed Elijah. Must bring back good memories for the bastard. The delivery is set for eleven tonight. Can you get there first?
We’re leaving now. We’ll pick up Ian from Ezekiel’s prison and beat you there.
They cut off their connection, and Quinn repeated the conversation to his men “Kane, can you teleport all of us at once?”
