The Warlord

by Gena Showalter

  Groaning, Roc pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. He was panting. Wheezing, really.

  I did that. I exhausted the Astra Commander. She wanted to see him. The light...

  “Sleep, Taya.”

  How could she refuse him anything? Even this? “Just gonna take a little nap, okay?” she muttered, finally letting the light carry her away.

  32

  Different emotions swelled inside Roc. At the forefront? Astonishment. This had truly happened? He had truly claimed Taliyah, willingly handing Erebus a weapon to use against him and his men? The harpy had truly fallen asleep atop him, trusting him to keep her safe, accepting him as her beloved consort? She truly glowed as bright as a sun, blazing as he often did, because he had fed her a soul whirring with pleasure and power?

  A smile broke free, pride puffing his chest. Roc had many names, but he thought this one—Consort—might be his favorite.

  To his surprise, he had loved nourishing his phantom. Warming her from the inside. Sharing his strength. Knowing a part of him flowed through her now... Want this every day for the rest of forever.

  He had expected weakness and cold to accompany her suckling—the first true feeding they’d shared. Instead, he’d experienced only delight, feeling as if she'd caressed every inch of him at once. Nothing at all like a typical phantom meal. Because of her parentage? Or had Erebus and his brother engineered other phantoms to consume souls sloppily, just to cause Astra more aggravation?

  Hate him. The male had to die, and stay dead. Soon! The curse needed to be circumvented. Roc must save this woman. This contentment wasn’t something he could give up. No wonder Solar had fought so hard to rescue his own gravita.

  Roc hugged Taliyah close. Worth dying for.

  He rubbed the spot over his heart and peered up at the ceiling, a strange desire surfacing. He thought he might want to show Taliyah what he’d done to Solar. She had trusted him with her secrets, and he’d only wanted her more. Shouldn’t he have the courage to trust her with his secrets?

  That was what family did. They exchanged secrets and offered support.

  Family. The word echoed in his mind, and he fisted his hands. Chaos owed him answers. Owed Taliyah. Why had the man not protected his precious granddaughter?

  Though his heartbeat had yet to slow, Roc kissed Taliyah’s smooth brow and rose from the bed. Did a grin hover at the edge of her mouth?

  He grinned in turn as he strode into the bathroom to clean up. When he finished, he gathered the things he required for his wife, then cleaned her up, as well. Though he had much to do, he couldn’t resist crawling under the covers and curling around her once more. She nuzzled closer, sinking her claws into his chest to keep him in place.

  His snarpy wanted what she wanted when she wanted it. No woman more perfect.

  Some men thought they had the best wife. Those men were wrong. No one had a better wife than Roc. He had the unstoppable Taliyah, who never gave up. Even her surrender to him came with demands.

  As he sifted his fingers through the silk of her hair, he halfway expected his men to interrupt, telling him of a new phantom sighting. A new message. Had Erebus foreseen this bedding? Did the god know he was soon to receive a new weapon?

  Let him have it.

  Taliyah had gifted Roc with her body, her future—her heart?—and there was no greater prize. He’d given up his place as Commander of the Astra for her, and he had no regrets. He would give up a thousand ranks for a moment like this.

  The brand on his nape heated, and Roc stiffened. A royal summons now, just when he cradled a sated, naked gravita against him? After ten days of making inquiries and receiving silence? A curse exploded through his head.

  For the first time in his life, he resisted the pull. The burn agonized, but he didn’t care. He stood and shoved his legs into a pair of leathers, then informed Halo of his upcoming absence.

  —Guard her.—The command allowed no argument.

  Sounding mildly offended, Halo replied, —I will die before I allow her harm before the ceremony, Commander.—

  The warlord still watched the palace from the wall, and no matter what he thought of Taliyah, he would protect her until the day of the ceremony. Anything for the blessing.

  Mired in resentment, tasks completed, Roc ceased fighting, letting Chaos’s power tug him through the realms. When he came to a stop, he found himself ensconced inside a throne room. One he’d never before visited. Gold...everywhere, from the ceiling to the floors and every wall in between. Chaos perched atop a golden seat, draped in a black robe.

  Roc forced himself to bow his head.

  Chaos didn’t speak. Testing his loyalty? Roc waited him out, the minutes ticking away.

  Finally, a greeting came. “You come with many troubles. Mostly, you are disappointed in me.”

  Yes! “Taliyah Skyhawk is your granddaughter.”

  A dark brow lifted. “This isn’t news to me.”

  Accusations detonated inside him, fury gaining new ground. “You let me wed her. You knew she belonged to your family line, that she fell under your authority and protection, and you did nothing to save her. Why?”

  Roc comprehended he wasn’t to question someone of higher rank. He let the question stand, regardless. If he received punishment for his actions, so be it.

  Silent, never looking away, the god waved two fingers. Within seconds, Aurora and Twila flashed onto the dais while already in motion, appearing from thin air. They took up posts beside the throne, both sisters wearing worried expressions and flowing gowns.

  If Chaos hurt them...

  “We spoke of this.” The god reclined into a more comfortable position, casual and at ease. Except for his gaze. His gaze leveled Roc. “When questioned about choosing your gravita—your family—over your men, you chose your men. You did that, not I.”

  Guilt sliced him to ribbons. “I did, yes. But I’m not that man anymore.” Taliyah had changed him. “You were and are and will always be her grandfather.”

  “Yes.” A nod. Chaos said nothing else.

  “Is there a way to stop this?” Desperation plucked the words out of his mouth. “Is there a way to save Taliyah as well as my men?”

  “What’s done is done and can’t be undone. You know this. If she dies, she will never return. If she lives, your men die.”

  No. There must be a way around this. “Let me take her place.”

  “Solar once issued the same request. I’ll tell you what I told him. You may die in her place, if you wish, but your men will be cursed.”

  Frustration boiled over. “Release me from this! The blessing has become my curse.”

  “You think I’m the one binding you to it. Did I walk through the door. Did I allow years to grind on without change. Did I fail to ascend before this moment.”

  Every question was disguised as a statement, and every statement stabbed him with an invisible knife. “I can’t let her go. I can’t hurt my men.”

  “Yet you must do one or the other.”

  Unless he ascended. Which he couldn’t do until he presented an acceptable sacrifice. But how was he supposed to kill someone he...cherished? The very key to his happiness?

  “Ah. Now you see the crux of your dilemma. You’ve never truly offered a sacrifice before. You created the appearance of giving without actually giving. While you killed the others, you never hurt afterward. To ascend, you must hurt like never before—and overcome it. With pain comes weakness or power. The choice is yours.”

  “And you?” he demanded. “Will you hurt if she dies? If your Astra do?”

  Chaos canted his head, his expression unchanging. “Never doubt that I love you.” He used the same unyielding intonation to gift this tender truth as he’d used to wound with the heart-wrenching ones.

  “Help me save her.” His chest cracked wide open. No more fiss
ures—no more shields. Hurt like never before? Already there. “Love without action means nothing.”

  A heavy pause, tension thick. “We must all make sacrifices, Roc.”

  The words reverberated in the space between them, a new truth crystallizing, upending everything Roc had come to believe and admire about this man. He stumbled back. “You seek your own ascension.”

  Disappointment glittered in the god’s dark eyes. “If you are not gaining power, you are losing it. I taught you this. Yes, I seek another ascension. Something you should have realized long before now.”

  Betrayal gutted him, the blow nearly knocking him off his feet. “I’m to be your sacrifice.”

  “In part. I will lose you or I will lose the harpy.”

  “Will you hurt?” he snarled. Roc didn’t think about his next actions. He strode forward. No, he ran. He sprinted across the throne room. Blood would flow.

  “Don’t,” Twila called.

  Roc hadn’t heard her voice in so long, he skidded to a halt, his gaze shooting to her slight form. The petite beauty who looked so much like Ian projected abject sadness—the same sadness he remembered seeing in her eyes the night their parents had sold her.

  A tear slicked down her cheek, razing what remained of his calm. “You are embroiled in one war right now, brother. Don’t start another.”

  Aurora stepped forward. “The bride I met doesn’t need you to save her. She needs you to love her. So go. Love her while you can.”

  While he could? Roc refocused on Chaos and took another step forward, only to lose sight of the throne room as he fell into another realm, then another and another, returning to Taliyah...to defeat?

  * * *

  Bad dreams sneaked up on Taliyah. At first, she floated in the light. But all too soon, darkness came. Though she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, she knew she stood in the midst of an army, one of thousands, pressed in from every side. Screams, so many screams. The same screams she heard when she removed her ring, and they sprang from the women crowding around her...women who made not a sound. The incongruity of it all confused her.

  What am I seeing? What is this?

  Whoever they were, they needed her help. Their desperation felt like acid on her skin.

  “I’m here, Taya. I’m here. I won’t leave you again. Rest easy. You’re safe.”

  Safe...yes. Roc’s voice chased away the darkness. The light returned, and Taliyah sighed, slipping away...

  Minutes or hours or days later, she roused. Consciousness came slowly as she stretched, waking from the most amazing slumber of her life. She was all set to bask in it, and the incredible power flowing through her veins, when she detected a thrum of aggression. A vibration along her bones.

  Remembering her nightmare, she came up swinging, heart pounding, gaze darting, seeing little. She noticed enough to realize she occupied the master bedroom. Where was that light coming from?

  Frowning, she scanned herself. Okay. Oh, wow! The light came from her. Her skin emitted a soft glow. But...was a threat nearby?

  Another scan. “Roc?”

  “I’m here.” He sat in a chair by the dying hearth, and the sight of him nearly broke her brain.

  He wore a shirt and a pair of leathers but no boots, and he looked devastated, as if everyone he’d ever loved had died at once. What had happened while she’d slept?

  Taliyah leaped across the room, throwing herself against him. “What’s wrong? Tell me!”

  He kept his head bowed as he coiled his arms around her. Her big, powerful Astra was trembling.

  Panic surged. “Roc? Start talking before I start throwing fists.”

  “I can’t lose you.” His narrowed gaze jerked up, landing on her. “I won’t lose you.”

  Fear of losing her had reduced him to this? The realization eased some of her apprehension. “You won’t lose me, baby. There’s a way out of our predicament, I know it.” She’d just found him, had just altered the course of her life for him, and she wasn’t willing to lose him, either. “Maybe you can kill me without ashing me, fulfilling the sacrifice, and I’ll revive. Maybe Chaos knows a way? Let’s not dread anything until you’ve had your meeting with him.”

  “No,” he croaked with a shake of his head. “Chaos won’t help us.”

  Ohhh. He’d had the meeting, and it hadn’t ended well. Well, Pawpaw Chaos could choke on hairy balls.

  Roc reached out to clasp the edge of a blanket draping the top of the chair. He drew the material around her and settled in with his arms wrapped around her. As she melted into him, resting her head upon his shoulder, different parts of her body ached, reminding her of everything they’d done.

  After thousands of years, Taliyah Skyhawk had given up her V-card. To her husband and consort, no less. She had no regrets. Her satisfaction remained.

  “Tell me what happened with Chaos,” she requested. Morning sunlight poured through a crack in the curtains, and she barely stifled a groan. A new day meant a new check on their thirty-day calendar.

  Only thirteen days remained.

  “He...betrayed me,” Roc croaked. “He betrayed us both. We are to be his sacrifice, so he may ascend.”

  She cringed. “Roc, I’m sorry for this. I am.” Did her grandfather’s betrayal suck for her? Yeah. Of course. But she’d never met the man. He’d exhibited no real interest in her, and that was his loss. But this really sucked for Roc. He’d loved and admired Chaos.

  “I thought he cared for us. All the while, he did to us what I did to my brides. I am reaping everything I sowed.” Bitterness laced his tone. “How do I fix this, Taliyah? I’ve racked my mind to no avail.”

  Well. No need to stone and ash her. His anguish was killing her quite nicely. “We’re going to overcome, Roc. We’re going to make him pay. And we’re going to have a good life together. I’ll allow nothing less.”

  He tightened his hold on her. “How can you want a life with the man who once planned to kill you?”

  “For starters, I have yet to meet a man who doesn’t want to kill me.”

  A strangled laugh. A sharp inhalation of breath, as if he couldn’t believe he’d found humor in the situation, even for a moment. “I want to show you the alevala. The one I remove.” The torment he projected...the grief. “You haven’t seen the lengths I’ve gone to ensure we receive the blessing, and you should. Today, you will learn about the man you’re fighting for. If you decide he’s not worth the effort, I...will understand. Just give me a chance to change your mind. Please.”

  Taliyah jolted. Please? He’d actually asked nicely for something outside of sexual gratification? She gulped and cupped his bearded cheeks. “Baby, I know you’ve had a rough day and all, but this poor-me attitude gets two thumbs down. You buck up, and you buck up now. I chose you as my consort for a reason. There’s nothing in your past that will change my mind. You’re worth every effort, I promise you. Okay?”

  He gazed at her with haunted eyes. “Look, then. See.”

  She wanted to...and she kind of dreaded to, but she clasped the hem of his shirt and lifted, baring his chest to her view...

  Out of habit, he covered the area with his palm. He realized what he’d done, however, and fisted his hand. Slowly, he lowered his arm and gripped the arm of the chair.

  Taliyah strove for an encouraging expression as she studied the area. No longer a blank canvas or dotted with the beginnings of an image. The alevala writhed in all its horrifying beauty.

  An expected spike of dizziness, a shroud falling over her mind. A memory weaving into her thoughts, taking shape... Here we go...

  Roc stands before a lovely woman with hair as black as night, skin a magnificent shade of umber and eyes a rich brown. A sheer white dress billows from her slight form. An exact replica of what the Amazon wore in the first vision. A vision Taliyah had seen from Roc’s point of view. This time, she was r
emoved from him and purely a spectator. Did he feel that way, when he thought of this moment?

  “Please don’t do this,” the woman cries, clutching her belly. The altar blocks her escape, the usual crowd in attendance. The man in the black robe, a smiling Erebus and an army of motionless phantoms wearing widow’s weeds. “I’ve done nothing but love him.”

  Taliyah almost felt the frigid bite of wind past, almost scented the array of roses blooming from surrounding shrubs. They occupied a garden similar to the one in Harpina, with four full moons twining eerie pink light with gray shadows.

  “We won’t lose our Commander because of you,” Roc bellows.

  Beyond them, pained grunts and groans mixed with broken cries—war’s melody.

  Taliyah scanned the scene. There. Eighteen other Astra battled a single male. She recognized the four she’d seen with Roc, plus three she’d spotted in the crystal. The others were new. They fought a madman willing to strike anyone in his path. Rage and desperation accompanied his every blow.

  This was combat at its most brutal. Brother against brother. Swords and other weapons swung. Flesh ripped. Limbs got hacked, while organs were sliced and diced. Blood arced through the air, creating ribbons of crimson.

  Some of the warlords glowed, reminding her of stars. Others possessed iridescent rings around their bodies. Weapons? A type of armor? Two warlords blazed with literal flames, while a few spewed blue-tinged ice from their fingers. The rest cloaked themselves in some kind of thick cloud.

  “Solar,” someone calls to the one fighting so fervently. “Stop this!”

  He—Solar—screams, “Don’t touch her, Roc! She’s mine. Do you hear me? Don’t touch her!”

  A warrior pivots into Solar, blocking his view of the bride. He sinks his teeth into the male’s throat, shakes his head and wrenches back, taking the jugular with him. As his opponent drops, he spits out his bounty.

  Taliyah pressed a hand to her churning stomach. She’d witnessed countless horrors on the battlefield before, had participated numerous times, but this...