“Why?” Sophie whispered. “Why didn’t you use it? Or tell Lucien?”
“Because Lucien is a scourge that almost destroyed the demon kingdom. Unleashing him upon the earth realm would be the end of existence.” Rikker’s fist closed over the pendant. “Keeping the stone to myself was the only way to protect the earth realm.”
Maria’s jaw dropped as she stared at him. “I don’t understand. You don’t want the demons to cross over?”
“You’re him,” Damon said suddenly. “You’re the one who was left behind. It’s true, then. The rumors are true.”
Rikker looked past her at Damon and nodded. “I’m the one.”
“The one who was left behind? What are you talking about?” Maria looked between her brother and Rikker, and suddenly she knew. “You were left here by the woman who created the curse, weren’t you? It’s your job to make sure the stone is never found. You’re the protector of the earth realm.”
“I am.” Rikker was looking at Sophie now, his gaze once again wrought with pain, before he schooled his features into a cool mask. He looked back at Maria. “I am bound here to this stone for eternity. It is my job to protect it, and I can do that best as the leader of the demon realm. Let me defeat you, Maria, and I will open the barrier so you and your team can get through. Then it will be sealed forever.”
Maria’s heart started pounding so hard she could barely think. “I can leave? We can leave? What about Damon?”
Rikker’s gaze flicked to her brother. “He’s a full demon. No demon can be allowed to leave. Ever.”
Maria looked back at her brother, and her heart tightened. “I won’t leave without him.”
“No.” Damon spoke up. “I won’t let you stay for me.” He turned toward her. “You have a chance for a real life outside of here,” he said, taking her hands. “Take it. Gabe’s worthy of you. You deserve him. The earth realm needs you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I won’t leave you—”
“Leave me.” Damon brushed a finger over her cheek, wiping away the tears. “I’ve never seen my strong sister cry,” he said softly. “Emotion looks beautiful on you.”
Maria wiped the back of her hand across her cheek, her heart breaking. “I can’t leave—”
“I’ll send all the women with you,” Rikker said.
“And if the demons pull anyone else over in the future, you’ll send them back?” Sophie added. “If not, Maria will return and claim her place. You have to protect the women, Rikker.”
He met Sophie’s gaze. “For you, Sophie, anything.” His voice was soft, a heartbroken caress across her cheek, and Maria knew then that she was right. Rikker had fallen in love with Sophie. “I’m sorry I lost it that day when I heard Lucien had touched you. I was absolutely fucking terrified for your safety, and I didn’t know how else to protect you.” He went down on one knee and bowed his head. “Forgive me.”
Sophie looked at Maria, then back at Rikker. “I forgive you,” she said softly, “if you promise to protect the women.”
He looked up. “I promise.”
Sophie looked at Maria, her eyes bright with tears. “That’s it then. No reason for us to stay. It’s time to go, Maria.”
Maria looked at her brother, standing there so silently. “I can’t—”
“You can’t stay in this hellhole for me,” he said. “Come on. I’ll give you a ride.” He shifted into dragon form, offering himself to her for one final flight.
Maria looked at Gabe, who was standing beside her. I can’t leave him, Gabe. He’s my family.
I know. He wasn’t looking at her.
Something in his tone caught her attention, and she looked at him more sharply. What are you thinking?
You know what I’m thinking. He cut her off then, and she knew it was so none of the other Calydons could hear their conversation. Her heart began to pound. Was he really thinking of smuggling her brother across the border? It was impossible. The Order was founded to fight the very thing that Damon was. How could Gabe go against it for her? For her brother? He wouldn’t really…would he? Gabe?
But he wasn’t looking at her. “Is Dante Sinclair’s body in the Graveyard of the Damned?” he asked.
Rikker looked at him. “Yes.”
Every member of the Order of the Blade went still, their bodies rigid. She could feel the tension pouring through them, the shocked disbelief.
“Can we take it home with us?”
Rikker frowned. “I don’t know how you would move it—”
“I can move it,” Vlad interrupted. “I can do it.”
The mountain shook suddenly, and they all looked up at it. Steam was rising from the top, golden steam. “He’ll break through soon,” Rikker said. “You guys need to be gone before then so I can deal with him. We’ll stop by the Graveyard on the way.” He snapped his fingers, and several of the demon army stood up and shifted into winged dragon beasts.
Maria gaped at them, shocked by the extent of Rikker’s control over them. “Why are they obeying you?”
“Because I was Lucien’s second in command, and now they believe I’m yours. Whatever command I give, they assume it comes from you, since you’re standing here.” He looked at her. “You’re a hell of a lot easier to deal with than he is.”
Maria managed a smile. “You know, if you’d come clean a few centuries ago, we could have defeated him.”
“No.” Rikker looked at the rest of the Order. “We needed everyone. This was our only opportunity.” The mountain shook again, and he nodded at the dragons waiting. “Let’s go.”
Maria glanced at Gabe, who nodded. Silently, she hopped up onto her brother’s back, and he did the same. Sophie and Vlad also joined them, and the others spread out between Ryland, and the other demons. Thano, as before, rode solo on Apollo, the two of them moving with such grace it was as if they were a single unit, instead of horse and rider.
Within moments, they were all airborne, soaring high above the land that had been her home since she had first come into creation, the only living child of a demon and human woman who had been dragged across the barrier.
She belonged here…and she also belonged in the earth realm…with the man she loved, and her best friend.
Gabe wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, as she surveyed the barren, blackened landscape that was all she knew. I’m scared to leave. Sad, too.
I know. But we’ll come back.
She twisted around to look at him. How? Lucien will be out and he’ll—
Rikker will need our help sometimes, and we’ll come. He squeezed her arms more tightly. “There are more people for you to save, sweetheart. The ones here are safe now. There are others who need you.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “Including me.”
She smiled and leaned back against his chest. “I need you, too.” And Damon.
He said nothing, but he squeezed her more tightly around the waist. She bit her lower lip, knowing that Damon would refuse to cross, and Rikker would refuse to let him go. But how could she leave Damon behind to be targeted by Lucien when he got out? He wouldn’t stop until Damon was dead, and no one would be able to stop him. Rikker would have more power than Lucien, once he became king, and he would control the demon army, but she had no doubt that Lucien wouldn’t stop until he destroyed Damon, who wouldn’t have the protection of being king.
Ryland pulled up beside them, Rikker on his back. The demon pointed down below, to a sea of black rocks. “Dante’s body is in there.” The mountain they’d just left behind rumbled, and he looked over his shoulder. “You have two minutes, and then you’re out of time.”
Damon dove straight down toward the rocks, the other Order members right behind him. The moment Damon landed, Gabe was off his back, his entire body tense.
This was it, Maria realized. She looked at the man she loved, and realized that she was hoping with all her heart that he got what he’d come for—
He looked at her then, and smiled.
I already got what I came for, sweetheart. You.
Her heart tightened, and she smiled. You’ve gotten soft, warrior.
I know. It’s exactly how it should be.
And she could tell he meant it. Her warrior had become soft for her, and he wouldn’t want it any other way. She felt the same way, about him, and about herself. He’d given her softness, and she would always love him for that.
Always.
Vlad felt the tension of the Order members as he stepped down off Damon. They were on edge. Their weapons were sheathed, but their energy was pulsing as they waited. He recognized all of them except for Rohan and his team, and a new Calydon named Levi, from the time in the Oregon high desert when he’d done his best to destroy all they stood for, including their leader…the same leader he was going to retrieve for them now.
Rikker strode over to a spot in the rocks, and Sophie knelt down. Vlad couldn’t help but smile as she put her hands on the rocks without hesitation. In that cavern, fighting for the lives of those she loved, she’d found her strength. He knew she would never live in fear again, and never rely on anyone to be her strength…and that was the way it should be. They were equals now, and he knew that when they returned to the earth realm, they would find a future together to make a difference, taking down bad guys or helping those in need, in whatever form they found them.
His heart turned over, and he knew that she’d helped him find himself, and what he was meant for.
“Here?” Sophie pressed her hands on the stone. “Vlad? Can you feel him?”
Vlad made his way across the stone, aware of the gaze of every Order member on him. He crouched beside Sophie. “I love you, Sophie.”
She looked at him, her face softening into a beautiful smile. “I love you too, Vlad. Thanks for coming to get me.”
He grinned. “My pleasure.”
“One minute,” Rikker snapped, his voice taut as he moved away from them.
Vlad’s smile faded, and he held out his hand over the rock, reaching through the layers for living matter. Since Dante had been of demon descent, Vlad knew that he could never fully die. If his body was there, it would still respond to Vlad’s magic…
He felt it. A thudding pulse of energy so strong it startled him. Dante wasn’t simply a shell of his existence. His life force was strong, preserving his body. “He’s here. I can get him.”
The Order shifted, muttering under their breath. Ryland went down on his knees beside him, pressing his palms into the rock. “Is he alive? Is his soul there?” His voice was raw and harsh, on edge.
“I don’t know about his soul, but his body is still living.” Vlad looked at Sophie, knowing that she was waiting for him to give the command to open the rocks, to free the leader who had made the Order into everything Vlad didn’t believe in. He looked up at the team standing around him. “Are you sure you guys want this? I think you guys are finally headed in the right direction. You don’t need him anymore.”
The mood shifted, the tension escalating.
“Open it,” Ryland ordered. “Get him out.”
Vlad looked at Gabe, waiting.
After a long moment, Gabe nodded. “Do it.”
Swearing, Vlad nodded. I owe you, buddy, but just so you know, I think you’re the leader that the Order needs, not Dante. When Gabe didn’t respond, Vlad nodded at Sophie. “Open it up.”
Immediately, she pressed her hands to the rock, and it dissolved instantly beneath her hands, but she didn’t dissolve with it. She stayed corporeal, with visible ease, and Vlad’s chest thudded with pride. “Love you, babe.”
She grinned at him. “Get Dante, Vlad. We have about five seconds.”
He took one last look at Gabe, whose face was expressionless, then held out his hand. His energy surged into the darkness that Sophie had opened, wrapping around the Calydon buried so deeply beneath the surface. He flicked his finger, drawing it upward, until he was able to lift it through the opening.
Shock reverberated through the Order as the inert body of a heavily muscled man in jeans, heavy boots and a black tee shirt appeared, hovering above the rocks. His hair was short, his face clean-shaven, his forearms branded with a spear. His body was slightly translucent, held together only by Vlad’s magic.
“Son of a bitch,” Ryland muttered, his jaw slack. “He looks exactly the same.”
“Dad?” The youngest Calydon, one he didn’t recognize, stumbled forward, going down on his knees.
“His soul’s not there, Drew. It’s just his body right now.” But even Quinn’s voice was rough.
“Time’s up.” Rikker said. “We have to go now.”
Not a single Order member moved until Vlad was back on Damon’s back, and had Dante’s body hovering in the air beside him. Gabe and the two women got on board with him, and then Damon took off.
The others were right beside him, in a tight formation. There was a crack and a flash of black light as all the Order members called out their weapons, ready to defend their fallen leader. To his surprise, Vlad felt his throat tighten at the show of such loyalty. For Gabe to defend someone so completely…for the rest of the Order, who’d risked everything to help their own, to stand by Dante…it meant something. Maybe there was more to Dante than Vlad had been willing to see. Maybe there was more to the Order than he’d been able to see.
Sophie looked back at him and smiled, her eyes full of joy. “It’s so beautiful to see them, isn’t it?”
He glanced around at the Order, all of them so majestic and silently proud as they escorted their leader. “Yeah,” he said. “It is—”
Just then, the mountain behind them exploded, and Rikker shouted. “Lucien’s out! Go!”
Chapter 42
Gabe twisted around on Damon’s back, scanning the mountain behind them as Damon took off through the air. Behind him, the mountain literally exploded, shattering into millions of fragments of dirt, dust, and rock. With a piercing scream, Lucien ripped through the carnage, his wings beating fiercely as he took to the air, hovering in place as he scanned for them.
Gabe saw the moment that Lucien saw them. He unleashed a howl of fury and took off, moving with mind-numbing speed.
“Fuck.” Rikker was beside them. “We’ll never make it—”
“I can get us there. I’ve been both places.” Kane spoke up. “I can take us in two trips.” He urged his mount toward Damon. “Dante first.” He reached over with his hand, and Gabe locked onto his wrist. “Everyone else touch him!” Gabe held Maria tightly as she locked her fingers around Gabe’s arm. Vlad and Sophie did the same, and then he shifted Dante so the warrior was against Kane’s chest.
Kane swore, his face shocked as Dante drifted close. “Jesus,” he whispered. “It’s really him.” Two other flying demons came close, and their riders, one of which was Rikker, also clasped Kane’s arm. “Okay, let’s go!”
In an instant, Kane disappeared, and Gabe felt the familiar sensation of the world falling away, and his body disintegrating. Within a split second, his body was reforming in the same cavern that they’d arrived in such a short time ago. Kane vanished almost instantly, and Rikker sprinted toward the wall of the cavern. “Over here, now!”
Gabe grabbed Maria’s arm and pulled her toward the wall of the cave. Maria shot him a worried look, but he couldn’t risk reassuring her. “Damon,” he snapped, just as the demon was shifting back to human form and facing the doorway to the tunnels that Lucien would be coming through. “I need you back here by the wall by Maria. Lucien will be coming straight for her, since she was the one who defeated him, which makes her the current queen. He must kill her before she leaves, so you need to protect her.”
Damon spun around, his face hard and determined. He nodded once, and sprinted across the cavern, taking up a protective stance in front of Maria. Vlad and Sophie were already by the wall, along with Dante, Quinn, Ian, and Elijah, all of whom had their weapons out, and their backs around Vlad, Sophie and Dante, providing a protective shield.
Gabe moved up beside Vlad and Rikker. “What do we need to do?”
Rikker already had the amulet open, and the stone in the palm of his hand. He placed it on the wall, closed his eyes, and began a low chant of words that Gabe had never heard, and didn’t understand. As he did so, Gabe felt his skin prickle, and heat began to pour out of the wall, as if life itself was flooding from the earth realm into the demon realm.
Kane reappeared with the rest of the crew, including Thano astride his majestic horse. Apollo had to duck his head to keep from hitting the ceiling, and he tossed his head restlessly, prancing in small circles, as if even he understood the threat that was hunting them so fiercely.
“It’s open.” Rikker stepped back. “Can you get them through?” he said to Vlad.
“It’ll take too long to get them through solid rock.” He looked at Sophie. “Can you make the wall thinner?”
“Of course.” She raced over to the wall and placed her hands on the rock. Instantly, the wall shimmered and became translucent. Gabe could see the water from the pool, and even the plants and animals. Stunned, he put his hand up, but there was some sort of invisible barrier there that kept him from going through.
Vlad jerked his head at Quinn. “Go.”
“Dante first.”
“No, because Sophie needs to hold it open, and I’m not leaving until she is over, so go!”
There was a loud crash and the rocks began to fall from the wall. Lucien had entered the tunnels.
Quinn swore and sprinted right at the wall. He leapt at it, and Vlad flicked his finger, throwing him through the opening. On his heels were the others, racing across. Apollo leapt through, and Vlad had no trouble sending both of them across, until the only ones left were Gabe, Vlad, Sophie, Maria, Dante, and Damon. The mountain was shaking violently now, and Gabe knew they had only moments until Lucien would be upon them.
Rikker faced Maria. “It’s time.” He pulled out a dagger much like Maria’s. “Give me permission to go against the rules and challenge you before the fortnight is up.”
Maria faced him, and pulled out her own dagger. “I give you permission, on the condition that you keep your promise to protect the women. If you break this promise, my permission is revoked, and I will come back and hunt you down.”
Hunt the Darkness (Order of the Blade Book 11) Page 37
