One scurried over his arm and jumped onto Ashley, and he saw it bare its teeth before it sank deep in her arm. "No!" He ripped it off her, flung it aside as more continued to come down, the air filling with the high-pitched screaming of millions of demon spawn, coming after him.
After Ashley.
"There's nothing on me," Ashley shouted. "It's just water! Nothing but rain! You know it! Break the Illusion."
Viktor looked frantically around, saw a cluster of trees, knew that if he could get them under the trees, they would be safe.
"Let me go." She tried to twist out of his grasp again, her hand closing on his throwing star and slicing her skin.
"No!" He caught her hand and pressed his lips to her injured palm.
For a moment, the world stopped, and all he was aware of was the scent of her skin. Like peaches, like wildflowers, innocence and purity. Hot desire suddenly rose inside him, his cock going rock hard. He became aware of her breasts straining against her wet shirt, of the curve of her collarbone, of the fullness of her lips.
Her hand went to his face, her touch so gentle. "Yes," she whispered, her voice like music. "You're coming back. It's just an Illusion—"
Someone shouted his name, and Viktor spun around, clutching Ashley to his chest. The demons were suddenly back, ripping through his skin, eating through his flesh. Millions more coming down. Landing on him like raindrops, crawling all over him.
"Viktor!"
He saw then what had yelled for him. A beast was emerging from the back of Nightshade Tavern, holding a sword. It was a demon who'd taken the form of Ajax, but Viktor could see through the facade, could see its black veins glowing beneath the skin like spider webs of hell.
Viktor threw one of his throwing stars at the demon, then he broke into a dead run with Ashley still clutched against his chest. Had to get her away. Had to run. Faster. "Have to find high ground."
"It won't matter! It's an Illusion! It'll find you no matter where you go!" She grabbed at his shoulders, trying to shake him. "Knock me out! I'm the one doing it!"
"No." He knew she was wrong. She was the innocent one. He was the damned one. He had to protect her. If he kept her safe, then everything would be okay. Didn't know why. Just knew that it was true. Had to find a way.
"Viktor! Watch out! It's Charles!"
Her scream burst through his fragmented mind, and he looked up in time to see a male step in front of him. Something deep in his head shouted that this was the true enemy, that he was the one—
More demon spawn attacked, and Viktor screamed, going to his knees as he fought to protect Ashley from the fall, from the beasts...
"Oh, Viktor. It's too late, now. I'm so sorry." She sobbed against his neck, and he looked down at her, at the tears streaming down her face, and he knew she was his answer...his enemy...his salvation...his hell...
He caught her face in his hands and kissed her. Her mouth parted under his and the moment their lips met, the moment he tasted her, his body went hard, and his head cleared.
He was back in control.
He broke the kiss and raised his throwing star to take down Charles—
Charles's knife sliced across Viktor's throat just as Viktor looked up to find his target. There was a searing hot pain and then hot warmth flowing down over Viktor's chest. He grabbed for his throat, gasping for air he couldn't find.
Charles smiled. "And the first Order member falls."
Viktor heard Ashley scream, and he fell, losing his grip on her as the strength left his body. Ashley! He reached blindly for her, he felt her hand in his, and then everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Laid out in a dead run after Viktor, Ajax was closing fast on his blood brother. He gritted his teeth against the metal blades pouring from the sky and slicing his skin to shreds, knowing that the pain he was feeling was nothing compared to what it was doing to Viktor's mind. "Viktor!"
Another Calydon stepped out of the woods directly in front of Viktor, and Viktor went down, Ashley still clutched in his arms. The ancient power of the male was virulent, and Ajax knew it had to be the same Calydon Viktor had met with in the bar.
He'd never seen a warrior who carried that much ancient strength. How could a Calydon of that age have escaped the Order's notice?
"Stand down," Ajax shouted, as the razor-sharp spikes continued to hammer down from the sky, accumulating like snow on the ground around him. His progress slowed as he slogged through it, each step ripping his legs. "Back away from him!"
The Calydon looked at Ajax, and his eyes narrowed.
"Get away from him!" Ajax unleashed his swords at Viktor's assailant, the blades cleaving through the air as he sliced his blade across Viktor's throat.
Viktor fell to his knees, Ashley spilling out of his arms onto the mud.
The Calydon dove away from Ajax's swords in a swift, evasive maneuver that should have been impossible. He grabbed Viktor's inert form, holding him up as a shield, in a move quicker than Ajax had ever seen. Stunned, Ajax tried to call back his swords, but it was too late, and they plunged into Viktor's back, right through his heart. Ajax felt the connection between himself and Viktor sever instantly.
Viktor was dead. He'd killed him.
A dark anguish exploded inside Ajax, and he channeled it into the battle. He raised his hands, and his swords were on their way back to him, cutting through the air with ferocious speed.
Viktor's assailant climbed out from under Viktor and threw him over his shoulder. He grabbed the woman by the arm and hauled her to her feet as Ajax caught his swords and reared back to throw them again—
Blades suddenly exploded in the air, flying at his face like millions of daggers. Ajax raised his arm over his face to protect himself and went down on his knees, trying to shield himself from the assault. He dragged himself along the ground toward Viktor, refusing to let the assault stop him—
"Ajax! It's an Illusion!" Madison's voice rang out through the night. "Block it out!"
Madison's frantic outburst hit him hard, and he felt her certainty in the depths of his soul, as if she'd driven her emotions straight into his mind. He reached out for her with his mind and tapped into her absolute conviction.
Her faith surrounded him like a blanket, pulling him back from the Illusion enough for him to think clearly, to call upon centuries of training. He slowed his breathing and narrowed his mind until he was focused only on his physical senses. Then he turned them off one by one, like flicking off a light switch. No sight, no sound, no sense of touch...eliminating them until he was in a world of gray silence.
There was no way for his brain to register the Illusion, making it powerless against him.
Without his battle instincts available to warn him of any threats, it also made him a sitting duck for any assassin.
A risk he didn't hesitate to take on.
Keeping his senses shut down, he rose carefully, and began to run again, straight toward the hill where he'd last seen Viktor, his body coiled for the attack.
A split second before he reached his destination, Ajax dropped his shields, opening his eyes as he launched himself toward where the trio had been.
But there was no one there.
The Illusion was gone, and the spot was vacated.
Ajax turned quickly as he landed, testing the air for information about where they'd gone, but there was no trail. It was as if they'd simply...vanished.
That's when Ajax felt the empty hollow of air where they'd been, and he knew they'd teleported, just like Rajak could.
No one could trace a Calydon who could teleport. It was impossible.
He'd lost them.
Stunned at his failure, Ajax dropped to his knees, and dug his hands into the earth that was soaked with Viktor's blood.
Viktor! He opened his mind for his friend, but there was no response. Nothing. Just emptiness, like a black void cutting at his soul, leaving him barren and stripped.
A dark, deadly intent began to rise insi
de Ajax, and he slowly raised his head, allowing the need for vengeance to flow over his skin and blacken his veins. His fingers dug into the ground, his jaw hardened, and his vision shifted until the world was only in shades of red.
There were no rules now. No rules.
"Ajax!"
He saw Madison running toward him, tears were streaming down her face. She was covered in dirt, as if she'd fallen to the earth. "Did you see them? Ashley and that poor man—" She looked at him, and she stopped, her face paling. "Your eyes. They're red."
He focused on her throat. Saw her life pulse at the side of her neck. His target.
She backpedaled furiously, slipping on the mud. "Are you going rogue? Don't—"
Ajax sprang at her, one thing on his mind.
Her blood.
Ajax was going to kill her.
Madison had no time to flee before Ajax was on her.
His arms snapped around her like steel bands, and they fell to the ground. He cushioned her fall with his body, but before she could react, he kissed her. A desperate, frantic kiss that penetrated right to her core.
His pain and anguish filled her like a cloud of devastation. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to ease his torment, even as his kiss became more consuming.
His teeth grazed her lip, and she winced at the flash of pain. The coppery taste of her own blood told her he'd broken the skin…and as soon as she thought it, longing rushed through her.
She didn't know what she needed, but suddenly, she couldn’t hold him tight enough, couldn’t kiss him deep enough. The heat of his erection pressed into her belly, and a ravenous craving rose hard within her.
He dragged her closer into the shield of his body, and she gripped him tighter. He thrust his tongue between her teeth and drove his hips into hers, a forceful thrust that had her body shuddering for more, even through their jeans.
He kissed her more deeply, sending tantalizing spirals cascading through her. He reached between them, rubbing the heel of his hand between her legs. She gasped and almost came off the ground as her body leapt in response to his touch. Hunger built until her body coiled, and still his mouth demanded more, his hips driving against her until her body shook with a need so strong she couldn't think of anything but him.
"Bite me," he whispered, his voice so low and compelling that her last remaining defenses crumbled as he thrust his tongue between her teeth.
She nipped his tongue, and the coppery taste of his blood mixed with hers. The heel of his hand on her jeans, between her legs, brought her to the edge and she gasped, clutching his shoulders. In that same moment, she suddenly felt his presence in her mind, a startling intimacy that made her start to panic. "Ajax? What's happening?"
His voice rumbled through her mind, his words rapid and comforting. A sense of utter rightness swelled within her, opening all of her senses to him as he pledged himself to her. Mine to you. Yours to me. Bonded by blood, by spirit and by soul, we are one. No distance too far, no enemy too powerful, no sacrifice too great. I'll always find you. I'll always protect you. No matter what the cost. I am yours as you are mine.
Instinctively, she responded in kind, the unfamiliar words tumbling out on their own, as if she'd always held them in her spirit, waiting for the moment they became her truth. Mine to you. Yours to me. Bonded by blood, by spirit and by soul, we are one. No distance too far, no enemy too powerful, no sacrifice too great. I'll always find you. I'll always keep you safe. No matter what the cost. I am yours as you are mine.
He froze.
She felt the sudden tension in his body, sensed the stunned disbelief in his mind. And then he began a frantic withdrawal, a desperate scramble to cut his mind off from hers, but she couldn't let him go. She didn't want to lose the comforting strength and heated desire that blanketed her, with his mind intimately connected with hers.
She fought his retreat, her body and mind burning to be connected with him.
"Madison." He gripped her shoulders. "We need to break the mental connection. Right now."
His urgency broke through the veil of need threatening to consume her. Her eyes snapped open, and she met his gaze.
The shock on his face made her realize that something had gone wrong.
Horribly wrong.
She immediately tried to pull back mentally from him, to get him out of her mind. She could feel him doing the same thing.
But it didn't work.
Neither of them could break the connection.
Scared now, she began to struggle beneath him, but the movement of her hips caused his palm to shift across her clit. The slight movement brought her body screaming to completion and an orgasm crashed into her, thrusting itself through every inch of her body.
His body went rigid against her, then he groaned and drove his hips against her hard, again and again, kissing her with a ferocity that made her soul rage with a wildness so far out of her control she knew she'd never return, never recover, never be the same.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Something had gone wrong.
That wasn't how a blood bond went.
Ajax fought against the lethargy, struggled against the urge to sink his body into Madison's warmth, to press his face into the curve of her neck, the need to crush her body into his and protect her, to mark her with his scent—
He'd never felt such a sense of contentment, of utter peace, and he knew it was wrong. Dangerous. A trap.
He shook his head, trying to clear it of the cobwebs, his subconscious shouting at him to get up, to get away, to fight—
But Madison was holding him tightly, her fingers tangled in his hair. Her knees fell apart as the exhaustion took her over, and he held her tighter, the taste of her blood still in his mouth.
Her blood.
The fog surrounding his mind broke at the sudden realization, and he shoved himself off her, leaping to his feet.
She opened her eyes, a small frown of confusion on her face. She looked at his mouth, and she rubbed her forehead, as if she were trying to sort things out. "What happened?"
He swore softly at the sound of her voice, at the way it rolled beneath his skin, like a lover's caress. "Blood bond."
Her eyes widened, coming to full alertness. "What? Why didn't you tell me—"
She cut herself off when he crouched down beside her. "I need to see your arm." His mind was whirling right now, every nerve in his body on the highest alert.
"My arm?" She looked at him blankly, the understanding dawned. Her face paled. "You're worried I'm your sheva? But we haven't—"
"The completion of the sheva bond requires a physical and spiritual joining, as well as a death sacrifice." He gritted out the words. How could he have been so stupid?
She went even paler, if that was possible, clutching her arm to her chest, protecting it from him. "And the blood bond takes care of the physical bonding?"
"If it's done with a sheva, yeah." He couldn't take the suspense a second longer. He encircled her wrist and pulled her arm free.
She didn't try to shrink away this time, and he could feel her trembling. He hesitated, and they held gazes for a long moment, the air thick with tension.
"Just do it," she finally whispered.
He ground his teeth and pushed her sleeve up. The underside was pristine, and he felt her relax slightly.
"It would be on the other side." He turned her arm over.
Faint silver marks had appeared by her elbow.
Son of a bitch. He froze, stunned. "Holy shit."
"Is that it?" Madison grabbed his arm, and he allowed her to pull his arm next to hers. She laid her arm beside his to compare his brand to the silver lines on her skin.
The pattern on her skin was a perfect match for the handle of his sword. All that was left was for the blade to appear.
"Dear God," Madison whispered. "Is that it?"
"Yeah. That's it." She carried his mark. She was his sheva.
Before he could stop himself, he framed
her face with his hands and kissed her.
Not just a kiss. A claiming that seemed to explode from the very depths of his soul. He needed to touch her. To kiss her. To feel her against him. To mark her with his scent. His touch. His kiss.
Madison didn't hesitate for even a second, responding to him instantly, her hands wrapping around his neck and holding him to her as if she would never let him go.
She tasted different now. Sweeter. Her lips were softer, her breath a tantalizing warmth that he wanted to absorb into his being every second for the rest of his existence. He tunneled his fingers through her thick curls, knowing that he had to keep her safe, protect her, make sure he stayed alive for her—
"Jesus!" He released her and leapt to his feet, putting distance between them.
For a long moment, they stared at each other, and he wasn't sure who looked more shocked. He was afraid to go near her. To hear her voice. To touch her.
He went to run his hand through his hair, but when he lifted it, he realized it was shaking.
Shaking.
"Ajax?" Her voice jerked his focus off himself as her fear sucker-punched him. He could feel her emotions, sense her confusion, her worry, every last one of them. She was in his head, in his soul, crawling everywhere beneath his skin. "What's happening? It feels like you're inside my mind. I can feel your anger, your fear. Everything."
Ajax closed his eyes at his almost overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms, to tell her he would take care of her forever, that he would keep her safe.
Was this how his uncle Enzo had felt when he'd met his sheva? Had he seen his doom coming and known he was powerless to stop it?
She stood up and headed toward him.
He tensed, barely resisting the urge to back away from her. He knew the moment she touched him, he would be unable to do what he had to do to save himself. If he allowed her to consume him, there would be no avenging of Viktor. No repayment for Enzo's death. He had a debt that had to be paid, a mission, and completing the sheva bond would destroy it all.
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