Darkness Awakened

by Stephanie Rowe

  He shook his head. "No. Just that one hit before I lost him."

  She nodded, peered out the window, and whispered something about Ashley, her hands tightly clasped in her lap.

  He didn't have to hear the exact words to know what she was hoping for, and he remembered that moment when he'd been exactly in her place. Waiting. Hoping for a reprieve that hadn't come. Instead of reprieve, he'd gotten hell.

  The same kind that might be awaiting Madison. And there was little he could do to protect her.

  But as he studied her worried face, dimly lit by the dashboard, he knew he'd do whatever he could, no matter what it cost.

  The fact he was thinking that way worried the shit out of him. Sweet Jesus, what would it be like if they fully bonded?

  Scowling, he shoved the door open. "You stay here." He tossed her the keys. "If someone comes after you, or I don't come back, hit the road."

  Her eyes were wide as she caught the keys. "You better come back."

  He softened his stance at the worry in her voice, something deep inside his gut liking the way she looked so concerned for his safety. "I'll do my best—" Then he stopped himself, realizing he meant it. Shit. A warrior who was worried about getting killed was a liability to everyone around him. "You'll be fine."

  And then he shut the door, refusing to acknowledge the tightness in his chest.

  Minutes later, Ajax was moving swiftly through the foggy woods. His feet were silent on the pine needles, not snapping a single stick as he took the circuitous route to Zion's retreat, staying off the main trail.

  He felt like shit for walking out on Madison like that, leaving her alone in the woods with no defenses. He was an ass. And—

  A rustle and a flurry of activity exploded from his left, inches from his head. Ajax threw up his arm to block his face and called out his sword—

  Feathers ruffled across his cheek, and an owl hooted right next to his ear.

  He lowered his sword as he watched the huge bird fly up to the top of a pine tree and settle.

  Shit. He'd let an owl sneak up on him because he'd been too busy worrying about Madison? If it had been the enemy, he'd be dead now.

  He stopped, taking a moment to concentrate, to narrow his focus into battle mode. To take in every sound and scent—

  Madison's worried face appeared in his mind.

  Hell. He didn't have time for this right now. He'd have to figure out later how to shut her out, because until he did, he couldn't focus. He had to know she was okay, and he gave up pretending he could ignore her. It was with relief that he finally gave in and reached out to touch her mind. You okay?

  His whole body relaxed when he felt her attention turn to him, a warm presence that was distinctly female.

  No one's got a sword to my throat, if that's what you're asking.

  He smiled at her pluckiness. Let me know if that changes. His amusement vanished instantly at the thought of someone threatening her.

  Isn't it dangerous to talk like this? Couldn't the Order track us?

  Yeah.

  So leave me alone, then!

  He grinned as he felt her shut him off. A quick learner.

  His amusement faded as he neared Zion's cabin. About fifty yards out, he shimmied up a pine and took to the trees, leaping easily from trunk to trunk. He reached the edge of the clearing and went into predator mode, surveying the clearing.

  The shanty was still standing, exactly as he recalled it from so long ago. Barely big enough to contain basic fundamentals, Zion and any guests always slept outside, no matter what the weather. The weeds were crushed flat in front of it, indicating that Zion had been sleeping there recently. He studied the area more closely, realized there were two sleeping spots. Someone had been up there with Zion recently.

  Ajax scanned the clearing, but he saw no signs of movement or activity.

  The breeze shifted then, and he caught the scent of death.

  Returning his attention to the small building, Ajax saw a dark stain on the earth in front of it. He hurled his sword directly at the dirt. His blade sank deep into the soil, then Ajax held out his hand and willed his weapon to return to his hand. It slid back out of the dirt and whizzed through the air back to him, the handle landing silently in his palm.

  Ajax brushed his finger over the dirt on the blade of his sword. It was still warm. With a sinking feeling, he rubbed the pads of his fingers together, felt the stinging sensation on his hand that could be caused only by extremely old Calydon blood.

  Zion's.

  Ajax closed his eyes, resting his blade across his quads. Hell. If Zion was dead, the Order was in trouble. It had taken all Zion's abilities to keep control of the warriors who worked for him. Without Zion...

  No.

  There was no way Zion was dead. He'd been the Order leader for almost seven hundred years. He was, literally, unstoppable. He was the Order.

  Just because Zion's blood was on the ground didn't mean he was the one who'd died there—

  Ajax's brands suddenly began to burn, and he went utterly still at the warning. He could pick up no threat with his physical senses, but his arms were on fire.

  Could he trust it?

  Shit. He had no idea.

  Not that he could do anything about it. He wasn't able to discern the nature of the threat, or where it was coming from. With adrenaline screaming through his body, he began to work his way across the branch. He reached the trunk and swiftly climbed down, his arms so hot his hands were going numb.

  He opened his physical senses even further, and he finally was rewarded when he was ten feet above the ground. He could feel a tingling in the air, the shift in particles that told him that a Calydon was nearby.

  Dropping silently to the earth, he crouched, sifting through the messages in the air until he caught the scent of a Calydon male he didn't recognize.

  The man was heading straight for the truck.

  And for Madison.

  Madison hugged herself as she huddled in the front seat of Ajax's truck, feeling too antsy to sit still. Less than eight hours until the deadline to save Ashley expired, and she was just sitting. Accomplishing nothing.

  She pulled the phone out of her back pocket, the phone she was supposed to use to call in when she had Ajax's weapons.

  It was black and plain. Nothing unusual about it. Nothing traceable, and she knew because she'd taken it to an electronics expert to find out before she'd gone after Ajax. There'd been a tracer on it, but the Geek God, as he called himself, had taken care of that. He had made sure, however, that she understood that while she was on a call, her location could be pinpointed using cell phone towers.

  She fingered it for a minute, tempted to call. To ask for more time. Would he give it to her, or would she somehow make it worse? Was it more important to him to get Ajax's weapons, or to have the situation resolved by the deadline?

  She opened it. She studied the blue-lit keys for a moment. All she had to do was hold down the number two, and it would dial him directly. Straight to her sister.

  Her heart began to hammer, and she bit her lip. She needed more time. Ajax was helping her. They were so close, she knew it. Just a little more time...

  She pressed her thumb onto the number two key and held it until it beeped. God, let this be the right decision. She lifted it to her ear, heard it ringing.

  There was a click. "You have his weapons?"

  "I—" Movement just outside the window caught her eye. She hung up and turned quickly, expecting it to be Ajax, then yelped.

  A man was staring in her window. His shirt was streaked with blood. His eyes were wide with shock. For a split second, neither of them reacted. Then he moved, moonlight flashed off a long blade, and the window exploded with the crack of shattered glass.

  "Ajax—" Madison's scream was cut off when the man's arm shot through the window, and his hand clamped around her throat.

  She scrabbled against his wrist, trying to pry his fingers off her neck. Ajax! Help!

&nb
sp; "You killed him!" Her assailant's voice was desperate and hoarse, as if he'd been screaming for hours.

  "I didn't! I didn't kill anyone I swear!" Madison coughed as his fingers dug in even tighter, squirming as he hauled her out the car window and threw her onto the ground.

  He raised his weapon, she dove to the right, the blade crashed down where her head had been. She rolled under the truck, scrambling backward as he grabbed the truck and tried to lift it. "Stop! I didn't do anything!"

  He got the truck a few inches off the ground, and then it dropped with a thud.

  Madison huddled beneath the truck, flinching when he went down to his belly, so they were face to face.

  She'd seen that expression before, fifteen years ago. It was the numb terror of someone who'd just experienced something horrible. Terror, not aggression ruled him, and her heart bled for him. "It's okay," she whispered. "It's over. It's all over."

  He blinked, and she saw him focus on her. "You...you're not her."

  "No, I'm not. I won't hurt you."

  "But your eyes. They're the same as the woman who killed Zion."

  "My eyes?" Madison's throat tightened when she realized it must have been Ashley who had traumatized him so badly. "I'm not her." Her voice cracked, and she had to dig her fingernails into her palms to keep her composure. "I can help you. May I come out?"

  He nodded, but she could see the fear still on his face. He was young. Maybe eighteen at most. A boy.

  Just a little older than the one she'd murdered.

  Slowly, she wiggled her way out from beneath the truck, both of them watching the other carefully. His polearm was clenched in his fist, his hand shaking around a long staff with a speared metal tip, sharp spikes circling the base of the blade.

  She stood up in front of the head lights, realized it wasn't just his hand that was trembling. It was his entire body. He was caked in blood, but she could see no injuries. Just the wide-eyed look of a frightened creature ready to bolt. She held out her hand, not liking how jittery he seemed. "Can you give your weapon to me?"

  "No!" He jerked back. "That's what they wanted!"

  She held up her hands. "Okay, you can keep it. I just didn't want you to accidentally cut my head off."

  He looked down at the weapon, then at her. Slowly, he lowered it, but he didn't sheath it. "Who are you?"

  "I'm—" She saw a huge shape looming in the fog behind the boy. "No! Don't—"

  Ajax exploded out of the darkness, his sword aiming right for the boy's heart.

  "No!" She screamed and lunged toward the boy "Don't hurt him!"

  The boy spun and ducked, and then Ajax's fist slammed into the side of his head and the kid dropped to the ground.

  "He's an innocent—"

  Ajax tackled her, sending them both flying through the air. His arms went around her, tucking her head into his body, protecting her as they hit the ground twenty feet from the boy, behind a large boulder.

  "Ajax—"

  "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" His hands were frantic on her, his face white in the moonlight, making him look almost as terrified as the boy had. "Jesus Christ, I knew I shouldn't have left you."

  "Ajax!" But he wasn't listening to her. He couldn't stop touching her. His panic was crushing her. "I'm okay!" She grabbed his hair and yanked. "Look at me!"

  He finally seemed to hear her, and his hands stilled. For a moment, he looked straight into her eyes, and then his gaze roamed her body, devouring her so hungrily her skin tingled, and her womb clenched. She swallowed, her heart racing. Was this it? The moment they crossed the line?

  His hands went to her face, framing it. "I heard your scream. I felt your terror. I thought—" He swallowed, his gaze searching hers, so much worry in his eyes that she felt the shields around her heart begin to crumble.

  She wanted him on every level, wanted to merge with him until they were one, bound together forever. She wouldn't stop him if he tried to take her now.

  He dropped his hands and sat back, running his hands through his hair. "Shit. I can't be like this. I can't have you distracting me." He stood up. "I left the enemy on the ground, untended, so I could check on you. Fuck—"

  He turned away, and his rejection was like a cold blast. "No!" She ran after him, and he turned just as she threw herself at him. His arms went around her to catch her, and she pulled his head down and kissed him.

  His body stiffened and he tried to set her back, but she clamped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

  And still he didn't respond.

  She stopped kissing him, her face heating with embarrassment. It was the first time she'd ever been the one to instigate anything between them...the first time she'd ever needed him so much that she'd had to make the move.

  And he'd rejected her.

  She dragged her gaze up to his face. His eyes were stoic and cold, his face rigid. "No."

  He set her down, turned and walked back to the young man, who was starting to wake up.

  Madison stared after him, so humiliated she wanted to turn and run. He didn't want her. Even with the bond forcing his attraction, forcing him to hurt her, he didn't want her.

  His heart and soul were fighting every thread of their connection.

  She'd thought...the way he'd looked at her when he'd thought she was hurt... God, she was a fool. How long would it take her to realize she didn't deserve that kind of life? That kind of love? That kind of place in someone's heart?

  Her eyes started to sting, and she lifted her chin, setting her hands on her hips. Ajax didn't matter. She'd never needed anyone's love except her sister's, and that hadn't changed. She and Ajax would rescue Ashley, and then she would leave, half-bonded to a warrior who would save the world without her to distract him.

  But as she watched him stride across the clearing, his body muscled and strong, exuding a deadly grace that made her body still ache for him, she didn't know if she could do it. If she could stay with him and walk away unscathed in the end.

  Was she really that strong?

  Ajax reached the boy and hauled him to his feet, his sword over the boy's heart.

  "Stop! Don't hurt him!" She ran after Ajax.

  "Don't move."

  She froze under Ajax's barked order, sensing the thin edge of his control.

  "If you come any closer, I'll kill him for threatening you." Ajax's body was rigid, and the boy was deadly still in his grasp, sheer terror rending him immobile. "But I need answers, so stay where you are."

  She nodded, realizing that both men were about to snap. "He's a boy," she said quietly. "I think he was here when Zion was attacked. He's afraid." And having your sword at his throat isn't helping.

  Ajax glared at her, and she ignored it, instead smiling gently at the boy. "What's your name?"

  "Can't say." His voice came out a shaky squeak, and he coughed.

  Ajax scowled and Madison took a step forward, her hands going up in protection of the boy. "No, don't. Let me—"

  "Stay back," Ajax snarled.

  She ignored him and walked closer to them, aware of Ajax's body getting more rigid, of the way his sword pressed harder into the boy's chest.

  The younger warrior was watching her, and he looked as scared as he had before. And confused.

  She stopped several feet away, not willing to push Ajax's control any further. "Tell us what happened."

  "You look like her," the boy whispered.

  Madison's smile faltered. "She's my sister. She—" She took a moment to compose herself. "Did she hurt someone?"

  The boy nodded. "Zion."

  Ajax raised his sword. "This is crap. He could be lying—"

  "Ajax! Stop!"

  "Ajax?" The youth struggled in Ajax's grip, trying to turn around. "Ajax?"

  Ajax grunted. "Yeah."

  He sagged in Ajax's arms, as if all the fight had left him. "You came. He said you'd come, he did." His head sagged, as if he couldn't hold it up a moment longer. "I'm Luke Chavez," he said. "He said I could te
ll you. That you'd know what to do."

  Madison almost smiled when Ajax had to shift his grip to support Luke. He looked awkward and uncomfortable as he held the boy up. "Who said I'd come?"

  Luke's face was reverent. "My father. Zion."

  Ajax snorted. "Zion doesn't have a son."

  "He said you'd say that." Luke shoved his hand in the front pocket of his jeans, then stopped when Ajax pressed the tip of his sword into the boy's wrist. "He gave me something to give to you. Said you would know what it meant."

  Trust him.

  Ajax looked at her. Not with you that close to his weapon.

  As she backed up against the grill of the truck and felt some of Ajax's tension fade, Madison had to remind herself that he didn't really care. That it wasn't about her. But she couldn't help her heart from responding to his worry for her safety, even though her mind knew she was a fool to be letting herself care.

  Ajax released Luke's wrist, but kept his sword at his neck. "Proceed."

  Luke pulled a small black zippered bag out of his pocket. It couldn't have been more than an inch across. He held it up.

  "Open it."

  He unzipped it and dumped the contents out in his hand. Madison couldn't see what it was, but Ajax sucked in his breath, and she felt his shock. The kind of shock that brought one to his knees. She was halfway across the clearing to support him when he reached down and picked the item out of Luke's hand.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  Ajax closed his fist around it. "My mother's wedding ring."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The ring was cold against his palm.

  Ajax remembered the last time he'd seen it. His mother had been sprawled across the kitchen table, hacked to pieces by his uncle Enzo. His dad sliced up on the floor. Enzo, standing over them, his red eyes glowing.

  His uncle, his mentor, his best friend, turned insane by the sheva bond. Driven to slaughter his family, everyone he loved, everyone he cared about. Everyone Ajax cared about.

  Ajax was suddenly back in that moment, reliving his horror when Zion had ordered him to kill Enzo, the man who'd been Ajax's best friend since he was born.