He remembered the agony of sinking his blade into Enzo's chest, the look on his uncle's face as his life had bled out of him at the hands of his favorite nephew. He recalled with vivid clarity how Zion had taken Ajax's mother's ring off her hand and told Ajax he would get it back when he'd proven himself worthy, when he'd atoned for his role in the death of so many innocents.
And now...he looked down at the ring, and something began to squeeze his chest, so hard, so tight he couldn't breathe.
A gentle hand brushed over his back. "Oh, God, Ajax, I'm so sorry."
He jerked back to reality at Madison's voice, saw the tears in her eyes, and realized she'd relived his memory with him. With a furious scowl, he turned away, shoving the past aside as he jammed the ring into his pocket. He grabbed Luke's shoulders and turned the boy toward him. "What happened here?"
"My dad. We were training and I was at the river cleaning up and then there was this scream, and I ran back and there was this girl and my dad—"
"Stop."
Luke shut his mouth, looking at Ajax warily.
"Slow down." Ajax felt Madison's hand on his back again, and he stiffened at her touch. He hated how the mere brush of her fingers seemed to ease some of his pain. It alarmed him how badly he wanted to turn, pull her into his arms, and hold her.
He moved out of her reach and took Luke with him. "Tell me the relevant information now. The rest later. Is Zion dead?"
Luke nodded, staring at him. "I saw him die."
Ajax swore, his grip tightening on Luke's shoulder, sensing the truth in the kid's response. The youth wasn't experienced enough to shield, and Ajax could feel his gut-wrenching grief and his sheer horror. What the hell were they going to do without Zion? There was no one who could take over for him. "Who did it?"
"There was a Calydon, and a woman. All this screaming, and then all these knives flying through the air, cutting him up and—"
Madison made a small noise behind him.
Luke took a deep breath. "Last night, Zion gave me the ring. He told me that if anything happened to him, to go to you, to tell you everything, that you'd know what to do."
"Me?" Ajax frowned. "Why me?"
Luke blinked. "Because you're the one he trusted."
Ajax grimaced. He didn't want to be the one to carry the flag for the Order, and Zion had to have known that. Ajax had never hidden his distrust of the Order, of Zion. He'd always been honest about his willingness to disregard his Order oath the moment it didn't feel right. Hell, the Order was still trying to kill him right now. Why would Zion pick him?
He wanted to toss the kid, get in his truck, and forget he'd heard any of it. Continue hunting for Viktor's killer on his own. Leave the Order to crumble in their own failures, as it deserved to do after betraying their own.
But he couldn't ignore the ring. His mother's spirit, his father's love for her, his family...their honor was in that ring, and Zion had known it. He'd played the one card he'd known Ajax wouldn't be able to turn down.
Ajax let out his breath, the ring burning in his pocket, knowing he couldn't walk away.
Zion's death was his burden now.
It now fell to Ajax to shoulder the responsibility of dealing with someone powerful enough and daring enough to kill Zion. He was the one who had to try to pull the Order together in the absence of their leader. He was the one who had to figure everything out before all hell broke loose...
Fuck. He couldn't even protect his blood brother. How the hell was he going to pull this shit off? Zion was a fool to believe he could do it—
Madison moved up beside him, her fingers going around his wrist. She squeezed once, and he looked down at her.
She said nothing, but he saw the total faith in her eyes, felt the complete confidence she was transmitting to him. Utter belief by the woman who, like him, had failed to protect the only person in the world who mattered to her, who understood exactly what that failure meant.
And she believed in him.
The tightness that had been squeezing his chest since he'd first seen the ring eased off, and he gave her a grim smile. You're insane.
She shrugged. So?
So, you're going to get us both killed.
As long as it's after Ashley's safe, I'm okay with that.
He sensed the truth of her words, knew she was fully prepared to give her life for her sister...a warrior of honor...how could he abandon that kind of sacrifice, walk away from a woman of such loyalty and courage?
He couldn't.
Ajax gave a resigned grunt and released Luke, who stumbled backward, as if he was too exhausted to support himself.
"All right." He rubbed his head, which was suddenly aching. "Tell me everything."
They looked too damn innocent.
Ajax folded his arms and leaned against a pine tree, watching Luke and Madison sitting on the ground by a campfire. Their job had been to forage in Zion's cabin for food and supplies while he checked the perimeter and set some early-alert traps.
The flames were high. Some kind of meat was roasting on a spit, and there was a pot of baked beans on the fire, its aroma easily identifiable even from a distance.
Dinner was cooking, and the pair had their heads bent in conversation. Madison's hair was cascading in dark curls over her shoulder, and the curve of her breast was outlined by the shadows from the fire. Her neck was elegant and graceful, and his cock hardened at the memory of tracing his tongue over that flawless skin, the way her nipple puckered in response to his touch—
Madison laughed at something Luke said, and the sound of her laughter hit him like a sledgehammer in the gut. Her laugh was amazing, innocent. Intoxicating. It made him crave the normalcy he hadn't had since his family had been killed.
Norman Rockwell could take lessons from this scene of domestic tranquility.
What were these two doing tangled up in this mess? Madison deserved to laugh, Luke...hell...he was nothing but a kid, fixing those soulful eyes on Madison like she was an angel who'd come down from heaven just for him. Ajax recognized the starved look on Luke's face, the need for someone to tell him it would be okay.
But it wouldn't be. Not ever again.
Watching them, Ajax felt old and tired. He didn't belong with them. He needed to eat alone, stand alone, focus only on his job, not on jokes over dinner.
But he couldn't turn away as he watched Madison dip a rag in a bucket and rub it across Luke's face, cleaning off the blood. Something inside Ajax twisted at the sight of her taking care of the young warrior who'd nearly taken her life. Ajax rubbed the back of his wrist over his forehead, felt the grime, and had a sudden urge to walk over there and demand she take care of him.
Instead, he turned to head down to the creek, feeling like he needed to clean up before sullying the scene with all his shit.
Luke's story and Ajax's new responsibilities could wait.
"Ajax!"
He turned instinctively at the sound of Madison's voice.
She waved at him, beckoning him over. "Dinner's ready. We were waiting for you."
He hesitated, then saw Luke scramble away from Madison, his face guilty, as if he knew he'd been caught poaching on Ajax's territory.
The moment of intimacy was gone, and Ajax decided to join them.
He strode across the firelight and sat on a log behind Madison, stretching his legs out so his feet were between Madison and Luke. He made sure his boots rested against her knee. "What's on the menu?"
"Beans and a deer that Luke killed earlier today." Madison moved out of Ajax's reach as she spooned a few servings of beans onto a plate, dropped a hunk of meat on it for him, then handed it to him. "I was a little short on spices, so it might be a bit bland."
"I think I'll survive." Ajax's fingers brushed against hers as he took it, and he couldn't remember the last time anyone had made a damn thing for him. "Thanks."
Madison raised her brows at him, looking startled by his appreciation. But then she smiled, a smile that made the whole da
mn clearing light up. "You're welcome." She sat back down, her knee against his boot again.
Ajax tried to focus on eating, not the fact he wanted to grab Madison around the waist and haul her up beside him on the log. He wanted her up against him while he ate, and then when he was done, he wanted to take her out into the woods, away from Luke, and taste every inch of her. He ground his jaw and averted his gaze from her. "Start talking, Luke. From the beginning."
Luke nodded. "I was raised by my mom, who never told me anything about my dad or about Calydons or anything. I thought I was human."
Ajax winced at the thought of the kid going through the Change alone. "How'd you hook up with Zion?"
"A month ago, I had my dream. Zion was in my bedroom when I woke up the next morning. He said he hadn't even known he had a son until he felt my presence after my dream."
Ajax took another bite of smoky meat, acknowledging that the explanation made sense. A Calydon who sired a male would know the moment his son went through the Change, no matter how much distance separated them. And the fact Zion had put the kid in charge of delivering the ring to Ajax...yeah...the odds were very high that the kid really was Zion's son. "Is your mom his sheva?"
Luke shook his head. "She doesn't carry a mark."
He exchanged glances with Madison, both of them aware that didn't necessarily mean anything. Zion might have simply had a will of steel and stayed the hell away. Involuntarily, Ajax's gaze slid to Madison's arm. The brand was hidden beneath her light blue jacket, but he knew it was there. Knew she was forever marked as his...and he liked it.
On some completely fucked-up level, he liked it.
Madison rubbed her palm over her brand absently, as if she wasn't even aware she was doing it. "What dream did you have?" she asked Luke.
Ajax answered. "When a Calydon is around eighteen years old, he dreams he's in the middle of a deadly battle," he explained. "If he survives the dream battle, he wakes up with his brands. If he doesn't, he dies in his sleep. Many don't survive." He gestured to Luke to show them his marks.
The kid shoved his sleeves up and held out his arms, displaying brands in the shape of a polearm. The lines were still thin, not fully developed, but there were weapons in there already, fully functional. New brands, not more than a month old.
"Zion brought me here a month ago," Luke said. "He's been training me to use my weapons, and he's been teaching me about the Calydons."
Ajax gave Luke a more thorough inspection. Zion clearly had thought highly of Luke if he'd brought him to the retreat and instructed him personally. The junior Order members were the ones who trained the younger Calydons, even ones who were sired by an Order member.
"At first, it was cool, you know? This total bonding thing and all. He's a brilliant warrior, and a great instructor." Luke grinned, showing the resilience of youth. "I can hit a target on the run from almost twenty yards now."
Ajax almost smiled, remembering the heady rush of power he'd felt after he'd first gone through the Change. "So, what happened next?"
"After a couple weeks, Zion got really quiet and moody. Distracted. He'd take off for days at a time, and he'd come back all mad. Get irritated when I made a mistake."
Ajax sat up, food forgotten.
Zion was the ultimate teacher. He'd never waste time being annoyed at a rookie mistake. He'd simply train them to be better. For him to become irritated with Luke...something extraordinary had to have been bothering him.
Ajax thought of the stress he'd sensed when Zion had contacted him outside Nightshade Tavern...and then remembered Zion's request two days ago for Ajax to return, when he and Madison had been in the tunnels. If he'd listened then, would Zion still be alive? Shit. "Did he tell you what was wrong?"
"Earlier today, before he...died..." Luke cleared his throat. "He took me to the river and showed me something. He told me I needed to show you."
Ajax released his frustration with a growl. "And you're telling me this now?" He stood up. "What is it?"
"He told me to make sure you were ready to listen before I showed you." He gave Ajax a hesitant look. "Are you ready to listen?"
Ajax just glowered at him, an effect that was ruined when Madison whacked his leg. "Be nice," she told him. "He's just following Zion's orders."
"I guess that's a yes." Luke scrambled to his feet and started to head away from the fire down a small path that was barely visible in the fog.
Ajax glared at Madison. Don't interfere with the training of the rookie.
Madison raised her brows at him as they followed Luke down the path. Is that what it's called? Seemed to me like you were just being harsh with a boy trying to survive.
He felt a sudden urge to laugh at her response. Who had ever talked to him like that? No one, as long as he could remember.
She grinned. "I felt that. You laughed."
He scowled. "I don't laugh."
It was beautiful.
He was so stunned by her comment he didn't even respond for a second. Beautiful? He was about to head into war, for God's sake.
He caught her arm and pulled her toward him, holding her arms tightly as Luke continued on. "Don't you understand how hard it is for me to concentrate with you around? This is war, dammit. I have so much shit on my plate, and having you around weakens me. I don't laugh, I don't flirt, and I can't be thinking about how much I want to get those clothes off you and ride you until you're screaming my name. So, I need you to stay out of my mind!"
Her eyes widened, and for a second, he worried she was going to cry.
Then she slammed her palms into his chest, hitting him so hard he took a step backward. "Don't be an ass. I understand exactly what's going on. Get off your high and mighty horse, and realize that you aren't the only one struggling with this bond. And you aren't the only one with a huge stake in this thing. Damn it, Ajax! This isn't any easier for me!" She shoved him again, and then turned and stalked after Luke.
Her body was rigid, her fists clenched, her energy pattern radiating fury and determination.
She kicked a rock out of her way, and it cracked against a boulder before skittering down the trail. She cursed him under her breath, just loud enough that he could catch it, and he knew she'd intended for him to overhear.
He couldn't stop his grin at her display of toughness and courage, and he had no chance of containing the hit of raw desire as he watched her work her way down the rocky trail. She'd stood up to him when he'd given her his warrior-best, and he loved it.
In fact, he could barely keep himself from charging after her and doing things to her that would have her screaming for days.
He decided right then it was a good thing they weren't alone, because Madison Locke was damn close to eviscerating five hundred years of self-control and discipline.
Chapter Thirty
"This is what he wanted you to see. It's a dead animal," Luke told Ajax when he caught up to the kid a few minutes later. "A snake, I think."
Ajax scanned the banks of the river, remembering the days he'd spent there with Zion training after he'd agreed to join the Order. Hours and hours, he'd had to stand there with his sword, waiting for a fish to swim past. Zion hadn't trusted Ajax's mental state enough to allow him to do anything that didn't further his mental discipline and control. Those lessons had saved Ajax's life countless times. Those were the lessons Madison was shredding. "What's so special about a dead snake?"
"It's not that it's dead." Luke reached the top of an embankment and half slid down toward the river.
Madison followed, slipped once, and Ajax caught her arm instinctively.
They both pulled away the moment she'd caught her balance, and she didn't look at him.
"It's how it's dead," Luke said.
"How?" Ajax frowned as they reached the rocky shore. "What does that mean?"
Luke stopped by a towering wall of rocks. He pointed to a crevice in the cliff. "It's through a pass. He said you'd know what it meant."
Ajax had been assessing
their environment, and his physical senses detected no one. His weapons were silent, but more telling than that, none of his traps had been triggered.
He was fairly confident they were alone, and he didn't want to drag Madison and Luke along to find out what Zion wanted him to see until he knew what it was. "Stay here."
Madison frowned, and Luke opened his mouth to protest. "But—"
He studied the boy. "I want you to protect her. I'll be back."
Madison raised her brows at him. "I don't need—"
"Protect her?" Luke shot a nervous glance at Madison, and then he seemed to grow two inches taller. "Yeah, I'm on it."
As Ajax suspected, Madison didn't want to insult Luke by protesting, so all he got was a glare, and she sat down on a rock.
With one last check at the trees around Luke and Madison, Ajax squeezed through the gap in the rocks. It was a narrow passageway, stretching up high on either side. He kept his attention on the rocks above his head, knowing that if he was jumped while he was in the narrow pass, he'd be cornered. What had Zion been doing back there anyway?
He wiped his hands on his shirt, then realized what he was doing. Frowning, he looked down at his hands. His skin was stinging, burning, as if there'd been acid on the rocks, and his palms were red. He rubbed his fingers together, testing, trying to figure out what was going on. The skin was already starting to slough off his hands. What the hell?
A sense of urgency began to build inside him, and he shoved forward through the rocks. The crevice continued for another twenty yards, getting tighter and tighter, until Ajax had to empty his lungs to make himself thin enough to fit. The skin on his back and chest were beginning to sting, and a dark sense of foreboding was beginning to circle him.
The rocks finally parted, and he stepped out into a large grassy clearing, surrounded on all sides by tall rocks. The dark sky stretched above him, enough moonlight breaking through the fog to cast a gleam on the area.
In the center of the clearing, the grass was dead and rotting beneath a snake carcass. Ajax walked over and crouched next to the reptile, studying it carefully. It was a rattler, or what remained of it. Its body was decayed, and it was emitting an acrid odor. Frowning he leaned closer, noticed that it was resting on bright red clay.
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