The mud sucked at her feet as she tried to stand up. "Madison Locke. Ashley's sister. Take me to her."
He lifted his head and sniffed. "You're a sheva." His eyes narrowed, and dark hostility made his face contort. "An Order of the Blade sheva."
"Um..."
His voice became hard and bitter. "The Order killed my brother after he met his mate." She saw the rage in his eyes, the anguish for the loss of his brother, and the unrelenting, soul-deep hatred of the Order.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her toward him.
She caught her breath as he jerked her sleeve up so he could see her arm. "You're almost fully bonded." He lifted his head and scanned the woods, and she knew he was searching for Ajax. "The bond's strong enough that it'll destroy him if he loses you now."
Um, Ajax? I think I've got a problem.
Almost there. Stay alive.
Trying.
The warrior met her gaze. "He'll feel loss unlike anything he has ever experienced before. He'll suffer, as no man should ever suffer. He will feel pain beyond what he is capable of surviving. His soul will tear into a thousand screaming pieces."
Well, that sounded fun. She lifted her chin, knowing there was no point in running, or trying to escape. She'd have no chance against him. Her heart was pounding, and she searched her soul for an Illusion, but her power was still building.
She wouldn't call it anyway.
She was saving it for Charles.
His knife flashed in the night, and he thrust it toward her heart.
Ajax's sword appeared in her hand, and she plunged it deep into the warrior's abdomen before she could think. Horrified, she jerked her hand off the sword and staggered back as she heard a roar of outrage.
She jerked her gaze to the right to see a second Calydon rising up out of the underbrush as he called his spear out of his forearm and reared back to hurl it at her.
Then Ajax burst through the trees, his palm extended as his sword flew backward and landed in his hand. He immediately thrust it into the warrior's chest. The warrior crumpled lifeless at his feet, Ajax held out his hand and called his weapon back, his eyes fastened darkly on her face.
Then her body swelled with an intense heat, a longing so unbearable she gasped. She was consumed with a sense of completeness so overwhelming that tears burst free and streamed down her face.
Then Ajax was on his knees before her, pulling her into his arms, kissing her so fiercely and so deeply that she forgot everything else. She sank into his mouth, relishing the feel of his tongue, the nearly painful grip of his hands as he held her against him. He broke the kiss and held her face, his dark eyes searching hers, brimming with a passion and a possession so deep that it reached out and consumed her. "It's done," he whispered.
"The bond is complete. You killed for me." She buried herself in the hardness of his body, desperate to be closer to him, to consummate the emotions burning inside her. Pressed her face to his neck, inhaling the scent that was him...the scent that belonged to her, for always. "You're mine."
His fingers tangled in her wet hair, and he tugged her head up. "I'm yours," he agreed, his voice husky. "For now, and for always." Then he kissed her again, and it was a kiss of deep love, of an eternity of connection, of a commitment that never, ever again would she be alone, even in her dreams, even in death.
He suddenly broke the kiss and wrenched himself back from her, streaks of rain glistening on his cheeks, rivulets matting his hair. His face was grim, but his eyes were raging with such commitment and such love that she knew she would be safe forever.
Which was the greatest illusion of all.
His face darkened at whatever expression he read on her face. "Screw destiny. We're not giving up." He stood up, then grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on."
Another scream tore through the night, her heart stopped for a split second, and then Ajax grabbed her arm as he looked behind her. "There are more Calydons coming. Go find Ashley, but don't show yourself to Charles." He pointed her in the right direction. "I'll catch up."
She hesitated. "Be careful."
He swept his arm around her waist and kissed her hard. "Always for you, sheva. Always for you. Now go!"
She turned and ran without another word.
Blackness flickered at the edge of Ashley's vision, but she fought it off, focusing all her energy on the knife in Charles's hand that he'd just called out. She willed herself to stay conscious long enough to get the knife.
Charles grinned at her. "Just a little more, darling, and then you should be in enough pain to make the Illusion powerful enough and deadly enough to take down the entire Order. Your sister almost did it, but we need you to finish it this time."
He brought the knife down and plunged it into her thigh.
Gasping in agony, she grabbed for her leg, her hands drenched in her blood as her fingers closed around the handle of the knife stuck in her leg.
He wanted a powerful, dark Illusion? One that was enough to kill?
The bastard was going to get one.
She harnessed her anguish at having been forced to kill Viktor. She embraced the brutality of Charles's attack and thrust it out into the atmosphere. Instead of fighting the Illusion, she threw all her energy into it, built it and fed it, praying she would be able to make it so strong that it would finally affect Charles.
She didn't need to fool him for long. She only needed long enough to get the knife.
His eyes narrowed as the Illusion started to build, turning his head up to listen to the night. The air was vibrating from the force of her Illusion, and the wind began to whip, the rain driving hard into her skin as the pressure built in the atmosphere.
Charles scowled and rubbed his arms, and she realized he was feeling the Illusion. It was working.
He spun back toward her, rage twisting his face. "What are you doing, little girl—"
She met his gaze. "Fighting back."
Charles jerked his head up and his eyes widened in shock as he looked around, and she knew he'd finally fallen victim to her.
It would be enough.
Charles whirled around and sprinted for safety, and she groaned and grabbed the knife to pull it out of her thigh. She moaned as it slipped free, and she managed to hide it under her shirt. He still had his other one, but one was all she needed.
Then she rolled to her stomach and began to crawl.
An inch at a time. She knew she'd never get far enough to hide from him, but she had to try.
She had to try.
Madison hadn't made it very far when the air pressure suddenly skyrocketed. An Illusion's coming, Ajax. Be ready. It's not mine, so I might not be able to protect us from it.
Ducking against the wet underbrush slapping at her, Madison forced herself to run even faster, to reach Ashley before the Illusion could distract her.
The rain drilled her burned skin. Her feet sloshed in the mud. She fell as the rain pooled at her feet. Her hands disappeared into the puddle as the black water closed over them.
The water was warm. Her knees sank into the mud as she lifted her hand up, and thick, black water dripped off her hand in the dark night. Her stomach turned as she caught the faint metallic scent of blood. It's raining blood. Like she did to Viktor.
It's not raining blood. Ajax was in her mind immediately. It's raining water. You know that.
Not blood. It wasn't blood. Madison lurched to her feet, grateful that it was too dark to see the color of the rain. It looked black. Mud. It looked like mud. "It's only mud," she said aloud. "It's just mud." She wiped her hands on her pants and started running again, her boots sinking in the thick sludge. "Ashley!"
Then a shadow drifted out of the woods in front of her and took the shape of a Calydon warrior. She yelped and skidded to a stop, landing on her butt. Then she saw his face in the shadows. "Viktor?"
Chapter Forty-Five
Ajax vaulted over a log, close behind Rajak as t
hey sprinted through the woods. They'd gotten a fix on the screams, and they were closing fast. The rain was pooling at their feet, ankle deep as they splashed through it, dripping down their faces. He wiped his hand over his eyes to clear them, then nearly crashed into Rajak, who'd stopped suddenly.
"Viktor?" Rajak sounded shocked.
Ajax moved up beside him. Viktor was standing in front of them, a knife sticking out of his throat, the same knife Ajax had seen Charles thrust into his neck. Blood was running down his chest, the wound gaping open.
Rajak held his flail ready, the spiked metal balls swinging at the end of the chains. "Talk to me, Viktor. You on our side now?"
Ajax reached out with his mind, trying to get a bead on Viktor, but he wasn't able to touch his mind. It was as if Viktor didn't exist. There was no connection, no response. Simply nothing.
Viktor suddenly moved, so fast that Ajax and Rajak had time only to hit the dirt before Viktor's throwing stars whizzed past their heads. Ajax cursed and hurled his sword. The handle smacked into Viktor's head, and he dropped.
Ajax and Rajak bolted to their feet again, then another man stepped out of the woods in front of them.
Rajak's mouth dropped open. "Viktor?"
Then Ajax caught a whiff of danger behind them and he tackled Rajak to the ground as throwing stars whistled through the air, right where they were standing. They glanced behind them as another Viktor raised his arms and called his stars back.
"What the hell?" Ajax jerked his gaze to his left, just in time to see three more Viktors bolt out of the woods, throwing stars in hand. "At the moment of his death." The Illusion is Viktor.
"Do we kill him or not?" Rajak rose to his feet and swung his flail, blocking a throwing star aimed at his throat. "How do we know if one is really him?"
The woods erupted suddenly and dozens of Viktors charged, the throwing stars whizzing through the air. "Viktor's dead. Kill them all," Ajax shouted. He sliced the midsection of the nearest Viktor, and his jaw flexed as Viktor dropped to the ground with a howl of death. Hell help me if I just killed my friend.
Then another throwing star pierced the front of Ajax's shoulder, and he stopped hesitating. He just ripped it out and charged.
Madison's heart pounded as Viktor stood in front of her. She eased back on her heels to try to tap into his blood bond with Ajax to see if he was under an Illusion, then blinked when she realized Viktor was glowing a faint orange. Not just his gut, like she'd seen inside Ajax, but his entire body. Ajax! Viktor's the Illusion.
Got it. Thanks.
She flinched at the flash of pain she got from Ajax, then Viktor raised his throwing star and hurled it at her neck.
She lifted her chin and kept gazing at the orange glow rising off him, knowing with absolute certainty that he simply didn't exist. You are not real. I do not believe in you. Her mind went still, and utter calmness took over her, and he seemed to glow even brighter as the throwing star hurtled toward her heart.
The throwing star whizzed straight through her chest and disappeared into the woods behind her.
She gasped with relief, and her hands went to her chest where the blade had passed through. Holy cow. She'd done it. She'd broken through the Illusion. By reaching out and searching for the Illusion, she'd been able to recognize the truth.
It had been there all along, her ability to see through Illusions, but she'd been fighting her Illusions so fiercely that she'd never embraced the talent she already had.
She pulled herself to her feet, keeping her gaze fixed on the Illusion as three more Viktors emerged from the woods. All of them were brandishing throwing stars…and all of them were glowing with the telltale orange.
She marched resolutely toward them, keeping her mind calm and focused, embracing her ability to know truth from Illusion, believing in her instincts. The stars whizzed past her, through her, causing no harm.
Exhilaration rushed through her, and she broke into a run as more and more Viktors emerged from the woods, attacking her. She heard the roar of blades crashing in the woods, and she realized the Order was fighting the same Illusion.
She scrambled up an incline, her feet slipping in the mud. Ajax. Let me into your mind.
Little busy here, sweetheart. But he pulled her right in, and she could see he was surrounded by Viktors, far too many to fight. She tripped and went down in the woods, as she felt the fatigue in his body, the crippling pain as he fought through his injuries. She pressed her hands to her forehead and reached out over their link, focusing on the Viktors he was seeing, giving him access to her ability, showing him the truth. The Viktors surrounding him began to glow orange. Do you see that?
Yeah. They're all Illusions. I can see it. A throwing star whizzed at Ajax, and she caught her breath when he didn't try to block it with his sword. He let it fly right at his chest, and it whipped through him without injury. She sensed his exhilaration, and then he focused again, sharing her vision with the rest of the team.
The men's faith in their leader was so absolute they didn't question it. They simply stopped fighting. The moment they did, the throwing stars stopping sinking into their flesh.
We're clear. Great work, Madison.
Thanks. She lurched to her feet and started moving forward, her muscles screaming with exhaustion. She tripped several times, struggling to hold the focus for all the men as well as herself, and still see where she was going.
Then a set of hands grabbed her and hurled her to the forest floor. She jerked her gaze up and saw Charles looming over her.
And he wasn't glowing.
Ajax felt a rush of danger so intense he nearly stumbled. Madison's presence vanished from his mind, leaving him unprotected from the Illusions. Madison!
Charles found me. Her voice vibrated with fear, and his body went numb.
Hell. The trees blurred as he bolted through the woods, calling upon his preternatural speed as he never had before, running right past the Viktors leaping out at him. He ran right through them, consumed by his fear for Madison, unable to focus on anything else other than the gut-wrenching image of Madison at Charles's mercy. "Madison!"
His mouth was dry, his lungs were tight as he ran, blind to the branches whipping across his face. Where are you?
He's got a knife.
Ajax's shout of anguish shook the night, and he called to the blood bond between them, and instantly knew her precise location. He sent her position to his men, in case any of them were closer, then turned north and ran, sword out, vaulting over rocks and dodging trees, taking out branches with his sword instead of wasting time ducking beneath them. He charged forward as dozens of Calydons emerged from woods in a full ambush. Viktors and others, a full army of attacking warriors.
Ajax fended off attack after attack, not even feeling the pain when their weapons sank into his flesh. But the harder he fought, the more warriors kept coming. An endless stream, and he knew by the time he got through them, it would be too late. "Madison!" His shout was wild, ripping out of his throat.
I'm okay.
Relief flooded him at the sound of her voice. We need an Illusion.
But—
I'll tap into the team if you keep me locked to you. He whirled and sank his sword into the gut of another assailant, then spun back barely in time to block a blow that would have decapitated him. He stumbled, and his sword flew out of his hand and skewered his assailant as he swung around. Now, Madison!
Charles grabbed Madison and began to haul her across the forest floor, and she knew he was leaving Ajax behind to die.
You can do it. I know you can. Ajax's confidence was complete, filling her with strength and conviction.
She took his confidence and made it her own, drawing on it to ground her.
Embracing who she was completely, she closed her eyes and reached out into the atmosphere, tapping into the power that was Ashley's Illusion, drawing on the malachite, letting her own power mesh with it. She welcomed her power and flung it out into the night.
> And suddenly the forest was filled with millions of knives, flying through the air, just as they'd done fourteen years ago.
She opened her eyes and looked at the battle again. As she watched, the knives shot directly into the fighting, turning on Charles's Calydons, not one of them touching an Order member or Ajax. Brutal and deadly, as her Illusions had to be, but she'd controlled them this time.
She'd won.
She had won.
She smiled, and then Charles yanked her backward. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Madison looked up at him. "Killing your warriors."
Her smile faded at the expression on his face. "You just made yourself expendable."
And then he stabbed her.
Ajax went cold as he felt the connection between him and Madison shudder. "Madison!" He whirled and charged down the hill, vaulting over bodies. Not caring, not seeing, not feeling anything but her fading energy. "Madison!"
"Ajax!" Xander was behind him. "Don't kill Charles! We have to get the location of the tablet, your weapon, and Ashley!"
Ajax ignored his friend as he continued his sprint down the hill, following the path Charles had taken Madison. Don't you dare die on me! I'm coming for you!
"Focus, Ajax!" Rajak's shout was distant as Ajax continued his assault, able to think of nothing but getting to Madison. To kill Charles. "You're going rogue!"
Ajax caught sight of Charles through some trees. Madison was slumped at his feet. White rage exploded in his head, blanking out everything else. He saw Charles raise his knife to throw it at Ajax. His instincts surged to the forefront, and he knew what Charles was going to do before he did. The world fell into slow motion and Ajax launched himself at Charles, twisting in the air to avoid Charles's swipe.
Ajax thrust his sword at Charles's neck, then Xander tackled him, and Ajax's blade sank into Charles's hip instead of his heart.
"Dammit, man!" Xander shouted. "Give us two minutes to get answers out of him!"
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