She was trembling, a shivering that was originating from somewhere deep inside her. Levi pulled her into his arms and rested his forehead against hers. She realized that he was also trembling, and his skin was cold. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. There was so much to say, but at the same time, no words needed to be exchanged. She'd felt his battle with the predator within him, and she knew how strong it was, and how close it had come to taking him.
Her sudden understanding of how much he'd been willing to sacrifice for her made her hold him tighter. "Thank you," she whispered. "No one has ever risked his life for me like that."
"They were alive," he said, burying his face in her neck, as if he needed the comfort of her touch as much as she needed his. "The wolves. They weren't spirits. They had once been men. I killed them."
There was so much to his words. It meant he'd satisfied his half of the death stage by killing on her behalf. No wonder her arms were burning. They'd just done so many stages. All that was left was transference, and her half of the trust stage and death stages. The Calydon bond was trapping them, but she knew he hadn't saved her because of the sheva bond. He'd saved her because he was a man of honor. He'd pushed himself to the limit, and chosen to die instead of staying alive to fulfill his mission to kill Lord William.
He bowed his head, nestling more intimately against her. "They were trapped in the wolves," he said, his voice rough and harsh. "I could feel it. They were like me."
She frowned. "What?"
"They're Merk's. They had the same power I have." He lifted his head to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils were dilated. "Merk was controlling them. He saw me. He knows I'm alive. He almost got me. They're his wolves."
His words sank into her like a cold chill. "You mean, he sent the wolves to my village? He used them to trap me? Offering respite from the creatures he sent to destroy us?" Nausea churned in her stomach. "Did he kill my parents?"
Levi nodded. "I think those men were once like me. I think they were my future."
She stared at him as dark dread filled her. She didn't have to ask if he was serious. She could feel the weight of his words preying upon her. "You'd be a phantom wolf now if you hadn't been imprisoned, wouldn't you?"
"Probably. Or at least, I'd be on my way."
"So, what do we do?"
He wrapped his hand around the braided bracelet on her wrist, the one that bound her to Merk no matter what. "We kill him."
"But what about the wolves? Will that stop them?" Even as she asked it, she knew his answer. "They're too far gone, aren't they? They aren't men. The hunger—it owns them, right? They won't stop, will they? Why would Rohan think they defended ancient spirits, if they are tools that Merk created?"
"I've heard of guardian spirit wolves before, but these aren't them. Merk imitated them. And I guess that they periodically cease their attacks on your kingdom only because Merk pulls them back. My guess is that he gave your parents the sunlight because he was trying to convince them to go to him for protection, just like you eventually did. When they refused, he decided to take them out."
"Oh, God." She felt sick, so violently ill that she'd trusted the man who had set the scourge on her kingdom.
"Once he's dead, there will be no one holding them back." Levi inhaled deeply, and pressed his face to her neck again. "I never thought I'd be sane again," he said softly. "You brought me back. I can't tell you what it feels like to lie here with you, to feel your skin against mine, and to know that I'm not streaking across the countryside, hunting for someone to kill."
She hugged him more tightly, threading her fingers through his hair. "The blood bond is amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah." He lifted his head to look at her. His brow was furrowed. "Tell me your darkest secret."
"The trust stage," she whispered.
He nodded. "Merk is hunting us now. He'll find us soon. I need all your strength if I'm going to resist him. We need to finish the bond."
She swallowed. "But once we finish it, we're destined to lose all that matters to us. I don't want to lose my kingdom." She paused. "Or you," she whispered.
"I fucking hate having my life dictated to me," he said. "I lived that way for a century, and I'm done with it. I'm not going to be controlled by a psychopath, or some shitty destiny." His face became fierce. "Somewhere along the line, the sheva bond got twisted into something bad and destructive, but we've already seen how good and powerful it really is. Having someone you can count on no matter what is the only thing worth living for, and I refuse to believe that it'll force us to betray each other. We both know how dark things can get, and we won't go back there. I won't let it happen."
Warmth spread through her at his words, and she smiled. "Okay."
He raised his brows. "Okay? Just like that, you're willing to blow off a thousand years of sheva destiny?"
"Yep. I like your version better, and I know that we're both stubborn enough to pull it off."
He grinned. "That's my woman." He kissed her, hard and deep, until she felt him growing hard inside her again. With a low growl, he broke the kiss. "As much as I want to make love to you right now, we don't have much time. Tell me your darkest secret. Trust me with something you've never trusted anyone with before. Or give me the power to kill you. Either way works."
She raised her brows, trying to think of something. "Just by being with you, you have the power to kill me. You don't think that works?"
"No. It has to be a specific action." He kissed her again, and began moving his hips. Talk to me, woman. Now. What's the one thing you don't want to tell me, and then spill it.
She arched back, her body tightening as her belly clenched with desire once again. That's not fair. You're distracting me.
I'm a man on a mission. No time for fair. Talk. He thrust deeper, and she yelped as desire rushed through her. You're avoiding. Tell me.
She gripped Levi's shoulders, moving her hips under his. "I don't have any deep, dark secrets," she said. "I don't know what to say."
He moved deeper, and her body clenched with need. There has to be something you don't want to say, something you fear putting out there, something you feel like if you said it, you might shatter.
She opened her eyes to look at him, and she saw the hunger in them, not hunger for death, hunger for her. Her heart tightened, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. No one had ever looked at her like that, as if she were the only thing that mattered. She had always been second class in her family, an afterthought that wasn't important. She'd tried so hard to get them to love her, but no one ever had. She'd told them she loved them a thousand times, but never once had they said it back, until she'd finally learned it was easier not to say it, than to have those three words hanging out there unacknowledged.
But Levi had put her first. He'd sacrificed himself and his dreams to save hers. He made her feel like the most important woman in the world... Suddenly, she knew her secret, the words she would never be brave enough to utter.
He stopped moving his hips, searching her face. What is it?
She bit her lip, looking past him at the night that was so dark. Not even a star lit up the evening, and she knew it was because of the shadow wolves hunting them, getting close.
Levi caught her jaw and directed her gaze back to her face. "You have to say it," he said. "You have to say it now."
She became aware of a chill in the air, and she knew more wolves were coming. But there was something else. Something more deadly. Something that made the braided band on her wrist tighten. "Merk's coming now, isn't he? For us?"
"Yeah." Levi didn't move away, and he didn't withdraw from her body. He just waited, infinite patience, for her.
She framed his face with her hands, his whiskers prickling his fingers. "My secret," she whispered. "Is..." She stopped. "I know you don't want to hear this, and I'm not asking anything of you. I'd never say it if I didn't have to—"
He laughed softly, a deep chuckle that seemed to reverb
erate through her. "Just say it, Maya."
"I love you."
His face went blank, and his body went utterly still. Silence arose between them, and she felt that same desolation rise inside her as she'd felt so many times in her life when she'd said those words, and they'd been met with silence. She managed a smile and held up her arm, which was burning. "It worked," she said, pretending she didn't care that he hadn't said it back. "More lines."
He turned his head to her arm, and, to her surprise, pressed a long kiss against her flesh. He said nothing, but the tenderness of his kiss seemed to ease the desolation racing through her. He hadn't used words, but his action was significant. He hadn't turned away from her or rejected her. He'd kissed the mark that bound them, a deep, searing kiss that she knew said the words that he hadn't spoken. Maybe not that he loved her, but that he accepted her love, and would treasure it forever. It was more than she'd ever gotten, and she knew it was all he could offer.
She nodded, silent, unable to speak over the swell of emotion forming in her throat.
"One and a half stages left," he said, running his hand over her arm. "Your half of the death stage and calling my weapon."
She swallowed and took a breath. "I really don't want to kill anyone."
He met her gaze, and there were hundreds of years in regret in his eyes. "I don't want you to have to live through that. We're tight now. Maybe it will be enough."
The wind began to whistle through the trees, an ancient howling sound that sent chills down her spine. "He's almost here," she whispered.
"That he is." Levi kissed her again, hard and fast, and then finally, pulled out of her. His absence left behind a gaping hole in her soul, and for a minute, a lifetime of isolation surged back over her. Then he gave her a wink, and the tension vanished. He was still hers, no matter what. Forever.
Within a split second, he already had his pants back in place, but he had no shoes or shirt. Just himself and his axes. His body was lean, but taut with muscle. He looked ready and lethal, a warrior who wasn't afraid to do whatever he had to do. "You ready for battle, sweetheart?"
"No. I still can't call your weapon." She sat up and grabbed for her jeans, glancing around at the dark night as she quickly got dressed. There was no time left to develop battle skills she'd never had. "So, what's our plan?" The air was icy cold now, and the bracelet on her wrist was getting even tighter.
"We have to find out where he got the sunlight from."
She grabbed Levi's arm. "Don't kill him until we find it. We can't let his wolves kill my kingdom."
He looked at her. "He can't be allowed to go free, Maya. That's the bottom line."
"But—" She caught her breath as two sets of gleaming red eyes appeared in the trees behind him. "They're here." As Levi spun around, two wolves stepped out of the darkness, their muzzles almost translucent as the shadows swirled through their bodies. Their eyes settled right on her, and the back of her neck prickled.
Levi knelt beside her and placed his right hand on the earth. "If there's only two, I can take them."
The wolves didn't move, however. They simply kept staring at her, until their faces began to shift and blur. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, but the faces continued to morph before her eyes. "Levi? Is it just me, or—"
"No, it's not." He was still crouched beside her, and the earth was blackened around his hand. "They're shifting."
She dug her fingers into his shoulders. "They look human."
"They were human before. They're floating between the two worlds." He stood up, using his left hand to clasp her wrist and draw her behind him. "Don't be fooled by them. They're not human anymore."
A cold chill raced down Maya's spine as one of the wolves flashed into a full human face for a split second. She saw a face with the same blue eyes that she had, cheekbones that were high and refined, and a cool arrogance that she'd lived with her whole life. "Oh, God, Did you see that?"
"A woman, yeah." Levi suddenly glanced at her. "She looked like you."
Maya's legs started to shake. "It's my mother. That wolf...it's my mother." As she spoke, she jerked her gaze to the other wolf. Again, a human face flashed into visibility, and she saw the peppery beard of her father for a split second before the wolf took over again. She gripped Levi's wrist. "It's my parents. When the wolves came the first time, they took their souls, they—"
"They are not your parents." He tightened his grip on her wrist as the wolves circled closer, their teeth bared.
"Don't kill them," she whispered, her voice stark with terror. Please, Levi, please.
Levi swore at the anguish in her voice, watching the wolves close in. He pulled Maya behind him, his hand pulsing with the energy to kill. Maya, they're gone. They aren't your parents—
They will always be my parents.
As she spoke, there was movement behind the two wolves. The shadows seemed to part as a man emerged from the darkness wearing a calf-length, leather coat and a black shirt. Long, blond hair strayed over his shoulders, and his elegant fingers were wrapped around the handle of an old sword. His face regal and impassive, just as it always had been.
Merk. Levi went still, his heart pounding as he watched the man who had ruled him for so long appear. Levi moved in front of Maya, using his body to block her as Merk stopped. He felt the weight of his gaze on him, and in his mind. Levi immediately reinforced his mental shields to block him. Everything inside him screamed with the instinct to launch himself at the other man before he could attack, and he shifted his weight—
Maya put her hand on his back, her fingers cold against his skin, and he stilled, barely able to think over the blood thundering through his mind. Give me a chance, Levi.
It was against everything he believed, but he stayed still, and he didn't stop her as she stepped around him so she could be seen by Merk. "Lord William," she said, her voice clear and regal.
"Lady Maya." His blue eyes flicked toward her with a predatory interest that made Levi's lip curl. "You have come to seal our deal."
"I have."
"Come to me," Merk said, his voice cool and tempting.
Don't take one step, Levi warned her. If he touches you, I'll kill him. I swear I will.
Don't kill him, she snapped at him, but she stayed by his side. "First, I need to know the safety of my people is assured," she said to Merk, her voice steady and calm.
"It is. I am bound by the bargain just as you are." He held out his hand. "Come." His voice carried a bit of a push, and he felt Maya's resistance ebb.
Stay. He reached out with his mind and wrapped her in his protective shield, bringing her into his defenses.
Merk's gaze flickered toward Levi. "Do not interfere, son."
Son? Maya's surprise surged through him. He's your father?
He claimed the role, but he isn't my father. But for years, Merk had played that role, fulfilling the fantasies of an orphan kid who longed for his roots. Levi had believed Merk was his dad, who had tracked him down at the orphanage and rescued him. He'd done everything he could to win his favor, and thought it was his fault whenever the bastard had beat the hell out of him to train him. It wasn't until later, much later, that he realized the truth, but by then, Merk's grip on him was too unassailable. It hadn't mattered then. But it mattered now.
He watched as Merk slid his hand into the pocket of his cloak, and he tensed, knowing they had only a split second until Merk acted. "You have three seconds to tell Maya where the power source is, or you die."
Merk raised his brows. "I don't fear you, son. You could never turn on me."
Levi narrowed his eyes. "Two seconds."
Maya gripped his arm. Don't do this, Levi. You haven't given us time!
Watch his hand, Maya. Don't take your eyes off it. "One."
Merk moved his hand, Levi started to lunge for him, and then something sharp sank into the back of his neck. He reached behind him, vaguely aware of Maya's shout, but it was too late. His body seemed to fragment as he fell,
and he hit the earth with a thud, unable to move, to think, to breathe, and unable to fight off the darkness as it sucked him down.
Chapter 9
"Levi!" Maya gasped as Levi collapsed beside her, then she saw two wolves on his back, their teeth sunk deep into his neck, sucking the life out of him, just as they'd done to her sister. For a split second, she was frozen in terror as memories of that horrible night came back to her, and then she saw Levi's skin turning black and beginning to shrivel, just as had happened to her sister and her parents. Her parents were killing Levi. "No!" She screamed in protest and lunged for them. There was a crack and a flash of black light, and then Levi's axe was in her hand. She swung it through the wolves, who howled and vanished, reforming a yard away, their teeth snarling and their red eyes flashing.
Levi didn't move, and she straddled him, her feet braced and the axe ready. As she stood there, she felt her arms burning as more lines were added to the brand. Now that she had claimed his weapon, their ties were even tighter.
Deep possessiveness rolled through her, a need to protect Levi and defend him. "Don't touch him," she said, tightening her grip on his weapon. She could barely breathe through the horror that she had just tried to kill her parents to defend Levi. What kind of choice had that been? Was that the sheva bond, making her choose a man instead of her family? Her stomach turned, but she didn't lower the weapon. She couldn't lower the weapon. Levi was lying on the ground between her feet, rasping for breath, and there was no way on this earth she would step away from him and leave him to be killed. "Make it stop," she shouted at Merk, who was watching the whole thing with a smile on his face. "Save him."
"My dear, what would you give for me to save him?" Merk walked around in a leisurely circle, trailing his fingers over the heads of the wolves who had once been her parents. "A kingdom, perhaps? You have already given me that. Your servitude? Already claimed. Your body? At my mercy."
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