Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade) (10 page)

There was silence. No movement followed the steps that she had heard, which made her tension rise even further. Whatever it was had become aware of her, and it was waiting for her to move in the same way she was anticipating its next step.

Penetrating silence prevailed, each trying to outwait the other. The muscles in her arms began to tremble, and she realized how out of shape she was. There had been a time when she had been able to hold her bow at the ready for hours, outwaiting even the most patient of enemies. Now, it had been less than a minute and already her arms were shaking. Her hamstring was cramping from the uncomfortable position she'd frozen in. A trickle of sweat was dripping down her brow, and she knew it wouldn't be long before it went into her eye. It wasn't even hot compared to what the jungle often was, but she could feel the steam rising off her body, curling her hair, and dampening her clothes.

With grim trepidation, she realized she had gone soft. She was in no condition to take on José and think she could walk away. She'd lost to him even when she'd been fit and in her prime. Now? She couldn't even hold an arrow ready for more than a minute. Her pulse began to hammer in her throat, and she willed it to quiet, knowing that José would be able to hear her heart pounding if he was the one in the bushes.

Please don't let it be José.
She wasn't ready to face him yet. If she met him now, she would have no chance. A cold fear gripped her, and her fingers tightened involuntarily around the arrow, even as she fought to stay relaxed. Physical tension would throw off her aim. She had to stay loose.

Then she caught a scent, drifting to her over the complex smells of the jungle. It was the scent of a man. Not José. A stranger. He smelled of sweat, adrenaline, and something else. A deeper scent that seemed to reach inside her and unfurl in her belly. She instantly recognized her response as attraction. Desire. Lust. Dear God,
she wanted this man.
Fear gripped her with sudden cruelty, freezing her muscles and obliterating all thought from her mind except for a raw terror that screamed at her to run.
Run
.
Run!

Her instincts knew she had to stay utterly still, but the fear of her attraction to a man was so deep that she could not make herself stay. Attraction was a trap. Desire could be twisted to hurt her. Lust was a cruel lie. Wanting a man was doom, torture, and a hell she'd never survive.

Instead of staying still and hidden as she should have, panic forced her to act. She leapt to her feet, spun around, and ran blindly through the forest, her boots thudding noisily on the ground. Branches tripped her, and plants seemed to spring up out of the earth to grab her ankles. She couldn't even focus enough to ask them to help her instead of hurting her. Her mind was a swirling miasma of terror and memories, screaming at her to run and escape while she still had the chance.

"Hey!" The man shouted at her, his deep voice booming through the jungle.

The rich bass of his voice plunged through her flesh and ignited a fire inside her, a relentless infusion of need and longing that made her want to turn and charge right toward him instead of away from him. "Oh, God, no. Not again." Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sprinted through the jungle, not even paying attention to where she was going. She couldn't remember the layout exactly. Her mind was fragmented with fear and terror, just as it had been so long ago when she had run for her life through these very woods. She stumbled over a root and tumbled to the earth, barely getting her hands out in time to cushion her fall. Her crossbow jammed into her jawbone and she gasped as the pain shot through her.

She hadn't even finished falling when she was already back up on her feet, stumbling as she tried to keep going. Trees loomed above her on all sides, but the branches were too high for her to reach, and she couldn't focus enough to ask the trees to help her. Everything she had as a weapon was gone, disintegrated by the fear ripping through her.

Then she realized there were heavy footsteps thundering after her, getting closer and closer. He was chasing her! She put on another burst of speed, her breath burning her lungs as she fought for air. Her legs were trembling, shaking with exhaustion as she asked her body to do things it hadn't done in so long.

She frantically tried to focus enough to take in her surroundings and understand where she was. She couldn't keep this up. She had to find a way out. She had to—

A hand closed on her shoulder, and fingers dug into her flesh, pulling her to a stop.

With his touch, all conscious thought fled from her mind. She grabbed the dagger from where it sat on her hip and spun around, striking as she turned. Her blade hit flesh, plunging deep inside thick muscle before she'd even finished her turn to see who was after her.

The dark brands on his forearms told her all she needed to know. It was a Calydon, and her dagger was in his heart. She spun the rest of the way around, facing him as he fell.

"Shit!" The warrior's dark eyes widened in surprise as he stumbled and went down to his knees.

Rhiannon ripped her dagger out of his chest and went still, bracing her legs in a ready position as she held the dagger ready. She knew she had to keep moving, but she couldn't run anymore. Not yet. She needed time to recover. She had nothing left. Her breath heaved in her chest as she desperately tried to get air.

She saw the blood pouring from his chest, and realized she'd struck a clean blow into the heart. Instinct had shown her where to find a heart on a Calydon, taking into account his height when she'd made her blind strike. Maybe she wasn't a total loss. Maybe she still had some of her old skills. Maybe she still had a chance to survive.

She took another deep breath, trying to recover from her run. She knew the respite from his injury wouldn't last long, but the heart had been a good place to hit.

He looked up at her as he pressed his palm to the wound on his chest. "Why the hell did you do that?" His voice had the same effect on her as before. It eased through her body like a warm, seductive caress of pure temptation. And now that she could see what he looked like, it was even stronger.

His eyes were dark brown, flecked with bits of gold. His stare was intense, sinking deep into her very soul as he gazed at her. She felt herself flush under his stare, her body pulsing in response to the heat of his attention. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze, and she was caught in his spell, in his raw masculinity and strength. His cheekbones were sculpted, giving him a regal appearance, despite the heavy growth of whiskers. His disheveled dark hair gave him an aura of danger and lethalness that should have terrified her…but she found herself riveted by him instead.

His shoulders were broad, but not as broad as José's. Unlike José and his men, who wore camouflage pants, lean boots, and sported bare chests as if impersonating some ancient warrior, this Calydon was wearing the garb of civilization. His blue jeans were dirty and torn. His black T-shirt was loose and ragged. He was wearing hiking boots, but they appeared to be heavily insulated as if they were meant for trekking through snow and ice instead of the brutal heat of the jungle. He didn't look like he belonged to this jungle or to José, but the twin dark brands on his forearms told her all she needed to know.

He was a Calydon, and that meant he was a threat, no matter how intense her reaction to him was. In fact, he was even more dangerous
because
of the way she wanted to fall under his spell. Men knew how to take advantage of a woman's attraction to them. They preyed upon it, twisting it to their advantage. She knew better than to want a man, but her fingers actually twitched with the need to lay her hand over his wound and take away his pain, to feel his flesh beneath her palm, to move closer and lose herself in the incredible strength and power of his being.

"Yeah…" he said softly, his gaze locked onto hers, as if he were having the same intense reaction to her that she was having to him. "Who are you?" he asked. "What's your name?"

"Who am I?" The question jerked her back to the present, to the very real danger he presented. If he'd been sent to find her, his quest would have to end now. Even as she thought it, resistance pulsed through her, and she realized she didn't want to kill him.

Grimly, she took a step back as she pulled another arrow out of her quiver. She set it in the bow and aimed it right between his eyes. "What do you want?"

She needed to know whether he had stumbled across her accidentally, or if José already knew she was here. Then, once she had her answers, she would do her best to kill the man kneeling before her.

She ignored the stab of regret at the notion of killing him. Sure, he smelled incredible and had eyes that had momentarily melted right through the fear of men that she kept wrapped so tightly around her. That didn't mean she was going to make the same mistake that had once almost killed her. Never would she trust the wrong man, or any man, again.

Never.

He would have to die. There was simply no other option.

She was a warrior.

Zach went still, startled by the sight of this slight woman taking aim at his head. His chest hurt like hell from her clean hit with the dagger, and he could feel weakness sapping the strength from his body as he lost blood he couldn't afford to lose. He was already down too many pints after all Thano had inflicted upon him, serious wounds he hadn't taken time to heal completely before heading out.

By the time he'd left, Thano had been strung up beside Trevor, like a couple of carcasses ready to be butchered, that insidious black webbing locked around his hands. Zach had grabbed several hard biscuits and headed out, moving with an urgency he'd never felt before. He'd left Apollo inside that black vortex in the woods standing guard over Thano. He knew the horse would protect Thano from whatever was outside those torches, but he was pretty damn certain the stallion would be no defense against Rohan if he decided to act, or against that webbing as it took over Thano's body.

How much time did he have? Not the five days that Trevor had. Rohan had pointed out that the webbing had already traveled half an inch from where it had begun. He said some poor bastards were more vulnerable to the webbing than others, and it was going to take over Thano fast. Rohan had guessed three days max before he had to take it off and fight Thano to the death or let him die...but it could be less.

After hearing that grim timetable, Zach had been on his way within five minutes. Irritatingly, he'd gotten lost as hell within three hours. Frustration and desperation mounting, he'd been in a cold sweat by the time he'd stumbled across this woman sifting through dirt like she owned the damned place.

And now, she had an arrow aimed very competently at his head, which wasn't exactly the kind of help he needed. He didn't move, assessing her quickly, trying to decide whether he needed to attack or whether he could talk her down. Even as he thought it, disquiet rumbled through him at the thought of attacking her.

He didn't waste time going all soft and fuzzy on women anymore, but this particular woman called to him in a way he hadn't allowed in a very long time, making him hesitate before classifying her as the enemy. Her dark hair was in a tight bun, but thick sections had snuck free, curling in damp tendrils around her neck. Her eyebrows were almost black, arched in a seductive curve that smoothed across her high forehead. She wore no makeup or jewelry, with the exception of a red amulet around her neck. Sweat dotted her neck, glistening beads that sparkled along the silver chain of her necklace. Her loose cargo pants hung low around her hips, not hiding the curves or athleticism of her body. Her shoulders were pulled back and her jaw was relaxed as she held her bow steady, the stance of a confident, prepared warrior.

But her eyes were what captivated him. Like her hair, they were raven black, but they were not the cool, reserved eyes of a warrior. They were turbulent pools of emotion. He could see fear in them, fear so intense that it prickled at his flesh. His sai burned in his arms, not to fight her, but to defend her, to cut down whatever it was that was haunting her so mercilessly.

That wasn't even the extent of his reaction to her. Beneath her fear roiled something else, something that affected him on a visceral level, a pulsing sensuality that seemed to call to him…

The realization hit him like an assault, a realization so devastating that his breath froze in his lungs, trapped by a paralyzing horror.
He wanted her
.

Jesus. He didn't do that anymore.
Never.
He knew it wasn't a
sheva
reaction, because his runes were too strong. He was simply reacting to her as a woman, and
that
was not okay.

"Why are you after me?" This time, when she asked the question, she tightened her grip on her bow, readying to unleash the arrow into his skull.

There was no doubt she was absolutely ready to do her best to kill him, and damned if he didn't think that was hot as hell. Shit. What was he doing thinking like that? There was no damn way he was ever going down that road again with a woman. He was never tempted anymore. Ever. He had to stay focused. He shook his head once, trying to clear out the jumble of lust and desire fighting for acknowledgment. "I need directions."

For a moment, his statement hung out in the air, unacknowledged.

Finally, she spoke. "Directions?" Disbelief etched every syllable she spoke. "You're a Calydon warrior, armed and dangerous, in the middle of the jungle. You expect me to believe that you're breaking every male stereotype and asking for
directions?
"

He couldn't halt his flicker of amusement at her reply. "Yeah, well, I'm not a typical guy, I guess. I need to get somewhere in a hurry, I have no idea where the fuck I am, and I don't have time to hike to the nearest gas station and buy a map. So, yeah, directions." He couldn't keep his gaze from flickering over her body again, but this time, he noted the well-worn boots that were laced halfway up her calves, the perfect fit of cargo pants that had seen many wearings, and the lean muscles of her arms. "And you look like you know your way around here. I don't suppose you hire out as a guide?" Even as he asked the question, something started to hum inside him, anticipation at the idea of being isolated in the jungle with her and having her on his team. Or maybe it was just that he was so impressed with his idea of hiring a guide who knew what she was doing, and fired up that she might give him a chance to find the fire god before Thano passed the point of no return.