Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) (28 page)

Elijah’s gut tightened. That was not what he wanted to hear.

“I never quite knew what it meant, but if she was the
sheva
for both males, it would make sense,” Lily explained. “If they both bonded with her, it would be enough to turn the two of them against each other, even though they were so tight.”

“She actually
bonded
with both of them?” Gideon asked. He looked ashen and somewhat horrified.

Lily shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’ll keep looking.” She looked at Elijah. “But I wanted to come up here and warn you that I think it’s enough of a possibility that you need to prepare for it.” Her gaze flickered to Gideon. “I know how Gideon would respond if I bonded with another male, and we can’t afford to have you go rogue.”

Elijah cursed and tightened his grip on Ana. “The thought of his brands on her—”

The three males exchanged hard looks, and Elijah saw his friends envision their mates marked by another male’s brand.

Gideon swore softly and strode over to Lily, hauling her into his arms and slamming a possessive kiss on her. Her arms went around him instantly and she melted against him. His kiss was about total possession and ownership, and Elijah felt a thundering need rise inside him to do the same to Ana. To cement her as
his
.

Their arousal filled the air with a tangy scent that made Elijah go hard. Quinn cursed and stood up. He yanked open the door and shoved Gideon and Lily out in the hall, then slammed the door shut and leaned against it, his breathing hard. “Seal Ana as yours, Elijah. Make her yours all the way through so she’s not vulnerable to him.”

Elijah tensed, as much from his antipathy for the suggestion as from his entire soul screaming to do exactly as Quinn had suggested. “You and Gideon managed to avoid the destruction of the bond, but you’re the only two who have made it in two thousand years. You really want me to risk that?” Elijah knew damn well he didn’t have his shit together enough to keep from going rogue from the
sheva
bond. Hell, he could barely keep himself together as it was. “I’m not the one who’s going to make number three.”

Quinn’s jaw ticked, and he nodded in acknowledgment. “Then turn her over to Ezekiel so he stops feeling threatened by you. Once he’s all cozy with her, you can go in there and kill him when he’s not paying attention. Do whatever you have to do to beat him.” Quinn’s face got hard. “Stopping Ezekiel is all that matters.”

Elijah narrowed his eyes, his heart starting to pound. “You’re telling me to sacrifice Ana to him? Are you out of your mind?”

“I sure as hell couldn’t do it with Grace, not even for Order business, but you’re something special, right? You’re our magic key, so maybe you can do it.”

There was no way. No. Damn. Way. “I’ll find another weakness to use against him.”

“Will you?” Quinn raised his brows. “Who knows what the hell you are, but you better find out. Lily’s been trying to find out, but she’s not coming up with anything.” Quinn began to pace the room, his steps urgent and measured. “Calydons are going rogue at an alarming rate right now, especially around the mansion. Six murdered their families before we could get to them, and three others were going on a rampage in Forest Park when we finally tracked them. Others have disappeared, and we think they’re aligning with Ezekiel. He’s preparing for war, Elijah. It’s coming fast, and we’re going to lose unless you shut him down.” His gaze flicked to Ana, and his expression filled with empathy. “I don’t envy you, but do what you need to do. One innocent sacrificed to save many. It’s our creed. As you know.”

Without giving Elijah a chance to argue, Quinn turned and walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.

Elijah let his head drop back against the headboard after Quinn left the room.
Jesus.
He was supposed to sacrifice Ana to Ezekiel?
No fucking way.
There had to be another option—

Elijah.

He jerked upright at the sound of Ezekiel’s voice in his mind.
How the fuck are you in my head?
Ana’s head snapped up and she stared at him, her eyes wide with shock.

Ezekiel’s amusement jabbed him like a spike.
We’re kin. Blood bonded by birth.

Elijah spun around as Quinn and Gideon came charging back into the room, weapons out, clearly having sensed Ezekiel in Elijah’s mind through their blood bond.

Elijah held up his hand and jerked it toward the windows. Quinn went to the windows to scan the property for Ezekiel, while Gideon bolted out of the room, no doubt to round up the rest of the team.

We haven’t done a blood ritual.
Elijah had thought it was bad shit when he could feel Ezekiel fishing around in his mind, but this flat-out connection? His stomach was crawling and he felt like poison was oozing into his brain.
How are you talking to me like this?
He tried to block the connection, but Ezekiel’s presence didn’t weaken.

The bastard had a grip on his brain and wasn’t letting go. Elijah pulled Quinn and Gideon into his mind, letting them get a lead on Ezekiel, hoping they’d be able to track him the way they could track each other through their blood bond.

I know. Interesting, isn’t it? But ever since I left you, we’ve been connected. Haven’t you felt it?

Elijah cursed.
No.
He searched his mind to try to find where Ezekiel had connected to him, so he could drill his shields up in that location, but it felt like Ezekiel was everywhere, swamping his mind with dirt and filth.

No? How about now?

Elijah’s entire body was suddenly filled with a vile dampness, like a murky swamp filled with rotting vegetation, seeping through his body. Ana gasped and scrambled to get off him. He caught her wrist as she landed on the floor as he leapt up. He tugged her close to him, into the shield of his body, and called out his throwing stars.

Ezekiel’s soft chuckle echoed through his mind.
Yes, yes, you felt that. As did my
sheva
. You can hear me, too, my sweetness, can’t you?

Ana’s terrified gaze met Elijah’s. Instantly, violent rage exploded in him at the look of panic on her face. She shook her head. “Don’t,” she said. “You won’t help us if you lose it.”

Elijah tightened his grip on her.
She’s mine.

She’s ours. I’ve thought about this pretty carefully, and I don’t want to go down this road again. I want a partner, and you are the one destiny selected. We can rule together and share her. I get one end, you get the other—

No fucking way.
Selected? That was the second time Ezekiel had referenced that. How? How had he been selected? What had he said before? That Elijah had been the only one to survive? Survive what?
No sharing.

Ezekiel made a sound of frustration as shouts echoed through the house. Footsteps pounded as Order members raced outside and through the halls, searching for Ezekiel to see if he was close. Quinn remained by the window, both swords out, ready to provide Elijah backup.

Don’t you understand, my brother? This is the only way. Our blood bond should be able to keep us from killing each other, like it did so long ago. Only this time, we’ll do it right and share instead of letting her divide us.

It wasn’t me two thousand years ago. I’m not your brother.

Ezekiel’s irritation rolled through Elijah like a cold winter wind.
You are all that is left of my brother, and you will not shut me out. You will be mine, as will the girl.

No—

There was a loud crash and the house shook violently. Then suddenly Ezekiel was standing in the room, filling it with an acrid odor of rotting sulfur. His presence seemed larger than before, his aura more dominating. Even the muscles of Drew’s body were bigger.

Elijah touched Quinn’s mind, and the two warriors attacked simultaneously. Elijah’s throwing stars hummed through the air and Quinn’s swords flew at the same time, all four weapons headed straight for Ezekiel—

Ezekiel vanished and the weapons whizzed through the air where he’d been and lodged in the wall.

Cursing, Elijah whirled around as he called his weapons back, sensing Ezekiel behind him.

He wasn’t there. It was the same as in the woods, where he’d thrown the physical indicators of his presence to a spot he wasn’t in. Shit. He could relocate at will and throw off his vitals?
We’re in deep shit, Quinn.

Quinn’s fierce order rang in his mind.
Kill him, Elijah. It’s your destiny.

Elijah felt a heartbeat behind him. He spun around and saw Ezekiel standing by the bed, laughing. “You are no match for me, brother. I can kill you or our
sheva
at any point.”

“You’d never kill her, not if she was your
sheva
.”

“No? Do you forget already who I am? I am evil personified, according to the rumors.” Ezekiel whipped out a throwing star similar to Elijah’s and threw it at Ana. She yelped and ducked while Elijah cursed and threw his own star, intercepting Ezekiel’s on its way to her. Ezekiel had already thrown a second star, and Elijah intercepted that. In rapid-fire succession came more weapons. A hammer and a spear, both of which slammed into Quinn’s swords, which he’d thrown to block them. Then an iron ball hurtled right toward Ana, and they had no more weapons to defend with.

Elijah dove in front of Ana, and it slammed into his shoulder, throwing him back into the wall. He grabbed Ana’s wrist and pulled her with him as another iron ball careened toward her. “Get down!”

She dove behind him, and the ball followed her, dodging around Elijah and thudding into her stomach.

She let out a gasp and went down hard on the floor.

“Ana!” Elijah lunged for her, cradling her against his body as she groaned and pressed her hands to her belly.

“I have twenty-one sets of weapons,” Ezekiel shouted as he hurled more weapons, unleashing them so quickly Elijah had no time to respond. “You cannot stop me! You both will be mine, or I will kill you. There is no other option. I will kill the girl before I let her divide us, but if I have to kill you, too, I will.”

Ezekiel’s weapons came hard and fast, slamming into both Elijah and Quinn, driving them back. Elijah dragged Ana with him, cringing at her moans as she tried to cradle her stomach. He roared with rage, called back his weapons and hurled them at Ezekiel so fast the bastard didn’t have time to dodge them this time.

Both throwing stars sliced clean through Ezekiel’s chest and burst out the other side. Ezekiel screamed, clutching his chest as blood poured out of his wounds. “What is
wrong
with you, Elijah? We’re on the same team!”

“You hurt Ana, you son of a bitch.”

“So what? I didn’t kill her! Jesus!” Ezekiel seemed to swell with power, sucking all the energy out of the room as he took up more and more space. Suddenly his weapons came racing back to him, then he hurled them at Elijah, all at once. Elijah yelled as they sank into him, throwing him against the wall and pinning him there, the sharp blades going through his body to the wall. Quinn was tacked to the wall in the same way, and Ana was on the ground by Elijah’s feet, one hand on his ankle as she tried to stand up. Quinn’s head was slumped to the side, blood streaming from his temple.
Shit.

Elijah’s arms were pinned at the wrong angle, making it impossible for him to throw his weapon, and he roared with impotent fury as Ezekiel strode across the room and grabbed Ana’s hair and yanked her up. “And now—”

“No!” She shouted her protest. Elijah’s throwing star exploded out of his arm with a flash of black light and appeared in her hand. She jammed it into in Ezekiel’s thigh before he knew what had happened.

Transference. Another stage of the bond, complete.

Yes.

I’m coming, Ana!
Elijah fought against the weapons pinning him to the wall as Ezekiel yanked the throwing star out, tossing it aside. He lunged for Ana again, and Elijah screamed with rage, his flesh tearing even more as he struggled to free himself from the weapons.

Ezekiel grabbed Ana’s hair. Instantly, Elijah’s other throwing star ripped out of his arm and slammed into her palm so fast that Ezekiel didn’t have time to react before she shoved it into his belly, blood pouring over her arm.