Gideon [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book Two (11 page)

"Nice one, Nathaal," he
admitted with a wry smile. "Couldn't wait till a man turned his
back, now could you?"
"Shut the fuck up and let's fight!" The man swiped one booted foot
in the dirt before him and angled the two swords in his hand. And
then charged. 
Gideon inhaled sharply, clenching his fists. Nathaal was on him in
a flash and he dodged expertly from the path of one sword. He timed
the slash of the other as his mana surged to his hands, burning
like fire around them. Knocking the sword from his hand, Gideon
growled and yanked him hard, fisting Nathaal squarely in the mouth.
Tossing him aside like garbage, Gideon huffed and widened his
stance. 
Get up, you dumb fuck!" he shouted. "One bloody mouth for another,
right?"
Nathaal jumped to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his
hand. "You'll never find him!"
Gideon chuckled. "Drop your sword and fight like a man."
For a moment, it looked as if the man was actually considering it.
Then he hardened his glare. "Fuck you."
Out of nowhere Malakai dashed in and gave Nathaal a blinding
uppercut. The man slumped to his knees in obvious agony. Gideon
frowned at him. "What? I deserved to have that one." He then
grabbed the man up, pulled a length of steel from his inside vest
and bent it neatly around Nathaal's hands. "Besides, we can't kill
him just yet. Obviously, he knows where Deorci is. I can scan his
memories."
Gideon took a step towards Malakai. "You can do that?"
He shrugged and kicked a groaning Nathaal to his knees before
bending another sheet of thick steel around his ankles. "Damn right
I can. It's how I'd found--"
"Found what?" Blood rushed to his head like hot air. 
Malakai shook his head and gave him one of those dumb looks with
lowered lids and a cocked brow. "Your brother's woman. Amelia. Was
that her name? Yes! I am the fucker who'd found out about her
existence right after Xavier had been gutted like a damn fish. No
need to get all touchy; it only works on Kankul people."
Breathing hot fury, Gideon folded his arms to reduce from murdering
Malakai. Maybe he would kill the bastard after all. He just wanted
to find Esyth first and then--
Are you fucking kidding me?" Mia's scream rang so loudly, it made
him flinch. Fuck, he'd forgotten about her. "You two are here
fighting an ego battle while no one even bothered to find out how I
was faring out?" 
Malakai glared at her. Gideon twisted his mouth into a scowl,
taking in her condition. Her vest was almost ripped wide open from
the front, blood stain wiped all over her face and smeared over the
blades of her swords. Her chest rose and fell with pent up
frustration. "You look fine to me," Malakai mumbled.
She let out a harsh laugh. "As if I expected any better from you,
y-you asshole. And
you
," she gasped, pointing a finger at Gideon's chest. "I should
shove this sword straight down your throat." 
Gideon exchanged awkward glances with Malakai, truly unsure of what
to make of her behavior. "As I can recall, you're the one who
requested to come along with us. Are you asking that we treat you
like the...
woman
that you are?"
A horrified look transformed her face, her complexion paling with
shock. She stammered a bit before she swallowed and sighed. "Oh,
fuck you both. We need to get going. I need a bath."
And she stalked off. Gideon shrugged and turned back to face
Malakai, knodding at the silent Nathaal who stared at both of them
with equal contempt. "Keep him silent until we get to the village.
He'll be drawing enough attention just as he is."
Malakai bristled. "I can do the memory scan right now. Right here.
What the fuck are you waiting for?"
"You know the village we're heading to. Almahill. It's a neutral
one but the people there hates your kind…very much," Gideon
murmured with a mixture of bitterness and amusement. "You can do
your scanning there and then allow the villagers to pick him
apart."
Nathaal's eyes flew wide open, genuine fear riding around in their
depths. He then struggled on the ground, hopelessly trying to free
himself from his destiny.

Malakai stared hard at
Gideon, biting back the laugh forming on his lips. He then shook
his head and ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt, tying it
across Nathaal's mouth. "I don't like you one bit, Maruj. But I do
like how you think." He paused and shot him a sly look.
"Sometimes."
Gideon chuckled and looked ahead to spot Mia stomping her way in
the direction of the village. She hadn't gotten far. Heaving a deep
breath, he looked to the heavens and asked The First for the
strength to endure. Esyth could be miles upon miles away. Hell, she
could be right under his nose. Wherever she was, he was going to
find her. He'd accused Hadaen once of changing, getting soft for
Amelia. Now he knew how it felt. 

* * * 
"
W
hat the fuck do
you mean she's not here?"
Hadaen passed his glare over the small group of women, who cringed
backwards, terrified. Noble Rally threw up his hands and paced,
shaking his head. The Hub hadn't changed one bit since he'd last
been there. Glancing at the white tents scattered across the gentle
sweep of the valley, he tried to contain his anger when he saw a
glimpse of Elder Joseah approaching them. Hadaen wouldn't be able
to forget that face even if he wanted to. He wondered idly where
the other old fart was.
"My lord." The much older man gave a swift bow. "We weren't
expecting you. Is everything alright?" He shook his head sadly.
Poor Esyth. We still honor—"
"
Elder
!" Hadaen
halted the man's words. He had no time for a fucking speech. "This
is Noble Rally. Sienna's father. We're here to see her. Now."
The elder stumbled back a step before his wrinkled face pulled into
a frown. He then nodded briskly at the women who understood his
meaning and ran off. 
"Come with me." And the old man headed towards one of the larger
tents, shoving the flaps apart and stepping inside. Hadaen followed
suit and behind him, Noble Rally. His patience was wearing thin. He
just hoped all those fucking women were delusional because he had
not come all the way to the damn Hub for nothing! 
As soon as they were inside the tent, questions flew out of Noble
Rally's fretful mouth. "Where the
hell
is my daughter? Where is
Sienna?"
"I beg you not to take this the wrong way," the Elder said, brows
creasing with worry. "But I was about to ask the same exact
question."
Fury exploded inside Hadaen. The Noble fell back in a chair,
obviously feeling too stricken to stand. "Are you saying you
don't
know
where
she is?"
Elder Joseah shook his head. "Precisely so, um, my lord."
"Fuck!" Hadaen felt like killing someone. Running an agitated hand
over his hair, he fixed his gaze on the Elder again. "But there's
more." It wasn't a question. He could feel the words about to roll
off the old man's tongue before he even said them.
"Yes."
Noble Rally's head flew up and he jumped to his feet. "Then talk,
man. Talk!"
The Elder did not hesitate. "A year and a half ago, Sienna came to
me. She had received some form of a message. She could not figure
it out on her own... so she'd requested my help." 
Hadaen's interest peaked. "What message?" 
"Sh-She was convinced that it was from...Esyth. But I seriously
doubted it. I still do. It has been so long, you see..."
"Who the hell is Esyth?" Noble Rally snapped. 
Hadaen's brows lowered in thought. He traced his memory back to
that girl. Amanda of the Alexanders. She had received a message
too, which Gideon had readily assumed was from Esyth. Was it
coincidental? He frowned. Hadaen didn't believe in coincidences.
"What else?" 
"She left, my lord. Saying something about writing a wrong she had
done centuries ago. She wanted to prove herself. By finding
Esyth."
Noble Rally blew out a frustrated breath. "What the hell is going
on?"
"Hush!" Hadaen needed to think and he couldn't rightly do that with
a blabbering nobleman in his ear. Damn, he knew that Rally wanted
to find his daughter badly but fuck, couldn't he express his
impatience a bit more quietly? "Noble Rally, I suggest you find a
way to calm yourself down before I do it for you. And Elder Joseah?
I need your honest opinion on something."
The old man nodded rapidly. "A-Anything, my lord."
Hadaen sighed and clasped his hands tightly behind his back. "Do
you believe that Esyth could still be alive?"
Silence. Elder Joseah's gaze swept the ground as if he was
searching the floor for answers. "It is a possibility, yes. But we
all know Deorci. If Esyth is alive, then it could only mean one
thing. He has kept her alive."
"Exactly." Hadaen scratched his temple and nodded. 
"But why?"
"Deorci had possibly sensed the connection between her and Gideon.
Esyth being alive would only attract Gideon to search and
eventually bring him to her. I believe Deorci knows that I'd follow
too."
"My lord, that is a possibility. But what if it's not?"
Hadaen glared at the old man. How could he question his logic? "It
is!"
"Forgive me, my lord. Elder." Noble Rally interjected. "But what
the hell does that have to do with me finding my daughter?"
Hadaen spun on his nobleman, truly exhausted with Rally's whining.
Grabbing him by the collar, Hadaen brought him up harshly to his
toes. "Noble Rally, if you'd just shut the fuck up and
actually
think
,
you wouldn't have needed to ask that fucking question!" He then
released him abruptly, setting the man's collar to rights again in
a patronizing fashion. When he spoke again, his voice was so calm,
Noble Rally just looked up at him, utterly puzzled. "Esyth is where
Deorci is. And more than likely, so is Sienna if she had managed to
locate Esyth's location. Now...all we need to do is find
Deorci." 
Noble Rally took two steps back from his ruler and swallowed
deeply, flicking a drop of sweat from his temple. "Oh."
Hadaen nodded and turned to face the Elder once again. 
"It was a pleasure seeing you again, Elder Joseah. We'll meet
again."
And he spun on his heel, his long black coat fluttering behind
him. 

Chapter
Fourteen

F
ist
collided with jaw, followed by the harsh crunch of shattered bones.
Blood oozed from Nathaal's mouth in a thick rush. They'd been at it
for an hour now but the man would not drop the shield he had built
around his mind, blocking Malakai's efforts at scanning his
memories. Gideon blew out a breath, drawing back his arm to connect
his fist with the other jaw. His knuckles were bloodied and raw,
almost skinning to the bones. He'd heal in a minute. Across the
room sat Mia, head in her hands as she stared at them, her face
flushed as if she wanted to throw up. 
"Is this really necessary?" she groaned.
"Yes!" Malakai barked. "You can leave if you want."
"Pussy!" she flung at him. 
"Yeah. Haven't had some in a while. But no thanks."
Mia growled and before he knew it, a dagger was sailing past his
head. He dodged it quickly, the blade slicing half of one lock of
his hair off. She then flung the door open and left the room with a
slam of the door. Gideon rolled his eyes at both of them. "If I
didn't know better, I'd say you too liked each other."
Malakai glared hard at him. "If you don't fucking kill her soon, I
will! She's fucking annoying and getting on my last nerve."
Gideon chuckled. "Yeah. You like her all right."
Malakai didn't answer but folded his arms and stared down at
Nathaal slumped on the wooden chair. "He's weakening. Plus, it's
unlikely he'll ever talk."
"I see. You going to try again?"
"I might as well."
Malakai grabbed Nathaal's bobbing head between his palms and
pressed his thumbs into the man's temples. He then closed his eyes
and breathed in slowly. 
"Anything?"
"No." Nathaal's groan reverberated throughout the room. "Wait...I'm
getting something."
Gideon immediately jumped into action, sinking his fingers into
Nathaal's bloody neck, weakening him further. It was now or never.
They were running out of precious time. Esyth's life was depending
on it. "How's now?"
Malakai cracked a smile, eyes still closed. "Better. Much fucking
better." Then he frowned, his jaws clenching tightly. "I don't
believe this shit..."
"What?" Gideon's fingers sank deeper, Nathaal no longer expressing
the effects of pain. He was dying. 
"The old dungeon."
"What?"
"The old dungeon." Malakai let out a grin. "That's where the fucker
is."
"Where the fuck is it?" Gideon was mad as hell and a bit envious,
angry that he couldn't see for himself. 
"Not very far. Maybe eight miles from here. And two more
underground."
Gideon nodded, relief washing over him like a cool shower. "Okay.
Anything else? We should leave now. Save some--"
"I see a woman. I can't see her face well but it seems like she's
in a lot of pain. Looks like she's in one of the jail rooms."
Gideon held his breath. "Esyth?"
Malakai frowned. "You're woman did have...
blonde
hair, didn't she?"
His stomach wrenched into a tight pulp."Yes." He had to squeeze the
answer past his lips. 
Malakai's eyes opened. "Must be one of Deorci's concubines
then."
Gideon had held his breath so tightly he thought his eyes would
fall out. Turning away, he then marched across the room and slammed
his fist into the wall. 
Someone from the adjoining room screamed out, "Hey! Keep it down
over there!"
Gideon grinned and shook his head, blowing out the breath he'd been
holding so long. "Okay. Let's go get Mia. We're leaving now."
Malakai nodded, glanced at an unconscious Nathaal for a moment and
shook his head. "He's dead already. We should just leave him here."
Reaching for his coat, he yanked it on, stuffing a knife deep down
into the side of one of his boots. That was until, they heard a
piercing scream, sounding as if coming from the bar area
downstairs. Malakai immediately recognized the voice and rolled his
eyes.