Shadows of Darkness (10 page)

She knew what he was thinking. She
knew
he would try to kill Merk no matter what she said. His loyalty wasn't to her kingdom, so there was no way he could value it above his own motives of keeping her safe and killing the madman, which she understood, of course. But the kingdom was what mattered to her, and she knew she could never live with herself if she let him destroy the future of her people.

He would get her to Merk safely, but once they got there, their interests would diverge. Was that how it would end? Would she kill her soulmate to protect her kingdom?
Could she
? Her fingers shook at the idea of killing anyone, and Levi glanced over at her. "You're thinking too much," he said. "You need to have a quiet mind. Don't think about the reality of what you're doing. Just treat your opponent as a puzzle you have to solve before he figures you out. Let your mind whiz through the possibilities, learning his movements, his tells, and his weaknesses. Your mind must move at the speed of light, and you must allow your body to follow instinctively. You'll have no time for conscious thought."

He spun toward her, his axe aiming for her head, but not really, of course. She knew she could stand there and he'd never touch her. But since she was practicing, she pretended he was an evil killer. She ducked to the left and jammed her stick under his raised arm.

Levi raised his brows and stopped. "Really? You stuck a stick in my armpit?"

"Why not? Instinct will make you bring your arm down, won't it?"

He touched his neck. "Throat." He pointed to his crotch. "Balls." He tapped his rock hard stomach. "Abdomen, if you have a weapon. Those are my weak spots." He jammed his fingers toward his eyes. "And if I'm close enough, my eyes."

She dropped the stick, frustrated. "You defend those spots. I'll never get to them."

"Maya." He walked over to her and caught her arm, his eyes blazing. "Don't give up. You're better than you think. The armpit move wasn't bad. I'm just pushing you to get better." His fingers tightened. "Merk is a psychopath," he said softly. "He will hurt you every chance he gets. The moment you get close enough to his mountain that he can sense you, he will hunt you down and make you his in every way you don't want. You
must
be prepared to fight."

And just like that, the fear was back. "Stop it," she snapped, shoving away from him. "Stop trying to scare me into turning back or letting you kill him. Fear will make it impossible for me to function—"

"Hey." He dragged her against him, catching her in a bruising kiss. Instinctively, she softened against him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back. The moment she responded, his kiss gentled into a seduction that made her want to lose herself in him forever.
I'm sorry.
His voice drifted through her mind.

She pulled back to look at him. "You are?"

He sighed and brushed her hair back from her face. "Merk is the one man on this earth who scares me. I had no chance against him, and it took decades of isolation before I got my sanity back. I'm fucking terrified of what he will do to you, and yeah, I want you to get so scared that you run far away before he can get his claws into you." His arm tightened around her waist. "I swear I will do everything I can to keep you safe, but I don't know if it's enough. I don't know if I can defeat him. I couldn't before."

The fear in his eyes was real, and it settled deep inside her, mixing with the same fear that had been haunting her for so many years. "I've lived in fear since the shadow wolves attacked my kingdom and killed my parents. Every morning since then, when I get up, the first thing I do is look at the horizon and see if they're back." God, she'd never forget that daily fear, the aversion to opening the curtains and looking out. Her hands shaking every single morning that she grabbed the fabric and dragged it open, praying that they would be spared one more day. "Every night when I go to bed, I wonder if the morning is when they will come again. Three times, I've woken up and seen the shadows. The first time, they killed my parents and half the village. The second time, they attacked my sister, and more villagers. This time, it's me. I have to stop it. I
have
to."

Levi's face softened, and he sighed, his fingers sliding through her hair, carefully unknotting the tangles "I'm sorry, Maya. No one should have to live in that kind of fear."

She searched his face, and saw understanding beyond what she would have expected. "You know," she said softly. "You know about that fear." How did a lethal Calydon warrior truly understand fear?

He nodded. "When I was a kid, I was scared shitless, but I believed I could escape. I never truly thought he would win. Then I lost my mind, so I felt no fear when I was killing. I was too consumed by the madness. The real fear didn't set in until my sanity returned while I was hanging in that cave. I realized what I had done and how insane I'd been. The whole time I hung there, plotting my escape and Merk's murder, I knew he could find me at any moment. Every second, I waited for him to walk through those tunnels and find me. I was his best asset, and I knew he was searching for me. At any moment, he could have walked up to me, and I had no defenses. He would have reclaimed me, and I would have been lost again." He brushed the hair back from her face, his fingers tangling in the strands. "The moment Rohan cut me free, I felt the most intense sense of power. For the first time since Merk had kidnapped me from that orphanage, I had a chance to defend myself."

Her heart tightened. "So you understand why I need to save my kingdom from the shadows. I need to protect my people from the shadow wolves."

He studied her. "I understand why you need to save your kingdom, but there has to be another way."

She sighed and leaned her head against his chest, needing the feel of his strength around her. He wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her in the shield of his body. This man was her first line of defense and offense, but at the same time, he had the power to destroy everything for her. "I've been searching since my parents died," she said, unable to keep the weariness out of her voice. "I brought in so many experts, and no one knew what to do. Rohan is supposed to be a master of dealing with dark creatures. It took me forever to find him, but he eventually arrived at my kingdom with his team. He was there the morning the shadows arrived." She'd never forget that moment, when she'd opened her curtains and seen them. Her stomach had dropped, and a blanket of icy doom had descended upon her, freezing her into the immobility of true terror. "I couldn't believe it when I saw they were back," she said softly. "I wasn't ready, and they were coming for me."

Levi kissed the top of her head, listening to her words. He could imagine that moment when she'd seen the shadows, and the depth of her fear for her kingdom. He was impressed that she'd managed to recruit Rohan. The warrior was legendary in his battle skills, but also very elusive. He rarely, if ever, offered his skills to anyone. He had his own agenda, and never strayed. He wondered why Rohan had responded to her call for help. "What did Rohan say?"

She burrowed deeper against him, as if she were seeking protection from the memories, protection she hadn't been able to rely on when she'd faced it by herself. Levi tightened his arms around her, knowing they had to keep moving, but also understanding that they needed this moment.

"He said that they were creatures of darkness, predators made of smoke," she replied, her body fitting against his as if they had been created for each other, which, in a way, he supposed they had. "They take the form of wolves with red eyes when they attack, but they just dissolve under any blows. They don't stop until they are sated, and then they retreat. He said they usually defend ancient spirits, and it's unusual for them to be used offensively."

Levi narrowed his eyes as distant bits of memory floated past him. "I've heard of them. Rumors, only. I didn't realize they actually existed." He tried to remember what he knew of them, but so much from his past existence was a blur of blood-red memories.

She nodded. "Rohan said that, traditionally, they retreat when the danger to the ancient spirits has passed, but since they appear to be acting offensively in this case, they won't retreat." She ran her hands over his chest, as if drawing comfort from their connection. "Rohan agrees that sunlight would defeat them. When they come, they take over the sky and block out the sun. We need sunlight from within, so they can't block it. He doesn't know of any way to make it happen, though."

Levi considered this. "And you believe Merk has sunlight?"

"He does have it." She sighed, her face filled with grim resignation. "He brought it once, long ago, to show my parents. He gave them a sphere that was lit from within as a wedding present. They kept it in their bedroom until my sister and I were born, and then they put it in the nursery. We were both in there with that sphere the first time the creatures came. They attacked the castle, and surrounded our room, but never entered. We could hear the screams as people were attacked, and we could see their red eyes racing past our door, and our windows. They snarled at us, and stalked around the room, but they never entered."

Levi felt the tension in her body, and knew the nightmares she must have had as a child. He'd had the same ones of Merk hunting him, because Merk had scouted him out before kidnapping him, stalking him at night and during the day, assessing his powers before selecting him. Merk had been the same as the wolves hunting her.

She ran her hands over his chest, moving restlessly, as if she were instinctively seeking comfort from his touch. He liked it, liked that her instinct was to ground herself in him when revisiting hellish memories. "After that night, my sister and I slept with the sphere every night. The next time they came, I was very sick with a fever. I was almost delirious. I heard them come, and I tried to get out of bed to find my sister, but I collapsed on the floor. I was lying there when I saw my sister running for the bedroom. The wolves were all around her, sucking her life force from her body. She lunged for the door, but fell before she could reach it. I—" Tears filled her eyes, and her voice choked. "It took me so long to drag myself across the floor, because I was so weak. I finally got her wrist and managed to pull her into the room. The minute she was inside the door, the wolves peeled away from her, howling in dismay, but it was too late. She didn't die, but to this day, she remains in a coma. I saved her, but too late." She searched his face. "I know what Merk has works, because it has saved me twice. I need enough to protect our entire village, forever. Don't you understand?"

Shit.

He did.

He got it.

But he didn't believe that allowing Merk to live was their only choice.

Levi let out his breath. "I don't recall him having that kind of power source," he said slowly, trying to think back to what he knew of Lord William. "He must have acquired it, which means it could be acquired from him."

She stared at him, and for the first time, he saw hope in her eyes. "You don't think he creates the sunlight himself?"

"No, I don't. I would have known about it."

Her fingers tightened against his chest. "So...you think we could steal it from him? Or find out how he got it and then get some ourselves?"

"Yeah, maybe. It's possible."

"So, you can't kill him first, then. We have to find out about that power."

Levi ground his jaw. Every second Merk lived, he was a danger to both of them. If he'd targeted Maya, he wouldn't hesitate to claim her. Would Levi let him live long enough to hurt Maya? He looked down into Maya's blue eyes, and he knew the answer was no. If he had to make a choice, he would choose her over her kingdom. But if there was a way... "I think it's time to get some answers," he said quietly, intentionally not giving her the answer she wanted, that he wouldn't kill Merk until they had acquired their information.

She stared at him so long that he knew she'd realized his evasion. But to her credit, she didn't push it. "So, how do we do that?"

Levi looked up at the dark mountain. "I'm not sure yet." Merk was insane, but his security was impressive. At one time, Levi had known how to get through every safeguard, but he was sure they'd changed. "We'll assess as we get closer—" A sudden chill drifted across his flesh, and he spun around, calling out both weapons.

Maya paled. "They're here, aren't they? The shadows? They got past Rohan and Thano in the caverns?"

"Something is." Levi reached out with his mind, and he touched the rankest of evil. There was nothing about ancient protectors in what he felt. It was pure, predatory evil, and it was coming for Maya. Urgency coursing through him, he scanned the woods swiftly, searching for the wolves. They were coming fast, and he knew he couldn't outrun them.

He had to fight them, and from what Rohan said, his Calydon weapons weren't going to get the job done. He was going to have to go deep, to the places he didn't want to go. He spun around rapidly, trying to find a place to stash Maya. There was a small opening in a nearby rock, and he raced over to it. He crouched in front of the opening and reached out with his mind, assessing the interior the same way he'd inspected the tunnels around his prison while he'd been hung up there. It was small, empty, and enclosed. "There's only one entrance. Go in there." He pulled back and gestured to Maya. "Get in there."

She paused, looking at him. "What are you going to do?"

"Make me a promise," he said softly, as he handed her one of his axes. "If I cross the line and I don't come back, kill me. I won't live like I once did. Do you swear?"

She looked down at the axe in her hand. "You're going to kill them with your powers, aren't you?"

"It's all I can think of." He gripped her shoulders and dragged her against him. "There is only one way to kill me," he said urgently, searching her face. "Even as my
sheva
, you'll have to do it this way. Even if you do it, only the fact you're my
sheva
will make it work, because I won't be able to hurt you to defend myself." He jerked one side of his pants down, revealing a small, cross-shaped mark burned on the front of his hip, just below his pelvic bone. "You have to attack here," he said. "It's my weakest spot. You have to stab me there. Getting hit there can cause serious damage to me, but when fate helps you, I think you'll be able to kill me if you get me there. Got it?"