Shadows of Darkness (14 page)

Fear hammered at him, a terror so deep he could barely breathe. He couldn't lose her.
Maya!
He burst from the woods and saw Maya on the ground at Merk's feet. The bastard had Maya by the wrist and was screaming at her.

The moment Levi saw Merk threatening Maya, something inside him roared to life. The beast he'd fought off for so long tore free, and he let it go. He embraced it as he called out his weapons with a crack and a flash of black light. While he was still a hundred yards away, he unleashed them in a one-two assault. Merk looked up a split second before the weapons hit, but he had no time to move.

The blades sliced clean through him
without causing any damage.
He'd become like his wolves. Impossible to kill.

Fuck impossible. Levi hated that word.

He charged across the clearing, and Merk sprang to his feet to face him.
Levi. You are mine. You will stop.

Merk pushed at Levi's mind, and he felt the same pressure that had controlled him for so long, but it didn't matter anymore. Maya was down. She needed him. And this fucking beast was in his way.
This was his next target.
His mind laser-focused on Merk the way it used to focus on his targets so long ago, a ruthless, single-minded mission that would not be averted. His entire being went still, and his footsteps became silent. He became hyper-aware. He could hear every beat of Merk's heart. He could hear the rush of his blood through his veins. He could smell every drop of sweat as it trickled down his spine. He tasted his fear, his sudden awareness that he had become the target.

Stop, Levi! I order you! Elisabeth is your target
!

The command drifted past Levi, not even touching his consciousness. There was no power, nothing that could trump the depth of Levi's need to protect his woman. He streaked across the clearing, so fast he was nothing but a blur. He saw Merk's eyes widen, his pupils dilate, and his nostrils flare. And then, he began to run.

It was too late. Too little. Too nothing.

Levi clasped Merk on the shoulder, and gave to the man all that he'd forced Levi to give to so many people over so many centuries. Merk stumbled, and went down to his knees, gasping for breath.

Levi eased down beside him, his hand still on the man's shoulder. His entire soul was screaming with the need to finish it, to kill him, to wipe the last bit of life from his soul. Hunger tore through him, a blindness that seemed to consume him. The world turned crimson as a darker, more visceral rage took over. In the darkest recesses of his mind, Levi realized he had crossed that line. He was becoming a rogue Calydon warrior, just as fate decreed would happen. His upper lip curled in disgust, as he dragged Merk across the ground, his weapon clenched in his hand, his need for destruction growing and expanding. Not just Merk. For it all—

Merk gasped, staring up at him. "Have mercy."

The word slithered past him, not even registering. Mercy meant nothing to him. Mercy was—

Levi. The kingdom. You have to save it for me.

Maya's voice burst through the white-hot need raging through him. The rage and fury gripping him so tight fragmented, and he whirled around. Through the blood-red haze, he saw Maya on the ground, trying to drag herself over to him. She was still alive!

His killing frenzy shattered instantly at the sight of Maya trying to crawl toward him, until all that was left was her. Her need for him flooded him, filling him with her very soul. He dropped Merk instantly, not even caring what happened to the man he'd wanted to kill for so long. All that mattered was that his woman needed him.
Maya!
He raced over to her and pulled her into his arms. Her shirt was thick with blood, her face was ashen, and her skin was turning black. His heart seemed to stop in his chest, and he pulled her into his arms. Her heart was barely beating, and he knew that she had only moments left to live.
I have you, sweetheart. I promise.
He tucked her against him and placed his hand over her heart, pouring his Calydon healing energy into her. He tapped into their bond, opening himself to her.

Her heartbeat was faint and fading fast, slipping out of his grip faster than he could hold onto. Fear beat through him, and he secured his hold on her.
Come on, Maya! Stay with me.

Her head rested against his chest.
You broke destiny. You're sane. You did it.
Her mind was so faint, and he knew he was losing her.

I couldn't go rogue. I still had a chance to save you. I didn't have time to go destroy the world. You're my life, Maya. You're my everything.
He had to go into the healing sleep. It was where his powers were the strongest. He glanced around, and saw Merk sprawled on the ground, unconscious, but not dead. The wolves paced around him. It wasn't safe. It wasn't fucking safe to go to sleep.

Fuck it.

Without her, nothing mattered.

He'd rather die trying.

Come with me.
He closed his eyes and laid back on the ground, tucking her more intimately against him, so they were tightly entwined, creating as much physical connection as he could. He called to the power of his sleep, and it came immediately, enfolding him in the deep, powerful pulsating energy of healing. He pulled Maya into it with him, and it enveloped them both. It swirled through him, and he thrust it into Maya, giving her every last bit of the strength he had. He reached inside her with his energy, trying to knit the damage she'd done to herself, but it was so deep, so ragged. He worked feverishly to try to heal the damaged blood vessels, but his own poison was still ravaging her body, shutting her down cell by cell. Shit. He didn't have enough. He couldn't heal both injuries at the same time. It was too much.
Maya!

Then, suddenly, he felt another presence. A heavy hand touched his shoulder, and a male presence mingled with his.
Let me in. I can help.

Levi was shocked by the realization that Rohan was there, offering his healing. He didn't argue. He didn't bother to ask how the ancient warrior had tracked them down. He simply opened a channel between them. Rohan's powerful healing energy surged into him, ten times the strength of Levi's.

You guys are too old to do this alone. You need some youthful energy.
Thano's lighter, but almost equally powerful energy flooded him as well. The three warriors worked together, their voices merging in the ancient healing chant of the Calydon warrior. Levi had never heard the chant, but when Rohan and Thano began, he seemed to know the words, his voice moving in perfect unison with the other two, their voices rising to a crescendo as the intense power of their healing energy merged together, pouring into Maya with such force that her body began to tremble.

Levi enfolded her against him, cradling her as the healing energy raced through her, taking away the damage, fighting against the death calling for her. For a long moment, the battle was waged, and he felt her spirit hovering in the balance.

She needs you,
Rohan said.
Bring her back, Levi. Do it now.

Levi tried to summon even more healing energy, but felt Thano's burst of impatience.
Tell the girl you love her, old man. We got the healing thing. You gotta give her a reason to live.

Love her? Tell her he loved her? Rightness flooded him, and Levi bent his head and pressed a kiss against her temple.
Maya, I can't live without you. I love you with every breath I take. My need to keep you safe broke through everything that was trying to control me. It was my love for you that shattered destiny's grip on me. Do you understand how significant that is? Come back to me. I need you. You're all I've ever had, and you're all I'll ever need.
He gripped her more tightly.
I love you, Maya. Do you hear me?

There was an agonizing moment of silence from her, and then suddenly, faintly, he felt her mind reach out to his.
Levi?

I love you.
He said the words she'd given so freely to him, the ones he'd been unable to give to her at that time. He'd been such a fool, thinking that he couldn't offer her love. The moment he thought he'd lost her, he'd known that he loved her, and he'd known that it was the kind of love he'd never have another chance to have.
I know I'm a bad choice. I can never change my past, and I'll always be a danger to the world, but—

Her fingers wrapped around his, cutting him off. Her touch was warm and tender, so much softer than he had a right to experience. But he closed his fingers around hers, holding her hand.
I love you, too, Levi. I need you to be who you are. I suck at battle. One of us has to be the protector.

His heart lifted, almost dancing in his chest, and he felt like his world had come to a complete stop. She loved him. She knew what he was, and
she loved him.
After a lifetime of hating everything he was, for the first time, he knew there was a purpose to his life, a reason for his skills: to protect the woman he loved.

"It's here."

Maya's heart leapt as Levi held up an ancient, iron chest with a rusted padlock. He was at the bottom of a hole more than thirty feet deep, accompanied by Rohan and Thano, who had helped him dig. The rest of Rohan's team was still out in the kingdom, fighting off the wolves. Merk was in their dungeon, unconscious, but alive, but his near demise hadn't resulted in the wolves ceasing their attacks. Somehow, he'd convinced them they needed to protect the castle, and now they no longer needed him to feed their aggression. The battle was getting fierce, and only Levi's ability to fend them off had allowed the four of them to get to the base of the west tower, where the wolves were the most numerous and most dangerous.

The only wolves who weren't attacking were her parents, who had shadowed them the whole way, snarling at any wolves who tried to attack Maya. The sky was dark and Rohan's team was exhausted. They were almost out of time.

Levi handed the chest up to Rohan, who was still wearing his cloak despite having been digging relentlessly for several hours. Thano, on the other hand, had stripped down to his jeans, tossing his shirt aside as he dug, his long-handled shovels allowing him to dig from his horse's back. The muscles in his upper body were ripped, but his legs were still and lifeless where they were strapped to his saddle.

Rohan passed the chest up to Thano, who set it over the front of his saddle, and urged Apollo up the side of the pit that they'd dug so quickly. Apollo leapt up over the edge of the hole, landing beside Maya. The horse went down on his knees, and Thano leaned over to set the chest on the ground beside Maya.

She put her hands on the chest, but it was cold and dark. "I don't feel anything." She looked up as Levi climbed out of the hole beside her. "What if he was lying?"

"We'll know soon enough." Levi called out his axe with a crack and a flash of black light. He put his hand on her shoulder to pull her back, and then he swung hard, slamming the blade of his axe into the padlock. Sparks flew through the air, and then the lock clattered to the ground.

Maya lunged for it, and unhooked the latch. She grabbed it, but it didn't move. "It's rusted." Levi grabbed it with her, but it didn't move.

Silently, without bothering with words, Thano and Rohan moved up beside him. The three warriors wedged their weapons under the rim of the chest in silent, automatic teamwork. "On three," Levi shouted. "One. Two. Three!"

Moving as one, the three of them leaned on their weapons. There was a loud grinding sound, and then the lid popped open. Light blinded them, and Maya covered her eyes as the rays filled the small cavern. The wolves snarled, and then vanished, disappearing into the air.

Dear God, it was the light. It worked. They'd found it. Disbelief rushed through her, followed by elation. She fell to her knees, too stunned to stand. "We did it," she whispered. "Oh, my God, Levi,
we did it.
"

"Of course we did. Impossible means nothing, right?" As he spoke, she felt his pain as the sunlight hit his eyes, which were still sensitive to light of that intensity.

She leapt to her feet and reached for him. He caught her hand, turning toward her as he kept his arm over his eyes.

"Thano, get it up to the top of the tower where it can shine on the kingdom," Rohan commanded. "Set it on the top of the roof."

Thano swept a large, white stone out of the chest. He balanced it on the pommel of his saddle, and Apollo took off at a gallop, his hooves clattering as he raced for the stairs.

She looked around, and saw the wolves that were her parents standing by the door. They were the only ones still present, and their eyes were no longer red. She saw the blue eyes of her mother and the dark brown of her father. Hope leapt through her. "Mom? Dad?"

Then, as she watched, they slowly disappeared, disintegrating into the air. "No!" She lunged for them, but her fingers slipped through empty air as she lost her parents for the second time. "No—"

Levi's strong arms wrapped around her, drawing her against his body.
I'm sorry, sweetheart, but at least they're not trapped anymore. They're able to move on.
His words were so genuine and warm, enfolding around her and giving her the comfort she'd longed for her entire life.

She wasn't alone anymore, even without her parents. Maybe that had been their job, to bring her to him. She pulled back to look at him, and saw his eyes were still scrunched shut against the light, even though it had faded significantly. "Levi." She placed her hand over his eyes, shielding them from the light.

Thank you.
He slid his hand through her hair, drawing her head toward him for a kiss. They'd been in such a rush to get back to the kingdom, that they hadn't had time for a moment of intimacy. This was the first kiss they'd shared since their bond had been completed, and it was a thousand times sweeter than it had ever been before. She felt his love, his kindness, and his commitment to her. It was deep in his soul, a part of his heart, a promise of forever, a promise that she gave right back to him.