Shadows of Darkness (6 page)

She let him pull her against him, taking a deep breath as she allowed him to enfold her against him. When she'd embarked on this journey, she'd been ready to sacrifice herself to make this happen, but dying a horrible death and having to kill her own soulmate was a completely different situation. Then again, gaining an ally like Levi was also different, and she wasn't going to deny that having Levi as her partner was an incredible gift, in a thousand ways. "I can't die until my kingdom is safe," she said. "I've made a promise. We can't complete the bonding until I've fulfilled my duty."

"Your duty." Irritation flickered on his face, it was gone before she could react, replaced with a thoughtful expression that told her that he had no intention of letting her sacrifice herself. She braced herself for his argument, but he didn't bring it up. "I won't let you die," he said simply, referring to the
sheva
bond, not the fact she'd bound herself to another man in return for her kingdom's safety.

She sighed. "I appreciate the sentiment, but let's not lie to ourselves. Fate decrees that's our ending—"

"We'll figure it out." He grasped her hips and pulled her against him. "Come here. You need me."

Heat and desire rushed through her at the feel of his body against hers, and she bit her lip. God, how much did she want to bury herself against him? The urge to wrap her arms around him and claim him as hers was so strong she could barely keep from doing it. "I don't like needing anyone." But she didn't fight him as he lowered them both to the ground. He stretched out on his back and tucked her up against him, nestling her into the shield of his body.

She sighed again, this time with a sense of peace and satisfaction she simply couldn't deny. His body was lean and muscled, and it just felt amazing to be encircled by his arms and pressed up against his side. The heat of his body seeped into her, deep in her belly where she was the coldest. He was like a great source of sensual power, wrapping around her, and making her want intimacy and a connection she didn't have time for. He was sheer muscle and strength, everything that she didn't have herself.

He wrapped his arms more securely around her. "Close your eyes."

She hesitated for a moment, afraid that if she really let go, she would have no more defenses against him. The temptation he presented was simply too strong. Maybe it was the
sheva
bond, or maybe it was simply him. Either way, his allure was mounting by the moment. "But it's not safe. We're being hunted."

He smoothed her hair back from her face, a touch so gentle and tender that tears sprang to her eyes. God, how long had it been since she'd felt safe and treasured? A lifetime, it seemed. How could she walk away from what he offered her, just because they were fated to some disastrous end? Who knew what would happen before they even got to that point? Maybe this was her last moment of peace and safety. Maybe he was her gift, that moment she'd been craving her whole life, and now, she had it, for this one instant.

"Sweetheart, I can hear, see, and smell every living creature around us for thirty miles. I'll know if danger is approaching. Close your eyes."

His voice was unyielding, his arms tight around her, and suddenly, she didn't want to resist anymore. She just wanted to stop fighting so hard to stand on her own, and she wanted to lean on him, and allow him to help her. Plus, her body was absolutely killing her from the heat.

Reluctantly, she let her eyes shut. The moment she did, she became even more aware of the feel of his body against hers. His legs were tangled with hers, his bare foot against the back of her calf. She could feel the slow and steady thud of his heart, and she could feel his ribs expand with each breath he took. Yes, he was the cold steel of a warrior, but he was also a man who had suffered, a man who breathed the same way she did. A man who, no matter how much she resisted, she was connected to.

He touched her mind, a strong warmth that eased deep into the furthest recesses of her soul.
Tell me why you're scared.

She sighed and snuggled more deeply against him, her body relaxing against his strength.
Bad guys are hunting me.

He chuckled, his chest moving beneath her cheek.
I gathered that. Why are they hunting you?

She yawned.
They want to suck the life from my kingdom.

His energy began to move through her body, healing each cell as it went, like a magical white light chasing away the deepest cold from her.
You're the queen?

Technically, but only because my parents are dead and my older sister is in a coma. If she can revive, it's hers.
She thought of Elisabeth, slowly dying, and tears filled her eyes.
The shadow wolves hunt our kingdom every few decades, preying upon the souls of the powerful. They attacked when I was little, and killed my parents. My sister has been queen ever since, but they came again five years ago, and almost killed her. I've been trying to figure out a way to protect the kingdom ever since, but they're gathering on the horizon again, so I'm out of time. They're coming for me. I'm the only one in my family left, and once I'm dead, there's no one to protect our kingdom.
She thought of all the villagers standing on the hill to the south of her kingdom, watching the ever-darkening sky as the shadows gathered, and how they'd all looked at her to save them.
I need to secure the kingdom's safety before the shadows take me.

What are the shadows?
His voice was soft and soothing, lulling her to sleep.

A dark energy from another realm. It takes the form of wolves, but they aren't real wolves. I don't know exactly what it is. I tracked Rohan down because he's an expert at defeating dark creatures, but he said he can't stop them. He and his team are trying to keep the village safe until I can secure their safety.
She yawned again, surprised by how relaxed she was when talking about the horrors she was facing. Somehow, being with Levi made her feel less vulnerable. He made her feel like she had a chance, which was funny, since he actually increased the odds of doom and disaster.

But it didn't feel that way. It felt like, as a team, they were stronger than the forces hunting them, whether it was the shadows or an ancient Calydon destiny. She took another deep breath, and her mind began to slip into the fuzzy state of sleep.
Are you making me go to sleep?

I'm helping you relax. Calydon healing power works best through sleep. It'll take only a few
minutes.
We're not too bad off.
How
are you going to save your kingdom?

I made a deal. Sunlight for the kingdom, he gets me as his…
Concubine? Servant? Minion?
He gets my loyalty.

Levi stiffened, but she was too tired to care. She hadn't slept well in so long, always desperately working on finding the solution to preserve her kingdom's safety before the next attack. She hadn't slept at all since the first sighting of the wolves several weeks ago. But in Levi's arms, she felt safe, safe enough to finally relax for a few minutes. He wouldn't let the shadows kill her, and Rohan's team was guarding her kingdom.

She had a moment, a brief, brief moment, to regroup, a short respite before she entered a hell from which she knew there would be no escape, a hell that had absolutely nothing to do with Levi.

What exactly is the deal? With who?
Levi's question sounded distant, too far away to answer. Her mind was too tired, and she didn't want to think about what she'd promised to save her kingdom. Putting it into words would make it real, and she wasn't ready to do that. Not yet. Not now. So, instead, she simply sighed, and let him take her to sleep.

There would be time to fight the battle when she woke up.

Maya would die.

It was the first thought Levi had when he awoke from his healing sleep, still wrapped tightly around Maya. If he completed all the steps of the
sheva
bond so she would be able to kill him, it would trigger the fate that would result in her death.
Shit.

He knew that. He'd known it from the start, when he'd agreed to help her, but it was completely different now. Before, she'd been a stranger. Now that he knew her as a courageous woman who was willing to sacrifice herself to save others…the thought of her dying for him just didn't work anymore. But what other choice did he have? Allow a madman to live and victimize others? He couldn't do that. He couldn't live with any more deaths that he could prevent. But he also couldn't let her die.

Shit.

He ran his hand through her hair, letting the soft strands drift over his fingers...and he realized he could feel every detail of the touch. Sensation had returned to his fingers. Like silk, the softest spun threads, beyond what he'd ever felt. He lifted his hand and watched his fingers flex. They moved easily, fully healed again. He flexed his wrist, studying the way the bones and tendons slid beneath his skin, no longer crushed and broken from a century in shackles. His shoulders no longer ached, and it didn't hurt to breathe. Power seemed to hum through him, and he knew he was back at maximum capacity.

Was it simply the healing sleep, or was it something more? Was it because Maya ignited something with him, something that only she could touch? He suspected it was more than simply the healing sleep. How could it not be? She was his other half, bound to him on a metaphysical level that no one quite grasped, and now she was with him, merging her energy with his.

He wasn't going to deny it felt right as hell to have her in his arms, and to be feeling so alive that he could defeat any enemy, no matter what. He was back at full strength, the same as he was before he'd been chained up, but he was also totally different, mainly because he wasn't insane anymore...

But the moment he thought it, that insidious, ancient craving began to pulse through him. That need to feed upon a soul. That hunger that was never fully sated. The lethal instinct that had trapped him for so long. It was still there inside him, still hunting for prey.

"Shit!" How could it still be there? He set Maya aside and sat up, resting his forearms on his bent knees as he bowed his head, fighting to suppress it. But still it came, a ruthless compulsion to hunt and feed. It came hard and fast, as if it were trying to make up for a century of being dormant. It was that relentless need to kill that had made him such a ruthless assassin. After all that time in the cavern, the need had abated, bled away by the isolation.

He'd thought it was gone. It had merely been sleeping.

He leapt up and paced away from Maya, fisting his hands as he tried to focus. He'd suspected it would come back if he killed again, but he'd also thought that as long as he abstained, he'd be okay. He'd thought he was
safe
, at least for the moment.

"Levi?" Maya was right behind him, and he jumped, spinning around and putting distance between them. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He spread his hands, as if he could push her away. "You need to leave. Now. Distance yourself from me." Her hair was tousled from sleep, tumbling wildly around her shoulders. She looked sleepy, vulnerable, and sexy as hell and he wanted to drop to his knees before her and simply breathe in who she was. But instead, he walked away, turning his back on her as he moved several yards away.

"I can't leave. I need you." Her words were simple, straightforward, and unapologetic, making his gut twist.

He wanted to be that guy for her, the one who helped her when she had no one else to turn to, but not at the cost of her life. He gritted his teeth and kept his back toward her. "Don't you get it, Maya? I'm an assassin. The compulsion to hunt was trained into me, making it a part of my very soul. I
have
to kill. That's how he controlled me. He kept me locked up until the need became too strong, and then he'd give me a target. I was so crazed with the need to kill that I did it, every time. I never hesitated, and I never looked back. It was..." Shit. What a nightmare that life had been. "It was a constant cycle of insanity and death. I was a monster, and I didn't even care." Unable to resist, he turned slightly so he could see her face, needing to know if she judged him, even though he wanted her to be smart enough to see him for who he was.

She pushed her hair out of her face, frowning at him. "But you're not like that anymore."

"I thought I wasn't. But it's still there." Jesus. It was still there. "Without him to give me targets, I might hunt you." The thought chilled him to the bone. He'd never hurt an innocent, but he'd also always been given prey to target. What if he wasn't given an outlet? What would he do then? "I kill. It's what I do. It's what I have to do."

She walked up to him, unafraid, so boldly that both fear for her safety and admiration for her courage coursed through him, warring factions in a body already stained with so much violence that there was almost no space for anything else. "Levi." She put her hands on his chest, and the shock of her soft touch was a jolt to his system. "There are really nasty things hunting me. You'll need to kill them to keep me alive." She smiled. "You'll get your chance to do your hunting thing, so it's all good."

Something inside him seemed to ease at the feel of her touch, and despite his attempts to be heroic and keep her at a distance, he found himself putting his hands over hers, holding them in place. "If I kill anything," he said quietly, "I will lose what is left of my mind. It's like an addiction. It's a need that's always there, and once I have the smallest taste of it, I'm lost to it. It took me thirty years in that hellhole before I was sane again. I don't want to go there. I can't live like that again, but the need is there, clawing at me, every second." He needed her to understand what he was. "Maybe I should have stayed chained up. Maybe the man who locked me up was right that the cavern was the only safe place for me." The thought was grisly, but he couldn't lie to himself. The night that he'd been ambushed by pissed off commoners after he'd killed their leader, he'd been knocked out, taken underground, and deprived of the ability to hunt. For years he'd raged, until slowly, the need to kill had begun to fade, replaced by the first glimpses of sanity he'd had in a long time. Getting chained up had been his greatest gift, because it was that isolation that had given him his mind back.