Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) (35 page)

Grace’s gaze snapped to Gideon the moment he touched minds with Quinn, building a connection that gave her access to Gideon. “Gideon is, too.”

Gideon dropped his hand. “Me?”

The men were all on their feet now, moving restlessly. Weapons were out, and their bodies were primed for battle. Muscles flexed, senses went on alert. They watched each other carefully, waiting to see who was going to turn on whom.

“Test everyone,” Quinn commanded. “In line. Now!” He grabbed Grace and hauled her over to Kane. “Drop your shields,” he snapped at Kane as he set her hand on Kane’s scarred shoulder. He dove ruthlessly into Kane’s mind using the mental connection they shared as Calydons.

By touching them both, he connected Kane to Grace, so she could see inside him easily. Kane bristled at the intrusion, but Grace was already shaking her head. “He’s clean.” Kane relaxed visibility, and then Thano was in front of her, holding out his arm. Grace touched him and Quinn held the connection for her. “Clean.”

The others fell quickly in line, even Ryland and Gabe. It was the sign of how efficient they were as warriors: once they’d accepted Grace into their mission, they gave her full credit for her powers. No hesitation at all to rely on her. Warriors to the end.

Grace checked them all, then shook her head. “Everyone else is clean. It’s just Quinn, Zach and Gideon.”

Zach was pacing outside the light of the campfire, his weapon clasped restlessly in his hands. “She’s wrong. She’s lying. I’m fine.”

Quinn narrowed his eyes at Zach’s uncharacteristic disengagement from the team. That alone was enough to convince him that something was wrong. He’d be willing to wager that the illusion was turning Zach against the rest of the Order, exactly how Elijah had been manipulated to hate Quinn.

Quinn looked around at the forest. “If someone’s holding an illusion on us, how close does he or she have to be?”

“Close,” Grace said. “A few hundred yards.”

“Find him!” Quinn snapped.

Ryland spun so he faced north, his head cocked slightly as he listened. “Got it.” He sprinted straight through the clearing and into the woods, four other warriors on his heels.

Quinn grabbed Zach’s arm as the warrior turned to follow them. “Not you. You stay.”

Zach wrenched his arm out of Quinn’s and fisted his weapon. “How can you trust her? She’s an Illusionist, and illusions killed Elijah and Dante. She’s trying to mess with us now. Don’t you see, Quinn? She’s the enemy, infiltrating our ranks. What better weapon for Ezekiel than to bring down the Order from the inside? Spin us into confusion by making us not trust each other or our instincts.”

Quinn scowled. “She’s not the enemy.” But even as he said it, doubt flickered though his mind. Doubt that wasn’t his. Doubt he couldn’t stop.

* * *

Grace saw the instant that the illusion took root in Quinn. Gone was the look of steadfast loyalty, the eyes that saw only the good in her. Instead, there was that slithering hesitation, as if he wasn’t sure anymore.
Quinn. It’s an illusion. You know you can trust me. I’m your
sheva
. I couldn’t betray you even if I wanted to
. She connected with him through their minds, and saw the angry orange illusion glowing inside him. It was directing hate and distrust toward her. She took a step back as Zach stalked toward Quinn, still shouting about her.
Quinn. You need to block it—

Gideon grabbed her and spun her toward him. “What’s the illusion that’s on me? Talk to me, Grace.” He glanced at Quinn and Zach, who were circling each other, weapons out. “I can feel their hostility toward you and each other, and I have a bad feeling about this. Where do I stand?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know if I can read you that clearly without Quinn building a bridge for us—”

“I have his blood inside me. We can do it.” He shot another wary look at Quinn and Zach, who were arguing now, their voices heated, their muscles tense in aggressive stances. His gaze returned to her. “Now.”

Grace set her hand on Gideon’s chest and concentrated on the rhythm of his heart, searching for a pathway into his mind. He met her almost instantly, and she let her consciousness fly down their connection, surprised at how easy it was now that she knew how to do it. She felt Quinn’s energy inside Gideon...the same, but different. It was tinged with a hardness Quinn didn’t have...and a sadness. But she didn’t waste time prying. She found the illusion almost instantly. It was pulsing orange, nearly vibrating with the power of it. “Distrust. Your loyalty is being shredded.”

“Loyalty to whom?”

“Someone you trust completely. A man you admire.”

“Quinn? My only thoughts about him right now are that I’m afraid he’s gone rogue for real this time.”

“No...” She searched harder. “A leader. Dante? Is it Dante?”

Gideon cursed and pulled away from her. “Shit. You nailed it. Now that you pointed it out, I can tell I’m pumped Quinn chose me to look at his
mjui
so I can prove Dante was betraying us.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Jesus. How could I possibly believe Dante would betray us?”

There was clash of weapons, and both she and Gideon spun around. Quinn and Zach were fighting now, and Zach was shouting at him for trusting Grace, accusing Quinn of being a traitor to the Order.

“Quinn,” Gideon shouted. “Connect with Zach’s mind! We need to use you as a bridge!”

Quinn obeyed instantly, and Grace was able to read the illusion working over Zach. “Someone is trying to get Zach to deliver Drew to him. I can feel Zach’s loyalty building even now to this guy, and he’s making Zach not trust any of us.”

“You lie,” Zach shouted. “I would never betray the Order.” He leveled his sword at Gideon. “All of you are trusting the wrong person. She’s the enemy. She’s trapping us all.”

Quinn whirled around to look at her, his eyes dark. She saw his conflict, his confusion, and she realized he was succumbing to the illusion. He was going to kill her.

Um, yeah. Uh, oh, anyone? Grace stumbled back from his lethal coldness. “Quinn! Someone’s trying to keep you from trusting me. From listening to what I say.”

“She’s trying to poison us.” Zach set his hands on his hips, his fists shoving aside his jacket to reveal the hole in his shirt from where Grace stabbed him. “The
sheva
is trying to destroy us. She killed Dante. She killed Elijah.”

“No, I didn’t. Dammit! Come on, you guys! Have some resistance!” She glanced desperately at Gideon. “I don’t know how to free them, Gideon.”

Quinn turned toward her, his sword clenched in his hand. “No Order member would betray us. Only an outsider. Someone like you.” Anger flared in his eyes, a dark, lethal anger that made her heart stutter.

Gideon stepped in front of her. “Quinn. Stand down. This isn’t you.”

Quinn. Come back to yourself.
She threw all her mental energy into her thoughts and shoved them at Quinn, but the instant she opened their connection, she could feel Quinn’s loyalty to his Order pulsing strong within him...entwined around a deep-seated distrust of all
shevas
. A hatred born of centuries of refinement. She instinctively began to back up. “You
know
I’m not a threat.”

His eyes narrowed, and she saw his resentment for what she’d brought into his life. Gideon grabbed her and shoved her behind him. “Watch yourself, Grace. I’ve never seen him like this.”

“No.” She threw Gideon out of the way and faced Quinn, knowing she had to reach through the illusion and find him before Zach and Gideon succumbed to theirs. Quinn was the only one she had a connection with. He was her only chance to stop everything from blowing up, destroying all hope of finding her sister. “Know the truth.”

Zach turned toward her, standing behind Quinn. His face was cold, his three-pronged sai held high above his head, his gaze fixed on Quinn. “Quinn,” she warned. “Zach’s behind you!”

Zach thrust his weapon toward Quinn’s head, but Gideon lunged past her and tackled Zach. They slammed to the ground with a crash that made the trees shudder. Zach threw Gideon off him and leapt to his feet, and the two went to battle. She knew Gideon was distracting Zach so she could work on Quinn, who was currently pointing his sword at her.

Um, yeah. How could she stop an illusion that was strong enough to make Elijah kill his best friend? What was stronger than the blood bond these men shared? Her forearm pulsed.
The
sheva
bond was stronger.

Quinn lunged toward her, and she dove to the right, calling his sword, praying it would work. Just as she’d hoped, the weapon flew out of his hand and smacked into her palm. She rolled to her feet, holding the sword out with both hands.

Quinn stopped dead, staring in surprise at his empty hand.

Listen to your gut, Quinn. I’m not the enemy. I’m your
sheva
and I’m hardwired to be loyal to you
. Not that she was going to run around kowtowing to the damn bond, but it seemed like a good time to at least pretend she was.

Grace felt Quinn’s internal struggle as he tried to fight down the illusion, as he battled to access the part of him that was connected to her, that could never hurt her.
Quinn!
She screamed his name into his mind, concentrating all her thoughts, emotions and energy on him and their bond.
The illusion is screwing with your emotions. Shut your emotions down and concentrate only on the facts. Focus only on the truth as it is.

Quinn stopped and closed his eyes, and there was a surge of power from deep within him, a power she’d never felt before. Electric and dangerous. It crashed through him and the illusion screamed with pain as if it were being eviscerated. Grace yelped and covered her head as the pain exploded in her mind, Quinn’s sword falling to the ground as she went down under the onslaught.

“Grace!” Quinn was suddenly on his knees beside her, his arms around her. “Are you all right?” His hands were flying over her, as if checking her for injuries. “Jesus, baby, I’m so sorry.”

She lifted her head as the pain began to fade. Quinn’s eyes were soft brown, aching with regret and pain. “You’re back.” She threw her arms around his neck and fell against him, utterly drained. His strong arms wrapped around her, supporting her, giving her back the sense of security that she’d lived without for so long.

Quinn hugged her tightly, burying his face in her hair, his hands clenching her tightly against him. “I knew what I was doing the whole time. I knew it was wrong, and I couldn’t stop myself.” He pulled back and kissed her hard. His kiss was aggressive and desperate, as if he needed to taste her just to be sure she was there, safe and in his arms.

God, it felt good to be kissed by him. “I thought you were going to kill me again. You’re way too violent for me,” she said as she gripped his shoulders, kissing him back. “You have to stop that. I don’t like violence. You know that.”

He swore under his breath, laughing softly as he tunneled his hands through her hair. “I’ve never been so helpless in my life.” He pulled back searching her face. “I thought I was going to hurt you,” he said. “I was terrified watching what I was doing and not being able to stop it.” His body was shaking, his lips frantic as they found hers again.

“But you didn’t hurt me. You wouldn’t let yourself.” Grace sagged into him, kissing him back with a desperation she’d never before experienced. Relief, exhaustion, exhilaration. She needed to touch him, needed him to ground her.
I can’t do this without you. I can’t navigate this world of yours and find my sister alone.

I know, babe. I know.
He rested his forehead against hers, still holding her tightly, while they both breathed in the relief of surviving the moment.
We’ll get there.

She nodded.
We have to.

I agree.

There was a shout and they broke apart, whirling around in time to see Zach sink his blade into Gideon’s thigh and send the warrior to his knees. “Gideon!” Quinn leapt to his feet as Zach raised his sai and plunged it toward Gideon’s heart. Quinn reared back to throw his sword, but Grace knew it was too late. He’d never stop him in time.

A machete flew through the air and crashed into the sai, knocking it out of Zach’s hand. Zach howled and grabbed his sai off the ground as Ryland burst out of the woods, He charged toward Zach as he called his machete back to his hand.

“Don’t kill Zach,” Quinn shouted. “He’s not rogue!”

Ryland leapt over Gideon’s hunched body and smashed both feet into Zach’s chest. Zach flew backwards, hit a tree, then bounded to his feet, weapons up and ready in both hands. Ryland landed several yards from him, machetes glistening.

“Just keep Zach contained,” Quinn ordered as he sprinted across the clearing to Gideon. “Don’t kill him.”