Read Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) Online
Authors: Stephanie Rowe
“What’s that?” She could barely get the words out, her whole body was vibrating so fiercely from the kiss.
His eyes darkened. “Did that kiss make you want to throw me down, rip off all my clothes and lose yourself in my body and soul until there was nothing left of either of us?”
She swallowed as her skin became so hot she felt like she was going to melt her clothing right off. “Um, yeah, actually it did.”
His gaze went to her mouth, and desire pulsed in her belly. “I don’t suppose that’s an Illusionist thing? Increasing sexual desire and shit like that?”
“Not in my experience. I’d have been much more into sex if it had been.” Grace knew full well she’d never experienced anything close to what she felt for Quinn. “Isn’t this a Calydon effect? You guys are all about passion and lust, right?”
“Not like this. Never like this.” He cursed, peeled his hands from her body and stood up, moving slowly, as if it took all of his willpower to force himself away from her.
She knew the feeling, because it was all she could do not to grab the waistband of his jeans and yank him back down to her.
Grace sat on her hands, while Quinn strode over to the other side of the tunnel and sat down, his back against the wall. He pressed his palms to his forehead for a long minute, then draped his forearms over his knees and let his head clunk back against the wall, eyes closed.
She waited.
He said nothing.
Gradually, both their breathing returned to normal, and the raging desire released her from its grip, leaving her struggling to find her balance again. “Quinn? What’s going on between us?”
Quinn didn’t open his eyes, or even move. “We have a complication.”
Her heart began to thump again. “The sex thing?”
“For starters.” He ran his wrist over his forehead, the action of a man worn down. “Do you know what a
sheva
is?”
Grace frowned. “No.” It sounded vaguely familiar, though. “It’s bad?”
He opened his eyes and sighed. “To give you the short version, every Calydon warrior has a
sheva
. She’s the woman who will call to his soul, and he to hers, until they fall so completely in love that the world revolves only around each other.”
She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “I had no idea there was anything that romantic about the Calydons.”
He smiled grimly. “Will you still think it’s romantic when I tell you that destiny commands that he will lose his woman, and it will drive him so mad with anger and rage and loss that he will turn on those he used to protect and save, destroying all those he cared about?”
She blinked. “Seriously?” Well, that wasn’t quite so romantic.
Quinn nodded, his face deadly serious. “Once a Calydon goes rogue, his
sheva
will kill him to stop him, destroying the man she loves more than the world. His death will ruin her and she’ll also die, a brutal, soul-wrenching death, forever haunted by the truth that she killed the one man who made her whole. But before they both die, if destiny is allowed to play out, he will kill every innocent in his life, even his own children, his neighbors, his friends...
everyone
.” He looked at her. “Unless the Order reaches them first and kills one or both of them, depending on how far gone the situation is.”
She hugged her knees to her chest against the cold draft that had settled over her. “That’s what the Order of the Blade does? Kills Calydons who fall in love?”
“Only if it’s his
sheva.
”
“Well, gee, isn’t that accommodating of you.”
Quinn leaned forward. “Destiny commands that after they bond but before they die, whatever is closest to their hearts will be destroyed. Total devastation, insanity and death.”
She shuddered at the intensity in his gaze. “You believe this?”
Resistance flashed in his eyes. “It’s the Calydon destiny,” he said, not exactly answering her question. “I’ve seen it happen a thousand times. It has never failed to play out, not even once, but with the Order on top of things, it never has a chance to get that far anymore. We kill one or both parties before the final destruction happens.” Sudden sadness weighted his words, guilt that was personal and deep. “I’ve killed to stop destiny before innocents could be slaughtered. I’m the magic that keeps everyone protected from rogues.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Her belly knotted up even as she asked. She knew the point of his story. She knew what he was telling her. But she asked anyway. “You don’t actually think—”
“I know.” He looked directly at her. “Grace Matthews, you’re my
sheva.
”
Grace stared at Quinn, her eyes wide, then broke into a smile and started to laugh. “Oh, God. Just when I thought my life was already a mess...” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Laugh or cry, Quinn. Sometimes you just have to laugh because you’ll never stop crying if you start.” She cocked her head to look at him, a stubborn twinkle in her eye. “You know, you’re hot and you’ve got that badass manly man thing going and I’m crazily attracted to you, but honestly, I suspect you’re going to be a little too bossy for my tastes. Thanks for the offer on the whole love-me-die-for-me thing, but I’ll pass.”
“A manly man?” He was stunned by her reaction. “Did you not understand what I just told you? This is—”
She sat up and covered his mouth with her hand. “Don’t even start, Quinn. I’m not a Calydon, and I don’t have to believe your myths. I’m not going to die just because I have the hots for you. I might die because I accidentally kill myself, but that’s totally different.” She leaned close, amusement still crinkling her eyes. “You don’t get to cause my death simply by being near me, so don’t even suggest it.” But her eyes were wary, and he knew she wasn’t dismissing it as easily as she was pretending. He’d give her time to process before pushing it further.
But hell, just having her hand on his lips made him want to run his tongue over her palm and down her wrist, licking his way to her elbow... He grabbed her wrist, setting her hand back in her own lap. “Not a good idea to touch me like that.”
She flushed. “Yeah, I was sort of hoping you’d suck my finger into your mouth and start doing magical things with your tongue.”
Heat rushed through him and he glared at her. “Stop.”
“Trying. Not so easy when all I can think about is—”
“I got it, okay?” He didn’t need a reminder of all the thoughts and needs he was having every time he looked at her. They didn’t have time for all this crap anyway. They both had people to save. “You feeling better now? Ready to move on?” Ignoring the fact that
he
still felt like he’d just risen from the grave—oh, wait, he had!— Quinn rose to his feet and grabbed his pack off the ground. “I have a truck stashed at the end of the tunnel. It’s stocked with everything we need. All we have to do is get there.”
He held out his hand to pull her to her feet, and she put her hand in his without hesitation, showing trust that made him feel too damn pleased. He tugged her up, and then dropped her hand before he could succumb to the urge to pull her closer against him. Her gaze lingered on his face for a minute, then she turned away, picked up her own pack and slung it over her shoulders.
He handed her the flashlight, and fell in behind her as she made her way over the rocky terrain. Her feet squished in a pile of wet clay sitting on top of one of the rocks, mud that had clearly fallen from the roof of the tunnel.
“Quinn?”
“Yeah?” He eyed the ceiling, not liking the amount of moisture leaking through. He reached up and pressed his palm into the mud, frowning when his hand disappeared up to his wrist. A chunk of the clay fell to the ground when he pulled his hand back, and the other clay shifted, oozing into place where the clump had fallen out.
Shit.
Quinn peered ahead, using his preternaturally enhanced vision to inspect the tunnel. More mud on the ground, and chunks of the ceiling were sliding down the sides of the tunnel.
“If I were your
sheva
...would we be able to stop our destiny from coming true?”
Wasn’t that a loaded question? He glanced briefly at Grace, but she hadn’t turned back to look at him. All he could see was the sway of her muddy ponytail as she worked her way over the uneven terrain.
He was tempted to tell her the truth, that his life mission was to prove that destiny could be thwarted, but he was already having enough trouble getting her to take the damn thing seriously. “I’ve never heard of anyone managing to do it, not once they bond.” But he’d tried to find that exception. He’d tried like hell, over and over again, to prove that a Calydon gone rogue over a
sheva
could be brought back. To prove that his uncle should not have died. To make good on his uncle’s last request before Quinn had shoved his sword through his heart.
So far, Quinn had a one hundred percent failure rate. The grim reality was beginning to settle on him, that maybe he’d been chasing his damn tail all this time. He and Grace could not afford to be the final test of his theory. Not when so much was at stake for both of them.
Grace glanced back at him, and promptly tripped on a rock. He jumped forward and caught her before she fell, and heat leapt between them as her breast brushed against his chest. She immediately twisted out of his grip and set her hands on her hips, but the flush in her cheeks told him that she’d reacted to his brief touch as much as he had.
“Listen, Quinn,” she said. “I know you really buy into this destiny thing because it’s your world and your lore, but I’m not going to go down in flames because of Calydon mumbo jumbo. I’m just not.” Her voice cracked and she spun away and started walking down the tunnel again, her boots making a sucking sound as she stomped through the mud.
He stared after her, a slow grin rising on his face. Hot damn. She really thought the
sheva
destiny was crap. If there was a woman he could have picked to get bonded with, it was a woman who refused to accept it, a woman who would fight their fate every step of the way. Of course, others had tried. Shit, he’d seen Calydons and their women bleed their hearts dry trying to stop the hell coming for them, and no one had made it. Not a damn one.
“I have things to do, dammit,” she muttered as she yanked her foot out of a deep pocket of mud. “I don’t have time for this shit. Destiny my ass.”
Hell. Even her swearing made him hot. He started walking behind her, his amusement fading. No matter how resistant they both were to their destiny, neither of them had time to deal with it. Not right now. Not with the lives of so many people at stake.
He had time only to go after Elijah, not to throw Grace down, rip her clothes off, and cement their bond until they were both too exhausted to move…though hell, he liked that idea. Too damn much, actually. He grimly watched the tempting sway of her hips as she slogged across the wet ground. “Trust me, I have no interest in falling in love with you either, but if you don’t stop swearing, I’m going to tackle you and take you right here in the mud.”
She looked back at him and made a locking gesture across those decadent lips of hers. Not a word more, was her unspoken promise.
Not that he’d take her rejection of his offer personally, or anything, but damn. His
sheva
could resist him? He must not be as much of a stud as he’d always assumed he was.
Unfortunately, the fact that she’d shut him out so easily didn’t help his own urges much.
A clump of mud dropped in front of him, landing with a squelch. He eyed the oozing ceiling with a growing foreboding that did wonders to curb his lust.
Turned out, the fact he was taking his
sheva
deep into a collapsing tunnel was exactly the buzzkill he needed. See? He had everything totally under control.
* * *
Ana Matthews shivered in the dark woods, her wet tank top plastered to her body as she watched the flames finally burn themselves out, revealing the house she’d been brought here to work on. Her heart stuttered when she saw turquoise particles fall from the flames. She’d recognize that shade of dust anywhere: it was her sister’s. “Grace?” she whispered, her heart leaping.
“Your sister?”
Ana recoiled as Nate Tipton walked up beside her, a long, serrated knife dangling from his fingers, his black eyes alight with interest. The Calydon warrior was wearing a stained brown T-shirt, still splattered with the blood from the last Calydon he’d killed. Similar stains covered his jeans.
It was the same outfit he’d worn the night he’d plucked Ana off a busy street. No one had noticed him take her. No one had heard her screams, even though there were people inches from her.
It was simply as if she hadn’t existed.
Or as if they’d been covered by an illusion...but Nate wasn’t an Illusionist. So how had he done it? Mind control? Calydons weren’t capable of mind control. It made no sense, and she had to find out, so that if she escaped...no...
when
she escaped, he couldn’t trap her the same way again.