Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) (22 page)

“Yeah,” Drew acknowledged. “I had to go get him.”

Quinn nodded. “I would have gone, too. Screw orders.”

A smile flashed across Drew’s young face, and then it faded. “I reached the ridge and saw there were three men, and one of them was holding the girl by the arm.” He glanced at Grace. “Then there was this horrible noise, like the screams of thousands of people being tortured. I thought my head was going to split open from the pain.”

Grace pressed her lips together. “An illusion,” she guessed. “From my sister.” Torture and screams so real that they caused physical pain, like hers did. Ana was all Grace was, and more.

Quinn set his hand on the back of her neck and squeezed gently.
We’ll find her
.

Grace nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to answer. What if they didn’t? What if they got there too late?

“It hit my dad, too, because I saw him stumble.” Drew’s voice shook for a brief second, and Grace saw his vulnerability: a boy who’d finally been given the gift of his father, of belonging, and he’d lost it too soon, so violently.

She knew what that was like. Losing your world in a single moment of violence. What was this world that asked boys to be warriors? She looked at Quinn, with his stoic face and his hard expression, and her heart softened for him, too, for whatever had brought him onto a path where he had to slay friends and innocent women without hesitation.

“Dante called out both his weapons,” Drew continued, drawing her attention back to him. He had pulled back his shoulders, and his voice was stronger, as if he was already learning how to be tougher than grief. “And he hurled them at the guy standing in front, the one closest to my dad. The other two jumped in front to protect him, and Dante killed them both.” He grimaced with embarrassment. “Then I sort of passed out. I couldn’t take the pain in my head anymore,” he admitted, scuffing his boot on the asphalt. “When I woke up, everyone was gone, but I could smell death. It was in the ground, where Dante had been standing. I think he died on that spot, and then he faded.”

“And the girl?” Grace’s fists clenched. “What about her?”

“I didn’t see what happened to her.” Drew’s gaze became sympathetic as he looked at Grace, the first hint of the young Calydon warrior feeling protective over a female. “But she was on her knees during the fight,” he said. “She was pretty beat up. Bleeding. Bruised. She didn’t look good.”

A sob welled up in Grace’s throat, and she put her hand over her mouth. “Oh, God.”

Quinn pulled her against him, but she didn’t want to be held. She wanted to take action, go somewhere, do something. “No.” She tried to shove him away. “We have to get her. We have to find her. Now!” Her hands were shaking. Her fingers ice cold. With all the horrors around her, the heart-wrenching Calydon history, Drew’s burdens, her worry about her future and Ana… she couldn’t take it anymore. She had to do something to change it, to make it stop, to fix it. “Let’s go.” She shoved past Quinn, stumbling blindly toward the truck. “Give me your keys. I’ll drive.”

“Grace.” Quinn caught her arm and turned her toward him. His face was gentle, his dark eyes understanding. “We will go after her. I promise you. But in order to do that, we need answers first.”

His expression was intense, his words fierce, and Grace realized he meant it. He wouldn’t give up. She wasn’t alone. “Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay.” He pulled her close, and this time she let him. She squeezed her eyes shut and fought not to cry, to hold herself together, but it was hard. God, it was hard. There was just too much. She just wanted peace. She wanted to sit beside her sister and lose herself in some beautiful illusion for five minutes. It wouldn’t be real, but she didn’t care. When was goodness ever real?

“Why do you think someone is after you?” Quinn asked Drew, his voice clear and focused, the way Grace should be.

How would she help her sister if she fell apart? She was stronger than this. She forced herself to lift her head and look at Drew while he glanced around into the thick fog.

“Ever since we left Dante’s camp, I’ve felt someone following me. Hunting me.” He ran his hand over his hair, near the base of his skull. “There’s this pressure in my head, like someone’s trying to get inside.”

“That sounds like a Calydon attempting to access your thoughts.” Quinn squeezed Grace and then set her gently to the side. “I can track him back.” He set his hands on Drew’s shoulders. “You haven’t learned how to touch my mind, but I can build a bridge to connect us. Just relax, and let me in. I’ll see if I can tap into whoever is trying to access your thoughts. Okay?”

Grace stood back and hugged herself while she watched Quinn work on Drew the same way she’d connected with him earlier.
Can you do this, Quinn?

He waited too long to answer.

For a moment, no one moved, then Drew broke his stance and sprinted back to the truck in a clear statement of faith. Vaughn gave Quinn a steady look. “Where are we going?”

“I haven’t decided.” He checked the night, and caught a hint of the energy that was after Drew. Now that he knew what to look for, he could feel it. “But they’re getting closer.”

Vaughn turned and strode back to the truck as he urged Drew back into the vehicle.

“Is it my sister?” Grace made no move to leave. “If it’s her, we should wait here for her.”

Quinn took her hand and heat leapt between them. She jerked in surprise, and tried to pull her hand away. He didn’t release her. “It’s a Calydon,” he said as he walked her toward the truck. “It could be the one who has your sister, but until I know more, we’re keeping ahead of it.” He practically shoved her into the truck, then climbed in after her and yanked his door shut. He wouldn’t risk Drew and Grace by staying to fight an enemy he couldn’t identify.

Not with Ezekiel’s walls falling.

* * *

You’re an asshole.
Gideon’s voice burst into Quinn’s mind with sudden force.
You knocked me out, left me in a pile of dead bodies and then woke me up while I was having a dream that I’d been taken prisoner by a bunch of lust-ridden fairies with a thing for Calydon warriors.

Gideon
. Hot damn. Quinn grinned as he turned off the main road and shot up over a dirt-caked hill that would cut twenty miles off their route. He’d decided to head toward Dante’s shack, with a brief stop to read Elijah’s
mjui
, and he knew exactly which place would be safe enough for their stopover.
Hell, man. Wear a helmet next time. You’re getting soft.

I took an extended nap to give you extra lead time.
Gideon got right to the point.
You find Elijah? Straighten him out?

Quinn’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.
I found his
mjui
.

For a split second, there was no response, just the icy cold of disbelief and shock emanating from Gideon. Then his blast of grief hit Quinn so hard he doubled over and had to hit the brakes. He swore, grimacing as Gideon’s pain pummeled him, like millions of daggers stabbing his brain.
Hell, Gideon. Get control.

Quinn felt Grace’s hands on his shoulder, but he couldn’t lift his head against the agony ripping through him. His chest was burning, and his stomach churned, tearing at his insides like acid.
Gideon!
Quinn’s own grief for Elijah swelled up inside him in response to Gideon’s pain, and he had to cut off the connection with Gideon.

The relief was instant, like he’d been delivered from a dance with demons into sunshine and roses.

Quinn let his head fall back against the seat as the anguish vanished, leaving behind nothing but a lingering numbness. He forced his own grief back down, barely holding control of his emotions. He had not been prepared for that level of response from Gideon. Gideon was the ultimate warrior, hard and cold, never standing down from what he had to do. Quinn had not expected his shields to crack. Not Gideon’s.

“Quinn?” Grace’s forehead was furrowed, her dark hair tousled carelessly around her face. “What’s wrong?”

He caught sight of the stunned faces of Drew and Vaughn in the back seat, and he gave a quick shake of his head. “I’m fine.”

She frowned. “You’re not fine.”

He caught her hand as she went to touch his face.
Let it go, Grace. For God’s sake, just let it go.

She studied him for a moment, those silver eyes searching for his truth, and he thought she wasn’t going to let it go. Then she gave him a brief smile and retreated to her side of the vehicle. He wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t. He was barely hanging on, and he couldn’t take a show of sympathy from her.

Gideon initiated contact again.
You tell anyone about what just happened and I’ll kick your ass.
His energy was tightly controlled, and there was no emotion in his voice. Like Quinn, he’d pulled his grief back inside and shut it down.