Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade) (33 page)

Urgency hammering at him, he backed up, studying the top of the ring of fire desperately. It was several hundred yards high, too far for him to jump. He immediately called out his sai and plunged it into the dirt. He dragged the dirt aside, intending to go beneath the fire, like how they'd gotten out of the campsite before. But the earth spewed out fire through the hole he'd dug. José hadn't just ignited the sky. He'd ignited the very earth they were standing upon. They weren't merely in a ring of fire, they were in a cylinder of fire that went as far into the earth as it did upward.

The only way inside was through the flames.

"Where is she?" Jordyn asked as she hurried up.

"Inside." Zach went still, studying the wall of fire. Every instinct inside him shouted to attack, to just run straight through it, but yeah, tried that already. If he'd kept going, he'd be dead. If he died, no one would be there to protect Rhiannon or save Thano, but the longer he stood there, the more he betrayed her.

"Well, go get her." Jordyn shoved at his back. "You have no idea how fast a man can hurt a woman. You have to get her right now."

Zach ground his jaw, his brands burning in his arms. "I know exactly how fast a Calydon can hurt a woman." And children. He knew. But standing there, outside the ring of fire, he had never felt so powerless in his life.

Eric was standing beside Jordyn, but he wasn't watching the fire. He was watching Zach. His dark eyes were thoughtful. "You don't have fire, do you? Rohan's wrong."

Zach shook his head. "I used to."

"What?" Jordyn turned toward him. "If you once had fire, you still have it. Just call it and go get her!"

"Don't you think I would?" Zach snapped, nearly insane with worry. "I can't fucking do it anymore! I'm not that guy anymore!" Sweat was pouring down his face, and he spun toward the fire. He was going through again. This time he could make it. Fire wouldn't kill him, would it?

He backed up a step, then ground his jaw, his body tensing as he prepared to run—

"Don't be a fool." Eric stepped in front of him, the flames flickering violently behind him. "You'll die. Dying won't save anyone. Turn on your damned fire before you go in there."

"Shut the hell up, and get out of my way. My fire fucked me before, and it's fucked me again. I'm on my own—"

"Wait." Jordyn ran up beside Eric. "How did it fuck you before? What happened?"

"Get out of my way!"

"No!" she shouted. "Don't you understand? I am an expert in domestic trauma, and this screams of it! Do you know how many devastated, scarred souls I've helped? Shut up and listen to me!"

He shut his mouth, staring at her. What the hell was this woman on? "I have to save Rhiannon," he growled. "Get out of my way."

"No." She set her hands on her hips. "Who did you fail with your fire before? Don't you realize that you're emotionally scarred from your fire? You have to let go of your baggage and accept who you are! Accept your true self!"

Zach gaped at her, unable to grasp the fact that this woman was screaming therapy at him. "You're insane! Get the hell out of my way, or you're going into the fire too!"

"Accept what happened before," she said, walking
toward
him instead of getting out of his way.

"Accept it? Hell, woman, I killed my daughter! You want me to accept that? I killed my daughter and my family, and now Rhiannon and Thano are going to die!" He bellowed the words at her.

"Yes!" she screamed at him. "Let it go! You're a precious and beautiful soul, you big ass! Accept your inner beauty and allow peace and harmony to flow through you! You're worthy of a beautiful life!"

"You're fucking insane!" Zach shouted at her. Behind Jordyn, Eric was grinning like some crazy lunatic. What the hell was wrong with these two?

"I know I am! But I'm also right!" She screamed the last words right in his face. "I killed the man I loved," she yelled at him. "I know about murdering someone you love, but don't let someone else die simply because you're afraid of who you are."

"Afraid?" He glowered at her. "I'm not afraid—"

"Dude." Eric walked up behind her. "I think you might be. You've got this sort of glazed look in your eyes. Kinda looks like fear. Listen to the woman. She's kind of impressive on a lot of levels."

Jordyn beamed at Eric. "Thanks. That was nice of you to say."

"I know it was. I'm that kind of guy." Eric looked at Zach, ignoring his stunned expression. "Get with it, dude. You're scared of the monster inside. Seriously."

Holy shit. He was going to lose his mind. Therapy in the middle of a war zone? "I'm not scared of my fire! I'm losing my shit because I can't get to Rhiannon—"

"No." Jordyn touched his arm, a light, delicate touch that reminded him of the innocent touch of his daughter. "You're afraid of who you are, Zach, but you're not all bad. You have good in you, and you have to let it go. Your fire is part of who you are, and until you accept it, you will never be complete."

Tears burned at his eyes, and he looked past Jordyn at the fire that kept him from Rhiannon. He saw a violent, angry inferno, the kind that could destroy life. As he looked at it, the face of his daughter appeared in the flames. He felt his heart shudder with guilt and grief as she smiled at him, waggling her little fingers the way she used to do every time he rode off.

He went down on his knees, overwhelmed by the sight of her. She looked so real, so vibrant, and so alive. It was as if he had never killed her, except, of course, for the fact that her face was in the middle of fire. The same kind of fire that had killed her. Her daddy's fire.

Suddenly, he felt weak. Exhausted. He had failed too many people. His wife, who had been killed when he'd been off doing a job for the Order, instead of staying home to protect them when danger was near. His daughter, who he had killed with his own flames. His stepdaughter, who had also died in the fiasco. His sister and her kids, who he had been too late to save because he'd been too weak, pathetic, and out of control with his fire to save them from the rogue.

He stared at his little girl, riveted by the sight of her in the flames, smiling and waving, her eyes so full of love, an innocent face that had no idea what her father was going to do to her.

"Is that your daughter?" Jordyn walked up beside him.

He could only nod, too overwhelmed to speak.

"She doesn't seem to hate you." Eric was on his other side. "She looks like she still thinks you kick ass. You might want to take that into consideration, you know, when you're doing all that self-hate shit that's keeping you from saving Rhiannon and Thano."

For a moment, Zach didn't move, then their comments registered. He looked over at Eric. "You can see her?"

"I'm not blind, so yeah," Eric said. "But then again, I've got this thing about spirits. They like to talk to me. I'm kind of simpatico with them."

"You, too?" Jordyn sounded surprised. "I'm the same way."

"Really? We should have sex and compare notes."

Jordyn smacked him. "Shut up."

Stunned, Zach looked back at his daughter. He had thought that he'd been imagining her. But if Jordyn and Eric could see her…was she real? Had she come back to see him? Stunned, he lurched to his feet, his heart pounding. "Madeline?" His voice was harsh and rough.

She nodded, and put her little hand over her heart, their little symbol that they'd always used to show their love for each other.

Numbly, he put his own hand over his heart in response. "I love you, too, Madeline." She nodded, and then faded away, vanishing into the fire that raged behind her, taking with her centuries of guilt and fear. "She's okay," he whispered, as a thousand pounds of weight seemed to drop from his soul. "She's okay, wherever she is."
She was okay.

"But Rhiannon and Thano aren't," Eric said, conversationally. "Time to light up, sparky."

"Yeah, I think it is." Energized by a force he hadn't felt in years, Zach leapt to his feet. This time, when he reached inside his soul, he was met with the fierce, raging power that had once been his. Gone were the ironclad trappings of fear and guilt that had locked down his power for so long. Determination leapt through him, and a sense of calm and control settled around him. With intense precision, he held his hands out to his sides, palms up toward the sky as he let the heat begin to sizzle and burn within him.

Centuries of shutting down his fire had given him control that he hadn't had before. As he manipulated it exactly where he wanted it, he realized that he'd spent so many centuries controlling it that it no longer controlled him. He felt like he was connected to every flicker inside his body. Staring up at the wall of fire in front of him, he called to the inferno that burned within. Flames began to lick at his heart and travel through his stomach. It was burning hot, and yet it didn't hurt. His skin began to glow, a bright orange and blue that could barely contain the fire radiating within him.

"Holy shit. Now that's impressive." Eric took Jordyn's arm and pulled her back. "I think he's going to blow."

His chest began to burn. Orange and blue flames danced on his flesh. They raced up his chest and over his shoulders. They sped down his arms to his palms. He held his hands wide, and towering tornadoes of fire stretched high from his palms. He raised his hands, lifting the whirling dervishes higher. Then he slammed his hands together. The funnel of fire exploded around him, trapping him in a sphere of flames. Encased in his protective cocoon of flames, Zach sprinted toward the wall of fire.

He leapt into the fire, and was instantly engulfed in flames. But this time, they could not touch him. They couldn't break through the protective shield he had erected around himself. Fighting fire with fire, he ran through the barrier, and burst through into a clearing on the other side.

Rhiannon was on her back in the center, motionless and limp, wearing some flimsy gown that barely covered her curves. José was standing above her, unfastening his jeans. Around him were twenty warriors, all of them staring at Rhiannon, waiting for the show to begin.

"Get the hell away from her!" Fury tore through Zach, and he hurled a fireball right at José. The fire god looked up, and unleashed a matching fireball a split second before Zach's hit him. The two flames exploded in the air above Rhiannon, hitting so hard that the ground shook from the explosion. José's warriors whirled around, and the night was filled with cracks and flashes of black light as they called out their weapons.

But this time, unlike at the crater, they had no chance. This time, the real Zach was in the house. Not even breaking stride, he unleashed flaming spears in all directions. The orange weapons streaked through the air, sliding right through their steel weapons and plunging straight into their hearts. Their screams of anguish filled the air as their blackened hearts shriveled, and they fell, clutching their chests.

José unleashed a battle cry and hurled a fireball at Zach. Zach swatted it aside, and leapt through the air, sailing over Rhiannon, his arm coiled as he spun another fireball in his palm. "No!" He bellowed his outrage as he threw the flaming orb at José.

The Calydon ducked, but Zach followed up with another strike, so fast that it hit José before he could react. The fire god screamed with outrage and spun toward him, nothing but a faint burn on his stomach.

Zach swore as José attacked, not at all slowed down by Zach's fire. They crashed into each other, flames erupting in all directions as they battled. Zach could feel José's heat burning his flesh, but his shields were strong...but so were José's. For every blow he rained down on the fire god, José seemed to grow more powerful, absorbing Zach's fire as his own...

Shit. He realized José was taking Zach's fire into his own body and using it to strengthen his own power. Each time Zach hit him with a fireball, it was making José stronger.

Swearing, Zach broke free and retreated several yards, catching his breath as José circled him. Between them lay Rhiannon, her body deathly still.
Rhiannon. Wake up. You have to get out of here.

Yeah, they didn't have the
sheva
bond, but he felt like he should be able to connect with her telepathically. They were too connected not to be able to find each other.
Rhiannon! Get up!

But she didn't move, and he felt no energy in her mind. Was she dead? Fear hammered at him, and for a split second, he was tempted to burn the wards off his arms and try to connect with her. If she was his
sheva—

"She's not yours!" José screamed his outrage, and leapt at him again, raining flaming arrows down on Zach.

Zach flung up his own shield of fire, but the assault was so violent and so penetrating that he couldn't fend them all off. The arrows plunged into his flesh, burning his skin even as he dissolved them. He kept retreating, drawing José away from Rhiannon and toward the edge of the circle, even as the arrows kept hammering at him. He couldn't fight back, because it would just make José stronger. Frantic, he assessed his options, sweeping though his choices.

José suddenly unleashed a bloodthirsty scream and hurled a massive fireball right at Zach. He swore and slammed his fists together. The impact ignited a tremendous explosion that blew up the fireball before it hit him. The explosion threw him backwards through the ring of fire. He landed on his back at Jordyn's feet, and then skidded across the ground, shooting past her.

"Get up!" she shouted at him. "Rhiannon needs— Oh... that must be José. God, I wish I had my gun."

Zach leapt to his feet as José charged toward him. The ring of fire was gone, and Zach felt the immensity of power rolling through José. He was twice as powerful as he had been, and Zach realized he'd been splitting his power to maintain that ring of fire, and now he was channeling it all into the attack. He hammered at Zach, a relentless assault of flaming weapons, coming in such rapid succession that Zach could barely block them. He had no chance to attack him. No chance to regroup, no chance to do anything but try to keep his shields strong enough to stay alive.