Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) (27 page)

There’s something weird going on with me. I can do stuff I couldn’t do before. I have thoughts I didn’t have before. Not good ones, either.

Vaughn swore and slammed his fist into the wall, and it bounced off. Frustration rang through him. How was he supposed to get through there?
Of course you do. You’re trapped in a hell hole.
He saw a hole in the clay, as if someone had started to dig it out. He tapped his finger against it, but it, too, was protected.

He stepped back and surveyed the prison, assessing it for weakness. The only thing he could see was that divot in the wall.
Do you know how that divot occurred?

Where is it? Touch it.

Vaughn laid his hand over the hole in the wall and sensed a rise in the clay’s temperature.
Is that you, Drew?

I can feel you.
Drew’s relief was audible.
This is where Elijah was standing. He must have made the hole.
He was quiet for a minute.
I felt him calling on Ezekiel through their blood connection. That’s when I started having...um...thoughts that weren’t mine.

Elijah?
Vaughn rolled the name around in his head.
Isn’t he the one who betrayed the Order and then was murdered?

Yeah, but it was all a mistake.

Vaughn snorted softly. It seemed to him as though the Order made a lot of mistakes when it came to protecting their own. Drew was young and desperate for an identity, so Vaughn could understand why he was trying to believe in the legacy of his birth father, but Vaughn was a couple hundred years older than Drew and he’d flirted with death enough times to be a little more cynical. Whatever the Order once was, it wasn’t that any longer. Not since Dante died, at least.

Vaughn tapped his hand over the hole again, concentrating on the feel of Drew’s presence.
The wall is definitely thinner here.

I think you need to get Elijah and have him use his bond with Ezekiel to break down the wall.

Perhaps.
Vaughn tapped again, concentrating on his connection with Drew.
Or perhaps, all it takes is a blood bond with the person inside. He has that with Ezekiel, right?

But we don’t have one.

Vaughn grimaced.
We do, actually.

There was silence.
You’re not my biological dad.

No, but in order for my clan to allow me to give you my protection, I had to make you mine. I did a blood bond between us when you were nine months old, the day your mother died.

Your clan? You don’t have a clan. You won’t even tell me what you are!

Vaughn sighed, knowing that there were so many secrets he’d kept hidden for so long.
I have a clan. And they’ve all been protecting you since you were born.

What?

Vaughn grimaced at Drew’s shock, felt the boy’s betrayal.
We are sworn to secrecy, Drew, even from you.

You’ve been lying to me all these years? I trusted you!

Vaughn’s heart broke at the anger he heard in Drew’s voice. He felt Drew begin to withdraw emotionally. He swore and dug his fingers into the wall, trying to hold onto the only son he’d ever had.
I love you, Drew. I swear on my life I’ve done everything in my power to treat you as my own son. I know you’re angry, but you have to trust me. Let me open the bond between us. Maybe I can break through the protection the same way Elijah did.

There was silence, and he felt Drew’s anger, the impulsive, emotional response of youth, of a kid who’d grown up without a mother or an identity. Vaughn hadn’t known the kid was Calydon until Drew had the dream and woke up with brands on his arms. Vaughn had hoped...hell...he’d prayed that he’d be able to bring Drew over into his clan when he came of age, but once he’d been identified as Calydon, there had been no chance. No conversion could occur between races. Only a human could be brought over, humans with a bond to one of his kind. Vaughn had done everything right: he’d laid all the groundwork, taught Drew things the boy didn’t even realize he was learning, and he’d lost it all the night the kid had had the dream and come into his powers as a Calydon.

Damn it! He couldn’t lose him now! Vaughn’s grief welled up, and he slammed his fists into the wall.
You’re my son, damn it! Talk to me, Drew!

Drew’s coldness sent a miserable shiver down Vaughn’s spine.
Did you kill my father because you were threatened by him?

Vaughn swore and slumped against the wall.
Hell, no, Drew. I would give you anything you want, and if you wanted Dante, if Dante made you happy, that was enough for me.
But he remembered the day when Drew’s biological father had walked in their door and he’d seen the instant connection between them. He’d felt like his world had fallen out from beneath him and shriveled into nothing.

Vaughn had tried to believe there’d been room for both him and Dante in Drew’s heart, and he’d never felt a distance with Drew...not until now. Their connection had always been tight no matter what. Drew had never rejected him like that, never accused him of anything but being there for him—

Vaughn lifted his head suddenly, recalling Drew’s words that he was having thoughts that weren’t his.
Drew. Do you feel like yourself right now, or do you feel Ezekiel’s presence in your mind?

Again, silence.

Drew!
Talk to me!

I don’t know, Vaughn.
The bluster had gone out of Drew’s voice again, making Vaughn sigh with relief.
I...I don’t know.

We need to get you out of there.
Vaughn stepped back from the wall and held his arms out to his sides.
Embrace our connection, Drew. Your love for me. Tap into my blood that’s circulating in your veins. Know that a part of me is inside you and tap into it.

The connection between them hummed with sudden power, power beyond what Drew should be able to generate, and Vaughn realized that Drew really was something more than he used to be. Something more than he was even after he had become a Calydon. Ezekiel was truly a part of him. For a fraction of a second, Vaughn hesitated. Was it a mistake to free Drew?

Vaughn? What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to get me out of here?

Shit. Was he? What was the right choice?

“I’ll send someone to the prison to keep an eye on Drew...” Quinn rubbed a tired hand over his brow. “We’re getting spread too thin, and I think Ezekiel’s doing it on purpose. Weakening us.” He met Elijah’s gaze. “Tell me you have some idea how to kill him.”

“The best I can think of is that my strength lies in his hesitation to kill me.” Elijah’s hand tightened in Ana’s hair. “But if he thinks I’m claiming his
sheva
, then it’s entirely possible that he won’t give a shit about keeping me alive anymore.”

Quinn frowned. “A
sheva
belongs to one Calydon only. Not two. That’s impossible.”

Gideon snorted. “So are a lot of other things when it comes to
shevas
. Things that have already come true.”

Elijah had to agree with Gideon. “His reaction was too strong. I think there’s a distinct possibility she really is his
sheva
.” The words grated in his chest as he said them, but he needed to face the truth and deal with it. Deal with it as a warrior, not some jealousy-driven Calydon who’d make an asinine, impulsive move in defense of his
sheva
and pay for it, like by getting a sai to the lung or something stupid like that. He needed to figure out how to acknowledge it and move forward in a precise strike, or he was no good to anyone, especially Ana.

Quinn’s gaze went to Ana. “So, she’s drawn to him then?” There was sympathy in his voice that had Elijah twitching to leap to his feet and slam his fist into Quinn’s face, in a quick reversal of his state of supreme mental control.

Ana shifted on his lap, her hands slipping under his shirt and hooking over the waistband of his jeans, as if she’d sensed his need for her touch even in sleep. It worked, and his anger toward Quinn subsided. Crap. This was not the challenge he needed right now. “Ana felt nothing for Ezekiel. She’s mine.” But even as he said it, Elijah realized he hadn’t checked with her. He’d assumed...
shit
. What if she did feel something for him? Anger coursed through him, but also a gaping assault of loneliness and fear, his soul in agony at the idea of losing her—

“You know that’s not true.” Gideon started pacing again. “If Ana is his
sheva
, she’ll be drawn to him. I’m going to check with Lily on this and see if she knows anything.” He walked to the window and fell silent, and Elijah knew Gideon was communicating with his
sheva
.

Elijah dug his fingers into Ana’s hair, pulling his sleeping mate more tightly against his chest. Gideon was right. If she truly was Ezekiel’s
sheva
, there would be a bond between them, same as there was between Elijah and her. To see her bond with another male...something dark and malevolent began to stir inside him.

“Elijah. Keep it together. You know she’s yours.” Quinn’s voice penetrated his mind.

He jerked his gaze toward his teammate, grim truth beating at him, threatening his control. “Is she mine? The bond is what’s pulling us together, and it’ll pull her toward Ezekiel.” He ground his teeth, fighting against the darkness, against the fury rising hard and fast. “I can’t let her go to another male.
I can’t
.”

The door opened and Lily stuck her head in. “Hey.”

Elijah let his head fall back against the headboard, tightening his grip on Ana.
Chill out,
he ordered himself.
Bonding with her is a bad idea, so get over yourself. This could be a good thing, easing the tightness of the bond between you and her.
Then he caught the faint scent of roses and he knew it was total bullshit. He was lost to her, and there was absolutely no way he could tolerate losing her. No damn way.

Ana touched his mind even in her sleep, and he felt a flicker of warmth, easing some of his tension. For now, she was still into him and not Ezekiel. They were good. It was good. He wasn’t going to lose her right now, and he’d be prepared to fight whatever was coming.

Lily stepped inside and shut the door. The professor was wearing jeans and a pony tail, not the stark business suit he associated with her from the lecture circuit. She actually looked relaxed and happy. Because of the bond?

Elijah wanted that. He wanted Ana to have that happy expression on her face. He wanted her muscles to be relaxed. He wanted her eyes to sparkle. He wanted to rescue his mate from the nightmares haunting her.
I will rescue you, Ana. I give you my vow.

She shifted against him, pressing her face more tightly against his neck, and he knew she’d heard him. He hugged her and kissed her head, wishing she was awake, needing to connect with her.

“Gideon told me about Ana and Ezekiel, so I wanted to fill you in on what I know.” Lily leaned back against the door and looked directly at Elijah. “As you know, Caleb ignored Ezekiel’s activities until Ezekiel stole Caleb’s wife. There’s no record of her being Ezekiel’s
sheva
, but some of the stories tell of double brands on her forearms.”