Stephanie Rowe - Darkness Unleashed (35 page)

He swiftly and precisely tapped into the blood of Catherine that was in her daughter, merging with Lucy through the blood bond he had with her mother. Once he felt Lucy's spirit, he immediately sent his healing strength into her, the same way he'd done with Catherine. His connection to her was thinner, but he held tight to her, balancing her at the very brink of death, keeping her on this side of the Afterlife by the thinnest of threads.
I've got her, love. Go find her soul. But be quick. I don't know how long I can hold her.
Even as he said it, he felt the onset of death, trying to steal her away from the physical world. He sent another pulse of his strength and immortality into her as he felt Catherine direct her energy outward again, sweeping their surroundings for her daughter while she entrusted Ryland with her daughter's life.

There was a loud crash and an explosion of white light, telling him that the battle with Simon was in full force, but he didn't turn around. He kept all his energy focused on the tiny presence in his arms, on nothing else, holding the connection so tightly, knowing that if he faltered at all, he would lose her. The pull of death on her small form was so strong that it was taking all his strength to keep it at bay. Sweat broke out on his brow, and his body started to tremble, but still he held the connection, willing life into the fragile girl in his arms, holding her on this side of life so much longer than she was supposed to be.

He gritted his jaw, tightening his grip on both females, pulling them tighter against his chest as he willed more life into them. But he could feel he was losing Lucy. It wasn't enough. It was as if...as if he was putting death into her himself... Shit! He was! The beast was made of death, and his spirit was tainted by it. For Catherine, she had reveled in it. But Lucy was an innocent. He had to shift back!

Swearing, he gritted his teeth and pictured his human form. He held the image in his head and called it to him, willing the beast to leave. Shifting from full beast to man was impossible, something he'd done only that one time with the help of Dante and the angel, but he didn't give a shit. Tonight, it would work. It had to. There was no other option. He thrust all his force into the request, and then, as if it had simply been waiting for the command, the beast disappeared, leaving him a man.

The feel of Catherine's body against his skin made his heart leap, and he quickly placed his hand over Lucy's heart. Freed from the conscripts of his beast, the purity of his strength and immortality flowed more freely, jerking Lucy back from death just as her body started to quit. He held her there, relentless in his pressure, offering her everything he had, knowing he would hold that child in life even if he drained every last bit of life from himself in the effort.

* * *

She couldn't find Lucy's spirit. She couldn't find her daughter! Panic raced through Catherine, terror growing thick as time passed, too much time.
Lucy! It's Mama. I love you. I'm here to bring you home.
She sent the call out into the nether-realm, frantically searching past hundreds of other lost souls asking for her help to find their way home. So many had died here, their spirits left to rot until Simon decided to harvest them. She had no time to save them. She could feel the strain on Ryland as he held her daughter alive.
Lucy!

Suddenly, in the furthest alcove on the far side of the nether-realm, she heard a tiny voice.
Mama?

Lucy!
Catherine sent her soul flying through the darkness, faster and faster, honing in on the presence. She sped around a corner, and then was filled with the beautiful innocence of her daughter, hiding in the very alcove where she and Ryland had taken refuge when they arrived. Catherine reached out with her spirit, through the remnants of her own presence that still lingered there, and realized that her daughter had gone there because she had sensed Catherine's aura lingering. Even after two years apart, Lucy had recognized her and tried to find safety with her.
I'm here, baby.
She reached out with her spirit, and gently enfolded Lucy's soul into her own, cradling the fragile warmth against her.
It's time to go home.

Holding her daughter tightly, Catherine showed her the path back to where Ryland waited for them, keeping them both safe. Together, mother and daughter sped through the darkness, toward a warmth and a light so powerful that it was calling them back.

Catherine plunged into her own body and gasped awake. At the same moment, she felt Lucy's body jerk in her arms. Catherine opened her eyes to see Lucy staring up at her, those blue eyes full of shock. "Mama? It's really you?"

"It is, baby, it is." Tears streaming down her cheeks, Catherine hugged her daughter to her, holding her so tightly that she felt like she could never let go. Lucy threw one arm around Catherine's neck and then reached up for Ryland, who was still encircling them in his protective embrace. Lucy wrapped her arm around Ryland and smiled up at him with the pure adoration that only a child could have. "Hi," she said. "I know you. You took care of me. My name is Lucy."

The slowest, most tender smile dawned on Ryland's face. "My name is Ryland."

Lucy smiled. "You're an angel, too, aren't you? Like Mama?"

Ryland met Catherine's gaze, and she was shocked to see that his eyes were no longer black. They were a brilliant, azure blue, like she'd seen that one time, for that brief second. He smiled at her and brushed a tender, chaste kiss across her forehead, a kiss that promised so much more when they were alone, but offered only comfort while in the presence of a child. Then he smiled back down at her daughter. "Yes, Lucy. I'm an angel, too."

"I know." Lucy snuggled deeper against his chest, showing no signs of being afraid of the man that so many feared. "We've been waiting for you, haven't we, Mama?"

Catherine smiled through her tears, overwhelmed. "I think we have."

Ryland grinned.
I love you, angel.

He loved her? Her throat tightened, and her heart seemed to come alive, filling with such love that she felt like she could heal every last hole in her soul, wiping away the damage she'd done to it.
I love you, too—

She screamed as Thano's halberd plunged right into Ryland's chest, right through the eye of the dragon.

Ryland ripped Thano's halberd out of his chest and shoved Catherine and Lucy behind him, instinctively using his body as a shield to protect them. His torso already going numb from the direct hit, he lunged to his feet, calling out his machetes just as Thano unleashed another halberd at him. He slashed it aside a split second before it plunged into his throat. "Thano!" he yelled. "Stand down!"

The other Order members were still fighting Simon, in a battle of blinding white light. The cloaked Order members were moving so quickly he could barely see them, fading in and out of sight, with blue streaks billowing from their cloaks. Zach was in with them, fighting hard as they moved in perfect synchronicity in their attack on Simon, hammering him ruthlessly.

"You fucking bastard!" Thano screamed as he galloped Apollo across the room toward them, his eyes blood red as he called his weapons back for another blow. "You stole my woman!"

Thano's eyes were
red
? Holy crap. He'd gone rogue. The
sheva
destiny had come for him instead of Ryland, since Thano was her true mate. Jesus. He'd trapped Thano. Condemned him to the
sheva
destiny. Guilt coursed through him, and regret. How could he have done this to his own teammate?

"Oh my God," Catherine whispered from behind him. "He's mad."

"Yeah, he is."
Shit!

With an inhuman cry of rage, Thano attacked again, spinning Apollo around him in circles.

Ryland swore and blocked another blow, then saw Thano's eyes fixate on Lucy. "It's because of her," he shouted. "That stupid kid stole my woman from me!"

"Oh, no," Catherine gasped, pulling Lucy behind Ryland. "No, Thano! Don't!" she yelled.

Son of a bitch. Just like the legend declared he would, Thano had gone rogue…which meant the next step was for him to destroy that which mattered most to both him and his mate. He'd already delivered a fatal blow to Ryland, and now he was going for Lucy. "Thano! Stop it!" Ryland knew that riding Apollo gave Thano too much of an advantage. He could never defeat him as a man, not with the life already bleeding out of him.

Without hesitation, Ryland called his beast, his bones exploding in pain as he shifted form. He leapt in front of Catherine and Lucy, roaring as Apollo skidded to a stop, barely thwarted in his charge toward Lucy. Weakness thrummed through Ryland as they fought, his energy depleted by the direct blow Thano had gotten to his chest, but the beast gave him additional strength. Even as they battled, however, he couldn't help thinking of the rest of the destiny. That Catherine would have to bring Thano down, and then she would kill herself.

A cold chill slithered down his spine at the thought of Catherine killing herself. No. Never. "Never!" He had to be the one to stop Thano. He couldn't let it be Catherine! With renewed determination, Ryland launched himself at Thano.

The battle crescendoed between rogue and Order member, the same conflict that had been fought for centuries, when an Order member was the only thing that stood between a Calydon and his destiny. How many times had Ryland killed a friend who had gone rogue? How many times had he steeled his emotions while he did what he had to do to protect the innocent? Hundreds of times. Thousands. It was what he did.

But as he fought with Thano, as he saw the red glow in his teammate's eyes, he could not make himself deal the killing blow. Not to Thano. Not to the one man who had stood by him when everyone else had seen him only as a monster. Not to the man who was rogue because Ryland had forced him to bond with Catherine, and then taken her for his own. "I'm sorry," he shouted. "I'm fucking sorry, but I love her, and I can't let her go!"

Thano was far beyond comprehending Ryland's words, and he fought ruthlessly with the strength of a madman. Suddenly, Zach was beside Ryland, fighting side by side to contain Thano. Like Ryland, he was not fighting to kill. He was fighting to contain, which made them vulnerable, because Thano was on a mission to destroy them. "What do we do now?" Zach yelled.

"Knock him out?"

"You know that's impossible! The only way to stop him is to kill him!"

"Ryland!" Catherine was suddenly on her feet beside him, still holding Lucy in her arms, though she had tucked the child's face into her shoulder so Lucy couldn't see. "Kill him! Then keep him alive while I protect his soul!"

Ryland looked at Zach, who nodded grimly. Together, their blades descending as one, they plunged their weapons into Thano's heart. He gasped, and clutched his chest, and for a moment, Ryland thought they'd succeeded.

Then he seemed to shrug it off, righted himself on Apollo's back and urged Apollo into another charge. "He's too hard to kill," Zach shouted. "We have to behead him!"

Ryland looked over at Catherine, who shook her head. "Beheading is too final, it won't work! I can't bring him back from that!"

"We don't have a choice!" Zach shouted. "He's going to kill us all!"

"Let us help." A new voice joined the discussion. Ryland looked over and saw one of the cloaked Order members looking at him. The man's hood was back slightly, revealing dark eyes, and a strong jaw. A warrior of many centuries, with magic...magic? Ryland definitely sensed something there, a rippling power that was different than what he or his team had. "We can kill him."

But as he spoke, Simon let out a roar of outrage and lunged for Lucy, taking advantage of their distraction. Ryland forgot about everything but the child who had hugged him. He forgot about Thano, he forgot about Zach, he forgot about everything but saving that little girl.

His wings launched him across the room, and he grabbed Simon around the waist, crushing him in his massive teeth. Simon screamed in agony, and held up his palm to send white light into Ryland's head—

Then Zach's weapon crashed down on Simon's neck, severing his head from his body. Instantly, he turned into a black mist, the room echoed with the howls of the eternally damned, and then he vanished.

Into the void came the howl of Thano as he threw his halberd at Catherine and Lucy. With a roar of horror, Ryland exploded across the room, his wings driving him fiercely. He lunged for the halberd, his claws wrapping around it a split second before it made impact as Catherine turned her back, using her own body to shield her daughter. At that same moment, Thano's other halberd appeared in Catherine's hand, and she reared back to throw it.

"No!" If she killed Thano, the next step of destiny was for her to kill herself. He couldn't let it happen! It had to stop now! Ryland dove in front of her, blocking the weapon as she threw it. It hit him in the chest, right in the same spot as Thano's blow. Stunned, he hit the earth. But instead of death gasping through him, energy flooded back into him, restoring life into his body. For a split second, he was so shocked he didn't even believe it. Then he realized what had happened. The only way to kill him was to strike
once
, a single blow, but she'd hit him a second time...nullifying the first. Saving his life. Well, damn, that was a good thing to know!

But even as he lurched to his feet, he saw Thano closing in on them again. There was no way to stop him without completely destroying him…unless the cloaked Order could do it. He had to trust that the men lived by the same code of honor that he did. He looked over at their leader and gave the command that seemed to drive a fissure right through his heart. "Kill him."

All five Order members raced toward Thano, outrunning Apollo. They lined up five abreast as Thano charged toward them. Then, as one, they raised their swords, shouting out a phrase Ryland couldn't decipher.