Darkness Arisen

chapter Ten



The floor had come alive, and it had trapped him.

Ian slammed his mace down on the vine that had snaked around his ankle, fighting desperately against the slimy green tentacle that was winding its way up his calf. Who the hell has seaweed growing out of the floor? Seriously.

Above him, he could hear Alice coughing, and her terror was like cold ripples in the water. Shit! He slammed his mace down again, and the tip of a second seaweed appendage poked out of the hole he'd made in the floor. He swung at it, but it grabbed his mace and yanked it out of his hand.

He swore and called his weapon back as a third vine shot out and gripped his other leg. So, yeah, the good news was that he'd figured out how to break out of the room. The bad news was the appearance of killer kelp that could manhandle Calydon weapons.

"Ian!" Alice screamed. "Help!"

"I'm coming!" Desperate terror tore through him. Ian spun around, lunging for Alice. Her feet were kicking frantically only a few yards from him, but he couldn't reach her. He stretched as far as he could, but she was just beyond his range. "Swim down here!"

"I can't—" Another violent cough wracked her body, and he knew she'd drown before he could get to her if she went under.

Swearing, he threw his mace in her direction. It slammed into the ceiling next to her jaw. "Grab it!" he yelled.

She lunged for it, and he called his mace back with all the strength he could summon. It tore out of the ceiling and streaked back to him so quickly it left a trail of bubbles. Alice's fingers were locked around it, her eyes wide with terror as it yanked her toward him. Alice. Just as he reached for her, a vine shot out and yanked the weapon out of her hands, and her momentum stopped.

Swim the rest of the way, Ian ordered, stretching as far as he could to reach her. Not enough! He needed another six inches!

Then her eyes widened, and he saw her muscles contract. Another cough was coming, and she was completely underwater. No! If he could reach her, he could breathe for her through their kiss, but he was helpless if he couldn't reach her. Come on! He strained for her just as another cough wracked her body. She sucked in the ocean water, and he screamed with rage as her pain flooded him. He could feel the weight of the water filling her lungs, and he bellowed with fury and frustration at his impotence. Alice!

"You have two choices, warrior." Behind Alice, Jada appeared in a flash of turquoise light. She was a misty blue-green, and her face was pinched and drawn.

Ian swore, rage filling him at the sight of her standing there so smugly while Alice was drowning. "Let me save her," he shouted as he called back his mace from the vines. "She killed Esmeralda in self-defense, and you know it!" He hurled the mace toward Alice. Grab it!

But as the mace went past her, Alice's arms went limp, and she began to drift. Horror filled him. Jesus, no. He went into a panicked overdrive, fighting his seaweed shackles as he tried to reach her. He could save her if he got to her within a few seconds, if he could breathe for her before her brain died, if he could clear the water from her lungs fast enough. Alice!

"Go find Warwick, and retrieve from him a spell to save Chloe's life," Jada said calmly, as if Alice wasn't dying right in front of her. "You will return here within three days. If you do not save her, you will be killed. Do you agree to these terms for both you and Alice?"

"Yes, f*ck, yes!" He shouted his agreement, even as the curse began to shout in his head, taunting him, screaming at him that Alice was dying. Despair surged over him, and his body bowed under the agony, as his will was shredded.

"So be it." There was a flash of turquoise light, and the vines released him. Ian lunged toward Alice, catching her in his arms. His head was spinning, the curse piercing and shrill, but the moment he held her, he willed his focus onto her, sending all his life force into Alice as he hauled her against him and kissed her, sharing his oxygen and life with his sheva.

She didn't respond, and he swore, kissing her more deeply, more frantically as the curse grew in power, screaming at him that he was wasting his time. That she was already dead. That his life was worth nothing. No! Leave me the f*ck alone! She's not dead!

There was a flash of light, and then he was suddenly on his knees on the floor. The water had been drained from the room as quickly as it had come. He threw Alice onto the bed, her skin ash-white, her lips blue, her eyelids closed. "Come on, Alice! This is not the f*cking time to shut me out!"

He had to tighten their connection, and there was only one way to do it, one way for him to get close enough to pull her back from the brink of death. The blood bond between a Calydon and his mate. Frantic, he grabbed his mace and raked it over the tips of his fingers, not even noticing the pain as he sliced his skin.

His mind blurring from the impact of the curse, he blindly grabbed Alice's arm, willing himself to go on despite the noise in his head. Only six hundred years of training gave him the discipline to keep going with what he had to do, even though he could barely think, was barely aware of what he was doing because the curse was screaming at him so relentlessly to kill himself.

Ian jerked the blade across her wrist, his agony doubling when she didn't even flinch at the pain. Was she dead already? "No!" He howled his protest as he pulled her into his arms, thrusting his fingers past her lips, giving her his lifeblood. "Swallow, babe, as God is my witness, swallow for me."

She didn't move, and he swore as his body began to tremble violently, as the shakes began to set in. Come on, Alice! He stroked her hair, and showered kisses over her forehead while he whispered to her. Just swallow, sweetheart. One time. Let me save you. You're not done here. Catherine needs you to kill or save her or whatever you need to do for her—

Her throat moved, and she swallowed.

Elation exploded through him, and Ian pressed her bleeding wrist to his lips, kissing the wound and finishing the circle that would connect them forever, by taking her lifeblood into his body. The moment he swallowed, his whole body felt like it was on fire. His mind seemed to explode with pressure, and a searing liquid burned through his veins. Words sprang up in his mind, words that carried two thousand years of power for a Calydon and his mate. He welcomed the words, opening his entire soul to them, letting them fill him as he offered them to Alice. Mine to you. Yours to me. Bonded by blood, by spirit and by soul, we are one. No distance too far, no enemy too powerful, no sacrifice too great. I will always find you. I will always protect you. No matter what the cost. I am yours as you are mine.

Beneath him, Alice's body arched, and then her voice, her beautiful angelic voice filled his mind as she gave him the same promise. Mine to you. Yours to me. Bonded by blood, by spirit and by soul, we are one. No distance too far, no enemy too powerful, no sacrifice too great. I will always find you. I will always keep you safe. No matter what the cost. I am yours as you are mine.

As the blood bond was completed, sealing another stage of the sheva bond, Ian was suddenly flooded with Alice's emotions. Guilt, self-hate, pain, fear. Everything an angel should never feel, but it was hers, all hers, and she was open to him. Ian immersed his spirit into that opening, wrapping his energy around her heart, infusing her with his strength. He gave her his life, his immortality, plunging it into her soul and calling her back from the edge of death.

His need for her was incredible, and beautiful, and he felt her respond, her soul reaching for his in that connection he'd been seeking so desperately for so long. Yes. He'd done it. He'd reached her in time.

Triumph swept through him as he cradled her in his arms and kissed her, deepening the connection between them until they were one, until her spirit and emotions were so immersed in his that there was no dividing line, no separation.

Her arms suddenly tightened around his neck, and then her lips moved. Tentatively at first, then stronger, kissing him back with a fierceness that mimicked everything he was feeling. Ian.

Alice. He was frantic to kiss her, to touch her, to fill her with all that he was. He needed more. He needed everything. The curse still had its claws buried in him, trying to tear him away from his sanity, even with his woman alive and well in his arms.

The same desperate energy seemed to infect Alice, as her kisses were more evocative and demanding than they'd ever been. Her skin was still cold, but he could feel the heat beginning to build beneath her skin, heat he'd given her, that had become a part of who she was.

Desperate now, he slid his hand beneath her shirt, her stomach trembling from his touch. Her skin was like the softest silk, like the very heavens themselves had spun it when they'd given her life. Rightness filled him, rightness and a need to consummate their blood bond. He was burning to look at her arm to see if she carried the mark from their bonding, but he didn't dare. He was too close to the edge, and knew that if he saw only blank skin, it would be more than he could handle.

Alice grabbed his shirt and tried to pull it up. Ian sat up, ripping his shirt over his head. As he did so, he suddenly remembered where they were. In the room they'd almost drowned in...with an audience?

He jerked his gaze off Alice and searched their surroundings, but Jada was gone. The walls and floor were still dripping with evidence from their near death, but the Mageaan had left. He didn't know where she'd gone, or when she'd be back, but he didn't care.

All he knew was that right now, he was alone with his woman, and he needed her more than he'd ever needed anything in his entire life.

He was going to take her now, and nothing was going to stop him.

* * *

Alice could feel every one of Ian's emotions. His hopelessness and emotional agony were almost overwhelming, but at the same time, there was so much strength and courage. A man who would never give up. Never allow failure. The Order was strong in his heart, the driving force for who he was. It was so powerful, so beautiful: his commitment to the Order, and the purity of his belief in who he was and what he did. She'd never felt such intensity of emotion or such a revelation of the spirit, and it was incredible.

His emotions, his very soul seemed to swell inside her, touching her heart. Tears fell for his torment. Her heart danced for his triumphs. She felt everything he did, and her own emotions reflected his. It seemed like her spirit was flying with freedom to experience all the range of feelings. Not just his, but her own. Her need for him. The way she craved his body, his touch. The intensity of her desire to hear his whispers in her mind, caressing her with his voice. She wanted his kiss. His body. His skin against hers.

God, Alice. Your soul is so open to me. You're beautiful. He pulled back long enough to pull her shirt over her head, his eyes glittering with sensual heat that reached inside her and seemed to unlock the passions that had been chained up for so long.

She braced her palms on his chest, marveling at the hardness of his muscles, at the sheer power coiled beneath his skin. "How can it be like this?"

"This, my darling, is the way it's supposed to be between us." He grasped her shorts and tugged them off her hips, trailing fiery kisses down her body. His jeans and boots hit the floor and then he sank between her legs.

Skin to skin. Bodies entwined. It was a wondrous sensation that seemed to sizzle through her body, from her nipples, to her belly, to the very core of her.

"No stopping this time," Ian said, as he kneed her legs apart, sinking his hips between her legs. "Nothing will come between us."

Alice gasped at the feel of his erection pressing against her, and she shifted restlessly, wanting more, needing more. Her body felt like it was on fire, and she could feel his desire rushing through her, filling her, chipping away at her hesitations and defenses, until there was nothing left but the heat building between them.

Ian cupped her face between his hands for a deep, intimate kiss, as his hips began to move, teasing her, brushing the tip of his member across her most sensitive parts. Tremors rippled through her, down her legs, up her spine. Her muscles began to tremble. Ian's entire presence seemed to fill her. His masculine scent of woods and pine wrapped around her. The heat from his body seemed to penetrate the last residual coldness from the ocean. His spirit was so strong and protective as it enveloped her. She felt safe, as if there were room to let go and embrace everything she was feeling. I don't want to hold back.

Then don't. He kissed her again, deeper, harder, claiming her. His hands roamed her hips, her breasts, her spine, stoking flames within her until her entire body was on fire, until her need for him seemed to rise from her skin like steam vapors in a hot spring, scorching the air.

God, yes. His kiss grew more frantic, as if he were getting sucked into the same vortex spinning her so ruthlessly. Hunger roared through her, the urge to feel him inside her. She writhed under him, unable to control her body's response or the sparks that were igniting within. Ian. Make love to me. I need you. She gripped his shoulders, digging her fingernails in as if he could keep her from shattering into a million pieces of passion and desire.

At her demand, Ian palmed her hips and dragged her toward him. Anticipation rolled through her as his powerful thighs took over her space, shoving her legs wider to make room for him. She arched her back as he nudged at her core, her soul screaming for more, for their connection, for him to unify them into a single entity that could never be torn apart.

Never leave me. Ian's voice was raw demand, but before she could answer, he thrust.

His name tore from her lips as he filled her, their bodies adjusting instantly to each other. He plunged all the way, and then held still, his hips so tight against hers it felt as if they would never be separated again.

"Alice. Look at me." His voice was raw and rough, laced with an edge that made chills run down her spine.

She opened her eyes, and was captivated by the dark possession in his eyes. "Ian," she whispered, laying her palm against his cheek.

"Say you're mine," he commanded. He withdrew slightly, and her body jerked in reaction. "Tell me you belong to me. That it doesn't matter whether my mark is on your arm or not." There was a desperate edge to his voice, a need that tore at her heart and made her soul ache for him. "Tell me that you're my soul mate, and nothing will ever change that."

Tears filled her eyes, and the most intense yearning filled her. A craving to be irreversibly connected to this man. "I want to," she whispered. "But I'm terrified of the implications. I'm scared of what would happen to me if I offer my loyalty to anyone or anything, except for what I'm supposed to be focused on."

He thrust again, and they both gasped at the sensation of him moving within her. "What do you want, Alice? Tell me."

She closed her eyes, arching as heat cascaded through her. Each thrust and withdrawal stoked her need for him. "I want to be someone else, something other than what I am," she confessed. "I want to be the woman who can lose herself in you and not be afraid." She opened her eyes. "I don't want to be an angel," she said. "I want to just be me, whoever that is. I don't want to be afraid of who I want to be."

Ian swore softly, and she felt him brush an achingly tender kiss across her mouth. You have a beautiful soul, Alice. I wouldn't have you any other way than how you are right now. Be who you are in your heart. It's enough for me.

Her chest seemed to expand at his beautiful words, spoken even after he'd figured out that she was on a mission to kill the woman who was as close to a sister as anyone had ever been. Somehow, he saw beauty in her. She didn't understand it, but it was such a gift.

He drove deep again, and his voice grew more gritty and strained. But as God is my witness, give a guy a break and just tell me that there will never be another man for you. It's just me, in whatever way you can give it. Only me. No one else. I'm your guy.

She laughed and gripped his shoulders as he rode her harder. That was something she could promise, with absolute certainty. Ian, there has never been another man for me, and there never will. Who knows what form this thing between us will take, but regardless, it's only you.

His relief filled her like a great burst of sunlight, and her own soul seemed to rejoice in response. Then he thrust one more time, and an orgasm exploded through her. He shouted her name as he drove into her, and they clung to each other, holding onto whatever it was they had between them while the orgasm gave them a glimpse of what they could be together...if she wasn't who she was.

* * *

Ian felt Alice's emotional withdrawal almost immediately. Before she could retreat physically, he braced himself on his elbows and pinned her to the bed, letting his weight press her into the mattress. "Oh, no you don't, sweetheart. Making love matters, and I'm not letting you pretend it doesn't. Not again."

Her green eyes were haunted, making his heart soften. "It matters," she admitted. "I know it does."

Relief rushed through him. They were making progress, then. The angel was not made of cold steel after all. "Good." He traced his thumb over her lower lip, then feathered a kiss over it. "Then stop shutting me out."

She pressed her palms to her eyes, as if she were fighting back tears. "Don't you understand, Ian? What you give me is an incredible gift. It's so beautiful the way I can feel your emotions, and the way you make me feel things, too. That's so rare for me. It's so much more than I ever knew it could be."

Ian almost smiled at her words. "I've got more than that to show you, sweetheart. Just give me a few minutes to recover and I'll be ready to go."

She pulled her hands down and glared at him. "How can you make a sex joke? I was talking about more than sex—"

"I know." He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose, thoroughly enjoying her discomfiture and irritation. Her tension was good, because it showed him she wasn't as unaffected by him as she wanted to be. The connection and attraction wasn't one-sided, and that felt damn good.

"So, why are you being intentionally obtuse about it? I'm trying to talk about things that matter, and you're making it about sex." She frowned at him. "This is a big deal to me."

"And to me," he agreed, feeling inordinately pleased by the entire conversation. For the first time ever, Alice was admitting that the connection developing between them was real. "My life, yours, the future of the Order. It matters."

She blinked. "Then why are you teasing me?"

"I just made love to the most incredible woman I've ever met, and her crankiness tells me that she's not as immune to me as she pretends." He gave her a wicked grin, delighted to see the flush of awareness flood her cheeks. "I'm a guy. Amazing sex is enough to put me in a good mood, and the fact that it was with my sheva who is starting to fall madly in love with me... well... it's a good day."

"What?" Her eyes widened in outrage, and she smacked his chest. "I'm not falling in love with you."

"I know, I know. It's impossible for you to do, and all that stuff." He shrugged. "So is telling me your angel secrets, but we're getting around that. Makes me realize that if I'm a stubborn enough bastard, I might get what I want."

Her eyes widened. "And what exactly is that?"

You. Ian's amusement faded at the word that had burst into his mind. Her? What kind of answer was that? The answer was supposed to be that he wanted to break the curse, restore his family's honor, and reclaim his place on the Order of the Blade team. The answer was not supposed to be some mooning adulation of one particular almost-fallen angel.

Alice was simply the key to getting what he truly wanted. His interest in Alice couldn't be more than that. If he started having true feelings for her, the curse would destroy him before he got close to Cardiff. And if the curse didn't, then the sheva destiny would. With the way he'd reacted to losing her when they weren't even bonded, he knew damn well that if he lost her after they were bonded, he wouldn't be one of those rare exceptions who didn't go rogue and destroy everything that mattered. He'd lose his marbles and bring everything around them down into ruin. And then some.

So, then, what was he doing getting up close and intimate with her? Talking about love and getting all starry-eyed? He had to tread that fine line of keeping her close enough to keep the curse at bay, but not so close that it gave the curse too much power.

He needed some man-space. And now.

Swearing, he rolled off her and grabbed his jeans off the floor. "Jada will be back soon. We need to get dressed." He picked up her tank top and handed it to her. "Here."

Alice sat up, embarrassment flooding her at Ian's sudden coolness after she'd tried to get personal. For a split second, when she'd asked him what he really wanted, she'd thought she'd heard him whisper "you" in her mind, but his rapid withdrawal made it clear that she'd heard wrong.

Which was good. She couldn't get involved with him emotionally, and it was already pretty clear that she had minimal defenses against him. She quickly tugged her tank top on, pulling the built-in bra over her breasts that were still tender from his kisses. Her breasts were sore from being nibbled on by an immortal warrior? Really? That was so not her.

But there was no way to pretend she'd fabricated that lovemaking session. She could remember every delicious detail, and her skin still hummed from his kisses and his touch. Oh, yes, it was true. She, Alice Shaw, dedicated angel, had flagrantly thrown herself into a man's arms and loved every single minute of it.

Oy. She was becoming a wanton woman, and that was just not good for an angel of life who wasn't allowed to have any connections with anyone else.

She scratched her forearm, and realized her skin was burning hot. Quickly, she looked down and saw that her flesh was bright red. There was no brand, but there was no doubt that her skin was fighting it, that his influence was growing stronger. What if the brand appeared? Would that mean she'd transferred her loyalty from her angel duties to Ian? That couldn't be a good thing. That brand had to stay away. He couldn't claim her. He just couldn't. Nervously, she pressed her palm to her arm, as if she could will it away—

Then she frowned as she noticed new markings on her skin. A tangle of blue and green vines was tattooed all the way around each wrist. Almost five inches wide, they looked like gladiator wrist cuffs. Her stomach dropped in fear as she recalled Jada's comment about what would happen if she became the leader of the Mageaan. "Ian! Look!"

He looked up sharply, and his eyes became hooded when he saw what she was pointing to. "Yeah," he said, holding up his arm. "I have them, too."

Alice realized he had the same thing around each wrist. "What is it?" If Ian had them too, it couldn't be that she'd been conscripted by the Mageaan into being their leader.

Ian looked at her grimly. "You didn't hear it?"

Her heart started to pound. "Hear what?"

"When you were drowning, I made a deal with Jada so I could save you."

She sat up straighter. "What kind of deal?"

Ian fetched his shirt from the floor and pulled it over his muscular shoulders. "She wants us to get Cardiff to use his magic to save Chloe's life. Our passport out of here expires in three days. At that point..." He held up his arms. "I'm guessing these will magically haul us back here regardless of whether or not we're finished. If Chloe's life is saved by then, we get to go free. If not..." He shrugged. "I agreed that we would die here."

Alice leapt to her feet. "What? What kind of deal is that? How are we supposed to save Chloe? Isn't she dead already?"

"Apparently not." Ian fished her shorts out from under the bed and tossed them at her, but there was no mistaking the heat in his eyes as his gaze sizzled over her body. She responded instantly with need and desire that seemed to come alive inside her with only the slightest provocation from him. "So, that's good," he said. "One less death on your shoulders."

Hope rippled through her at his words. Was it possible she could change fate and save someone, at least once? She pulled the shorts on, her spirits falling when she realized the impossibility of what Jada was asking. "Warwick can't bring people back to life." That was why he'd wanted Alice, but he'd been sorely disappointed to discover the angel of life he'd kidnapped hadn't been able to bring his beloved back to life after a couple millennia of being dead.

She'd become expendable, and he'd immediately traded her life for more black magic from the demons. She had to give Cardiff credit. He was a pretty flexible guy, and the moment he'd realized that his former love wasn't going to be waltzing across his ballroom with him again, he'd recycled Alice to a more lucrative use and decided to keep Catherine for more nefarious purposes.

"I know he can't bring people back to life. That's not something that can be done by magic." Ian shoved his feet into his boots, giving her a thoughtful look.

Alice buttoned her shorts, her thighs still feeling sensitive from his attentions. "So, what does Jada think we're going to do?" she asked, trying not to think of all they had just done. Her arms were brand-free, and that was what mattered.

"I think," he said, as he stood up, meeting her gaze, "she believes that you will find a way to do it with your angel of life powers."

Alice's heart dropped. "But I can't save anyone. You know that."

"She doesn't believe you." Ian walked over to her and caught her chin. "And you know what, sweetheart?"

Her heart began to race at his nearness, hammering frantically. "What?" she whispered, her very breath taken away by his touch.

"I don't believe you either."