The Darkness in Dreams (Enforcer's Legacy, #1)(83)

“I hate that sound.”

“I know you do. And I know you are you now,” he added. “But I need you to stay alive, and I have to ask you to be Gaia again, I have to fucking change you back into her and you have to accept it. You need to remember what it’s like to fight with a spear and knives. When you knew how to kill. You did, then, do you remember? When your father’s goats were attacked and you had to kill the lion? You didn’t like doing it, you cried the whole time, but you fought hard and you won. Let me into your mind, cara. Lower that shield Arsen taught you.” He pressed her left forefinger against the line that curled around her right wrist. Watched the expressions cross her face. Even in the dark he was aware of every emotion.

“This is Gaia.”

“Is that real?” she whispered.

“This is the way the lines work. They’re sensate memories, remember? That’s real experience you’re feeling, remembered from the past and knowledge you need.”

Christan’s arms shook as he held her, his mouth pressed against her temple.

“I’ve given you what I can,” he whispered, surging a pulse of power into her mind. “It’s a stronger defense because it comes from me.”

“I can feel it. It’s—different.”

“You may hear me telepathically, now. Don’t be frightened.”

“This isn’t costing you anything, is it? You’re not weakening yourself to protect me?”

“No,” he said. “Just stay low and out of sight. Don’t get cornered. Always know how to get out.”

A dog barked in the distance. The sound cut off abruptly.

A few seconds later a high-pitched scream.

Tears were running down her face.

“Honor comes from taking the right action, cara,” he said. “Not from the outcome. I have to do this.”

She reached up and gently touched his cheek. “Remember the way we loved beneath the tree,” she said. “But be who you have to be.”

His mouth lifted in that hard-bladed smile, promised pain with heartless skill.

“I will.”




Honor comes from taking the right action, not the outcome.

Lexi stood in the dark after Christan left. She’d known, when he’d said those words, that part of her would break this night. The earth was churning with the threat of advancing powers. They came from all directions. Old imprints, and new, and she drew cold comfort from the fear rising in the night air. Christan was formidable. A legend who once terrified the ancient world. Lexi hoped the fear in the hearts of the advancing enemy was that fear.

She touched her wrist, dragged her thumb across the memory line the way Christan had done, feeling the electricity beneath her skin. Images flashed into her mind. It wasn’t like watching a dream sequence; more like relearning to ride a bike. You might fall the first time. But muscle memory snapped back and the skill return.

Lexi’s fingers curled around a remembered spear. She thought of the words Christan whispered in the dark. How he held her. “Run to the chapel,” he’d said. But she remembered Gaia, now. She would need more than one option for escape.

“Find the high ground,” said the father as he led the daughter to the hills. “Let the lion come to you.”

“Papa, I don’t want to kill lions.”

“The lion will not hesitate to kill you, Gaia. Remember that. Once you strike, do not stop striking until the lion is dead. You can cry about him later.”

She had cried then, but she wouldn’t cry now. She listened to the steady beating of her heart. She imagined the interior of the villa, saw herself moving through the dark, working through the options. If she couldn’t get to the chapel, she could run to the second floor; the windows weren’t barred, but the drop to the ground would probably break her legs. She could hide and wait for the lions to approach. She could do what Christan warned against and run outside.

Lexi sat on the stairs, closed her eyes, pressed her knees together. Tried to relax her arms at her sides while explosions sounded in the night air. She had to assume the villa would be breached. Christan wouldn’t have left her alone if he hadn’t needed all his men outside. A sense of weightlessness calmed her as she slowly strengthened the shields in her mind.

At some point, the explosions stopped, as if the enemy found a safer route than through the vineyard. Lexi wondered if they’d started the shape-shifting yet. It they had, it would mean fewer guns but more violence. The sounds would change, and she wasn’t sure which sounds she preferred.

In the dark, the room became disjointed. Lexi wanted to run, but the honor was in the action, and action was justice. It was courage, even against overwhelming force. She imagined herself as brave as Gaia had been against the lions in the hot, white sun. When her throat had been as dry as the bones bleached out like stones and the goats had run bleating in helpless fear.

If necessary, she would kill lions again.





CHAPTER 35





The long walls of Piraeus had served Athens well, and then served the Persians who followed. First built by Themistocles, the fortifications were defensive in nature, designed to prevent attacks on the corridor connecting Athens to its valuable harbor. At the House of the Butterflies, the vineyards served a similar purpose. The electrical devices hidden in the leafy green and gold targeted the approaching enemy with such accuracy, the mercenaries believed they were being individually attacked. Thermal cameras searched the kill zones; computers recognized the enemy. There was no need for snipers when game technology operated the hidden weapons.