Burned. Part 33

For a moment she almost smiled. She did, briefly, step fully into his embrace and allow him to hold her.

"I've missed you so much," he murmured.

She pulled away from him, studying his face carefully. "You're my Warrior."

"Yeah. I'm your Warrior. I'll always be your Warrior."

With a small sigh, she started pacing her circular path again. "Always is done now."

He kept pace with her, not sure how to reach this strange, ghostlike version of his Zoey. He remembered that Heath had talked to her pretty much like he normally did, so ignoring her confusing words and the fact that she couldn't stop moving, he took her hand, acting like they were just walking through the grove together. "This is a pretty cool place."

"It's supposed to be peaceful."

"I think it is."

"No. Not for me. Nothing will ever be peaceful for me again. I lost that part of me."

He squeezed her hand. "That's why I'm here. I'm going to protect you so that you can pull the pieces of your soul together, and then we'll go home."

She didn't even glance at him. "I can't. Go back without me. I have to stay here and wait for Heath."

"Zoey, Heath's not coming back here. He went on to another lifetime. He'll be reborn. Back in the real world is is where he'll be." where he'll be."

"He can't be there. He's dead."

"Okay, I'm not so good at understanding this Otherworld stuff myself, but from what I can figure, Heath left here so that he can be reborn and live another lifetime. That's how he'll see you again, Z."

Zoey paused, stared blankly at him, shook her head, and then resumed her endless pacing.

Stark pressed his lips together hard to keep from saying what was tearing him apart inside-that she would've pulled herself together because of how much she loved Heath, but not for him. She didn't love him enough.

Stark shook himself mentally. This wasn't just about love. He'd known it when Seoras had first confronted him, asking whether he'd risk his life for Zoey, even if he lost her. "I stay with her," "I stay with her," Stark had told him. Stark had told him. "Aye, laddie, as her Warrior fer sure, but perhaps not as her love." "Aye, laddie, as her Warrior fer sure, but perhaps not as her love."

Perhaps not as her love.

Stark looked at Zoey and really saw her. She was completely broken. Her tattoos were gone. Her spirit was shredded. She was losing herself. Yet still he saw the goodness and strength within her, and Stark was drawn to her. She wasn't what she'd been before-she wasn't what she could be-but even shattered, she was his Ace, his bann ri s.h.i.+', bann ri s.h.i.+', his queen. his queen.

... Know there is no going back, for this is the law and lot o' the Guardian pure, nae grudge, malice, prejudice, or vengeance, only yer unflinching faith in honor can be yer reward, nae guarantee of love, happiness, or gain.

Stark was Zoey's Guardian, no matter what. He was bound to her by something stronger than love: honor.

"Zoey, you have to come back. Not because of you and Heath, and not even because of you and me. You gotta come back because it's the right thing, the honorable thing to do."

"I can't. There's not enough of me left."

"There is now that you've got help. Your Guardian's here." Stark lifted her hand to his lips, kissed it, and then smiled down at her as he remembered. "Aphrodite made me memorize a poem for you. It's one of Kramisha's. She and Stevie Rae think it's like some kind of map you might be able to follow to get yourself whole again."

"Aphrodite ... Kramisha ... Stevie Rae ..." Zoey whispered hesitantly, as if relearning the words. "They're my friends."

"Yeah, that's what they are," Stark squeezed her hand again. Since he seemed to be getting through to her, he kept going. "So, check out the poem. Here goes: A double-edged sword One side destroys One releases I am your Gordian knot Will you release or destroy me?

Follow truth and you shall: Find me on water Purify me through fire Trapped by earth nevermore Air will whisper to you What spirit already knows: That even shattered anything is possible If you believe Then we shall both be free When he'd finished reciting the poem, Zoey stopped moving long enough to meet his gaze, and say, "It doesn't mean anything."

She started walking again, but she had a tight hold on his hand, keeping him with her.

"Yeah, it does. It's about you and Kalona. He has something to do with you getting free of here." Stark paused, and then added, "You remember you two are linked together, right?"

"Not anymore we're not," she said quickly. "He broke that link when he broke Heath's neck."

I sure as h.e.l.l hope so, Stark thought, but what he said was, "Yeah, still, part of it's already come true. You followed what you thought was the truth about him to find him on water. So the next line says: Stark thought, but what he said was, "Yeah, still, part of it's already come true. You followed what you thought was the truth about him to find him on water. So the next line says: Purify me through fire. Purify me through fire. What do you think that could mean?" What do you think that could mean?"

"I don't know!" Zoey shouted at him. Even though she was obviously getting p.i.s.sed, Stark was glad to see the animation in her face that had been so blank and dead-looking. "Kalona isn't here. Fire isn't here. I don't know!"

Stark kept a tight hold on her hand and let her settle down before he told her, "Kalona is here. He's come after you. He just can't get into the grove." Then, without rational thought, he spoke the next words as if they came from his heart and not his mind. "And fire got me here. Or at least it felt like fire."

Zoey glanced at him, and in a very matter-of-fact voice, changed the course of his life by saying, "Then it sounds like that poem's for Kalona and you, not Kalona and me."

Her words settled over Stark like a mesh of steel. "What do you mean, Kalona and me?"

"You went with me to Venice, and you knew the real truth of how much of a monster Kalona is before I did. Fire brought you here. The rest probably means something to you if you think about it enough."

"A double-edged sword ..." Stark spoke the words softly. The claymore was double-edged. And he'd destroyed as well as released with it. He did know the truth about Kalona being dangerous when he followed him with Zoey to Venice ... the fire of pain from Seoras's cuts had brought him to here, a place that reminded him of earth, even though it was in the Otherworld. And Zoey was trapped here, needing to be released. And now he had to follow what his spirit knew about honor to bring this whole thing to an end. "Oh, s.h.i.+t!" He looked at Zoey, ever-moving beside him, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "You're right. The poem is for me."

"Good, then it shows you how to be free," Zoey said.

"No, Z. It shows me how to make both of us free," he said. "Kalona and me."

Her troubled, restless eyes lit on his face before looking hastily away. "Free Kalona? I don't understand."

"I do," he said grimly, remembering the killing blow that had freed the Other. "There are a lot of different ways to be free." He tugged on her hand, making her slow down and look at him. "And I do believe in you, Zoey. Even shattered, you still hold my Oath. I will protect you, and as long as I remember honor and don't ever let you down again, I think anything is possible. That's what being your Guardian's all about: honor."

He lifted her hand and kissed it again before he began walking. He didn't let her circular pacing control him. This time Stark led her in a straight line directly for the edge of the grove.

"No. No. We can't go over there," Zoey said, "Over there is where we have to go, Z. It'll be okay. I trust you." Stark kept walking toward the widening bright spots between the green that marked the grove's edge.

"Trust me? No. It doesn't have anything to do with trust. Stark, we can't leave this place. Ever. There are bad things out there. He's He's out there." Zoey was pulling at his hand hard, trying to get him to change direction. out there." Zoey was pulling at his hand hard, trying to get him to change direction.

"Zoey, I'm gonna say some things to you really fast, and I know your concentration is messed up right now, but you gotta hear me." Stark was almost dragging Zoey with him, but he kept relentlessly moving them ahead, to the boundary of the grove. "I'm not just your Warrior anymore. I'm your Guardian. And that means a major change for me and and for you. The biggest change is that I'm bound to you by honor even more than I am by love. I'm not ever gonna let you down again. I can't tell you what your change is gonna be." The end of the grove s.h.i.+mmered in front of them. Stark stopped and, following a gut impulse, he dropped to one knee in front of his shattered queen. "But I do believe one hundred percent that you're gonna be up to it. Zoey, you're my Ace, for you. The biggest change is that I'm bound to you by honor even more than I am by love. I'm not ever gonna let you down again. I can't tell you what your change is gonna be." The end of the grove s.h.i.+mmered in front of them. Stark stopped and, following a gut impulse, he dropped to one knee in front of his shattered queen. "But I do believe one hundred percent that you're gonna be up to it. Zoey, you're my Ace, mo bann ri, mo bann ri, my queen, and you have to pull yourself together, or none of us are getting out of here." my queen, and you have to pull yourself together, or none of us are getting out of here."

"Stark, you're scaring me."

He got to his feet. Stark kissed both of her hands, and then her forehead before saying, "Well, Z, stay tuned, 'cause I've only just started." He gave her his old, c.o.c.ky grin. "No matter what happens, at least I made it here. If we get back, we'll be able to tell the sticks-up-their-a.s.ses Vampyre High Council 'told ya so!' " Then he parted the leaves of two rowan trees and stepped over the rocky boundary of the grove.

Zoey stayed within the grove but held the branches open so she could stare out at Stark as she rocked back and forth, causing the leaves to rustle like a murmuring audience.

"Stark, come back!"

"Can't do that, Z. I got something to take care of."

"What? I don't understand!"

"I'm gonna kick some immortal a.s.s. For you, for me, and for Heath."

"But you can't! You can't beat Kalona."

"You're probably right, Z. I can't. But you can you can." Stark threw wide his arms and yelled into Nyx's sky. "Come on, Kalona! I know you're here! Come get me. It's the only way you're going to be sure Zoey won't get back, 'cause as long as I'm alive I'm gonna fight to save her!"

The sky above Stark rippled, and the pristine blue began to gray. Tendrils of Darkness, like smoke from a toxic fire, spread, thickened, and took form. His wings appeared first. Ma.s.sive, black, and unfurled, they blotted out the golden light of the G.o.ddess's sun. Then Kalona's body formed-bigger, stronger, more dangerous-looking than Stark had remembered.

Still hovering above Stark, Kalona smiled. "So, it is you, boy. You sacrificed yourself to follow her here. My work is done. Your death traps her here more easily than I ever could have."

"Wrong, a.s.shole. I'm not dead. I'm alive, and I'm gonna stay that way. So is Zoey."

Kalona's eyes narrowed. "Zoey will not leave the Otherworld."

"Yeah, well, I'm here to make sure you're wrong again."

"Stark! Get back in here!" Zoey shouted from just inside the boundary of the grove.

Kalona's gaze went to her. He sounded sad, almost heartsick when he spoke. "It would have been an easier thing for her had you let the human boy do my will."

"That's the problem with you, Kalona. You have that G.o.d-complex thing going on. Or, no, I guess I should call it a G.o.ddess complex you got. See, just because you're immortal, it doesn't make you in charge. Actually in your case, it just makes you wrong for a really, really long time." complex you got. See, just because you're immortal, it doesn't make you in charge. Actually in your case, it just makes you wrong for a really, really long time."

Slowly, Kalona s.h.i.+fted his gaze from Zoey to Stark. The immortal's amber-colored eyes had gone flat and cold with anger. "You are making a mistake, boy."

"I'm not a boy anymore." Stark's tone matched Kalona's.

"You'll always be a boy to me. Insignificant, weak, mortal mortal."

"Which makes you wrong three times in a row, mortal doesn't mean weak. Come on down here and let me prove that to you."

"Very well, boy. Let the pain this causes Zoey be on your soul, not mine."

"Yeah, 'cause I'd hate for you to f.u.c.king take responsibility for any of the messed-up s.h.i.+t you've done!"

As Stark knew it would, his taunt pushed Kalona's simmering rage to boiling. He roared at Stark, "Do not dare speak to me of my past!"

The immortal stretched out his arm, and from the Darkness writhing in the air around him, plucked a spear, tipped by metal that glistened wickedly, black as a moonless sky. Then Kalona dropped from the sky.

Instead of landing in front of Stark, his ma.s.sive wings swept down and forward, slicing the ground in a perfect circle around Stark. Under his feet, the earth shuddered and then disintegrated, and like h.e.l.l opening beneath him, Stark was falling down ... down.

He hit bottom with such force his breath was knocked from him, and his vision grayed. He struggled to stand as he heard mocking laughter all around him.

"Just a small, weak boy trying to play with me. This won't even be amusing," Kalona said.

Arrogant. He's more arrogant than I ever was.

And with the thought of what he had been, and what he'd already defeated, Stark's chest loosened. He was able to draw breath. His vision cleared in time to see a flash of brilliant light pierce the darkness between him and Kalona, and the Guardian claymore was there, blade driven in the earth at his feet.

Stark grasped the hilt and felt it instantly, the warmth and the pulse of his heartbeat as the claymore, his his claymore, sang in tune with his blood. claymore, sang in tune with his blood.

He looked at Kalona and saw surprise in the immortal's amber eyes.

"I told you I wasn't a boy anymore." Without hesitation, Stark strode forward, holding the claymore with both hands, perfectly centered on the geometrical strike lines that coalesced over Kalona's body.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE.

Zoey The shock I felt when Kalona materialized above Stark was terrible. The sight of him brought back everything that had happened in that last moment on that last day, before my world exploded in death and despair and guilt. Fully formed, his amber gaze met mine, and I was frozen by the sadness I saw there, and by the memory of how I'd looked into his eyes before and believed I'd glimpsed humanity, kindness, even love.

I'd been so, so wrong.

Heath had died because of how wrong I'd been.

Then Kalona's gaze moved from me back to Stark, as my Warrior taunted him.

No! Oh, G.o.ddess! Please make him be quiet. Please make him run back to me.

But Stark seemed to like taunting Kalona. He wouldn't shut up; he didn't run. Horror filled me as Kalona plucked the spear from the sky. His wings cut a hole in the ground and then he and Stark disappeared into its blackness.

It was then I realized that Stark was also going to die because of me.

"No!" The soundless scream tore from deep inside me, where everything felt empty and hopeless and restless. I needed to run-to keep moving-to escape from what was happening here.

I couldn't handle it. There wasn't enough of me left to handle it.

But if I didn't handle it, Stark would die.

"No." This time the word wasn't a ghostly, soundless scream. It was my voice-my voice, and not that awful not-here c.r.a.p that had been babbling out of my mouth. voice, and not that awful not-here c.r.a.p that had been babbling out of my mouth.

"Stark. Can. Not. Die." I tasted the words and followed their form and familiarity, listening for myself, as I stepped from the grove and headed to the black hole in the ground inside of which my Warrior had disappeared.

When the hole opened at my feet, I looked down to see Stark and Kalona facing each other in the middle of it. Stark was holding a gleaming sword in both of his hands against Kalona's dark spear.

I realized then that it wasn't just a hole in the ground. It was an arena. Kalona had created an arena with high walls, unbroken and slick. Walls that couldn't be climbed.

Kalona had Stark trapped. Now he couldn't run, even if he would listen to me. He couldn't escape. He also couldn't possibly win. And Kalona wouldn't be happy with beating Stark up a little-or even a lot. Kalona meant to kill Stark.

The restless numbness started to smother me again as Stark faced Kalona. I let my feet move but forced myself to stay where I could see the adversaries, walking the circ.u.mference of the arena as, unbelievably, Stark attacked the fallen immortal.

Laughing cruelly, Kalona deflected the sword with a flick of the spear, and with a movement so blindingly fast there was no way Stark could have seen it coming, Kalona smashed his open hand into Stark's face with ferocious, sneering disdain. Stark's forward momentum carried him awkwardly past the immortal, and he fell to the ground, holding his hands over his ears like he was trying to ease the pain in his head.

"A Guardian claymore-that's amusing. So you think you can stand with them?" Kalona spoke while Stark regained his balance and turned to face him again, his sword held up before him.