Dark Callings (Phoenix Intelligence Agency) (13 page)

Baffled, he stood by the bed. She made a shooing motion. Moving from the room, he frowned. He slipped into the shadows. An hour later, he opened the bedroom door. Harmony’s back was to him. Unsure, since she hadn’t returned his declaration, he approached the bed cautiously. He sat on the edge of the bed, turning sideways, facing her. Harmony opened her eyes, watching him. She rose to her knees beside him.

“No need to look all gloom and doom.” She cupped his cheek. “I love you too, Lennox. You are my heart. And yes, Ebony and I will move in with you. Ebony already mentioned weeks ago which room she wanted.”

He smiled, relieved. “You all already have it all planned.”

“You know it, buddy.”

She gripped his face and kissed him. A sweet, tangy and dark taste filled his mouth, which then turned icy. He swallowed it then jerked away. A puff of cold smoke came from between his lips.

Harmony glared. “You left something undone. Are there any more painful, excruciating things I need to know about? Anything else I need to do to complete this bond shadow thing?”

“Who interfered?” Lennox demanded.

“Fyodor filled me in on a few things. He became my Shadow Guardian, completing the bond shadow ritual. Why didn’t you tell me you left us vulnerable?”

Lennox frowned. No wonder Fyodor had left their meeting while Lennox had talked with Dulé. Fyodor had returned while they had still been talking.

“Lennox,” she said sharply.

“I should have. He’s right. Closing the ritual will keep us both safe.”

“Damn it. I was setting up to lecture you for a change.”

Lennox chuckled. “Let’s try something else instead.”

He kissed her and Harmony moaned. He pressed her back on the mattress. With a thought, he stripped her. He moved between her thighs, then stroked into her wetness. She moved with him. Slowly, he penetrated her over and over. Harmony matched him, stroke for stroke. She tightened her hands on his shoulders.

He moved down and nuzzled against her neck, licking her pulse point. She moaned, arching her head, giving him greater access. She cradled his body against hers. His heartbeat increased slowly, and hers synchronised with his. They peaked and went over together. Harmony gyrated beneath him, and cupped her hands behind his head. He blanketed her with his body, revelling in this woman who was his.

* * * *

A hand shook him. Lennox groaned and swatted at it.

“Come on, Lennox. We need to go to work.”

He opened one eye. Harmony sat at the bedside, already dressed. She looked chipper and much better than yesterday.

“Come on, lazy bones. We’re going to be late if you don’t get a move on. I’ll be downstairs.” She smacked his butt before standing.

Lennox yawned, stretching. He rolled off the bed and went to get ready.

Half an hour later, he and Harmony entered the unit. Absently, he listened as she planned her and Ebony’s move to his place. At his office, she entered, and he followed.

“Th—” Harmony cut off mid-word.

Instinct made him step forward. He caught her as she collapsed. A flare of power he recognised tinged the air. He dropped to his knees, cradling Harmony’s body. Energy filled the room as others appeared.

“Harmony! I don’t feel her. She’s gone. What happened?” Allure cried.

Lennox raised his head. Lupo looked as grim as he felt. Lowering his head, he held her, fear filling him.

“Blagden took her into a shadow dream,” Lupo stated.

“Go and get her!” Allure snapped.

“We can’t. If we don’t go in precisely where they are, she will be lost forever. She has to find her way out, and soon, or she will die,” Lupo said.

Lennox focused on Harmony. He felt the wrench as he was sucked into shadow sleep.

“Lennox, no!” Lupo’s scream echoed, following him.

He collapsed then turned his head to look at the wavering world. She wasn’t there. He stumbled to his feet and locked onto her flickering energy. With leaden steps, then a shambling run, he moved where it led. He had to be in time.

Harmony gasped, sitting up, frantically looking around. She recognised the ridge on Lennox’s property. She remembered Lennox and she entering his office, and a weird motion in front of her, then nothing. She focused on the familiar figure she knew so well. On shaky legs, she stood, heading for him. Lennox turned to face her, his silver gaze cool.

Harmony slowed, then stopped.

“No kiss for me, Harmony?”

“I don’t kiss scum, Blagden.”

Blagden threw his head back and laughed. The hollow, chilling sound echoed over the ridge. It wavered, and she realised it wasn’t actually what it seemed. She kept her face blank, not letting him know she suspected.

Blagden stopped laughing abruptly. His body reshaped, and Harmony viewed the real man. He looked regal, not like the mad man she’d expected. His features were shaped to make him gorgeous. Pink hair swirled, surrounding his lithe body. Her first look at his eyes, which were a darker shade than his hair, made Harmony rethink whether he was mad. There was clearly no sanity left in his gaze.

“
You stink of
Shadower and something else. I can’t tell who, or what. It’s of no consequence to what I need. How are you all tracking me?”

He flowed towards her, his mind probing at hers. Harmony stared at him dispassionately. She yawned. Blagden stopped his advance.

“No effect. Who is the Shadower you smell of? What are you?”

Harmony didn’t reply. Blagden flew at her. She flipped away, sliding to the side. He threw a blast of fire that made sweat break out on her body. Harmony watched him cautiously to see what he would do. Blagden held a swirling ball of energy in the palm of his hand. The black power and fire melded, hissing and snapping.

“I’ll enjoy destroying you.” He smiled, his eyes glowing. He launched the ball at her.

Harmony dropped into a split, catching the power between her palms over her head. She held it, soothing it.

Blagden’s eyes widened. “
Zuri Maji
.” His eyes narrowed then he roared, “Give me the
Maji Lexicon
!”

Harmony came to her feet and pitched the ball back at him. He batted it away, moving in her direction. A scorched scent filled her nose. Touching her tattoo, she materialised
Maji Stars,
throwing them in quick succession.
Blagden dodged, then hissed as one connected. She threw some more. He ran at her in a zigzag pattern. Harmony glided away from him. Blagden turned, throwing out his hand. The earth bucked under her feet and she slid along the forming slopes, then she turned them around onto him. She popped up some dunes to block his view.

“
Maji
, you cannot beat me!” Blagden yelled.

Harmony crouched behind one of the dunes she had created. Energy flared, then a loud boom sounded. Debris rained down on her. She pressed lower. Blagden blasted another, ranting the same words over and over as he did. She felt him coming closer. A flicker of something else came across her senses. She reached for it with her power, yanking it to her. Lennox collapsed beside her. She shielded his signature from Blagden. Lennox glanced at her and cupped her cheek. She pressed her face against his hand.

“Distract him, and I’ll take him out
,” he said in her thoughts.

She nodded. She levitated then whirled over the dune, flying over Blagden’s head. He stared at her, following her into the air. Harmony stilled mid-air. Blagden reached out to her. A hand appeared, catching his. Lennox peeled away the shadows. Shock filled Blagden’s face.

“Lennox.”

Lennox pushed him back. A flurry of blows and blocks came extremely fast as Lennox guided him towards the edge of the ridge. Blagden gripped him. Lennox roared, then lashed out, gripping Blagden’s shoulder. Harmony rushed forward at the sound of pain. She held up her hand, blasting out at Blagden. He skittered back, leaving a gorge in the earth. Harmony came alongside Lennox, glancing at him. He held his arm close to his side. A rumbling sound drew her attention. They flipped backward. The earth below them spewed up. Blagden rose over the erupting cavern. Dark black blood oozed from Blagden’s shoulder and he glanced at it.

“I underestimated you both. Next time I won’t.”

A loud boom rent the air, then he was gone. Harmony glanced at the wrecked area before moving closer to Lennox. She pressed her hand against his bleeding shoulder, starting to heal it. He hissed, then gripped her hand, pulling it away.

“We need to go now.” He gripped her fingers urgently.

“Wh—” A tearing sound cut her off.

Horror filled her as the area started to collapse, then fold towards them. Lennox dragged her behind him, running. She followed him without hesitation as he leapt off the ridge. The wind whooshed by her ears as they fell and she closed her eyes. A weird sensation overcame her. She moaned, opening her eyes. She blinked, staring up at the worried faces over her. She heard Lennox groan. She turned her head, spotting him lying beside her. His silver gaze met hers. Suddenly, his eyes rolled then he twitched and seized. Harmony shifted to straddle him. She pressed her hand against his shoulder, sending out her sense, seeking.

Poison.
She pulled the poison out, taking it into herself. Hands touched against her back, infusing her with more power. She recognised Allure’s and Storm’s energy combining with hers. Lennox’s hand flashed up, gripping hers. His eyes fluttered, then opened. His bleary gaze cleared, locking on hers. Her power waned, and she collapsed forward, blackness overcoming her.

Lennox groaned as she dropped on him. He was too weak to hold her so he settled for breathing in her scent.

“Lennox, we’re going to take you both home. One of us will stay with you for the night. You’ll both be fine in the morning,” Allure stated.

Her worried face was over his. He nodded. In moments, he felt his bed against his back. He closed his eyes, matching their heartbeats before slipping into slumber. He woke disoriented, blinking, then he sat up when he didn’t see Harmony.

“I’m over here,” she called.

He slid from the bed and padded over to her. She leant forward, giving him room to fit himself behind her on the window seat. Harmony rested against him.

“Everyone is asleep in the guest rooms. We’ll confer in the morning.”

“He’s mad.”

“Extremely. And I was able to get a read on him. He’s willing to sacrifice all his followers to get A’rm Ageddon free. She is his one focus, even if he has to bring down the world to do it. You must warn Fyodor to watch his back as he makes his way here.”

“Fyodor is cut off from communication. He’s not coming directly. He’s planning to stop to get the men he wants for his personal guard, and some I want, also. I’ll advise Lupo to send someone to tell him,” Lennox said.

“Isn’t his guard already with him?”

“No. He’s recruiting from other races. I found out last night he got the amnesty extended to cover the beings he is trying to convince to come here to Earth Realm. Some of these beings, other races don’t even think they exist anymore. If they accept Fyodor’s offer, it will reveal they are actually real. And being a guard is for life. For as long as we live, that’s a major commitment. I don’t know if he will succeed.”

After what they’d experienced with Blagden, Lennox hoped he would. They would need the help to defeat him.

“
Fyodor will probably succeed. He seems like a persuasive man.”

They were silent as they looked out onto their property.

Lennox turned Harmony’s face to his. “Blagden is determined, but also desperate. Desperation is an advantage.”

“It is, and we’ll use it,” she promised.

“We will. I’m going to show you how to counteract anyone who tries again to take you into shadow sleep.”

“Okay. But I’m fine. We’re both fine.”

“I can’t lose you,” he admitted.

“And you won’t. Even if our corporeal forms are no longer here, our shadows will always call to each other. Never apart.”

Lennox kissed her. She moaned, returning it. He moved them to the bed with a shift through the shadows. He rolled, removed their clothing with a thought. He rocked forward, sinking into her wetness. Harmony welcomed him, giving him all he needed. Her arms embraced him as she took over their kiss. She ravaged his mouth while her pussy clenched around his shaft. He widened her legs then pushed back and forth into her. She met him thrust for thrust.

Harmony gentled her kiss, her moan echoing in his ears. Her grip was fierce, nails digging into his shoulders. She moved, taking him deeper. His sac tightened, and heat filled the base of his belly. She gyrated against him, countering his motions. Pleasure blasted through him, disintegrating the knot of pressure in his sac. Harmony’s wetness coated him as she climaxed. Still pumping, he hardened again. Harmony flooded even more, her wetness slick against his engorged member.