Hadaen [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book One (23 page)

The men did not hesitate to move (not
unless they wanted to feel Deorci's wrath). Stealthily but quickly,
the group withdrew from the woods and towards the tiny village.
Deorci watched them for only a moment before beckoning Malakai
forward.

"What does the girl look
like?"

You decide to ask that
now?
Malakai bit his tongue wisely and
muttered, "Short black hair and blue eyes. She won't be hard to
miss, Sir."

Deorci scowled at the man's poor
judgement. "And why is that? I cannot imagine how black hair and
blue eyes could ever be a unique characteristic in your
eyes."

Malakai paled. "She's beautiful, Sir.
And one of the Protectors belongs to her. A pretty blonde
one."

"You
obviously
have been enjoying your
job far too much," he sneered at the boy. "What else?"

"Ahh..um." Malaria flustered.
"N-Nothing else...Sir."

Deorci swore, the intensity of it sure
to be burnt into the skulls of whoever was brave enough to hear
it.

"Get out of my sight!"

* * *

A
melia inched her way behind Hadaen as he stood just inside
the flap....listening. The impact of the explosion had sent dirt
and rocks crashing inside. She rested her hand against his
back...reveling in his warmth, seeking some of his
strength.

The time has come.

She would do what was best for all of
them. She would defeat Deorci once and for all. Even if it meant
making a sacrifice that she knew Hadaen would never forgive her
for.

"They're moving in," he said, his
voice steady; ever so controlled which she could not understand
since she could already feel the sweat damming between her breasts.
"Do not be frightened. I'll protect you." She didn't answer but
only pressed her forehead against his back, praying silently to The
First for forgiveness in advance. Hadaen looked over his shoulder
at her. "Amelia?"

"I heard you,” she whispered, willing
away the tremble from her lips as she spoke. "But I can't help
being scared."

Hadaen pulled her up to him and held
her face firmly in his hands. "You will be fine. I've told you this
before...I will make no harm come to you."

"I'm sorry." Her dampened gaze averted
to his chest, obviously embarrassed by showing such
weakness.

"Don't be..." He pressed a kiss to her
temple and sighed. "Whatever it is that bothering you, we'll talk
about it later."

...later.

"Hadean--"

"Promise me one thing,
Amelia."

Promises.
Could she really trust herself to promise
anyone--most of all Hadaen--anything at a time like this? She
nodded. "Whatever happens... Promise me you'll keep fighting. Don't
be intimidated. Deorci feeds off your fear. I will be right there
protecting you. Okay?"

At least that one could be
kept
. "I promise."

"Good." And he tugged her lips into a
heart-felting kiss before turning away again. "Now, stay behind
me."

"What do we do now?"

"We wait. We need Deorci's men to come
close enough so that Gideon can take out most of them with the
bombs he had set in the trails."

Blood flooded Amelia's ears. It was
really happened. It was truly the time for her to avenge her
parents' death... to redeem the Marujan kingdom.

"They're getting closer, Hadaen. I can
feel it." The hair on Amelia's neck stood at attention, her stomach
fluttering painfully. "What if--"

The anticipated blast shook the area,
orange hues reflecting through the fabric of the tent. The
anguished cries from men reverberated throughout and a series of
gunshots went off. Amelia felt Hadaen's muscles tense beneath where
she grabbed his arm.

It was time.

"Stay back, Amelia. And remember what
I told you."

H
adaen stepped outside into the cool night air just in time to
meet Gideon who looked as if he had been wrestling some wild
creature. His shirt was almost ripped from his body and his hair
flying in all directions.

"We have to move quick," Gideon said
quickly, his breath laboured. "I don't see any signs of Deorci yet
but I'm sure the bastard is lurking around in the shadows
somewhere."

"Where are his men?"

"Dead. Some temporarily stunned by the
blast." He managed a smug grin. "Let's go."

Hadaen wiped a hand across his bare
chest, asking The First to guide him...to protect him.

"Where are the Protectors?" he asked,
looking truly annoyed.

"I--I." Gideon cleared his throat. "I
kind of sent them running in the other direction."

Hadaen froze and glared at his
brother. "You could have given me notice."

"What was I supposed to do? Yell it
from across the yard?" he snapped. "We have Sienna with us. It was
decided that it was best to let the others go. Esyth led them
through the woods."

An oath forced it's way pass Hadaen's
lips and he grunted. He knew Gideon was right. They could not the
lives of the Protectors. "Fine."

"We've got six sound men on our backs.
Times that by two if we include Deorci."

Glancing back at his tent, where
Hadaen knew Amelia was waiting impatiently, he moved alongside his
youngest brother. Gideon's bomb had wiped out numbers of men, their
lifeless bodies sprawled across the debris-covered earth. The other
fortunate--or not so fortunate as far as Hadaen was concerned--ones
were momentarily struggling to their feet.

He moved fast, grabbing one man by the
arm and twisting it till he yelped. Gideon didn't waste any time
though, twisting two necks as the victims were unaware. Bones
cracked and tendons snapped.

They had no time to tarry.

Allowing his brother to satisfy his
ego, Gideon held on to his own captive.

"It's about damn time!" came Sienna's
voice. She sped from the east side of the woods, crashing pass them
and slamming her fist against one Kankul soldier's jaw. Blood came
squirting from the man's mouth as he fell back, hard and heavy on
the ground. She then tugged a gun from the waistband of her jeans
and pointed the steely weapon at the man's head.

The gunshot split his skull straight
down the forehead.

They're safely away, she muttered
mentally to Hadaen. Where's Amelia?

Don't worry about her, he said and
yanked harder on the man's arm.

"Where is Deorci?"

The young man stared up with horror in
his eyes. He was not more than Gideon's age. "Please, don't kill
me!"

"I-I..."

"He won't talk," Gideon snapped,
wiping sweat from his brow. "If we don't know anything about these
Kankul soldiers, we know they are loyal fools."

"He's right," Sienna huffed, looking
around and scanning the area cautiously. "Kill the man and get over
with it!"

Hadaen roared. His eyes turned red.
His energy vibrated with fierceness that sent flames down his arms
and over his body. The man screamed at the pain and Hadaen slapped
his fingers around his neck, squeezing hard.

Lightning flashed, striking the ground
between all four of them.

Thunder rolled. The Heavens above
shone down its light; a white light that illuminated the dark land.
Gideon held his hand above his eyes to block the rays. Sienna
shrunk back, blinded by the intensity.

Then it vanished, sucked into a vortex
in thin air. A heavy breeze whipped past them, almost knocking them
to their backs.

“What’s happening?” Gideon asked; the
shirt on his back blowing off and across the yard.

“I don’t know!” Hadaen never released
his grip on the Kankul soldier but held the man upward before him,
the wind slapping hard against them.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,”
Sienna shouted, clutching her jacket. “What should we—.”

The breeze stopped abruptly as if it
hadn’t even been occurring at all. Hadaen exchanged glances with
his brother and then yanked the soldier hard. “Ready to
talk?”

The man looked lost out of his mind.
Poor thing.

“What is that?”

Gideon turned to look at Sienna who
was pointed behind her.

“What?” Hadaen asked, turning swiftly
as well. His eyes widened as he noticed a bright dazzling blue
light emanating from his tent.

Amelia
.

Just as he was about to toss the
soldier to Gideon and then break into a run, the tent went flying
up in the air and a large ball of white light came crashing towards
them.

“Dodge it!” Hadaen yelled. And they
slid out of the way just in time as the ball missed them by a few
inches and colliding with the trees in the woods, taking them down
with a crash.

When they managed to get to their feet
again, they were greeted by Amelia.

Surrounded by beautiful blue light,
she was. Her eyes flooded with white light and a white haze around
her glow. Hadaen could not help but stare. She was…breathtaking.
But what did it mean?

“Amelia…” he muttered; his heart
softening as she turned to him.

“Well well well!” came a rough voice.
“It’s about damn time!”

All three of them, including the
soldier spun around to come face to face with the man who they had
been waiting for. The man who had murdered Hadaen’s father and
destroyed so many of his people, the devil who had taken Amelia’s
parents from her. The fiend who had kept the Marujan kingdom in
hiding.

Deorci
.

Tossing the soldier to Gideon, Hadaen
grasped Amelia by the arm and shoved her behind him.

“I see you’ve finally shown your
face,” he said.

A choking scent of death surrounded
the man as he stood casually, arms crossed and his long black
overcoat fluttering in the wind.

“Sorry, if I kept you
waiting,” the bastard had the audacity to say and then flashed a
nasty grin. “I had to get my suit specially made. I
do
love to arrive in
style.”

Hadaen clenched his teeth hard and
forced himself to maintain composure. “Well, you’re here now so
let’s do this!”

“Let’s kill this bastard.” Gideon
tossed the soldier aside and prepared to attack.

Deorci’s laugh echoed in
the night. “Two of you? And two
women
at that. Surely you could have
done better!”

“I know what you want.”

All eyes focused on Amelia. No one
even realizing as the soldier slowly slipped away.

“Stay back, Amelia,” Hadaen
warned.

Sienna glanced sideways at her. “Don’t
let him draw you out.”

Deorci laughed again. “Surely if the
woman wishes to speak, you must allow her.”

Gideon’s gaze bore through her as she
edged closer, standing next to Hadaen. “I know what you
want.”

Deorci’s heavy gaze swept her frame
and he groaned with approval. Hadaen seethed. “You do
look…ravishing. Perhaps, I will take you back with me for my own
personal benefits.”

“You will do no such thing, you
son-of-a-bitch!” Hadaen growled at him. “Lay a finger on her and I
will rip you to pieces, you hear me?”

Amelia glanced at her intended, her
eternal mate. Her lover. Tears clouded her vision as she pressed a
palm to his cheek. Haden grasped her hand, searching her thoughts
as best as he could. What was she doing?

“It’s for the best,” she whispered and
cast a look in Gideon’s direction. He bowed his head
sadly.

“What is going on?” he asked, knowing
he would not get an answer. He looked from Amelia to his brother,
to Sienna, and then back to Amelia. Something was wrong. He just
could not figure out what it was.

Then before he could draw in another
breath, Amelia sped away from him and towards the beast.

“No!” he yelled and ran after
her.

“What is she doing?” Sienna cried,
turning to Gideon. “He will kill her!”

Gideon kicked a rock at his feet and
growled. “I should have never gone along with this!”

At that time, Hadean was inches away
from grabbing Amelia back when Deorci’s hand came slapping him hard
in the chest. The impact…the pain….the agony sent him flying
backwards. Landing hard on his back, Haden groaned and wiped the
blood that oozed from his nose.

“Don’t hurt him!” Amelia cried. Tears
spilled over her cheeks and she glanced behind her as Deorci’s
steely grasp clutched around her wrist.

Gideon started to pull
Haden back to his feet but was only shrugged off during the
process. “Amelia, do not do this,” he said, wincing at the pain in
his chest. “Come back. You
cannot
leave me, goddammit!”

“I must. It’s the only way. You have
to trust me,” she pleaded, ignoring the smug look on Deorci’s face.
“I must make this sacrifice.”