Authors: Annette McCleave

Surrender to Darkness (22 page)

BOOK: Surrender to Darkness

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Murdoch beat his inner beast back with gritted teeth. He couldn’t let go. Not here. Even though the demons had widened the mouth, the space available for battle was severely limited. If he let his berserker free, he wouldn’t be able to guarantee Sora’s or Yoshio’s survival.

Suddenly the air around him whooshed, and he felt the feathery touch of numerous wings graze his cheeks. Bats? If so, even his extraordinary Soul Gatherer vision couldn’t spot them. Ghost bats, perhaps.

Under the repeated pounding of a demon club, Yoshio’s shield finally crumpled. The club arced toward him yet again, and he dove left. But the uneven floor proved his undoing—before he could launch himself into the air, he lost his footing and stumbled. Fanciful thoughts of invisible bats fell victim to harsh reality, and Murdoch surged through the tunnel to the young warrior’s defense.

“Poison skin,” Kiyoko gasped at him as he passed.

Trying not to notice how utterly spent she appeared, Murdoch shored up the front of his shield with a Romany ward. Combined with his berserker’s natural repel charm, it should be enough to keep him safe. He loosed the bonds on the ancient beast inside him just enough to take advantage of its strength, then entered the battle with a blistering swing of Bloodseeker.

The mighty sword skimmed the top of Yoshio’s shield and sliced through the bubble of protection around the demon, driving unswervingly into the bulging biceps of its arm. The creature roared with rage, displaying an impressive set of saliva-dripping fangs, and redirected its hell-forged weapon at Murdoch. But the arm no longer functioned properly. After a wobbly, ineffectual attempt, it dropped the club to its side. Yoshio moved in for the kill.

The third demon lowered its head and charged into the tunnel like a bull. Murdoch ducked around Yoshio, braced his legs for impact, and met the charge full on. His feet slid back a good ten feet before they both ground to a halt.

Then the battle began in earnest.

The demon’s strength was impressive. No match for a fully loosed berserker, but a significant challenge for Murdoch in his half-roused state. The pith demons he’d faced outside the house had more in common with pesky gnats than they did with this fellow. The creature slammed him into the rock wall with an easy sweep of its arm, cracking his skull. Damned thing was faster than it looked.

Still, a demon was a demon.

And as such, it belonged in hell.

Murdoch ignored the lump forming on the back of his head, and ducked to avoid a follow-up swing. Best to stay away from those claws. They might well be able to pierce his shield if the demon got a good hold.

“Land true, land hard, land quick,” he murmured to Bloodseeker, which now hummed eagerly with the additional potency of a demon blood enhancement spell. Then he gave his berserker an inch more leash and attacked in a flurry of precise thrusts and slices. He became a killing machine. His attack fell into the easy rhythm of a battle-seasoned warrior, his blade struck fast and hard, and victory was his within minutes.

Not entirely due to his talent.

Again, he benefited from decidedly odd behavior on the part of the demon. Wild swings that seemed not to be aimed at him at all. Loss of focus. Strange snarls at the air around its head. Almost as if those invisible bats were pecking at it.

His sword pierced the creature’s thick hide with uninhibited enthusiasm.

As the demon shuddered at the end of his blade and slipped to the ground, Murdoch took a deep breath to calm his berserker. He pulled his sword free of the carcass and spun around. To his immense relief, Yoshio had already defeated his wounded demon and had gone to the aid of Sora. Both men smiled triumphantly as the third and last demon crashed to the rock floor, a patchwork of cuts decorating its skin.

Out of the corner of his eye, Murdoch saw Kiyoko slump to the floor.

Watanabe reached her first, dropping to his knees at her side and cradling her head in his lap. He brushed her hair back and stared at her wan face with obvious concern. “We need the doctor.”

Murdoch had trouble breathing.

Kiyoko was injured.

The sight of Watanabe’s arms wrapped around her tore several of the mental restraints he had on his berserker, which was already dangerously close to the surface.
Christ
. The man’s hand was caressing her cheek. Murdoch jammed his eyes shut, struggling to maintain control and avoid ripping Watanabe’s head off.

“Did the doctor survive?” Sora asked.

“Aye,” answered Murdoch. The one-word response was all he could manage.

“Then let us get Kiyoko-san to the compound as quickly as possible. I assume we can return through the tunnel, Mr. Murdoch?”

“Aye.”

“Will you lead the way?”

Murdoch opened his eyes. Watanabe now stood with Kiyoko in his arms, apparently prepared to carry her all the way. He carefully averted his gaze. Puny little Watanabe would be forced to hand her off to Yoshio at some point, guaranteed. He’d love to be there to witness the man’s failure, but … One trip through that blasted tunnel was quite enough.

“No, I’ll go overland and meet you at the other end.”

Sora skewed him a knowing glance. “It’s quite a climb up the cliff face.”

“I’ve no problem with heights.” Which was true. A childhood spent scrambling through the Highlands, leaping from crag to crag in pursuit of hare and deer, had given him an excellent tolerance for high places. It was only the caves he’d had trouble with.

“We’ll see you at the compound, then.”

The little party headed back through the tunnel, led by Yoshio.

As they disappeared from view, Murdoch tried not to worry. She was strong. Her breaths were shallow, but even. And she had Sora with her. She’d be fine.

Ah, hell, maybe he’d better run.

Kiyoko woke up in the infirmary, lying on a very firm, very thin cot. The stark overhead lighting gave her location away. That and the pungent smell of antiseptic.

She tried to sit up.

“Don’t even think about it, lass,” came a dry voice from the corner of the small room. “You’re to stay there until the doctor gives you permission to move.”

Kiyoko fell back against the pillow and tilted her head so she could see Murdoch. There were no chairs in the room, and he leaned against the wall looking uncomfortable but resolute.

“How bad is it?” she asked, bracing for devastating news.

“The house is gone, and you lost a young warrior.”

“One?”

He nodded. “Just one.”

Kiyoko felt a huge weight lift from her chest. Until she recalled her discovery in the tunnel. “Plus Umiko-san.”

“Sorry,” Murdoch said with a snort. “You weren’t that lucky.”

“What? Are you saying Umiko-san is alive?”

“Aye, the dragon lady survived,” he confirmed.

“How?”

“I found her on the ledge outside the tunnel, clinging to a chunk of rock with more strength than I thought her capable of,” he said. “She wouldn’t let go until I pried her bloody fingers loose. Considering she had a broken arm and a dislocated jaw, it was an impressive feat.”

“Umiko-san is alive.” She couldn’t hold back a smile.

He responded with one of his lopsided grins, and her heart beat a little faster. “And still giving me hell.”

“For what?”

“Pretty much everything,” he said. “Your injuries, the demon attack, the loss of the house.”

Kiyoko bit her lip to keep from laughing. It sounded so much like Umiko. She could almost picture the little woman shaking her fist at Murdoch. “She has a point. You
did
break my ribs.”

He pulled away from the wall, his eyes dark with regret. “About that …”

“Oh, stop it. I deserved everything I got. I wanted the berserker to surface, and it did.” She sighed. “Besides, it wasn’t as if you meant to hurt me.”

He was silent for a long moment, staring at the floor.

“The kiss was worth it,” she said softly.

His gaze met hers. Dark and steamy. “It was a good kiss,” he acknowledged.

Kiyoko lowered her gaze to the white cotton bedclothes. Murdoch must have kissed many women in his lengthy existence. Women far more alluring than she. The moment in the courtyard likely would not make his list of top one hundred kisses.

“Then you shouldn’t regret it,” she grumbled.

“I said a good kiss, not a smart kiss,” he said, advancing to the bed. He dropped to the cot with a jingle of silver buckles. “I’ve done a number of things I’m not proud of and kissing you in the courtyard is one of them.”

“Technically,
I
kissed
you
.”

He pinned her gaze. “Technically, I almost killed you.”

“Not with the kiss.”

He snorted. “That’s a debatable point.”

Kiyoko felt her first twinge of annoyance. The man behaved as if he was the center of the universe. “Why must you insist on taking all the blame? You know I taunted you, you know I kissed you, and you must know I had ample opportunity to skewer you had I wanted to.”

“Why didn’t you?”

She glared at him. “Because I didn’t
want
to. Truly, why would I stab you? I like you.”

“For the same reason you stabbed Takeo. Because you had no choice. Because sometimes, hurting someone you like is the right thing to do.”

Kiyoko smoothed the wrinkles in her sheets. “Had I run you through as you suggest, you wouldn’t have been at full strength when the demons attacked. We might all be dead.”

“Or you and Sora, without your berserker-inflicted injuries, might have saved the day,” he responded.

She sighed. “Why are we debating this? We cannot go back and change what happened. We survived a very difficult day with minimal losses. I find myself more grateful than upset.”

“You’re right. We can’t change the past.” He raked a hand through his hair. The strands knotted, then separated under his assault. “But we can sure as hell change the future.”

Kiyoko wanted to touch his hair again. The brief moment during the kiss when she’d buried her fingers in those springy waves had not been nearly long enough. “What do you mean?”

He sliced her a rueful look. “Up until yesterday, I was planning to grab the Veil and run.”

She frowned. “You don’t know where it is.”

“That’s not exactly true. I know you keep it on your body. I also know it’s not in your locket or your bracelet.”

She glanced at her bare wrist. “You took them?”

“While you were sleeping,” he admitted

Her heart skipped a beat. “What else did you do while I was
sleeping
?”

“Nothing. The plan has changed anyway. You need the Veil to survive.”

Her jaw dropped. “How do you know that?”

“Sora-san told me.”

“He had no right—”

“Bollocks,” Murdoch interrupted. “He had every right. When I first arrived, he knew my goal was to take the Veil, and he had good reason for staying silent. But now? Whatever I did to you in the courtyard yesterday has stolen what little hope you have. Why in bloody hell
wouldn’t
he tell me?”

“Because you are not responsible,” she answered quietly. “Not for the initial damage, not for your need to take the Veil, not even for what happened to me in the courtyard. Any mistakes were mine, not yours.”

“Lass, did you crush yourself?”

“No, but—”

He held up a hand to silence her. “Then let’s agree to share the burden, shall we? You baited the bear, and I crushed the life out of you. We’ll call it even.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It never is,” he said with a sigh.

He shifted, raising one knee onto the bed to face her squarely. He clearly had something to say, but Kiyoko wasn’t listening. The firm heat of his thigh seeped through the sheets to her leg, bringing to mind the numerous heated dreams she’d had about the man. None of which came close to matching the sweet shiver of the real kiss.

Kiyoko sat up, her gaze locked on Murdoch’s face.

An odd eagerness raced through her veins. Hot, tense, and full of promise. Another kiss would be exquisite. Risky, yes, but the press of his lips on hers had sent ripples clear to her toes and made every nerve in her body sing—to a tune only he could hear. She wanted another taste.

Now.

His eyes darkened as they continued to stare at each other. He was thinking the same thought, she’d bet her father’s katana on it.

He leaned toward her. “Kiyoko …”

“Needs rest, Mr. Murdoch,” Sora said firmly from the doorway.

Murdoch abruptly sat back. “Aye, she does.”

BOOK: Surrender to Darkness

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