Darkness Arisen Read Free Page B

branch breaking her fall. She bounced off it, and for a moment, his heart stopped. Then she grabbed it, locking her arms and legs around it, using his mace to resist the pull of the chasm.
    Her hair was still streaming toward the bottom of the chasm, and the mace was bending downward, barely able to resist the force that was pulling them. Ian had a second, maybe two, to make it happen. He put on a burst of speed, swimming as hard as he could toward Alice, keeping his gaze fixed on his mace. Calculating how long he had until it was torn out of the wall.
    Now! A split second before it ripped out, he threw his second mace. It hit right below Alice, and as the first mace tore away from the wall, she landed on the one he'd just thrown. She clung to it, her entire body wrapped around it as she fought against the sheer strength trying to suck her down. Black clouds swirled around her, demons waiting until she broke, so they could take her soul.
    This time she's mine, Ian growled as he called back the mace that was free-falling into the chasm. It slammed into his hand just as he reached Alice. He smashed it into the wall, anchoring himself, then grabbed Alice, wrapping his arm around her waist just as his other mace was torn out from under her. She threw herself around him, her lean limbs wrapping around his neck and waist, her face buried against his chest. Her naked body plastered against him.
    Jesus . For a split second, he couldn't move. He was overwhelmed by the shock of feeling her body against his. The heat from her body penetrated his clothes, and her skin was soft and vulnerable beneath his arm. The strength of her hold on him was riveting. It felt so right the way she was holding onto him. This was it. This was what he'd been pursuing for so long. Alice. In his arms—
    She slipped slightly in his grasp, the movement jerking him back to the present and the force of the current still pulling on her. Shit. What the hell was wrong with him? He was a warrior, and this was battle, not time for a little nookie.
    Ian immediately called back his still-falling mace. He sheathed it into his arm, beneath the brand that matched it. One arm was still locked around Alice, and his other hand was gripping the handle of the mace he'd jammed so deeply into the wall of the cliff, anchoring them against the forces trying to pull Alice downward.
    He quickly took stock of his surroundings, assessing his best exit. With one arm wrapped around Alice, he could use only one weapon to get them out. The pull on her was extreme, and he could feel it working on him as well. Above him loomed a hundred-foot cliff that he'd have to climb before he'd reach the top of the chasm, let alone get back to the surface.
    Shit. These were not optimal circumstances, even for him.
    His Order of the Blade training would demand he choose his own life over hers if the choice had to be made, in order to fulfill his oath to trade the life of an innocent when necessary to save the greater good. The Order deemed all its members as critical for the protection of the greater good, so everything had to be sacrificed to keep the individual Order members alive. He was honor-bound to save himself instead of her, but the male within him disagreed big time. No chance would he let his woman die while he swam for freedom like some pansy-assed wuss who couldn't take care of his mate.
    He had to make a move, and fast. His lungs were tight from holding his breath for so long, but he knew he still had time before he needed to surface. But Alice? He suddenly realized he didn't know what kind of powers she had. How bound was she by ordinary human-type limitations? Alice. Do you need to breathe?
    She didn't lift her head, and he realized she hadn't heard him.
    Shit. She'd shut him out. Once they got out of this mess, he was going to have to make it clear that jamming their mental connection was not a good plan when they were fighting for their lives. And how in the hell was his soul mate