Chapter 18
Gideon
Gideon Sage was a frequent daydreamer. Though most of them, of late, were wholly unrealistic visions of a golden-haired captain with a snub nose and rose-petal lips.
The nightmares Gideon had tended to be much more realistic by half…specifically the one he was currently living. Where his baby sister was stolen right before his eyes. And he didn’t save her.
“Lyssa!” Gideon bellowed. “Lyssa, where are you?” He rounded another corner of the manor’s tallest tower. The storm raged outside, thunder booming and wind howling.
And then another nightmare appeared.
Gideon stumbled back, nearly dropping the torch in his hand.
It was a nightmare; it had to be. Because there was no conceivable reason one of Gideon’s superiors from his time with the Valiant Guard could be standing before him. The man looked paler, gaunter. But still just as fucking mean.
“Gideon.” Captain Lucius sneered, in possession of a knife that looked frighteningly like the one he had used on the younger recruits when they complained of wounds or fatigue.
Not much had changed.
Gideon’s old captain swung for him, slicing the knife down his arm in a rough sweep.
On an inhale of pain, Gideon collected himself enough to move out of reach on the next swing, slamming Lucius hard into the wall.
The upper hand was his for only a moment more, though, until a new aggressor wrapped fingers around his neck, shoving him to the ground as another familiar face appeared above him.
Captain Damon. Or, more fondly to his recruits, Captain Demon.
Well, this was bloody fantastic. He was going to die.
Gods, would he leave this world without ever kissing Keeley again? Telling her how he truly felt?
Or worse—never figuring out where the fucking lemon scent came from?
No.
Because his thoughts seemed to summon her, and Keeley appeared like a beacon of golden light, launching at Captain Demon, slamming the horrid man into the wall. “Gideon! Get up!” Keeley yelled as the brute shoved her away. And then struck her hard in the face.
She fell.
And something feral awoke in Gideon Sage.
Seeing only Keeley as she lay crumpled on the ground, he grabbed Demon by the neck, hitting him until blood spurted from his nose, then kicking the knight in the chest so hard he stumbled, crashed through the stained glass window, and began falling toward the earth.
The rain blew in, soaking Gideon and Keeley, too, as she pushed to her feet, rubbing at the redness on her cheek for just a second before she launched back into the fray.
“Move!” Keeley yelled, and Gideon leaped aside, watching her drag Lucius—the man who sent most Valiant Guard recruits running for the barracks—by the patchy hair atop his head until he was cornered and held at her knifepoint.
She smiled at him in such a sinister manner, Gideon felt it all the way down below his belt.
So not the moment for that reaction, man.
By the time Gideon had collected himself, she’d already dispatched Captain Lucius, humbling Gideon with her precision, her skill. The way she looked when she dropped the body caused him to lose himself all over again.
Who knew villainy was such a turn-on?
Gideon looked for his own defuse button. “Well done, Captain. Perhaps a rest? I’d be happy to assist in getting the blood out of your hair.”
His quip went unanswered, though; he merely watched as her mien of strength melted and she slumped against the wall, head hanging. “We’re not done.”
“Certainly not,” Gideon replied, tentatively reaching out to rub her arms, trying to bring back some warmth to the coolness in her voice. “I’m afraid you and I won’t be done until one of us is dead.”
As she rubbed a hand against her chest, Keeley’s gaze appeared far away, a pain in the gold of her eyes. “Lyssa is safe. She’s with your sister.”
Gideon’s head fell back, bumping into the wall opposite her, but he barely felt it for the relief coursing in his veins. “There is bad news to follow, I presume?”
“Do you consider every prisoner in the dungeons below running loose in the manor bad?”
“Wait. Maverine had those two in his dungeons?” Gideon gaped. “Damn it.”
“You’re upset he imprisoned them?”
“I’m upset that I fear I like him a great deal now.” Gideon delivered this news somberly before breaking into a wide smile, hoping he might be rewarded with her eyebrow twitch.
But Keeley decided to shock him instead.
She took two long steps forward—and kissed him.
He froze beneath her lips, eyes flying wide, then drifting shut when the kiss turned more urgent, her lips moving against his with a surety he was certain he’d never have again.
When she pulled away, he couldn’t stop scanning her face, the shine of her eyes, the tilt of mischief at her lips.
This was far superior to an eyebrow twitch.
At the sounds of clashing steel coming from the end of the hallway, she turned toward the melee, wiping her weapon on the dead captain’s shirt. As Gideon called, “Keeley,” she ignored him.
Until her voice echoed down the hall, reverberating in his soul when she replied, “That was on purpose…for the record.”
Lightning struck hard against the earth again, and chaos rained down, along with the storm. But Gideon just grinned, touching a hand to his mouth, before running in the direction of the danger. Of death. Of her.