Chapter Fifteen
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ARKAS WAS STILL IN a slight daze as he headed back to the fray.
The stupid humans were still shooting into the trees, unaware that he’d left the battle.
Sparing a glance at the man he’d beheaded, he grimaced at the sight of the bleeding neck sticking out of the trunk.
He’d never seen a tree eat someone’s head before.
It was nice to discover he hadn’t seen everything even after his billions of years of existence.
The inexplicable pain in his lower back began to ebb.
Relief that the stunning female wasn’t going to bleed to death replaced his concern.
Like him, she had rapid healing abilities.
Rage like he’d never felt before had suffused him when he’d realized he wasn’t the one who’d been injured.
He hadn’t even met the tiny woman he was somehow connected to, but he’d leaped to her defense anyway.
She’d already taken care of the threat by the time he’d reached her, but he’d made sure the human wouldn’t be able to harm her again.
Seeing the stunning face he’d whittled out of oak belonged to an actual person had shocked him.
She was even more beautiful in real life.
Fate had heard his wish and had granted it.
There could be no doubt that she was behind this.
“None of this makes any sense,” he said.
He’d noticed the statue that was a replica of him was no longer in the clearing.
The delicately beautiful female had moved it to a safer location.
He’d been very wrong when he’d thought the artist was a man.
The humans seemed to think Oakley Woods was a witch.
The knight had a lot of questions, but they would have to wait.
Four of the men were dead, but six still remained.
He didn’t want to draw this out, so he sprinted over to the closest human.
His sword reappeared in his hand and he thrust it through the man’s back, killing him instantly.
Screams of terror came from the others when they saw the warrior’s grimly vengeful expression.
Two of them wisely fled, but he intercepted them before they could get far.
It was tempting to torture them at least a little bit, but that was beneath a Knight of Order.
Amaros would be disappointed in him if he knew he’d deliberately stepped over the line.
One by one, Arkas skewered the fiends who’d dared to attempt to kill his female. She still didn’t show up on his radar, but he’d felt a connection to her as soon as he’d locked eyes on her. She was the presence he could sense in the back of his mind. He’d figured out that much.
“Now it’s time to find out exactly who and what Oaklie Woods is,” the warrior said when the last man fell. It was doubtful more townsfolk would attempt to infiltrate her property today. The bodies strewn all around the place would act as a warning and a deterrent.
His sword disappeared back to the ether and he raced back to the log fence. The female was gone when he arrived. “Oaklie Woods!” he shouted, knowing she could hear him. “Let me in, or I’ll tear this fence apart with my bare hands!”
“There’s no need to shout,” she said as several logs magically swung open to allow him entry.
“Who the hell are you?” she asked. It was good to see she was on her feet again.
Dressed in a baggy black jacket and matching pants, he couldn’t tell what her figure was like.
Yet he knew every single detail at the same time.
He knew exactly what she looked like when she was naked, just like she knew what he looked like when he was unclothed.
“That’s the same question I intended to ask you,” he said, entering the huge yard. A bare vegetable patch was to one side, with the lightly smoldering ashes of dead vegetation nearby. He glanced at the statue she’d put just inside the yard. “I’m Arkas, a Knight of Order,” he said in introduction.
“You already know my name,” she said, blushing when she cut a look at his wooden likeness. “I know you’re not human, so what are you?”
“We should talk inside,” he suggested, peering up at the clouds. “It’s going to rain soon,” he added, then hiked his thumb at the six-foot three sculpture. “Where do you want me to put that?” he asked.
“It can go in the barn for now,” Oaklie said in a flustered tone.
She waited for him to pick it up, then led the way to the large structure across the yard.
The corpses of animals were still in their pens, what was left of them.
“Put it there,” she requested, pointing at a random spot near the wide entrance.
Arkas carefully put the statue down where it would be out of the weather. “After you,” he said, gesturing towards the house.
She kept glancing back at him as she crossed the yard to the building. Putting her hand on the door, she didn’t use a key to open it. The wood obeyed her mental command and swung open long enough to allow them to enter. She closed it behind him and the wood fused together again.
“Am I trapped in this house now?” he asked her in a teasing tone.
“Yeah,” she replied, narrowing her eyes. “You’re at my mercy, Knight of Order. Sit down and answer my questions honestly and I might let you leave here alive.”
Arkas laughed at her audacity and bravery.
He was twice her size in sheer bulk, but she wasn’t the least bit afraid of him.
“As you command, female,” he said with a grin.
He sauntered over to the long golden leather couch and sank down onto it.
“That stag is mine, now, by the way,” he said, pointing at the carving that sat on a pedestal.
“You owe me for saving you from that mob.”
“I didn’t need your help,” Oaklie said with a sneer, taking a seat on an armchair that was too large for her small frame. Her black hair was tied up in a bun, but he knew it would fall to her waist. “I’ve been taking care of myself just fine ever since the Rapture,” she said fiercely.
“So I saw,” he agreed, remembering the bodies that were strung up in the trees. “Tell me something, Oaklie,” he said. “How is it that I felt your pain when you were stabbed in the back?”
Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Why don’t you tell me?” she retorted. “While you’re at it, how did I sculpt you even before I knew you existed?”
“Probably for the same reason why I whittled your likeness,” he said wryly. He saw her surprise and nodded. “I carved a female who looks exactly like you.”
She shook her head in bafflement. “We both have supernatural strength, speed and hearing,” she said. “I can manipulate wood with magic and you can call a sword out of thin air. What are our origins? Where do we come from?”
“It’s a long story about how and why the Knights of Order were created,” Arkas replied. “First, I’d like you to explain why I can’t sense you. We seem to have some kind of connection, but you don’t show up on my internal radar like my brothers, our enemies and humans do.”
“I learned to shield my power a long time ago to hide that I’m different from everyone else,” Oaklie said. “I’ll drop my shield and maybe you’ll be able to sense me.”
Arkas smiled in anticipation. It curdled the moment she lowered her protection and he finally sensed exactly what she was.
On his feet in an instant, his sword returned at his call.
He moved so fast that she didn’t get a chance to try to flee.
Eyes almost as dark as his commander’s widened in shock when the tip of his sword touched her throat.
“You’re a cambion,” he snarled in realization that she was the spawn of one of his enemies.