Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

the clangs of metal on metal as Drew sparred with Gabe and Zach.
    "Listen," Quinn said, walking into the middle of the room, taking control back from Ian and Vaughn. "Ian, we've got some serious shit going on right now. I hear you about your woman, but we've got some major issues with these guys and an angel they're trying to kill." He jerked his chin at Lily, who was hunched over her computer and typing furiously. "Lily's working on that right now, and we need to allocate all our resources to this situation, including you."
    "No." Ian turned and strode toward the door, apparently leaving. "If I don't find Alice, none of this shit matters—"
    "Wait." Vaughn spoke up, not turning from the window. "I'm going with Ian."
    Ian whirled sharply around, and Gideon stiffened. "You're taking Drew on a hunt?" The kid was too volatile to take into battle, but Vaughn had always kept vigilant watch on the young Calydon, never entrusting him to anyone else.
    "No." Vaughn finally turned away from the courtyard, and there was grim resolution on his face. He looked right at Quinn. "I want your oath that you will take over Drew's training. That you will watch him carefully and monitor every thought in his mind. He's close to the edge, but I don't know what direction he's going in or what's causing it." Quinn was the Order member that Drew had chosen to trust originally, and it was only Quinn that Vaughn truly trusted.
    Quinn narrowed his eyes. "I'm not blood-bonded with Drew. I can't get in his head unless he lets me."
    "Then blood bond." Vaughn leveraged himself off the window sill, cutting off his own view of the kid. "Drew needs to be protected from himself." He walked over and stood beside Ian. "I have to take care of this situation with Ian, and I can't involve Drew." He ground his jaw, and Gideon felt the intense conflict in the man, his need to address whatever situation Ian had alerted him to warring with the need to protect the youth he considered his son.
    "We all have to do what's right for the greater good," Gideon told him. "It's what we do. Take care of your situation. It's what you need to do."
    "I'm not Order," Vaughn snapped. "I don't sacrifice one innocent to save millions. Those aren't my values. I don't give a shit about the greater good. That's not what this is about." He jerked his chin at Quinn. "You in or what?"
    Quinn nodded. "I'll go get Drew now. He'll help us with Jacob."
    Vaughn gave Quinn the briefest flash of a smile, then he turned toward Ian. "Ready?"
    Ian slammed his fist into his hand and grinned. "Fuck, yeah." He jerked his chin at Gideon. "We good?"
    Gideon glanced at Lily, and she looked up immediately, as if she'd sensed his perusal. She gave him a warm smile that went straight to his gut, and Gideon knew there was no decision to be made. For reasons more complex than Ian was sharing, he needed to find his woman, and they'd all just have to deal with the consequences. If Ian went rogue, they'd do what they needed to do and kill his sheva again. But hell, Gideon hoped it didn't come to that. "Yeah, do your thing, Ian."
    "Good luck, Fitz," Quinn said. "Keep in touch and let us know what you need."
    Ian grinned, his eyes blazing with a life that Gideon hadn't seen in him for eight months. "You bet." He slammed his hand on Vaughn's shoulder. "Let's go."
    The two warriors sprinted out of the room, their boots pounding down the hall as they hauled ass out of the mansion, brought together by a shared urgency and two different missions.
    Quinn looked at Gideon, a grim expression on his face. "If this goes wrong, we're going to lose Ian for good. He can't handle losing his sheva again."
    Gideon ground his jaw. "I know." He walked over to the window and looked out. Drew was circling Gabe while Zach watched. The youth had put on twenty pounds of muscle in the last two weeks, amassing strength at a rate far faster than he should have, given how recently he'd come into his powers. He moved with a grace and aggression that was already lethal, and the expression on his face as he stalked Gabe was deadly and emotionless. Gideon felt a ripple of foreboding.
    Quinn walked up beside him, and the two blood-bonded warriors studied the scene on the grass. "What the hell's going on, Gideon?" Quinn said quietly. "We have a woman who is apparently coming back from the dead repeatedly, a young warrior who is stronger and more violent than he should be, clawed rogue Calydons who can teleport, and an angel who's being