Bonded by April Zyon Page B

his real training
would begin.
     

Chapter One
     
    The years had been long and hard
for Mercury. He’d fought as the goddess had asked him to fight. He had gained
more warriors for the cause, but he had watched many a good man and woman fall.
Give in to the seductive lure of darkness. It was unacceptable to him, the way
that these men—whom he had handpicked—turned to the darkness so easily.
    There had to be a way around it.
There had to be a way to save them.
    “There is.” A soft voice spoke
from the shadows, answering his thought. “You have done so well, Mercury. You
have done so very well, my knight.”
    Bowing his head, he whispered,
“I’ve tried, but I feel like I’m failing more than helping. I’ve recruited men,
brought them over and given them the power that is held inside of the
medallions. Yet they keep turning to the darkness and that makes even more
trouble for me.” He sighed. “Because then they take our secrets to the evil
ones. Well, when I can’t find and stop them beforehand.” He hated that part.
Killing the men he had given extra life to. Killing the men who had become like
brothers to him.
    “That is why I am here now. I am
unable to take corporeal form at this time because my energies are being used
elsewhere, but what I can tell you is this—for each medallion, there is a
second half. There is a being that is perfect for the warrior. It is time for
those women to be found for the men. It is time to remind them what they fight
for.”
    “And how are we supposed to do
that? It’s not like there’s a dating service for us,” he snapped.
    Her laughter flowed around him.
“No, there isn’t a dating service for you. However…” She took a long sigh. For
a moment, he thought she had disappeared, but then she spoke again, softer,
weaker. “These women are all unique. They are all amazing. And they will each
bring their own set of skills to the table. They will help you in dealing with
those that have been created by the darkness.”
    He could hear her smile before
she added, “And they will bring new life to the warriors who thought they would
never have what is so essential—family. Which is exactly what we are fighting
for. Why we have to ensure that the darkness is beaten back.
    “Find the women with special
talents, women who hide because they know, should they be caught, that they
would be used for experiments. Use your contacts, Mercury—the men and women who
are very high in the political and military worlds—to hear the whispers of
these women.”
    “As you say.” Mercury was
already thinking of what he would have to do, how he could possibly go about
trying to find these women. “Goddess,” he called softly. “Will I see you
again?”
    “Yes, dearest Mercury, you will.
One day there will be a woman who walks into your life who makes you think of
me. Then you will know that my daughter has been born and has come to you. When
she does, protect her, because when she finds you, it is because the darkness
has slain me.”
    “Goddess?”
    “I am able to be killed, my old
friend. They will look for her next because she will inherit all that I am, all
that I was, and all that I will ever be. Protect her, because she will be
yours. That is all I can say.” In fact, it was more than she had ever told him
before.
    “Until another time, Mercury.
Begin your search for the women. Find them. Protect them. And know that your
men will understand instinctively how to bond with them. Trust that these women
will mean more to them than anything, and never, ever get between a warrior and
his bride. It will not end well for anyone.” She whispered those words. Then he
felt her leaving. It was as if a vacuum had opened and sucked out the air for a
moment.
    “Fuck,” he muttered. Running his
hands through his military-short hair, he turned his face up to the ceiling and
sighed. He felt a rush of information via the medallion that was embedded in
his heart. Rubbing at his chest,