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Goddess, I’ her in here

"Ariana!" His voice barely carried in the wind’s tunnel-like roar Ahead, he could see nothing butcurves But Ariana was up there She had to be

Kougar began to swi hi he wasn’t sih what difference did it make? Unless he could reach Ariana, none at all

Over and over, he swa with adrenaline, hisFinally, as he turned a corner, the dark light flashed, and he saw her She was still spinning slowly, bonelessly, her dark hair floating out around her

Unconscious

"Ariana!" Kougar gave a hard pull with his arhtless eyes stared at hi her as she floated headfirst toward the trap

Another push forward, and he was able to grab hold of her leg With a h of relief, he pulled her into his ar too fast, the force of hishard the other way, Kougar tried to slow theht not be able to see the spirit trap yet, but he kneas there, waiting to send them to their deaths

When he’d done all he could to slow their forwardher ice-cold face, his chest seizing with his need to save her

"Wake up, Ariana Wake up, my love" When she didn’t stir, he lifted her face to his and kissed her, sliding his tongue along the crease of her unresponsive lips Sweet, sweet lips that no longer possessed even the slightest tang of darkness She was finally free of the poison that had consuht never have the chance to enjoy that freedo, malevolent darkness no more than a dozen yards away

The spirit trap

His heart stopped, then thundered like a herd of horses At the rate they were traveling, they had mere minutes before they reached it Before it was over

"Goddess, Ariana"

He felt a light pulsing in the an to growl and hiss, urging hi A picture flashed in hisat it as if trying to get in As if he wanted hi bond was already open, like an untwisted straw That was the reason the poison had been able to reach hi of hi between them, heart to heart, at either end was a cap Or perhaps a fineeach of them a measure of privacy It was that that the damned animal wanted him to do aith He wanted hi bond was open enough He already felt Ariana’s strongest eh from tirowled

Inside, he began to quake as he remembered Ariana’s accusation, that he’d never opened hi about theabout thehi back Nothing

The thought of it made his hackles rise He didn’t share himself like that with anyone

And what if I do? What if let her in, fully?

He waited for that sick feeling to punch hihtness at the thought of pulling her inside hio

It hat he wanted

Goddess, that’s what I have to do I have to open that bond Then, maybe I can reach her

But how?

The answer, he knew, lay inside In his heart and the ainst hi her head on his shoulder and thought about how much he loved her, how much he’d always loved her Howhappened

Fuck Hoas he supposed to open the thing?

Dark lights flashed around hi blackness of the trap

They were nearly there

His pulse thudded in his ears

He had to find a way to open his heart! He i the end off the bond,at it to reach Ariana Inside, he felt the bond throbbing, felt his heart cracking Just a little Not enough!

I’s, and he could battle anything, but this was beyond him

Goddess

If only Ariana could help him She’d knohat to do, he felt certain Ariana Desperation to save her pounded in his , swelling until it threatened to break his ribs For a ht it had, as he felt the walls of his chest crack No, not his chest

His heart burst open, thehis ht be bright enough to low

Love flowed into hi Ariana’s love

The listened and sparkled like a crystal rainbow, casting away all the dark shadows inside hi it seep into his cells and his bones, blending with the overwhel love he felt for her, then he poured it back into the bond, into her

"Ariana, coht flashed behind the but the black void of the trap

"Ariana!"

Kougar? Her voice sounded thin and distant in his head, but his pulse quickened with hope