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"I couldn’t find it She says it’s buried in her heart"

"That’s impossible" He motioned Paenther to him with a quick tilt of his head "Hold her for aze snapped up to his, her eyes sharp and wary

He knehat she was thinking "The Shaman doesn’t have to use a knife to find your cantric, witch Cal behind her, he took hold of those slender shoulders, feeling a strength in her bones that he wouldn’t have expected Maybe she wasn’t quite as delicate as she looked

Hisappeal of those shoulders when they’d been bare a short while ago Would the skin taste as sweet as her kisses? He i one shoulder for his ht back his body’s obsession with this woman

The Shaman, only as tall as Skye, stood in front of her and ran his hands in front of her chest, an inch fro to rest directly over her heart The Sha a tune that played only in his head

"It’s in her heart, as she says You’ll not re her "How did she ever survive its placeine she was a child"

Paenther nodded, reht That bastard Mage had cut open an eight-year-old little girl to insert a copper ring in her heart He could have killed her

The Shaic has unpredictable consequences in children In this case, she apparently survived what an adult would not The heart grew around the cantric" He resu Two more circles around her and he moved out of the cell "She’s bound, but" He shook his head "I can’t guarantee she’s no longer dangerous Be careful, warrior"

Oh, she was dangerous, all right All he had to do was get near her, and he wanted her Hell, all he had to do was think of her

He took hold of her upper arm and steered her out of the cell

As he did, she looked up at him "I can’t hurt you I don’t have that kind of power And I wouldn’t hurt you if I could" Her words were as intense as her eyes, spinning a dangerous web around his ainst her

"Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Because it’s the truth"

And as the truth? Who was she? A dangerous eneh of both to throw hiuard and doom the Feral Warriors and their mission once and for all

With deep trepidation, Skye followed Paenther through the foyer fro interrogation

The painted wood floor was cool and smooth beneath her bare feet She barely re since she’d worn any Birik had never provided anything but the basics for her - dresses and a minimal amount of food In the days before Inir ca and still had friends, they’d tried to slip her treats - a doll, a small necklace, a pretty pair of panties - but Birik invariably discovered the gifts and destroyed thean to race A bead of perspiration slid between her breasts Even before they reached the roos of s of the anile cats and canines, along with a single bird of prey

Paenther ushered her into a large, wood-paneled rooe oval table and the e males With them was the woman she’d seen in the foyer Kara All eyes turned her way, a mix of curiosity and anireet her, then one by one began to growl and hiss,the hostility of theat Paenther with deep, heartfelt relief

A sharp-faced rasped Paenther’s arm with both of his

"Hawke," Paenther murmured

"You had us worried, buddy" He held Paenther’s forearot away"

"Me, too"

As Hawke stepped back, a second rabbed his arm

"Wulfe"

"Welco man with a shock of unkempt red hair Foxx He’d been with Paenther each time she’d seen hiripped the young man’s forearlad you’re okay, Cub But that’s the last tier ood for you after all"

"You could say that"

"Have a seat," Lyon barked

Paenther seated Skye on an empty chair at the near end of the table With her hands tied, she didn’t have the luxury of leaning back as the others did But she wouldn’t have been able to relax anyway Not in this roo hostile looks her way every fewat the head of the table at the far end, vibrated with tension He turned to the Shaman, who had followed them in "Is there any possibility that Paenther is still enthralled?"

"There’s always the possibility I feel no evidence of enthrallment, but he still wears the shackles I can’t say for certain what they’re doing to hi the to Paenther "What happened, BP? And what do we have to do to end this threat once and for all?"

As Paenther filled them in on the capture, Vhyper, and the Daelad for the opportunity to turn away from the unfriendly eyes in the room and drink her fill of the man at her side

Paenther commanded a power unrivaled by any man in the room, with the possible exception of the chief himself A power she felt every time he came near her A power that lit fires in her blood

As he talked, turning froain, his black hair swung about his shoulders, and the scars across his eye rippled and moved His was a face of incredible beauty and depth, exotic with its high, pronounced cheekbones, yet ruggedly, vibrantly handsohtened his voice as he spoke, yet the panther spirit inside hiht her ankles, as if wholly unaware that er was directed at her Paenther seemed to be the only one of the Ferals whose emotion toward her was not in tune with his animal’s

She felt as if she had a friend in the room Unfortunately, that panther spirit could never help her if the others - even the ainst her

"Witch," Lyon snapped, jerking her gaze to the other end of the table "What are Birik’s plans?"

Skye sat straighter, feeling all eyes turn on her "Birik doesn’t tell ift provides hi Paenther did, that Birik wants et it Even if he doesn’t get Paenther, he’ll find a way to use s" Sheinto her fists until her nails bit into the flesh of her palive le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>