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"More, I think It was Birik threatening me if I didn’t come back"
"He can reach you over this distance?"
"I don’t know" She pressed her shaking hand to her dahtreen tunic I haven’t seen him in for years And he was taller Much taller"
"Or you were shtirl?"
"Yes I think that’s what he did"
"Will you tell lanced at hiaze "I was being stoned He said the nightet worse if I don’t come back, until I can’t tell drearowled low in his throat "That Mage is going to die" His fingers caressed her shoulder "No one’s going to hurt you again I won’t allow it"
His touch was firm and war hell Birik would make her life if she didn’t return to hio back there, not when she knew the use he would make of her power
Like a wraith, she floated between one world and the other, unable to live in either without misery If she stayed away from Birik, her misery would be of the mind and flesh If she went back and helped hiuish would be to her soul
And neither choice gave her the only thing she wanted in life The only one
Paenther
Chapter Seventeen
Hours later, they reached the small town of Corolla on the Outer Banks of North Carolina The sun was setting, the sky a brilliant pink and orange silhouetting the row of beach houses on their high stilts The tourists had yet to begin their annual ration to the beaches and the houses stood dark and erasses of this narroept barrier island
Lyon had called a short while ago to tell hie who’d called hih his shackles It was possible Birik’s control over hied hilanced at Skye, atched out her , her fingers laced with his He still held her hand For reasons he wasn’t entirely sure of, touching her calmed him Grounded him And seemed to do the sa her hand, he handed her the map printout he’d pulled from the computer before he left An aerial map upon which the Shaman had drawn a star in what appeared to be an empty lot a block from the beach "This one’s up to you If the Shaht, I won’t be able to see it"
He drove down the road, per the Shaman’s directions
Skye pointed "There"
All he saas a plot of sand between two large, dark beach houses set high on stilts "I’ll take your word for it" He parked the car at the edge of the road and cli his gaze, a worried look in her eyes "The Shaman told me to call the animals, but the last time I did that, I forced the Ferals to shift, and they couldn’t shift back right away What if it does soers through her hair "Don’t call so hard this time"
A small smile lifted her mouth "Okay"
As she closed her eyes, it was all he could do not to lean forward and kiss her But her h Better to let her do this on her own
Within a few minutes, three feral cats and two red foxes ran up to her As she knelt and greeted each one with a stroke of her hand and a soft word, doves and crows and a dozen seagulls gathered around her, several landing on her shoulders and head She only smiled and reached up to stroke them, too
A bemused smile on her face, she stood and looked at hiate in a fence he couldn’t see
As Paenther followed her through the sea oats, a man suddenly appeared a dozen yards in front of them, fury on his face Old, the Shaman had said, but like all immortals, he appeared to be noHe was dressed much as humans must have been in the early days of civilization, in a simple brown belted robe that fell to his ankles Worn sandals covered the soles of his feet His brown hair was long and stringy, a short beard covering his jaw and upper lip
Paenther snagged Skye around the waist and pulled her behind hie derowled low in his throat "The Shaman told us where to find you, Ezekiel"
"Little Therian bastard" With a dise turned away
"Skye’s an enchantress and needs souidance"
Ezekiel paused, then turned back slowly, eyeing the creatures on her shoulders and at her feet Then his gaze rose and widened, looking beyond them "Well, I’ll be"
At the sound of a lohinny, Paenther turned and stared at the two horses Skye’s face lit As she went to thes?"
"Aye Only a powerful enchantress could call the their sleek brown necks Mustangs ran wild on the island, the descendants of horses brought ashore by Spanish explorers around the time he himself was born
Skye sent the horses away and came back to join hi even as her hand slid into his "Since I was a child, the archsorcerer, Birik, has usedto open the Daerunted "There’s nothing I can do" But he didn’t turn away this tiers squeezed his hand "The Ferals will stop hie attacks, this warrior is in danger of losing his aniht be able to help hiies I need you to teach me"
"And what is it to me?"
She released Paenther’s hand and started to step forward, but he barred her ith his arht hie instead
He grunted "Stealing souls"
"Yes"
"He hasn’t stolento because no one knows I’rumble
"The Shaman said there’s no darkness in your heart," Skye said softly "I can see that in your eyes It’s been a long tie eyes with a soul"
Ezekiel frowned, peering at her "Why are you with a Feral?"
"He rescued hold who hadn’t been turned"
"Birik will be after you, then"
"He’s after both of us He used us to free three wraith Daee ible under his breath as he turned away Suddenly, the run-down lot disappeared In its place stood a shbors Unlike the other holy acknowledging the nearby ocean Quaint, with two dor to a sly well maintained