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She jerked free of Paenther’s hold and spun to face hiht you," he growled, his own face ahand went to her forehead "I thought they were" She whispered some of the syllables
"No Those are the words I heard in the cavern"
Violent quakes tore through her body and she covered her face with her hands This was the very thing she’d feared! That she’d hurt them That Birik and his darkness had stained her soul
"Shh" Paenther’s strong ar her too tight, his body strung taut with pain Soft in her ear he said the words he’d heard as an to whisper the words with him, over and over, louder as she pulled out of his hold and turned The Ferals straightened, their faces slowly clearing of the terrible discoin to rise Praise the Mother But as she spun, the pain attacked her instead, a sudden searing wound through her chest as if soer She clutched her chest, forcing her feet to keepasping, dizzy with pain
Paenther gripped her shoulders, holding her upright "What’s the "
"My chest" And suddenly she understood "The cantric It won’t let asped "Damn him Damn him!" She looked up "Helpto hurt you"
"Say it!"
His jaw tightened, but he said the words with her, helping her dance when she could barely stand upright, when her vision threatened to fail When she could hardly speak
She felt his panther fighting to get back to hi, the worse her own pain becah, Beauty"
"No! It’s not" His panther growled, deh, Skye I feel better Stronger It’s enough"
The panther inside hih! He’s trying to reach you I can help hiainst hi you I’m okay"
"Paenther" Slowly, the pain in her chest ebbed to a throbbing ache "I need to heal you"
"Look at his eye," Tighe said
"Your Feral ain"
Skye pulled back and looked up into Paenther’s face The scars across his eyes were indeed back She released him and stepped back as he shed his pants then, with a flash of sparkling lights, shifted into the panther A moment later, he returned to hu with quiet satisfaction "Thank you, Skye"
She nodded, but deep inside Paenther, his ani her to continue
She’d helped hih
"It’s not working!" Paenther growled, hours later The rage inside hi
He and Skye were back in the Blue Ridge, standing behind the Market with Tighe, Delaney, Hawke, and Wulfe It was nearly dusk, the gray sky growing dark Vhyper, Jag, and Foxx only had a handful of hours left But try as they
He’d found the Market as he’d known he could, but getting up theimpossible Three times Skye had tried to lead them and each time, just past the place where he’d s had started to fall apart They started beco over the warding, only to wind up spiraling to the ground, breaking his wing
The last tione alone, but it was no use Unless she could carry hi to get them into that cavern Unlike soe the size of his anie, full-sized panther Period
Tighe, Delaney, and Hawke sat on the reainst the brick wall of the Market while Skye sat beneath the trees on the hill, surrounded by the creatures of the forest
Paenther paced "Ideas?" he threw out to the group
"There’s one," Skye called softly, then rose and cao in alone and try to free Jag and Foxx"
"No"
"If they escape, Birik probably won’t bother to sacrifice Vhyper The death of one Feral won’t be enough for what he wants"
"You’re not going in there alone"
She looked at hiet you in"
A chill slid down his spine "You can take rowled "Don’t even think about it, BP You’ll just wind up sacrifice nuaze "It’s a chance"
"A hundred things could go wrong"
Skye stared at hiht"
"It et inside?"
"Not easily or quickly" She clasped her hands together in front of her "I had to open your mind to unenthrall you when I helped you escape from the cavern Sex with an enchanted man isn’t quick, and Birik will know I’ on the doors I doubt I’ll be able to get you up and off before someone finds us And I’ll have lost any way to pretend I’ve returned on my own We’ll both wind up in chains and be of no use to anyone"
"So the only way is for ain Fury threatened to rage through his body at the thought of it, but he had to get in there, dammit He had to save his men
Yet his only chance at success was if Skye ith hi every line of her face If he failed, she’d go back to being a captive and slave to that monster
Skye slid her hand into his "I don’t like this plan, Paenther But it may be the only one"
He pulled her around and cupped her shoulders "I can’t give you back to hi his head dohere she could kiss hi the soft, tender brush of her lips before she pulled back In her eyes he saw his future and his past
"I knoill happen if you hold back and do nothing," she said softly "If you let Vhyper die when you ht have been able to save him, you’ll die inside, little by little, until there’s nothing left" She stroked his cheek "I can’t be the cause of that We can do this, Paenther Trust ive you the chance you need to do yours"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>