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"Tighe’s right A hundred things could go wrong"

"I know But we don’t have a choice Birik really ainst that possibility, the risk to our lives athered her close to his heart and held her, burying his nose in the scent of violets All he wanted to do was keep her safe He didn’t care about the risk to his own life

Her hands slid over his back "I’er than I look, Paenther No matter what happens, I’ll be okay"

He couldn’t deny her strength It was he as hesitating Because he couldn’t bear for anything to happen to her

It dawned on him that he’d barely blinked at the prospect of intentionally letting a Mage witch enthrall and capture him He trusted her Completely Implicitly

Her safety was his only concern, and while it was huge, his little witch was right There was no choice but to try

And pray that fate was on their side tonight

They were going to need all the help they could get

Chapter Twenty-two

"This is as far as we go" Paenther stopped beside the very tree against which he’d first ht was falling fast, and the draden would be out soon It was ti hi into the enemy’s lair blind, deaf, witless, turned his blood to ice But hison him He was their only hope

Skye locked her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest He knew she was scared Hell, he was terrified A hundred things could go wrong He was aevery ounce of it into another’s hands He was a e for centuries

Yet he willingly placed his life and the fate of the Feral Warriors, if not the entire world, into the hands of the Mage witch in his arly, he did so without a qual she could to help him pull this off

What terrified hih That she wouldn’t be able to free hiht Every warrior expected to die in the o The thought of dying like a fly trapped on flypaper, unable to save his friends, let alone hi unable to save the woman he loved from the monster who had hurt her so many times nearly claimed his soul

But he was out of options

He buried his face in Skye’s fragrant hair and drew strength "This is going to work," he ainst her teet me free"

She pulled back and looked up into his face "I won’t fail you I pro down into those blue-and-copper eyes, he saw his future His world And he knew that so, he would find a way for the head over tail all over again

"And I love you" Tears formed in her eyes Doubts sith the tears, but she didn’t voice them out loud Instead, she pulled one of his hands fro free

He knehat he had to do There was only one way for her to enchant him and even if there wasn’t, he needed to make love to her at thatthe back of her head, he kissed her, the taste of her tears on his tongue

Skye kissed him back with a fervor and a tenderness that filled him with love and raked at his heart He couldn’t lose her He wouldn’t He loved her How could that single emotion make him feel so powerless, yet at the saods?

The passion that erupted every ti the kiss hot and needy Paenther slanted histo reach farther into herto be one with her in every way possible

He unfastened her jeans and helped her out of thehs as she opened for him Her flesh arm and soft, the core of her damp and ready As much as he wanted to make proper love to her, they were out of tiainst hi his cheek to hers

"Hold on to ainst her ear, then lifted her As she wrapped her bare legs around his waist, he pushed ho himself in her warmth, her love, in the only place he wanted to spend eternity His gaze locked with hers Love blazed between them

"I love you, warrior," she said as he came The veil of enchanthtened both their clothes, then led Paenther through the woods to the main entrance of the cavern She could see no reason for subterfuge Birik would know she was here soon enough Her heart thudded until she thought she htwick s her with bitter memories as she led Paenther down the steep cavern stairs If this failed, if after knowing freedoain, her soul would shrivel and die Then again, her heart would already be dead Because the only way she’d be trapped here was if Paenther were no longer alive

If he lived, he’d find a way to save her She knew that

A sentinel’s shout echoed off the stone, relaying the news of her return with a prisoner The sound would surely call Birik to her in a heartbeat The knowledge made her hands damp with sweat

If only she had the powers of a television witch She’d blink Paenther and the other Ferals out of there, then send one of Birik’s snakes to eat out his heart

Her gaze caught a flash of white hair on the stairs below, and she kneas coan to shake She squeezed Paenther’s hand tightly, gaining strength fro,he could do to protect her

As Birik neared, Vhyper close behind, part of her, the part of her that had fought hio, wanted to stare him down and refuse to quake in his presence But her only chance of freeing these ed That she hadn’t changed

Fortunately, acting fearful around him was all too easy Unfortunately, it was no act at all

The twoover the shtwicks

Birik stopped three steps below her and stared up at her with curiosity and suspicion "You’re back"

Vhyper sht have been tricked once, but he’d never make the same mistake twice He let you enchant him this time, didn’t he, little witch? He wanted back in here"

Skye looked away, her pulse racing "Yes"

Birik lunged forward two steps and grabbed her jaw, squeezing until pain shot through her skull

"What is his plan?"

Tears blinded her "He wanted me to hide him until the enthrallment wore off so that he could find his friends and escape"