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The moment she’d stepped outside, with the two sentinels at her back, she’d realized ould happen Faithful would be the first to answer her call She’d tried to send her away, but her friend had refused to leave her side And one of Birik’s sentinels had slipped a rope around her neck
Skye struggled to take a deep breath, to find some semblance of calm If all went as planned, the deer wouldn’t die None of the as planned And it was nearly he had said And it seemed they already had
As she neared the Hall of Feasts, she heard the sounds of the tables being cleared and re covered in stalactites, and a floor cut this way and that by columns and curtains formed over millions of years froest of the rooms in the caverns, it was also one the most sumptuously furnished after Birik’s apartlea chairs Thick rugs covered the floors, for though the stalactites remained, like icicles frozen in time, none dared drip in this place
When she’d first co every meal with a sy in hearts robbed of souls
As she led Faithful and the other deer down the wide entrance passage she saw that the cavern had been decorated for the Moon Feast - the ies of theabove the hall had been shot through with rainbows, the colors snapping and glittering over the rock
As she’d suspected, the hall was being cleared, the tables carried out and the rugs rolled and removed She’d never done the ritual in this hall, and she wondered why Birik needed such a large space The question did nothing to ease the ever-tightening knots in her stomach
Already, in the cleared area on the near side of the natural colureat caldrons, fore ritual circle Set within the circle were four cages Leading her coes were filled nearly to overfloith snakes
How ht?
It was a moment before she realized that beyond the colu
Two circles?
Of course Birik would raise power through the sacrifice of Vhyper and his snakes, while he expected her to do the saies melded and joined the way he obviously hoped they would, the coht well be explosive
She skirted the first circle, heading toward the second As she cleared the coluan to skate, fast and erratic
Within the fire ring sat three wood platfor and Foxx lay chained and unconscious on two of them, their heads at the lower ends On the floor beneath each platfore vat ready to catch the blood
Paenther lay on the floor in the middle of the circle, naked and staked as he’d been the night they’d freed the Daemons But like his friends, unconscious Or enthralled
Her sto the chant to remove the shackles since she entered the caverns, but it wasn’t going to do an ounce of good if they stayed like this
Unconscious Ferals weren’t going to be able to fight, shackles or no shackles
Dear Mother, what am I supposed to do, now? Please don’t let these men or these creatures in erie between the fire pits and into the circle, trying not to stare at Paenther, but fear and love welled up inside her until she couldn’t look away His black hair hung back fro the tattoo on his chest and throat, and the claw marks across his eye Even enthralled, there was a latent power about him that drew her, that excited her on a hundred levels A hard strength and a silent bone-deep promise of retribution to anyone who dared cross hi to live if he died?
She forced herself to turn away He wasn’t going to die She refused to allow it
With a touch of her hands, she ushered the deer to the ehter Struggling against tears, she tied them loosely around the necks with the ropes attached to an eyebolt screwed into the rock Then she knelt and calaze, praying she could save them all At the sound of quiet steps behind her, she turned to find Vhyper approaching
Part of her, the part beaten and abused too nore hi had happened to her in Feral House Within Paenther’s strong, gentle arth she’d once had And it was a strength she refused to lose again
Taking a deep breath, she rose and faced hi the skirt of the dress she’d donned after she returned
"Big night," Vhyper said with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes
She tried to reconcile this cold, dangerousto keep Paenther alive
Lacing her fingers together at her waist, she cocked her head at hiht?"
"Of course"
"Why would you sacrifice your life for hi "Not for hiive up your life to free the very evil you’re sworn to fight? An evil that will destroy everyone and everything you’ve ever cared about? That will deci flickered in his eyes A knowledge A pain
Paenther was right The real Vhyper, the one with the soul, was still in there But it was the other one who struck with the speed of a snake, backhanding her and knocking her to the ground Face throbbing, she watched the large Feral walk away
Pushing herself to her feet, she turned to find Birik co toward her, a black snake wrapped around his arm, a second curved around his neck As he neared, she looked away as she always had
"It’s tiin When I tell you to, start your dance, then mount your Feral You’ll have to ready yourself this time, unless you’d like one ofcold at the thought So many ti Paenther’s touch, the thought of anyone else touching her made her ill "I can do it"
Birik nodded "The sorcerers will drench you in the blood of the deer But not until you climax e sacrifice the three Ferals, and we’ll do it all at once The surge of power should beastounding Prepare yourself"
He turned away and lifted his voice, sending a high call echoing over the stone, signaling the Mage to gather Sorcerers, sentinels, and witches alike appeared through the doorways and rushed toward the circles
Skye’s heart clutched The Ferals were still unconscious
"Birik" As he turned back, she looked away before he saw the worry in her eyes and started to suspect its cause "I needI need them awake"
"They’re safer this way Order the panther to get hard for you and you should be able to le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>