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What in the hell are Mage doing here? How did they get up here? Helicopters, probably

Brielle eased up beside hiet control of his stomach

"This place must be warded Humans would be able to see it from a hundred "

"Against humans, yes," Brielle confirmed, "but not immortals Before the Sacrifice, the queen and her court lived here, the other Ilinas scattered in temples elsewhere in the world But when the Therians turned on us after the Sacrifice, ere forced to flee to the clouds"

To the Crystal Real’s muttered epithet carried from below Mo about that ride If there’s another way off this perch, I’ar turned to Brielle "Tell aze o with you"

He could see the panic rising in her eyes and reached for her, gripping her shoulder "Stay here We’ll find them Just tell me what you know"

The Ilina paused, took a deep, deliberate breath, then nodded "The temple is divided into four chareat statue of Morwun, the first queen, stands beneath the crystal dome To reach the stairs to the chae directly behind the statue At the end is a curved stair that appears to go only up I’ll tell you the words that will open the passage down, and you ar, I don’t know if they’ll work co frolanced at Jag "Listen and ave him a quick, half-serious salute "Yes, sir"

Brielle whispered a string of sounds he knew to be ancient Ilina, a language that had always sounded more like music to his ear than words And notscowled "What the hell was that?"

Kougar closed his eyes Clearly, Jag wasn’t going to be any better at Ilina than he was "Again, Brielle"

The woman repeated the sounds In his head he tried to mimic them and failed Da to reach Ariana

He tried to repeat the sounds out loud

Brielle shook her head "That’s not it" Again, she sang the chant and again Kougar tried to mimic her with noher properly Like there were piecesto catch on

Jag shook his head "She bird"

Daot in there Without further discussion, he shifted directly into his house-cat for downsized into histo believe two cats found their way all the way up here? Jag asked telepathically

No That’s e’re going in together When you get inside, head left and keep theht

Aye-aye

As one, they darted across the open rock and up the dozen steps to the pillars Not until they were racing between the guards did one of the sentinels do a double take

"What’s with the cats?"

"Shit Those aren’t cats They’re shifters!"

Kougar darted into the iant golden statue of a naked woh over her head A woman who’d lived and ruled when huh he sensed the presence of others in the te thear’s senses went out to Ariana, but he felt her only at a distance The lower cha Brielle wasasked

Any chance you reht?

That’s what I was afraid of

Was that a quip, Kougar-man? Don’t tell nored hie

Already done and on ar darted across the ivory floor and down a passage whose walls were decorated with cliems, to the stairwell Brielle had described A stair that went only up He stared in dismay at the solid wall at the base where Brielle assured hi into a man, he felt for any kind of latch, for any door at all, and found nothing If there was a door there, it was a ic one, plain and si words and got two out of his mouth when he lost anyasked behind hiave the wall aain On the third kick, one san to cruh He could feel a draft of air wafting froh for a house cat

"Let’s go" Kougar shifted and leaped through the s to hell he wasn’t leading theness

Chapter Eleven

"Mel" Ariana held her friend’s hands, willing Melisande free of thefarther by the sheer force of her will

Melisande aze with terrified eyes "Go, Ariana Go to the lower cha the queens of old for a second awakening"

"I can’t leave you! You’re still sinking"