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And the poison was flowing freely

Thewas, she didn’t knohat the poison was doing With Hookeye’s ability, he could be setting any kind of time bomb inside them, and they wouldn’t know until it was too late

Despite all that, she felt stronger than she had in years, in centuries Stronger than she had in a thened her, but what she’d felt in Kougar’s arth She feltreborn Renewed

Whole

But as she watched hihtness of hie that they weren’t right together at all And never really had been Even in those days when they’d been mated, she hadn’t been entirely happy At tiar ith her, usually Thebut her joy in hientle power of his body as he brought her to cliether had been all too few Even when they were together, there had been a distance between theiven her a part of hiht fros had been difficult between theainst the Therians and Ferals had infected her ranks long, long ago, her own attitude toward the shifters formed in the crucible of her friend’s bitterness So when she’d found herself attracted to the Chief of the Ferals, she’d been close to horrified

The sparks had flown between the But in the end, she’d let her judgment be clouded by the excitement she’d found in his arether, that resisting him was useless By that point, she hadn’t wanted to resist She’d wanted only to revel in the joy of his rare, earth-shattering smiles, and bask in the pleasure she’d felt beneath his hands

They’d been joined together deep in the Ferals’ ritual cave, surrounded by flaonistic shape-shifters who’d watched coldly as Kougar had taken her, clai what should have been an unbreakable cord joining thear had invited her ownfeast, only Melisande had been there and, unbeknownst to Ariana, wovenfully

Even when they’d been ar’s life A piece of his world, but only a piece But she had loved him Desperately, she’d loved hier, then later, the bitter, awful loneliness--she’d forgotten just how much she’d loved him

And how easy it would be to fall under his spell all over again But never again would she sacrifice the well-being of her ar turned back to face her, his expression closed, shuttered oncemore?"

Ariana lifted a hand to brush her damp hair from her face "No" She tapped her head "It’s like a dust storm in here It’ll take time for the dust to settle before I can see what blew in"

A strange chill ar stepped toward her "What’s the " But as a vision rose in her head, she stiffened The eyes Hookeye’s eyes rose in her ar removed her o In those eyes, she saw determination and triumph And a raw cruelty she didn’t rean to race with the frantic need to fight or flee, when she could do neither She tried to close her mind to him, tried to force him away, but he sireorse

Kougar was beside her, his hands grasping her shoulders "Ariana?"

"Hookeye" And suddenly the eyes were gone The shivers subsided, and she could breathe again "He was in my head I could see his eyes" Her hand fu over thethe ?"

"No At least, I don’t think so" Her gaze er"

"That bastard is going to die" Kougar’s hands squeezed her shoulders "Sooner or later, I’ to kill him But first we have to find him" She frowned "I wonder"

"What?"

"Maybe I could figure out where he is by walking in his drea that ar watched her thoughtfully "He could be anywhere And you don’t even knoho he is"

"No But we’re connected, though goddess only knohat kind of connection I have with that bastard"

Kougar stroked her head "Once, long ago, you offered to take me with you into another’s dreaar at her side as she faced the Mage calar You’ve said yourself that the Mage have dark ic We don’t knohat he can do"

"It’s just a dream"

She lifted an eyebrow "I’ve been in your dreams, Feral You know better than that"

His eyes heated, and she kneas re just how real some of those very carnal dream visits they’d once shared had been

She rubbed her hands together, feeling chilled again To walk in Hookeye’s dreah the unholy connection he’d formed with her And she had no idea how to do that Would he see her eyes rising in his ar took her hand, squeezing gently

With a deep breath and a nod, she closed her eyes and concentrated on Hookeye, on the poison she could al bond, then followed its trail into total darkness, a wide, eed, and she was tu chaos and just as suddenly, thrown back out again, Hookeye’s furious eyes blazing at her in her ar’s voice sounded beside her, but all she could see were the eyes, copper-ringed Mage eyes glaring into hers

She was tre down her neck Her pulse thrummed in her veins as the hated eyes bored into her

He’d pushed her away Soined shoving him back For a hter and angrier than before

No

This ti up the hatred and grief for all he’d caused her and throwing it at hile powerful blast of pure fury

A one "I did it" The breath shuddered out of her as Kougar pulled her against him

"What happened?"