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Soive in, that he was in serious danger of losing all perspective, of losing himself, if he didn’t pull back But his cat hissed, ears back, urging hiain And that’s exactly what he wanted to do

Sweeping her into his araze locked with hers, the question asked and answered in a lush, carnal smile

He told himself to take it slow this ti her araze, he ca into the beauty and fire and strength that was Ariana

Over the next few hours, he h three more painful memory downloads while she waited for Hookeye to sleep He was lying temporarily sated in her arms when she tensed beneath him Not with pain, this time, but excite with triuht chaos just turned dark Hookeye’s asleep" Her eyes glea?"

Hell, yes A feral s I need to do to prepare?"

Her gaze trailed seductively down his body "He’ll see us exactly as we are now I’ers up his erection "Up to you"

He purred at the feel of her fingertips on that highly sensitized flesh It didn’t matter how many times he’d come inside her, if she was anywhere near him, he wanted her Especially when she turned on her siren’s char to coht there in her hand

If they hadn’t waited so long for the bastard to sleep, hehis hand around her wrist, he lifted that talented little hand of hers to his mouth and kissed her palm "Can I shift when I’m in the dream?" He licked her palm and watched with satisfaction as she shivered, her uess we’ll find out" She pulled her hand froar joined her, dressing quickly, then sat cross-legged on the s a frisson of unease "How exactly does this work?" Goddess kne anything worked in the Ilina world

A hint of a smile played at her mouth "You’ll see" But the smile didn’t reach her eyes As she took his hand, he understood Her hand was da the creature who’d caused her so much pain had her rattled as he suspected little ever did

He squeezed her hand, re alone

"Close your eyes and keep them closed," she told him

He did as she asked, and, a moment later, an odd sensation hit him, a brief moment’s dizziness not unlike Ilina travel for hione al beside Ariana in a firelit cave the size of his bedroom at Feral House The hair rose on the back of his neck

Along the walls, corpses hung--five adults and a sh he was hard-pressed to tell how many were owned peasant garb of ely unisex But though their garb appeared unharmed, the flesh of the people had been all but burned away as if they’d died in a fire that had left their clothing unscathed

The cave was clearly a living space, a cooking pot hanging over the central fire To one side sat a table laden with bowls and vials and colorful, plastic containers Kougar frowned at the anachronism of plastic in an ancient cave until he looked at thehiht, his appearance unassu for one who’d caused so much pain and death His thin brown hair was cut around his face at odd angles as if he were in the habit of hacking off whatever got in his ith the nearest knife He was dressed, not as the victie had taken to wearing in recent centuries On his wrist he wore a e looked up as if seeing the as if they were just figar had glie eyes, one of which had a pupil that appeared to have bled through the iris in the shape of a hook

Bingo Hookeye

Beside him, Ariana’s hand spasmed in his, then fell away as she stepped away from him A knife appeared in her hand, frolance told him exactly what she meant to do with it

If she’d felt any anxiety about facing the bastard, it was gone, replaced by a seething hatred

He grabbed her upper arm "Wait"

"They didn’t survive" Hookeye’s tone was conversational "But they rarely do" He glanced up, his gaze ar’s "I’aze turned amused as it flicked to Ariana, then back down at his work

The scene shifted suddenly, the roo as if the walls of a Hollywood set had been yanked away, another shoved into place with all the accoo An old castle, this ti, chained and tortured The four surrounding them noere covered in the swollen buboes and dark patches of subdural he that reue

"You collected plague victims?"

Hookeye smiled absently "No This one I caused One of h it only affected mortals, which was a shaar’shuman diseases?

It ell known that the Therians had often been the target of Mage poisons, though few had ever died frohe believed his childhood enclave had been the victie would have wiped out the Therians long ago

"You were reatest failure, Queen of the Ilinas" Hookeye chuckled, but the sound was ugly "Except you weren’t, were you?" His tone hardened "You just ar’s grip "You ed one scrawny shoulder, still concentrating on the vials and liquids he ether like soainst the Feral Warriors, of course" He picked up a vial and shook it, peering at it closely "I’ll succeed this ti in those copper-ringed depths "You’ll bring the Feral Warriors to ar’s i words "Hoill you succeed, Mage?" He growled "Hoill you succeed in capturing the Feral Warriors?"

"The way I always do I’ away a bit of flesh from one of his victims into a plastic container

But as he turned back to his table, the walls of the roolittering with inlay on ivory-colored stone

The Tean to thud in his chest

Beside hi arced between them To dream of the temple, Hookeye had to have been there But when?

Recently?

As if in answer, a cat ran through the roo

Kougar stared at the ani in his h with hio