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For longinto his, soft and warain, he pulled out of her, set her on her feet, and kissed her, then grabbed his jeans and dressed

Life was so unpredictable For decades, little had changed He’d spent his life fighting draden, studying whatever subject intrigued hi the occasional lover or two For the most part, he’d lived a calo when they’d realized that the Mage were trying to free the Dae out of control, but never more than the past feeeks, the past few days Now he found himself in the center of a vortex, the love of his life in his ar to rip hi hi as Faith tied her shoes and rose to stand before hi, her mouth swollen from his kisses and lifted in a smile of love and feminine satisfaction "You are so beautiful," hethe hair back from her beloved face Then he took her hand and opened the door before he was teether, they went in search of Kougar and found hi with Fox As Hawke approached, Faith at his side, the distinct scent of pine caught his nose A second later, traithlike females appeared in the hallway, then quickly took corporeal for Melisande

Faith’s hand tightened in his and he squeezed hers gently The Ilinas definitely took soar went to histhat they still exist, isn’t it?" Fox asked quietly "She’s a fine thing, the blonde"

Hawke glanced at the fox shifter, seeing a predatory look in his eyes that had hi his head "That’s Melisande Apparently, she tried to kill Lyon a couple of weeks ago"

"And he let her live?"

"That wasof a , and they’ve called a truce Of sorts But the woman apparently has a chip on her shoulder the size of the South Pole when it comes to Ferals That one’s trouble with a capital T"

"Chips can be knocked off"

Faith snorted beside him "So can heads"

Fox chuckled low "She hasn’t ht Feral yet, is all"

Hawke shook his head, but he sar pulled away from his mate and turned to them "Fox, Faith, I’d like you to meet Ariana, Queen of the Ilinas and my mate And her second, Melisande"

As expected, Melisande scowled, but Ariana strode forward dressed in jeans and low boots, looking and acting entirely too human for a queen whose castle sat, literally, in the clouds Then again, she’d spent the lastas a hu as a maternity nurse in a hospital in don Balti?"

Other than the fact that ainst me and the woman I’uardians of the race without a single skill to keep her alive in battle?

"I’m fine, thank you, Ariana And you?"

She sar "I’ve never been better I’ And the conscious"

"I have you to thank for that"

"I’lad I was able to help"

Hawke put his hand on Faith’s shoulder "This is Faith"

Ariana shook Faith’s hand, then turned to Fox "You’re one of the new Ferals?"

Fox nodded "I am Faith and I both are"

Ariana’s brows shot up, the senuine "About tiar "Where’s the Shaman? I understand we have work to do"

As she strode back to where she’d left herbefore the blonde "Melisande, is it?" he asked, the Irish lilt in his voice suddenly more pronounced "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman"

Melisande stared at him as if he’d lost his

Fox held out his hand to her "I’m Fox, Melisande It’s a pleasure toup in a mockery of a smile "That’s what you think"

"Mel," Ariana said, her tone part plea, part warning But from what little he’d seen of Melisande, and what he’d been told, the blond Ilina was a law unto herself

To prove the point, she appeared to fling soy that he’d heard could drive even a Feral to his knees in pain But the sound that escaped Fox’s throat wasn’t a sound of pain More like pure, unadulterated rapture, like aback, his h to close his rin on his face was that of a hunter who’d just sighted the prey he’d been searching for, for a long, long time

Melisande’s jaw dropped in horror In an instant, she turned to ar both stared at Fox, who started laughing like a man who’d just discovered the secrets of the universe

"What did you do to her?" Kougar asked, genuine aolden hair brushing his shoulders "I’ve no bloody idea"

"Watch your step," Ariana warned kindly "Melisande is a good person, but she has a violent and justified hatred of Therians While she’s obligated to honor my alliance with the Ferals, she’s unpredictable She won’t try to kill you But that’s about all I can guarantee And if you hurt her, even that’s off the table"

"Point taken" But the roguish look on Fox’s s face made Hawke suspect Melisande was the one who’d better watch her back And maybe even her heart