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The bracelet…it orth a try Anything orth a try Even though the hall was silent, Daria’s scream echoed in his head "Shifter," he snapped, "by the power I have over you, by the bracelet I gave you, by the Shifter’s Seal you took froers opened slowly, reluctantly, peeling away from his wrist He backed away from her, unable to believe it had actually worked "Stay here"
She shook her head angrily "I will protect you, like it or not I don’t have a choice And you--you are the king of Saht to die"
"I don’t plan to die"
"You have no right to risk it This is what they expected--that you would act like a reckless child They want you, not her It’s your responsibility not to walk into their hands"
"Sorry, Isabel, but I’ht choice!"
He turned away from her and snapped, "Ven!"
Ven raised his hand The door burst, taking half the ith it
Daria sat on a plush chair near the bare bed, her hands bound behind her back, her dark hair half piled on her head and half straggling down her face She let out a sob and screamed, "Rokan!"
"Don’t!" the Shifter shouted, but it was too late He was alreadyforward He saw Daria smile, but even if he had understood what itfar too fast to stop
When Ven raised his hand, Isabel felt a sizzle run down her spine She saw the door splinter apart in slowto do as soon as she saw Daria Without thinking, she sprinted past hih the remains of the doorway
A movement at the corner of her eye A scent She turned to face it just as a heaving mass of fur and teeth hit her in the chest
She went over backward, the creature on top of her, her heart pounding--not with fear, but with shock at the thought that she had alo in, that it could have been Rokan the beast attacked He would have been dead by now The creature’s teeth had closed over her neck the second it hit--but she had been ready, some animal instinct from when she had hunted, and her neck had turned to stone The thing had hurt its teeth and now sprang away from her with a furious yowl
Snowcat Another shock The size of a small horse, deadly at the best of tiht a snowcat--
--except another snowcat, Isabel thought, and grinned fiercely as the beast sprang
But there was no snowcat to otten about the powers she didn’t have Expecting to be a cat, she had half-risen toBy the time she realized, it was too late for any of the tricks she could e She landed on her back with the cat on top of her, its hot breath blasting into her face A claw ripped open the side of her ar such fiery pain that she screamed and raised her other arh her forear theer than humanly possible, and kicked The snowcat yowled in surprise as it tumbled halfway across the room, but it landed on its feet It crouched, heavybeneath white fur, and snarled at her
She shifted her arh the wounds were gone, and jumped to her feet It was a leap that would have been impossible for a huht in front of the cat, so fast it had no time to react One quick step sideways, another leap, and she was on its back, her stone-like arular
The snoent riash and bite and scratch The cat rolled, trying to crush her; her body went stone for a second, long enough to live and hang on, not long enough to avoid pain The pain was a proble scratches, the ripped er there
She held on, and after what seemed like forever the cat was still, a bloody ot to her feet, shifting the last of her wounds away, shifting her hair and skin at the same time Cool, impassive--with the same unruffled expression she wore at court functions--she strode away froashes in her gown, her skin hite and s would show
She had just fought a snowcat and won
Who cares? I’ve probably been a snowcat But she couldn’t help the flush of triuone
Ven stared back at her through the ruins of the doorway There should have been awe in his eyes, but instead there was sonize and didn’t want to analyze She hesitated, then blurted, "Where is he?"
"He went to see if he could catch Albin," Ven said He, too, was cool and unruffled
"Catch--" But she realized before she finished asking the question Only ht the snowcat here and kept it docile until the right moment Cats were notoriously difficult to ic
Albin ht lose to a snowcat Underestiain She couldn’t suness
"Albin knows spells that could have taken hiuess Rokan had to try"
Still not liking the expression on his face, Isabel turned away froone
"Spirits!" Isabel snapped "When--"
"Just now" Ven’s voice was still infuriatingly calerous spell, that, even when the person you’re taking is cooperating with you"
Cooperating with you It had not been a kidnapping Daria hadn’t shouted a warning, even when Rokan had been about to walk in and the cat had been about to spring
"Spirits," she said again, ed "Do you worry about the king’s feelings, or only his life?"
"Not all dangers are obvious," Isabel said randoood, and Ven was beginning to annoy her And he was still watching her She snapped, "What?"
"You didn’t shift"