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The rage that roiled through him had no space for mercy No room for compassion

There was neither in him as he and Gavriel snuck past the last cluster of tents to the large one situated in a cleared circle of grass As if no one could sto near Cairn

Fenrys ith her Or had been

From the quiet inside, he wondered if the as dead

Gavriel shifted into his Fae forlance conveyed the order for silence as Rowan sent a wisp of wind floating into the tent

It sang back to him of two life-forms Both injured Blood thick in the air It was all he needed

Silent as the breeze in the grass, they slipped between the tent flaps Rowan didn’t knohere to look first

At the wolf and Fae male sprawled on the floor

Or at the iron coffin across the tent

The iron box they’d locked her in

Had to reinforce, it see on the thick slabs atop it

The box was so small So narrow

The smell of her blood, her fear, saturated the tent Emanated from that box

A metal table lay nearby

And beneath it …

Rowan took in the three unlit braziers set beneath it, the chain anchors at the head and foot of the table, and at last looked toward the Fae male left bloodied, but still alive, on the floor across from Fenrys

Fenrys, whoht of his porapped around the blood-soaked fur Healing him The white wolf did not rise to consciousness, but his breathing steadied Good enough

"Heal him," Rowan said with lethal softness The Lion looked up, and found that Rowan’s gaze was no longer on the wolf But on Cairn

Chunks of flesh had been torn from Cairn’s body A lump on his temple told Rowan it had been the blow that had rendered him unconscious As if Fenrys had slammed Cairn’s skull into the side of that metal table And then collapsed himself mere feet away

Collapsed, perhaps not from the wounds themselves, but … Rowan started What had happened here, what had been so terrible that the wolf had been able to do the i it?

Gavriel’s tawny eyes flashed ariness Rowan pointed at Cairn again "Heal him"

They did not have much time Not to do what he wanted What he needed

Some of the drawers in the tall chest had been knocked free Polished tools glinted within

A pouch of them had also been set on a piece of black velvet beside theto him of pain and despair, of utter terror

His Fireheart