Verbose, the man is not. So who are you, Sugar? the Feral drawled. Why are you so important that Im babysitting you instead of making love to my new mate?
She didnt answer, her mind furiously searching for a way out. Within the throbbing, erratic mating bond, she felt Kougar beginning to move toward her. Hells bells.
The shifter studied her. Youre not Mage. Number one, you dont have the copper rims around your irises. Number two, Captain Death didnt warn me not to let you touch me, and he would have if youd been Mage. He gave a brief scowl. Probably.
She cocked her head at him. Captain Death?
His mouth kicked up on one side. The mans cold as, and delivers it mercilessly. Always has. His expression turned serious, his gaze flicking down over her scrubs. I dont know what he wants with you, Florence Nightingale, but for your sake, I hope its nothing more than a quick roll in the hay.
Who are you?
Im Jag. Youve got to be Therian. Youre stronger than a human, though not by much.
Smart-ass. Kougars making a mistake, Jag. A grave mistake. You need to let me go.
Nice try, sweetheart. Do I have idiot engraved across my forehead?
If only she still had the ability to turn to mist. With her hands cuffed, she was all but helpless. There was nothing more she could do but wait for Kougar, then hope she could manage one more escape.
Kougar strode up the front walk of the small bungalow, certain he had the right house. He could feel Ariana inside as strongly as any beacon, small bursts of anger pulsing through the mating bond. His plan to capture her had worked like a charm. Now came the hard partforcing her to free his friends from the spirit trap.
Opening the door without knocking, he strode into the living room to find Jag on the sofa, his feet propped up on the coffee table, a baseball game on the television. Ariana stood with her back to the wall, her wrists caught in manacles Jag had attached to the wall.
He had to hand it to Jag. Hed carried out Kougars directions precisely, though attaching her to the wall was a small bit of brilliance that was all Jags. The drill he must have used sat on the coffee table.
Arianas eyes speared him with fury. She was dressed again in medical scrubs, a black sweater over them this time. The clothing might be drab, but there was nothing plain about the woman wearing them. Her dark hair was up in a casual knot, her slender neck exposed and beckoning. Goddess how hed loved to kiss her neck, to trail his mouth and tongue over the silken length from her shoulder to her ear, feeling her shiver, hearing the soft moan of pleasure in her throat.
Would this woman without a soul react to his touch the way his beloved had? Goddess, did he really want to know? No, he didnt. He wanted only one thing from her, and that was the rescue of his friends.
But as she watched him with hard, wary eyes, her mouth and chin stony, he knew it was going to be a battle all the way. He could hardly appeal to her compassion, not when the woman possessed none. Not anymore.
The cougar inside him leaped like an overeager pup, as if he longed to be free to race to her and lick her face. As if she were truly Kougars mate and not some soulless look-alike.
Shes not ours, Cat. She hasnt been for centuries.
Release me, Kougar. Her eyes snared him, piercing in their intensity, even behind the brown contacts. He felt them stabbing, probing. Stroking the places deep inside him that had yearned for her for too long.
Leave, Jag.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jag rise lazily to his feet. Just when things were getting interesting. But the shifter turned off the television, picked up his drill, and sauntered to the front door, closing it behind him.
Pulled by forces beyond his control, Kougar moved slowly toward Ariana, drawn against his will. His body throbbed with alternate bursts of cold and heat, his newly awakened emotions ping-ponging between hatred and a need to touch her that tore at every shred of control he possessed.
Closing the distance between them, he watched her, noting the shadows of thoughts and emotions she tried to hide. Her breathing was as unsteady as his own, a pulse kicking at the base of her throat. Though her anger was written all over her face, in her eyes he saw worry, dark hunger, and rank exhaustion. But no true fear. Which told him that pounding pulse was all for him. That the need he felt to touch her wasnt one-sided.
Which was good, very good, since the only way he knew to force her to turn to mist was to arouse her to it. To make her lose all control.
He grabbed her jaw, and his cat made a low growl of approval.
Let go of me, Ariana hissed, her eyes flashing like those of a cornered beast ready to strike.
No.
His hand shook as he held her jaw, her scent rising to ensnare him in sensual memories and painful longing. She was turning him inside out. His Ariana, yet not. She smelled the same, looked the sameor she would once she took those contacts out. She felt the same beneath his hand. But she wasnt the woman hed loved.
Goddess, he needed to get away from her. To forget her.
But first, she was going to save his friends.
He tightened his grip. Why do you think you cant turn to mist? Whats the matter with you?
She jerked her chin as if trying to dislodge his grip, her eyes flashing at him. Dark spirit slowly eats away an Ilina from the inside out. Didnt you know?
Kougar studied her. Melisande had said as much, but his instincts now, as then, told him there was more to it.
You can turn to mist, Ariana. Youre going to.
No.
Again that flash of . . . defiance? Desperation?
He didnt want to see it.
Her mouth tightened, the full, unpainted mouth hed dreamed of for a thousand years. His arms ached to pull her closer, yet his mind rebelled. She wasnt the woman hed loved!
His cat clawed at him, urging him to claim her.
Ariana stared at him, flaying him with her gaze even as she began to tremble beneath his hand. Her nostrils flared as she took a shuddering breath. Heat sparked in her eyes, igniting an inferno inside him.
He was losing the battle. I have to taste you.
Her jaw tightened as if part of her wanted to object, but another part wouldnt let her say the words.
It wouldnt have mattered anyway. He dipped his head and pressed his mouth to hers. The feel of her lips against his, the achingly familiar taste of her released a floodgate of need and grief and desperate longing. At that moment, it didnt matter who she was, what she was. Ariana was back in his arms, her mouth opening beneath his, her tongue welcoming the desperate stroke of his own.
Her taste wasnt quite right. How he knew that after all this time, he didnt know, but didnt question. She still tasted as she always had, of crystal streams and summer nights, but overlying the sultry sweetness was another taste. A taste of darkness, and darkness had a taste all its own. A sharpness, a tang that was not unpleasant. But then darkness was often all too seductive.
His hands framed her face, his fingers weaving into her hair as he feasted on her mouth. His senses swam, his heart breaking. The feel of her beneath his hands, the taste of her kiss, the scent of her hair all rushed together, swamping him with memories, pummeling him with so many emotions he couldnt make sense of any of them.
His hands began to shake, a deep quaking setting up inside him. How many times had he dreamed of having her in his arms again, of feeling her lips against his, her small breasts pressed against him? How many times had he longed to taste her kiss just one more time? To watch her spread her thighs and welcome him into her body? His Ariana. His woman. His mate.
But she wasnt, was she?
His Arianahis bright, beautiful Ariana with the shining soul was not in his arms.
He tore his mouth from hers, released her, and stepped back. His hands were still shaking, his world tilting precariously. Whirling away from her, he strode to the window with harsh strides, his chest feeling like it was about to implode.
Goddess, he needed this over. He needed this woman . . . this thing . . . out of his life.
Pressing his hands to the window frame, he dipped his head and took deep, unsteady breaths. Every instinct he possessed told him to go, to get the hell out of there before she destroyed what was left of his sanity.
But hed come for a reason. He had to force her capitulation, force her to enter the spirit trap. That was all that mattered.
Slowly, he turned back to face her. She watched him with eyes as deep as the darkest well, her mouth damp and full from his kisses. His body tightened, desire eclipsing everything else. He hated her. But, goddess, he wanted her.
He strode to her as hed left her, his strides long and angry, but when he gripped her face this time, his fingers were steady. Im going to . . . fuck . . . this body of yours. Hed almost said make love to, but there was no love involved. Not anymore.
She swallowed visibly, the pulse pounding in her throat. But she didnt deny it.
He squeezed her jaw. Youre going to turn to mist, Ariana.
If I do, Ill just escape you.
His grip tightened. Im aware of that. But then youll return and help my friends, because if you dont, Ill give away your secret. Ill tell the immortal world you still exist.
She paled, and he felt a moments hesitation as that old, fierce protectiveness tried to rise.
You cant. You cant betray me, Kougar. The mating bond wont allow it.
He shoved off the protectiveness, reminding himself she wasnt the woman hed loved, ignoring his cats hiss of denial. Ill find a way, never doubt that. And when I do, you soulless bitch, Ill destroy you and yours. I swear it. Unless you help me.
Her gaze never wavered from his. Shadows of fear slid through her eyes, then dissipated, replaced by a weariness that almost plucked at his sympathy.
Do your worst, Kougar. Her words throbbed with exhaustion. Defiance, he would have understood, but not this. His threat hadnt hit its mark. Why not? Because she didnt believe he could betray her? Or because she truly didnt believe he could make her turn to mist?
The latter sent a frisson of fear skating down his spine. If he couldnt make her turn, his friends were dead.
Falling. Falling.
Hawke felt as if hed been tumbling for hours, perhaps even days. One minute hed been digging the heart out of one of the Daemons throats, the next, the ground had fallen away, the earth opening to swallow him in a swirling red vortex.
Hed lost all sense of feeling, of sight, of sound. And the sense that hed never landed was messing with his mind.
As was the fact that he had no idea where he was. Or how to get out. Inside him, his hawk let out a fierce and angry cry, clearly not liking this any more than he was.
Tighe had been right there beside him as the earth opened. Had he, too, fallen?
Tighe? Tighe! Lyon? Anyone?
Theyd only be able to hear his telepathic call if they were in their animals. Would he be able to hear them if they responded? He couldnt even feel his body, though he knew his heart must be pounding, rivulets of sweat running down his neck. Everything primal inside him roared with a need to escape this forbidding darkness.
But he refused to panic. The same thing had happened inside the Mage stronghold in Harpers Ferry, from what hed heard. Those Ferals whod been caught inside had been unable to communicate with anyone. But theyd gotten free, and he had to believe he would, too.
Goddess help him if there was a Daemon in here as there had been in that other place.
Goddess help them all if the other Ferals had fallen, too. Hed only seen Tighe go down, but that didnt mean others hadnt been caught.
If only he could feel his body. Feel something.
He got his wish as sudden, searing pain tore through his mind. Not an external attack, but a pain that originated from within and radiated outward like a bomb going off in his brain.
Even as he ground his teeth against the raw agony, he welcomed the proof that he was still alive.
Sounds brushed his mind, the odd sound of a horses whinny, and the growl of what sounded like a bear. Farther away, he heard other animal sounds. The low roar of a jungle cat and the cry of another bird of prey.
He listened with confusion until realization dawned. Animal spirits. Icy shock splayed across his mind.
The spirit trap. The very trap that had swallowed the seventeen.
His heart stuttered. It wasnt possible. The seventeen had disappeared in Scotland, not West Virginia. But what if that vortex hadnt been the trap itself but a wormhole to the original?
Dread curled deep in his mind.
Ferals didnt come out of spirit traps alive.
The seventeen had walked into one centuries ago and died, their bodies spit out days later. Their animals had never again returned to mark another.
Now he knew why. The animal spirits were still here.
And if he and Tighe didnt find a way to escape, their animals were about to meet that same terrible fate.
CHAPTER 4
Arianas pulse pounded as Kougars powerful body, dressed in all black, crowded hers, not quite touching her, but close enough that his heat called to her on the most primitive level.
She stood with her back pressed against her living-room wall, manacled, her body flushed and ready, desperate for the feel of him inside her even as her careening emotions threatened to sweep her away. The thought of him taking her in anger, in hatred, destroyed something inside her, yet on a purely physical level, her body reacted to his as it always had. Opening, turning moist and hot. She wanted him. Desperately.
That kiss . . .
Shed almost forgotten what it was like to be gripped by the powerful essence, the passion, that was Kougar, caught in the vise of his strength, drowning in his warm, masculine scent, a scent shed never forgotten.
His kiss had left her shaking, bringing back all those old feelings in a rush of memory. A pleasure that rushed through her body, opening her, strengthening her, making her blood sing and her body long for his. But the storm of feelings hed dredged up were so much more complicated.