"In a minute. Give me your hands."
Without hesitation, the three warriors thrust their palms toward him. Not even Jag complained. Three quick, shallow cuts confirmed that they were flesh and blood. He cut his own and held it up like a badge of honor, but the others only looked at him with confusion.
"What's up, Roar?" Tighe asked.
"Kara's in trouble. Hell, we're all in trouble."
"They've stopped." Lyon kept his eyes closed, his senses firmly on Kara as Jag drove. Fear for her clawed at his insides. He shouldn't have left her. Dammit, when was he going to learn? She belonged with him. By his side.
"Where?" Paenther asked.
"Somewhere between the I-95 and Route 50 exits."
"That doesn't narrow it down much. What exits are around there?"
"I don't think they took an exit. It felt like she stopped. Wait. Now she's moving again. Slowly. Very slowly." His heart lurched on a spark of hope. "I think she's running."
"Good for her," Jag said, his voice little more than a growl.
"The sun sets in less than an hour," Tighe said. Less than an hour before the draden would be on top of her. Then again, with a draden clone chasing her, she might not have even that long.
Ahead, the road curved, revealing a sea of brake lights.
Jag swore and slammed on the breaks.
"Where's that plane of yours when we need it, Tighe?" Paenther growled.
"About two hours west of here this time of night. If only we had Hawke." His words fell into the silence like rocks on glass. "The real Hawke," he amended. "When he could shift."
"He's still not answering his phone?" Jag asked.
"No," Paenther said, his voice grim. "None of them are."
Lyon stared at the stopped cars ahead. No way in hell was he sitting in traffic while Kara fought for her life. As the Hummer came to a complete stop, Lyon reached for the handle.
"I'm running. If you start moving again, pick me up."
He jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and took off along the shoulder. His speed in this form was, unfortunately, no faster than human, but he could keep it up indefinitely. And he was moving a hell of a lot faster than the cars.
His senses stayed on Kara. He couldn't feel her emotions from here and was almost glad for it. He knew she was terrified. If she was running, she'd figured out Hawke wasn't who she'd thought. If that clone caught her, she was going to be in pain.
His own fear was nearly more than he could bear-the fear that his senses would suddenly lose her, and he'd know that the only light that had ever shone in his soul had gone forever dark.
Kara ran for her life, down a steep embankment off the highway, toward a cluster of old buildings. Behind her she heard the blare of horns and looked over her shoulder. The man who was not Hawke had left his car in the middle of the Beltway and was chasing her, a large, lidded bucket swinging from one hand.
She knew what he intended to use the bucket for. To take her blood back to Zaphene. The witch would use it to free the High Daemon and his horde who, in turn, would try to destroy the Ferals. He couldn't get her blood. Never mind that she'd probably die in the process.
Even running as fast as she could, the man was faster, his legs longer. Too late, she realized she'd run into a dead end, a loading dock that was closed and deserted. Her heart stuttered. Sweat rolled between her breasts as she turned around, her skirt flaring around her legs, but the man blocked her escape, his arms spread wide as if daring her to try to get past him.
She wouldn't make it. He was too fast.
Instead, she dashed toward one of three doors lining the loading dock and pulled, praying it was unlocked, but nothing happened. With a groan of frustration, she started for the second, but she never made it. The creature grabbed her from behind and threw her against the wall. Her head collided with concrete.
Dimly, through a haze of pain, she was aware of being dragged to the edge of the raised sidewalk and pinned, facedown,, with a knee to her back. She heard the echo of plastic against plastic and the clatter of the bucket being dropped to the ground several feet below. As her head started to clear, the pressure in her back released long enough for her to be pushed forward until her head and shoulders extended over the edge.
She struggled against the impending fall, but the knee slammed into her back, pinning her hard. A hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back.
Her eyes swam with tears at the pulling at her scalp. Her pulse thudded. "Are you going to kill me?"
"My mission is to retrieve your blood. Your body is ho longer important to my mistress. I will devour your life force."
"What are you?"
"I am what I am."
"Is he is Hawke dead?"
"I cannot live unless he lives."
Thank God for small favors. But the gleam of metal caught her eye and she knew Hawke's survival was the only good news she was going to get.
The searing pain of the knife slicing her tender throat nearly sent her into oblivion. The drip of her blood into the bucket sounded obscenely loud, growing into a steady stream before it slowed again as her body healed. He sliced her throat again.
A second later, he yanked her sweater off her shoulder and sank his teeth into her flesh.
Her scream caught in her throat, finding no way out. Tears ran down her cheeks to mix with her blood as she felt him stealing her energy. Her life. Just like the draden had tried to do.
But the pain of the wounds was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Lyon . He'd find her too late. And he needed her.
She couldn't die.
She wouldn't die , dammit.
In the far reaches of her mind she remembered Lyon's voice telling her draden couldn't feed off her in full radiance.
But radiance had to come through the fire and she needed Earth. No going radiant in the house, Lyon had said. And the concrete would block her just as surely as the house's floor would.
Lyon.
Her love for him turned to desperation. She had to live. For him, she had to live.
The Earth. Connect to the Earth. Struggling to free herself from the fear and the pain, she sent her senses outward. She felt the wind caressing her damp cheeks. Wind. Air. These were of the Earth.
She pulled. Like a vacuum, she pulled and pulled.
Her senses caught on Lyon. Running. Anguish.
She could feel herself growing weaker. Dammit, she refused to die !
With a furious effort, Kara called on every scrap of energy left in her body and pulled, envisioning the fire, the radiance.
Envisioning Lyon.
For a moment, she felt him. His determination melding with hers. His power.
The fire erupted inside her, a triumphant rush of warmth and power racing through her blood, transforming her body into the glowing splendor of full radiance.
The demon released her with a squawk of anger.
Hold it , she told herself. Now that she had the radiance, she had to hold it. Her life depended on it. But she was so weak.
Sweat broke out on her brow and ran down her temples. Lyon's face swam in her mind's eye. The pain in his eyes when he found her in the dungeon. The heat as he made love to her. And the tenderness when he'd asked her to stay behind. Safe with Hawke.
Finding her dead would destroy him.
She held on to the radiance with everything she had until she was shaking from the effort.
Finally, the creature released her hair. Her chin slammed into the cement, shooting her head full of stars, but she held the radiance, knowing it was her only way back to Lyon.
She heard her assailant jump to the asphalt below, screw the lid on the bucket, and hurry away.
Still, she stayed radiant, feeling the warmth slowly heal her and the glow renew her strength. When she was able, she lifted her head and rolled onto her back, away from the edge. A small, exhausted smile tugged at her mouth.
She'd survived.
Her senses swam outward, seeking Lyon, sharing her triumph. His relief rushed over in a blazing kaleidoscope of emotion she could only believe was love. The gray clouds above turned to silver crystals through her tears. He'd never told her he loved her. He'd never said the words. But the love that flowed out of him, even from this distance, filled her with a warmth that eased all the pain, all the fear, all the loneliness she'd ever known.
She felt him near and managed to push herself up on her elbow as he ran up the ramp. He swept her up and into his arms, burying his face in her hair. For a long time he didn't say a word, just held her, quaking.
Finally, he pulled back, his pained gaze searching her face. "You're okay."
"I'm fine."
His eyes grew tormented. "I felt you slipping away."
"He was feeding off me. Like a draden."
"That's what he was. A draden grown into a clone." His expression shifted, turning amazed. "How did you ever go radiant here?"
Kara lifted her shoulder in a small shrug. "It was either that or die." She looked at him with all the emotion in her heart. "And I couldn't leave you."
The love that shone from his eyes made tears form in her own. He kissed her long and tenderly, then pulled back.
"You'd better put out your light before anybody sees you." He started down the ramp, carrying her as if she weighed nothing.
"He filled a bucket with my blood." Kara let herself release the radiance.
"We believe the witch plans to use the clones to free the Daemons. Probably as soon ass this one returns. We're going there now, as soon as Jag gets here with the car."
"Lyon, don't leave me behind again. They've already got what they need from me. I'm not in danger anymore."
"If those Daemons are freed, we're all in danger." His gaze met hers, his amber eyes at once infinitely soft and hard as stone. "But I'm never letting you out of my sight again."
A sense of urgency charged the air in the Hummer as they finally reached Feral House more than an hour later. For the entire drive, Lyon had cradled Kara against him in the backseat, reassuring himself over and over that she was all right. That she was alive. He'd never felt so helpless in his life as when he'd sensed her life draining away and had been too far away to stop it. He'd died a hundred deaths as he'd run, trying to reach her before it was too late.
But his little warrior had saved herself.
"He's already here," Paenther said. The car hadn't come to a full stop when the men flung the doors open and leaped out.
Lyon pulled Kara out behind him. As much as he wanted to keep her away from the witch, he wouldn't leave her behind again. As the breeze rushed over him, something rancid crawled over his skin.
"Ritual magic," Tighe said. "They've already started."
"Let's go!" As Lyon ran for the house, he pointed right. "Paenther and Jag take the rear." All rituals took time to complete, but there was no way to know how long ago they'd started. They might have nearly a half an hour to stop the Daemons from rising. Or mere seconds.
Lyon, Kara, and Tighe ran for the front steps. While Lyon pushed Kara behind him, Tighe opened the door and slipped inside.
"All clear," he called softly. They had no way to know if the real Foxx, Hawke, and Kougar would try to ambush them. No way to know what the witch had done to their minds.
The three raced for the door to the lower chambers, but as Tighe reached for the doorknob, his hand stopped abruptly.
Tighe swore. "A barrier."
Hell . Lyon slammed his fists over every inch of the door and never touched it. The entry was completely sealed off with magic. Tighe slammed his shoulder at the portal and bounced right off.
"It's sealed tight."
Lyon grabbed Kara's hand and nodded. "Back door." But they hadn't even reached the kitchen when Paenther and Jag came bounding into the hallway.
"It's blocked off magically," Jag said. "We can't touch them."
"Are the others here?" Paenther asked.
"Haven't looked. Tighe and Jag, find them." As the two warriors took off, Lyon met Paenther's gaze. "What do you suggest?" he asked his second. "How are we going to break through?"
The black-eyed warrior scowled. "In my animal form, I could breach that kind of magic. We all could."
"How?" Kara asked, the color high in her cheeks, the scars across her throat fading, though paining him still. "Why in your animal forms and not your human?"
Lyon squeezed her hand. "It's through our animal forms that we acquire the mystical power we need to fight this kind of magic."
"So if I were ascended, you could get through?"
"Yes. But you're not."
"How about we try punching a hole in the floor and dropping in on them that way?" Paenther suggested.
"Let's do it."
"I'll grab some tools out of the storeroom."
As Paenther took off, Kara pulled on his hand and stepped in front of him, her blue eyes hard as steel. "Ascend me."
Her words ran through him like a sharp bite of electricity. "No." He refused even to contemplate it.
Tighe and Jag came down the hall. "No sign of them. Not even Pink."
Lyon's fists tightened. At the sound of Kara's wince, he realized he'd about crushed her hand. "Sorry."
"They're not dead," Kara told them. "Hawke's clone said the clones can only live as long as the original lives. She won't kill them until she no longer needs the clones."
"Until she's freed the Daemons," Jag said. "They'll probably be Satanan's first meal."
Frustration and urgency lapped at Lyon's nerves until he thought he'd go mad with it. He had to reach that witch!
"Move the rug," he ordered, pointing to the runner in the hallway. "We're going to try going through the floor."
Paenther returned a minute later with two hatchets, a crowbar, and a pair of heavy mallets. They worked quickly, but it was soon apparent that no matter what they did, they couldn't create a hole.
Jag scowled. "The bitch was thorough."
"You have to ascend me," Kara said loudly enough that every man straightened and stared at her.
"No," Lyon said. "We don't know who your mate is."
She met his gaze, her eyes calm and sure. "It's you. You're going to ascend me." She turned to Tighe. "Can four of you do the ritual?"
Tighe's startled gaze swung to Lyon. "Yes. If necessary." He turned back to Kara. "I think you're right. I think Lyon's your mate. But if he's not, you'll die, Kara. None of us is willing to risk that."
Kara pulled her hand from Lyon's and stepped away from his side, making his beast roar in protest. She faced Tighe. "If the wrong man ascends me, will you still gain the power you need to shift into your animals?"
Tighe looked to Lyon, his eyes pleading for help.
Kara turned impatiently, her gaze flicking between Jag and Paenther. "I need an answer. Will you get what you need to reach the chambers and stop her from freeing the Daemons?"
"Yes," Jag said, the word low and pained.
Paenther nodded. "But if the Feral who ascends you isn't your mate, the power that renews us will kill you, Kara."
She turned back to Lyon. He felt the strength in those eyes, strength that outweighed his by two metric tons. "If you don't stop that ritual, the Daemons will kill your friends. And then you. And then me. They'll go on a rampage that will destroy everything and everyone we know and love." She shook her head slowly. "There's no choice, Lyon. And there's no time. You need to ascend me, and you need to do it now."
She was right. Dammit to hell, she was right. And it was killing him.
He couldn't lose her. None of them could afford to lose her. She'd demanded they use her once and would do it again even knowing she might die. He marveled at her courage and knew she was the finest Radiant they'd ever had. Would probably ever have. The Ferals needed her in their midst. At their heart.
She was their heart.
She was his life.
Lyon shook his head. "I can't lose you."
Kara's eyes softened and she stepped in front of him and took his hands in hers. "I'm not going to die, Lyon. You're my mate. I'm sure of it." She squeezed his hands with strength like steel. "You can't let those Daemons be freed, Lyon. And right this minute, the witch is down there freeing them."
Though his beast roared its denial, Lyon knew she was right. Nothing mattered but stopping the Daemons. No single life weighed in that balance.
He closed his eyes against the pain of what he must do, then opened them and met her certain gaze, and he nodded. "Paenther, prepare the circle out back. We'll meet you there in a minute. She needs to be prepared."
"Roar" Tighe's voice held a pain they all shared.
But Lyon didn't relent. He couldn't. "We're shifting, but for Kara's sake, keep your clothes on. You can buy new ones later."
His blood was like ice at the thought of what he must do.
But it was the only way to save his world and the people he cared about. The people he loved.
The only way.
"Get undressed," Lyon said, stepping over the wreckage to reach the largest of the three closets in the Radiant's bedchambers.
Kara stripped out of her clothes as she watched him, her love for him stronger than anything she'd ever felt in her life. She was sure of what she was doing. They had to be able to reach their animals.
But she wasn't positive she was going to live through it. Deep in her soul, she knew Lyon was the love of her life, but whether the Earth knew that was another matter. And if the Earth disagreed, she was dead. But this death would be different than the one she'd faced before. This time it was on her terms. For the right reason. In the arms of the man she loved.
Lyon came to her with a blue gown, its sleeves long and full. She lifted her arms for him to put it over her head.
"Not yet," he said. He tossed the gown on the bed, yanked off his shirt, and pulled the silver armband with the lion's head off his arm.
"What are you doing?" she asked, as he hooked it around her upper arm, squeezing it tight. "I thought you needed that."
"This is the way it's done." He picked up her gown and she lifted her arms for him to slide it over her. The dress fell to her ankles in a soft, silken cloud, the wide sleeves brushing the backs of her hands.
Lyon pulled his shirt back on, then gripped her shoulders, his hands steady and firm, his eyes dark, deep, and pained. "You are the most amazing woman I've ever known." His hands slid to frame her face. "I love you, Kara. If there was any way but this, I would choose it. But this is the way it has to be."
She covered his hands with her own. "I'm not going to die, Lyon. You're my mate. I know it's you."
He kissed her softly, then pulled away, closing his eyes as if he couldn't bear for her to see the pain in them. "Let's go."
As they went out the back door, she looked at the dark sky with trepidation. "What about the draden?"
"We have a sacred circle in the backyard. The men have already raised the Feral Circle. We'll be as well protected here as on the goddess stone."
The sacred fires were already lit and the flames cast shadows over the faces of the three men waiting for them. Tighe, Paenther, and Jag stood barefoot, divested of jackets and belts, but otherwise fully clothed. She suspected they usually shifted in the nude and was glad for Lyon's intervention. It was hard enough to accept what she was going to have to do in front of them, but to watch their bodies reacting to it would have been too much.
No, she amended. It would have been uncomfortable, but that was all. She was more than prepared to do whatever she must to give these men the power they needed to defeat Zaphene and save the world.
Lyon squeezed her hand. "Don't call the fire until I say." He pulled her into the center of the circle and into his arms. His mouth covered hers in a fierce kiss of love and possession and aching loss.
He thought he was going to lose her. She could feel it in the way he held her, could sense his sorrow in every touch. He thought she was going to die.
But when she tried to pull away to reassure him, he held her fast. His tongue slid against hers with frantic strokes, sending fire pouring through her body until she was clinging to him, moaning with need, a second away from release.
He pulled back, leaving her wanting, and gripped her head , his gaze boring into hers. "I love you. I've lived more these past days with you than I have in seven hundred years. Live for me, Kara. You have to live."
She smiled, tears gathering in her eyes. He loved her. What's more he knew it. "I'm not going to die," she whispered, despite the fear beginning to lap at her courage.
"No. You're not."
He shoved his tongue into her mouth once more, nearly sending her over the edge, then pulled back and turned her around to face the three men.
To her surprise, Jag leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
Paenther did the same on the other side. "Stay with us, Kara." He pulled out his knife. "I'll make the cuts shallow. Give me your hand."
He made a tiny cut in her palm, then a mirroring cut in Tighe's. Tighe held out his hands to her. "I'll hold you steady." When she placed her hands in his, he kissed her forehead. "This is going to work, Kara. We're not going to lose you."
Jag and Paenther knelt on one knee on either side of her. Paenther sliced each of their palms, made small cuts in each of her ankles, then tossed the knife into the grass.
Kara looked over her shoulder, needing to see the man she loved more than life, meeting Lyon's gaze for perhaps the last time. His eyes caressed her and loved her as hers did him.
"Turn around, sweetheart," he said softly. "Tighe."
While Lyon gripped her hips, Tighe stepped back, forcing her to bend over.
Paenther murmured odd words, intoning the ritual chant.
Her pulse began to race with an odd mixture of embarrassment, excitement, and fear. Lyon's hands squeezed her hips gently, reassuring her, sending a cascade of warm, damp need to her throbbing center.
"Call the fire, Kara," Lyon said softly. "But don't go radiant. Not until I say."
Tighe squeezed her hands, telegraphing his tension, a tension she suspected they all shared. She didn't want to die. Not now. Not when she'd found her place. Her heart.
She took a deep breath, finding her courage, then concentrated on pulling the fire.
"Done," Tighe said. Tendrils of blue flame leaked out between their clasped hands.
The sound of Lyon's zipper sliding and the faint rustle of clothing behind her sent her pulse into orbit. She felt him lift her dress, felt the cool breeze waft over her bare flesh. Lyon's fingers curled around her hips.
"Spread your legs, Kara."
She did as he asked, the men's hands retaining their grip on her ankles. She felt the damp tip of Lyon's erection slide against the hot center of her need. Then he slid inside her with a single perfect thrust. Kara gasped and arched at the rush of pleasure.
Lyon pulled out, then pushed himself into her again, filling her, his entry slow and careful, as if he wanted to savor every moment, every touch. He pulled out, then pushed into her again and again until her body quickened and she was on the verge of shattering.
"Now, Kara," Lyon said, his voice strained. "Call the radiance. Now ."
She could barely think. Struggling against the thick swirl of pleasure, she drew the fire in one hard pull at the very instant Lyon thrust hard into her, sending her over the edge. Her body tightened and burst on an incredible release, the radiance rushing through her in a torrent of heat, licking at her skin, filling her with a powerful blend of pleasure and strength, life and rightness.
A scream tore from her throat, pure triumph.
A scream mirrored in the triumphant yells of the men. As Lyon pulled out of her, the hands holding her fell away and she opened her eyes to find three huge, feral cats shimmering to life before her. Chills raced over her skin.
It worked! She was alive . She grinned and whirled to Lyon.
And watched in horror as he collapsed to the ground. Not a lion. A man. A man who appeared to all the world to be dead.
"No!" She fell to her knees beside him as her fingers flew to his neck, searching for a pulse that wasn't there.
"Lyon."
" Roar ." Tighe dropped on the other side of him, a man once more. "What happened?"
"I don't know," she cried. "It worked. I thought it worked."
"Look." Paenther grabbed her wrist and yanked up the sleeve of her gown, exposing the armband Lyon had given her, the lion's eyes glowing bright amber.
" Shit ," Jag said.
Kara looked at Tighe, her blood turning to ice. "He told me this is the way it's done, but it's not, is it?"
Tighe shook his head. "Dammit, Roar."
Her gaze flew from one man to the next. "How do we help him?"
Jag just shook his head.
"We don't," Paenther said, releasing her arm. "Not even a Feral can survive a blast like that without the means to channel it. He sacrificed himself rather than risk your life, Kara."
"He loved you," Tighe said, simply, his voice hollow.
Kara couldn't believe it. They were giving up. "There's got to be a way!"
Tighe's eyes burned with pain. "If only there were."
Kara's mind went white with shock as if all the color had drained from the world.
"We've got to stop those Daemons," Jag said.
"Go." She flung her arm out. "Don't let him have made this sacrifice in vain."
Around her, the three men shifted back into a life-sized tiger, panther, and jaguar, and leaped away. As she watched, through a haze of pain, they crashed through the doors into the underground chambers and disappeared.
CHAPTER 22
Kara turned on Lyon, her anguish turning to fury. "I hate you for this! It would have worked, Lyon. I know it. And if it didn't, I'd have been the one to die. It should have been me. Me."
Tears blurred her vision and ran down her cheeks. "Oh, God, Lyon, how am I supposed to live without you? I love you, dammit. I love you."
She was buzzing like a power station with enough energy running through her to light up half the state of Virginia, yet she couldn't save the man she loved.
Lyon needed her power. He needed.
Her mind started to spin. He needed his heart jump-started .
She ripped the silver band off her arm and curled it around his far larger one. Her pulse began to thrum. Humans came back from stopped hearts all the time, didn't they? There had to be a way to use this power to help him. Dammit, she wasn't going to let him go without a fight.
She sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, then ripped his shirt open.
Blood. She needed blood to blood, a conduit for the power. A knife. She leaped up and retrieved the one Paenther had tossed in the grass. Sparing no time, she sliced two deep cuts in Lyon's chest and matching cuts in her palms, then dropped the blade and straddled Lyon, pressing her palms to his chest, mingling their blood.
She was running on instinct now. With her shins and bare feet on the ground, she called to the Earth and was amazed at how easily she went to radiance now that she was ascended. Power burst through her, nearly more than she could contain. She struggled to control it, then focused it through her hands and into Lyon.
"Please, Mother," she prayed to the Earth. "Please give this warrior life again. Help me save him. I need him, I love him ."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Lyon, come back to me," she choked, and on a wave of fury and desperation, pulled more power and more and more until her skin glowed so brightly she had to close her eyes against the near-painful brilliance. She grabbed the knife and reopened the healing cuts on her hands, then slid her palms into the seeping blood on Lyon's chest, cuts that weren't healing. With a scream of fury, she poured everything she had into him, over and over until she was drenched with sweat.
"You're not going to die!" she screamed. "You're not!"
"Kara." The sound of her name from Lyon's lips was the sweetest she'd ever heard.
"You're alive," Kara gasped. She was glowing too brightly to be able to see him.
She felt his hands sliding up her hips, their grip weak. "Passion and pain," he whispered. "Blood and sex."
"Sex." My God, how was she to do it with him when he was barely alive? But as she tried to scoot past his loins, she came upon a massive, hard erection. "Gotcha."
She rose onto her knees, pulled the dress to her waist, and took him deep inside her again. As she rode him, she grabbed the knife, cut her palms and reached for his chest, clasping her hands to his own still-open cuts.
Mind spinning, she remembered how he'd had her pull the radiance as she came. With an effort, she released the glow and let her skin go dark as she pressed down on him, released him, then pressed down again. Lyon's hands fell from her hips.