A Love Untamed (Feral Warriors #7)(20)

“Where is the king of the beasts?” Jag asked. “Shouldn’t he be here?”

Paenther shook his head. “He’s already out there. The moment I told him what I’d learned, he called for Ilina transport and was gone.”

Wulfe grunted. “He could walk into a trap.”

“I sent four maidens with him,” Ariana told them. “If there’s trouble, they’ll get him out of there quickly, whether he wants to leave or not.”

Paenther turned to Ariana. “I’d like for two of your mist warriors to remain with each of the ground teams.”

“Of course.” Ariana’s gaze caught Melisande’s. “Mel will oversee the troop assignments.”

Melisande nodded. Oversee the assignments, yes. Accompany the Ferals? Not a chance.

“Hawke.”

At Paenther’s prompt, Hawke opened the laptop in front of him and began tapping the keys.

Phylicia disappeared from Fox’s side, misting beside Melisande a moment later, bending close to her ear. “Put me with Fox’s team.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Melisande caught a glimpse of photographs filling the screen.

“These are our two missing Ferals,” Paenther told them.

“I want him,” Phylicia whispered.

Melisande’s jaw tightened, but she nodded, glancing at Phylicia. “All right.”

“The one on the left is Estevan,” Paenther continued. “The other is Castin.”

Melisande jerked at the name, one she hadn’t heard in centuries. Her gaze swung to the front, and she saw the pictures fully. Time stopped as she stared at the dark-haired visage of her betrayer. The air froze in her lungs. Her vision began to waver.

Castin. Hatred flared up, a blazing inferno that ripped across the surface of her mind. Her head pounded, her face turned hot then cold as she remembered that night as if it were hours ago and not centuries. Castin. The only one she’d never found, the only one she’d never made pay for what he’d done to her and her sisters.

“Are you all right?” Phylicia asked quietly.

Stars in heaven. She fought to breathe, to corral her reaction. “Yes.” But echoes of ancient screams tore through her head until she could barely hear herself think.

One thought broke through, crystal clear. This was the answer she’d been searching for, the certain means of locking away her emotions and her awakening softer self once and for all. Secure the vengeance she’d sought for so very long.

Castin must die, and before his first shift, because once he acquired the power of his animal, he’d be almost impossible to kill. She had to find him before the Feral teams searching for him did. Which meant she was going to have to accompany them.

“I know Castin,” Fox said. “I worked with him briefly, years ago. He’s a fine warrior.”

Melisande’s gaze wasn’t the only one to snap to the Greek god.

“Then your team will track him.” Paenther turned to Kougar. “Yours will follow Estevan. If our guess is right, you’ll converge on Inir’s stronghold.”

Melisande’s head began to throb. The last thing she wanted was to accompany Fox and his team, to be forced to spend long hours in that shifter’s company. Especially with Phylicia trying to maneuver him into her bed . . . or her body.

But as badly as she wanted to stay away from Fox, she wanted . . . needed . . . her vengeance more.

Chapter Five

Melisande deposited Jag on the pine-needle-strewn ground beneath the trees, took form, and stepped back, watching as the two Feral males and Jag’s mate, Olivia, dropped to their knees dizzily, spilling their lunches onto the dirt.

Phylicia and Marguerite, who’d transported the others, came to stand beside her.

“Marguerite, you’ll return to the Crystal Realm. I’ll be accompanying this group.”

Both Ilinas looked at Melisande with surprise, but neither questioned her. With a quick nod, Marguerite misted away.

Phylicia grasped her hand with an excited grin. “I’m glad you’re coming with us, Mel. This is going to be so much fun!”

Melisande didn’t return the woman’s smile and wouldn’t have even if she could. Fun, this trip would not be, of that she was certain. There was no telling what dangers the Mage would throw in their path. And then, of course, there was Fox.

To Phylicia, he undoubtedly was the fun. She could hardly blame the other Ilina for being excited about a trip through a beautiful forest with an even more beautiful and unattached male, one she longed to seduce.

Have at him, Melisande thought as she watched the Greek god push himself to his feet. But the thought of Phylicia and Fox together clawed at her insides. Even as she scowled at the thought, the male in question turned her way, his gaze locking with hers. Desire curled deep inside her, heating her, annoying the hell out of her.

As their gazes met, his expression gave way to one of smug satisfaction, the smile spreading slowly across his finely shaped mouth as if he saw exactly what he did to her, as if he fully believed she was more interested in him than she pretended. When, of course, he knew nothing. Nothing at all.

She wasn’t interested. She wanted nothing to do with him. If only her traitorous body would concur. If only she could stop feeling.

How she wished it were the other team on Castin’s trail. She’d happily accompany Lyon, Wulfe, and Kougar. She and Lyon had come to something of a truce in the past weeks, each agreeing not to try to kill the other. He hadn’t appreciated that she’d led an attack on Feral House though she’d been utterly justified. Kougar had kidnapped Ariana, and Melisande had had every reason to fear for her queen’s safety among the shape-shifters. Ultimately, Kougar and Ariana had reclaimed the love they’d once shared, and now the two races worked together closely. Too closely.