Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors #1)(78)

"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.