Ecstasy Untamed (Feral Warriors #6)(101)

"Lepard caught himself. He's been fighting the magic, as Grizz suspected. We're just helping him."

On a pine-scented breeze, Ariana appeared before them, first mist, then flesh, a distraught look on her face. Hawke sighed. There was trouble. Again.

"Kara's missing," she announced without preamble.

Her words slammed into him like a fist. Not Kara. His gaze collided with Kougar's.

Wulfe snarled. "Those Mage are going to die."

Hawke shook his head. "How did this happen? Lyon always senses where she is."

"I don't know." Ariana went to Kougar, and he pulled her close. "He knows she's alive, but he can't get a read on her whereabouts. It's as if something is hiding her from him."

"He must be going crazy," Wulfe said.

"He is. Lynks is missing, too."

Kougar's expression turned grim. "Get me back there, Ariana, and send your maidens for the others."

"Hawke," Faith called. "I can't go. Not yet. Paulina says there are other girls in the castle. Maxim left more than a dozen in cages."

Hawke turned to Kougar. "Faith and I will get the girls to safety, then call for a pickup."

"I'll send Brielle to you," Ariana said. "If anything goes wrong, she can call in the troops."

"Good. Thank you." Hawke glanced at what was left of Maxim. "We'll need to get rid of the sabertooth. Can you imagine the humans finding it?"

Wulfe groaned.

"We'll dispose of it in the Crystal Realm," Ariana said. A moment later, she and Kougar were gone.

As Hawke turned to Faith, Wulfe said behind him, "I'll start looking for the caged girls." Hawke nodded and went to join Faith.

"Any luck?" he asked her.

Faith looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I did it. If this works, they may both wind up in school. I think Maria's going to be a schoolteacher. She loves to learn, just like I do." Both girls lay sleeping, now, their expressions soft and peaceful. The tears began to spill down Faith's cheeks as she stood and turned to him.

He pulled her into his arms, fairly certain he knew where the tears had come from. "You heard about Kara."

She nodded against his chest.

"We think they have Lynks, too."

With a sniffle, she pulled back, meeting his gaze. "Or Lynks took her."

"What do you mean?"

"The falcon told me something. When we were wondering about Lepard, she said that his actions would tell us whether he was the one meant to be marked, or the one . . . the one the infection wanted."

"Ask her what she meant."

Faith's lashes swept down, then up again a moment later, clarity gleaming from her beautiful eyes. "None of the new Ferals was marked by accident. The magic was designed to force the animal spirits to mark the worst of the line, not the best. The one most susceptible to evil."

"It failed with you."

"Yes. The falcon fought hard against it and managed to claim the one she'd wanted. But the saber-toothed cat spirit wasn't as successful. Perhaps neither was the lynx."

Hawke stared at her, taking it all in. "If the falcon spirit is right, and she has been in everything else so far, then there were no mistakes. Each new Feral is either the best or the worst of his line. If Lynks is the latter, then even cured of the magic, he might be working against us."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"This changes everything. And Kara . . . Goddess." What kind of danger was she in?

Faith's eyes turned fierce. "The Feral Warriors will find her, Hawke. We'll find her. The bastards who took her don't stand a chance."

Hawke nodded slowly. He had to believe it. Kara was so much more than the Feral Warriors' Radiant, their strength. She was their heart.

But Faith was his heart. He kissed her, needing her warmth, and receiving a rush of love that he knew would sustain him through anything, a wholeness far beyond anything he'd ever dreamed possible. For the first time, his heart and body were in perfect accord thanks to the animal inside him and the woman in his arms.

"Together, we can do anything," he murmured against her lips.

"Let me see your shoulder," she said suddenly, pulling out of his arms and lifting his shirt from behind. A moment later, she was beaming at him. "Your feral marks look as good as new."

Whole.

In his mind, he heard the sound of a satisfied bird and felt a wash of the spirit's approval so rich and full, it reminded him of his father's, as if in death, a piece of him had remained behind with the animal spirit who'd claimed them both.

Faith watched him, her eyes brimming with tears. "We made it." She flashed him that darling grin - a grin that no longer held even a touch of uncertainty. No, this was the smile of a confident, powerful woman. A sweet, dangerous little pixie with blue-tipped hair.

"Be my mate, Smiley. Stay with me forever."

His love. His life.

"Forever, my Hawke. I'm yours."

Hawke's heart soared.