Hunger Untamed (Feral Warriors #5)(41)

"I feel magic," murmured the dark blond Ilina Kougar didn't know.

Brielle clasped her hands agitatedly before her. "Mage magic. Ariana and Melisande would have transported into the thick of it."

The need to reach Ariana pulsed in his head like the pounding of drums. He started up the rocky path until the glittering crystal dome of the Temple of the Queens came into sight above him, blinding in its sunlit brightness.

The impressive structure was surprisingly large--perhaps the size of a three-story office building--and square, with a pair of thick pillars framing the entry. It sat atop a wide plateau, an iridescent ivorylike beauty capped by a crystal dome. The temple was an artist's dream, the pillars decorated with gold leaf, inlaid with sparkling gems of hundreds of varieties forming what appeared to be intricate scrollwork.

His warrior's eye took in the two sentries posted before the entrance, two men dressed in the blue tunics of Mage sentinels.

What in the hell are Mage doing here? How did they get up here? Helicopters, probably.

Brielle eased up beside him as they waited for Jag to get control of his stomach.

"This place must be warded. Humans would be able to see it from a hundred miles away, even before binoculars and satellite imaging."

"Against humans, yes," Brielle confirmed, "but not immortals. Before the Sacrifice, the queen and her court lived here, the other Ilinas scattered in temples elsewhere in the world. But when the Therians turned on us after the Sacrifice, we were forced to flee to the clouds."

To the Crystal Realm.

"Son of a bitch." Jag's muttered epithet carried from below. Moments later, he joined them. "You weren't kidding about that ride. If there's another way off this perch, I'm taking it."

Kougar turned to Brielle. "Tell me how to find Ariana."

Her worried gaze met his. "The lower chambers are hidden. I have to go with you."

He could see the panic rising in her eyes and reached for her, gripping her shoulder. "Stay here. We'll find them. Just tell me what you know."

The Ilina paused, took a deep, deliberate breath, then nodded. "The temple is divided into four chambers, in the center of which lies the rotunda. The great statue of Morwun, the first queen, stands beneath the crystal dome. To reach the stairs to the chamber below, you must enter the passage directly behind the statue. At the end is a curved stair that appears to go only up. I'll tell you the words that will open the passage down, and you must say them exactly. But, Kougar, I don't know if they'll work coming from one who's not Ilina."

"Tell me the words." Kougar glanced at Jag. "Listen and memorize. I've never had an ear for Ilina."

Jag gave him a quick, half-serious salute. "Yes, sir."

Brielle whispered a string of sounds he knew to be ancient Ilina, a language that had always sounded more like music to his ear than words. And not music with any kind of logic to it.

Jag scowled. "What the hell was that?"

Kougar closed his eyes. Clearly, Jag wasn't going to be any better at Ilina than he was. "Again, Brielle."

The woman repeated the sounds. In his head he tried to mimic them and failed. Dammit, I have to do this. It's the only way I'm going to reach Ariana.

He tried to repeat the sounds out loud.

Brielle shook her head. "That's not it." Again, she sang the chant and again Kougar tried to mimic her with no more success than before. He felt like he wasn't hearing her properly. Like there were pieces missing. He looked to Jag, hoping he was starting to catch on.

Jag shook his head. "She might as well be speaking hummingbird."

Dammit. He'd have to figure out something else when he got in there. Without further discussion, he shifted directly into his house-cat form, bypassing his larger cougar. Beside him, Jag downsized into his mini jaguar.

Are they really going to believe two cats found their way all the way up here? Jag asked telepathically.

No. That's why we're going in together. When you get inside, head left and keep them away from the back passage. I'll go right.

Aye-aye.

As one, they darted across the open rock and up the dozen steps to the pillars. Not until they were racing between the guards did one of the sentinels do a double take.

"What's with the cats?"

"Shit. Those aren't cats. They're shifters!"

Kougar darted into the mammoth temple, heading straight for the middle and the giant golden statue of a naked woman with wild hair, lifting a sword high over her head. A woman who'd lived and ruled when humans still lived in caves. Though he sensed the presence of others in the temple, none were in the rotunda except the two chasing them, shouting for backup.

Kougar's senses went out to Ariana, but he felt her only at a distance. The lower chambers, dammit. He'd been hoping Brielle was mistaken about that.

Any sign of your queen wife? Jag asked.

Any chance you remember the words Brielle spoke?

You're kidding, right?

That's what I was afraid of.

Was that a quip, Kougar-man? Don't tell me you have a sense of humor after all this time.

Kougar ignored him. Meet me in the back passage when you shake off your Mage.

Already done and on my way.

Kougar darted across the ivory floor and down a passage whose walls were decorated with climbing vines of inlaid crystal and gems, to the stairwell Brielle had described. A stair that went only up. He stared in dismay at the solid wall at the base where Brielle assured him another went down. Shifting into a man, he felt for any kind of latch, for any door at all, and found nothing. If there was a door there, it was a magic one, plain and simple.