Hunger Untamed (Feral Warriors #5)(74)

Kougar turned to his men. "No killing. The Ilinas are enthralled and not our enemies. Killing too many Mage could cause an earthquake that would destroy the temple and make it impossible to reach Hawke and Tighe. The only one who dies is Hookeye, and Ariana and I are the only ones who know what he looks like."

"Stay alert," Lyon added. "These bastards have access to a spirit trap, and they want us in it."

"They're not getting what they want," Jag snarled.

Wulfe grunted. "Hell, no."

"Just keep your eyes and senses open," Lyon added.

Kougar palmed the top of Ariana's head, then slid his hand down her hair. "Be careful."

She blinked hard against the flood of warm caring she felt in his touch. "You, too." She couldn't meet his gaze, or the tears would get the better of her. But he gripped her shoulders and turned her to him, kissing her with a quick, passionate meeting of lips.

Through the mating bond, she felt a burst of tangled emotions. Fear and fury, savage determination and aching tenderness.

Unable to resist, she met his gaze and fell into those fierce pale eyes.

"We're going to win, Ariana. We're going to beat him." He kissed her forehead. "Come back to me."

Hope bloomed inside her with a fragrant beauty. "Yes. And you to me."

Beside them, Lyon lifted his arm toward the temple.

"Go!"

Kougar touched her face for one tender moment, then moved behind her, strong and protective at her back. With a fierce cry, the Feral Warriors, Melisande, and Ariana raced into battle.

With one hand, Kougar swung his sword, parrying the blows of the enthralled Ilinas, while with his other he grabbed slender wrists or feminine necks, and tossed his petite assailants far from the field of battle. The falls might hurt the Ilinas, but any injuries sustained would heal quickly enough. And for a few minutes, the women would be out of the way of slashing swords. For once, the Ferals weren't fighting in their animal forms but their human since they didn't want to hurt, let alone kill, their unwilling opponents.

The Ilinas were quick, deadly little fighters, but the magic thick around the temple was holding them all to flesh and blood. Unable to turn to mist, they'd lost the advantage of surprise, their speed and strength no match for the Feral Warriors'. Still, they fought with the single-mindedness of puppets in the hands of a puppet master.

Paenther and Vhyper fought as a team, falling back into the natural rhythm they'd always had. Kougar was glad to see it. Vhyper hadn't been himself since Paenther helped him reclaim his soul. But maybe there was hope for the Feral, yet.

On his other side, Ariana fought, refusing to stay protected within their ranks. She'd always been a warrior, but her skill was a hundred times greater than the last time he'd seen her, reminding him that she'd been a woman on her own for far too long. With her blue satin gown splotched purple with blood, her skin blood-streaked, and her hair a wild tumble around her shoulders, she reminded him of a warrior queen of old, her eyes fierce and glowing.

Never had she looked more beautiful. Never had he loved her more.

One of the Mage sentinels broke through the ranks of Ilinas, his blue tunic rippling in the wind, his sword flashing with the sun's fire. Kougar took him on with a vengeance, funneling his fury into the first combatant he'd been able to fight . . . and hurt . . . without compunction. In the Mage's eyes, he saw no light of battle, no emotion at all.

"Even the sentinels are enthralled!" he shouted to his companions. It seemed that Hookeye had enthralled even his own.

He fought the Mage in a quick, intense battle, his opponent a skilled fighter even with his will controlled by another. But in moments, Kougar sliced off the man's hand, sending his blade flying. As the man yelled with pain, Kougar grabbed his other hand and cut if off, too. His hands would grow back quickly enough, but he'd be no threat in the meantime.

As the Ferals hacked a path to the temple, Kougar gave thanks that the place was so isolated that the Mage had had no easy way to send up reinforcements in time to defend it properly. Thank the goddess, so far they'd been able to dispatch the Ilinas without anyone's suffering serious harm.

They fought their way up the ivory steps between the great pillars and into the temple's wide rotunda, where the remaining half dozen sentinels and last twelve Ilinas met them beneath the giant golden statue of the first queen.

As the battle resumed inside, the clang of swords echoing off the stone walls, Ariana broke away. Kougar followed, covering her back as she made her escape to find the passage that would lead her into the Syphian Stream and the spirit trap.

On feet as graceful as a gazelle's, Ariana slipped around a corner and started up an open, twisting stair that led to the narrow gallery ringing the curved inner dome, Kougar close behind. When they reached the top of the stairs, he noticed the series of niches that lined the inner wall, perhaps a dozen of which were filled with the life-sized stone carvings of warrior women. Queens? Was Ariana's likeness among them?

He didn't get a chance to find out as she paused beside the second niche, as if searching her memories. She turned to him, her eyes heavier than he'd ever seen them, yet lit with the fire of determination.

"This is it. This is the door. Wish me luck."

He lifted his hand, pressing it to her cheek. Her lashes drifted down as if she absorbed his strength, his touch. Goddess, she was about to travel into the spirit trap. His heart clutched at the danger she was about to face and the knowledge that he wouldn't be there to guard her. He couldn't go where she was going without ending up just like Hawke and Tighe.