Hunger Untamed (Feral Warriors #5)(78)

"Up there." Ariana pointed to the small spiral tower rising from the top of the dome like a crystal stair to the heavens.

"We need to free your feet." He started up the stair. "Can you turn to mist, yet?"

"No, Hookeye's magic is dissipating, but too slowly. I'll open the wormhole, then once I do, I'll need you to throw me inside. I'll turn to mist in there and free myself from these macabre shackles."

Kougar continued up, the crystal stairs ending in a small, open platform.

"This is it," Ariana breathed. "The spot where Queen Rayas used to stand to call the magic that opened the passage into the spirit trap. Set me down, Kougar."

"Even you can't balance on a head."

Their gazes met, a shared moment of amused disbelief that they were having such a conversation. "Help me to my knees."

He helped her kneel, then stood beside her as she lifted her hands above her head, closed her eyes, and began chanting the musical magic of the heavens, the cold wind blowing her hair in a tangle around her head.

Kougar could feel the magic gathering, riding his skin, until finally it leaped at Ariana in the form of a slim bolt of lightning, diving into the crystal that hung between her br**sts. The Crystal of Rayas. The force of the blast knocked Ariana back against his knees. He reached out and steadied her, then released her as she continued to chant. If the blast had hurt her, she made no indication.

Moments later, a prism of colors erupted around her, flowing and twisting with power. The air parted to reveal a seething, pulsating mouth of dark crystal.

His heart began to pound as he stared at the death trap that held Hawke and Tighe, a path Ariana intended to travel.

Goddess, if only I could go myself and leave her safely behind.

"Now, Kougar." Ariana reached for his hand. "Throw me in. You can't touch it, or it'll pull you in, too."

The blood pounded in his temples. The last thing he wanted to do was toss her in there. She'll be fine, he told himself. She's the Ilina queen, the only one who can do this. The only one who can save Hawke and Tighe.

But as he swung her up and into his arms, his hands clasped tight around her, and he didn't think he could let her go.

Ariana cupped his face with her hands and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth, then pulled back to meet his gaze. "Trust me," she said simply. And he did.

It was the damned Mage still attached to her feet that he didn't trust.

But there was no choice, was there? She was willing to risk her life to save his friends. His heart melted beneath the weight of that gift.

The least he could do was let her try.

With immense effort, he returned her kiss, then pulled back. "Be safe."

Love warmed her eyes as she released him and tucked her arms against her chest. "Do it."

With a deep breath for courage, he did as she demanded and heaved her into the yawning maw. She didn't fall, as he might have expected, nor did she turn to mist midflight, as he'd counted on. She landed as one might in a pool of water, sinking down a short way before bobbing back to the center.

He caught his breath, waiting for her to move, to turn to mist.

Nothing happened. She just lay there.

His heart stopped beating.

Slowly, she began to spin in a slow corkscrew and he saw her face. Her eyes were closed, her expression lax as if she slept.

As if the act of entering the wormhole had rendered her unconscious. She was still corporeal!

His heart turned to dust.

"Ariana!"

This was what Hookeye had intended to happen all along. He'd set this trap, ensuring that Ariana wouldn't turn to mist. And the moment she hit that spirit trap corporeal, her soul would flee. She'd die. With the Queen of the Ilinas dead, there would be no one to free the Ferals.

His heart jackhammered in his chest, his head pounding, No, no, no!

The breath tore into his lungs like broken glass, ripping him to shreds from the inside out. She was gone. Into the wormhole, floating toward the spirit trap.

His precious Ariana, back in his life for only a handful of days.

Gone.

While his cat shrieked its rage in his mind, Kougar threw back his head and shouted at the heavens, "You're not taking my heart!"

In an act of pure insanity, with a roar of desperate grief, Kougar dove into the wormhole after her.

Chapter Twenty-three

The wormhole was like some kind of freak-show thrill ride, the dark crystal walls lighting every few seconds, breaking the pitch-blackness, as the force of the energy within spun Kougar in a slow spiral, pulling him inexorably to his death.

The cat inside him growled with approval, sharing the fierce need to protect his mate that consumed him. He wasn't letting Ariana go again. Ever.

Ever.

If by some miracle they got out of this alive, he would offer her everything he could and take whatever she was willing to give him in return; but he would not live without her again.

If they got out of this alive.

The energy pricked at his skin, stinging like ice crystals. And maybe that was what they were, because damn it was cold in there. Even half-frozen, perspiration broke out on his brow, his heart beating against his ribs as he searched the weaving tunnel ahead for Ariana and got no glimpse of her. If he couldn't reach her, and wake her, and get her to turn to mist before they fell into the spirit trap, they were all dead. Ariana, Hawke, Tighe, their three spirit animals. And him.