Passion Untamed (Feral Warriors #3)(22)

Whether we choose to face them or hide from them defines who we are. Whether we choose to let evil live, or we fight to destroy it, defines our lives.

Sobs wracked her body as the humans' screams ripped through the caverns.

Choose, Skye.

She couldn't let this go on. She could not be the cause of so much suffering. So many deaths.

Choose!

Paenther didn't remember having been enthralled again, but he came back to consciousness to find himself once more on his back in the cell, Skye standing beside him, her cold, trembling hand on his c**k as she tucked his distended flesh into his pants. His body still pulsed with the exquisite pleasure of sexual release.

His gaze speared her. She'd used him.

As if hearing his unspoken accusation, she nodded. "I had to unenthrall you fast, and this is the only way I know how." She faced him with fear in her eyes. "I know you hate me, and I know you don't trust me, but hear me, warrior, and hear me well."

The urgency in her voice and in her face set up a drumming in his blood.

"I didn't know what Birik intended. You told me to choose, and I'm choosing. I'm choosing not to allow another Daemon to be freed. I'm choosing to free you instead."

He stared at her, his jaw tight, afraid to believe.

"You won't get out of here without my help. If you attack me, you'll never leave."

"Free me." The sound of a single piteous scream punctuated the quiet of the caverns.

Skye flinched and nodded. "She's the only one still alive. Once she dies, the crowd will disburse, and I'll never get you out of here. The two main entrances to the caverns are in the open, but I know of another one. You won't find it without me."

Like hell he wouldn't find his way out. After he got what he'd come for. Vhyper.

She unlatched his ankles then, one after the other, his wrists. His muscles were stiff as he pulled his arms down from over his head and swung off the rock and onto his feet with a rush of savage satisfaction.

He stared down at her from his far greater height, tempted nearly beyond reason to take out his fury on her as he once had Ancreta. Mage witch. But the rigid control that commanded his life held his hand. He still needed her.

"Where's Vhyper?"

"I don't know, but if you try to find him, you'll never get away. Your shackles are magic. Birik can call you back through them from a great distance. Throughout the caverns and the forests. Possibly beyond."

He grabbed her upper arms, squeezing until she winced.

"Remove the shackles."

"I can't! I don't have the magic." Her eyes beseeched him. "Paenther, there's no time! This will be your only chance to escape. Save yourself. Save us all."

The need to get Vhyper out of there, to fight his enemies, retrieve the Daemon blade, and kill the Daemons, was a breathing, burning thing inside him.

But if she was right, escaping now, before Birik realized she'd freed him, might be his only option. He'd rally the Ferals, and they would attack as one.

Paenther released her.

She hesitated for one pulsing, wary moment, then turned and fled for the door. "Come."

Skye led Paenther down the back passage. When she reached the dagger fields, she turned to the menacing Feral towering over her from behind. "Watch your head as you watch your feet. If one of the stalactites crashes, we'll be caught."

He said nothing, the only emotion in his eyes the promise of a slow, violent death. Her heart thudded, and she thought of running and letting him find his own way out.

But he'd never find it. And they'd be right back where they were tonight, freeing Daemons.

Choose.

She took a breath and rushed into the uncleared field of stalagmites, leading him through the open to a particularly dangerous patch where the floor and ceiling sloped together, converging until the rocklike daggers hanging from above and rising from below began to resemble sharp, interwoven teeth.

She'd climbed through here enough times to know the only path, but she was much smaller than he was. Still, as she made her way, no sound followed behind her. She turned to find him moving through the rock as sleekly and silently as the cat that lived inside him.

In the distance, the last of the screams died away, and the sound of excited voices rose. Her pulse began to pound. They were running out of time. Few ever came this way, but she wasn't the only one who knew the route. If anyone saw her with the Feral, they'd sound the alarm, and his chance at escape would vanish.

Her heart thudding, beads of perspiration rolling between her br**sts, she finally led him out of the difficult patch of rock and onto a wide path. Around the next bend was the small opening that led to the forest and freedom. Even from here she could feel the night air wafting in, cool and damp with rain.

With a breath for courage, she turned to the angry Feral. "When you get outside, run and don't look back. The shackles are magic and will keep you from shifting. I don't know how far is too far for Birik to call you back." She stepped back between two stalagmites and pointed. "There, warrior. Around those rocks, you'll find the opening to the outside. Be safe. Run!"

Paenther's hand closed tight around her wrist, his expression turning ugly. "Do you really think I'd leave you behind, witch? When all I can think of is taking my revenge on you?"

Skye's knees went weak with fear. "Please, I can't leave. He won't let me leave."