Passion Untamed (Feral Warriors #3)(68)

Paenther met his chief's gaze with stubborn determination. "There's no alternative. I'm the only one who's been inside that cavern or knows what Birik looks like. Besides, Skye's not going without me."

Stubborn Feral. He wouldn't survive it. Skye shoved to her feet, forcing Paenther to back up. "There is an alternative. I may be able to heal him. Now. Before we go."

Lyon's eyebrows rose. "I thought your power only came at midnight."

"My power is at its height at midnight. But I raise my power through the animals. Maybe if I call the forest creatures, I can raise enough to help him."

"Could radiance help?" Kara asked, walking through the door with a tray of coffee mugs.

"A power raising." Hawke tapped the table in front of him. "We need to call the power of the beasts. The power of the panther."

Lyon scowled. For long minutes, he paced silently, his face hard, his amber eyes alive with a thousand thoughts.

Skye stood there, waiting for his acceptance of her gift. She could help Paenther, she knew she could. But he had to give her a chance.

Lyon finally stopped and turned to face Paenther. "She's a Mage witch, B.P. A witch who's already demonstrated a disturbing power over our animals. If she's not what she pretends to be and seizes control, or uses the power she draws to incapacitate us, she could destroy us. If the Ferals go down, Satanan wins. Are you positive...positive...you can trust her? Without a shadow of a doubt?"

Skye clasped her hands in front of her, waiting for Paenther to tell them what he'd told her. That he loved her. Of course he trusted her.

But the room rang with an ominous silence. He made no such declaration. He said nothing at all. A chill stole over her skin.

Slowly, she turned and saw him watching her with a myriad of emotions in his eyes. But the only one she felt, the one that drove a stake through her heart, was the doubt.

He'd said he loved her. How could he love her when he didn't even trust her not to betray him and all he cared about?

Pain ripped through her chest, tears burning her eyes.

He didn't love her. He didn't even know her if he thought she could ever willingly betray him.

She shoved past him and ran for the door.

"Skye..." Regret laced Paenther's voice. But he didn't try to stop her.

With a sudden, desperate need to get outside, she ran through the house and out the door, into the yard. She stood in the snow, holding herself tight, tears slipping down her cheeks as she shredded the foolish dreams she'd woven in her head since the moment Paenther told her he loved her. She'd let herself believe, hope, that his loving her would change everything. That he was finally able to look past what she was, if not quite forget.

He'd said he loved her. If he loved her, he should trust her, shouldn't he? But he didn't. He couldn't.

Because of what she was.

The cold wind froze the tears on her cheeks, the chill seeping deep inside, spreading a spiderweb of cracks across her heart.

I love you, Paenther. I can help you. But I can never be other than what I am.

Paenther stared out the window to where Skye stood, creatures flocking around her. Dogs and deer, squirrels and cardinals, they went to her, pressing against her, seeking her attention. Offering her comfort.

But for once she didn't touch them, didn't acknowledge them. Her arms wrapped around her middle as if she didn't even know they were there. Never had he seen anyone look so alone. And his heart broke. He'd done this to her. He'd caused her this pain.

"I hurt her. I doubted her."

Lyon had demanded his promise that there was no chance she could betray them. But before he could give it, memories had flooded his mind, tearing out his guts. Ancreta running toward him that day just before she captured him, her gown torn, her cries tearing at his heart. And the way Foxx looked at Zaphene, poor lovesick Foxx with his starry eyes, head over heels in love with a Mage witch who'd spun her web over him so thoroughly he'd killed Beatrice, his Radiant, without ever knowing he'd done it.

For one horrible moment he'd wondered if he was Foxx all over again, snared by a witch's web of magic. How could he risk the lives of his men, of his brothers, on a Mage witch? Any Mage witch?

But how could he doubt Skye?

Lyon came to stand beside him. "Knowing what I do of your background, I'm amazed you've been able to trust her at all."

"I do trust her, Roar. I can't always get past what she is. But I know who she is. She's one of the purest souls I've ever met."

As they stood together, watching the creatures gather around her, Lyon murmured, "They say animals and children see the heart of a person. There's a lot at stake here, B.P., but we don't have many options. If I've learned anything from Kara, it's that sometimes you just have to trust your heart."

"I trust her with my life, Roar. If my life were the only one at stake, I wouldn't hesitate."

Lyon clasped his shoulder, drawing his gaze. "You're my second for a reason, B.P. If you trust her with your life, that's enough for me. I'll call the Shaman and get him back here to unbind her magic. Then we'll head out to the goddess stone."

Paenther felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. And at the same time, an incredible lightness of spirit. Goddess, he loved her. What was more, he knew her.