Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(51)

Her friend was dead.

In a haze of grief and fury, Olivia ran at the Daemon, grabbing his wrist with her left hand, intending to suck the life out of him as she stabbed him with her right, but the touch of her hand against his sent a jolt of revulsion through her so strong she forgot what she was doing. His arm felt like living, writhing snakes beneath her palm.

Electricity jolted through her, a cold current that chilled her to the marrow of her bones.

She shook herself out of her shock and opened herself, sucking in his essence.

The Daemon struck so quickly, she didn't see him move until it was too late. With one wicked claw, he sliced cleanly through her wrist, taking off the hand that held him.

Olivia stumbled back, pain exploding as she stared in disbelief at the stump of her wrist, watching her hand fall into the grass as the Daemon rose and flew away.

Shock vaulted through her system, and she didn't hear the men behind her until she collided with the ground. The impact cleared her mind.

Survive. She had to survive. She tried to roll onto her stomach, reaching out only to slam her bloody stump into the ground instead. A scream of pain ripped from her lungs, then cut off abruptly as Ewan landed on top of her, pinning her to the ground with his massive weight.

Ewan's fist slammed into her jaw, knocking her head back into the dirt, nearly sending her into unconsciousness.

She struggled to focus, watching as one of the Mage leaned toward her with a cold, satisfied smile. "You belong to us, now."

His hand reached for her face.

Chapter Sixteen

He had to reach Olivia!

But he couldn't leave his brothers behind. Never in his life could Jag remember feeling such a battle of loyalties.

Stripes, Wings!he yelled mentally.Kougar, if you can hear me, try calling on the power of your animals.

Good idea,Tighe said.We've got to do something! What about Kougar?

He's not answering.

Dammit. Alright, let's get Hawke and me back in our animals. Then I want the two of you out of here helping the Therians and D. I'll try to reach Kougar.

Hawke's shout of pain tore through Jag's head.I got...a stab in...before he clawed me.

His robe isn't...cloth. More like smoke. My knife went right through it.

At least we don't have to cut ourselves,Jag drawled.The goddamned Daemon's done that for us already.

His mind kept going to Olivia. If only he could communicate with her, to know she was all right.

Red? Olivia!

Tighe's voice rang in his head.I'm blooding my fist and raising it, Jag. Tell the others, then lead the chant. This may be the only chance we get. Still no word from Kougar?

No. None.

Then let's do this.

Spirits rise and join,Jag chanted, since he was the only one still in his animal and the only one they could hear.Empower the beast within this hell.

He couldn't hear verbal speech, only telepathy, so couldn't hear the others repeating the words. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that they heard him.

Over and over, he repeated the chant, his body tense and ready, waiting for that moment one or all of them shouted with the joy of the shift and let him know they'd succeeded. Then he'd spring out of this shit hole and race to Olivia's side.

But no shout sounded in his mind. Nothing but dead silence. The silence of defeat.

Kougar crouched, knives at the ready, blood running down his neck from where the Daemon had ripped off a strip of his scalp. His head was healing, but the venom had seeped into his mind, screwing up his brain. Already, he'd lost speech. He couldn't even reply telepathically to Jag's calls. Though he still had complete, complex thoughts, the part of his brain that turned them into language had been disabled by the venom. He'd recover eventually.

If he survived long enough.

In his head, he heard Jag calling him, but he couldn't respond. Again, Kougar fought to move forward, but nothing happened. Was he truly making no progress, or could he simply not feel it?

The telltale movement of air warned him of another attack a split second before claws raked across his neck and shoulder, opening him wide. Kougar spun, slicing high at the creature with his knife, feeling the blade dig into flesh. His face?

The Daemon screeched and shot out of range. Kougar tried to follow, but the warding kept him trapped. It was times like this he was glad he felt little pain, or he'd be hurting like a son of a bitch. As it was, the ripped flesh was a mild discomfort, nothing more.

Jag ordered them to join him in the chant that would raise the spirit and power of the animals. Kougar tried to respond, but as before, nothing happened. He couldn't join in, which would leave him trapped in this prison, unable to move forward or back, at the mercy of the Daemon.

He fought the growing lethargy of his mind, fought to find the power within him to shift so he could get out of this place. A glimmer of energy skated along the edges of his brain. For one brilliant moment, he thought the chant might be working, he thought he'd found the power to change back into his animal.

Then he realized what he was feeling. Not his own energy, but another. Ilina energy.

Even as the realization hit him, Melisande and Brielle materialized before him, their forms insubstantial. Mist. How they'd breached the warding, he didn't know, but he could both see and hear them.

Not in years had he been so glad to see a damned Ilina.

Melisande spoke. "You're in trouble warrior. Our psychic sees you dying here without intervention. Queen Ariana bade us let you die, but the psychic says no. You're useful still if we reconnect the link that was severed."