Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(70)

Kougar led them in the chant as they cut their chests, one after another with one of Kougar's blades. When it was Jag's turn, he sliced his own chest, slapped his palm to the wound, then curled his hand around the blood and shoved his fist into the air.

As one, the eight Ferals tilted their heads back and yelled to the canopy of trees above, their voices roaring through the forest like a gale. "Spirits rise and join.

Empower the beasts beneath this sky!"

"Dance, Beauty," Paenther urged.

As the delicate Mage began to twirl, her hands lifted high above her head, mystic thunder rumbled, the ground beneath their feet shaking. Feral Circles were generally stronger and more effective in the power places - the goddess stone and the clearing behind Feral House. But Kara's radiance and Skye's gift had given the warriors access to the Earth's power they'd never before known.

"Empower the spirit of the lion!"

"The panther!"

"The jaguar!"

One after another, the Feral Warriors roared to the heavens, calling the power of their beasts.

This time, instead of feeling a rush of power, Jag felt pure, cool pleasure ripple through his body, inside and out. A cascade of joy as if Skye had somehow plugged them into heaven itself.

And when it was over, to a man they were grinning, Jag included for about half a second, until his fear for Olivia swamped him all over again.

"Let's go!" Lyon's roar of a command stole the last of the smiles, and the six Ferals took off, slipping through the woods on man feet, passing without a sound as Hawke took to the skies.

Lyon looked to Jag. With a nod, Jag took over lead of the group. He'd been the first to find the dilapidated Mage stronghold. And he'd be the only one to feel Olivia's feeding.

He needed to be out front, and they all knew it.

As he ran through the woods, one question tormented him, raking at his mind over and over. If she'd been turned, how would he kill her? She was the air in his lungs, the heart beating in his chest. How could he destroy her knowing the chance existed that she was still in there somewhere, her soul not destroyed so much as subjugated, as Vhyper's had been?

His every instinct, even the animal spirit that shared his body, roared at him to save her. To protect her.

But his loyalty and duty to the Ferals demanded he destroy her before she destroyed them. And he had little doubt the Ferals would be her target. How would he live with the guilt if she killed one or more of his brothers because he'd failed to stop her?

He was just beginning to understand how his guilt over Cordelia's death, a death that had been far from intentional, had wrecked him for centuries. How would he live with dozens, possibly hundreds of deaths that he'd consciously, willingly, permitted?

He wouldn't, it was that simple. He couldn't let it happen. If, when he found her, he was too late, if she'd already been turned, he would destroy her.

No choice. Goddess help him. He'd take her life and likely lose his own in the process.

The only bright side was he wouldn't have to live without her.

When he caught a glimpse of peeling, dirty white siding, he pulled up.

"She's not in there."

"How can you be sure?" Lyon asked him.

"I don't know." His confused gaze went to Tighe. For some reason he was certain the tiger shifter would understand. "There's a...brightness...inside me. A glow, when she's near."

Tighe nodded, his eyes telling him he did indeed understand. "The beginnings of the mating bond. And it's absent?"

"Yeah."

Tighe's expression changed, sympathy filling his eyes, and Jag knew he'd misunderstood.

"The glow isn't gone, Stripes. That's not what I meant." She wasn't dead, thank the goddess. "I still feel it. It's just not here."

Tighe's expression returned to that of the hunter. "Can you follow it?"

"No. It's not that strong." But as he turned away, determined to continue looking, Lyon stopped him.

"We're attacking the Mage stronghold, Jag."

Jag's hands fisted. "I have to find Olivia!" The need was eating him alive.

Tighe's hand landed on Jag's shoulder. "If we can catch one of the Mage and get him to talk, we might find her that much quicker."

Everything inside him rebelled. He had to find hernow . But Tighe was right. He didn't have a clue where to look.

Lyon began issuing orders. "Spread out and circle the house. If we get attacked and have to shift human, no other Feral should be within the arc of your blade swing or claws. Shift and get into place!"

Jag tore off his clothes, as did Lyon and Wulfe, then all shifted into their animals.

While Hawke circled in the air, the others raced around the house on four legs, taking up their positions.

Jag's stomach crawled with the need to get this over with. Olivia wasn't here. And she needed him!

Now!Lyon's voice rang in his head.

Through a haze of fiery pain, Olivia heard the cellar door open. How long had she been trapped like this? It didn't matter. She wouldn't feed from the humans. Wouldn't!

Prying her eyes open, she saw Mystery, a dark ball in her hand that spit and crackled as if it encased true lightning. A power orb, identical to the ones that had hung from the eaves of the house when she and Jag first stumbled upon it. Behind Mystery, two other Mage sorcerers filed into the room, one carrying a stack of bowls, the other a small, lit torch.