Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(73)

He'd been so focused on Olivia, he hadn't even taken in the rest of the scene.

Goddess. The state of the two humans...females...in the inner circle was as bad as Hawke had described. Blood gushed down their chins, choking them as they tried to scream. They wouldn't live long like that, with or without the Daemons, who now circled them. And he could only think that was a blessing. What Hawke hadn't mentioned was that the third in the center appeared to be a Mage. A Mage sentinel by the looks of his uniform.

What the hell?

Both his arms had been cut off and were slowly regrowing, his face a mask of terrible pain.

Soulless bastards weren't even loyal to their own.

All three were Daemon bait.

His gaze swung to the outer circle to the young adults, presumably human, tied to the posts. Two males and two females. This group appeared uninjured, though terrified.

Conscious but for Olivia.

Look above the three in the center,Paenther said. A trio of dark orbs floated some six feet up, crackling with dark lightning. Power orbs.This is set up like a Mage ritual, without the Mage. It has to be a trap.

I agree,Lyon replied.But we have no choice but to press on. We've been looking for those Daemons for nearly two weeks. This is our chance to take them. A low growl rumbled from his lion's throat.Spread out. We'll converge from all sides. Shifting is up to you.

The circle may be warded,Tighe said.We ran into that before.

Good point. Play it by ear. Paenther and Wulfe, head left. Jag and Tighe, go right.

Jag mentally ground his teeth. Olivia was left. But he followed orders without argument. As badly as he needed to feel her in his arms and to know she was okay, freeing her when she might be enthralled was far too risky. Draden-kissed or not, the woman was a hell of a fighter.

The six Ferals took off, circling the outer perimeter and the Daemons.Now! At Lyon's command, they attacked. Tighe and Jag both shifted into human form, Tighe tossing Jag a knife the instant they had human hands again. The Ferals always shifted into battle in pairs - one who retained his clothes, and weapons, through a shift side by side with one who couldn't.

Jag watched the nearest Daemon rake shallow furrows in one of the human females'

upper chest. As the woman screamed, Jag leaped at the fiend, Tighe right beside him.

The creature whirled, one set of his six-inch razor-sharp claws raking across Tighe's chest as the other tore through Jag's shoulder.Dammit, dammit, dammit that hurt. Fire licked across his shoulder and down his limb, but he stabbed at the Daemon from the front as Tighe took the back. Too quickly, Jag had to shift his blade to his left hand when his right started to go numb.

The Daemon slashed out again, but Jag ducked and drove his knife up into the bastard's chest, meeting nothing but floating cloaklike flesh. The bastard was as insubstantial as a draden.

"Where's his heart?" Tighe shouted, but Jag could barely hear him above the woman's screams.

"Hell if I know." A thick, creeping sensation crawled across Jag's flesh. Magic. "Do you feel that?"

Pamela Palmer Rapture Untamed

"Yeah."

Jag's gaze shot to Olivia as her head lifted, her chest rising as if she were taking a deep, cleansing breath. Beneath his feet, the ground began to tremble.

The Daemon swung. Tighe ducked and stabbed up into his chest, but nothing seemed to slow the evil sucker. As Jag lunged for the Daemon's head, the bastard went for Jag's face. In a desperate move, Jag shifted his attack, swinging his blade down hard and fast, cutting off the Daemon's clawed hand. Yes!

The creature screamed, an earsplitting cry, and shot up into the air, out of reach.

The ground gave another hard tremble as the feel of raw magic grew stronger.

"Pull back!" Lyon yelled. "Out of the circle. Now!"

Jag followed command, realizing belatedly that Tighe wasn't with him. He turned to find him racing toward Hawke.

One of the Daemons had his claws sunk deep in Hawke's shoulder, holding him fast, even as the shifter stabbed him high with a fierce and focused determination.

Pamela Palmer Rapture Untamed

"It's in his throat," Hawke shouted, his tone triumphant despite his predicament. "His heart's literally in his throat!"

Jag started forward, intending to help Tighe free Hawke, when he felt it - the telltale stabbing sensation along the surface of his skin. Olivia.

"She's feeding!" Hard. Jag turned and ran for her, his own heart suddenly in his throat.

Was she still enthralled, or had she been turned? His mind shouted in denial. She had not been turned!Please, Goddess. At least she wasn't terribly close to them. She wouldn't drain them quickly, not with over a dozen lives to feed from. But she would drain them. And if he didn't stop her, she'd eventually kill them all.

"Out of the circle!" Lyon's voice rang out harsh and desperate. Lyon and Kougar were on the other side, outside the circle's perimeter, but still battling one of the Daemons.

Within the circle, just ahead, Paenther struggled to help Wulfe, one of whose legs had been ripped to shreds.

The ground gave another rumbling roar.

"Out of the damned circle!"

Jag changed course and ran for the pair of Ferals, grabbing Wulfe's other arm as Paenther tried to clear him from the field. Glancing back, Jag saw Tighe and Hawke still battling. As he watched, the Daemon exploded in a blast of noxious black smoke.