Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(78)

"Olivia, please." But it was too late. She was past waking, slipping away, and he was powerless to stop her.

Jag looked into his leader's gaze, feeling more helpless than he had since he'd watched his mother burn all those years ago.

"I don't know how to save her, Roar. I have to save her, and I don't know how."

Understanding and sympathy filled Lyon's amber eyes. "She's your mate."

"How am I supposed to live without her?"

"Maybe you won't have to." The Chief of the Ferals shot to his feet, took a step back, and shifted into his lion.Vhyper, bring Kara. ASAP!

He shifted back to a man and knelt beside Jag and Olivia once more. "Tell me what happened. How did she strengthen us? I've never heard of such a thing."

Jag squinted against the rain as he looked into the curious face of his chief. "The Daemon energy gave her the ability to direct her feeding, or reverse it. The spell she was under wouldn't let her cut off the feeding, but she finally managed to send it back to us, to feed us. But now she's locked into that cycle. She's no longer feeding from us, but she's still giving us the last of her energy. She's giving us her life."

Lyon watched him. "She's a powerful weapon in the wrong hands."

Jag's teeth clenched. "Roar..."

"Or the right hands. The Mage tried to use her against us, yet through her own considerable will, she turned the tables on them. A hell of a weapon. A hell of a woman."

Jag bent over her, pressing his lips to her hair. "Don't leave me, Liv. Don't leave me."

He barely noticed when Paenther joined them.

"The place is empty," the panther shifter said. "The Mage have definitely been using it, though. There was an interesting clear cage in the basement that still echoes of energy. The other Ferals are freeing the humans and clearing their minds. One's dead.

Two need medical attention, but their injuries aren't too severe. They should survive."

"Lyon!" Kara's clear voice rang out over the yard.

Jag lifted his head moments later as Kara flew into Lyon's arms and Skye rushed to Paenther. Behind them followed a pale, glassy-eyed Delaney. Goddess, she'd lost her mate. Just as he was about to lose the woman he'd have claimed as his own. Empathy for her embedded itself in his heart.

Vhyper and Ewan brought up the rear.

Kara looked at Lyon's missing arm with a mix of horror and resignation. "It'll grow back, right?"

"In an hour, it'll be good as new."

She sighed. "Good." Her expression turned instantly focused. "Why do you need me?"

"Olivia helped us. I'd like to return the favor." His hand cupped the back of her head.

"Call the radiance, Kara, but only touch Jag."

Jag's gaze jerked to his chief, a flicker of hope flaring to life inside him.

"No promises," Lyon warned him. "But we're going to try."

Kara lowered herself to the ground, sitting cross-legged in front of Jag, her gaze soft but determined. "I'll pull the radiance first, then touch you for just a moment. I don't want to electrocute her."

Jag took a deep, desperate breath. "Help her, Kara."

In a flash, she called the radiance. Instantly, her skin began to glow as if she'd swallowed the sun, and it now lit the day from within her. Slowly, carefully, she touched Jag's bare foot with her fingers, then drew back.

"Anything?"

He closed his eyes, focusing, fiercely trying to sense a difference, a miracle. But try as he might, he felt nothing. Olivia continued to give up her life.

"No change," he said, his voice choked.

Kara touched him again, this time curling her glowing hand around his foot and holding on.

"Now?" she asked.

"No." He felt that glow inside him that was Olivia, sensed it wavering and sputtering, on the verge of winking out. His grip on her tightened, the desperation a storm inside him. He couldn't lose her!

She needed Kara's energy, but a direct shot would kill her as surely as a lightning bolt.

Only the Ferals, through their armbands, were able to channel that kind of power.

Through their armbands...

Jag's back went ramrod straight, adrenaline pumping through his blood, riding a surge of hope. He began issuing commands.

"Kara, move back. Paenther, take Olivia for me."

"What are you doing?" Lyon demanded.

"What I need to do, Roar. She needs radiance, but she's not getting enough through me. She needs a direct shot." As Paenther lifted Olivia off his lap, Jag leaped to his feet and turned to Lyon. His armband curled around the only arm he could use. He needed help.

"Get this armband off me, Roar."

Tawny eyebrows lowered over hard amber eyes. "No. Kara is not touching a life-stealer directly."

A growl rumbled out of Jag's throat. "She's not stealing. She's giving her life to us."

Beside him, Kara rose to her feet and pressed her glowing palm to her mate's chest. "I love you, Lyon, but don't keep me from doing my job."

Lyon's hand covered hers. "She's dangerous. And she's not one of yours."

"If Jag loves her, she's not only one of mine, she's one of ours."