Wulfe Untamed (Feral Warriors #8)(77)

“Kara.” Lyon’s voice throbbed with misery. He knelt at her side, stroking her hair.

“I can do this,” their Radiant said, her voice determined if far too soft.

Lyon kissed the top of her head and once more took his place in the circle.

“Shite!” Fox exclaimed suddenly. “I just lost my animal.”

“Fuck,” Jag muttered. The hopeful air disintegrated into a tight, heavy cloud of tension. The last of the Feral lights had gone out. Zeeland’s own had yet to come on. Inir’s evil Ferals were beginning the ritual to free the Daemons from the Daemon Blade.

The race was on.

“It’ll be close,” Paenther murmured.

Or not close at all, if Kara couldn’t pull the radiance.

This time, Kara pressed her palms to the stone beneath her, closing her eyes, and tilting her head back, her face tight with lines of concentration. The seconds ticked by, then a minute. Two. Zeeland’s pulse pounded as he prayed for her to find the strength she needed. Come on, Kara. Come on, sweetheart.

Silence blanketed the goddess stone as every man and woman held his or her breath, waiting. Praying. If this didn’t work . . .

Suddenly, Kara went radiant, light erupting within her, a dim glow at first that quickly grew brighter and brighter until it shone through her skin as if she’d swallowed a small piece of the sun. Zeeland’s mind sang with relief and excitement, his gaze finding Julianne’s as she stood beside Ariana, his heart warming.

“Stay where you are, Zeeland,” Lyon ordered. “If you touch her without an armband, the radiance will kill you.”

As the rest of the Ferals stepped forward, closing around Kara, clasping her arms or ankles, or pressing a palm to the top of her head, Zeeland remained still, and watched. Kougar was the first to release Kara and walk toward him. He pressed his bloodied fist on top of Zeeland’s. The others joined them, Lyon pressing his fist atop Kougar’s, Paenther’s atop Lyon’s, Wulfe’s atop Paenther’s. One by one they added their blood until all pressed close around him.

Kougar began to chant, switching to English as the others joined in. “Spirits rise and join. Empower the beasts beneath this moon. Goddess, reveal your warrior!”

Thunder rumbled across the clear sunset sky, a roar of powerful magic. The rock beneath Zeeland’s feet trembled, as if in anticipation. Or dread. Zeeland’s pulse thudded in his ears. Power raced through his body, a joy and pleasure and rightness of extraordinary proportions. And suddenly his vision shifted until he was staring at the belts of the males and female encircling him. His senses exploded—sights, sounds, scents. He heard the heartbeats of every person around him, smelled them individually.

A cheer went up.

“The sabertooth!” Jag cried. “So it was you the animal meant to mark, not that bastard Maxim.”

Incredible. A saber-toothed tiger, an animal not seen in nature in ten thousand years.

“Shift back, Zeeland,” Kougar said. “Choose to be a man once more, and it will be so.”

Zeeland did as he was told and in a burst of colorful lights and intense pleasure, he shifted back into a man. And he still had his pants on!

The others gathered around him, clapping him on the back and slapping forearms with him.

“Henceforth,” Kougar intoned. “You will be known as Zaber.”

“Kara,” Paenther breathed and all turned to find Lyon grinning as he lifted Kara high, their Radiant’s face aglow with health, at last.

The moment Lyon set Kara on her feet again, she strode to Zeeland and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close.

“Thank you, Zee. You just saved my life.”

“It’s my honor, Radiant. You may have just saved the world.”

The reminder was like ice water, dousing the jubilation. As one they turned to Wulfe. But even before Wulfe uttered a word, the paleness of his skin told them all they needed to know.

Tighe scowled. “We didn’t get Zeeland brought into his animal in time.”

“No.” A mix of fury and pain glowed in Wulfe’s eyes. “For a few minutes the only Ferals who registered were Inir’s evil ones. It was enough. They’ve begun the ritual to free the Daemons.”

Chapter Twenty-one

“How long do we have before they free the Daemons?” Lyon demanded, pushing himself off the ground in the backyard of Feral House where the Ilinas had deposited them after bringing Zeeland . . . now Zaber . . . into his animal.

Wulfe rose beside him, his mind numb, still ringing with Inir’s triumphant shout. In that strange place inside him that Wulfe was beginning to think of as his Daemon soul, he could swear he felt that blade coming alive, little by little. He could feel it preparing to open.

“It’s impossible to know,” Kougar replied, watching them with the dispassion that had once been such a part of his nature and was now only a façade. “But I don’t think the Daemon Blade will open quickly. It was never meant to open at all.” He reached for his mate. “Ariana and I will mist to West Virginia, first. If Inir expanded his anti-Ilina warding, we need to know.”

“And if Ariana bursts into flames?” Lyon asked. They’d lost an Ilina to the warding the last time they’d tried to reach Inir, desperate to rescue Kara.

Ariana kissed her mate. “I’m going alone. I’ll test for the warding as I approach the mountain.”