Chapter 15

It was too much. She sank to her knees on the hard stone floor, wrapping her arms around herself as if she could keep from shattering into a million pieces. Her dress pooled around her like a lake of glistening tears.

"Kara…" In Lyon's voice she heard all the pain in her heart. "I'm sorry."

But when she looked up, he was already walking away.

Kara wasn't sure how long she'd sat there in the smoky room, in the ruins of the Pairing, the voices talking over her. Sounds of disbelief. Regret. Anger.

One hard voice cut through the others. "If Lyon touches her again, I'll kill him."

"You know Lyon better than that, Vhype. He'd never betray you."

"No. He won't." But the words sounded more like a threat than any affirmation of trust.

"I don't blame you for going crazy, my man. We're all hanging on to control by a thread. Lyon's no different."

"I said I'll fucking kill him!"

Kara shivered, feeling battered. Broken. She refused to listen to this anymore. She rose from the floor, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and started for the doorway.

Vhyper stepped into her path, blocking her escape. "You're going with me, Radiant. Nowhere else."

Kara stiffened, chilled as she stared into those cold eyes. "I need time. You have to give me time." A sob rose up to choke her. "This is all too much."

"Leave her alone tonight, Vhype." Tighe moved toward them, his eyes no longer yellow tiger's eyes, but green human eyes. "She wasn't prepared for this."

Vhyper cocked his head at Tighe, a smile forming on his mouth that quickly turned into a sneer. "I saw that tongue action, Stripes. You looking to make a little time with her yourself?"

Tighe snarled, his eyes flashing back to tiger, his fangs elongating.

But Vhyper ignored him and grabbed her, jerking her roughly against him. "She's mine."

It was too much! Whatever control she'd had dissolved in a cold wash of panic, her mind screaming as she struggled against the far stronger warrior, desperate to be free of this nightmare. She strained against his hold, kicked his leg with her bare foot, but Vhyper easily turned her against his side, pinning her.

"Let me go!"

"Vhyper." Another Feral's voice. Wulfe's? "If your aim is to win her affections… which it should be … this is not the way to do it. She's going to hate you for this."

"Fuck off." Vhyper turned, dragging her toward the door.

"No!" Kara screamed.

Paenther stepped forward, blocking their exit. "Wait, Vhype." Amazingly, her captor stopped. "Kara." But she was too desperate to quit struggling. "Kara!"

She felt her jaw gripped in a firm hand and found herself staring into Paenther's black eyes. Eyes that were not unkind despite their hardness.

"I've known Vhyper most of my life. He's a good man." She made a sound of disbelief and tried to jerk away from his hold, but he held her fast. "He's jealous at the moment, and suffering from the lack of radiance, as we all are, but he'll make you a fine mate once you're ascended. Once you get to know one another."

Kara scowled. "I don't want a mate! I don't want to be your Radiant, I don't want to be immortal, I don't want any of this!"

Paenther released her and stepped back as she flailed against the arms that bound her. Finally, she managed to catch Vhyper in the shin with a good, hard swing of her heel.

"You little bitch." Vhyper's hand closed around her throat, his thumb jamming hard beneath her ear.

Darkness fell.

* * *

"Your blood. Radiant. I will have your blood."

She was dreaming. Kara knew she was dreaming, but the knowledge did nothing to ease the terror. Smoke stung her nostrils as firelight danced on dark walls. Like before. Like the Pairing. But this time, instead of standing on a pedestal in a beautiful gown, she hung from the ceiling. Naked. High above her head, ropes bit into her wrists, pulling her arms taut, nearly wrenching them from their sockets as her body swayed in the air. Warm liquid ran down her hips and legs, dripping from her toes.

"Your blood. Radiant. I will bleed you slowly, stab by stab, until I have all I need." The voice was neither high nor low. Neither masculine nor feminine. But pure evil. The voice's owner moved before her, cloaked head to foot in black, holding two long, sharp daggers dripping with blood. Her blood.

"I shall bleed you until you die."

Kara jerked awake, pulse hammering, sweat soaking her nightgown. She sat up, then groaned at the terrible ache in her middle. The room was dark except for a sliver of hall light coming under her door. It was still night. The dream's terror swirled around her as she clutched her stomach, the devil stalking her with those bloody knives.

Light. She needed light.

Kara threw back the covers then sucked in a tight breath as her body protested. It wasn't just her stomach. She hurt… everywhere. Why?

Trembling, she reached for the lamp, gritting her teeth against the pain. What was the matter with her? Turning the switch, she cast the room into a soft golden glow. Her gaze darted around the empty room, diving into every corner, every cranny, but she could see nothing.

No fires. No robed devil with blood dripping from his blades.

She was completely alone.

With shaking hands, she grabbed for the hem of her nightgown and yanked it to her waist revealing nothing but a neat bellybutton surrounded by clear flesh. No wounds. No blood.

Already, the pain was ebbing away, but the fear remained sharp, pounding at her heart and making her mouth dry as dirt. The feeling of danger remained painfully clear.

It couldn't have been a dream. Dreams didn't cause pain. Not real pain. She hugged her knees to her chest as tremors wracked her, shaking the bed beneath her. It had to have been a dream.

Didn't it?

How could she possibly know what was real in this place?

Terror clung to her like a cloying mist, making it impossible to breathe. She couldn't do this. Couldn't stay here like this.

With Vhyper. And men who turned into animals.

She wouldn't stay here.

Pushing off the covers, she stumbled from the bed and dressed hurriedly in jeans and a sweatshirt, her hands shaking, her breath coming in tight gasps. Get out of here, get out of here, get out of here. The words pounded through her head as she slipped down the stairs and out the front door into the night.

Lyon woke with a start, his finder's senses ringing with alarm. Kara had left the house.

No one would take a Radiant into the night unless it was an emergency. His pulse started racing as he wrenched himself out of bed and strode to the window that overlooked the front drive. And saw nothing. No men racing with her to the car. No Ferals at all. Which told him everything he needed to know and sent his pulse into hyperdrive. The Radiant was out there alone.

Sweet goddess.

He yanked on a pair of jeans and flew out of the room, taking the two flights of stairs in three strides. Following his finder's sense, he ran through the house and out the back door. She was right where he'd known he'd find her, a good twenty yards away and moving in a crouched half run toward the woods.

Her emotion hit him like a sound blast, smothering him in her fear. Rabid, rampant fear.

Was she trying to get herself killed?

He ran for her on silent feet, catching her from behind and hauling her back against his chest. The moment he touched her, his senses exploded with the feel of her soft body against his, her sweet scent washing over him. The ache inside him twisted at the knowledge she would never be his.

Kara struggled against his hold. "Let me go!" Her raw terror squeezed something deep inside him.

"Easy, Kara. It's me. I'm taking you back inside before the draden find you."

She stilled abruptly as if he'd startled her back to wakefulness. Maybe he had.

"Have you stopped fighting me, little one?"

"Yes."

He released her, took her hand, and ran with her back to the house. When they were inside, and the door was locked against the creatures of the night, he turned her to face him, keeping tight hold on her hands as he tried to pull the raging fear from her. Moonlight lit her face, revealing the shadows of terror deep in her eyes.

"What happened?" he asked sharply.

The shudder that went through her reeked of fear, but as quickly as he pulled it from her, more rushed in to take its place.

"I don't know. A dream. Someone stabbed me." Her eyes tightened in confusion.

He started breathing again. It was as he'd suspected. "You had a nightmare."

"It felt so real."

His arms ached to pull her close and wrap around her, comforting her, but he didn't dare allow himself even that simple contact. Because he wanted it too much. And she wasn't his. She was Vhyper's now, and he had no business touching her at all.

"Tell me about your nightmare, Kara."

She shivered, remaining silent so long he wasn't certain she was going to respond. Finally, she sighed and relaxed into his hands as if giving herself up to his care, even as her fear kept coming.

Her mouth twisted. "It was just a B-movie horror flick. A dark-robed figure with a bloody knife coming after me. But I couldn't get away. I was tied."

"So you woke. And ran." He brushed his thumbs over the backs of her hands as he held her. Comforting her in the only way he dared.

"Did you hear me leave?"

"I'm the finder," he said simply. "I always know where you are." The feel of her soft hands, nestled tight in his, sent heat and need winding through his body. His gaze fell to the sweet fullness of her mouth, and he knew he was in trouble, or would be if he didn't put some distance between them, now. Goddess but he craved another taste of her.

"I'm surprised Vhyper didn't hear you." His words turned hard-edged, acid spilling into his gut. Goddess, but the thought of her with that warrior, their bodies naked and sweaty.

His jaw clamped shut.

"Don't even say his name in front of me." The venom in her words had his protective instincts leaping.

He gripped her hands. "What did he do?"

She turned away, her mouth twisting with bitter unhappiness. "I don't know. After you left, he wanted me to go with him, and I refused. I told him I needed time and he went all caveman on me and knocked me out, I woke up in my own bed just a few minutes ago."