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  As with the last ambush, and all the others before that he’d lost count of, the Hunters were far from stealthy when they launched over the edge of the canyon. Five men bellowed the same ridiculous roars as they attacked. Two of them rushed Naaz, and he deflected the blow of a machete from one almost by rote, knocking the man back with a kick before spinning to avoid a knife attack from another. The other three fought bare-handed with his sister, who slashed out at them with her blade, ducking and spinning as though this fight was a well-rehearsed dance.

  He wondered yet again at the lack of weapons of the three Neela fought, but something had bothered him about the behavior of her attackers. It was as though they sought to subdue a wild animal, to tame rather than hurt, while he felt like the Hunters he fought actually aimed to kill.

  “I’m not fucking holding back this time!” Neela yelled, and for the first time, Naaz was willing to agree with her. He may not have felt worthy of presenting himself to Asha yet, but he’d be damned if his sister was forced to endure these setbacks any longer.

  Hunters weren’t always predictable fighters, but Naaz and Neela had originated many of the tactics themselves when they were members of Nikhil’s Elite. Within moments, Naaz’s attackers lay bleeding to death in the dirt, and he quickly helped Neela dispatch the other three.

  Afterward, they sat catching their breath on a nearby rock, staring at the bodies. “This makes no sense,” Neela said. “They didn’t try that hard to survive. Hunters are usually more ruthless and less reckless than that.”

  “If they’re after the temple, they’d need us to get inside. No sense killing their only way in.”

  “Meri has to know she’s better off leaving Zorion and Asha in stasis. It would make more sense to try to kill us, and those guys definitely weren’t aiming to kill.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Naaz said, dabbing a dusty rag at a rend in his shirt where the one Hunter’s machete had sliced through to his ribcage just beneath his heart.

  Neela stared silently at his bloody shirt, her skin growing ashen. She swallowed and looked away, her mind throwing off adamant denial that Naaz couldn’t help but pick up. She was afraid of being taken and forced to breed again.

  “I won’t let her have you,” he said with steel in his voice. “And when you’ve awakened Zorion, he’ll protect you too.”

  She turned her gaze to him once more. “How can I be the only female capable of doing what she wants? Why did it have to be my baby she took?” She shook her head, her jaw tightening. “Fuck, that sounds so selfish. She did take others. I know. But mine was the one that survived. Can’t that be enough?”

  “They didn’t ever tell me how many times my seed took. But Marcus and Sterlyn and I were the most popular studs. Something about Elites makes us the best breeders for what she needs, perhaps.”

  “Oh, god. Do you think that means she recaptured Nikhil or one of the others? I’m the only female. If she already has a male ...”

  “If that’s happened, all the more reason for us to get moving to the temple.”

  Naaz sheathed his knife and stood. His sister pressed her lips together and slipped off the rock, falling into step beside him once more.

  The buzz of energy in his mind flared brightly when he refocused on it, like a light at the end of a long tunnel. His awareness of Asha’s presence in the world had been a beacon for months, ever since Nikhil had finally retrieved the pair from the hidden temporal pocket where he’d kept them. She was so close now he could sense her clearly in his mind. But with each step closer, his uncertainty grew.

  Asha was a treasure far greater in value than a man like him deserved. She would be better off if another man awakened her. But he pressed on, because seeing his sister happy meant more to him than hiding his own shame.

  They would all know at the end how unworthy he was, but at least Neela would be safe and happy in the arms of her dragon.

  “Where the hell are you going?” Neela asked. “The temple’s this way.”

  He stared down the path leading deeper into the canyon, the bright star of Asha’s power beckoning to him like a flame. “No … it’s this way,” he said.

  Neela propped her hands on her hips and shook her head. “The fuck it is. It’s this way.” She tilted her chin up a steep, rocky incline that led out to the starlit wasteland above.

  “There’s only one temple, sister. It’s this way. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “Then you’d be dead, because there’s no fucking doubt in my mind Zorion is that way.” She jabbed a finger up to the edge of the canyon.

  The shadow formed so swiftly at his sister’s back, Naaz didn’t have time to yell a warning before she went down. Then they surrounded him, the scent of blood and dust filling his nostrils.

  If he didn’t know better, he’d think his attackers were the same men he and Neela had left as corpses a few miles back. This time, the attack happened too fast for him to ward off, his movements growing slower and clumsier the more he fought.

  When one of the Hunters knocked his legs from under him, he struggled to rise. His body felt leaden, as though gravity was his enemy. He yelled out a frustrated curse and turned his head, frantic to see what had become of his sister.

  A huge, dark shape loomed over him, nearly indistinguishable from the night sky, save for the way it blocked out the stars. What Naaz could see was not quite a man, though it had the outline of one. It was pure, shining black, save for iridescent veins flickering over the surface of the exposed skin above its waist.

  The creature crouched beside Naaz and tilted its head, its obsidian eyes flaring with strange multi-hued fire.

  “You have a choice.” The sound was in the air, reverberating around Naaz’s entire body, vibrating through his skull and into his mind. “Your dragon sleeps unprotected. The temple’s barriers are not impervious to the right kind of power. Decide … Go to her when your affliction fades, or follow me and save your sister.”

  “Save her from what?”

  But the man only stood and turned away.

  “Don’t you dare fucking hurt my sister! I’ll hunt you down. I’ll kill you, you bastard!”

  The man let out a dark chuckle. “Good.”

  Naaz twisted his head to track the man’s movements. He bent down over Neela’s inert body, reached out an arm that seemed crafted of black opal, and brushed her hair off her cheek in an oddly tender gesture. Then he lifted her in his arms, cast one more look to Naaz, and in a blink disappeared like he’d never been there.

  Naaz screamed in frustration. He tried to drift, but despite the skill being practically innate, it wouldn’t work this close to the temple. If they could have drifted within a hundred miles of the place, he and Neela would have been there days ago. Yet that creature who had taken her had used a similar power to disappear.

  He gave up yelling when his voice grew hoarse and he realized he couldn’t move to reach his canteen, even to wet his lips.

  Refocusing his attention inward, he found the burning glow of Asha’s energy that had been in his periphery for months, but had become his entire world for the past several weeks. She was so close. Barely another few hours of walking and he’d be at the temple … He had to be that close.

  But he had no idea where Neela could have been taken, not even a general direction in which to chase the man—the creature—who had taken her. What the hell did he want with her? If he was somehow under Meri’s control, it could be bad, and those had definitely been Hunters they’d fought earlier.

  But it would be worse if Naaz wasted valuable time chasing a ghost. Asha was out there waiting for him, and he knew exactly where she was. Better to head toward the dragon he knew how to find. With luck, she’d accept his worthless ass and at least help him save his sister from the beast who had taken her.

  After about an hour staring up at the stars, his limbs began to tingle and he cou
ld move again. The world around him was quiet, confirmation that he was indeed within the range of a powerful dragon. They’d seen fewer and fewer signs of desert wildlife the closer they got to the temple. Humans were the only animals who risked venturing close to a dragon’s lair. And cats … For some strange reason, cats had no compunctions about being near dragons.

  Arrogant little fuckers. What Naaz would have given to at least have a cat along for this solitary final leg of his trip.

  Chapter Five

  The world swayed and tilted as Neela regained consciousness.

  She glanced around and sat up, cautiously taking stock as her surroundings steadied. Something soft cushioned her from beneath, and she was covered in a comfortable, warm blanket. Everything else seemed the same. She was in her dirty trekking clothes, her knife still at her belt. Groping around in the shadows, she reached a dark lump and found her pack.

  As her eyes adjusted, she could make out the walls of a cozy compartment not much larger than her old prison cell, though this one was made of smooth, curved stone that felt warm beneath her palm, and the bed she lay on was huge and luxurious. A slight air current filtered past, and she looked up to see a chimney-like passage extending vertically above her, opening up to a starry sky.

  It was the strangest bed she’d ever seen, but that was all it was. No prison doors or bars caged her in, and though it was difficult to make out in the dim light, open space extended even farther beyond the bed, illuminated by the warm glow of lights coming from outside this chamber.

  “Naaz?” she called in a low voice. “Brother, are you here?”

  She heard no answer, and worse yet, she had no sense of her twin’s nearness. The last thing she remembered was arguing with him about the direction they should go to reach the temple. He’d seemed so certain it was the other way, but her instincts had told her otherwise. She’d been following Zorion’s power for days. She’d know whether she was going the right direction or not.

  She shook her head. The subconscious flare of power that had led her forward wasn’t where she remembered it. For so long, it had simply been like a lighthouse in the distance. A marker for her to follow whenever his dark presence wasn’t beside her.

  That power was all around her now. That meant he was here.

  Her skin prickled with excitement, yet she had no sense of direction to lead her to him.

  “Zorion, are you there?”

  She crawled to the oblong opening at the side of the bed and slipped out, her bare feet hitting a warm stone floor. Glancing down, she found her boots and slipped into them. She headed in the direction of the light, reaching out with her mind and hoping for contact. He was here … he had to be … but this place, wherever she was, definitely was not a dragon temple.

  The place was a warren of smooth pale ocher sandstone corridors, worn away in organic shapes, like some giant worm had carved its way through the bedrock over eons. What was left behind was a honeycomb of odd compartments about twice Neela’s height, joined by corridors that were more like big, twisting tubes.

  “Zorion, I know you’re here. Please tell me where we are. What happened to Naaz? Why aren’t we in the temple?”

  “Naaz must walk a separate path for now. My sister’s happiness depends on it.”

  The voice was oddly formal and distant, nothing like the Zorion she remembered visiting her even as recently as the night before.

  “Are you all right? Are you really here? If you’re awake, I want to see you.”

  She tried to get a sense of his location from the pulses of power that surrounded her, but couldn’t make sense of any of it. Short bursts came from one direction, so she turned and followed them, growing frustrated at every turn when she still failed to reach the source.

  “I want to be with you. Please don’t make me wait. Not after so long.”

  “Can you love darkness? Do you know of my origins? I am not light like my sister. I am a monster.”

  She’d never seen this broody side of him before. Every other time they’d communicated, he’d been all about protecting her, blocking her mind from the horrors of what they did to her in her Ultiori prison.

  “That’s bullshit. I do love you. And I want to see you. Why are you hiding from me?”

  “To make you see.”

  “Nothing can be as dark as my own soul, baby. After what I’ve done, and what’s been done to me, your presence is the only thing that makes me feel like I have any worth.”

  But after one last little burst of power, he was gone.

  She locked onto that one glimmering pulse and headed in its direction. After a few more minutes of wandering, she reached an intimate room with a table in the center, incongruously set with a white tablecloth, shining silver, and china. Delicious scents wafted to her and her stomach growled.

  God, real food would be ambrosia after a week of living on rationed trail mix, protein bars, and what sparse wildlife they could kill and roast. They’d brought enough food for a two-week trip, expecting to complete it in one, but that had taken more than two months.

  She beelined to the table and sat, lifting the lid on the dish in the center. She didn’t even bother serving herself from the platter—she just grabbed the entire dish and dug in, spearing a roasted chunk of meat and popping it into her mouth.

  “Oh, you beautiful man, you definitely know the way to my heart.” Spying a bottle of wine, Neela uncorked it and tilted it over the glass, deciding she could at least be civilized enough not to drink straight from the bottle. She took a big gulp to wash down the food and sighed, slowing down now that the hunger pains had dissipated and she could enjoy the meal properly.

  There was even dessert, which was some decadent-looking thing made of frothy layers of cake and fresh fruit. A trifle, she thought it was called, though desserts weren’t something she’d spent much time pondering. She’d been trapped in a cell for centuries with only the blandest food for nourishment, and hadn’t exactly had time to enjoy the finer things since being released.

  “I don’t know if you’re out there, but I sure hope you’re at least enjoying this vicariously through me,” she said to the empty room. “It would taste even better if I could share it with you, you know.”

  “I am enjoying your enjoyment, adara. Let me do this for you.”

  “What I want most is to see you,” she said. “If all I wanted were tasty meals and soft beds, I didn’t need to come all this way to find that. I want you.”

  The bright presence retreated again and Neela let out a curse. Why did he keep hiding?

  Chapter Six

  There wasn’t any kind of pattern to the network of chambers Neela explored after finishing the delicious meal. Some had skylights similar to the portal over the bed she’d awakened in. None had windows, however, which suggested this place was deep underground.

  And yet she didn’t find any stairways or ramps that led upward, despite searching repeatedly and retracing her steps several times. This place possessed the kind of power present within a dragon temple, but without the elaborate architecture. But someone had come back through and methodically carved little alcoves along all the walls, within which were placed small glowing orbs of dragon stone.

  She rounded one arcing corridor and paused abruptly at the sound of voices carrying from several yards away. Male voices bantered, peppered with curses and laughter. They sounded friendly, at first, but with a tinge of the familiar that set her on edge. She leaned against the wall with her head tilted in the direction of the conversation, listening.

  “Who cares what he wants her for? We did the job, we got paid.”

  “Fucking rather not have to get my throat slit to get paid, if it’s all the same to you.”

  “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

  “He’s sending us back to fuck with the brother again soon. I’ve half a mind to cut the bastard again for this.
Stabbed me in the fucking balls. I owe him. I don’t care if the wound healed, I still felt the knife go in.”

  “Man, just do your fucking job. We don’t want to cross this bastard any more than we’d have crossed Doctor Waters. I’m not sure which of them’s the bigger psycho.”

  Doctor Waters? Neela’s blood went cold. The familiar banter of mercenaries was clear now. Not just any mercenaries, either … These were probably the Ultiori Hunters who’d been tormenting them all along.

  A voice carried closer and she shrank back, pressing her back to the wall.

  “I’m getting a move on. We gotta be at the temple doors by the time the brother gets there. Can’t make this fucker’s job easy, can we?”

  The brother … Her brother? Jesus Christ, who else could it be? Was Zorion somehow trapped under Meri’s control with this group of Hunters standing guard? That would make sense … and explain why she and Naaz had been separated. Perhaps they’d been unable to capture him too, and he knew better than to chase them. He’d need Asha to fight these guys.

  That didn’t explain the delicious meal she’d stumbled across … or Zorion’s evasiveness.

  The voice came closer, and she tilted her head slightly to see. A figure clad in black fatigues came partway into view from an open doorway, his back to her as he paused to talk shit to the men still in the room. She could get answers if she played this right.

  Hand on the hilt of her knife, she eased forward, drawing on centuries of Hunter training to remain dead silent. She reached him, and with a swift kick to his legs and a blast of her last dregs of power to his neck, she had him on his knees with his head wrenched back and her knife to his throat.

  “Tell me where the fuck you’re keeping Zorion, or he dies.”

  Half a dozen men lurched to their feet, playing cards scattering on the table between them.

  “Jesus fuck. He didn’t say you’d be dangerous.”

  “You’re goddamn right I’m dangerous. Tell me who’s in charge and where the fuck you’re holding the dragon.”