by Elle Thorne
Linc, Dina, and a young woman with eyes alit with flames.
Dina’s elemental?
Before Circe could react to Linc and his lion, or Dina, or anything, the earth shuddered beneath her.
Nevena was creating shudder after shudder, making the earth ripple under their feet.
Linc’s lion ran to her panther, nuzzled her shoulder, and began to lick at her wounds.
Still holding Dina’s hand, Linc sprinted to Circe, dropping to his knee, he knelt next to her panther.
He glanced up at Circe. “What—are you hurt?” His eyes scanned her face.
“No, I don’t think I am.”
He turned his attention toward Aje and her severed arm. “She’s the one who has wreaked this destruction?”
“Yes,” she told him, then looked at Dina next to Linc.
The little girl was watching her with eyes that knew way too much, way more than a young child should.
“What are you doing here?” Circe asked the little girl.
Dina turned her gaze toward the young woman who’d slowly walked closer to them. “Rinalli wants to help her mother. I was wrong before. She didn’t want to hurt me. First, she wanted to see her mother, see if Albani loved her. Aje told Rinalli her mother wanted to kill her. Rinalli didn’t believe her. Now she wants to help fight Aje. So here we are.”
Circe’s head was spinning. She was sure it was because she couldn’t seem to think straight or process what Dina was saying.
“Who—” Circe didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence.
A fire erupted, surrounding Aje.
That was the moment Circe caught sight of the young woman—the one that Dina had called Rinalli.
Rinalli’s arms were outstretched, raised toward the heavens. Her gaze was an intense fiery stare.
Fiery! Fire!
“Dina? Are you telling me she’s Albani’s daughter?”
“I am,” the young woman said, her black hair whipping in the heated wind that seemed to have picked up out of the blue.
Aje screamed as the flames engulfed her legs. She threw her one remaining hand up in the air and flipped her wrist with a snap.
A cascade of electricity dropped a solid blanket over the flames, extinguishing them.
Aje turned her attention to Circe. “You. You are the reason this is happening. If you hadn’t arrived…” with that and a flourishing wave of her hand, Aje formed an electric bolt that sizzled in the air, then flew toward Circe.
Linc’s lion roared, leaping in the air.
Linc yelled, jumped forward, his body in front of Circe.
Linc caught the bolt with his shoulder, shattering bone, singeing flesh.
The lion’s leap was mighty, spanning the air. He landed on Aje, his jaws wide. He sunk his teeth into her neck and shook his head before snapping his jaws shut with a bone-crunching sound.
Silence fell.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Circe looked up from Linc’s fallen body, making eye contact with Albani. “Do something,” she whispered as if she knew Albani could help. Of course, Albani couldn’t do anything—how could she? She wasn’t a doctor or a healer. Albani was simply an elemental. The fact she was powerful meant nothing when it came to healing. That power only applied to destruction.
Tears welled in Circe’s eyes, and she couldn’t have told anyone—including herself—how this man had come to mean so much to her.
“Don’t let him die, Albani. You have your daughter now. I don’t want to lose him.”
True enough, Albani had her daughter. Rinalli was in her mother’s arms, in a hug that bespoke of the absence from her mother. Linc’s mighty lion jumped away from Aje’s limp and lifeless body and approached Circe’s still fallen panther.
The panther raised her head, her eyes still glazed from blood loss and injury. The lion nuzzled her head, then took two strides closer to Linc and placed his broad nose against Linc’s chest, pushing, and pushing again.
Linc remained unresponsive.
“Please, Albani.” The words slipped out of Circe’s mouth unchecked. “Please, don’t let him die here.”
Albani nodded.
And with that nod and no notice whatsoever, Circe’s world turned into a spinning darkness, and she was sucked into a vortex.
Suddenly things were different. She wasn’t in the same world. She wasn’t—
Circe’s eyes flew open.
She was in the infirmary, her upper torso against the gurney, half-laying against Astra.
“Thank you,” Astra said softly. Her lime green eyes fluorescent and for the first time, without torment.
Circe gave her a slight smile, then looked for Linc.
He was on the floor next to her.
There was blood on the sheet where Circe had been but it wasn’t fresh.
There was blood on the floor where Linc lay.
“Oh, heavens.”
Mae was watching the situation, wide-eyed, her hand over her mouth in shock.
Jake was vaulting across the room, concern written on his face. He knelt next to Linc’s prone body.
Circe’s eyes flooded with tears. She dropped to the floor next to Jake and put her hand on Linc’s chest.
It barely moved.
“Help him,” Circe beseeched Jake.
“Kane, let’s get him to the other bed.” Jake was grabbing a black bag Circe hadn’t noticed in the corner.
Kane nodded and stooped to pick up the lion shifter.
With what seemed like little effort, though Linc was no small man, Kane and Jake moved his still motionless body to the bed.
“What happened,” Mae asked.
Circe shook her head to stifle the sounds of her panther roaring with concern over Linc and his lion, and the sound of Albani’s voice. She couldn’t even concentrate on what Albani was saying.
A small hand tugging on Circe’s own and brought her attention down to Dina.
The child was pulling on Circe’s fingers. “We have to help Uncle Linc.”
A fiery red flame flashed in Dina’s eyes, and then her elemental Rinalli spoke. “We will help Lincoln. Mother, you have to help us help him. Somehow,” she said to Albani.
Albani screeched at Circe to give her control. Circe was no child who could not control her elemental; she refused to give up her dominant position, pushing Albani back, she told her this was not the time. I have to be here for Linc, she told her elemental.
“Circe.” Jake touched her arm gently to get her attention, a concerned frown bringing his brows downward into a vee. “He has to hibernate to recuperate. He has to shift into his lion and hibernate.”
Circe knew about recuperating hibernation. She knew that was the one thing that could save a shifter who was close to dying.
Is he close to dying?
She didn’t want to contemplate that, though at the same time, she couldn’t have explained how he’d gotten such a hold on her heart.
“I wish I could do something to help.” Astra’s voice was filled with sadness. “I feel like all this is my fault.”
“It’s not,” Circe told her. “It started long before you. It’s been in motion for hundreds of years. You were simply the vehicle Aje chose. Please don’t concern yourself with that.”
She didn’t tell her that what she should concern herself with was whether or not Linc would make it. She didn’t want to lay that burden on Astra’s already tormented guilt-laden heart. “I want you to concentrate on your baby and yourself.” While I try to figure out what can be done.
But Circe knew she couldn’t figure this out alone. She needed help. She was mentally ready and able to turn to Albani for insight.
What can be done, Albani, she asked her elemental.
Circe could only hope that Albani had answers because she, herself, had no clue how to get a shifter to morph into their shifter animal when they were unconscious.
Albani’s voice resounded in her mind. You could shift. Stay near him. I’ll keep watch while you
’re in your panther. But your panther is wounded. You know this, do you not?
Circe remembered her panther being wounded in the other world but…
Does that mean she’s wounded still, she asked Albani.
But Circe knew the answer to that. She knew her panther was hurt, could tell from the faint heartbeat that seconded her own.
Could… she started to ask Albani a question she didn’t want the answer to. She took a deep breath and finished her question. Could she die? My panther? And if she did…
You know the answer to this. Albani’s voice was sad.
Yes, if the panther died, Circe would too. It may not be as fast as Linc was fading, but it would happen.
Shift, Circe. Let your panther out. Let her hibernate and heal. I’ll keep watch.
What about Linc?
Trust him to do what is right for his lion. He’s holding on to his human form because of you. Trust your instincts.
When did you become so wise? Circe asked Albani, though she knew that a being as ancient as Albani had learned this over time. It was no coincidence she was so knowledgeable.
Circe looked at Mae and Jake. “Keep watch. But outside please.” She wanted her privacy.
Mae nodded.
Circe took several blankets from a cabinet and laid them on the floor. She glanced at Jake.
Jake nodded at Kane. They collected Linc and lowered him to the pallet of blankets she’d placed on the floor. She sat next to him.
“Thank you,” Circe whispered to Mae.
“We’ll be close by.” Mae took Jake’s hand.
Kane put his arm around Astra, and the four of them made for the door.
Circe turned her attention to Linc. His chest, still barely rising with every breath.
Here we go.
Circe took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for the discomfort of the shift. Her bones creaked, the sound loud in the silent room. Sinew and tendons pulled and stretched as her torso lengthened and her chest expanded. Her facial structure ached with the widening of her cheekbones. Fangs erupted in her gum line, leaving tiny traces of the taste of blood on her tongue as her teeth realigned. Her legs stretched out, her arms too.
She huffed a panther sound, then nuzzled Linc’s body, pushing a velvet nose against his human side. She breathed him in deeply, and her panther sighed a long exhale.
In her panther form now, Circe could tell how wounded her panther was. She apologized in her mind for putting her panther through such hell and for not being aware how wounded she really was.
Her panther chuffed once, low, letting Circe know everything was fine. That she’d need to hibernate, but not until she could get Linc to shift into his lion.
Circe hushed, knowing the bond she had with her panther was strong, that she needn’t have worried about that.
I’ll keep a watch. You need to hibernate, Albani told her panther.
Circe was floored. In all her years, Albani had never worked with the panther, never communicated with her, barely acknowledged her presence.
Albani continued talking. You saved us. Without you and Linc’s lion, we wouldn’t have succeeded. And my daughter is with me. It’s time for us to end this feud between shifters and elementals. And if we can’t end it for other shifters and elementals, let’s at least put it to rest between us.
Circe was choked up from the conciliatory gesture of her elemental.
Her panther huffed a series of agreeing chuffs, then laid her head next to Linc’s wounded shoulder.
He will shift and hibernate, if he knows you are. His lion will be able to sense it and will take over.
Circe’s panther closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the deep darkness of hibernation, becoming unconscious and vulnerable to the world around them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Linc couldn’t have said what woke him up. He was in his lion’s body, and next to him was a beautiful black panther.
Circe!
His lion stretched slightly, his powerful neck moving his maned head closer to Circe’s panther. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of her. Woman and panther mixed together sitting on his scent glands. His lion let out the tiniest of snarls, a sound of pure happiness.
Linc’s shoulder ached, but just slightly, a reminder of the battle they’d been engaged in. He couldn’t remember exactly what happened, but he knew his lion had killed the elemental that had gone crazy.
What else could describe the way that elemental was attacking everyone? She’d lost it.
He wondered about the history of it, and hoped that Circe would clue him in.
Lying there, next to Circe, he reflected on the power of the elementals housed within the only two females he’d ever loved. His niece and the panther shifter next to him.
Yes. Loved.
He acknowledged he didn’t understand the emotions for this woman that flowed through him but they were there, and they were real, nonetheless.
He couldn’t live without her.
Now, the question was how would she feel about him?
Would she spurn him? Would she help Dina and then send him away so she could work on her Order of Elementals assignments?
His lion’s pulse raced at the thoughts crossing Linc’s mind. A roar was building in his lion and Linc was concerned that the roar, if released, would shake the very room they were in.
Chill, Linc cautioned his lion. We’ll work it out.
The lion didn’t respond, but his heartbeat began to normalize.
Next to Linc, Circe’s breathing changed. Her body moved, her panther’s muscles twitching as she slowly pulled out of her state of hibernation.
She stretched, her panther’s body lithe and muscular next to his.
One forearm rose and her paw was suddenly pushing against him, and then draped across his lion’s body.
Linc didn’t know if he wanted to push for a sync to create a link for them to communicate in their shifted forms, or if he should let her wake up. He bit back his eagerness to reach out to her, and this was no easy feat, for his lion was equally as enthusiastic.
He needn’t have worried about pushing to sync with her, for not more than a few seconds later, he felt Circe’s panther pushing against his mind, seeking to establish a connection. He quickly let her in.
“You’re awake,” Circe said.
Her voice penetrated his mind, infiltrating its way into his chest, wrapping his heart in a vise-like grip.
Oh yeah, this woman had definitely become something he wasn’t sure he could live without.
“I woke before you did,” he teased her.
She snarled, then, “How do you feel?”
“Alive.”
“That’s it? Just alive?” That was definite concern in her voice.
He wondered if that was a professional concern, or something more. How could it be anything more when she’d rebuffed him after their kiss.
Then again, he hadn’t imagined her reaction to their kiss. That was very real.
“Not just alive. I feel fine.”
“I—we—were afraid you might die.”
He had the same concern, but he wasn’t about to tell her.
“I’m not ready to die.” He switched the topic. “What about your elemental Albani? And her daughter? And Dina?”
She didn’t answer him right away. Then came that all too familiar sound, the sound of bones and musculature giving way to her human form.
He didn’t wait for her to finish her shift, he quickly began his own, morphing into his human body swiftly to catch up to her.
He studied her human face. She was pale, a clear indicator of what they’d gone through, but her dark eyes were flashing with the presence of her panther and her elemental.
“Albani is fine. You can talk to her anytime you want. She can come out.”
They were lying on a pallet of blankets, next to one another, facing each other. Her hair was messy, had that bedhead look.
Or that freshly fucked look.
Oh hell, did he really go there? Did he really think that? You bet he did. He couldn’t tear his eyes from her face, the planes her cheekbones and strong jawline created. The way her eyes cast downward, her lids hiding her emotions when she caught him watching her.
Linc couldn’t have told what happened, but it happened as quickly as a switch being flipped.
One second they were waking from hibernation, the next the air about them sizzled with chemistry.
And no kidding, it sizzled. There were soft hissing and popping sounds about them.
“Albani?” he asked her. “Is she causing that?”
Circe nodded, her eyes still down, her emotions still shielded.
Linc put a finger on her chin and tipped her head upward.
She resisted his finger, her muscles in her neck expanding slightly as she pushed back and didn’t raise her head.
“Hey,” he said gently. “Stop that.”
Without moving her head, she raised her lids and locked gazes with him.
“Stop what?”
“Stop making this so goddamned hard, woman. Why does everything have to be a battle with you?”
A golden light flared in her eyes, followed by a dark flame he knew was her panther.
This woman was strong. No meek little lamb.
He took her hands in his, raised them above her head and half-leaned across her. Trapping her body, but not fully, not threatening to take her freedom, just offering a slight view of what it would be like to not be totally free.
She chewed on her bottom lip, but said nothing. Did nothing. She was as still as a statue.
He could see a battle inside her. Something raging between Circe, her panther, and her elemental.
He let that battle rage while he took in the scent of her, the sight of her. He could wait it out. He could wait until this woman and her other factions determined what she wanted.
But he wouldn’t wait forever. Not without acting on what he and his lion wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Six
