by Raine Thomas
A voracious howl came from her right. She felt her knees trembling. She knew she should run, but she couldn’t without knowing what had happened to Gabriel. Her head jerked sharply from side to side as she simultaneously looked for Gabriel and Skye and scouted for the wolves. The sound of her drumming pulse thundered in her ears.
“Amber, run!”
Gabriel’s voice seemed to come from the trees. She looked up, but saw only the heavy canopy of branches and leaves above her.
“Run!”
She turned and ran. If they had managed to climb a tree—and she didn’t see how that was possible with the branches being so high—then she was the only one in any danger.
They’re coming!
Amber heard the thought in her head as she hurdled over a fallen log. A loud growl came from only a few feet behind her on her left. Another one sounded from even closer on her right. She felt her fear like a tangible object rising into her throat.
Amber!
A gnashing jaw lashed out behind her, snagging the sweater around her waist. The resulting tug slowed her down, but didn’t stop her. She fumbled with the knot of the sweater as she ran. Another vicious growl sounded even as the knot loosened and the sweater slid away. Her eyes scanned the surrounding forest in desperate hope for a tree to climb or some other means of escape, all to no avail.
When she tried to jump over another fallen tree, the wolves descended.
From more than thirty feet above the ground, Gabriel clung to the tree branch he had landed on after whatever force Skye had managed to generate swept them off the ground. He lost sight of Amber only moments after she realized that he was in no danger and she turned to run.
Within seconds, five large, gray wolves passed under the tree in which he lay, moving quickly and stealthily in Amber’s direction. The sight chilled him to the bone.
Skye was crying beside him. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she chanted. The branch she was on vibrated under her, leaves falling to the ground due to the strong movement. Her tear-filled eyes were the color of blue ice.
Gabriel looked around him, desperately trying to figure out a way to get safely to the ground. Below him was nothing but bare bark along the tree’s trunk. He could taste his fear, knowing Amber wasn’t going to make it far with the wolves so closely on her tail. The ominous sound of their growling and snarling carried through the trees.
Just when he turned to Skye to have her try and use what power she had to get them down, he heard Amber’s scream. It cut off abruptly, leaving only the deadly sound of ravaging wolves.
“No!”
His terrified cry echoed across the forest.
The weight of the first wolf shoving her to the ground provoked Amber’s scream.
She realized quickly that the sound did her little good, and focused instead on trying to stay alive. Curling into a ball, she rolled until she was pressed in the fetal position, facing the fallen tree. She brought her arms up to cover her head, doing her best to protect her neck from their powerful jaws. Her T-shirt pulled up, leaving her lower back bared to their claws and teeth.
Unspeakable pain erupted along her back and left side even as she heard Gabriel’s cry. Then the sound of determined, hungry animals filled her senses. Flashes of red and black flooded her vision. Nausea rolled through her.
Then nothing.
Olivia abruptly regained consciousness when she heard Gabriel. Her mind went from gray to crystal sharp clarity in the span of a second.
“Put me down!” she demanded.
Ini-herit put her on the ground. Olivia started running. Aurora darted ahead of her, guiding her to the top of the ridge leading down to where the pack of wolves was attacking Amber.
“Stop!” Olivia shouted, praying she could control her power enough to save her sister’s life.
Gabriel clutched the tree branch beneath him in numb, raw disbelief after Amber’s scream abruptly ended. Skye’s sobs beside him grew louder, the torment in his shout of denial causing her to clutch her hands to her ears.
“I’m so sorry!” she said again, her breath hitching uncontrollably.
“Don’t be sorry!” he responded harshly, suddenly furious. A fresh wave of pain rolled through him, and he knew it was Amber’s. Anger and helplessness clashed in his chest in a searing wave. “Get me the hell down from here.”
“I can’t!”
“Yes, you can,” he insisted, trying to calm the tone of his voice and failing. “You got us up here. You can get us down.”
She shook her head.
He suddenly wanted to grab her and shake her fiercely, an impulse he had never had toward a female in his entire life. Amber was down there, most certainly hurt and possibly—he couldn’t think it. The fact that he suddenly couldn’t sense her in his thoughts impacted him even more deeply than her cut-off scream and projected physical pain.
“Skye Tomaganuk,” he said through gritted teeth. She looked at him, her eyes much lighter than usual. He took that to mean that she was still at least somewhat in the grip of her power. “Listen to me. We’re about to jump out of this tree,” he decided right then. “And you’re either going to save us…or die trying.”
“What?” she asked in a high, terrified voice.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he crouched on his tree branch and sprang over to hers. She shrieked as his added weight bowed the branch, tipping them rapidly toward the ground.
“Time to show me what you’re made of, Tomaganuk,” he said.
And then, grabbing her around the waist, he leapt.
The wolves obeyed Olivia’s command, suddenly stopping their assault on Amber and coming to rest on their haunches in front of her body. Olivia saw blood on most of their muzzles and open, panting jaws. Normally, that would have appalled her. Now, however, she was partly in their minds. She understood their hunger. Their need to survive. Their dispassion.
“Leave,” she commanded, sending the message out with her mind as well as her voice.
With a few loud, keening whines, they turned and dispersed.
Just as Ini-herit walked up behind Olivia and the last wolf disappeared into the trees, Gabriel burst out of them. Olivia sank to her knees as he jumped over the fallen tree, his eyes fervently scanning the woods. He caught Olivia’s gaze and started in her direction…until a splash of red on the ground caught the edge of his vision. Whirling, he finally spotted Amber on the ground just as Skye rushed onto the scene.
He fell to the ground beside her. His breath was choppy with fear and excursion as his hand went to her blood-matted hair. “Amber!”
There was blood everywhere. Her back, side and left arm were a mess of bites and claw marks. Her left shoulder had been viciously torn where they had tried to get at her throat. Blood continued to pour from the gory wound. He pulled his shirt off and wrapped it around the injury as best as he could. She remained still, her mind shrouded in a veil of darkness.
Ini-herit stepped beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “She lives,” he said in his placid voice.
The Estilorian’s words released the tight hold of terror over Gabriel. He clutched Amber against him and shook like a newborn foal.
Chapter Twenty
Amber resisted consciousness. In the dark, there was no pain. No fear. She could remain apart from the devastation imposed on her body. In the dark, there was at least the semblance of calm and comfort.
Eventually, though, something besides pain compelled her to resurface.
Amber.
She was unable to resist his imploring call to her mind. The flavor of him was on her lips. On her tongue. She felt his fear and the depth of his love for her…pulled on the well of his strength as he willed her toward full consciousness. As she eased from the darkness, she sensed the energy he was sharing through his kiss pulsing and swirling through her as shades of blue and gold. Not fully aware of what she was doing, she allowed her developing instincts to direct the energy in a way that would heal her the most effectively.
Gradually, in deliberate degrees, she eased back toward consciousness. She became aware of the sound of someone crying. The cat, Aurora, was purring loudly not even a foot away. Concerned whispers were exchanged, but she couldn’t tell between whom. A crisp breeze drifted across her, bringing goosebumps to the surface of her bare skin. The scent of blood mixed with freshly turned earth and crushed green leaves filled the air.
Gabriel’s arms encircled her, holding her tightly but not pressing on her still-tender injuries. His lips moved gently over hers again. She wanted to lift her left arm to touch him, but it wouldn’t seem to cooperate. Her right arm was pinned against his body. So she used her mind.
Guess I scared you, huh?
He abruptly pulled away from her. She finally allowed her eyes to open. He was studying her closely, his expression a mix of hope and anxiety.
I love you.
His breath left him in a shudder at her focused thought. He buried his face next to her neck.
Oh, God. I love you, too.
“Is she okay?” Skye asked in a small voice.
Gabriel nodded. Amber leaned a bit to her right and kissed the part of his jaw that she could reach.
“We must move,” Ini-herit said. He managed to sound less brusque than usual. “Our goal is not much farther.”
“That’s what you said an hour ago,” Olivia pointed out. “We’re tired, thirsty, hungry and scared. And now Amber is hurt. This isn’t at all what we set out for earlier today.”
Amber turned her head to look up Ini-herit. The Estilorian was staring at her. His gaze moved between her and Gabriel and back again.
“You will feel none of those things when you transition to the other plane.”
“Oh, sure,” Olivia argued with a wave of her hand. “This you seem sure about. Everything else has been, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘We have no way of knowing.’ But when you’re trying to convince us to get on board with your plan, suddenly you’re the voice of authority. You must think we’re a bunch of gullible idiots.”
Amber choked out a laugh. Gabriel leaned back enough to catch her gaze and grinned.
“I really think I’m beginning to believe she’s my sister,” she said, then watched Olivia flush with embarrassed pleasure.
Ini-herit’s lips pressed together.
Rolling her eyes, Amber said, “Fine. Let’s go. Goodness knows I’m not fairing very well on this plane as it stands.”
Gabriel helped her get to her feet. That was when she realized that he had taken his shirt off.
“Oh, my.” Deliberately ignoring the nagging pain in her left shoulder, she wiggled her eyebrows at him to keep the mood light.
One corner of his mouth rose and his eyes lit with humor. Then he untied the sweatshirt from around his waist and slipped it on, shaking his head at her when she made a tsk, tsk sound.
“I, um, found the sweater you were wearing, Amber,” Skye said. She reached out to extend it toward her without making eye contact.
“Thanks.” Sensing Skye’s tension, Amber gave Gabriel an inquiring look as she reached out with her right hand to take the sweater.
“There’s, well, not much left of your T-shirt,” he said by way of explanation. She sensed there was more, but didn’t push it.
Glancing down, she realized why she felt every breeze as though it was touching her bare skin. It was touching her bare skin. Only the front of the T-shirt remained intact. When she turned her head to look over her left shoulder, she realized that the neckband and the right arm of her T-shirt were the only things keeping it up.
“Well, that’s attractive,” she said at last. At least it looked as though her bra had made it through. Not that it would matter in a short while, anyway…and what a waste of money that was. With that thought flashing through her mind, she sent a quick glance around. “A moment?”
They all turned around and stepped a few feet away to give her some privacy so she could change.
Not you.
Gabriel stopped in mid-turn, giving her a surprised look even as she used her right hand to lift the neckband of the ruined T-shirt over her head and tossed the tatters on the ground.
You wanted to know what I had on underneath, she conveyed to him. This is your one and only chance to see it.
At first, she received no thoughts from him at all. She took that, as well as his wide eyes, to mean he was completely stunned by her actions. And as the shocked silence of his mind eased into wonder and pleasure and his eyes narrowed in intense consideration, she knew she had been right.
He approached her and took the sweater from her. Positioning the left sleeve so that he could slide it over her arm without aggravating what remained of her injuries, he got the garment up over the first half of her upper body. Then he closed the distance between them so that mere inches separated them. Using his fingertips, he traced the edges of the lacy rose-colored bra she wore, allowing his feelings as he did so to flow into her. She gasped lightly in surprise at the wave that overtook her.
Thank you, he thought as he slid the right sleeve up and began buttoning the cardigan.
You’re welcome. Oh—and I just want to say for the record that you are absolutely out of your mind if you ever think I’m letting you get a dog.
Just as she had intended, he laughed. And she knew it would be all right.
Are you going to tell me how you ended up in a tree?
She decided to communicate with Gabriel silently since she continued to read intense anxiety in Skye’s body language. He held her right hand and gave it a squeeze.
Skye’s power decided to make itself known, he returned.
Okay. Vague. So…what? She can fly?
Well, it was more like the air lifted us.
Whoa. Amber glanced again at Skye, who had yet to meet her gaze since she had woken up after the attack. She doesn’t look like she’s handling this well at all.
She got a sudden influx of thoughts and emotions from Gabriel that she sensed he was buffering. Rather than pursue the conversation, which was obviously just distressing him, Amber let it drop. His relief was evident.
Ini-herit hadn’t been exaggerating. They reached their destination within fifteen minutes of walking. He led them to a small clearing, about the size of Mrs. B’s kitchen back in Newnan.
As soon as she stepped into it, Amber felt a surge of energy like a kind of electrified field. All of the small hairs on her body stood on end and there was a slight vibration coursing through her, not as intense as the vibrations that usually resulted in a convulsion, she was relieved to note. It was more refined somehow. Strangely, more natural.
“Wow,” Olivia breathed as she stepped into the clearing. “Can you feel that?”
Finally, Skye seemed to shift from her somber mood. Her eyes widened. “Yeah.”
Gabriel held his hands in front of him as he stepped into the clearing, obviously just as sensitive to the energy change as the rest of them. He studied his hands as if he expected to see them transform right then and there.
“You have now all experienced the beginning of your powers Becoming,” Ini-herit said as he moved into the center of the clearing. “We anticipated that the process would be expedited when you came into contact with each other at last. It appears, on that count, we were correct. I am sure it is now also evident as to why you cannot remain here on the human plane.”
It almost sounded to Amber like he was trying to convince himself. When his gaze again moved from her to Gabriel, she began to wonder if it was possible that he was feeling guilty. And that thought then made her wonder if he knew more about how this transition would affect Gabriel than he let on. Her heart started pounding more fiercely in her c
hest.
“As Olaya has already reasoned,” Ini-herit continued, “we often use what the humans call the Aurora Borealis to transition between the planes. Although this energy stream is found across the earth in varying degrees, this particular location has been found to be the most potent store for our needs. The fact that this stream is not visible to the human eye at this time of year does not at all diminish its power. It was decided to bring you here for the transition, believing it has the best chance for succeeding without negative results.”
Amber watched Olivia and Skye exchange worried glances. “So, how’s it going to work?” she asked, trying to keep the other two girls from dwelling on the term “negative results.”
“We will join hands, and I will establish the connection with the other plane. The Gloresti awaiting us on the Estilorian plane will funnel our Estilorian energy along the pathways to the other side. We will assume our Estilorian forms. After that…”
“Yeah, yeah. You really don’t know,” Amber finished. She thought briefly of how it was going to feel to suddenly find herself in this strange place. It wasn’t at all a comfortable thought. “So, will we understand the language over there and everything? I mean, does everyone speak English?”
“No, but your mind will interpret everything said into your native language. There are no such communication barriers on the Estilorian plane.”
That was helpful, she mused. “Okay. And what happens to our, um, bodies?”
“Some Corgloresti will return to this spot tomorrow and dispose of them in the human manner.”
“What—bury us?” Olivia asked, her eyes wide.
“Actually, they will burn our remains.”
That was a lot to accept. Instinctively, they all looked down at themselves and rubbed a hand over an arm, stomach, face…something to establish a connection with their soon-to-be-dead human forms. Vigorously pushing aside the thought of her body lying among a pile of flaming corpses, Amber squared her shoulders.
