by Dianna Love
“As if you aren’t evil incarnate? Where the fuck is she?” He followed Evalle’s scent in one direction then stopped when he scented a different path. Rushing around the fire while Haloke stood motionless as a statue, Storm picked up a third trail.
Then a fourth. Fuck! “Which way did she go? Tell me now and you’ll have a head start.”
“Why would I need that?” Haloke sounded too confident.
He swung around, shoving his red-eyed glare in her face. “To run from me.” That came out in a demonic voice.
Her eyes flared wide, but she stood firm. “I’m helping Evalle.”
“Liar!” Which way had his mate gone? He knew without a doubt every second counted.
She tossed something into the fire. Smoke boiled around Storm. When the smoke dispensed, he said, “Didn’t work, bitch.”
Her face fell and her hands shook.
“You’re losing your chance to run. What did you do to Evalle?”
“Healed her,” Haloke started on a shaky breath. “I saw the damage in her. No one helped my Roy.”
Storm strained to prevent his jaguar from breaking out and shredding her, but he still had no idea which direction Evalle had departed here. Running in any single direction risked choosing wrong and losing precious seconds.
His heartbeat went into double time. He sucked air in and out, filtering the smells to find the strongest one left by his mate. He had to calm down enough to think when dealing with a lunatic. “We had nothing to do with Roy.”
“You are blood of Bidziil,” she spat back at him as if that explained everything.
Wait, it just might.
Both young men were his uncle’s protégés and Bidziil had been trying to show that he cared about Storm. He’d also helped to get Haloke’s kid in college.
His uncle was the connection.
“Bidziil did right by you and your son.”
“Roy was all I had! Bidziil sent him away. My child never came back. I gave up everything for him, to give him the life he deserved. He would be here now, married to Adsila if Bidziil hadn’t turned him against me. Bidziil must pay!”
Shit. Storm had nothing that would break through her insanity if she was killing to pay his uncle back for her son’s death.
He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to choose a direction.
Storm strode past Haloke as light grew, pushing the dark away behind him in the east. He had nothing but a gut feeling drawing him west, but he’d learned to trust his senses.
Haloke’s voice powered up, calling to the wind to kill the son of Sani.
She could try.
Ten steps from the fire, wind swirled, spinning sand to slap his naked body.
That damn witch thought to stop him?
She’d just confirmed he headed in the right direction. Even the wind couldn’t steal Evalle’s scent from him once he got away from Haloke’s majik.
He leaped forward to run.
Wind churned faster and faster, building a sand tornado that tossed him from side to side.
Storm covered his eyes, disoriented.
He tried to push forward. Sunrise was on the way. He had to find Evalle and cloak her.
His jaguar wouldn’t stop until he found their mate.
Storm called up his animal. It blasted to life and dove into the wind, flipping around. Wind tossed his jaguar and battered him in the air. His animal landed hard outside the tornado.
Haloke came running up, shouting words as fast as a machine gun spitting out bullets.
Jumping up, he turned in a circle then finally saw a lone figure standing in the distance on the other side of Haloke.
He lunged forward.
A new wind shoved him back.
Storm had never put his jaguar through so many changes at one time, but he shifted again. The second he stood on two feet, Storm unleashed his own dark shit. He roared words he’d never intended to speak again.
Haloke had learned how to wield dark majik.
Storm had been born into it.
His majik lived and breathed.
His father’s power came from the light. That side of Storm warned him Evalle had seconds left until something terrible happened.
With one last shouted curse, the wall of wind wobbled.
That was his chance.
He called to his demon blood and shifted again into his jaguar, hoping he hadn’t harmed his animal. He could take damage better in that form with the dark blood coursing through him.
Haloke gasped, eyes wide in terror.
She screamed for the gods to kill the demon!
Yeah, bad move pissing off a Skinwalker, bitch.
Storm’s jaguar roared and dove through the wall of wind-whipped sand, closing his eyes at the last moment. Sharp stones in the whirling vortex ripped at his coat. Blood spun free in long strands. His jaguar forced one paw ahead of the next, walking through a living buzz saw.
CHAPTER 20
Evalle finished removing her clothes.
Haloke’s chant played in the gentle wind. The seer had said Evalle had to first shed her garments to be free of all restraint, which made sense before she met her gryphon again.
Shifting naked made the transition easier.
Next, she had to peel her inner being to the core, to find the true Evalle. Doing that reminded her what Adrianna called meditation.
Evalle had never been so at peace.
Her mind grasped a thought and let it go just as easily.
The world stretched far below her in a beautiful canyon, begging her to join the eagle. Air swirled around her in a hazy gray light getting brighter every few seconds.
Who are you, Evalle? Haloke’s voice asked all around her.
“I am me. I am Belador. I am Storm’s mate.”
Words swirled, flowing in and out of her head in Haloke’s voice. The seer had said she wouldn’t leave Evalle, that she’d be with her to the end.
What end?
Evalle waited for an answer, but Haloke’s voice filled her head again. You must not interrupt the healing, Evalle. This will only work once. You want to fly, right?
“Yes, I want to fly. I want to bond. I want to shift into my gryphon ... ” Evalle murmured, repeating the things Haloke had chanted with her until the desire took on a life.
A river of calm moved steadily through her chest, splitting off and pooling in her arms and legs. Warm air caressed her skin. Loose hair teased her face.
Evalle peered over the edge of the cliff into what Haloke had called the Grand Canyon and awaited her destiny.
Light continued to soften the darkness, just enough for her vision to make out the wide gulf of air between her and the cliffs she faced across the canyon. Still blurry, but that would clear up. The seer had said so.
A warning niggled at her.
Why? She closed her eyes with nothing to fear standing here with her body and soul free of the world.
No more fear.
That felt so good.
Haloke said to face her fears is to defeat them.
Must be true. Evalle had been scared of heights in the past but look at her now.
Opening her eyes, she glanced up, drawn to the silhouette of a lone eagle gliding across a sky on the edge of morning.
Evalle stood ready. She could only give rise to her gryphon at the rebirth of a new day.
Haloke had promised she’d soar under the sun’s warmth.
Sun. That word disturbed her thoughts.
She tried to push past her mental fog. Why should she worry about the sun? It gave life to plants, animals, and birds.
Gryphons, too.
The eagle called out, drawing her gaze back to the beautiful bird. Time to concentrate on the bird. Haloke said it would lead the way.
Her toes curled over the rock ledge.
Evalle opened her arms wide, unable to contain her excitement as the eagle banked left then right before heading toward her.
CHAPTER 21
Storm’s jaguar raged an
d battled the unyielding wall of wind and stones pushing him back.
He could not give up.
Haloke’s voice lifted to an insane level, demanding, “I call upon you, Holy People. You owe me. I gave you two sacrifices. You promised me two deaths in return. Now is the time to give me Storm’s life. His for my son’s. We agreed. You may have the woman as a gift.”
Two deaths.
His mate would die if he didn’t reach her.
That drove his battered and bleeding jaguar to rally harder. His beast lunged forward to break through the vicious wall again.
With a Herculean effort, he made it through.
His animal landed in a limp roll with legs and tail slapping the hard ground.
After being slashed and ripped, his jaguar struggled to move.
Losing Evalle would be the end of Storm and his jaguar. His animal came up on all four paws and turned to the witch.
Storm had little control of his animal in this wounded state and called up the change once more. He’d have to use his majik again to shut down Haloke before she hurt Evalle.
His jaguar held firm, not giving in.
What? Storm forced everything into changing.
Not happening.
Half-mad from surviving that bludgeoning, his jaguar turned toward Evalle.
So caught up in her homicidal pleas, Haloke failed to realize Storm’s jaguar had escaped her wind attack until his cat roared.
Haloke jerked around in shock and started chanting again.
His jaguar yanked his head back to her.
Storm begged his animal to stand down and shift.
His animal roared louder, showing his fangs to the witch.
All at once, she calmed and laughed. “You can’t kill me. You need me. If your beast attacks me, you’ll never save Evalle.” Her eyes cut to the silhouette Storm had seen as first light seeped into the eastern horizon.
Evalle hadn’t moved during all the roaring and Haloke’s screaming. She had to be under a spell.
Seeing through his animal’s eyes, Storm finally realized why she faced away from him and toward the west. She stood on the edge of a cliff.
Haloke laughed. “I control her. You can’t kill me.”
His animal started for Haloke.
Storm roared at his jaguar to let him shift.
Haloke panicked. Insanity bloomed in her face. Her eyes were wild with crazy.
She started chanting furiously in Evalle’s direction.
His gaze shot to their mate.
Evalle stretched her arms wide.
Storm screamed at his jaguar to stop the witch.
His massive cat dove at her, knocking the witch to the ground. He ripped her head off with a swipe of his sharp claws.
Without another thought for the seer, his jaguar lunged around and raced for Evalle. His powerful legs stretched out at preternatural speed.
Sunlight threatened to break the horizon any second.
He wouldn’t get there in time for Storm to cloak her.
An eagle circled above her and swooped, flying past where she stood.
Evalle leaped off the ridge.
CHAPTER 22
Eyes on the eagle gliding in front of her, Evalle bent her knees and leaped into the air. She opened her arms, waiting for her gryphon to break free with its huge beautiful wings.
No wings.
She couldn’t hear Haloke speaking to her.
A wild roar blasted behind her.
She twisted to look over her shoulder. A black jaguar lunged off the cliff. Falling.
Storm’s jaguar!
Her mind broke free of her mental fog. She realized everything at once and flipped over, screaming, “Noooo!”
Time turned into tiny microseconds that stretched with each drawn-out heartbeat.
Her heart thumped once. She and Storm would die unbound. She’d never find him in the afterlife.
Her heart thumped again. Red eyes glowing, Storm shifted into his human body. He yelled, “We’re bonding!”
They were too far apart for his words or majik to reach her.
Another thump. No. No. No. She would not let him die.
Furious at the universe, Evalle bellowed, “No more! I want my gryphon back. It is mine! Storm is mine!” She reached deep insider her to the core where energy began to spin. The Belador power she possessed boiled.
Yes! The power that belonged to her.
Garwyli said to believe.
She called her gryphon, refusing to be told no.
Energy exploded inside her ... but no beast.
Storm turned his body into a knife shape, slicing the air faster.
She shoved her hands up to slow him with kinetics until she hit the ground. She hoped his jaguar could heal anything he broke.
Her arms twisted and yanked away in two directions.
Pain ripped through her. Her head warped and grew.
Two strong thumps. Her heart felt ten times its size. Pain stabbed her head and body.
Lights flashed through her eyes.
She moved her arms.
Her fall slowed.
A blue-green wing flapped into view.
Her gryphon! Yes!
Storm yelled, “Save yourself!”
Flapping her giant wings hard, she lurched over to look down. Ground coming too fast.
She opened her wings wide, begging for an updraft. Twisting her gryphon head, seconds stretched. Storm barreled toward her.
Wind caught her wings, shoving her upright.
That took her out from under Storm. Damn.
She wouldn’t catch him.
His body would smash against the rocks below.
With one last chance, she lunged her gryphon hard. Please let Storm’s body slam into her.
Either she could take the hit and save them or they’d both die.
Brown eyes now wide with realization, he yelled, “Nooo!”
Sorry, sweetheart. You have no vote in this. But Storm couldn’t hear her thoughts.
Flipping like an out-of-control kite in a wind, her gryphon slammed against Storm before he passed her. That knocked him further out where the jagged slope dropped deeper.
She dove after his spiraling body.
Had him and the canyon floor in sight.
Extending her claws, Evalle’s gryphon shuddered with strain to reach Storm.
She wouldn’t make it.
Calling up all the power her gryphon could give, she tucked her wings tight. Her gryphon blasted forward.
Claws extended, she latched onto Storm’s thick shoulder and opened her wings fast.
Her body yanked brutally.
Ow, ow, ow. That hurt like hell. But she forced her gryphon to keep flapping to slow their descent.
Her heart pounded. Still falling fast. Not enough time to recover.
Suddenly, majik flowed around her.
She caught the sound of Storm’s chanting.
New energy surged through her. Her beast banked hard to the right twenty feet from slamming into the ground. So close dust blew up. Then her gryphon launched toward the sky.
They lifted above the cliffs.
Sunlight burst over the horizon.
Storm couldn’t have cloaked them while flooding her with his majik.
Her gryphon screamed a victorious sound.
Evalle had her mate, her gryphon, her life, and a new gift. Her beast could fly in sunlight.
After gliding back and forth, her gryphon headed for the cliff Evalle had been standing on. Had she really jumped from there thinking she could fly?
So many mistakes.
Descending in a slow approach, her gryphon gently released Storm barely above the ground where her mate dropped into a roll, then came up on his feet.
Her gryphon continued flying, taking its time returning to the cliff.
She didn’t care. If someone saw her, she doubted anyone would believe the story. It might make for a great photo on the cover of the rumor rags.
Fly
ing back to Storm, her gryphon executed a graceful landing.
Storm stood with blood running down his shoulders.
The overwhelming need to feel him hit her in her middle. Her mate lived. Evalle asked for her human body again.
Running toward her, Storm shouted, “Don’t! No! Stop shifting until ... ”
It took a split second for his panic to make sense. The sun would fry her human body!
She didn’t have his control when it came to changing. Adrenaline flooding her body dulled the ferocious pain of shifting so quickly.
She couldn’t understand Storm’s words.
She finished in a hunched form and lifted up as Storm caught her to him, still chanting wildly. He stopped, panted for air, and said, “Shit. The cloaking worked. I didn’t know if I had enough majik left.”
Good thing or she’d have died, burned to a crisp by the sun climbing higher. She’d been so caught up in the moment, so happy to feel alive after flying beneath the hot sun, she’d wanted to share that moment with her mate.
He held her so tight her bones might break.
Her gryphon would heal her.
“Thought I’d lost you forever,” he breathed out in a hoarse voice.
Hugging him just as hard, she rambled through her tears. “I thought I’d watch you smash into the rocks. I never want to feel that desperate again.” Desperate enough to believe? Garwyli had been right. Pulling back, she looked at Storm. She once thought there would be no joy like flying again, but seeing her mate’s beautiful teak-colored face, shiny brown eyes, and black hair flying around defined true joy as nothing else could.
He pulled her close and touched her lips with his in a kiss born of fear and incredible love that would withstand all forces in this world and the next.
When his lips softened, he dropped his forehead against hers. “I don’t want you out of my sight for a while. Yell at me all you want, but I’m not ready to be the bigger person and give you space any time soon.”
She smiled at her man, happy for a million reasons, but mostly because she’d have more time with him. He could go caveman for a while. She could handle it. Shoot, they might have some role-playing fun back home where it would end in bed.
“Thank you,” he murmured so heartfelt it brought more tears to her eyes.
“For what? I jumped off a damn cliff,” she groused.
