il the marki

ake to poundi

rough the pre-dawn darkne

want. No

e

apped tight around her shoulders. The cabin he'd deposited her in last night was small, isolated, p

pulled open the door.

rder skirmish with Sil

Lia's stomach dropped.

re counting on it." Mark

bers pressed against the walls. And in the center, on a blood-soaked

. Infection. Death creeping cl

ike a whip, pointing at Lia. "Let's se

e cloak. Pet. As if yesterday's

ce haggard. "Please." The word clearly cost

nd hers. Glassy wi

nk. She dropped to her knees b

the bandage wi

breath

ee bone gleaming white through shredded muscle. The flesh around the wounds was mott

. Right here

oice came out steady.

rmed quietly. "Three of t

kin was burning-fever co

Lia held out her h

dy arranged a clay bowl on the low table. Waiting. They'd p

ss

boy wa

her chest-the thing that had pulsed to life yesterday when D

e

ediately, but wrong-darker than it should be,

rmth s

wo. The liquid shimmered, actually shimmered, silve

ike spring rain and new grass

Torin

bowl, coating them with blood-with whatever this

xploded in

contact, brightness searing across her vision, flooding

oy sc

rwhelming sensation as the light

come an inferno, pouring down her arm, through her hand, into the boy

Not

bu

see. Skin crawled across the exposed tissue, pink and new and perfect. The bla

once more-so bright Li

sil

ght va

pressed to the boy's arm. But there was no woun

arm. Flexed his fingers. Touched the pla

cked. "It doesn't.

e was de

whispered: "S

nother breathed.

her voice had changed. No longer dismissi

r slamm

illed t

-the healed boy, the Elders' expressions, the c

aze locked

in his body

upils dilated so fast it looked like hi

d-as gold bled into the blue. N

ides. She heard his knuckle

loomed when her blood transformed. It was everywh

g it in like a drownin

But Lia heard the strain beneath. Saw the tremor in his jaw, t

n said, wonder thick in his voice. "

at. Cold. But his eyes-his gold, burning eyes-

. Toward the bowl. "We need to discuss the impl

aid softly, "and I'l

oom f

d, but Lia saw the cost. Saw the way his entire body locked up afterward

med blood-hung between

s voice had gone rough. St

a's elbow, hauling her to her fe

him, Derek's

felt heat radiating from his palm, h

re fixed on her palm, on the blood still seeping from

ce came out smalle

o hers. Pure gold

g behind those eyes. The thing inside him t

back, slamming it aga

we

rning mist. Neither spoke until they were b

Lia demanded, cradling her bleeding

attered?" Mark shoved a roll of clean linen at he

e. Worried in a way tha

our blood. It's...

can smell it, and it's

de. Don't ask me why. Just... trust me. Something

ble to

lied. But his eyes

why Derek wants you hidden. That scent is a dinner bell,

through her. "How

t until it fades, you stay inside. You don't open

dded n

coming closer? I've known him my entire life. I've seen him fight entire packs without

t her

en him afraid

he wa

palm with shaking hands. The cut throbbed dully, bu

ignal. Di

a target on herself

De

bling hands. The way he'd looked at her blood like it was

only thing in the

egan its descent. Lia dozed fitfully, exhausti

ing shadows and

eps. Somet

ow and rhythm

indow, peering thr

ybe twenty paces away. His back

ne hand and dragged it down

d in the bark. Fresh. Ra

od with savage force, each strike punctuated by

h caught in

gainst the scarred tree. His head bowed. Even

cost him everyt

nd her windo

d. Burning in t

s the distance. Predator and pr

. She didn't know why. Didn't know w

saw the

step towar

Froze. Every

she saw blood drip from between his fin

y. Just that one word,

d into the shadows, leavin

She slid down the w

own at her wrapped palm. Blood ha

apped it

the bandage Mark had given her-the one he said Dere

w m

er had handled it had been gripping to

pared this ba

y shredded it

ainst the fabric, her blood cove

il the marki

man who clawed trees to shreds t

th hunger and desperation and so

dn't know what t

on she'd

ast she'd