“Get up, Lucian!”Archer shouted.
They’d shown up to cheer him on, but I prayed they weren’t about to watch him die.
Henry cackled as he sat astride Lucian and unleashed one punch after the next.Lucian was barely conscious as his head whipped left to right, then back again.
Tak stepped past me.“Get up!”
I can’t breathe.I can’t breathe.Please, Lucian, get up.Please.
My thoughts were spinning as people shook their heads and turned away.
Blood sprayed left and right with every brutal punch.Lucian’s arms lay flat on the ground, no sign of movement.It gutted me to hear his pack calling out to him while Henry pummeled him like a punching bag.
Finally, when Henry was winded, he sat back and looked right at me.“This is for you, sweetheart.”
I watched in horror as Henry rose up on his knees and hovered over Lucian as if giving him CPR.
Chitahs were hard to kill and could recover from seemingly grave injuries, including energy blasts.But when a Mage reversed their power, they could juice every drop of energy from their victim until they ceased to exist.
Henry reclined his head and smiled like a man savoring a beer on a hot summer day.
“No!”Robyn lurched forward, but Montana clutched her tightly.
Lakota grimaced and covered his eyes, unable to watch his uncle die in front of him.
I dropped to my knees.My tiger wanted out—she wanted to kill the Mage who was murdering the man who’d stolen my heart.But both men had agreed to a challenge, and I had no authority to stop it.I was also torn because to interfere would take away his honor.
Lucian’s arms weakly moved down to his sides, and he put his hands together over his belly in a prayerlike gesture.Everyone’s breath caught when he thrust his hands toward his chin, then parted them, knocking Henry’s arms away.
It caused Henry to collapse onto Lucian, his neck fully exposed.
Only then did I realize Lucian had planned this.
Lucian roared as he sank his fangs into Henry’s neck.The Chitah flipped his switch.Spotted patterns appeared on his skin, his eyes black and wild as he tossed the Mage on his back.
Henry wailed to a cheering crowd.“It burns!”He rolled to his side and began convulsing.
“He’s dying,” Melody said with satisfaction.
Lakota shook his long hair away from his face.“Don’t be so sure.I’ve seen what venom can do.He’d be dead already if Lucian injected four doses.I bet he gave him three, and that’s just as bad.He might die—he might not.We’ll see.”
Lucian—still on all fours—launched to his feet before flashing toward me.Tak tried to block him, but Lucian came at me like a missile.He bypassed the alpha, tackled me to the ground, and caged me with his body.
“Stay back!”Tak shouted with a firm punch to his words.
I wound up on my side with Lucian shielding me as he growled and snarled.
“Lucian.”I turned onto my back and cupped his face to steer his attention to me.“Oh, baby.Look what he did to you.”His face was severely beaten and bloody.
His black eyes scanned me as he sniffed the air.I’d never seen him this feral, this unhinged.Cars were tearing out of the parking lot, people running to safety.Anything a Chitah perceived as a threat when he was protecting someone would be eliminated.
Tak watched on.“Keep your voice and emotions calm.”
Lucian bared his fangs, but only the top two were out.
I cupped his neck, relieved that he was alive.“You won.It’s over.Come back to me.”
When Lucian sniffed the air, his eyebrows gathered in the middle.He was only perceiving emotional scents, and mine was reading thankful and relieved.
