Taran glared at the hands and pointed at them. “Let’s get one thing straight. You will not grope me, you will not fondle me, you will not touch me. Got it?”

The hands leaned away from her, giving her space. Shah seemed to welcome us, but then something changed. I felt Shah reaching out to me with his power. It gathered around me like an invisible mist. He seemed sad, lonely. It made me sad, too.

“Do you feel that?” Shayna whispered. “I think the hands are crying.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think it’s the hands. I think it’s Shah.” I met her eyes. “Shayna, I think he knows his time on earth is almost over.”

My eyes stung, and Shayna’s reddened. I was overcome with emotion—for Shah, for Aric and me, for everyone around me who hurt. For as powerful as Shah was, he wasn’t invulnerable to death, and apparently pain.

Celia?

I stopped, and the hands ceased to pull me forward. Aric was calling out to me, using our bond.

I’m sorry, he said. God, I’m so sorry.

“I’m sorry, too,” I said, my voice overwhelmed with emotion.

Come back.

“I will.” I took in those hands. “But I have to get Shah first.”

The connection faded. I wasn’t sure how much Aric had heard, since for the most part our contact was limited, and only triggered by strong emotion. But now wasn’t the time to talk. As much as I loved him, I had a job to do. I couldn’t let the bad guys get Shah and drain what was left of him.

Emme had started to make her way in, but it was a hysterical Taran that cemented me in place and prevented me from moving forward.

“I’m here for Celia. I don’t want shit from you.” She sniffed. “As a matter of fact, I don’t want anything from anyone.” The arms parted, allowing her through. “It’s been hard, you know? Having the guy of your dreams treat you like you’re some kind of freak—I mean what the hell’s wrong with him? I’m not perfect. But I never was. I was a fool to think he’d always love me….”

The air cracked and a handkerchief materialized in the hand closest to her. It offered the handkerchief to Taran, who took it and dabbed her eyes.

Okay. Some things in my world were just too twisted to be real.

I’d only taken a few more steps forward when roars alerted me that we were no longer alone. Someone screamed, and what I mistook for a large stone pitched toward me, rolling to a stop near Shayna’s feet.

Our vamp pilot’s head had been severed. “Run!” he screamed.

I veered around. Already knowing it was too late to flee.

Panthers emerged one by one until a line formed around the perimeter of the hands. Most were as big as my tigress form, some bigger and well over four hundred pounds. Shayna lifted her machete. “There’s too many,” she whispered.

My claws protruded. “I know.”

“Tribe weres?” she asked.

“I don’t think so. I don’t know what they are….Shayna, look at their eyes.”

Emme’s breath hitched. She noticed the green tarry substance swirling around their irises.

The lead panther froze upon seeing the limbs sprouting from the field, but then growled and swiped at the hand that tried to stroke it, slicing the veins. Shrieks echoed around us as nearby birds took flight. The hand spasmed and spewed blood like a fountain, soaking the earth and limbs surrounding it. Emme screamed, and the panthers rushed forward.

Using their claws and fangs, the panthers cut through the limbs, showing no mercy as they zeroed in on us. Taran grunted as one tackled her. I saw her blue and white flames catch when she called forth her fire and saw Shayna swing just as I charged the one gunning for me.

My claws punctured the sternum, cracking it open before I ripped out the heart. I kicked the dead creature off me and dove on the one leaping toward Shayna. I rammed it hard, and wrenched it down by its neck like a calf at the rodeo.

Problem was this calf had pointy fangs. It took all my weight and strength to snap its spine. I stood as more panthers dashed forward. Whatever these things were, they were strong, powered by magic, and too many to fight.

But Shah was there and offered a field of helping hands.

They reached up from the ground, yanking and pulling the panthers down, using their sharp nails to tear the panthers’ fur from the skin and shred their muscles. The panthers howled in agony but none would retreat. Whoever was fueling them wanted us dead, and Shah for the grand prize.

Emme grunted as she flung the creatures back into the jungle, crushing their backs against the thick trunks of the tall trees. She didn’t see two more panthers rushing her, but those arms did.

They pulled her out of reach then snagged the panthers by their legs. The panthers struggled, their gazes crazed and their large bodies wrestling to break free. Some arms fell limp, bones snapping, but most held tight, dragging the big cats down until they disappeared into the earth.

The arms closest to Shayna held the panthers for her so she could slice off their heads. It didn’t take long for the angry arms and the rest of us to be covered with blood and black fur. I ran in the direction where Taran had vanished, punching through skulls with my fists, trying to reach her.

The smell of burning fur alerted me that she was safe. So did the flaming black ball she sent soaring into the jungle. She raised her stiff white middle finger. The rest of the hands followed suit, flipping off evil in unison.

Shayna jogged to Taran, breathing hard. She clasped a hand and tried to wrench her up, only to fall forward.

“Wrong freaking arm!” Taran snapped at her.

“Oh. My bad!” Shayna said.

In Shayna’s defense, it was hard to tell Taran’s and Shah’s arms apart.

I carefully stepped over the arms that hadn’t made it and the pieces of panther that remained, struggling to catch my breath and trying in vain not to gag. Good Lord, all I smelled was death. “Everyone okay?”

Emme’s blond hair was pink from all the blood coating it. She wiped her mouth, but her hands were just as stained and only made it worse. “I think so. What were those things?”

“Whatever they were they were sent to kill us and take Shah. Come on, we have to get him and us somewhere safe.”

My sisters jogged behind me to the building. “Hey? What about me?” our vampire pilot’s head called to us.

“Shut up,” Taran snapped at him. “We’ll be back in a minute.”