She couldn’t see his sword but knew it was there. She felt around on his belt for the hilt. The second she got close, his hand clamped over hers. He flipped her over until she was the one pinned to the ground. Even though she felt her body weight shift, there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop him. He was too strong.

And he wasn’t even straining with effort.

“Not like that,” he said. “If you don’t want me to see you as a diplomat, then let me in that pretty head of yours. Show me what a fighter you really are.”

She tried to buck his weight off of her, but it was like trying to move a Sentinel Stone. He weighed a ton and was in complete control of her limbs, with her arms pinned by her ears. He straddled her thighs, rendering her legs useless.

By the time she’d given up on using physical strength against him, she was panting and sweating, despite the chilly night air.

“I told you I know too many secrets. I’ll never let you in my head.”

“Fine,” he said, clearly not believing a word she said. “Then take a look in mine. I have nothing to hide. Maybe if you take a peek, you’ll figure out how to get what you want.”

The image of him naked between her thighs, his mouth and tongue working to give her pleasure, came to mind. Her arms were bound over her head by silken rope; her legs were pinned wide by his big hands. The vision was so clear and detailed, she went still in shock.

It took her a second to realize that her gift was working overtime, showing her exactly what it was he wanted. Now, in this moment. If she displayed even the slightest interest, she was certain his desires were strong enough that he would pursue them.

Something deep inside her quivered in eagerness. In desperation. Every muscle in her body softened, as if needing to give in to his fantasy.

She couldn’t do that to herself. She couldn’t let this man seduce her and entrench himself any deeper into her life than he already had. It was bad enough that she’d tied herself to a partner who might, at any moment, become her enemy again. She couldn’t also sleep with him.

“Let me up,” she demanded.

“You’re strong enough to free yourself if you want to.”

No, she wasn’t. When it came to sheer physical strength, he outmatched her completely. If he’d been a human male, he’d already be swimming his way back to shore from where she flung him. But he wasn’t human. He was Theronai. A big, irritating, muscle-bound Theronai.

“Get. Off.”

“You’re not even trying,” he said with boundless patience. “Find the thread of power dangling from the luceria and pull on it.”

She didn’t know what he meant, but she was both pissed off and turned on enough to do whatever it took to put some distance between them.

Lyka closed her eyes and felt for something—anything. The quivering band around her throat was brimming with power. She could almost feel its energy glowing against her skin. Everywhere Joseph’s flesh met hers, there was a hot vibration—an intense connection that was both distracting and somehow the key to her struggle.

She ignored the fact that he was a tasty hunk of man who wanted her and splayed her hands around his bare arms. Muscles tensed in response to her touch, warming the tips of her fingers. It was there she felt the most vibration, so she slid her hands along his skin, following where the energy led.

A rough moan of desire rumbled from his chest, reminding her that he was flesh and blood. And that he wanted her.

She lost her concentration for a moment before gathering her wits again for another try. This time, she knew where to touch him—where that power was being housed.

Her fingers slid under his shirt and up over his lifemark. She could feel the branches tremble and sway beneath her fingertips. That alone was amazing enough, but what really shocked her—what pulled every bit of her attention—was the mammoth pool of power seething just under his skin.

She could sense it now, but had no idea how to reach it.

“Use the luceria,” he told her. “It’s the only way to get what you want.”

The blasted band around her neck buzzed eagerly. As did Joseph’s ring. His hand was on her shoulder, only inches away from her collar. They both vibrated at exactly the same frequency.

With one hand still on his lifemark, she grabbed his wrist and slid his fingers to her necklace. The two pieces of the luceria snapped together like magnets.

Lyka’s whole world lit up from the inside out. That string of power he’d mentioned was there, dangling right in front of her. It pulsed with color and light, bulging with the kind of magic she could never have believed was real until she felt it.

“I found it,” she whispered in awe.

“Yes. Now use it.”

This power she had at her fingertips—this was the key to saving her pack mates. This was her path to freedom.

As that thought formed in her mind, Joseph’s weight vanished from atop her. The back of her hand burned where his shirt raked against it. She heard a grunt and a heavy splash.

The flow of power cut off like a switch had been flipped. When she opened her eyes, she saw Joseph swimming back toward her, his face grim.

His power had done her bidding, and now a very wet, very angry Theronai was headed her way.

Chapter 12

Eric took careful mental notes of his surroundings as he made his way through the system of caves. His Slayer vision allowed him to see in dim light, but he also noticed that there were several torches burning here and there.

He’d been in enough caves to know that wasn’t normal—Synestryn neither enjoyed nor needed light.

As he passed gatherings of those mostly furless guards, he realized that they were the ones who seemed to need the light. Perhaps whatever the Synestryn had done to create them had taken away some of their innate ability to dwell in darkness.

He spied several piles of the guards sleeping in chambers off the main pathway. Like the Slayer young, they seemed to be sharing body heat as they slept, huddled in groups for warmth.

Maybe that was something he could use against them.

He peered through every opening and crevice he could see, but there was no sign of the two children who’d been separated from the group. The system of caves was long and elaborate, leaving a lot of unexplored areas.

If he couldn’t locate the kids, it could easily take him a week to find them, and that was if he didn’t have to fight his way through every turn.