Shayna leapt on Bren’s wolf body and pointed straight ahead. “Their plane landed over there. Come on!” She hauled Emme with her and Bren sped off. Danny chased after him, carrying Ying-Ying and Chang. I changed into a tigress and carried Tye the naked human on my back. I plowed through the vegetation, but the shots fired behind us motivated me to dash faster.

Tye panted in my ear. “This isn’t how I pictured our first time together. I mean, I knew I’d be on top, but this is just weird.”

I wished I could communicate with him just to tell him to shut the hell up. But unlike Tye, I didn’t seem to possess that ability.

We reached a clearing and spotted the plane. Tye tossed Bren the stone and we all scrambled aboard. I took in all the bells and whistles on the console and jerked my head toward Shayna. “Did your puppy happen to teach you how to hot-wire a plane?”

“Not necessary.” Tye hit a few buttons and kicked the engine into gear. We taxied along the flat grass field as the propellers gathered momentum. Tribesmen emerged from the jungle before we could take off, lugging some sort of rocket launcher. May God forgive me for the words that flew out of my mouth.

Now, I didn’t speak a word of Korean, but I believe Chang said the equivalent of “Screw this!” He flung open the door and pitched several objects from his pack. One hit the Tribesman carrying the rocket launcher before he could fire. The guy sizzled as if jolted by an electric current as a flash of silver ran up his arm and into the weapon. It exploded with a thunderous rumble splattering chunks of dead Tribesmen against the side of our plane.

Shayna raised her arms. “He brought his balls!”

Chang continued to hang out of the plane as we flew past the remaining Tribesmen. His hysterical laugh echoed over the whirl of the engine while he merrily waved his middle finger.

• • •

Tye used Shayna’s cell phone to arrange for Misha’s plane to meet us at the Manyara airstrip. We no longer cared about going unnoticed. We just needed to get to Chaitén.

The moment we boarded, Shayna and I prepared to remove the gold bullet from Tye’s leg. I don’t know whether it was the fever burning through his body or whether it was because he watched Shayna sharpen a spoon into a scalpel, but all his arrogance dissolved like ice cream in a frying pan. His pupils dilated and he practically shook right out of his seat. “Have either of you ever performed surgery before?”

Shayna lengthened the pointy end of the scalpel to a finer edge with her gift. “Well, no. But Ceel and I are labor nurses and we’ve watched C-sections performed about a million times.”

Tye clutched the arms of his seat. “I don’t have a goddamned uterus. Leave me the hell alone!”

I almost told Tye I’d once removed about half a dozen bullets from Gemini’s body. But then I thought about the comment he’d made about “our first time” and “knowing he’d be on top.” So instead of trying to ease his anxiety, I looked to everyone else. “Get him.”

Everybody pounced, even Emme. Tye wrenched and twisted his body, swearing like a drunken sailor during Fleet Week. Everyone held tight. I gave him a nice smile and stroked his long mane away from his face. “I thought you were the king of beasts, not the lord of chickens.”

My touch and grin distracted him . . . a little too much. He flashed me one of his sexy smiles. “So, what do I get if I let you— Son of a bitttccchhh!”

I tossed the extracted bullet into a cup. “Absolutely nothing.”

I stood and washed my hands while my pals climbed off him—except for Emme, who helped him heal. The little whiny feline was as good as new in under a minute. He rose from his seat and padded over to me, leaning in close to place his hands on my shoulders. “That wasn’t nice,” he murmured.

I shrugged his hands off. “You’re welcome.”

Tye immediately clasped my shoulders again and locked his gaze on mine. “I like you, Celia,” he whispered. “How about, if we make it out of this alive, you let me take you to dinner?”

Tye said “dinner” the way most males said “bed.” I backed away from him as a deep sadistic growl tore through my mind. By the smirk on Tye’s face, he’d heard it, too. A white haze surrounded me, making me glow. I freaked out. “What the hell?”

Everyone gawked at me except for Tye. “Looks like Aric’s bond with you just kicked up a notch.” He let out a small laugh. “So, how about dinner?”

CHAPTER 30

“Celia, wake up.”

I stretched my arms slowly, only to sit up abruptly when my stomach lurched. Crap, I was nauseated.

Tye frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just jet-lagged.” My thoughts led to Aric. I rubbed my face, chest, and arms, expecting them to hurt for some reason.

Tye watched my movements. “We’re an hour from our last stop. I need everyone ready before we land. I’ve arranged for a helicopter. It’s the quickest way to get to Chaitén.”

I nodded and gently nudged Shayna. “Puppy?” she mumbled.

“No, babe, it’s just me.” I didn’t like the deep-set wrinkles crinkling her forehead. She appeared to be in pain, but then she grinned and propped herself up. I stretched again and searched for some crackers to settle my stomach. If I didn’t get some decent sleep soon, my body was going to turn on me.

Shayna’s phone rang in her pack as I found some saltines. She fumbled through it until she found it. “Koda?”

“It’s me, Taran.” My heart sank when I heard her trembling voice. Something was wrong. Shayna’s hands shook as she put the call on speaker. “Please tell me you’re all right and please say you have the stone,” Taran begged.

Shayna stilled, barely blinking. Emme sat down next to her and clutched her hand while I spoke. “We’re fine and we have the stone. We should get to you in about an hour and a half.” Taran’s cries rang through the phone and stung my ears. I swallowed hard. “Taran, what’s happened?”

“We can’t defeat Ihuaivulu. He’s too strong. We had to use the first stone to weaken him. Aric and Koda were the only ones able to get close enough to cast it.” Her voice cracked. “They’re hurt . . . It’s really bad.”

Taran’s sobs cut through my heart and sent chills rushing down my spine. Bren pulled me against him and held me tight. There was fumbling on the other end before Gemini came on the line sounding miserable and exhausted. “Aric and Koda were severely burned.” He let out a breath. “Their injuries are not healing . . . but they’re still able to fight.”