Hawke reached for Faith's hand, twining her fingers with his. She looked up at him, her pensive expression softening, a small smile lifting her lips, lifting his heart.
"Six votes, then," Lyon murmured.
"Five," Kougar said. "Ariana's at no risk." She'd be able to mist away from any danger. "But I suggest a closed ballot. If you agree, I'll collect the votes."
Hawke nodded, as did the mated males. He felt odd voting as one of them, and yet in this he was. Absolutely. If Grizz turned on any woman in this house, in either form, he could easily kill her. Any Feral could, himself included, which was why he'd tried to keep away from them until Faith's presence had miraculously helped him keep control instead of losing it. But he had another concern. That Faith's fate not come to a similar vote. And there was no way to guess which would help her more. If he voted to give Grizz a chance and the grizzly killed one of them, the others would probably vote all the new Ferals marked by the seventeen destroyed. But if Grizz turned out to be a good Feral, Faith's chances of being given a similar chance increased.
In the end, all he could do was vote his gut. And his gut said they needed Grizz.
Kougar shifted into his cat and leaped onto the table, pacing back and forth.
Hawke? As long as one of them was in animal form, they could speak telepathically, to all or one. Give him a chance or clear the way for another?
Hawke didn't hesitate. Give him a chance.
Less than a minute later, Kougar leaped to the floor and shifted back into a man. "Grizz stays."
Lyon nodded, his expression revealing neither relief nor regret, making it impossible to guess which way he'd voted. And Kougar would never tell.
Hopefully, they'd made the right decision in sparing Grizz's life. He wouldn't get a second chance if he blew this one. But by then, one of them would be dead, or badly injured. And Faith's death warrant all but signed.
A short while later, the group gathered in the large foyer of Feral House. It had been decided that most of the mated males and their mates would remain behind to guard Feral House. One of the Ilinas would stay with them, ready to call in the mist cavalry if the new Ferals attacked again. Kougar would lead the rest of the Ferals and Faith to the Cave of the Mystics. And once the ritual was in place, and the Ferals had recovered from the intense motion sickness Ilina travel apparently triggered, the Ilinas would fetch Grizz and Lynks and bring them to the cave as well. Then, hopefully, all three new Ferals, Faith included, would be cured of the darkness once and for all.
Hawke, too, if he was lucky. And Tighe, if he needed it. Though the Shaman sensed no darkness within either man, Hawke still wondered if the hawk spirit had been infected. What the ritual would do to him in his present state was anyone's guess, but no one had come up with a better option.
Hawke glanced at Faith, standing beside him. "Are you ready for this?"
She gave him a bright little smile that sparkled inside him, a smile with a teasing sharpness. "Are you asking about the Ilina travel or the exorcism?"
He grinned. "Just another fun evening in Feral House."
The Ilina team arrived on a pine-scented breeze, eight petite women appearing first as mist before quickly turning corporeal. All but Ariana, their queen, were dressed in tunics and tights, knives hanging from the belts at their waists - the uniforms of the Ilina mist warriors. Ariana wore jeans, boots, and an olive green tank top that made her look more like an attractive bounty hunter than an immortal queen.
"Melisande." Fox smiled at the blonde standing to Ariana's left. That Feral was on the hunt for a blade between his ribs.
Melisande scowled but ignored him, color blooming lightly in her cheeks.
Lyon stepped back, motioning to Ariana to indicate those of his group that needed transport. Hawke pulled Faith close and kissed her gently. "I'll see you on the other side." As they pulled apart, two Ilinas turned to mist and stepped into them. Hawke's world flipped, tumbling him through space in a film of energy that made him feel like he was crawling out of his flesh. His head and stomach went into a violent spin.
The sensation ended as quickly as it had begun, and he fell to his knees, vomiting, unable to do anything else. Around him, he heard others doing the same. Goddess, that was a ride he'd happily never repeat. As the spinning ended, and his stomach slowly settled, he rose to his feet, helping Faith to hers, then looked around at the small cave, little bigger than the dining room at Feral House. It had already been lit by the light of a dozen small fires in large clay pots. The shadows flickered and danced on the walls - solid walls on every side. There was no way out, no escape, except the way they'd come in. By Ilina.
"Gather around the circle, everyone." Ariana turned to her maidens. "Retrieve the two Ferals from the prisons." When the Ilinas had disappeared, she directed her attention back to the Ferals. "Grizz and Lynks will be unbound. The moment they appear, we'll begin the ritual. At first they'll be suffering and likely immobilized from the travel. After that, they'll try to escape what's happening to them. Or, more accurately, the darkness in them will fight not to be exorcised. They must remain within the fire circle. It's up to you to see that that happens. The ritual itself will not harm you." She glanced at Hawke. "It may even help you."
Kougar met Hawke's gaze. "Accompany Faith into the circle when it's time."
As Hawke nodded, something cold crawled over his skin. No, not over. Under. Inside.
"What the fuck?" Vhyper muttered.
Hawke met his gaze. "It's not just me?" His hawk, already furious with him, set up a chorus of cries loud enough to be four birds, not one.
"Hell, no."
"My animal is going ballistic," Wulfe growled.
Fox rubbed at his arms. "Mine, too."
"Hold it together," Kougar ordered.
"It won't hurt you," the Shaman assured them. "It's the ancient magic." Easy for the Shaman to say. He might have been a shifter once, but he'd long ago lost that ability.
Hawke gripped his head against the agony of talons lancing his brain with every beat of his heart. He smelled Faith's sweetness a moment before he felt her arms go around him, felt her press against his side. She didn't ask what was the matter, didn't make any demands at all, just tried to absorb some of his misery. Love for her welled up inside him. His arms went around her, and he held her close, eased by the simple, precious feel of her in his arms.
Through the screeching in his head, he heard the intonations of ritual, the Shaman's and Ariana's voices rising together as if in ancient song. Moments later, the two new Ferals appeared, each in the mistlike clutches of four Ilina maidens. Four to transport a single unwilling Feral. The women released their charges and zipped away to hover, mistlike, behind the outer circle.
As Grizz and Lynks fell to their knees, retching, Ariana motioned Hawke forward. Biting down on the dreadful pain, Hawke walked hand in hand with Faith into the fire ring. As they stepped between two of the flaming pots, Faith screamed, her hand jerking upward, her arm bending . . . breaking. He released her, horrified, then grabbed her again, sweeping her into his arms as her legs bent at odd angles beneath her, her back contorting.
"What's happening?" he roared.
"She must remain within the fire circle, warrior," the Shaman said. "It's the only way."
"Hawke, lay her down." Ariana's tone was soft with sympathy. "She'll feel less pain if she's on the ground without the weight of gravity tugging at already-broken bones."
Another cracked with a sickening snap. Goddess.
He did as directed, setting Faith carefully on the dirt floor of the cave, though it was all he could do to release her when she was in so much pain. As his hands slid away from her, she met his gaze, her own shiny with tears and dark with misery.
"Smiley."
"I can do this, Hawke. Let me do this."
Without warning, Grizz reared up out of his crouch with a roar, shifting into his grizzly in a spray of colored lights. Hawke whirled, placing himself firmly between Faith and the dangerous, furious bear. But Grizz lunged at the Shaman instead, his mouth opening as if he meant to tear the much smaller man's head off. Wulfe leaped at him, shifting into his wolf in midair, slamming into the huge animal, his lips pulled back in a snarl. Though Wulfe's attack barely changed the bear's trajectory, it was enough. Fox shifted more slowly, his reflexes still coming on board, growing until he was larger even than Wulfe, then he was on the bear, too, snarling, biting.
His skin still crawling with cold, Hawke pulled his knives, ready to defend Faith if any of them drew close. Behind him he heard another terrible snap of bone and she screamed. His hawk joined her, filling his head with its cries. At the edges of his vision, the red haze began to creep.
Hold it together, hold it together. He'd be no use to her if he lost it, now. No use to anyone.
Lynks, still in man form, made a run for the circle, trying to escape, but Vhyper and Kougar were ready for him and easily tackled him to the ground. A few yards away, the two large canines and the bear fought as if to the death, fur and blood flying.
Faith screamed again and again as her body twisted and contorted until Hawke was about to yell from the pain her suffering was causing him. Vhyper and Kougar dragged Lynks back into the circle as the Shaman and Ariana continued to chant, as the Ilinas floated, wraithlike, watching it all.
"It is done," Ariana said at last, her voice barely audible over the roars and screams. The chanting ceased.
The chaos ended as quickly as it had begun. Across the fire ring, the grizzly collapsed, the wolf and giant fox leaping back. Lynks, too, seemed to have lost his fight.
Hawke whirled to find Faith lying bent, her body twisted at horrible angles. Unconscious or . . .
His heart roared as he fell to his knees beside her, reaching for her neck, searching for her pulse. There! Strong and steady against his finger. Thank the goddess. Her body jerked suddenly, then began to unbend as if whatever dark power had gripped her had finally let go. As he watched, she untwisted until she lay in her normal shape, the bones snapping back into place, healing almost as quickly as they'd fractured.
Kougar finally broke the silence that had descended over the cave. "Get us home, Ariana."
Never ones to hesitate, the Ilinas swept forward, and Hawke once more found himself in that spinning nothingness. The next thing he knew, he was puking his guts out in the yard behind Feral House, the awful coldness finally gone.
The moment he could raise his head, he searched for Faith, finding her a short distance away, still unconscious. He pushed himself to his feet and went to her as the other Ferals slowly rose to surround Lynks and Grizz, who were lying on the grass as still as Faith. Hawke knelt beside her, grasping her cold hand, eyeing the others, ready to lend his sword if needed.
Grizz was the first to move. With a bear-sized groan, he rolled onto his back and pressed his hands against his head. "What the fuck happened?"
"How do you feel?" Kougar asked.
"Like my head's been put through a meat grinder." He sat up, started to rise, until he saw the drawn knives, then sat back down, hands in the air. "Mind telling me what's going on?"
Kougar motioned to the Shaman. "We think we may have exorcised the darkness. The Shaman can tell by touching you. Don't move."
Grizz lowered his hands to his knees but otherwise remained still as the Shaman touched the top of his dark head and nodded.
"Clear. Not a shadow left."
Lyon strode toward them from the house. "Does this mean the animal spirit is clear as well?"
The Shaman nodded. "Yes. No darkness survived the power we drew in that cave. I'm certain of it."
Hawke heard the words, hope rising and falling in the same instant. Because he felt no different. No better. Like nothing had changed.
As Lynks began to stir, the Shaman touched him, too. Lynks stiffened, and the Shaman pulled back. "He is clear also." He turned to Hawke. "How do you feel?"
Hawke pulled off his T-shirt and looked over his shoulder at the feral marks that were nearly gone. He sighed. "What about Faith?" He pulled the shirt back over his head as the Shaman knelt beside her.
"She suffered the most," the ancient man murmured, touching her head. Hawke had to fight back the possessive growl that tried to rise in his throat. The Shaman frowned, pressing his hand to her forehead, then her cheek, the frown puckering his forehead. "The ritual didn't work for her. She's still infected." He met Hawke's gaze with regret. "I'm sorry."
Ariana and Kougar moved to join them as the Shaman rose to his feet.
"Why didn't it work?" Hawke demanded, but he was afraid he knew the answer.
The Shaman shook his head. "The darkness in its dormant state cannot be vanquished. You must release it. Bring her into her animal first."
Lyon joined them, his expression drawn. "I don't like exposing Kara to another infected Renascence. She still hasn't recovered from the last."
But the woman in question was crossing the yard and heard. Kara slid her arm around Lyon's waist, and he tucked her in close as she looked at Faith. "I'm fine, Lyon."
He lifted her chin, studying her with worried eyes. "No, you're not."
"I'm good enough. Faith needs to be brought into her animal, and without me, you can't do it. It's my job."
Still, the Chief of the Ferals hesitated, clearly torn between his personal need to keep his mate safe and the greater need to see this newest Feral cleared of the magic infecting her.
He sighed heavily. "Then we'll do it tonight, just before dawn." Pulling Kara against his side, he turned to his men. "Meanwhile, we need to get a lead on the other new Ferals."