He knew where this was going, and he didn't like it, not one bit. "Yes, but . . ."
"It turns out you were right. I wasn't an accident. And now I'm the only one who can breach that castle. Don't tell me you wouldn't go if you could, even knowing it's a trap. Even if I weren't involved. You'd go because it's your job, because it needs to be done, because Maxim needs to be stopped. This time it's my job. My mission." She looked to Lyon, her eyebrows lifting.
His traitorous chief dipped his head in acknowledgment.
Hawke ground his teeth. "I can't bear for him to touch you again. To hurt you again."
Her eyes softened. "I know. Just as I can't bear the thought of anything happening to you."
He knew he was beaten. He turned to Lyon. "I'm going, too."
"Do you think that's a good idea?"
"It doesn't matter. If she goes, I go."
Lyon nodded, but his gaze was on Faith. "Can you still speak to us telepathically when you're not in your animal?"
Like this, you mean? Faith's voice rang in his head, clear as day, and he could tell by the expressions on the others' faces that they'd heard her, too.
"Good," Lyon said. "Practice to make certain you can target your thoughts to only those you want receiving them. Maxim doesn't need to know you have that trick. And hold back on the speed. Keep that ability to yourself as long as possible, too. He won't be expecting it. Once you're in the castle, you can relay what he says and find a way to get us in there. I want a solid hour of physical training out of you before you go."
Faith stiffened. "Paulina and Maria are in trouble. I need to go now."
"You need to be ready first. You showed some marked improvement in your fighting skills while you were under the thrall of darkness, but we need to see what you can do now. You must be able to defend yourself once you're in the castle because Kougar's right. You'll undoubtedly be flying into some kind of trap. Tighe, will you do the training?"
"Absolutely."
"I'll help, again," Fox said.
Jag snorted. "I'm not missing this show. Just wait 'til you see what she can do, Foxy."
Fox cut Jag an amused look. "Looking forward to it, Jaggy."
Jag hooted.
"I'm going to Warsaw, too. I owe that bastard." Grizz's voice rumbled over the table. "Lepard's fighting it."
Lyon's eyes narrowed. "Fighting what?"
"The darkness. Look at the start of the video, at the eyes of the new Ferals."
Lifting the remote, Lyon did a fast rewind to the beginning, showing all five new Ferals standing. Hawke watched Lepard's eyes and saw what Grizz had seen - the struggle in the snow-leopard shifter's eyes. A struggle absent in the eyes of the other three.
Lyon hit PAUSE before Maxim started speaking, his gaze returning to Grizz. "Explain."
Grizz's big hand flexed and released on the table, over and over as he seemed to gather his thoughts. "When I first came into my animal, the darkness blindsided me, sweeping me under. I don't remember much. Every now and then, I think I broke through, aware that something was wrong, then I'd be pulled under again. Then the order to attack you blazed in my mind, and I found myself doing it. Following it blindly, unable to stop. I fought it. And lost."
"You didn't lose, boyo," Fox murmured. "Not completely, or you'd have bitten off my head instead of my rump."
Grizz gave a brief nod. "I fought it. I think Lepard is, too."
Olivia, seated at Jag's side, made a sound of distress. "Why isn't Polaris? He's a good man."
"This kind of infection will affect each one differently," Kougar said calmly. "Some will be pulled deeper than others. It has little to do with strength or will. A few may be able to fight it, but none will be free of the darkness until they're cured."
Wulfe grunted. "So, what you're saying is that although Lepard may be fighting the darkness, it's not going to do us much good."
"Correct."
Lyon turned to Lynks. "Do you feel the need to go, too?"
"Not at all. I'll stay here."
Lyon nodded, his gaze fanning out to encompass the room. "Be ready to leave in an hour."
Hawke rose to his feet, his gut grinding. A hundred things could go wrong. A thousand. If only he could breach that castle instead of Faith, but to do that he had to be able to shift. And he was afraid he knew what would happen if he tried. Game over.
He wanted to deny her this, to keep her safe and protected. But she was right. She had it in her to be a fine warrior. The strength, the courage, and now the confidence. It was time for her to seize her destiny.
Even if it killed him to watch her go into that castle alone.
An hour later, Faith stood deep in the shadowed woods with the other Ferals, staring at the huge centuries-old castle in the clearing ahead. Maxim's castle. The shiver that went through her had little to do with the cool drizzle falling in the spring woods and everything to do with the evil she knew she'd soon be facing. Alone.
Both the Ilinas and the Ferals had tried to breach the castle, but as Maxim had warned, it was fully warded against them. Only through the chimney flue might she gain access.
Hawke stood beside her, his hand on her shoulder, lending her strength and courage. But the thing that terrified her most was that even if she managed to get out of that castle alive, he might not be here when she returned. Though she'd fought his protectiveness, knowing she had to go, she knew the thought of her battling Maxim alone was tearing Hawke apart. And might, literally, end up rending what was left of his connection with his animal.
She turned to him, now.
He met her gaze, his eyes dark wells of worry. "I wish I could go for you." He curled his arm around her shoulders until she was tight against him.
"I wish you could come with me." She tried to smile, but it was a sorry effort. "I wish . . ." But there was no use in saying the words. They both knew, both felt the desperate need for him to renew his bond with his animal. But Hawke was the only one who could do it, and he didn't know how. Faith slid her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "It's going to be okay. I'm going to fly in there and open the back door and let the rest of you in. We'll battle them together." That was the plan, at least - for her to find a bolt-hole, or some other kind of back door, and wrench it open before the new Ferals could stop her.He kissed her forehead. But when he pulled back, his eyes were sad and deeply worried. Since they'd found no kind of trap upon arriving outside the castle, they felt certain it lay within. Faith prayed that her newfound strength and speed would allow her to thwart Maxim's plans. Because not going wasn't an option. Not when Maxim was empowering the Daemons. Not when Paulina's and Maria's lives hung in the balance.
She could do this. She had to do this.
"Ready, Falkyn?" Paenther asked quietly.
Hawke pressed a kiss to her temple, strengthening her with his love. When he released her, the look in his eyes was more than love. Pride shone there, too. Pride in her.
"Kick. His. Ass."
She laughed softly, tears filming her eyes. "We'll do it together."
"Deal."
Finally, she turned to face Paenther, Kougar, and the others, her heart thudding in her chest. "Wish me luck." She threw them a small smile and shifted in that glorious rush of energy, shooting into the air. It was an incredible feeling - the shifting, the flying with such speed and accuracy. She felt powerful, invincible.
For a bright moment, she wondered if she might not be able to pull this off as cleanly and easily as she'd quipped to Hawke.
Keeping her eye on the south chimney, she flew up, high over the castle to avoid the warding, then down again. As she neared the flue, she slowed, testing for heat that might indicate fire, or any kind of warding that might knock her back. At the top of the chimney, she landed on bird's feet, tucking her falcon wings against her body as she sent her senses outward, letting the falcon spirit assess the situation. If there was a trap waiting for her, neither of them could sense it.
Her mind trembled at the thought of facing Maxim again. And bled from the memory of the girls' bruised and terrified faces as they hung from those ropes. It was time to go.
Taking a deep, mental breath, Faith dove into the flue, the falcon's keen senses guiding her down, far lower than she'd expected to go, deep below the ground. This wasn't good. The first thing she'd have to do was find her way back upstairs if she wanted any hope of locating a door for the others.
Finally, she emerged from the flue, darting over the scene she recognized too well from the video, a scene that scored her heart. The girls still dangled from the curved, stone ceiling of a firelit dungeon. In a circle around them stood the five new Ferals, including Maxim.
Spying the stairs, she headed for them . . . and crashed, suddenly and brutally, falling out of the air, shifting as she fell. With a spine-jarring thud, she landed on bare stone in her human form.
She fought to shift back, but nothing happened. She tried to scramble to her feet and couldn't . . . couldn't move! Dammit. She'd known he'd try something, but she'd hoped to at least be able to fight. Suddenly, she was rising slowly, pushing herself up calmly. Are you doing this? she cried to the falcon spirit.
I am not. Can you shift?
No. I can do nothing!
He seems to be in control, now. The vile one.
"Faith!" Maria cried. The hope in the girl's face tore at Faith's heart. The certainty - now so misguided - that help had finally arrived.
She was standing now, facing the others, facing the man who lived in her nightmares. Dressed in his usual attire, his hair slicked back, Maxim watched her, a cold smile on his face.
"I'm glad you finally joined us, Faith. You're just in time."
Pure fear trickled down her spine. She was trapped, unable to perform the mission she'd come for, and the others needed to know it. I'm in the dungeon, but I've been caught in some kind of magic, she said, speaking to them alone as she'd practiced. He's controlling my movements. The stairs were warded. I doubt there's any way in or out except the chimney flue.
Faith. Hawke's voice caressed her mind, the word aching with frustration. And regret. He couldn't help her. No one could help her.
We hear you, Kougar replied. Grizz, too, was briefly controlled, but only within the vicinity of the castle. Ariana and her maidens misted him out of here. She says he's fine again.
Grizz must have attacked them. Is everyone all right?
Well enough, Kougar replied.
Her gaze swung to the other four new Ferals. As she began moving with a will not her own, walking across the bare, ancient stone toward the man she loathed, she studied the other men, one by one, standing at attention like Maxim's personal guard. Polaris, Croc, and Whit watched her with emotionless eyes. But not Lepard. His hair as white as his turtleneck, he was motion contained, a whirl of energy and power battened down by an unnatural force. And in his pale blue eyes, she saw that struggle, just as Grizz had said. Just as she'd seen in the video. But as long as the Mage controlled him, he was of no use to her.
She wondered if perhaps his animal had fought for him as the falcon had her.
His actions will tell us whether he is the one meant to be marked, the falcon spirit replied. Or the one the infection sought.
The one the infection sought?
"Hawke didn't accompany you?" Maxim asked, his words stealing her attention. His loathsome gaze followed her as she approached.
He smiled even as anger flashed in his eyes. "Pity. I was looking forward to ripping off his wings, so to speak. He will die. The next time I see him, he will die."
Fury coiled inside her. And bone-chilling fear.
"How is this happening, Maxim? Why am I controlled? Why are all of us, but you?"
"Because the Mage Elemental, Inir, chose me to be the group mind for the new Feral Warriors, my dear Faith. I control you all, your actions, your will. I'm the one who ordered the new Ferals to rise up against the nine. The Mage infection made my control complete, until several of you were cured of it. Now it seems I control your actions, if not your will, when you're close by. It is enough. For now."
"If the Mage chose you, they're using you, Maxim. They're using you to feed power into the imprisoned Daemons." She didn't expect him to care, but it was worth a try.
"They're using all of us."
"Why would you help them?"
Maxim's smile was slow and terrible. "Utopia. No laws protecting the weak. No banishment. Blood spilling when and where I please. And the power, dear Faith, the power."
"You're sick."
Maxim laughed. "So they say. So they've always said. I'm a predator of the purest kind, now. I have found my true calling!" He crooked his finger at her. "Come. You have a part to play."
She continued forward, fighting without success against the steps she was being forced to take.
"Within Inir resides a wisp of Satanan's consciousness," Maxim continued. "I am the center of the wheel linking Inir, the new Ferals, and Satanan himself. I am the conduit through which your Feral energy will be channeled into the Daemon blade to Satanan, then connected to the wisp of consciousness within Inir. Satanan's full consciousness, his magic, and his knowledge will become Inir's, through me. It has already begun. The connection is formed. But five Ferals are not enough. Six are required to open the connection fully. And now I have you."
As Maxim spoke, he pulled her toward him through will alone. She defied him in the one way she could - relaying everything he said to the Ferals outside the castle. They needed this information, no matter what happened to her. Finally, her feet stopped moving, and she stood before Maxim. With quaking terror, she stared into eyes of true evil.