I tore away from the tent, pumping my legs as fast as they’d carry me. Aric called to me. My God, his pained and garbled voice held no hint of his once deep and confident timbre. It was all I could do not to race back to him. I wanted to take him in my arms and never let him go. But Misha was right. I had to put an end to the Tribe once and for all.
The steps of those chasing me quickened, but failed to reach me. I focused on Tye, who stood at the edge of a cliff, waving the stone—the very weapon I needed.
“Time to go eagle!” he yelled before he jumped.
I exploded into my new form and dove for him. He cringed and swore as my talons once again dug into his shoulders. I flapped my powerful appendages and aimed for Ihuaivulu, who sped toward us with outstretched wings, hell-bent on murder. Time to say good night, you evil bastard.
I soared above Ihuaivulu with hopes Tye could just drop the stone on him. It would have worked had the creature not taken flight. Damn it to hell. I supposed it was too much to hope his wings were just decorative.
I dipped right, left, and down, trying to avoid the multitude of snapping jaws and sprays of fire. No way could I outfly him. So I had to fly smart. I nosedived into the outside of the volcano and shifted us through. I was almost out of air by the time we flew out the other side. Beneath me, the earth rumbled from the force of Ihuaivulu slamming into the volcano.
“Celia, I lost the stone!”
“Screeech?”
“It didn’t shift with us. It has to be on the other side. Go back. Go back!”
I tilted my wings and circled around. My heart leapt into my throat when I saw what was happening at the farthermost edge of the Alliance camp. Shayna darted around the splintered chunks of ruined trees, converting the pieces into long silver spikes. The vamps and weres—including Aric and Koda, who grunted in anguish—impaled Ihuaivulu’s tough skin and shredded his wings to worthless bits. He roared and tried to fly, only to collapse on the ash-coated ground.
My eagle eyes scanned the ground below and fixed upon the discarded stone. I dove toward it, ready to snag it when Ihuaivulu struck Tye with his tail. The blow propelled us into a distant tree. My sisters’ screams were barely audible over the crumbling bark and crash of the falling timber.
We landed hard atop the smoldering trunk and flopped onto the heated soil. I lost my eagle form and couldn’t reclaim it. I changed into tigress and lurched in time to avoid being fricasseed by Ihuaivulu. Heat from his flames scorched the earth, turning the mountain into his personal hell. My lungs contracted with the need for air. I couldn’t breathe and began to suffocate, yet I compelled my body to plow through the battered terrain, willing my paws to ignore the mounting heat.
Tye’s lion form jetted full speed for the stone. His white fur made him almost invisible against the ash, but it was only a matter of time before Ihuaivulu’s remaining heads spotted him.
I needed to distract Ihuaivulu. So instead of running away from him, I charged right at him. My sisters and friends yelled at me to turn back. I ignored them and kept my head in the game. If it was my time to go, so be it—but Ihuaivulu was coming with me.
I jumped and darted away from his flames faster than my tigress had ever moved before, seeing the streams of fire as merely larger versions of lightning bolts thrown from an overzealous martial arts master. My strategy worked, and so did my high-velocity dodges that managed to manipulate Ihuaivulu into burning his own tail. He roared and stumbled in pain, allowing me to launch myself onto one of his remaining snouts.
My back claws fastened onto his nose, my front claws gouged his eyes, my jaws broke through the thick scales and into bone. Warm liquid squirted against my claws and mouth, and his furious screams pained my ears, but I continued to unleash my wrath—for Aric, for Koda, for everyone who’d stood against him.
The last thing I saw was the second head rushing at me right before a deafening explosion fired me into the air. I landed as a human on a mountain of ash, choking and gasping next to Tye’s naked form. We sputtered and coughed as dust settled around us while an outburst of excited cheers echoed through the valley. Tye kipped up and hauled me to my feet. “Motherfucker!”
That pretty much summed it up. The ruins and destruction of the mountain surrounded us, yet not a trace of Ihuaivulu remained. “Damn,” I said quietly.
Tye didn’t respond, choosing instead to rub his thumbs against my hands. Ash covered both our bodies. Unfortunately, it did little to hide my goodies. I yanked my arms back and changed. He shook his head once before resuming his lion form. We sprinted back to camp, his cheer making him playful. He rubbed up against me, tickling me enough to cause me to purr. I swatted at him and he nipped at me teasingly. We continued our banter all the way back. I took it as good-natured fun until we reached our friends and he changed back.
“Celia, if you ever change your mind . . . you know where to find me.”
“Get in line,” Misha hissed. He and my loved ones embraced me and patted my back. I searched for Aric, but failed to see or scent him.
Gemini bent to scratch my furry face and whisper in my ear. “He’s in the woods immediately to my right.”
I shifted and traveled as far into the forest as I could manage, then used my nose to track Aric. I found him wrapped in a blanket, staring pointedly at the ground. I changed back to human and hurried toward him. Tears dripped down my face as I took in his disfigured features. “Aric.”
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to stay with me.”
My tears stopped their descent as I struggled to make sense of what he said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He stepped away from me when I reached for him. What? All I wanted was to hold him.
“I’m saying you can choose Tye, Misha, or whoever else you desire. I just want you to be happy.”
I stumbled backward into a tree, stunned and barely able to keep my wits. My fist found the trunk and struck. Blood poured from my knuckles. “I’m happiest with you. Don’t you dare try to get rid of me again!”
“Celia, I know what I must look like—”
“Do you think your looks are all I care about? I love you, Aric—all of you.” After everything we’d been through and all our time apart, now he was pushing me away. I cried into my hands, releasing the fear and sadness I’d carried since first learning of his afflictions. My sobs turned into gulps, frantic gasps for air. My chest ached from the sharp intakes of breath and from the cruel stabs of his words.
He stepped toward me slowly and placed his battered palms on my arms. His garbled voice cracked when he spoke. “You still want me?”
I yanked him to me and met his lips with mine. He grunted in pain, but I refused to let him go. Instead, my kiss turned more passionate.
Aric wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, kissing me back with the love I knew so well. His skin scratched like rough and jagged plastic. He was no longer handsome or smooth or soft. The tease of tiny little chest hairs was gone, as was his sense of touch. There was no firm muscle, and he’d lost the mobility in his lips. He would never again greet me with the smile that made my soul sing. But he was still my Aric. His taste was just as sweet, his body just as warm, and his heart still beat for me.
He broke away, panting heavily, but this time not from pain. I stroked the side of his face as gently as possible. “I’ll always want you,” I whispered. “No matter what happens.”