The delicious vegetable soup she’d eaten earlier had nourished her body and now the chanting was renewing her soul. Her limbs were no longer skinny and fragile, but firm and strong. She could feel the years of her captivity falling away.
Laughing, she rose to her feet, let the blanket fall away and began to dance, her naked body moving to the rhythms of the chant. The very earth itself seemed to embrace her, as though welcoming her back. Tears came to her eyes as she absorbed pure power from the soil through the soles of her feet.
She raised her arms and cried out to her warriors, praying they would hear her and would feel her power. They would know Hades no longer held her captive.
Deep in the hills of North Carolina, a large man walked across his yard, basking in a moment of utter contentment as he pictured the woman waiting inside the house. His life had changed much in the past months and, although his life was blessed, he could not forget his fellow warriors, his friends who were still in jeopardy.
Suddenly, he froze in mid-stride. A heavy weight lifted from his soul and it sang with unfettered joy. The tiger within him roared with pleasure.
The back door slammed open and Aimee, his mate and the very reason he was alive, rushed toward him. “What is it? I can feel some sort of energy swirling in my chest.” Worry filled her face and he knew it would take long years before the fear of Hades truly left her.
He grabbed her in his arms and swung her around in a circle. “The Lady. She has escaped from Hell. I can sense her in my heart.”
Aimee wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on. “That’s what that is?” She twined her legs around his waist and immediately he wanted her.
“Yes. You can sense her now because you share my essence, my life’s energy.”
“Wow. It feels warm and kinda nice.” She nibbled on her bottom lip and he immediately wanted to taste her mouth. “What should we do? Should we go find her?”
Roric cocked his head to one side and concentrated. “I can feel her, but I don’t know where she is. We will listen with our hearts and wait. We will find her or she will find us.”
Aimee’s cell phone rang and she yanked it out of the back pocket of her jeans. “It’s Kellsie.” She answered the phone. “Hey, Kellsie.”
“Did you feel that?”
Aimee laughed. “We certainly did.” She could hear a male voice in the background urging Kellsie to give him the phone.
“Marko wants to speak with Roric.”
“I figured as much.” She held out the phone to Roric. “Marko wants to talk to you.”
“I’d rather talk to you.” Roric buried his face in her neck and nuzzled her.
She laughed and shoved the phone against his mouth. “Talk.”
He growled at the man on the other end of the line. “I’ll call you later, Marko.” He could hear the bear laughing as Aimee clicked off the phone. “We need to celebrate this momentous occasion. Then we’ll make plans.”
“I’m all for celebrating,” Aimee agreed. Roric held her close to his body and carried her into the house and up to their room so they could celebrate in the most elemental way possible. And if he knew Marko, his fellow warrior and Kellsie were about to celebrate too.
As he set Aimee on the bed, he wondered if this meant another warrior had been released from the curse and was now fighting for his freedom. Aimee pulled him down to her and the thought was lost. If the battle had already begun, there was little they could do to help unless they were contacted. He hated feeling so helpless, wondering if his fellow warrior would last the night.
But his sadness and anger were tempered by his joy, and his heart was filled with a warm light, as though the Lady was trying to soothe his soul. He inhaled her power, her magic, and turned to the miracle he’d been given by the goddess he served. Sensing what he needed from her, Aimee opened her arms to him and, when he eagerly went into them, she kissed him.
Chapter Twelve
Araminta’s heart skipped a beat when Leander spoke of the Lady of the Beasts being free from Hell. That meant that Hades could no longer touch her. He’d agreed to free the Lady, and if he tried to hurt her now his own power would rebound on him and kill him. Or at least that’s what was in the books Araminta had written. It felt right.
Leander leaned against the wall, looking as though he didn’t have a care in the world. His attitude was disconcerting to say the least. The Lady might be free, but their lives were still on the line. That hadn’t changed.
“What else do you have to offer?”
Her heart nearly stopped when Leander spoke. Was he seriously considering siding with Hades or was this a ploy to kill time? She glanced down at her watch and barely swallowed a groan. It was late afternoon and there were still far too many hours they had to survive to break the curse and be free from Hades’ wrath.
Several hours seemed to have slipped away and she wondered how long she’d been trapped in the dream-like fog, the spell that Luna had woven around her. Like most dreams, it had only seemed like a few minutes, but it must have been a much longer time.
Leander’s hair fell behind his impossibly wide shoulders. The blond, orange and reddish-brown hues caught the late afternoon sun streaming through her office window. With his molten-gold eyes and broad, flat nose, he appeared more like the lion that lived within him.
She wanted to see the lion again, to touch the tattoo of the beast on his back. There was so much she wanted to do with him and the chance might be lost. They both might be dead within a few hours or less. Araminta had the sense that Hades was toying with them, letting them get hopeful they could survive before swooping in to destroy them.
She took solace from the fact that two of the warriors had survived. And, regardless of what Luna said, Araminta truly believed that their women had too. In fact, she was almost certain they had.
Had those other women felt the sense of connection and the sexual attraction to the men they’d released from the carousel? If she survived this encounter, she planned to find out.
“Hades can offer you anything your heart desires.” Luna tossed her head back, letting her hair fall over her shoulder like an ebony curtain. “All you have to do is ask. I’m authorized to fulfill any of your wishes. Every last one of them.” She licked her lips and Araminta wanted to smack the other woman for her blatant sexual come-on.
But Luna wasn’t done. She sauntered toward Leander, her hips working back and forth. Araminta knew she couldn’t hold a candle to Luna when it came to looks and figure. Luna was stunning, while she was average at best.
“Anything?” The way Leander said that one word made Araminta’s heart clench. His gaze was intent on Luna. Araminta might as well not even have been in the same room with them. Her fingers tightened around the rock. She wasn’t sure who she wanted to use it on more, Luna or Leander. Right now, it was a toss-up.
Luna glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Araminta, making her blood run cold. “Hmm.” She tapped one painted fingernail against her ruby-tinted lips. “If you got rid of her we could talk in private.”
Araminta felt her cheeks heating. There was no mistaking Luna’s offer. The hussy demon wanted to have sex with Leander. Too bad for her. Araminta wasn’t going anywhere. This was her house and Leander was her man.
The thought froze her in place. What was she thinking? Leander wasn’t hers. He was a warrior on a mission and Luna was offering him whatever he wanted on a silver platter. The Lady of the Beasts was free, but would that be enough for Leander? After all those years in captivity, would he still be loyal to the goddess now that the chips were down, or would he throw his lot in with Hades? Would he trade her life for the freedom of the remaining warrior?