Skyler accepted that she might get killed—but she wasn’t going to have much of a life without Dimitri in it. She might not be Carpathian, but she was his lifemate, claimed or unclaimed. She knew her emotions were not the crush of a young girl, or the romantic fantasies she knew her college friends thought she indulged in. Dimitri was a special man. She would never find another man like him, one totally focused on her. She was the only woman he would ever look at. She was his world. His other half. There was no explaining to anyone how that felt. None of her college friends would ever be able to conceive of that kind of devotion.

The thing Paul didn’t yet understand—and perhaps Josef didn’t either—he was far too young—she was equally as devoted to Dimitri. She would walk through fire to get to him, so a trip through the deep woods might be terrifying, but it would never stop her.

Whoever found her. And she had sent up many prayers that it would be the elite hunter Josef had heard everyone talking about—Zev—to come to her rescue. He sounded like a decent Lycan who definitely could protect her from anyone or anything else threatening her.

Here’s the reality of the situation, Paul, Skyler said. I might get killed. If I don’t find him, Dimitri will die. He doesn’t have much time left. Even if the Carpathians had launched a rescue mission to find him, they won’t get there in time. They don’t know about the silver hooks.

Unexpectedly her stomach lurched again. They put hooks in his body and strung him up in the trees like a piece of meat. She couldn’t help the tears or the horror so stark in her voice. She didn’t bother to try.

Paul tightened his arms around her, nudging her shoulder with his chin. We’ll find him, little sister, and when we do, we’ll get him out of there.

The wind tore the tears from her face. She shrank down into the warmth of the fur, so grateful to have two friends who loved her enough to risk everything for her lifemate. Behind her, she could feel Paul begin to shiver.

Maybe we should find a place for Josef to set down and get you some warmer clothes.

Not yet. He’s still flying strong and we’re covering kilometers fast. When he tires, I’ll get warmer clothes. Go to sleep. Talking this way probably isn’t the best thing for you.

She hadn’t thought of that. She was so used to communicating telepathically she hadn’t considered that it took psychic energy to do so even so close to the one she was speaking with.

She didn’t answer him. She was tired. Paul would never let her fall. She closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep.

4

Skyler, what are you doing? I can feel you close to me.

The pain in Dimitri’s voice tore at her. At least she was on the right track if he could feel her close. The forest was very dark, the trees large and ancient. She could almost hear them whispering to one another.

Skyler followed the psychic footprints directly back to her lifemate. Again, the path was stretched thin and ice-cold, but it wasn’t long. Triumph swept through her. She wouldn’t have to hold a bridge over a horrendous distance in order to heal him.

You are supposed to be healing.

The pain took her breath as she connected fully with him. She had thought herself prepared—after all, she knew what to expect—but there was no real way to remember the agonizing pain so clearly until one touched on it. She let it burn through her in an effort to acclimatize herself to it.

Josef was totally exhausted. They had made it to the forest in one evening of flight, but it had seriously depleted his energy. Paul had given him a tremendous amount of blood, which in turn had weakened him. She would have to be careful and not take this healing session as far as she had the last one, but she could not be so close to Dimitri and not try to get the worst of those silver threads away from his heart. She’d slept most of the way and felt more energized just because Dimitri was somewhere in the vicinity.

I’ll be more careful this time, Dimitri, she promised. I have to do this. You know I have no choice.

The entire time she’d been asleep she’d dreamt of poisonous silver piercing his heart. His beautiful blue eyes had grown ice-cold as they stared lifelessly at her. Accusingly at her.

“You’re too late. Why were you late?” he’d asked her.

It was a dream, sívamet. A nightmare only. You eased the pain for me.

There can be no untruths between lifemates, she quoted him. It would be impossible to lessen your pain. The threads of silver remaining are still in your body burning just as severely as the ones I removed.

Perhaps that is so, but it felt less. Your love kept me safe from the Moarta de argint—death by silver.

Is that what they call this torture?

It absolves the Lycan council from all guilt. They didn’t kill me. Essentially, I kill myself by moving my body constantly to try to get away from the pain and the silver works its way deeper. They can go to Mikhail with a clear conscience.

That made her furious. How could the Lycan council sentence Dimitri to such a torturous death and then go to a meeting with the Carpathians discussing becoming allies with them?

I’m going to remove more threads, Dimitri, but I won’t be able to get them all. I’m going for the ones closest to your heart.

She didn’t wait for his reply. She entered his body as pure spirit. The hooks she’d tampered with had remained closed off. No new silver had dripped into his body, but the ones she’d left had made progress. She knew what to do now. Calling on her mage heritage, she again used her gifts to push the silver from his body.

Silver, silver, so deadly, so bright,

I summon earth’s power to stay your blight,

As you were created and formed deep within,

I command you, silver, to remove and ascend.

Silver threads that twine and harm,

I release your hold of snaking charm.

I call to you, silver, harken my call,

Retrace the path from which you fall.

Harken to me, silver, hear my command,

Remove yourself doing no further harm.

This time she added a new element in order to lessen the pain of the burn for him. She’d been so exhausted and she’d just left him the night before. She’d been unconscious when she’d returned to her body, but she’d had plenty of time to think about how he was suffering.

Corydalis, Valerian, Meadowsweet all,

Cloak the pain that does now fall.

The silver responded with the same reluctance, almost as if it was alive, moving backward, away from his heart, the tiny silver beads burning his skin as they pushed through pores to drop to the ground below him.