Show me the past, as I live in the present.

Let me view the future as you aid me in the now.

I know your words,

I hear your thoughts,

I feel your heart,

I know your intent.

You cannot hide.

I am both mage and Dragonseeker.

The silver obeyed her as it had done on two previous occasions, but this time much faster, as if now it recognized a master of elements and minerals. She finished with the silver tracers, driving them from his burning belly back to the hooks in his hips. She closed those off and moved downward, following the thin, deadly silver to his thighs, pushing it back so that he felt it burning through his pores, and down his leg as it rolled off of him to the ground below.

I call to you, Mother, absorb that which is deadly,

Aid me in this time of healing,

I call to comfrey, knitbone,

I use your power to sedate, to soothe, that which burns,

I call upon you, Mother, to assist in the healing of internal damage,

Seek out the path from which this poison has come,

Cauterize it and close it,

So that which is open and causing pain, cannot be open again.

Dimitri sensed she was tiring. There was still a great distance between them. She had used telepathy too many times not to feel the effects. You need to stop.

I’m almost done. I only have the hooks in your calves left. If I can manage to stop the flow of silver altogether, it will give you relief through the day. I’ll come for you at night.

She began the work of pushing back the last two snakelike threads of silver toward his calves. Not once did she falter, although Dimitri could feel that white light fading with the length of time and the drain on her energy. Again she made certain the tips of the hooks were closed so no new silver could enter his body.

I call upon you once again, aloe and comfrey,

I seek and use your healing salve to stop this raging pain,

Seek deep into his flesh where burns run deep and raw,

Seek out the damage that is done deep within,

Use your gifts to repair cell and skin.

The relief was nearly instantaneous. Dimitri had been writhing in agony for so long, for a few moments he almost didn’t realize the pain in his body had dimmed to a very tolerable level. He could actually push it aside entirely. The outside chains were another matter, but compared to that silver moving through his body, forming its own veins and arteries, the damage to his skin seemed minimal.

Mother, I call upon you to take into your arms,

That which is doing no harm.

Take on the poison. Eat it, drink it,

Remake it into something of the earth.

May the green of the great Mother be seen,

And used to hide that which would do evil.

May her beauty bloom, showing all the colors of her heart,

May her beauty shade and hide us from all harm.

Skyler didn’t leave loose ends, not when she was fully aware as she was now. He felt real hope for the first time. As long as no other Lycan discovered the hooks were no longer injecting beads of fluid silver into his body, he would have a chance to gain strength. Fen would come.

You have to leave this place. The Lycans preparing for battle changes everything.

She was already fading away. I don’t care what they prepare for.

Send Josef then. He can slip in and release me.

He cannot. His energy would tip the Lycans off immediately and he’d stir up a hornet’s nest. Paul and I are human. They won’t see us as threats.

Skyler heard him swearing in his ancient language as she found herself back in her hammock. Birds sang loudly, calling to one another as they flitted from tree to tree. The forest was alive as the early morning rays of the sun poured through the canopy. There was such beauty in nature, and now that she knew Dimitri would stay alive long enough for her to get him out of the enemy’s camp, she could truly enjoy where she was.

She didn’t want to argue with him anymore. He was a dominant male, like most of the Carpathian men, and she didn’t blame him for worrying about her. She worried. She knew, because she often merged minds with Dimitri, that safety and health was placed above all else for their females. The species was too close to extinction. Women were too important to risk. There was also the fact that only one woman could be their lifemate. If she was to die, or the male Carpathian missed finding his lifemate, the warrior had no choice but to meet the dawn or choose to give up his soul.

She hadn’t just impetuously jumped into the rescue without thinking it through. She wasn’t an impulsive person. Her earlier life had made her very cautious. Dimitri was severely injured and felt helpless, she understood that. She was human and vulnerable in his eyes, and she understood that as well.

Csitri, I am not in any way reprimanding you. You saved my life. You’ve given me hope and surrounded me with love. I cannot bear the idea of you hurt or injured.

Dimitri, I’m your best chance at escape right now. The longer you’re there, the more likely something goes wrong. I’m not willing to take that chance. I’m just not. If what you say is true, and they are preparing for a war, then they need you dead. And just for the record, I know it’s difficult for you to think of me hurt or injured. Can you imagine what it’s like for me to know you’re hurt? To know they tortured you? That the first night I finally found you I wasn’t capable of removing all the silver? Or stopping the terrible burn?

She brushed at the tears running down her face. She hadn’t been able to hold the connection long enough, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear. Why do men always think they suffer more when their partner is in danger? Women love as much, they suffer as much. You aren’t alone in this, Dimitri. She couldn’t help the edge to her voice.

There was a small flash of amusement, and then he poured love into her mind. It was impossible to stay angry with him when he merged his mind so deeply with hers.

I stand corrected, päläfertiilam—my lifemate. I had no idea I had such a fierce warrior woman for a partner. Just make certain you’re protected. I trust that Josef and Paul will watch out for you while you do this.

Relief swept through her. I promise to be careful, my love. If I get into any trouble, you’ll know. So will the world. I’ll send for Gabriel immediately. Rest now.

One more thing, Skyler. I’m up in a tree, wrapped in silver chain. I cannot free myself. You will need to find a way to remove the chain as well as the hooks.

I am prepared. She had absolutely no idea yet what she was going to do to get him free.

He laughed softly in her mind, as if he knew she was struggling to figure that piece of his escape out. His laughter wrapped her up in his love, and then the connection between them slowly faded as if he were exhausted.