She felt a burst of triumph and had to tamp down the desire to share her success with Dimitri. So far the Lycans hadn’t detected their strange brand of telepathy or become suspicious, but after meeting Zev, Skyler didn’t want to take any chances. She hurried along the faint trail, winding in and out of the trees. She walked fast, resisting the urge to jog. The inside guards were always stationed in a vee formation from the outside guards, to better keep out the enemy.

The path veered to her left. She slowed down even more, moving cautiously along the cushion of grass, dark now in the thick of the trees. Her feet felt the way more than her eyes saw, but still she trusted the way Mother Earth had provided.

A twig snapped off to her right and she held her breath. The guard had changed direction and was moving toward her, not away. The little fox trotted off in his direction. She heard the little creature bark a warning and the Lycan gave an explosive burst of laughter. Almost immediately the guard turned back, certain he had come close to a fox den and the male had given him notification that he’d better go away.

Lycans were essentially wolves, children of the forest, and they guarded the wildlife as carefully as Dimitri always had. She found it ironic that he had cared for wolves and given them sanctuary for most of his life, and yet the Lycans had turned on him.

She inched past the second guard’s quadrant and now she was deep in the inner circle. This was where the main pack would be scattered, camping, perhaps using the few cabins, but any could be out for a walk.

She felt the pull of her lifemate now. Strong. So strong. His agony burst through her like an inferno out of control. She crouched low and fought down the need to vomit. She hadn’t counted on feeling his pain just because they were in close proximity. She should have thought of that possibility. There was no way she could get closer without some sort of protection. Again, she called on her mage blood to aid her.

Mother of my blood,

I call upon you,

Surround me, cloak me,

Abolish this pain,

So that I may continue.

Drawing several deep breaths, Skyler continued to follow the path. Twice, it veered away from where the pull to Dimitri was the strongest, but she trusted the earth to guide her and she kept to the path. Both times, she caught a glimpse of a small cabin sheltered beneath trees.

Then she saw him. She hadn’t prepared for that sight either. Nothing could have prepared her. He was still a distance from her, hanging by hooks and nothing else from a thick tree branch. The sight was sickening. His body was blackened, burned from the silver chain that literally ate into his flesh. His neck had at least three loops around it, his forehead one. But his body was chained all the way down so that he appeared to wear a robe of silver.

His face was so ravaged with pain, she wanted to cry. There were dark circles under his eyes. His skin was pulled tight around his skull, his cheeks hollow. Clearly they had been afraid to unwrap the chain long enough to cut away his clothing, so they’d just slipped a knife inside and along each winding wrap slashed at the material in an effort to keep the silver in contact with his skin. They hadn’t cared whether or not the blade of the silver knife had cut open his flesh. She could see where he had bled in hundreds of places onto the chain.

She wanted to drop to her knees, cover her face and sob. How could one living being do such a thing to another? How much would you have to hate? Shaken, she pressed her hand to her mouth and forced herself to study him.

She could see where the hooks tore into his body and held him prisoner. Twelve of them, six down each side. She knew each location because blood welled from beneath those chains and smeared over them. Tiny beads of blood dotted his forehead and ran down his face. He stayed as still as possible, but the pain had to be excruciating, even without the silver traveling through his body toward his heart.

My love. Her voice wobbled. She choked on the lump in her throat. She knew it was bad, yet she hadn’t imagined—this.

He didn’t move or give away that she was so close. He kept his eyes closed. His head down. But she felt his love.

I shouldn’t have waited. The moment I heard, I should have set out after you.

You are here now. Can you feel them watching me? He meant it as a warning. There is someone always watching.

I feel them. I have come prepared for that. In all our conversations over these last years, I did pick up a few things from you. And Josef is a mini-general. He is very good at planning a battle, even one such as this, where we hope to escape unnoticed.

He didn’t ask her how. He knew she had a plan and he gave her the trust she deserved. She’d gotten to him against impossible odds.

She stayed in the shadow of the brush, a few meters from Dimitri. This night, she would be the very thing she’d always despised in herself. This night, she had to rely on the mage—the hated mage—that she now found she embraced with all of her heart. It was the mage in her that would save Dimitri.

Digging her feet deeper into the soil, she raised her hands in front of her, keeping movements small and called on the four elements.

I call upon Air, breathe forth a tempest of might.

I call upon Earth, bring forth your trembling might.

I call upon Fire, bring forth your flames.

I call upon Water, wash away that which remains.

At once the wind increased, short little microbursts that shook the tallest of the trees. An ominous crack was loud in the silence of the night. The top of a very heavy tree came crashing down, right on a cabin some distance away. Branches and trunks plunged through the thin roof and landed in the small confines, one of the branches landing directly in the fireplace. Flames shot up the branch, and reached the trunk just as another burst of wind fanned the blaze.

Shouts came from every direction. The earth beneath her shook with footsteps as the Lycans converged on the conflagration. The cabin went up fast, and they had to hurry to keep the fire from spreading to the neighboring trees and other huts. Many of the little structures used dried branches and needles and mud for a roof.

When she was certain every Lycan was engaged in saving their camp, she turned her attention to the hooks. She had to get him down first.

That which is hooked and made to hold,

I unmake your properties so you release and unfold.

Air, I call upon you, float him gently down.

Keep us safe from all sight and sound.

I call upon Earth, take him into your arms,

Surround him, protect him, keep him from harm.

Fire I call you, cauterize his wound.

Burn that which is bleeding, so it may not seal our doom.

Water, I call thee forth, your healing might,