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  Once again Liana thought about the vision she’d had at the pool of Renn, and how she had thought he might be the Sorcerer. Could Aric’s brother be one of the Nordain in league with Zanden?

  Liana looked over her shoulder at Aric, a knot of concern growing tight in her belly. “I sense something…is not quite right.”

  “Can you wield a weapon?” Aric’s voice was almost a growl, tension roiling from him like the oncoming storm. “If need be, could you protect yourself?”

  The knot inside Liana rose into her throat. “I—I have never done more than slice cheese with a knife.”

  “I should have prepared you.” Aric slid a dagger out of its sheath and handed it by the hilt to Liana, its ruby glinting in the sunlight. “There may be nothing to be concerned about, but I want you to have this. Keep it hidden within the cloak, and if man or beast comes too close, ram it into his flesh with all your might.”

  As she grasped the hilt, Liana trembled so badly she feared she might drop the weapon. She eased it into the folds of the cloak, her heart beating as though it would burst from her chest.

  For the first time she realized the Elves were now all armed, their bows and swords at the ready and their expressions serious as their gazes roamed the sky and forest.

  Liana’s hair went still and her eyes widened and she sensed the approach. “Oh, my gods. The Sorcerer is coming!”

  Chapter Ten

  “Damn!” Fury burned Aric’s gut as shrieks from oncoming irani rent the air.

  Through a gap in the clouds, he could see the moon rising—and that it had turned the lightest shade of lavender.

  Moonchange was but hours away.

  By the gods.

  The Sorcerer’s beasts drew closer, and most surely Zanden flew with them. Aric and the Elvin warriors were still a furlong from the safety of the forest and would not have time to reach its protective confines as he had hoped. They would be forced to fight in the open, where they were most vulnerable to attack.

  While drawing his sword from its sheath, Aric held Liana tight to him with his other arm. Lightning shattered the sky. Liana gasped as Baethel reared. Rain burst from churning black clouds and pummeled the party, soaking them in an instant.

  Where the name of Dair is Renn. Where are the reinforcements?

  How will I protect Liana?

  Aric had no more time for thought. Countless irani and renegade Nordain, loyal to Zanden, flew at them with the speed of the storm.

  “At arms,” Aric commanded the Elvin warriors. He knew that every Elvin arrow would find its target, so accurate were the legendary Seraphine marksmen. It was the ground battle that would be bloody.

  Aric flung back his wet hair and raised his sword, its blade glimmering in a flash of lightning as he shouted, “Hold the line… hold…hold…”

  While Elvin warriors aimed their arrows at the approaching irani and traitorous Nordain, Baethel snorted and pranced. Blood charged Aric’s veins and he pressed Liana’s small body tighter to him. The flap of mighty wings filled the air, along with the screech of irani and roar of thunder.

  Already dark skies were black with beasts when Aric shouted the command, “Fire at will!”

  Elvin warriors released a flurry of arrows and reloaded so quickly their movements were but a blur. Irani and Nordain shrieked as Elvin arrows struck their marks, and wounded beings tumbled through the rain-drenched sky.

  Dozens of bodies littered the ground, yet more attackers came. Nordain betrayers transformed into their man and woman forms as they landed. Shouting cries of battle and wielding daggers, they rushed the Elves and Aric on foot. Irani and more Nordain dove at Aric and the warriors from above.

  Elves on horseback and on foot surrounded Aric and Liana, attempting to hold back Zanden’s growing ground forces. Wielding his sword in one hand, gripping Baethel hard with his knees, Aric fought off beasts that attacked from above.

  He had to protect Liana.

  Smells of blood, battle and death, and the rotten meat stench of the irani, rose around them despite the pounding rain.

  Through the crash of thunder and battle haze, a roar emanated from the direction of the Phoenician Forest. Aric chanced a look as he sliced his blade through an irani neck. To his immense relief, the Nordain army charged toward them through the storm, some as men and women upon horses, and others in the air in their nordai forms.

  The Sorcerer comes! Liana shouted in Aric’s mind. He sensed her terror as she tensed even more in his arms. Zanden is here!

  Aric raised his sword at the same moment a Nordain dagger flipped through the air and struck Baethel in his neck.

  The stallion screamed in pain and reared on his hind legs.

  Liana cried out as she and Aric slid off Baethel, tumbling onto the muddy field, and the horse slammed to the ground. Battling warriors swarmed around Aric while he rolled away from the stallion’s hooves and tried to shield Liana at the same time.

  Aric came to his feet in a rush—

  And found himself face to face with a dark-robed and foul-smelling man.

  The Sorcerer. Zanden. The betraying demon himself.

  His brother.

  “The kingdom would have been mine had I been born but minutes before you.” Zanden scowled, his face twisting in a vicious smile. “No matter, for I shall have the Tanzinite wench and we shall see who will rule all.”

  “Your treachery stabs my very heart.” Aric gripped his sword and forced himself to face his true foe. “You despoil our lands. Murder our own people!”

  Zanden shrugged. “They are nothing more than a means to obtain my true destiny—as is this wench, who is my property.”

  Aric’s head filled with fire. His heart blazed with rage.

  Blood or no, the Sorcerer had to be stopped.

  He swung his sword at the same moment a powerful blow struck his head from behind.

  Blinding flashes exploded behind his eyes.

  Blackness engulfed Aric…and he knew no more.

  * * * * *

  “Aric!” Liana screamed as his body crumpled onto the muddy battlefield. She gripped the dagger tight within the folds of her cloak. So much fury filled her at the thought of Aric dying, that for the first time in her life she wanted to kill someone.

  The battle and storm raged as she snapped her gaze from Aric’s still form to the irani that had struck Aric from behind. With a fierce cry, the Elvin warrior Angelei beheaded the beast with one stroke of her blade. She started toward Liana when an invisible force blasted her from her saddle, away from Liana and into the melee.

  Liana’s heart pounded as her attention riveted on the Nordain man towering over her. She had no doubt that with his sorcery, he had unseated Angelei. His face was dark and shadowed as in her visions, but her senses told her it could be none other than Zanden, the Nordain Sorcerer.

  Something about him was familiar…yet not.

  “You have led me on a fair chase, Tanzinite maid.” His voice was rough and filled with a tangible evil, so powerful that it vibrated through Liana. “You will be punished when we return to my fortress.”

  Zanden reached his hand out in midair and made a twisting motion.

  Liana cried out in shock. It had felt as though he had tweaked one of her nipples through her cloak.

  He laughed. “Certainly I will enjoy your penance far more than you shall.”

  The coppery taste of anger and fear filled Liana’s mouth. The hood of her mud and rain soaked cloak fell back, releasing her tresses as she slowly stood, still clenching the dagger’s hilt in her fist.

  When she fully saw his features for the first time, a cruel smile slashed the Sorcerer’s face.

  Liana’s eyes widened. Renn…Aric’s brother?

  Zanden’s smile curled into a sneer as his hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist. “No. I am not Renn, but you are correct in that I am their brother.”

  Before Liana had time to fully process that he had read the thought she had projected, the Sorcerer twisted her
arm, forcing it behind her so that her back was pressed against him. He held his other fist beside her face and clenched it, squeezing nothing but air.

  Liana choked as her breathing closed off—she felt like she was being strangled, as though his long fingers grasped her throat. She had no doubt Zanden could easily snap her neck. A sickeningly sweet odor swirled around her, a smell like burnt sugar.

  Her eyelids fluttered as she struggled for breath, and then she realized the battle around them had stopped. During flashes of lightning she saw that a ring of Elvin warriors surrounded her and the Sorcerer—with bows drawn and arrows pointed at Zanden.

  In the midst of the Elves stood an imposing Nordain warrior, his sword raised and his icy silver eyes glittering. The scar across his rugged face whitened as his features hardened.

  “Think you can escape this mess, brother?” Renn shouted in a booming voice.

  The invisible fingers gripping Liana’s throat tightened, making it even more difficult for her to breathe, but not tight enough that she was in danger of fainting—yet. Being careful to shield her thoughts, she rotated Aric’s dagger in her hand. Her hair quivered.

  She would die before being taken by the Sorcerer.

  Zanden raised his voice to be heard over the storm. “I can kill the Tanzinite wench in less than an instant, and be gone before you blink.”

  For a moment the moon appeared in a small gap in the storm clouds. Liana’s heart dropped as she realized it was getting closer and closer to moonchange.

  They were almost out of time.

  Thunder rumbled and rain pelted Liana’s face as she put her plan into action. As though caught in a gust of wind, her wet tresses snaked up the Sorcerer’s arms to his shoulders.

  A movement caught her eye and she saw Aric stir on the muddy ground. His gaze met hers, and she sensed at once he knew what she was about to do.

  With the speed of a whirlwind, Liana’s hair wrapped around Zanden’s throat, choking him and severing his concentration. At the exact same moment, she raised her arm and plunged the dagger into his thigh with all her might.

  Aric slammed his boot into the Sorcerer’s knee.

  Zanden screamed in agony as his knees buckled and he started to drop to the ground, Liana’s hair still around his neck.

  And then he vanished.

  Liana’s hair twisted in the wind where the Sorcerer had been, and the burnt sugar smell dissipated.

  A nordai screech echoed in the storm and Liana whipped her head up to see massive black wings disappearing into swirling black clouds.

  Aric surged to his feet and caught Liana to him, holding her so tight she could scarcely breathe. “Zjenni. By the gods, I never want to see you in such peril ever again. I was so afraid I was going to lose you.”

  All the emotion from the battle and Aric’s obvious love for her nearly overwhelmed Liana. Warm tears flowed down her cheeks, mingling with the cold rain, and her voice trembled as she commanded him, “Do not ever scare me like that again, Aric of Nordain.”

  * * * * *

  Mere hours later, as they arrived in the Nordain Kingdom, cheers rose up from the crowd that swarmed around the travelers. Countless voices urged the couple to hurry into the castle as King Aric dismounted the Elvin stallion he and Liana had borrowed. Apparently the Elves had gotten word to Aric’s people, and they were prepared to accept their new Queen.

  Liana’s cheeks burned as embarrassment consumed her. She could not believe that everyone knew about the prophecy and that all were anxious to get her and Aric into bed together to mate before moonchange.

  But at the same time, she desired him so badly she could hardly wait to get him naked and inside her.

  A host of warriors had stayed behind at the battlefield to tend the wounded and the dead. Liana hoped that the casualties were few—in the rush to get the King and future Queen to Phoenicia, it had been too difficult to tell. Sorrow filled her heart for those that did not make it, and for Baethel, who had become a friend to her, as well as Aric’s companion.

  Accompanied by a small group of Nordain and Elvin warriors, Aric and Liana had arrived at Sky Castle in record time. During the last part of the journey from the battlefield, the storm had dissipated, allowing them to travel at a faster pace.

  Liana shivered as Aric lifted her from the Elvin horse. “I can walk,” she insisted, even though she loved the feel of his strong arms around her. “You’re wounded.”

  Holding her close, Aric gave Liana a slow and sensual grin that caused her to catch her breath. “I shall carry my woman over the threshold and into my bed.”

  Heated desire engulfed Liana like a firestorm. To Hades with the crowd—if Aric didn’t get her through that door immediately, she would take him right here and now. Modesty and inhibitions be damned.

  “Well hurry, then,” she demanded, and he laughed.

  Within a few long strides, Aric carried her past the cheering crowd, over the threshold of Sky Castle, and into the warmth of his domain. “Welcome home, zjenni,” he murmured in her ear as he headed straight for the winding staircase.

  She was so focused on Aric that she was only vaguely aware of the beautiful realm they had entered. Rich tapestries and floor coverings, ornately carved furniture, oil paintings, vases and statues—everything passed by in a blur as Aric rushed through the common room and up the stairs.

  Liana had never felt such warmth and belonging as she did in Aric’s arms. She almost couldn’t fathom that he was hers. It was as though she had conjured him up in a magical vision and she feared it all might end at any moment.

  “I never realized the front door was so far from my bedchamber,” Aric muttered as his boots rang against the marble floor.

  “These steps would be fine,” Liana teased. “You may take me right here.”

  “Do not tempt me, woman,” he all but growled as he jogged up the endless stairs.

  When they reached the landing, Aric strode through a set of open doors that led to the largest bedchamber she had ever seen. Not pausing to shut the doors behind him, Aric carried Liana straight to the massive bed that commanded the center of the candlelit room. Smells of vanilla, spices, and Aric’s musky male scent filled her senses, heightening her arousal.

  An enormous arched window looking out into the night sky captured her attention for one moment. The now amethyst moon was visible, shimmering high above.

  It was almost moonchange.

  Despite the urgent need emanating from him like lightning in a thunderstorm, Aric gently set Liana on her feet beside the bed. He quickly began stripping out of his tunic, breeches, and boots, never taking his eyes off her.

  Her body vibrated with desire as she stared at Aric’s gorgeous nakedness and the hunger in his eyes. Her nipples beaded into tight pearls and she ached between her thighs. She wanted to taste his skin, to swallow his seed. But more than anything she wanted his cock buried deep within her.

  She let her cloak drop away, and Aric grasped the top of her gown and ripped it apart. Tossing the ruins aside, he groaned at the sight of her bare skin. In a rush he lifted her onto the bed and eased between her thighs.

  “Open your eyes, zjenni,” he commanded as she started to close them.

  Her eyes widened and their gazes locked. He clasped her hands in his, and raised them over her head as he added, “I want you to see the man who loves you.” And with that he slid inside her in one powerful thrust.

  Liana gasped at the feel of Aric’s cock as he filled her. Her tresses caressed his hands and arms. She became so lost in the sensations that her eyes started to close again.

  Look at me, he demanded in her mind and her gaze riveted to his in surprise and wonder that he had been able to speak to her in thought without the Elvin potion. Do you love me as I love you? he asked.

  She moaned and bit her lip as he rocked her body. Gods, yes, Aric.

  Harder and faster he plunged his cock inside her, her breasts swaying with every thrust. The feel of her hands captured above her hea
d and watching Aric as he mated with her was an incredibly erotic feeling that made her crazy with lust. Startling sensations built within, so intense she could hardly breathe.

  Tell me. Aric’s voice in her thoughts was a command and a loving caress all at once. Say that you love me.

  I love you, Aric. Liana arched her back as she soared to the pinnacle. Gods, how I love you!

  She screamed as she came, her orgasm wracking her body in wave after wave of pleasure while Aric thrust into her again and again and again.

  With a shout, Aric climaxed. He continued to move inside Liana, releasing every drop of his seed into her womb.

  Just as he collapsed against her, the room brightened, bathed in brilliant purple light from the open window.

  Moonchange.

  Aric kissed her cheek, his black eyes filled with sorrow. “I am so sorry, zjenni. I must go.”

  In a rush, he withdrew his still erect cock from inside her, bolted to his feet and swiped his clothing from the floor.

  He stepped away, and in an instant transformed into an enormous black nordai.

  Covering her mouth with her hands, Liana choked back a sob as Aric’s wings carried him through the window and away from her.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Aric and the other Nordain men have been gone almost a week.” Liana perched on a velvet bench in front of her mirrored dressing table, and spoke over her shoulder to Angelei. They were in the King and Queen’s bedchamber, which was decorated in rich hues of royal blue, gold and cream. “Surely they should have returned by now.”

  “Soon,” Angelei replied. In the mirror, Liana watched the Elvin woman’s reflection as she stroked a jewel-encrusted hairbrush from the top of Liana’s head to the end of her moonlight shaded tresses. “The men will be back when they can, and then the ceremony and feasting can begin.”

  As Angelei brushed Liana’s hair, Liana found herself mesmerized by the naked Elvin woman’s graceful movements. In the mirror she saw Angelei’s high and firm breasts, her nipples large and jutting out as though she was aroused. The symbols on her forehead and in the patch of hair between her thighs glittered. Liana caught Angelei’s jasmine scent, the same smell as the soap she had used to wash Liana’s hair at the lake in Seraphine.