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“But you want him anyway.” Gregar raked
his teeth down the column of her throat. “Do you know why? What do I give you
that Rhaekhar does not?”

Chills crawled down her arms. “Danger.”

Rhaekhar’s nostrils flared, his eyes
glowed, and his lips curved in that familiar smug grin. Dead or alive, he knew
exactly what she was feeling. “Exactly. It took two young Blood to replace me.
Or is it all nine yet?”

Heat scorched her cheeks at the thought.
She’d never contemplated…Only Dharman and Sal…Surely… She forced a glare and
shook her head.

Gregar laughed. “And a dragon to replace
me.”

“What am I going to do?”

Rhaekhar shared a dark, knowing look
with the warrior at her back. “Do you have to ask?”

She let out a growl and thumped him on
the chest. “You know what I mean. This man is Shadowed.”

He arched a brow at her. “And Gregar is
not?”

“It’s different this time.” She huffed,
struggling to voice her dread. “He’s even more dangerous, more…evil. He wants
to do worse than kill me.”

Gregar laughed again and it wasn’t a
nice chuckle at all. The hard, cruel tone raised the hairs on her neck. Her
internal alarms shrieked danger, death at her back. “And I did not?”

“I was your Fire,” Rhaekhar said softly.
“Your Blood are now your Fire.”

“I was your Shadow,” Gregar growled, his
teeth scraping at her neck warningly. “This dragon is now your Shadow.”

“And you, my heart, shine like your
Lady’s moon. Do what you do best. Love them.”

She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back
the tears, but it was too late. “I won’t pay that sacrifice again. It hurts too
much. I can’t lose anyone again. I can’t, please, don’t ask me to live that
grief again.”

“You saved me from Shadow.” Gregar
rubbed his cheek against hers. “Is this blackheart worth saving if you have the
power?”

“I don’t know.”

“Only you can answer that question,
na’lanna
. Listen to your heart. This
dragon falls, tumbling toward his doom and screaming for you. Only you can save
him. Will you stand by and let him fall to his death?”

“He might kill me.”

“Aye.” Rhaekhar’s mouth flattened, his
voice hard. “The risk is great. If he succeeds in your death, then there will
be eleven ghostly warriors riding him down and dragging him to the Three Hells
where we will torment him with our
rahkes
for all time.”

She couldn’t help but picture the
sandalwood savage spread-eagled on black rock, pinned by her Blood and two
mates while their
rahkes
dug into his
flesh. Thin trails of blood rivered down his body, flavoring the air with
desert spice, tempting her to lick and bite and wallow…

Rhaekhar slid inside on a hard thrust
that slammed her tight against the Death Rider at her back. “Aye, that is a
very tempting punishment you’ve devised for this dragon. But first, I want you
to wallow upon me.”

Dropping his hand to her breast, Gregar
gripped her left shoulder in his teeth.
:Do
not fear,
na’lanna
. Even if you lose
this
kae’don
to the dragon, you will
have
this
for evermore.:

:If
you mark me here, will I wear it in the waking world?:

His breath caught on a ragged moan.
:I don’t know, but I’m more than eager to
try if you’re up to the challenge.:

:Mark
me,
na’lanna
. I want to carry
your
Shadow.:

Even here in the training Camp for Death
Riders and
shamans
, Rhaekhar was
First. Gregar looked to him for permission, even though the other warrior was
no longer Khul. Rhaekhar nodded and took her mouth at the same time that Gregar
struck at her shoulder. Arching against him, she dug her fingers into
Rhaekhar’s lower back. He hummed his satisfaction against her lips, while
Gregar’s teeth sank deeper at her shoulder, searing pain driving her pleasure
higher.

Her blood filled his mouth, the taste
alone enough to drive him to release in a hot flood against her buttocks. She
followed, and then Rhaekhar like dominoes. Trembling, they all three lay
fighting to regain their breathing, their heads crowded close, sharing the same
air. With their hair tumbled in her face and their bodies pressed tight to
hers, she almost felt safe again. She could almost forget that a Black Dragon
stalked her Dreams and swore to hunt her down while his blood spread through
her heart like a foul cancer.

Speaking of blood…she smelled
Rhaekhar’s. She hadn’t bitten him, and she certainly hadn’t meant to hurt him.

“I’m dead, my heart. It’s impossible to
hurt me now, but I would like to see your hands.” He sat up and gripped her
wrists, holding her hands up between them. Pearly talons gleamed on each
fingertip. “Interesting. Do you have these in the waking world?”

“No,” she whispered, shaken. “At least,
I don’t think so.”

“Next time, I want these raking up and
down my back.” Gregar took her hand and lifted her arm back so he could lick each
talon clean, but he hesitated, sniffing and touching his tongue to her fingers.
“Aye, your dragon does smell very distinctive,
na’lanna
. Your Blood are going to have a very good time indeed
watching you rip him to shreds.”

* * *

AFTER HUGS AND KISSES FROM the twins who
couldn’t stop babbling about the
na’kindren
in the valley and seeing both their fathers once more, Shannari felt even
better. She had their love to anchor her, and if the worst happened and she
failed, then she would find them waiting here for her. It was guaranteed that
she would die in blood. Nothing would keep her from them.

Not even a Black Dragon’s
sandalwood-scented blood.

Kae’Shaman
kissed both her cheeks and held her hands. “I’m so pleased to see you at last,
child. I know it’s been terribly difficult.”

Even with her co-mates on either side of
her and her daughters in her lap, she knew tears shimmered in her eyes. For the
twins’ sake, she didn’t cry again. “I’m afraid things are only going to get
worse. I have a situation brewing that very well may lead to war.”

A
war that I have no hope of winning.

“As soon as you awake, send a messenger
to our new Khul,” Rhaekhar said. “Our friend shall not fail you,
na’lanna
. Our warriors would be more
than pleased to ride to your aid.”

“A little battle is good for the blood!”
Rhyra shouted, leaping up to brandish a stick in place of a
rahke
. Anya joined her in a play
kae’rahke
, but Shannari could see the
Shadowed Blood’s influence in their training.

She squeezed Gregar’s hand.
:Thank you for training them. You always
were the best.:

:Thank
you for letting me meet my daughter.:

Indeed, Anya would do her father proud.
Shannari could see the blossoming skill in her dark-haired daughter’s strokes.

“You have many weapons at your disposal,
child.”
Kae’Shaman
said. “With nine
Blood, a Rose Crown, a Great Seal, and the blood of your Blessed Lady flowing
in your veins, you will be able to accomplish great things.”

An idea began to form in the back of her
mind. If her Blood were willing…

“You know they’d kneel at your feet and
slit their throats if you asked them,” Rhaekhar reminded. “Go, my heart, and
see to this threat, but come often and soon.”

“We miss you,” Gregar whispered, his
heart laid bare in his trembling voice.

Both warriors pressed tighter, holding
her cheek to cheek to cheek. “I love you,” she whispered. “I will always love
you.”

Reaching for Dharman felt like carving
her heart out of her chest only to have it handed back to her with his sweet
honeycake scent as his arms enfolded her. With his bond firm in her mind, she
stepped out of the Dream and opened her eyes. He lay before her, nose to nose,
his eyes wide open and intent.

“I need a messenger.”

“Already done,
na’lanna Qwen
. As soon as you entered the Tenth Camp, I returned
briefly to give Sal the order.”

Her eyes widened, her heart suddenly
galloping at full speed. “He didn’t go himself, did he?”

“Surely you jest,
na’lanna
.” Sal hopped onto the bed beside her on all fours,
artfully sending his hair to tumble into her lap. “
Sangral na’kindren
would not separate me from you.”

Relieved, she still frowned. She would
need all nine for her plan. “Then who went to Dalden Bay?”

“Khul’s messenger was still here. He
said he had an odd feeling that he should remain until you needed him. He rides
with all haste to Khul, and he assured us that the Plains will empty at your
Call without delay.”

“Who did this?” Sal’s normally playful
voice vibrated with menace. He hovered over her left shoulder, smelling her
skin. “Ah, never mind. The Shadowed Blood marked you well,
na’lanna Qwen
.”

“You can see it?” She craned her head
around, checking it with her right hand. Gregar’s mark was bruised and sore,
but shimmered oddly, almost as though it were lit from within.

“Your other marks shine too,” Dharman
whispered in a reverent voice, lightly touching his fingers to her left breast,
his mark over her heart. “You swallowed the moon,
na’lanna
. Our marks shine.”

She smiled, tears filling her eyes, but
this time of joy. “Shine with love.”

Her smile fell, though. If she bore Gregar’s
mark…then the Black surely bore hers.

She pushed up out of the bed, Sal and
Dharman behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dharman giving the
other Blood orders. She knew that enough of her intentions had already leaked
through to him, but she gave him the words out of courtesy. “I’m going to bathe
and dress, and then we’re going down to the Great Seal. Send a messenger to
Father Josef and ask him to meet me in the High Court.”

Lew slipped out the door to bring the
priest to her. Sal went in search of clothing.

“No armor,” she called after him,
smiling at the flash in Dharman’s eyes. He’d gotten his desire at last.
“Something simple, preferably white. I need to make a statement.” He arched a
brow at her, his mouth quirking, but she didn’t know why until… “Oh, and Sal,
not those crotchless drawers.”

Her Second Blood made a disgusted sound
of disappointment.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

MYKAL
JERKED AWAKE, BLINDLY REACHING FOR HER. Catching a falling star would have been
easier. She was gone, but her scent of musky roses hung thick in the air,
permeating his clothing. Breathing hard, he sat up, not surprised to find his
clothing tattered rags, whether from her talons or his, he didn’t know.

What shocked the very breath from his
body was the shimmering rainbow mark in his groin. She’d caught the flesh high
on his inner thigh in her teeth and left him an impressive mark. Fingers
shaking, he lightly touched the bite.

Cool water flooded him, laden with
moonlight and silver and flavored with rose petals. Shuddering, he came hard,
biting his lip until he tasted blood to keep from roaring her name at the top
of his lungs.

Shannari!

Wells
,
he could feel her. Far, far to the east behind Shining Walls, the bond between
them lay thin and stretched but she’d definitely heard him. The flash of terror
from her arched his back and another spasm shook him.

What would it be like to have her mind
laid open and bare to him, as lush and ripe as her body? One taste of her blood
would never be enough. He wanted her most secret thoughts ringing in his mind,
her most vulnerable fears transparent, and her love shining, a beacon in the
darkest night.

That’s
what I want most of all.

The thought shook him to his core. The
Black Dragon lay sated and lazy within him, willing to sleep with the memory of
her scent to feed him, but there were other Shadows he must feed. He felt the
Darkness like a steady drip of blood pooling within his soul, slicked with
dragon oil and as black as his heart.

His mind wheeled, tumbling toward the
earth like a dragon surrendered to a death spiral.

I’m
Mykal tal’Mamba, and I have a purpose. But when did my heart overtake my mind?

Was that part of the overall plan? He
didn’t know. After hundreds of years of dark plots, lies, and murder, he
hesitated. He honestly didn’t know what to do. All his careful scheming blew
like sand before the storm, disappearing in a cloud of dust that meant nothing,
nothing at all, once the sweet perfume of roses filled his nose.

Hissing beneath his breath, he jumped to
his feet and ducked out of his tent. He threw his head back and roared, shaking
his fist at the moon.

Gana
tal’Tellan
and Nijar
tal
’Gaboon came running,
along with his own
rav
and dozens of
other warriors he didn’t bother to name.