Elizabeth touched her tongue to her suddenly dry lips. “I refused to give him access to your soul. I told him I would suicide first. He allowed his puppets to consume children and I carried out my threat. He was barely able to save me that time. Twice more he did things to others I couldn’t tolerate, and I suicided. After that, he only punished me. I knew you would survive if I died. I would be reborn with your half of our soul intact, but if he was able to take it from me, you could be made his servant, and he would have been able to corrupt or harm you in other ways. I couldn’t take the chance.”She rushed the confession, ashamed that she couldn’t think of any other solution than to suicide when she had been told the ancient hunters in the monastery had endured for centuries and locked themselves away because they hadn’t believed in meeting the dawn and giving up on their lifemates. That was only showing him once again that she was a . .“Do not.” Fero hissed the command at her in ob

Fero nuzzled the top of her head. “You do not need to speak unless I ask you to. If you need to answer, you can speak to me on our path alone. No one else needs to hear the sound of your voice. You do not need to look at them. I will shield you at all times.”Elizabeth was shivering again and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She wanted to be brave for him, especially since he continually persisted in calling her courageous, but already she felt the power building around the dwelling. They were coming. It wasn’t one or two. There were several ancients and they carried power easily, so easily that the house and ground fairly crackled with it.Fero waved his hand casually toward the door and the heavy oak swung open. A tall warrior strode in. Elizabeth kept her head buried in Fero’s chest, her hand over her eyes, but she opened her fingers just enough to see him. His hair was a true black with strands of gray, much like Fero’s only not quite as long. His shoulders were wide

“I have searched for anything Levon may have left behind and found nothing,” Ferro said, keeping his tone mild. He didn’t protest Tensel’s decree, but made it clear that Tensel was going to have to challenge his abilities. That would be difficult in light of the fact that he was an ancient and few could match his skills.He waited for the leader of the compound to make his next move. ‘There is no need to shake until your body falls apart, my little songbird. No one is going to harm you. My brethren are here to protect you. Look carefully around the circle. I want you to try to determine which stayed with me in the monastery in the Mountains.’Perhaps that would take her mind off the fact that Tensel and his guards were regarding his lifemate with piercing eyes, as if they could see beyond her flesh and bones to what lay beneath. She shivered again. He didn’t want to be like Levon, hiding her away in a cage from others, but he felt she was going to be sick if this kept up.‘Elizabeth

“Gary,” Fero said, still holding Elizabeth’s gaze. “But you will be merged with me at all times, healer.” He decreed it. If Tensel and Gary were looking for anything but what they were telling the others, or they planned on hurting his lifemate, he would be there to stop them. He glanced at Sandu, then to Andor. Both men were tied soul to soul with him.Fero felt Elizabeth’s unshed tears, but there were none in her eyes as she stared directly into his. He saw her make a tremendous effort to pull herself together. To still her mind. To let her heart calm along with her breathing. She took her direction from him, choosing to follow his lead. He was very proud of her, knowing how difficult it had to be and knowing she was doing it for him to avoid him having to fight their way out of the compound.Gary was already shedding his body, once more becoming a healing light. Fero didn’t want to leave her alone, but he didn’t like the idea of anyone entering her without giving her his protectio

‘He is not your master.’ Fero couldn’t keep the clipped, fierce note from his voice. He went directly to dominant in seconds, without thinking. Just the idea that his woman would think of Levon that way set his teeth on edge. ‘He was never your master. He was a cruel ancient who kidnapped an innocent young girl. He will pay for what he did to you.’At once that soothing breeze swept through his mind, clearing out his need to find the vampire and rip out his heart. There was only Elizabeth and her sweetness, that gentle soul with her light and the courage to guard his soul for centuries.‘You are right,’ she agreed. ‘He is not my master. The point is, I can look a little closer at him with you here holding me and see things I could not before. I would not have the courage if you were not with me. I would fear he would find me the way he did when I was in the healing grounds. He always told me he could find me anywhere.’Gary’s spirit emerged from her body, his light much dimmer than wh