or maybe it was just different.

a thin film, like the skin of a bubble, hovered between them. lexi poked at it, expecting it to pop, but it held firm. she pushed harder and still nothing happened.

zach levered his body up on one elbow. his face was bright with excitement. "i felt that . . . pressure. try it again."

lexi did. she shoved at the barrier until it made her dizzy, but didn't break through.

exhausted, she let out a frustrated sigh. "sorry."

zach smoothed her hair back from her damp forehead and gave her an encouraging smile. "don't be. it'll come. you just need some rest. and maybe some more practice."

he was still semihard inside her, the "semi" part quickly becoming a memory. but, rather than take advantage, zach pulled out of her and stretched out along her flank. he pulled the sheet up over her damp body and ran his finger along the luceria. his eyes darkened as he watched the play of his finger as if the sight turned him on. maybe it did.

"i hope that's enough," she said.

"it will be." his voice rang with complete confidence. "but for now, you need to rebuild your strength. make some new blood. fucking bloodsucking bastard." a scowl wrinkled his dark brow.

lexi soothed it away with her thumb. "i'm fine. really."

"roll over and let me pet you." his voice was gruff, but lexi didn't mind. she sensed that he simply didn't want her watching emotions play over his face. whether he felt vulnerable, or whether he just didn't want her to worry, she wasn't sure, but she humored him and rolled onto her stomach.

zach's wide, warm hand slid along her spine, pushing the sheet away as he went. the chill of cool air didn't touch her, though. not with zach at her back, throwing off heat like a furnace.

lexi closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of him stroking her. tiny sparks jumped into her skin, but she was getting used to that now, and they were almost like a mini massage.

he traced his finger over her leopard tattoo, following the sinuous curves of vines surrounding the animal.

"why did you do this?" he asked.

"to keep you from finding me. mom was convinced my birthmark would draw the monsters to me, so she used to cover it with makeup. when i was older, i got inked."

his hand moved down to the base of her spine where the filigree swirls she'd fallen in love with at fifteen lay embedded in her skin. she felt him shift, moving his body down, felt his warm breath sweep out over her bottom as he moved in for a close inspection.

"there," he said, touching a spot just to the right of her spine. "i see it. the ring that marks you as a theronai."

"yep. that's it. mom said it was dangerous, so we got it covered. when i saw that mark you left on me at gertie's diner, i knew it was bad news. i figured if i covered it up, it might keep you from tracking me."

"it did. funny how none of us knew it would work like that. how on earth did your mom know?"

lexi shrugged her tattooed shoulder, drawing zach back up her body to the image of his eyes in a leopard's body. "i'm not sure. the guy who fathered me gave her all kinds of instructions on how to keep me safe, and a bunch of dire warnings about how important it was for her to keep me hidden until i was grown. guess mom took them to heart."

"i wish i could thank her for taking care of you so well."

a deep, old heartache, worn down to smooth edges by time, bloomed up inside lexi. she missed mom every day, wished she could share her life with her now that things were better. safer.

mom would have liked zach. after she'd finished trying to kill him, of course.

"why a leopard?" asked zach.

"it was the way you moved. like a predator. the way you looked at me like you were hungry, made me feel hunted."

"i was hunting you. and as for the idea of eating you all up . . . that has promise."

a languid heat curled inside her belly. "anytime you want."

zach growled low in his throat, but moved away. "you need your rest. if i get started now, you won't sleep for hours."

fatigue weighed down on her, tugging her toward dreamland. as much as she wanted zach, she knew she'd give in to his effortless seduction if he stuck around. the man was irresistible, even when he wasn't trying. "not sure i can last that long."

he gave her shoulder a quick kiss and levered himself out of bed. "which is why i'm going out for a while. naked lexi is too tempting to resist, and i'm determined to be a good boy and let you sleep. if you think you can."

"i think i'd like to try. there's a lot going on in my head right now."

zach nodded. "yeah. a lot of that going around."

"wanna talk about it?"

"not now. tomorrow is soon enough. get some rest. i'm going to go out and see if i can lend a hand at the wall. unless you'd rather i stay."

lexi needed some time to think, and she sure as hell wasn't going to sleep if his manly body was right there, distracting her with its yumminess. "no, you go on. they need your help. helen said it's not going well."

"it's not, but we'll get through. we always do."

lexi watched as he covered his firm butt with his discarded jeans, blocking her from the lovely sight. "spoil-sport," she teased.

zach let out a laugh, shaking his head. "stop trying to make me blush, woman. i might have to retaliate."

"sounds like fun."

he buckled his sword belt around his hips and the thing shimmered before it faded from sight. "you're in no shape for more fun." he bent down and kissed the tip of her nose. "sleep. then we'll see if we can't find something to amuse you."

he was just closing the bedroom door when lexi stopped him. "zach? what if i can't do it? what if i can't ever tap into your power?"

he stilled with his hand on the knob and gave her a smile so full of confidence it almost made her believe in miracles. "you can."

"but what if i can't?"

he looked her right in the eyes and said, "i'll love you anyway."

chapter 22

zach was regretting his confession of love by the time he hit the training yard. he kept feeling around, trying to connect to lexi, seeking out some kind of reaction to his declaration. but all he felt was a yawning void of nothing stretching out between them.

shit.

he knew she was trying. he couldn't fault her for that, but it still bothered him that things weren't working between them like they should.

because she still didn't trust him. that had to be the problem.

frustration rode him hard as he neared the crumbled ruins of the wall. he checked his cell phone to make sure it was working and lexi could reach him; then he threw himself into some good, hard labor. lifting rocks was that, and then some.

an hour after zach left, lexi had convinced herself that he didn't really mean that he loved her. it was just a manner of speech. a saying his people used or something.

i'll love you anyway.

she wanted it to be true so much it made her heart ache. no one had loved her since her mom, and she found herself dying for more, craving it like she did oxygen.

which was completely unfair of her. here she was wanting his love when she wasn't yet able to give it back in return. it wasn't that zach wasn't lovable. hell, she'd never met a man who sang to her soul the way he did. she was sure she could love him.

if she allowed herself to truly believe all of this was real, and that he was what he seemed.

there was still a sliver of doubt lodged deep inside of her that maybe everything she'd seen and felt since the night zach had found her in gus's bar had all been some kind of trick. a hallucination brought about by the monumental powers the sentinels wielded.

and no matter how many times she told herself that this had to be real, that sliver of doubt still stung and nagged her, drawing her mind back to it over and over. she wanted all of this to be true so badly that she was sure it would be swept away from her. someone would lift a curtain and show her reality, and all her hopes and dreams would dissolve like a sugar cube tossed into hot water.

deep down, lexi sensed that it was this last bit of doubt that was holding her back, but she didn't know how to shake it. it was the only thing protecting her, and no matter how safe she felt in zach's arms, she knew that, too, could be part of the illusion. her only true safety lay in holding on to that doubt, keeping it close to her heart so at least that part of her was invulnerable.

if this was all a lie, and that curtain was opened, then at least lexi would know that she'd held back the most important part of herself. she might be stripped of her pride and humiliated, they might laugh at the foolish woman who fell under their spell so easily, they might even kill her, but at least she wouldn't die heartbroken.

it was cold comfort.

lexi threw back the covers, found some new clothes that weren't ripped in half, showered, and got dressed.

her first instinct was to seek out helen and talk to her, but she was busy on the wall, or if she wasn't, she was probably sleeping. since lexi was useless when it came to lending a magical hand, the least she could do was stay out of the way and not slow everyone else down.

there was only one thing lexi could do to help: get the defenders to see reality and side with the sentinels. there were hundreds of them-maybe even a few thousand-scattered across the country. if they joined forces with the sentinels and helped fight the synestryn, maybe it would help even the playing field.

sure, they were just humans without any magical powers, but they were heavily armed and completely dedicated humans. even if they only agreed to provide eyes and ears, it might help tip the scales in the sentinels' favor.

it was worth a shot.

plus, if she managed to convince the defenders that everything she hoped was true, then that would go a long way toward pulling out that last splinter of doubt.

and if she couldn't convince them? well, she wasn't sure what she'd do then, but she had to try.

lexi wasn't stupid enough to meet with them face- to-face, but a phone call couldn't hurt. they already knew where she was, and since the bomb hadn't gone off, they also probably knew she'd been compromised.

she figured out how to get an outside line, and dialed jake morrow, hector's son. it was breaking the chain of command, but jake was a much more reasonable man than his father. if anyone was going to listen to her side of the story, it would be him.

zach stared out over the broken wall, realizing for the first time just how vulnerable they really were. and how long it was going to stay that way.

they'd worked all night and had only added two feet to the structure. all the rocks were piled up, ready to be used, but they could only be put in place after one of the women had woven defensive magic through the molecules of the stone. otherwise, the only thing it was going to keep out was humans and animals.

dawn was drawing near, and all but a few theronai had gone inside to seek their rest. there was nothing more they could do now that helen and gilda had gone inside to sleep, neither one strong enough to stand without help.