the relief and welcome in her eyes as he approached nearly drove him to his knees. his hands shook with the need to pull her into his arms. for once he didn't have to fight the urge. he cupped her bare shoulders and pulled her against him, his passion igniting and flaring into a wildfire with the first brush of his heated flesh against her silken skin. her breasts pebbled against his bare chest. her scent rose up, clouding his mind, ensnaring him in a haze of lust that was almost too thick to breathe.

when he covered her mouth, reason fled. her sweetness drugged him, stealing all thought but the certainty she was the only sustenance he would ever need. his hands pressed against her back, pulling her closer as her own hands swept up to catch in his hair, holding him tight.

his tongue swept inside the lush cavern of her mouth, seeking its mate, drawing small moans from her throat that grew in force until she was rocking against him. in a far, distant corner of his mind, he remembered where they were. remembered they stood within the circle of his fellows. he should let her go and step back.

but his beast roared, mine! and he increased the pressure of his tongue strokes instead, marking her, his beast daring the goddess to ignore his claim. in a trembling rush, kara came apart in his arms, clinging to him as soft whimpers escaped her throat.

lyon continued to kiss her, drinking in the heady taste of her release until the torrent passed, and she clung to him. slowly, regretfully, he released her mouth and held her tight against him until she could stand on her own.

sweet goddess, he wasn't letting her go. she had to be his. his logical mind took up the cry of his beast. mine.

but she would only be his if his fingertips glowed in the mark of the true mate.

his scalp began to tingle with cold realization. glowing fingers would have triggered a shout. a cheer. the only sounds that met his ears were the crackle of the fires and the stunned and utter silence of his brothers. he knew. before he ever pulled away from her and looked at his hands, he knew there would be no glow.

mine! his beast roared in anger and betrayal. but he lifted his hands and stared at the traitorous normalcy of his flesh.

kara wasn't his.

he released her and stepped back, her gaze clinging to him even as he turned away. pain lanced his aching body.

this was good, his logical mind cried. he didn't have time for a mate. but his beast growled at the treacherous fates, and he knew his beast was right.

all his life he'd been alone. and hadn't realized it. he'd thought it was just him, just the way he was. until kara. the first time he touched her, he'd felt an awakening deep inside, a stark and painful illumination of the lonely hollows within him that he'd never acknowledged, perhaps never even known existed. an ache that eased when he touched her.

but she wasn't his. the goddess, in her cruelty, had given her to another. and those hollow places inside him, raw and open, would bleed for the rest of his life.

he would never touch kara again.

kara covered her face with her hands, longing to sink into the ground and disappear. never had she been so humiliated. every time lyon kissed her, she came. it was embarrassing enough to do in front of him, but she'd just done it in front of eight men. men she was supposed to live with!

oh, god.

she lowered her hands and saw the men exchanging glances, felt the unnatural silence blanketing the dungeonlike room. had something gone wrong, or were they merely horrified at the sluttiness of their new radiant?

the odd cherry-sweet smell of the fire smoke teased her nose as tighe approached her, his muscular chest bare above his low-slung blue jeans, a silver armband with a tiger's head tight around his upper arm, glinting in the firelight. above his right nipple he had the scar, the four claw marks just like her own.

tighe stopped in front of her, demanding her attention. for once, he was without his sunglasses, and she gasped when she saw his eyes. no whites rimmed his irises. instead, golden tiger eyes stared back at her with the same disconcerting hunger she saw in the others'. a chill slid down her spine.

never had she been the object of such attention, and never from men such as these. while it was a heady experience to have so many men desire her, there was only one among them whose attention she wanted.

lyon.

tighe's gaze caressed her face. "look at you," he breathed. "you're glowing. absolutely glowing." he shook his head, looking mystified. "he should have been the one."

he slid his hands over her shoulders, his hands shaking ever so slightly, telegraphing the hunger she saw on his face. "i feel like i'm encroaching on something sacred." but he pulled her lightly against him as paenther had and kissed her with surprising passion, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth. she kissed him back because she was supposed to, and because she liked him. but the kiss was mildly pleasant, nothing more.

tighe pulled back and looked at his hands, then met her gaze with a lopsided grin. "i got a little carried away. that kiss you gave lyon was... inspiring." he cupped her chin, briefly, then turned away.

kara looked at lyon, but his gaze was fixed firmly on the floor. what was going on? lyon had told her this ceremony was only to choose the man who would help her ascend. but they were taking it far more seriously. with a sudden, horrible certainty, she knew it was more. much more.

vhyper strode toward her, his bald head gleaming, his silver earring shining with a fire all its own. "i keep waiting for someone to start the duck, duck, goose, but they're all so somber tonight."

kara forced a smile, but couldn't hold on to it for more than a second. her heart was starting to pound a deep thud. "what's the purpose of this ceremony?"

his gaze met hers, a spark of something sharp slicing through his eyes. "to find your mate," he said, then pulled her against him for his kiss.

mate. mate? as vhyper's seeking mouth touched hers, she struggled against his hold. he released her so suddenly, she stumbled backward, off the pedestal. strong arms caught her from behind and righted her before she hit the ground.

vhyper thrust his hands in the air and turned in a circle like the champ of a prizefight. high above his head his fingertips glowed like blue christmas tree bulbs. when he turned to face her, his eyes flashed with triumph.

"it looks like you're mine."

no. kara leaped off the pedestal and ran to lyon. but unlike before, he didn't open his arms to her. instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked over her head, his shoulder-length golden hair framing a face made of granite as he refused to meet her gaze.

"you said this ritual was to choose the man who would help me ascend."

his jaw tightened, sending the bones of his face into harsh relief. "it was. it did."

"but that's not all it did, is it?" tears burned her eyes as her hands fisted at her side. "you purposely misled me. what was the reason for this ritual, lyon? what have you done to me by bringing me here?" she slammed her fists against the light furring of his hard chest, demanding he look at her, but he refused. "you've sold me." she beat on his chest. "you've sold me."

lyon's hands shot around to clamp her wrists and still her fury. his gaze bore into hers, harsh, yet pained. "he's your destiny, kara. the pairing never fails."

"you expect me to marry him?"

"you will. he's your mate. the only one who can keep you from dying during your ascension, the only one with whom you might ever have a child. he'll be the love of your life."

"you're crazy." her vision blurred as the tears began to slip down her cheeks. "i'm not doing this." they couldn't make her marry against her will. they couldn't.

and who would stop them? they weren't human. dear god, she wasn't human.

lyon released her and whirled, striding away.

kara ran after him. "lyon!"

he turned, his face hard. "you don't have a choice." his voice was harsh. angry. "you must ascend. and vhyper is the only one who can help you do it."

kara stared at him, feeling the ground beneath her feet drop away. in the past twenty-four hours, she'd lost her mother, her home, her world, even her very sense of who she was. yet through it all, she'd had lyon beside her, holding the terrifying sense of loss and chaos at bay. she'd trusted him.

and he'd betrayed her.

it was too much. she sank to her knees on the hard stone floor, wrapping her arms around herself as if she could keep from shattering into a million pieces. her dress pooled around her like a lake of glistening tears.

"kara..." in lyon's voice she heard all the pain in her heart. "i'm sorry."

but when she looked up, he was already walking away.

kara wasn't sure how long she'd sat there in the smoky room, in the ruins of the pairing, the voices talking over her. sounds of disbelief. regret. anger.

one hard voice cut through the others. "if lyon touches her again, i'll kill him."

"you know lyon better than that, vhype. he'd never betray you."

"no. he won't." but the words sounded more like a threat than any affirmation of trust.

"i don't blame you for going crazy, my man. we're all hanging on to control by a thread. lyon's no different."

"i said i'll fucking kill him!"

kara shivered, feeling battered. broken. she refused to listen to this anymore. she rose from the floor, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and started for the doorway.

vhyper stepped into her path, blocking her escape. "you're going with me, radiant. nowhere else."

kara stiffened, chilled as she stared into those cold eyes. "i need time. you have to give me time." a sob rose up to choke her. "this is all too much."

"leave her alone tonight, vhype." tighe moved toward them, his eyes no longer yellow tiger's eyes, but green human eyes. "she wasn't prepared for this."

vhyper cocked his head at tighe, a smile forming on his mouth that quickly turned into a sneer. "i saw that tongue action, stripes. you looking to make a little time with her yourself?"

tighe snarled, his eyes flashing back to tiger, his fangs elongating.

but vhyper ignored him and grabbed her, jerking her roughly against him. "she's mine."

it was too much! whatever control she'd had dissolved in a cold wash of panic, her mind screaming as she struggled against the far stronger warrior, desperate to be free of this nightmare. she strained against his hold, kicked his leg with her bare foot, but vhyper easily turned her against his side, pinning her.

"let me go!"

"vhyper." another feral's voice. wulfe's? "if your aim is to win her affections... which it should be ... this is not the way to do it. she's going to hate you for this."

"fuck off." vhyper turned, dragging her toward the door.

"no!" kara screamed.

paenther stepped forward, blocking their exit. "wait, vhype." amazingly, her captor stopped. "kara." but she was too desperate to quit struggling. "kara!"

she felt her jaw gripped in a firm hand and found herself staring into paenther's black eyes. eyes that were not unkind despite their hardness.

"i've known vhyper most of my life. he's a good man." she made a sound of disbelief and tried to jerk away from his hold, but he held her fast. "he's jealous at the moment, and suffering from the lack of radiance, as we all are, but he'll make you a fine mate once you're ascended. once you get to know one another."

kara scowled. "i don't want a mate! i don't want to be your radiant, i don't want to be immortal, i don't want any of this!"

paenther released her and stepped back as she flailed against the arms that bound her. finally, she managed to catch vhyper in the shin with a good, hard swing of her heel.

"you little bitch." vhyper's hand closed around her throat, his thumb jamming hard beneath her ear.

darkness fell.

chapter eight

"your blood. radiant. i will have your blood."

she was dreaming. kara knew she was dreaming, but the knowledge did nothing to ease the terror. smoke stung her nostrils as firelight danced on dark walls. like before. like the pairing. but this time, instead of standing on a pedestal in a beautiful gown, she hung from the ceiling. naked. high above her head, ropes bit into her wrists, pulling her arms taut, nearly wrenching them from their sockets as her body swayed in the air. warm liquid ran down her hips and legs, dripping from her toes.

"your blood. radiant. i will bleed you slowly, stab by stab, until i have all i need." the voice was neither high nor low. neither masculine nor feminine. but pure evil. the voice's owner moved before her, cloaked head to foot in black, holding two long, sharp daggers dripping with blood. her blood.

"i shall bleed you until you die."

kara jerked awake, pulse hammering, sweat soaking her nightgown. she sat up, then groaned at the terrible ache in her middle. the room was dark except for a sliver of hall light coming under her door. it was still night. the dream's terror swirled around her as she clutched her stomach, the devil stalking her with those bloody knives.

light. she needed light.

kara threw back the covers then sucked in a tight breath as her body protested. it wasn't just her stomach. she hurt... everywhere. why?

trembling, she reached for the lamp, gritting her teeth against the pain. what was the matter with her? turning the switch, she cast the room into a soft golden glow. her gaze darted around the empty room, diving into every corner, every cranny, but she could see nothing.

no fires. no robed devil with blood dripping from his blades.

she was completely alone.

with shaking hands, she grabbed for the hem of her nightgown and yanked it to her waist revealing nothing but a neat bellybutton surrounded by clear flesh. no wounds. no blood.