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slung around her neck, but still, they moved fast. Every step lightened Solange's heart more. Her mother. She'd dreamt of it at night, waking more than once calling for her mother. She could barely believe they'd actually managed to find her.

A sudden silence in the canopy froze her. A sentry monkey called a warning. A bird shrieked. Her heart nearly stopped. She reacted immediately, still the child but already the one most skilled. She shifted immediately and snatched the bag of weapons from around Audrey's neck and signaled Juliette to run with Jasmine. Juliette would take to the water to keep from leaving tracks. Audrey and Solange would delay those following to give Juliette the best chance with little Jasmine to escape.

She sank onto the ground and quickly reached into the bag to pull out a gun. Her mother's hand on her wrist stilled her. She, too, had shifted to human form. Very gently she tugged at the weapon in Solange's hand. Solange shook her head stubbornly, holding on.

"Give it to me, baby," Sabine said.

Solange looked at her mother, taking in the bruises and scars, the misshapen rib cage, the signs of the brutality she had endured these last four years. "Go with your aunt now."

"No. You go with her. I'm a good shot."

"You can't get all of them. Do as I tell you." Sabine hugged her hard for the briefest of seconds. " Never let them take you alive, Solange," she whispered. "I love you, baby. Go with your aunt now." She shoved Solange at her sister. "Thank you, all of you."

Knowledge burst through Solange. Her mother was going to fight the attackers off to allow the rest of them to get away. And she would die here. She shook her head, opened her mouth to scream a protest, but Audrey, with surprising strength, clapped her palm over Solange's mouth, wrapped an arm around her waist and turned and ran with her.

Solange screamed and screamed. No sound came from her throat. She heard the shots of the rifle and then the horrible sound of jaguars fighting. She screamed again, called to her mother. Again there was no sound, nothing. She couldn't cry. She couldn't look at anyone. The pain had gone so deep there was no adequate way to express it. Solange found herself rocking back and forth, holding the comforter to her, the memories refusing to recede as they always did when she recalled them. Mama, she whispered softly, I wish I had gone with you.

Coldhearted Solange had been born that day. Her mother's daughter was dead. She had never been able to hold her mother close again, not even her body. They had burned it and left no trace for Solange to even mark. She realized something inside her had died that day, something she could never get back. She trained daily after that to become what she was now--a killer. She had fueled her rage to keep herself going every single day.

But Solange was no more. They had killed her that hot afternoon, just as surely as they killed her mother. She was alone. No one could possibly understand the change that had taken place in her that day. She had made a vow, sworn over the blood of her mother and then again, when she'd made her pilgrimage back to her village, sworn over the rest of her family--she would not turn her back on the other women who needed her. She would remain alone.

F?l ku kuuluaak s?vam bels-- beloved. The voice moved in her head. Soft. Tender even. You are not alone anymore. I see you. I hear your screams and I share your anguish.

Solange heard the ring of truth in Dominic's voice. He had shared her memories. As violent and vivid as they were, every detail etched forever into her mind, she had disturbed his sleep, pressing those memories into him without her knowledge. His own beloved sister and her lifemate had been ripped from him. He had spent several lifetimes trying to find her, only to discover she had long ago been tortured and killed. Yes, he did know the anguish and sorrow inside of her, the slow death of everything good.

She pushed the comforter against her mouth, still rocking slowly. If she looked there in the darkness, she would see him with her cat's eyes, but she didn't want to look at death, see him lying so still without a heartbeat, without breath, not when the death of her mother was