him.
Ben did have an idea of what to do, but he didn’t like it. Rhianne floated over the cubs while Tiger led them to safety. Olaf ran around beneath Rhianne, joyfully growling up at her.
Dylan had the Shifters in formation once more, somehow keeping discipline among independent Shifters who hated to obey anyone.
Ben felt the change in Ivor—he was ready to end this. He wanted Rhianne, and he’d do what he had to in order to capture her.
In spite of Tiger’s efforts, Ben knew he couldn’t get the cubs away before Ivor struck. The three goblins had joined the Shifters gathering for battle, Darren and Cyril making all kinds of smartass remarks about how they’d torture Ivor. The Shifters, smartasses themselves, growled their agreement.
Rhianne circled back toward Ben, anguish in her cries. She knew what Ivor was capable of better than the rest, and she feared it.
Ben didn’t know exactly what the guy could do, but he was plenty worried himself.
Ivor floated a few inches above the surface of the earth. He pointed into the fissure that had stabilized, no longer growing. From it flowed a darkness, thick like mucus, that moved swiftly toward the Shifters.
When it touched paws, the Shifters screamed, jumping and scrambling as though it burned. Darren, unafraid, stepped right into the black ooze, then he too shouted and leapt away.
“It’s like acid,” he yelled at Ben. “Everyone back.”
The Shifters retreated, but Ivor wasn’t finished. He drew power into his hands, terrible power that held the stench of death. If he threw that, whatever it was, the Shifters would die, and their bodies would be eaten by the dark slime that continued its slow flow toward them. End of Ivor’s Shifter troubles.
Ben watched the sky, smelling the ions that bounced around, waiting to bang into each other and ignite into the hottest fire possible. Right about … now.
“Clear a path,” Ben shouted.
He sprinted past the Shifters who were in full retreat, leapt over the crack in the ground, and landed on Ivor. The strength of the Tuil Erdannan kept Ivor from going down under Ben’s assault, but Ben hadn’t intended to knock him over.
Ben grabbed Ivor’s arm and thrust the hand that still held the Fae sword straight upward toward the sky.
Lighting flashed down. It burst through the sword, into Ivor, and into Ben, who held the man in his iron hard embrace. Ivor shuddered and screamed, the power he’d held vanishing into dust.
Oh, man, that seriously hurt. Ben slid from Ivor, barely aware of landing facedown on the damp grass.
“Love you, Rhianne,” he whispered, and then his world went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“No!” Rhianne screamed from on high and shot like an arrow across the green.
Ivor climbed shakily to his feet, the black magma that had tried to envelop the Shifters vanishing. Ben had stopped it, but Ben was on the ground, unmoving.
Rhianne felt the mate bond between her and Ben dissolving. That never happened, she’d been told, unless …
She flapped her wings to move faster. She followed her own shadow on the ground, haloed by the bright sun behind the clouds. A double shadow, she noticed, like a trick of the light. Except the second shadow moved differently from the first.
Rhianne was too grief-stricken to puzzle that through. Wind from the storm buffeted her, threatening to send her straight into the trees as she approached the circle.
Millie reached up with large goblin hands and caught Rhianne before she could get snagged in the branches, setting her gently on the ground.
Rhianne shifted to her Tuil Erdannan form and ran, breath ragged, to Ben’s side.
His body shrank, the goblin retreating to Ben the man, his limbs askew, his flesh gray. Rhianne dropped to her knees beside him, but Ben didn’t move.
“Come with me.” The rasp from Ivor made Rhianne jerk her head up.
Ivor reached a shaking hand to Rhianne. His power was spent for now, but he was still alive, and would regain his strength. While Ben …
“I can restore him,” Ivor said. “Come with me to Faerie, and I will bring him back to life.”
“You will keep your filthy hands off him.” Rhianne climbed to her feet. “You killed my mate, you fucking bastard.”
“Your mother never taught you manners. If you stay here, he’s dead. You bring him, he can be restored.”
Rhianne wavered. She didn’t trust Ivor, but he was correct that there were magics in Faerie that could work miracles. Ben was a being of Faerie—perhaps taking him to his native land and laying him on the