of magic did they have, or would they resort to their deadly projectiles? Ben wasn’t indestructible. He’d mentioned being stabbed and nearly dying.
Rhianne stilled as the word that had formed unthinkingly in her head struck her.
Mate.
The thought pounded at her, and she gripped the table for support.
Shifters took mates. They bonded, as had Jaycee and Dimitri. Rhianne had seen the bond settled on Liam and Tiger when she’d spoken to them, though Dylan had been more difficult to read.
Tuil Erdannan did not form the bond. They married, they loved, they bore children, but they did not refer to their spouses as mates. She’d told Ben that most creatures of Faerie could experience the mate bond, which meant everyone but Tuil Erdannan.
Her people were too self-centered to be joined to another wholly, in true surrender. Rhianne had always thought the mate bond a beautiful idea, but Tuil Erdannan refused to contemplate it.
As Rhianne stood in the tiny human cell that smelled of old coffee, sweat, and fear, the certainty grew inside her that Ben was her mate. The one she would sacrifice all for, in order to find the shining, magical threads that bound them together.
Tuil Erdannan did not form the mate bond. She wasn’t wrong about that.
But Shifters did.
Rhianne’s heart thudded until it blotted out all other sound. She grew lightheaded, her eyes unfocused, her breath short. She gasped, trying to breathe, and coughed.
The door banged open. A Shifter Bureau man she hadn’t seen before stood outside, a tranq rifle aimed at her. He wore baggy black pants tucked into boots and a black shirt, his dark eyes cold over the gun’s barrel.
If he shot her, Rhianne doubted she’d feel it among the sensations pouring through her.
“Come with me,” the man said.
Rhianne walked around the table, but she had no conscious idea of directing her legs and feet to move. She barely glanced at the man as she stalked out of the cell, he backing away so she’d not pass within striking distance.
Rhianne knew without understanding how that she could take him down before the gun could go off. She’d be that fast.
Once again, the only thing that stopped her was the worry about what they’d do to Ben if she threatened any of these people.
“This way.” The man motioned with the rifle down the hall.
Rhianne walked slowly and obediently, outwardly calm. Inwardly, she was seething turmoil. She’d been a mess since she’d watched Ben fall into the abyss of mud and roots, the wild thing inside her knowing exactly what she must do to rescue him.
To rescue Ben. Her mate.
The inside of her mouth tasted like ash. The only way she could think these thoughts about Ben … No, she didn’t think them. Rhianne knew them with exact certainty.
The only explanation was that her entire life to this point had been a lie.
The guard guided her with an abrupt command around another bend in the corridor. This building was bizarre, with sharp angles and maze-like hallways, designed to keep prisoners confused.
Foolish if they wanted to confine Shifters. Shifters would know instinctively where they were at all times and the location of all the exits. As Rhianne did now.
Rhianne nearly collapsed in relief when she saw Ben through the window of the room at the end of the hall. Standing upright, alive, unhurt. His dark eyes held warning, but Rhianne didn’t care about anything except seeing him again.
She barely noted the others as she and the guard entered the room, until a knocking at her brain registered them. One was a blond human man she hadn’t seen before, possibly another Bureau agent.
The other was Tiger. He turned his golden eyes on her, and though he said not a word, Rhianne understood that he knew.
Chapter Seventeen
Rhianne couldn’t speak, could barely breathe. Tiger kept his gaze on her then slowly moved it to Ben. He nodded imperceptibly.
The Shifter Bureau men were deep in conversation with the blond man, who answered in short sentences, Ben occasionally interjecting. Rhianne could barely hear them over the rushing in her ears, couldn’t focus enough to understand.
Tiger flicked his gaze to her. You are frightened.
Rhianne jumped. Had he just put the words into her head—was he a telepath? Was she?
After a moment, Rhianne realized she hadn’t heard Tiger’s thoughts but had read his body language. Animals didn’t have to communicate with words or even sounds. The twitch of a tail, the tilt of a head, or the snap of an ear could convey a message or an