shape caused others to underestimate them, to the others’ peril.
Mixed with the Tuil Erdannan effervescence was the more solid, earthy energy of the Shifter. Strength plus unimaginable magic.
The combination was deadly.
Ben realized that this combination was why Ivor wanted his hands on Rhianne. Ivor doubtless had discovered that Rhianne was half-Shifter, and he’d see in her a weapon he’d want to bring under his control.
If Ivor had Rhianne in his arsenal, he could be even more powerful than he already was.
This was why Ivor had helped Walther le Madhug kidnap Rhianne and try to force her into marriage. To breed more part-Shifter, part-Fae, part-Tuil Erdannan warriors.
The fury that thought unleashed had no equal. Ben growled, the terrifying beast inside him pushing to get out.
He held Rhianne’s gaze. “Let’s go end that bastard.”
Rhianne nodded once, then her head went back, and the beautiful eagle poured over her frame. Rhianne didn’t change like most Shifters, whose limbs and faces gradually morphed, ears and tails emerging. Instead, her body shimmered, feathers sprang forth, and the form of the eagle suddenly inhabited the space where she’d been.
She turned her head, studying Ben with her brown-black eyes, the flicker of Rhianne’s humor somewhere inside them.
The Shifters in the vicinity turned and stared. They’d never seen a raptor Shifter, and they were understandably curious.
Ben had to wonder about Rhianne’s true father. Had he been a raptor as well, an unknown Shifter species? Or had the Tuil Erdannan inside her bent her DNA and decided her Shifter shape?
Dylan barked an order, and the Shifters moved into formation. Inexact formation, it was true, because Shifters didn’t fight like ordinary soldiers. They remained in loose alignments, the better to fight the way each were best able.
Ben, the goblins, and Rhianne were in a group of their own. Ben had joked to Dylan that they didn’t have to pair up with Shifters to balance out strengths and weaknesses, because goblins had no weaknesses. Well, except for enormous egos, but they’d have to live with that. Dylan hadn’t laughed.
Dylan gave the final order to advance before tossing off the last of his clothes and shifting into a black-maned lion. Dylan as human showed signs of his age with graying hair and a few lines on his face, but the lion appeared as formidable and vigorous as his sons.
Dylan’s nearly three hundred years of existence could be seen in his eyes, however, the wisdom and experience he’d gained—as well as the pain—from leading his family through every tragedy and triumph of his long life.
Ben and the goblins remained in human form. They’d discussed things and decided not to change until the last minute, keeping their true abilities under wraps. Ben had also strapped to his arm a pad made of wadded up T-shirts Carly had brought him.
Rhianne fluttered upward and settled gently on Ben’s outstretched arm. She was about double the size of a wild golden eagle, and heavy, but she carefully gripped his arm in such a way that her talons wouldn’t gouge him.
“These are Tiger’s T-shirts,” Carly told Ben cheerfully before she withdrew.
“Great,” Ben answered. Rhianne had already torn through a few layers. “Which of us gets to explain this to him?”
Ben would be happy to see the big guy at all. Carly’s eyes had held strain when she’d spoken, but she hadn’t given up, Ben knew. She and Tiger had the mate bond, and she’d know if that had been broken.
Ben studied Rhianne. Would today’s battle sever the mate bond that had begun between them?
As the Shifters closed in on the ring of trees, Ben wondered what Dylan had in mind. They were preparing for an attack, but an attack of what? The ground inside the circle remained empty.
The Shifters milled uneasily as they advanced, holding to their groups, but growling their impatience. They liked to strike, shred, and get back to sleeping in the sun or having sex with their mates, not do a prolonged stalk.
Rhianne was silent, occasionally ruffling her feathers or stretching out her wings to keep her balance.
Dylan gave the great barking growl of a lion, and the Shifters halted, quieting.
Dylan shifted back to his human form. Andrea darted forward and handed him something, then retreated to stand with Sean and the other Guardians, who were still in human form, and Zander, who’d shifted to polar bear. Sean held his sword loosely in front of him, and Pierce and Rae had drawn theirs.
Ben understood what Dylan was doing. Someone needed to open the gate in