A Warrior s Desire - By Pamela Palmer Page 0,6

but Kade had inherited his dad's dark hair and Caucasian skin and his mom's immortality.

The Sitheen were more than happy to have him on their side.

He'd lived fifteen centuries in Esria until a month ago when he'd stolen through the gate on a mission to destroy the Sitheen and steal back the strongest of the seven stones.

When he'd realized the full extent of his king's evil plans for the human race, he'd discovered he had too much humanity in him to let it happen.

It hadn't hurt that he'd fallen in love with a human - Larsen's friend, Autumn.

As he stood by the fountain, Charlie saw that the light of the full moon had cast the three life-size statues carved into the fountain's pedestal into ghostly relief.

The statues looked ready to leap naked from the marble.

Charlie settled his flamethrower securely in both hands.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins like rocket fuel.

Within the next sixty minutes, he'd be walking through that gate himself.

But first, he had to help make sure no Esri jumped out.

A chill breeze molded the silk pants against Charlie's legs and lifted the hem of his borrowed cloak.

He was wearing Kade's uniform from the Esrian Royal Guard.

The uniform had been hastily altered to fit his more normal, six-one frame.

With any luck, if he did run into Esri he could pass himself off as a mixed blood immortal, like Kade.

If they figured out he was mortal, he was dead.

Charlie glanced at the giant.

"Any last-minute advice before I go through?" "Stay away from the Esri," Kade advised.

Charlie laughed.

"Yeah, I figured that much.

Anything else?" "No.

Nothing that I haven't already told you.

Other than the Esri, the biggest threat to you are the black trimors, but there's not a lot you can do about them except hope you don't cross their paths.

You'll never see them coming."

"Great."

If there wasn't anything he could do about them, he wasn't going to worry about them.

He'd spent all morning with Kade, learning as much as he could about the place - what to eat, what to avoid, like the deadly, cat-like black trimors that remained invisible until the moment of attack.

And how to reach the Forest of Nightmares where Princess Ilaria had been held captive for more than three hundred years.

Kade knew she was alive.

Linked by the magic of their world, all Esri knew the moment one of their own died... and at whose hands.

Princess Ilaria still lived.

But rescuing her was going to be a feat of gigantic proportions and Kade could offer no advice.

He'd never been in the Forest of Nightmares.

No Esri entered those dark woods willingly.

"I wish I could go with you," Kade said, sounding frustrated.

Charlie couldn't imagine what the man was feeling.

Just last night Kade had killed one of his own men as that Esri forced open the gate a day early and tried to abscond with the seven stones of power that were the keys to the gates...and so much more.

Kade had stopped him but at a terrible cost.

It was forbidden to end an immortal life, and Kade was now marked for death should he ever return to Esria.

The moment he stepped through one of the gates, every Esri would know and be able to track him.

They would terminate his existence long before he got anywhere near the Forest of Nightmares.

Now Kade was stuck here and Charlie was going into Esria alone.

Silence settled over the small group as they watched the fountain, waiting.

The tension in Charlie's gut twisted even as adrenaline simmered in his veins.

Fifteen minutes.

Thirty.

Forty-five.

Enough.

He stepped forward, breaking the circle.

"If they were coming through, they'd have done it by now.

I can't wait any longer."

One by one, the others left their positions to shake his hand and wish him luck.

Finally, Harrison stepped up to him.

Charlie had never gotten along well with his too-serious older brother.

But this wasn't the time for old fights.

And he had a sense of what it was costing Harrison to watch him enter the Esrian world.

Harrison's first experience with the Esri had been a nightmare.

He'd taken his young kids to the Kennedy Center to see The Lion King and fallen victim to Baleris instead.

Baleris had done no more than touch Harrison's six-year-old daughter, Stephie, for an instant, but the pain he'd launched into her small body had damaged her in ways no doctor could repair.

Even Aunt Myrtle, with her gift for healing, hadn't been able to help her.

Months later, the child still remained catatonic and might stay that way for the rest of her life.

Anger flared every time he thought of his