Beneath a Midnight Moon - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,90

than a rainbow.

Crossing the floor, he snatched the bowl from the table and hurled it against the wall. The pitcher followed, and then the table.

With a wordless cry, he grabbed Sharilyn by the arm and threw her down on the bed, his body covering hers to hold her in place.

“If I can’t have the secret of the Wolffan, then I’ll have you,” he muttered, his hands tearing at her clothes.

Sharilyn screamed as the Interrogator’s hands clawed at her bodice. She scratched at his face, pummeled his body with her fists, and when her puny efforts to protect herself failed, she transformed into the wolf and bared her teeth.

Renick cursed his lack of foresight as he found himself straddling a wild-eyed she-wolf. Instinctively, he threw up one arm to ward off the wolf’s attack, screamed with pain and terror as he felt the wolf’s fangs sink into his shoulder.

Scrambling to his knees, he jumped off the bed and ran for the door, the sound of the wolf’s growls and snapping teeth spurring him onward.

The wolf’s jaws closed around his ankle as he opened the door. Panic added strength to his limbs and he lashed out at the animal with his free foot, catching the beast in the side and flinging it across the floor.

With a gasp, Renick ran out of the room, slammed the door behind him, and twisted the key in the lock.

Panting, he slumped against the wall. By all the saints, he thought, staring at the bloody gashes in his arm and ankle, he was lucky to be alive.

Hardane led the way toward the Fortress, grateful for the clouds that hung low in the sky. Kylene was behind him, followed by Jared and three of the crewmen from the Sea Dragon.

Silent as drifting shadows, they made their way to the outer wall. Jared and the crewmen overpowered the guards at the gate. One of Hardane’s men stayed behind to make sure the guards didn’t alert anyone to their presence.

Crossing the courtyard, they made their way to the dungeon. Hardane drew his sword as they reached the entrance to the dungeon, but there were no guards stationed at the doorway.

Frowning, he glanced back over his shoulder to make sure Kylene and the others were behind him, and then he started down the long stone stairway that led to the nethermost cells.

Each step he took sent a jolt of pain shooting up his right thigh. Perhaps Kylene had been right, he admitted grudgingly; perhaps he should have waited another day. But even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew he couldn’t have waited any longer. He knew what it was like to be imprisoned in the bowels of the Fortress, knew he couldn’t leave his parents there a minute longer than necessary.

He paused at the bottom of the steps. Head cocked to one side, he listened to the darkness, his nostrils testing the air, before he started forward.

He knew, even before he reached the first cell, that his parents were gone, the dungeon was empty.

“What is it?” Jared called.

“They’re gone.”

“Gone?” Kylene said. “Gone where?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think he . . . that they’re . . .” She broke off, not wanting to say the words aloud.

“I don’t know.”

“Now what?” Jared asked.

“Castle Mouldour,” Hardane mused aloud. “Renick must have known I’d come as soon as I was able. I think he would have taken them there.”

“But why?”

“It’s practically impregnable,” Hardane replied, his voice thoughtful. “But one man might be able to steal inside.”

“One man?” Jared mused, frowning. “Do you think that’s wise?”

“I don’t know, but I won’t put Kylene’s life at risk again. Come,” he said, taking her by the arm, “let us go back to the ship.”

He was limping badly by the time they returned to the Sea Dragon.

Kylene insisted that Hardane go to bed at once, and he didn’t argue. He dutifully drank the warmed white wine she offered him and then he sank back against the pillows, his eyes closed, while she removed his shirt, boots, and breeches.

He sighed with pleasure as she began to massage his thigh. Her hands were warm, her touch as light as down as she gently rubbed the soreness from his leg.

Kylene felt her heart swell with love as she massaged Hardane’s thigh. What a brave man he was, her warrior wolf.

Thinking him asleep, she started to draw away, but his hand closed lightly over her arm.

“Don’t stop,” he murmured.

With a wordless murmur of assent, Kylene began to massage his other leg,