Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,80

like the idea of using love and sexual energy to power magic, though.” He affected a smarmy voice and said, “Blood sacrifices are just so messy.”

Lily snorted. Then she clasped both his hands and tugged until he looked into her beautiful eyes. He saw his reflection in their amber depths, and suddenly, it was as if his life opened up. Things he’d never thought of before because they’d brought him nothing but pain, but now, looking into Lily’s eyes, he knew exactly how terribly lost he’d been. He just hadn’t understood how lost. Not until Lily found him.

She cupped his cheek in her palm, and her look was so direct, so honest, it felt as if she sliced him open with her gaze, as if she spread his life out in front of her for observation.

“Sebastian, something my father said to me a long time ago finally makes perfect sense. The power of blood magic, power that comes from the sacrifice of a living thing, is finite. Once the life is gone and the power is used up, it’s gone forever. Along with an innocent life.

“Not so with magic powered by love. Love endures. It grows stronger with time, and its power is never ending. Once you learn to work magic with love behind it, you’ll discover there’s no limit to what you can do. Love is infinite. You don’t need to control it. You merely accept its strength, use it for good, and it will never fail you.”

Caught in her words, her honesty, and her gentle touch, he slowly became aware of Alex moving around inside, knew he had to get up, had to move away from Lily before he did something stupid. Why did her words make him want to weep? Why did it feel as if he’d just heard an epiphany he’d needed his entire life?

He stood and tugged. Lily rose gracefully before him, and he knew he couldn’t let the moment pass. Cupping her face in his hands, he lightly kissed her lips. “I promise you, I will never fail you, Lily Cheval. I love you, and that is my vow. I will not fail you.”

She blinked, but tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. Her lips parted, and he waited to see what she would say. She didn’t speak the words. No, they were much more intimate. Inside his head, winding around his heart.

I love you, Sebastian Xenakis. I don’t know how it happened so fast, but it’s real and I can’t walk away. I don’t want to walk away. I’d rather jump right into the middle of it.

“Works for me,” he said. Then he took her hand and led her back inside the cabin. Back to Alex and the night awaiting them.

Alex was sitting at the kitchen table with a cold beer and a roasted deli chicken in front of him. He looked up. “I missed dinner,” he said. Then he took another bite.

“So did I.” Sebastian sat across from him and pulled a leg off the bird. “Lily?”

Laughing, she shook her head and wandered over to the cupboard. “Cognac or cold beer?”

“That’s quite a selection. What are you having?”

“A glass of white wine, but Alex tells me that’s not manly.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Manly enough for me.” He raised an eyebrow at Alex. “I don’t doubt my masculinity, but you never know about some guys.”

Lily patted Alex on the head. He rolled his eyes and continued eating. Sebastian noticed a red slash across his bare shoulders. “Wow . . . that’s what Liana healed?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. It’s still sore, but it feels more like bruising. That wolf was a big sucker, and way too strong.” He glanced toward Lily, who was setting a glass of white wine in front of Sebastian. “Any idea who the hell those bastards were? I’ve never seen wolves that big, or that ferocious. Even Tinker’s smaller than the one that went after Annie.”

Lily sat next to Sebastian. “You want to tell him what we think is going on?”

“Yeah.” He took a swallow of the wine first. “Lily said you’re aware of the experiments the military did, trying to find Chanku among the troops to train as super warriors? She said no one knows how many were found or whatever became of them because the program got canceled shortly after it started.”

“We think we know where at least six of them are,” Lily added. She gazed at Sebastian. “They’re bodyguards for Sebastian’s father. Sebastian recognized two of them as the