Jared crouched in their hidden position, waiting beside Anika. Ahead of them in the darkness they heard a sudden noise, and a ripple of silent tension spread throughout the unit. Each of them raised their weapons, all senses on alert and ready to move.

The sound came again, almost directly upon them now. Perhaps it was an animal? Jared spread his palm on the cool rock where he crouched, steadying himself-and felt his chest begin to burn. It was only then that he focused on a background sensation that had been subtly building within him over the past few moments. His energy had begun to escalate. He hadn't even keyed into it-he often felt this way in the midst of a battle. It was a natural part of his D'Aravnian nature, and his other self often came to the fore when he was in danger. He'd been so caught up in the moment that he hadn't grasped the true source of the fire building within him: his mate.

He felt a golden thread begin to weave between the two of them, joining them. The connection became a living stream of impressions and sensations, a gossamer trail of fire leading her straight to him. She was almost on top of him; she was that near.

Not physically. It was her energy, teasing at him, urging him to open their mating bond. His hands burned with the power of it, the heat radiating into his forearms instantly. Love, where are you?

Oh, thank G.o.d. Listen, Marco let me go. The connection solidified between them, causing his body to tighten with awareness of her. He trembled in reaction, and leaned against the rock to steady himself.

Set you free?

He seems to have had ... a change of heart. But I'm trying to find you in the dark. I've made it down this trail- he showed me one the Antousians weren't guarding.

She knew about the Antousians now. She knew all about his enemies, he realized with a sickening spasm of his stomach. Try to tell me where you are, he urged. You're near me; I sense it.

Me too.

His wrist began to throb with a dull, painful ache. You're hurt! he cried across their bond. If that b.a.s.t.a.r.d so much as- It's nothing; don't worry. I fell.

Again the sound from just beyond their position. Anika crouched, c.o.c.king her gun, but Jared caught her shoulder, shaking his head. It's Kelsey, he mouthed.

I'm going to call like an owl, he told her. Follow that sound. Cupping his hand to his mouth, he released the bird's cry.

I heard that! You're nearby, really near.

Cupping his mouth again, he prepared to cry out, when searing, bone-shattering pain exploded through his arm. He processed the accompanying sound of gunfire a moment later-as if he were a distant observer of the event. In the background of his mind he heard Kelsey crying out to him, communicating, but he couldn't focus enough to answer her because of the mind-numbing pain that radiated through his arm and shoulder and on into his chest like a shock wave.

Anika leaped to her feet, followed by others. He tried to do the same, but his legs buckled weakly beneath him. Only then did he realize he'd taken a shot not just to his shoulder, but to his upper thigh as well.

Kelsey, I-I am... injured.

Oh, G.o.d, Jared. Be careful, be careful. I'm coming. Be careful!

Stay! he rasped.

"Sniper!" Anika cried as he collapsed to his knees. "Protect our commander." Orders spun about them, and he tried to work his mouth, tried to see anything other than the blinding red haze of his pain. His people took hold of him, forming a ring about him with their own bodies. Clawing at the frozen ground, he gasped for breath, unable to find it. The sniper had aimed well, hitting only places where his body armor left small vulnerabilities.

Kelsey. She was out there, in danger, and now he couldn't protect her. That was his last thought before he collapsed face-first in the snow.

All she could feel was the pain. Blinding her, crippling her, shattering them both into millions of pieces. Jared's, her own; it was all joining in some horrible, swirling dance between the two of them. She'd understood the precise moment he was shot because she'd felt every one of his wounds as if they were in her own body. Every one of his injuries was an a.s.sault on her because of their open connection at the moment of impact. And now Kelsey would be d.a.m.ned if she would let him go, not like this.

Clutching at her chest, she tried to cry out to him. Jared, wh-what... ?

No answer.

She couldn't move, couldn't think; she couldn't even cry out to him again. All she could do was lie on her back, dark forest overhead, and experience Jared's tormenting pain. Far worse than the physical sensations was her awareness of just how much he was suffering; one of the guns they'd shot him with wasn't any ordinary weapon. It couldn't have been, not with the ma.s.sive electric shock it radiated through her entire body-and she knew she'd absorbed only a fraction of what Jared had experienced. Something close to an explosion had seemed to blast within her chest. Whatever they'd done to him, every sensation he was feeling ricocheted through their bond. She'd heard him cry out her name. Heard it in her heart, her mind. And then he'd just blacked out, leaving her alone in the midst of their connection. Alone without him!

But with the pa.s.sing moments the pain hadn't waned- it had intensified. She knew she should break the connection, but she couldn't leave him, not like this. Not when he needed her so much. And so she'd allowed the bond between their two souls to remain open. She felt the dazed stir of his waking consciousness amidst the agony as the connection became more vibrant again. Then something significant altered, something within Jared. What's happen- ing? she wondered in utter panic, and yet she couldn't seem to look up; the pain was that immobilizing. Or maybe it wasn't just the pain that had incapacitated her. Maybe it was something more. It almost felt like a deadly shock was spreading throughout her entire body, her extremities. Then she heard his voice, terribly weak and distant.

Kelsey, you have to break this. He gasped.

I can't... Everything felt hazy and unclear, and the pain had enveloped her entire body.

Kelsey! Listen to me. Jared's voice, just beyond a circle of light. He was trying to shove her out.

No. I will not leave you, Jared. I will not...

Break it now, Kelsey, he commanded forcefully.

Why? She sobbed, afraid for his life.

Because I can't. They've done something to me and I can't, Kelsey, and... I won't let you suffer.

And I won't break the bond while you're injured. I will not leave you!

Kelsey, he pleaded. If you love me... let go... please, love. Just let me go.

And not because she was willing to leave him did she do it, nor because he asked. Not even out of fear or physical pain did she relinquish the hold the bond had over her. But because she did, love him, she allowed their connection to slip away.

Marco heard the spattering of gunfire and pulse weaponry coming from the direction of the lake. He flung himself down the trail, stumbling and catching his hands on loose rocks and dirt. With his intuitive skills he sensed Kelsey nearby and in pain. He'd lost sight of her through the night-vision goggles after spotting the Antousians positioned near her. It was imperative that he get to her before she was captured.

Then, slightly ahead on the darkened trail, he saw something, a crumpled form. It was worse than any of his imaginings in the past moments; his queen lay on her side, unconscious and curled into a tight ball. He immediately dropped to the ground beside her. "Kelsey," he implored, lifting a hand to her cheek, "tell me where you're injured."

No answer. She was unconscious, but as he skimmed his hands over her body he couldn't seem to find any injuries apart from her wrist, which appeared swollen. Radiating off her body, however, was the pulsing aura of immense pain.

He tried calling to her again, brushing a thick auburn lock back from her face. Her features were twisted in a mask of pain. His queen in such torture; it nearly sucked the life out of his body.

Scooping her into his arms, he knew she had only one hope: He had to get her to Jared and the others, now. She stirred slightly in his arms, moaning. "My queen, I will get you to him," he vowed, and took off running down the trail.

Chapter Nineteen.

Marco carried Kelsey in his arms toward Jared's position and almost had her there when a ma.s.sive exchange of gunfire and pulse weaponry exploded all around them. Dropping to his knees, he laid her on the ground and engaged his own energy to protect her. It was one of his skills as a protector, manipulating his personal reserve of power to form shielding perimeters. He couldn't do it for long stretches of time, but in life-and-death moments like this one, it had more than once saved his sovereigns' lives.

Kelsey stirred beside where he knelt, his hand extended and his power emanating in concentric waves from his hand. Kelsey bolted upright, crying out at the chaotic gunfire from the battle that raged about them, alarmed and then instantly alert to her surroundings. She quickly grasped Jared's predicament: He was under attack by the Antousians, and his soldiers wouldn't be able to keep the advancing enemy at bay much longer.

Veckus arrived, moving in on Jared. The other Antousians had the Refarian unit surrounded, ordering them to drop their guns. Marco watched in horror as Jared was wrenched from his own people and shoved gracelessly to the ground at Veckus's feet. Jared doubled over face-first, one hand clasping at the gunshot wound in his upper thigh, the other scrabbling for purchase in the snowy ground to keep him from collapsing completely. The snow beneath him instantly began to darken with his blood; Marco could see the pooling stain grow by the moonlight.

"Marco, you've got to let that... shield down so we can get to him!" Kelsey begged. "You can protect him if you let me go."

"Your safety is paramount," Marco bit off without ever looking in her direction.

"No, his safety is paramount-he's the king," she argued, giving Marco's arm a forceful tug. "Jared still has a chance if we can get to him soon!"

Marco's protective boundary surrounding them never wavered, but his hands trembled visibly, and although Kelsey knew little about the Refarians, it was obvious that both the perimeter and his physical strength were depleting before her eyes.

Beyond the boundary, Veckus continued to taunt Jared cruelly, circling where he knelt in the snow. "So, the king bows down before me now," he said with a sneer. "Oh, Raedus will love that detail. I'll share it with pleasure."

Who was Raedus? Kelsey didn't even know the full host of Jared's enemies, and staring at his fallen, brutally wounded body, she ached to know everyone who had ever wished him harm. She'd take up a gun and go after them all herself.

Jared struggled with every breath he took, his chest rising and falling with erratic gasps. "We've been in this situation before, as I recall," Veckus hissed at him, giving him a hard shove that sent Jared tumbling sideways. His hands splayed against the cold ground, and he barely managed to catch himself, panting and gasping for air.

"We've been in this moment before"-Veckus paused, giving Jared a hard poke in the ribs with the b.u.t.t of his rifle-"but no matter what we do, you just keep repeating yourself." Veckus laughed at his own joke until Jared raised his head weakly and met his enemy's eyes.

"You're going to lose," Jared rasped. The snow beneath him was soaked with his blood, and Kelsey knew that if they didn't get to him soon his life would be over. How was he even holding his form at all after losing so much blood? And if he did shift, would he be able to escape? Or maybe he couldn't shift because of his injuries. She frantically wished she knew more about him, anything at all that might help save his life. Thinking of their first meeting, she recalled that his injuries then had necessitated his Change - what about now?

"You will... not have... me." He gasped. Kelsey closed her eyes when she heard the agony that edged his weakly spoken words.

"Oh, I believe that I do, in fact, have you already, J'Areshkadau. Or should I call you my lord?" Veckus sneered. "That seems appropriately ironic, in view of how this little drama is ending, you bowing on your knees before me." Veckus glanced at Kelsey pointedly, across the barrier. "And of what will happen to your queen this time?"

"Wh-what?" Jared managed to stammer, trying to raise his head to see her. "What... Kelsey?"

Why hadn't she told Jared everything she'd learned about their future selves when she'd had the chance? Obviously Marco had told this Veckus all about their future, about what he'd done to her in the mitres chamber in order to travel back through the time portal.

Veckus stared at Jared in genuine surprise. "You don't think it will turn out differently for her this time, do you?" he asked. "Just because that crazy Refarian is trying to protect her? I'm stronger than all of you. The Madjin Protectors are long dead anyway."

Kelsey could feel Marco seething next to her, his energy building. He glared at Veckus, black eyes narrowing. "You know it's a d.a.m.n lie," Marco shouted, his throaty voice taut with rage. "You've always known Jared holds the true power. It's why you're so afraid of him."

"But he's barely learned to use it yet," Veckus corrected, raising a finger. "And that's where I can thank you for bringing them both to me at just this point in time."

With that, Veckus turned to Jared, urging him to change in a low voice. But not so low that Kelsey couldn't hear what he said as the man spun upon him, putting a strange alien weapon to his temple. "Go on and change, you fool."

And for the first time Jared cried out, collapsing on the ground with a groan. Still, he refused to transform. "Why won't he change?" she asked Marco in a panic, but he shook his head. "He won't let Veckus take him captive in his Change."

"Can Veckus do that? Take him prisoner in that state?"

Marco's outstretched hands trembled. "Yes, but Jared would die before he let him do it. To be controlled in his Change... it would be the death of him. If he were unin-jured, his D'Aravnian self would be formidable. A terrible weapon against Veckus. But if he were captured like this, the torture would be unthinkable."

Kelsey grabbed Marco's arm again, determined to get through to him. "You have to go to him," she begged. "Now, Marco."

"So I can leave you unprotected? So Veckus can kill you, too? That's what he wants, you know." He paused and looked at her, his dark eyes flashing with emotion. "You heard it yourself."

"He wants Jared."

"No, he wants the king and the queen," Marco stated firmly.

"I know you hate Jared," she began quietly, standing as tall as she could. "That much is obvious. But I also know that there was a time when we could trust you. That I could trust you. I'm begging you. He's dying out there."

Marco closed his eyes for a moment, and Kelsey couldn't read his expression. Finally he glanced at her, his dark eyes full of... compa.s.sion? She couldn't be sure.

"Kelsey, I'm doing what he wants me to do," he said. "You love him. You know it's true."

A sob caught in her throat. She did know it was true. Jared wanted her safe, not falling beside him. She felt hot tears begin to stream down her cheeks. "There's got to be some way," she whispered in a defeated voice, the sobs coming more quickly now. "Why can't you do what I want you to do?"

Marco bowed his head solemnly, hesitating for a brief moment. Finally he spoke. "Because long ago I promised him that I would protect you at all costs," he replied softly. "Above his own life, if need be. I forgot that pledge for many years." He glanced at Kelsey sadly. "But tonight I intend to honor it."

Kelsey turned from Marco slowly, and her gaze fell upon Jared. He lay slumped forward on the ground as Veckus continued his a.s.sault with the alien weapon. Slowly he raised his head, and for the briefest of moments their eyes met. Across the barrier, through the night, something flickered between them. Not their connection, not precisely. Something more. Some sort of understanding, a unity of minds.

He seemed to say something to her, only his lips didn't move. Even without their connection, she heard his words. They echoed outside of the moment, through lifetimes. So simple, so pure, they rang within her the very moment he thought them.

I love you.

At that precise moment, from the surrounding darkness a full battlement of Refarian troops appeared, weapons flashing and firing. Kelsey thought she recognized Thea very briefly in the fray, her rifle releasing a loud burst of ammunition, and then she glimpsed other Refarians; the action was unfolding so fast in the darkness, she could hardly make out anything. But she could hope. Dear G.o.d, she could hope they reached her mate in time to save his life.

Scott came up from the rear, firing with all his might. He'd be d.a.m.ned if he would let Jared die this night, and he'd sure as h.e.l.l be d.a.m.ned before they'd take his king prisoner again. Not after what they did to him last time. He waved another unit of soldiers forward from where they crouched in the wooded clearing. "Now, now, now," he ordered, trying hard just to breathe. As a group they pulled up alongside a giant boulder, one that gave momentary protection. Ahead of him Thea had led in the first wave; now he would lead in the others.

"Go, go," he urged, and in they went. He had his night-vision goggles on and could see Jared slumped in the snow. G.o.d, he'd lost too much blood. It was a dark circle about him. He had to get to his commander. Short, staccato breaths, farther in, closer.

On the far side of the clearing Kelsey was being held by a man with a Refarian energy register. It had to be the one called Marco, and he was keeping her in... what? A protective perimeter of some kind. No time, no time, he thought, trying to remember to breathe as he sprinted to the end of the path, leaping over a fallen log that blocked his way. Soldiers were firing everywhere; some of his men were down. Another desperate glance. Jared just lay there in the snow. Unprotected, no one holding him. Did any of their enemies even have him anymore?

But then a pulse rifle, aimed at Jared-someone Scott hadn't seen, obscured behind brush. Bearing down on his friend. Scott leaped without thinking, fired without rationalizing, and the a.s.sailant went down.

Marco stared in disbelief. From where he stood it appeared that Veckus Densalt had just been taken out by Scott Dillon. His heart clenched inside his chest, as he watched the Antousian crumple to the ground. Everything had happened so quickly; was the warlord only wounded? Or dead? Marco blinked, watching the action unfold, hardly believing that one of Jared Bennett's greatest enemies might lie dead practically at his feet.

But there wasn't time to contemplate the repercussions, not just yet. With Veckus down, Marco knew he had just one chance to reach Jared before the surrounding troops took him out. He turned quickly to Kelsey. "On my mark, I'm dropping this shield," he called out. "I'll go to Jared, but we have only a moment. You will stay behind me. It's the only way I can protect you both." Kelsey gasped softly and nodded. "Three, two, one," Marco counted off, then dropped his hand, and the purple barrier dissolved. He felt the energy surge as it reentered his body.

The two of them moved in fluid motion to Jared's side, and he threw his hand up again, circling both Jared and Kelsey. When he did so, he felt a slight sense of panic. His energy was seriously depleted, and he was getting too weak to keep this up much longer. Then what would he do-and how would he protect them?

Just beyond the purplish glow, Veckus staggered from the gunshot, but quickly rose again. His eyes flashed angrily as he turned to the man who'd fired the gun on him-Scott Dillon. Marco felt a surge of excited adrenaline, because Scott was a consummate warrior. He wondered if Hope Harper might be here somewhere too, though perhaps she wasn't part of their team yet. Scott and Hope had been a formidable fighting force, until she died. Her death, of all the ones Jared's forces had suffered, had always seemed the crudest and most unfair. Maybe Hope was bringing up the rear.

Marco turned back to pinpoint Veckus's position, and found the Antousian aiming at Scott, preparing to fire. Marco flinched, knowing what was about to come, but Scott's eyes brightened to laser points, momentarily blinding the warlord. Although barely more than a heartbeat, it was long enough to give Scott the advantage; he fired on Veckus again and again, until the alien slumped to the ground.

That was the first moment Marco could actually glance down at Jared; the gun battle had unfolded so quickly, he'd never had a chance before now. What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat. Jared was soaked in blood, the snow beneath him stained with it. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. Was he going to remain alive? Marco couldn't tell, but a sick feeling began to grow within him.

Kelsey clung to him, burying her face against his chest, sobbing. "Hold on," she murmured over and over, refusing to let go of him.

If Marco could only figure out some way to fix this nightmare he'd created for all of them. And as he stared down at Kelsey's sobbing form, a plan began to form in his mind, a way he might be able to save all their lives.

Jared lay dying beneath her in the snow, but Kelsey no longer cared if she perished with him. With a hopeless cry of anguish, she buried her face against his still-warm chest, listening for his faint heartbeat. She heard it, the dull, uneven thudding of it beneath her ear, and the weak sound terrified her. His naturally dark face seemed pale in the moonlight, and she wasn't sure if it was because of his injuries or just a trick of the light. Lifting a weak, shaking hand, he barely managed to touch her hair, his dark eyes meeting hers. He didn't possess the strength to speak; that much she grasped. There were no words anyway, nothing to say; both instinctively understood his fate. He'd lost more blood than seemed possible and still lived; Kelsey felt it sticky beneath her fingertips, in her hair from where she'd leaned against him, soaking her sweater.

The moment seemed a cruel mirror image of the night of his crash, almost at this very spot. He couldn't possibly hold his physical form much longer; it was only a matter of moments until he shifted to his true state.

"Don't try to hold on," she choked, tears streaming down her face. "Just let go if you need to. Okay?" She released a sob and buried her face against his chest again.

"Just let go, sweetheart. I'm here. I'll hold you until the end."

She willed him to live, to stay with her, no matter what his form, even as she willed his pa.s.sage to freedom. Away from Veckus and the enemies who hunted him-who, apparently, had always hunted this beautiful man she loved.

Behind her she felt hands pulling at her, urging her apart from Jared, but she would not relinquish her hold on her mate. Nothing would separate her from him, not even death. They were bound in every imaginable way; she'd be d.a.m.ned if eternity would step between them now.

With a gasping cry, he reached for her face again, stroking the outline of her lips. "Love," he whispered in a rasping voice. "Sweet love."

She nodded, showering his face with kisses, tasting the metallic warmth of his blood. "I'm right here, Jareshk," she promised him through her tears. "Don't worry; I'm here." In the distance she heard the receding sound of gunfire as the battle moved farther away from where they were. Closer around them it had grown still and quiet. She had the sense that people were gathered about them, watching and keeping their respectful distance.