was the body’s self-defense mechanism. With each change,
not only did cells regenerate and heal, but as human, she’d be more able to
take care of her own injuries, more able to seek help.
If only she could tell her body that being human out here,
with nothing but sand dunes, was not in her best interest.
The pain of shifting back into human was nothing in
comparison to the burning concentration within, heat waves that surged one
after the other until it intensified into a cataclysmic agony that left her
writhing in the sand, panther now human.
She wanted to scream, to find something…anything, to end her
suffering. But in this barren wasteland the worst she could do was bury her
head in the sand until she suffocated. And that required energy she didn’t
have.
The torment had weakened her beyond the point of mobility.
Ironic really, to die out here, in the open spaces. If the
pain didn’t kill her, thirst or tomorrow’s intense heat burning her naked body,
would.
Judas, I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry .
She swallowed. She couldn’t give up. Judas may be in
trouble. Judas may need her help. And her people…her people counted on her.
Gritting her teeth and using her last ounce of strength, she
sat, fighting a torrent of dizziness so as to not collapse right back on the
sand.
And that was when she realized she wasn’t alone. Through her
fog of pain she sensed someone close in; saw a flash of black on the dunes
farther away, as though velvet on snow.
Then another wave of intense heat gripped her in its fangs,
a seizure of untold agony that left her fighting just to stay conscious, let
alone sitting upright. But somehow she did.
Another streak of black, like a shadow running low to the
ground. A panther? She closed her eyes, too weak to consider the possibility.
No shifter would be out in the desert, and certainly not one of the
non-shifting panther varieties that were easily distinguished by their
black-as-coal coloring.
Unless…
She forced open her eyes and squinted, trying to focus
before the next unbearable wave hit. She swayed, before the world abruptly
righted as it rocked back onto its axis. She was dreaming, surely?
It was no black cat cresting the sand dune above her. Judas’
raven-black hair glinted under the brutal sun as he waded through the sand
toward her, naked and bare-footed and beautiful as all hell.
He crouched before her and she reached out an unsteady hand,
touching him and making sure he was real, he was all right. “How…how did you
get here?” she croaked.
“Don’t worry about that for now.” He lifted her effortlessly
in his arms. “Save your energy. I know of a safe place we can go.”
She swallowed, and almost choked. She needed water
desperately. And then she realized. The savage waves of suffering had receded,
but it’d left behind a brutal thirst and crippling, dizzy weakness. “Leave me here.
You can’t carry me all the way back. We’ll both die.”
When he remained silent and tucked her closer still before
he began to climb the nearest dune, Akeisha heaved out a sigh of surrender, too
weak to fight Judas and the blackness pressing in around her.
* * * * *
“The humans have broken through our guards. We need to get
you inside! And no matter what happens, stay quiet. Don’t say a word.”
Akeisha glowered at Sienna, the larakyte handmaiden.
“I want to fight alongside my father and his soldiers.”
Sienna glared back, not giving an inch, though desperation
had leeched her face white. “You will do as I say and no more argument. Your
father entrusted me to care for you and I’m not going to be the one to tell him
his ten-year-old daughter was killed because I didn’t have the tenacity to make
you do as you’re told.”
Akeisha knew the maiden was scared for her own life too, and
who could blame her? Screams and fighting were coming ever closer to the
library, growing in volume.
She nodded reluctance, her hands clenched. She’d pretend to
stay in
not only did cells regenerate and heal, but as human, she’d be more able to
take care of her own injuries, more able to seek help.
If only she could tell her body that being human out here,
with nothing but sand dunes, was not in her best interest.
The pain of shifting back into human was nothing in
comparison to the burning concentration within, heat waves that surged one
after the other until it intensified into a cataclysmic agony that left her
writhing in the sand, panther now human.
She wanted to scream, to find something…anything, to end her
suffering. But in this barren wasteland the worst she could do was bury her
head in the sand until she suffocated. And that required energy she didn’t
have.
The torment had weakened her beyond the point of mobility.
Ironic really, to die out here, in the open spaces. If the
pain didn’t kill her, thirst or tomorrow’s intense heat burning her naked body,
would.
Judas, I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry .
She swallowed. She couldn’t give up. Judas may be in
trouble. Judas may need her help. And her people…her people counted on her.
Gritting her teeth and using her last ounce of strength, she
sat, fighting a torrent of dizziness so as to not collapse right back on the
sand.
And that was when she realized she wasn’t alone. Through her
fog of pain she sensed someone close in; saw a flash of black on the dunes
farther away, as though velvet on snow.
Then another wave of intense heat gripped her in its fangs,
a seizure of untold agony that left her fighting just to stay conscious, let
alone sitting upright. But somehow she did.
Another streak of black, like a shadow running low to the
ground. A panther? She closed her eyes, too weak to consider the possibility.
No shifter would be out in the desert, and certainly not one of the
non-shifting panther varieties that were easily distinguished by their
black-as-coal coloring.
Unless…
She forced open her eyes and squinted, trying to focus
before the next unbearable wave hit. She swayed, before the world abruptly
righted as it rocked back onto its axis. She was dreaming, surely?
It was no black cat cresting the sand dune above her. Judas’
raven-black hair glinted under the brutal sun as he waded through the sand
toward her, naked and bare-footed and beautiful as all hell.
He crouched before her and she reached out an unsteady hand,
touching him and making sure he was real, he was all right. “How…how did you
get here?” she croaked.
“Don’t worry about that for now.” He lifted her effortlessly
in his arms. “Save your energy. I know of a safe place we can go.”
She swallowed, and almost choked. She needed water
desperately. And then she realized. The savage waves of suffering had receded,
but it’d left behind a brutal thirst and crippling, dizzy weakness. “Leave me here.
You can’t carry me all the way back. We’ll both die.”
When he remained silent and tucked her closer still before
he began to climb the nearest dune, Akeisha heaved out a sigh of surrender, too
weak to fight Judas and the blackness pressing in around her.
* * * * *
“The humans have broken through our guards. We need to get
you inside! And no matter what happens, stay quiet. Don’t say a word.”
Akeisha glowered at Sienna, the larakyte handmaiden.
“I want to fight alongside my father and his soldiers.”
Sienna glared back, not giving an inch, though desperation
had leeched her face white. “You will do as I say and no more argument. Your
father entrusted me to care for you and I’m not going to be the one to tell him
his ten-year-old daughter was killed because I didn’t have the tenacity to make
you do as you’re told.”
Akeisha knew the maiden was scared for her own life too, and
who could blame her? Screams and fighting were coming ever closer to the
library, growing in volume.
She nodded reluctance, her hands clenched. She’d pretend to
stay in
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