Read Online Mills & Boon : Seducing The Jackal by Seressia Glass - Free Book Online

glow faded, an oversized dun-colored jackal lay on the
cot.
    Amarie gripped the bars. “Is he...?”
    “Sleeping,” Markus answered. “He’s sleeping.”
    Tia felt a minute tremor pass through Markus. “Rashon’s no
longer contagious and could do well with a warm soak in a healing bath and rest
in a comfortable bed,” she told him. “Is there a place here he could sleep?”
    “Yes.” He gestured to the burly male jackal beside Amarie. The
large man entered the cage and scooped up the sleeping jackal with surprising
gentleness. “I’m coming with you,” the female jackal said, tears glistening in
her eyes. She quickly followed the others out.
    “Priestess!” Hector called from the other cell. “Come
quick.”
    Tia hurried over to the other cell. Alonso had apparently
worsened, as well. Hector had his brother’s clawed hand in a death grip. “He’s
fighting for every breath. I don’t know how much longer he’s going to last.” He
looked up at them with red-rimmed eyes. “Please save him.”
    * * *
    Markus turned to Tia, hoping for a second miracle. They
couldn’t afford the loss of another jackal. Their numbers had dwindled over the
centuries, especially after separating into smaller groups in a clandestine
diaspora. He wasn’t a man who begged, but he would demand. She had to save
Alonso because nothing else was allowed.
    They knelt beside the cot as they had beside Rashon’s. “The
curse has burrowed deeper,” Tia told him. “It’s beginning to choke the life from
his cells.”
    “No.” He would not allow Alonso to die. “What do we do?”
    “What we were born to do, Son of Anubis.” She covered his hands
with her own. Magic drenched the room like a sudden summer shower, carried by
the power of her Voice. “You protect the living from the Lost Ones. Alonso is
one of the living. Death should not have command of him. Put death in its place
and I will call on Isis to give him the energy of life.”
    Trusting Tia, Markus shifted his hands into claws. The curse
covered Alonso like a mass of black snakes, writhing and burrowing. Calling his
power, Markus sunk his claws into the seething mass. Alonso howled, his
misshapen body jerking.
    Hector leaned over his brother, a growl rolling from deep in
his chest. “You’re hurting him.”
    “The curse has invaded every part of his body,” Tia explained,
her voice equally soft and ringing with power. “It’s not going to give up
without a fight, but neither will we. No fight can be won without pain, but when
we win, his pain will cease. After all, we have the gods on our side.”
    Her obvious faith overrode any doubts Hector had. He nodded at
her, then pressed his forehead to his brother’s, closing his eyes in silent
prayer. Tia began chanting a prayer of life, then nodded to Markus to
continue.
    Once again Markus reached for the curse coiling around every
cell in Alonso’s body. The coils were tenacious, requiring all of his strength
to pull free. Handful by handful, he dragged the curse out of the young jackal,
cursing and praying under his breath. Reaching for his will and his magic,
Markus shifted even more of his body, felt the deep, low thrum of Anubis magic,
the magic of his clan. Felt Tia on the periphery, offering the gift of Isis.
    Strand by strand Markus pulled the curse apart, sending the
undead portion to his jackals to shred and the corrupted Isis witch magic to Tia
to purify. He didn’t think about the ache in his shoulders, the headache
blossoming between his eyes, or how much time had passed. All he could think of
was ridding Alonso of the curse, of Tia bolstering him with her power. He
wondered if Sekhanu and Asharet had faced a trial such as this while he’d been
out fighting in other parts of the Two Lands. If they had, they’d never had the
chance to share the details with him. Would they be proud of their descendant,
of how they’d set aside their distrust to save the jackals? He had a feeling
they would