Juliette ventured.
Mages hold power, that’s for certain, and most are good people, but she would be weaving spells. She does not appear to be doing that. She gathers energy as we do and uses it, but she is unaware. That is why she is such a good counselor. She unwittingly urges them to feel better. She wants them happy, so they are. She senses the right thing for each person to hear and she says it.
MaryAnn’s heart went into overdrive. They were clearly talking to each other again. She turned on her too-high heel and ran headlong into the underbrush, thinking she might outrun them, forgetting they could take to the air if they wanted. And they wanted.
She felt the rush of displaced air all around her, and Riordan dropped down out of the sky, cutting her off.
MaryAnn screamed and backpedaled, her heels catching on one of the many roots snaking across the ground. She went down hard, landing on her bottom, looking up at him as he stood over her.
“That way is dangerous,” Riordan explained, extending his hand to her.
She kicked at him, furious with him, but mostly angry with herself for being in such a vulnerable position. How many times had she counseled women about going off with strangers—people they met through the Internet, or through friends, but didn’t really know themselves. She curled her fingers around the small canister of pepper spray. Did it work on Carpathians? Or vampires? No one had mentioned them in her pepper-spray class.
“MaryAnn,” Riordan cautioned, frowning at her. “Don’t be silly. Let me help you up. You’re sitting on the ground. Did you know that there are a million and a half ants per half acre in the rain forest?”
MaryAnn suppressed a yelp of fear and scrambled to her feet without help, backing away again, brushing at her clothing, feeling the swarm of insects on her legs and arms. I hate this! She screamed it so loud in her head she felt the echo through her clenched teeth. Her eyes burned with tears again.
The air around them charged with electricity so that the hair on her arm prickled.
“Take cover,” Riordan yelled and leapt back.
Thunder rolled. The ground shook. Monkeys howled. Birds screeched and rose from the trees. Lightning sizzled and snapped, slamming to earth in a near-blinding display of energy. Fog poured in all around her. MaryAnn felt strong arms slide around her, and one hand pressed her face into a large, muscular chest. Her feet left the ground, and she was flying through the treetops so fast it made her dizzy.
Riordan swore and caught Juliette’s arm when she would have pursued. “That was Manolito and he gave us a clear warning to back off. We have no choice but to do so. She’s his lifemate and we have no business interfering.”
“But…” Juliette trailed off helplessly. “We can’t just leave her.”
“We have no choice, not unless we want to provoke him into a battle. He will take care of her,” Riordan assured. “We cannot do any more here.”
5
M aryAnn circled Manolito’s neck with her arms and buried her face in his shoulder. The wind whipped viciously at her face and neck, tugged maliciously at her hair and managed to slip under the leather jacket to wrap icy fingers around her skin. If she thought the rain forest was bad, flying in the canopy was a thousand times worse. She felt dizzy and sick, and her stomach did rolling flips. She’d face the million ants and the tree frogs before she’d do this again.
As a child you must have wanted to fly.
She was certain he was reading her mind easily, and she could feel his superior male amusement, reminding her why she didn’t care all that much for men. And since she wasn’t in the least bit psychic or telepathic, she answered out loud, pressing her lips against his throat. “ Never . Not once. I like my feet firmly on the ground.” But his skin smelled so good. It was hard to not sniff and drag him into her lungs.
Manolito settled them down in a relatively protected
Mages hold power, that’s for certain, and most are good people, but she would be weaving spells. She does not appear to be doing that. She gathers energy as we do and uses it, but she is unaware. That is why she is such a good counselor. She unwittingly urges them to feel better. She wants them happy, so they are. She senses the right thing for each person to hear and she says it.
MaryAnn’s heart went into overdrive. They were clearly talking to each other again. She turned on her too-high heel and ran headlong into the underbrush, thinking she might outrun them, forgetting they could take to the air if they wanted. And they wanted.
She felt the rush of displaced air all around her, and Riordan dropped down out of the sky, cutting her off.
MaryAnn screamed and backpedaled, her heels catching on one of the many roots snaking across the ground. She went down hard, landing on her bottom, looking up at him as he stood over her.
“That way is dangerous,” Riordan explained, extending his hand to her.
She kicked at him, furious with him, but mostly angry with herself for being in such a vulnerable position. How many times had she counseled women about going off with strangers—people they met through the Internet, or through friends, but didn’t really know themselves. She curled her fingers around the small canister of pepper spray. Did it work on Carpathians? Or vampires? No one had mentioned them in her pepper-spray class.
“MaryAnn,” Riordan cautioned, frowning at her. “Don’t be silly. Let me help you up. You’re sitting on the ground. Did you know that there are a million and a half ants per half acre in the rain forest?”
MaryAnn suppressed a yelp of fear and scrambled to her feet without help, backing away again, brushing at her clothing, feeling the swarm of insects on her legs and arms. I hate this! She screamed it so loud in her head she felt the echo through her clenched teeth. Her eyes burned with tears again.
The air around them charged with electricity so that the hair on her arm prickled.
“Take cover,” Riordan yelled and leapt back.
Thunder rolled. The ground shook. Monkeys howled. Birds screeched and rose from the trees. Lightning sizzled and snapped, slamming to earth in a near-blinding display of energy. Fog poured in all around her. MaryAnn felt strong arms slide around her, and one hand pressed her face into a large, muscular chest. Her feet left the ground, and she was flying through the treetops so fast it made her dizzy.
Riordan swore and caught Juliette’s arm when she would have pursued. “That was Manolito and he gave us a clear warning to back off. We have no choice but to do so. She’s his lifemate and we have no business interfering.”
“But…” Juliette trailed off helplessly. “We can’t just leave her.”
“We have no choice, not unless we want to provoke him into a battle. He will take care of her,” Riordan assured. “We cannot do any more here.”
5
M aryAnn circled Manolito’s neck with her arms and buried her face in his shoulder. The wind whipped viciously at her face and neck, tugged maliciously at her hair and managed to slip under the leather jacket to wrap icy fingers around her skin. If she thought the rain forest was bad, flying in the canopy was a thousand times worse. She felt dizzy and sick, and her stomach did rolling flips. She’d face the million ants and the tree frogs before she’d do this again.
As a child you must have wanted to fly.
She was certain he was reading her mind easily, and she could feel his superior male amusement, reminding her why she didn’t care all that much for men. And since she wasn’t in the least bit psychic or telepathic, she answered out loud, pressing her lips against his throat. “ Never . Not once. I like my feet firmly on the ground.” But his skin smelled so good. It was hard to not sniff and drag him into her lungs.
Manolito settled them down in a relatively protected
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