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Ariella cast several balls of light and sent them floating above and ahead of us. We ran through the tunnel and more than once I sniffed the jasmine in the air.
Then, just before the end of the tunnel, the pain in my chest surged hard, like a hand squeezing my heart. I almost doubled over.
Ariella slowed down when she saw me. “Shane, are you okay?”
I rubbed my hand over my heart, the scent of jasmines stronger now. “I … I don’t know.”
Evelyn and Asher disappeared from the tunnel, and Ariella and I followed.
We emerged into a huge cavern with another six tunnels on the perimeter—and our enemies right in the center.
They held flashlights and faced the other tunnels, but when Ariella’s lights flooded the room, they turned to us.
My heart stopped.
My breath caught.
My knees gave out.
“Raika,” I whispered, clearly delirious. The pull of the mating bond tugged deep in my chest. “I’m seeing things.”
She stared at me with her brilliant blue eyes as if she had spotted a dead rat in a corner.
“No, you’re not,” Evelyn said, just as shocked as I was.
It couldn’t be.
A man stepped in front of her. Roman. What the … rage filled my veins. “What is going on here?” I snarled.
“Ivy!” Roman shouted.
A fight broke out.
I watched, baffled, as darkfire covered Raika’s hand and she threw her magic at me.
At me!
Ariella cast a light shield in front of us. Bolts of darkfire exploded against it, shaking the cave.
“Something is going on here,” Ariella said. “If that’s Raika, she’s brainwashed.”
“Don’t …” I inhaled deeply. My mind, my emotions—I couldn’t make sense of anything. All I knew was that Raika … myRaika, my mate, the woman I thought was dead, the woman I had held dead in my arms, the one I had cremated and put to rest was here. She was here. She was alive. And so was Roman. “Don’t hurt her.”
Dark magic covered Evelyn’s hands. Ash held his sword, ready to fight. They nodded.
Ariella pushed the shield out, like a wave, but with the amount of magic being thrown against it, the shield broke—and the mountain shook.
Evelyn went for the other male in their group, Ariella faced the one called Ivy, Ash turned to Roman, and I dove for Raika.
“Raika, what’s going on?” I asked, my voice trembling. She threw a dark bolt at me and I dodged it easily.
“Don’t listen to him, Raika!” Roman shouted. He shifted his arms only. “He’ll tell you lies!”
My Shadow Wolf stirred inside me, asking for release. It would be so easy to let it out now, but I couldn’t. I gritted my teeth and hung in there.
Ash thrust his sword for Roman’s chest, but Roman was agile too. He ducked and then used his wolf arms and strength to slap at the sword. It flew away several feet.
Raika retreated, throwing darkfire at me. “Stay back!”
