Zed drove through town on his motorcycle well beyond the legal speed limit. He scented the wind, trying to find some hint of Dani, some whiff of formaldehyde. He followed traces of that warm, floral scent he loved, swerving around corners and, in some cases, through fields. He realized after a few miles that he was being led toward the rift, and sped toward Afarpiece Swamp.

At the edge of the swamp, he ditched the bike without bothering to use the kickstand, leaping off the seat and landing on four paws. He bounded through the woods, ripping through underbrush and bowling over trees. He didn’t even take the time to appreciate the comfortable rightness of his other form. He only gloried in the ability to run at top speed to get to his mate faster.

His ursine brain wasn’t capable of producing much in the way of connected rational thought, beyond, mate, mine, unsafe, DANGER. But he knew he had to get to the rift as quickly as he could. He refused a life without Dani. Refused. He would get her back and he would destroy all threats to her forever.

Right, good plan.

He barreled into the clearing, shaking off the ear-popping unpleasantness of being near the rift. Even without Dani’s talent, he could see it now, a riotous living vortex of color that made him dizzy and nauseous to look at. He spotted a figure hunched near Dani’s rock marker. Lara was bent over Dani’s prone body, holding her hand over Dani’s heart. Lara’s hand seemed to be drawing a river of golden light from Dani’s body.

As he transformed to two feet, slipping into his small human shape, Zed hollered. “DANI!”

Lara turned, her lovely features twisting into an ugly smirk. “Oh, sure, move closer, make me work faster to drain her life away. That will be good for her.”

Zed howled, “You let her go, you evil bitch!”

Lara clicked her tongue. “What would your maman say about you using such foul language in a lady’s presence?”

“You’re no lady,” he growled.

Dani was barely breathing, and he could only see the imperceptible movement of her chest. She was so pale, just a shadow of a person against the vibrant green of the grass. And it made his heart ache to see her so still, to see her face without life or color, no hint of that smile he loved so.

Enraged, he threw himself at the barrier, launching his body past the rock circle limit for magique. He groaned as the bone-buckling pressure ground down on him. Every step was agony. It felt like an ocean of pressure crashing down on his body. His head throbbed. His ear drums felt like they might burst. He could barely breathe.

But he had to get to Dani, had to make her safe.