Page 41 of Rhadan

Tempest heard the voice echo in her mind. The words were very specific, and she knew there was no going back. Her chest squeezed as the first sob wracked her body. “Oh, no.”

Rhadan slipped his arm around her. “What is it, Tempest? Your pain is killing me.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t know he could do that. How can he start this without me?”

Thorn’s eyes illuminated the cavern as they blazed. “He has grown far more powerful than I anticipated. Alana’s pendant would never have worked on him. He has outgrown corporeal boundaries.”

Mara glanced around. “Would someone explain what is happening?”

Tempest pointed to the temple. It seemed to anchor itself in the dirt, creating a foundation beneath the rock. Magic feelers pierced the ground as if powerful tethers had begun to form. “Ren has started the siphoning process. We only have one hour to complete the ritual, or Adara will be banished. He knows we won’t let her fall. We can’t.”

Mara shook her head. “How do we stop it? We need more time.”

Rhadan wrapped his arms around Tempest. “There is no more time. Tempest cannot stop this spell as she did not start it and Ren is determined to see Adara restored. You have forgotten what a temple guardian is.”

Legion closed his eyes and reopened them. “A guardian is born out of sacrifice and is loyal to the temple and the druids. Ren has always put his pack first. When it was the wolves. When it was us and now Adara. There is no stopping what he has wrought.”

Tears streamed down Ella’s face. “What do we do?”

Tempest wiped her face. “We follow through with Ren’s wishes. He has made his choice. I can strengthen the spell, but we need to start the ritual. I am just not sure how we tap into his power.”

Thorn shook his head. “He is coming. You will take what you need from the source.” His voice cracked as he spoke, and Natalie turned to Cole. Her mate held her against his body as she cried.

The gray wolf exited the mist and his body looked as real as he had in life. His eyes sparkled with power, but they held a sadness as they looked at Thorn. Tempest knew it wasn’t his own death, the wolf feared. Wolves accepted the natural order, and that included that the elders must die for the young to live and thrive. He loped toward the dragon he lovingly called his cub.

Thorn took a step toward the wolf he had shared a body with for two thousand years. “Stop this. There has to be another way.”

The wolf turned its head to the side as a tear slipped from its eyes.

“Ren, please,” Tempest said.

The shaking continued as another form solidified beside Ren.

CHAPTER 23

Tempest put her hand out slightly as Adara formed beside Ren. She was as beautiful now as she had been in the temple, only she appeared real. Her gray robes hung evenly as she clasped her fingers before her, and her eyes pulsed with blue fire. Power undulated from her in waves, warping the surrounding air.

She crouched down and her thick brown hair slid over her shoulder like waves of chocolate silk. Her hand traced the back of Ren’s fur lovingly. Adara had always seemed impersonal somehow, but as Tempest watched her pet the wolf they all loved, she couldn’t miss the admiration in Adara’s eyes. “It is time.”

Thorn growled. “There has to be another way.”

Adara glanced at the dragon as she stood up. “Ren understands what must be done. Tempest, start the ritual. I will hold Ren to me if I can. A guardian cannot allow my death before his own. I ask you to have faith in his strength. His conviction to his pack.”

Thorn rubbed his forehead roughly. “How could you suggest such a thing? He has given everything for us. For me.”

Adara nodded. “He has. He loves you more than any of his wolven children. Your bond goes beyond that of a father and son.”

“Then use the temple of Geram. Absorb its power instead of Ren’s,” Thorn begged.

Adara shook her head. “I am sorry, Thorn. I cannot. Even if I was inclined to take such a risk, that choice is no longer open to me.”

“Why?”

“A temple cannot control her guardians. They are born out of sacrifice and possess their own will. In some ways, Ren is more powerful than I am. He possesses freedoms I do not. When he enacted the siphoning spell, he removed our choices. I cannot stop what he has started.”

Thorn looked broken as he stared at Ren. “Stay alive. I mean it, or I will kick your ass when I get to the afterlife.”

Ren winked at Thorn.

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