“You bonded yourself to me permanently. There’s no getting around that. Eventually, you’ll realize that you can trust me.”

But not in time for her to find her people. That was the part he didn’t say. “Some of the other Theronai women have learned to channel magic in just a few days. I’ve heard the stories.”

“Yes, but they let their mates in.” He tapped her temple. “You won’t.”

“There’s got to be another way.”

He shifted his stance and stared past her as if he had something to hide. “There’s a lot riding on our relationship, Lyka. You can’t say that you haven’t thought about what a union between us might mean for long-term peace between the Slayers and Theronai.”

“Peace never lasts. Something always screws it up. That’s why I can’t let you in my head the way you want.”

“Even if it means you’re powerless to help find your missing brother?”

She fought against a spike of irritation. “I’m not powerless. I’ve never in my life been powerless. And I’m sure as hell not going to start now, when my people are missing and in danger.”

“You know I won’t let you risk your life, right? My vow makes it impossible for me to allow you to do anything that would hurt you.”

“Theronai women go into battle all the time.”

“Yes, but they also have access to incredible power and the ability to use their magic to fend off attack. You don’t.”

She hated it that he was right. While the idea of letting Joseph rummage around in her head was abhorrent, the thought that she could do what some of those Theronai women could was damn appealing. Slinging magic around like it was nothing . . . She could really get off on something like that.

“We should go,” she said. “It’ll be getting dark soon, we have almost an hour’s hike back to the road and I still need to survey the area for a clear scent trail.”

“Does your sudden change of subject mean you’re going to let me in, or is it your way of getting me to shut up?”

“Definitely the shutting-up one.”

“You’ve been through hell seeing what you just saw, so I’ll give in, but know that this isn’t the end of the conversation. One of these days you’re going to see that I hold no ill will toward you or the Slayers, and you’re going to wish you’d trusted me sooner.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But that day is definitely not today.”

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. It was the only warning she had before dark figures crashed through the brush toward them. She caught their stagnant scent on the wind as they closed in.

“Demons!” she shouted as she pulled a pair of daggers from her belt. The tips gleamed with thick black poison—one of the few known to work on the Synestryn.

Her mind rejected what her senses were telling her. These creatures couldn’t be demons. The sun wasn’t all the way down yet, and while the woods were growing dark, Synestryn never strayed out of their caves before sunset. To do so was to risk certain death.

Joseph drew his sword. The metallic hiss of steel on steel was reassuring.

The first shadowy shape reached them. Lyka’s Slayer vision amplified the light around them, showing her a clear image of what they faced.

It almost looked human. A long, tattered coat covered its body, revealing only its face and hands. There were splotchy patches of fur on both. It wielded a sword like the ones littering the ground behind them, only this one was far more nicked and dented from use.

Its face was oddly proportioned, with a protruding mouth and nose—the clear remnants of a beast with a muzzle somewhere in its lineage. Its teeth were sharp, its eyes huge and black, with no whites showing at all. Saliva wet its chin and ran down its neck, leaving a damp patch on the front of its coat.

If not for the stench it put off, the thing could have almost passed as an exceptionally ugly human.

She tried to summon the beast inside her, but as was the case whenever she needed her tiger the most, it evaded her. It would come out and play whenever she didn’t want it, but put her life in danger, and it was nowhere to be found.

Fucking pussy.

Joseph stepped in front of Lyka to take the brunt of the charge. The ring of metal on metal filled the trees. The force of the demon’s blow rocked Joseph back on his heels.

“Another one coming. Get behind me!” he shouted.

Maybe he was used to most people cowering behind him, but Lyka was not most people. She was trained for this. Bred for it. Her whole family came from a long line of warriors. Sure, maybe they could shift into their animal form and she couldn’t, but she was armed and wasn’t about to let a little thing like being stuck in her human form slow her down.

That’s why she carried poisoned weapons and knew how to use them.

As the second demon charged, Lyka shifted her stance to the left to get out of Joseph’s way. She didn’t want to impede his swing, and she really didn’t want him fending off two demons at once. She’d never seen him in a real fight, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way that he had a blind spot.

Lugging his heavy ass out of here was not her idea of a good time.

The second demon leapt over a fallen log. Its sword had the benefit of reach over her weapons, but she was faster. Once it was airborne, it could no longer control its movement. But Lyka was still firmly attached to the ground and she could.

She ducked under the creature, rolling beneath its feet. She came up on the far side, shoving one of her daggers high. The blade hit the billowy coat, but she could tell by the drag in her strike that she’d tagged flesh, too.

Now all she had to do was stay alive until the poison did its thing.

The angry demon whirled on her. She backed away, heading toward a large boulder nearby. Climbing on that would give her an advantage of height, which might be enough to keep her alive. Plus, every demon she drew away from Joseph was one fewer he had to fight.

A quick glance over her shoulder showed her that he was definitely still fighting. Only there wasn’t just one creature on him; there were three.

She’d never seen anyone his size move with such speed and grace. His sword swung so fast that it was simply an arc of silver slicing through the air. Every strike hit, lopping off limbs and skewering flesh. Within seconds, he had all three of the demons in a pile at his feet.