Page 46

Time seems to warp. In the space of a single, drawn-out heartbeat, a cascade of information floods my senses. A flash. Not a memory, not a dream, but a stark, precognitive image of a plasma bolt hitting me square in the chest. A searing, white-hot agony that isn't mine, buthis. I feel his terror for me, a wave of pure, unadulterated panic that crashes through our bond.

I react without thinking, throwing myself to the side a split second before the bolt sizzles through the air where my head had been, impacting the rock face behind me with a shower of molten stone.

The world explodes into chaos.

More bolts rain down from above. Warriors-Xylosian warriors, their tribal markings stark and familiar-are descending from the rocks, moving with brutal efficiency. Vex's faction. My mind registers their insignia with cold, clinical horror. This isn't a random attack by a rival tribe. This is an assassination.

“Kendra!” Jaro's roar is a physical force.

I scramble behind a large boulder, my shoulder screaming from the impact of my fall. I see Jaro drawing his weapon, hisbody a blur of motion as he deflects a bolt aimed at his head. They're trying to incapacitate him. To get to me.

They're going to kill me.

Another warrior appears on the path in front of me, his blade raised. His eyes are cold, merciless. I fumble for my emergency blaster, the one I salvaged from the pod, but it's too slow. He lunges.

The world dissolves into an agonizing shriek of shared pain. It's not my scream, but Jaro's. A wave of incandescent rage, so powerful it feels like it will tear me apart, floods through the bond. I feel the searing heat of his transformation, the cracking of his bones, the explosive expansion of his muscles.

He is no longer Jaro.

He is the Star-Beast.

The creature that erupts into the narrow pass is a nightmare of primal fury. Twelve feet of midnight-blue muscle and rage, horns sweeping back from a skull that is all predator, claws the length of daggers tearing through the air. A roar shatters the pass, a sound that isn't just heard but felt, a seismic shockwave of pure, untempered power.

The warrior who was about to kill me freezes, his face a mask of primal terror. He has a moment, just one, to recognize the magnitude of his mistake.

Then the beast is on him.

I watch in horrified fascination as Jaro-the beast-fights. It's not the controlled, strategic combat of a warrior. This is a force of nature. A hurricane of claws and fangs. He moves with impossible speed, a blur of motion that the attackers can't track. He systematically, brutally, dispatches them. A swipe of his massive claws disembowels one. His powerful jaws snap another's spine. He doesn't just kill them; he annihilates them, his rage an absolute, cleansing fire.

This is not a fight for territory or for dominance. This is the defense of a mate, and there are no rules.

He's going to kill them all,I realize, my blood running cold despite the heat of the battle.In front of witnesses.

I see it now. Two more warriors, Jaro's own guard who must have been trailing us, have joined the fray, their faces grim as they engage the remaining assassins. They see Jaro's rampage. They see him tearing apart fellow tribesmen, even if they are from a rival faction.

This is outside the Challenge Circle. Outside ritual combat. This is murder by tribal law. Vex will use this. Even if we have proof he sent them, Jaro's response... it's too much. They'll strip him of his rank. They'll exile him. Or worse.

I have to stop him.

I push myself up, my injured shoulder screaming in protest. The beast has one of Vex's key lieutenants pinned to the ground, its massive claws pressing down on the warrior's chest. The warrior's eyes are wide with terror, his life about to be extinguished.

“Jaro!” I scream, but my voice is lost in the din of battle. The beast doesn't hear me. It can't hear me. It's lost in the red haze of its protective fury.

But he canfeelme.

I close my eyes, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, the chaos around me. I focus on the bond, on that thin, shimmering thread of light that connects my heart to his. I push past the overwhelming wave of his rage, searching for the man inside the monster.

Jaro, listen to me. It's me. Kendra. I'm safe. You saved me. But you have to stop. You have to stop now.

I project every ounce of calm I can muster through the bond. I send him images of the Light Caves, of the quiet peace wefound there. I send him the feeling of my hand in his, the shared warmth of our marks.

Come back to me, Jaro. Please. I need you. Not the beast. I need you.

The beast's head, poised to deliver the fatal blow, hesitates. It turns, and its glowing golden eyes, devoid of all reason, fix on me. For a terrifying second, I think it hasn't worked. I think his rage is so absolute that it has consumed him completely.

But then, a flicker. A hint of amber in the molten gold. The humanoid consciousness, fighting its way back from the primal depths.

“Jaro,” I say again, my voice softer now, but clear and steady. “It's over. We're safe.”