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She slammed into the ground hard, the breath rushing from her lungs. For a moment, she lay winded, then she rolled over and struggled onto all fours, shaking her head to clear the stars and trying to take in the scene around her.

Satan and Diablo were down, still and lifeless, but they had fought hard. At least six of Sardi’s hounds lay dead around them. There were plenty more, and the black wolf fought on almost hidden beneath his attackers. The air filled with the snarling snapping of the hounds.

Then Sardi roared, the hounds fell back, and Regan’s heart stopped beating. The black wolf lay motionless. Then it was gone, and Caleb lay in its place, his naked body streaked with blood. A howl built up inside her, then his eyes flickered open.

∞∞∞

Caleb blinked, trying to clear the red film from his eyes. Pain swamped every nerve ending, and blood seeped from a score of wounds. He struggled to raise his head. What had stopped the fight? It had been nearly over anyway, he’d been about to die.

He looked around him, his eyes fixing on Regan. She stood to one side, arms wrapped around her as though her ribs hurt, but she was alive. His eyes met hers, huge, haunted. The knowledge that this was the end clear in their silver depths. There was a deep sadness, but no regret.

Reluctantly, he dragged his gaze past her. Catrin was nowhere in sight, and some of the tension inside him eased. They’d done what they’d set out to do. Catrin was free.

His eyes finally settled on the demon. Sardi’s face was stamped with an inhuman fury, and for the first time, Caleb prayed that he still had genuine feelings for Regan. The bastard could do what he liked to Caleb, just so long as he didn’t make Regan suffer.

“So,” Sardi said, “this is your answer?”

Regan nodded. “This is our answer. We’ll die before we free your people into this world.”

“Your lover will die now,” Sardi said, and he drew a long knife from the scabbard at his back, “but I think I might keep you alive for a while. See just what you have learned in two thousand years.”

Fury rose inside Caleb. “Touch her and I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Sardi sneered. “Nothing. Perhaps I’ll let you watch before you die. The last thing you will ever see is Regan in my arms.” He gestured toward Regan. “Come to me, Regan, and I will give him a swift death.”

Regan glanced from him to Sardi. Caleb could almost see her mind working. “Don’t go near him,” he ground out. “I can take anything he can dish out.”

Sardi came closer, the knife at the ready.

Caleb struggled to his knees, then to his feet, locking the muscles of his legs to hold him steady. He was naked except for something around his neck. Looking down, he saw the ring Kael had given him. His mother’s ring.

In the past when he’d changed, he had lost everything. So why had the ring remained? Maybe he did have shapeshifter powers after all. He concentrated on the ring, focusing his mind, clearing it. Sardi was almost on him now. He stood before Caleb, a half-smile, half-sneer on his face. He raised the knife.

Concentrate!

In his mind, he saw the image of a creature. He focused everything he had on that picture, and his world shifted

∞∞∞

Regan cried out as Caleb vanished.

In his place, a huge, winged serpent slowly uncoiled its long body. Beside her, Sardi stood transfixed, his eyes stretched wide in horror as the black wings unfurled. They spread wide, blocking out the moonlight so they stood motionless in its shadow. The wings beat languidly, and it rose without effort into the air to hover above them. Its jaws opened, revealing the inky blackness inside and the bright white of razor-sharp fangs. The yellow, slitted eyes never left Sardi as its long, sinuous body undulated from side to side.

Sardi shook himself, then before her eyes, he transformed—grew taller, broader, his skin darkening. Curved horns sprouted from his forehead, black leathery wings sprang from his shoulder blades, and the knife in his hand became a flaming sword. Only his eyes remained the same. This was how he would appear in his own realm, and Regan’s breath caught in her throat.

He raised the sword toward the hovering serpent.

Regan hardly caught the movement as it struck. It dove down toward Sardi, and they clashed with a scream of fury. The force of the collision sent the sword spinning from Sardi’s hand. They grappled, but the serpent’s long body coiled around him, its vicious claws dug deep into the flesh of his shoulders, and they rose into the air entwined as lovers.

The serpent turned its massive head to Regan, the eyes held hers, and in their inhuman depths, she caught a glimpse of Caleb. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

This time Sardi wasn’t coming back.

She summoned up her magic, let the power build within her, and whispered the words. The air shimmered, and the portal opened before her.

Sardi came alive as he saw the gateway. Understanding filled his eyes, followed swiftly by horror. He tried to struggle, but it was too late as, with a beat of wings, the serpent rose through the air and swooped toward the portal. Regan made to step back, but at the last minute, Sardi reached out a hand, clasped his fist in her long hair, and dragged Regan through the gateway into Hell.

They tumbled through darkness, the icy air rushing past her, until she heard the beating of wings, and their freefall slowed. Down and down they went, until they finally crashed onto a bare rock floor, Sardi’s hand still locked tightly in her hair.