Page 115 of The Mating Quest

Grinning, she started forward to aid him. Then Ilana ground to an abrupt halt, shock pummelingher.

She had tried to prepare for this moment. Could not. Nothing could prepareher.

Cormac. Well over six feet tall, long blond hair matted, his brown eyes now glowing like coals. Once he had been so handsome he made her heart race faster every time he drew near. He had cared about her, or so he kept proclaiming, and wanted to give her his incrediblepowers.

She, the Mage no one wanted, no one cared about on this earth, had drawn the attention of this incredible Fae, aide to the powerful FaeKing.

Now his beauty had faded. Talons extended from his elegant fingers, fingers that had stroked her to orgasm and then delivered intense pain. So muchpain.

“Ilana,” he whispered, his voice still sexy andseductive.

She stared, her heart racing, lungs laboring to draw in air. He ran forward, so fast, like a winged fairy, andattacked.

Cormac swiped his talons over her arm. She staggered, nearly dropped her sword again. Then he pummeled her, dear goddess he was strong, and she was going down, on the ground. His hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing. She braced herself for his killingblow.

The power is inside you. You will not dietoday!

Ilana brought up her left hand, the dagger gleaming in the light. “Gotcha.”

The blade sank into his abdomen. He shrieked and pulled back, holding the wound as it gushed blackblood.

Coughing and struggling for air, she rolled away, trying to focus. Out of the corner of her eye she saw himstand.

He turned, and the wound had already healed. In his palm he held the red fairy’s feather. Gideon’s talisman. Cormac squeezed and a brilliant red glow surroundedhim.

She expected another attack. Instead he grinned, his red slit of a mouth like a clown’s, and whirled. Going forEthan.

No!

Lungs laboring to draw in breath, she stumbled after him. Her pulse raced, instinct kickedin.

Pivoting, Cormac barreled toward her like a bull, slamming into her legs and throwing her against a thick tree trunk. She gasped, pain exploding in her ribs. Trees loomed above them, witnessing herdestruction.

Ilana rolled away, her grip secure on Starsong. Cormac began tossing red energy bolts at her. Gideon’smagick.

She dodged the energy bolt and struck back with a blow of Starsong’s powerful coldfire magick. Cormac laughed as the coldfire bounced offhim.

The wizards probably can’t hurt each other, dear goddess! And I can’t use Drust’s magick in this sword to hurt him. But he can killme.

This was Cormac, the Fae she’d lain with, thought she might have even loved.This is what love does to you. It turns you into a damn emotional zombie even when your ex is trying to suffocate out yourlife.

“Ilana, how I’ve missed you.” Cormac held out a hand, and for a moment, she saw the Dark Fae who’d seduced her, gave her the power she’d craved all herlife.

Gave her the magick she needed to fight for others unable to fight forthemselves.

He held up the red fairy feather. “Join with me, my darling. Together we can rule the Dark Kingdom. Nothing can stop us. You’ll have all the power you ever desired. The magick isyours.”

The magick is yours.Transfixed, she stared at the feather. With that kind of power, she could stop the world’s evil from spreading. Cure sickness. Heal broken bodies, change many things for thebetter.

Crooning to her the way he had before they’d had sex, Cormac came closer. “Ilana, you are powerful. In the Dark Kingdom your magick is double what you believe. We need eachother.”

Gideon’s talisman fueled his powers. But he was siphoning a little at a time. His dead, resurrected flesh could not absorb that much. Insight struckher.

“You need me?” She held her position, her sword lowered. “You think we could be a team, Cormac? All that power in thefeather…”

He smiled at her, and glamoured himself. The old Cormac, his blond hair soft and long, his face no longer grey, but handsome, his eyes a deep green, like the meadowgrasses.

Fae magick. Magick she had gained when she had sex with Cormac and he gifted it to her. She had only puny Mage magick. But whatif…