This wasn't at all what I had in mind for the evening, but d.a.m.n, I wasn't about to stop it. My d.i.c.k jumped out of the underwear so fast it slapped her between the legs and made us both jump. Magic was flowing so fast between us that I could barely breathe as Sue guided me inside her. I shoved my hips hard against her and she arched backward, causing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to pop out of the shirt and bra altogether. The thought that the same thing might have happened out in public turned me on to no end. But then I happened on another new thing. I suddenly realized that I wasn't the only one turned on by it. Walking around nearly naked for other men to ogle her . . . noticing their sudden erections and pretending not to . . . flat got her hot. That was totally unexpected and was really, really not Sue. But it was driving me mad with desire. I grabbed her hips and started pumping into her as she leaned close enough that I could suckle one breast and then the other in rapid succession.

"Tony, yes!" She let out a growl from low in her chest and bucked against me as fast as I hammered into her. I could feel the magic building with each squeak of the tortured chair springs until there was nothing but sweat and roiling power and the scent of s.e.xual perfume. She wanted to end it, wanted to climax, but I wouldn't let her. Each time she pushed against me and dug her fingers in my arms, I slowed-held her legs so she couldn't move and rocked so slowly that it was pure torture for both of us. Then I lifted her up until I was nearly completely out of her, with just the barest tip teasing her entrance. She struggled and squirmed, but she was no match for my strength. All she could do was moan again and try to shove herself downward. "G.o.d, you're killing me."

I smiled at her and the near panic in her eyes made my heart beat faster. "Beg me for it. Ask me, pretty please, to let you come."

Her shirt was splayed open, framing the heavy b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her nipples as dark as her shirt. I could feel the warmth of her juices running down her legs and I wanted her more than I ever had in my life. This game wasn't one to finish lightly.

She paused, realizing as I did, that something new and special was happening. Just to keep the tension going, I dropped her down, burying myself to the hilt and then lifting her off so quickly that all she had time to do was open her mouth in shock and catch her breath before her head flopped back and her fingers dug into my arms.

"Say it, Sue. Beg me to screw you."

She gathered herself together after another drop filled her tight, wet hole. Her head flipped back down, making her dark hair sparkle in the lights. Her eyes were as cold and sure as the ones I've seen in the mirror all my life and it grabbed my gut and made it do flops. The moment turned from teasing to deadly serious and I suddenly realized why. It was in her bearing, in her face, and in the mind that brushed mine. Confident, independent, proud . . . yet still caring and loyal. This was the woman I've wanted . . . the one I've waited for her to become. "Do it. Screw me until I come, killer. Just for you." She paused and caught my smile, only to give me one of her own that was filled with hope and love. The scent of love was unmistakable. It didn't throw away the other scents. It just blended and made our l.u.s.t more profound. "Always for you. Make us more than just one, my mate."

Reality seemed to shift when she said that, just a fraction. Some sort of weird magic tightened my skin and made all my hair stand on end. I felt off-center, yet clearer headed than I ever had been in my life. Some men want a soul mate, the part they're missing. A yin to their yang. I realized I wasn't one of them. I want two yins, or two yangs, but not half of each. I want a woman who will share my soul, not compliment it. Somehow, whatever had happened in that ritual had done what love hadn't, and no amount of therapy ever could. It was more than acceptance, more than need. I sensed a joining that would make both of us stronger, yet allow us to be individuals who could stand alone. Not two halves of a whole, but two wholes who could stand against the world together.

"You got it." I closed my eyes and let myself slide into her body, and into her head. I let her feel the sensation of tight warmth that made my nerves dance, at the same time I felt the intrusion, and stretching, that made our stomachs ache with need.

Now I eased slowly in and out, letting the tension build again. She began to moan and whisper my name. Over and over, in my ear and in my brain, like a mantra that made me want to slip inside her skin and never come out again.

She took control away from me and I let her. She started to rock over me, kept my hands pinned to the chair arms so tight it felt like another Sazi, not just a human. I remembered then what Amber had asked and opened my eyes. No, she didn't have an aura, but how was it her eyes were glowing with a deep emerald fire? I wanted to dwell on that more, try to piece together whatever clues I was seeing, but my body wouldn't cooperate. The intensity of the sensations was too much. All I could do was pull loose from her grip and grab that tight leather-clad a.s.s and pound myself inside her until the rumbling in my stomach became a wave that crashed over me so hard I yelled out loud. The climax was so intense it was like I hadn't had s.e.x in years. Sue followed soon after and it doubled my pleasure, nearly making us both pa.s.s out.

It was nearly a minute of pounding hearts and heavy breathing before either of us could talk. I chuckled and gave her a little slap on the thigh. "Anytime you decide to drop by and visit me in a hotel, feel free."

She laughed brightly and leaned back until she could see my face. Then she kissed the tip of my nose.

"It'll be more often than before, I a.s.sure you. The clothes aren't the only thing that's changed about me."

"I'm starting to figure that out." I let her get off me, not really surprised that her legs were a little stiff and one foot was asleep. I definitely got the better end of the stick on comfort. "I'm up for a shower. How about you? Do you have any other clothes with you?"

Her response started with a s.e.xy, knowing smile that tightened parts of me that should be unable to respond. "I asked the front desk to have my things sent up in an hour. I told him we might be too busy to answer the door until then."

I got to my feet and took her into my arms. "Might be even longer than that. We'll have to see." I kissed her again and let my hands follow the slender curves that might last or might not. I didn't really care about her weight, so long as she was healthy and happy. I pulled away briefly, before my head started being ruled by a different part of my body. "Have them send up food with the bags. I think you're going to need your strength tonight."

The laugh made me smile and she winked as she reached for the phone. "Maybe some whipped cream and chocolate. I've always fantasized about licking whipped cream off a man."

"Hey, it's a night for fantasies, apparently. I'll try to remember what some of mine are. I think one involves a little maid's outfit. But the one you just did has always been a particular favorite."

I started to more to go into the bathroom to turn on the shower when her voice stopped me. I turned my head when she said, "Tony?"

"Yeah?"

Another little smile. "That's why I did it."

Chapter Eleven.

I WOKE WITH a frantic slapping of sheets for the third time since Sue and I had finally drifted to sleep. It was still dark outside, but wouldn't be for long. I should feel content and satisfied after a night of having a good number of my fantasies come true-even some of the kinky ones, but instead my heart was pounding a mile a minute and I couldn't seem to breathe right.

I was choking and the more I struggled, the worse it got. Worse still, I couldn't raise my hands to relieve the pressure.

Pain. Bound and in pain. What had I done this time to anger him? I was smelling something that raised old, nameless fears in my head, but I couldn't remember what or why.

As soon as I opened my eyes again, I realized what was happening, even though I couldn't stop it. I could see the tasteful wardrobe across the room, highlighted by the bathroom light that we'd forgotten to turn off. But superimposed over it was a silver door that glinted every time the moon came out from behind a cloud.

I was stuck in the snake king's head again. The sensation of pain at ankle, wrist, and neck, combined with metal tinking and rasping against concrete told me he was probably in cell four. That one has a bed, but also has thick chains-the size you see holding loads on big rigs. They're bolted to the concrete and have a high silver content. Now, silver's not really a strong metal, but it hurts like blazes to a Sazi. Left on long enough, it can scar, and it weakens us pretty quickly. It's not like it saps our magic or anything. It's not Kryptonite. But pain is wearing after a while. It sucks out your fight and makes you easier to manage.

I was frankly pretty surprised they did that to Ahmad, him being a council member and all. But I was also noticing that he wasn't quite in his right mind. It was hard to concentrate on anything but the fear that was pounding his heart. Chains, and the scent of venom was pushing him into a frenzy that was dragging me down into the depths with him.

While I wanted to tell him to get his s.h.i.t together and relax, that was like telling a little kid there was no monster under the bed. Whatever he was reliving was very, very real to him and I had to figure a way out of the delirium before there was no mind left to save.

Center. Who is hurting you? Maybe if I treated this like any other hindsight, I could pull him out of this. Show me his face.

A snake, the jaw open wide to strike, appeared in my vision so suddenly that I slapped out with my hand to knock it away. I had to shake my head and fight off the cold sweat that threatened to make me panic too. Sue was starting to get restless beside me, not quite awake, but nearing it if I wasn't careful. I had no idea what would happen if she woke. We'd tied our minds so tight together over the past few hours that we hadn't been able to shut the door again. I couldn't imagine this would help any.

I carefully slid out from underneath the covers and found my way across the room to the recliner. At least I could try not to wake her. The snake led me, still fixed firmly in my vision, a monster in the dark.

Maybe it was important to know what kind of snake it was. With the image frozen, waiting the next command from me, I studied it and tried to recall my very basic knowledge of the serpent family. The teeth were long, so I was thinking it was part of the viper family. Hard to tell if the head was triangular from the image, but I could definitely see a deep pit between the eye and nostril, so I was betting it was a pit viper. And, it was coal black with the mouth a pinkish-white. Um . . . a black mamba? Was that a viper?

I was guessing the answer was yes, because the image fast-forwarded, the snake striking fast enough that I couldn't quite separate the vision from reality and backpedaled into the depth of the chair so fast the footrest shot into the air.

The snake can't hurt you. It can't reach you while I'm here. It seemed seriously weird to be telling the snake king that a snake wasn't going to hurt him. But nightmares aren't terribly logical, and I presume that there are bigger and badder snakes than him out there somewhere.

I repeated the words again. It took a third time before the snake retreated back to the depths of his memory. I felt his muscles start to relax. The chains loosened when he did, and some of the pain eased.

Now he was coming back into his mind and starting to figure things out, but for some reason he didn't know I was there. Most of my hindsight victims know I'm pulling at their memories. They just can't stop it. But Ahmad really didn't seem to know we were attached.

That might not be a bad thing, because it could be more useful to Lucas than a knowing link where he was in control. There wasn't much to see right now, since he was just figuring out where he was. Bits and pieces of memory were still there, from meeting with the new wolf (me) and then having a severe headache soon after he left. But the cause of the abrupt pain that had driven him past the point of sanity was a mystery. Ahmad lifted one arm, then the other, and yanked on both simultaneously with as much strength as he could muster. The wristbands and chains stretched but held. The pain the silver produced wasn't as bad as the headache had been but wasn't worth repeating, either.

What part had been reality? Had he truly attacked both Lucas and Charles and tried to destroy the clinic? For what purpose?

Still, judging by the number of chains on me, the upstairs must be quite a wreck.

It was dark outside if the image through the bars could be trusted, but was it even the same day? Have I missed the one opportunity to infiltrate the Order, or is there still time?

The superimposed cell in the darkened hotel room was odd, but try as I might, I couldn't shake the image from my brain. Ahmad thought about calling out to see who answered, because surely, with this level of security, there would be someone standing watch. But to what end? Amber might be considering whatever Angelique had to be contagious . . . and who was to say it wasn't? No, it was better to try to get some sleep for now, despite the discomfort of this horrible slab of concrete. Morning would come too soon and there would be questions to ask on both sides.

As Ahmad let his mind drift, mine starting working overtime. Where had Angelique been during the whole episode? Was she back to normal and released? Was she unconscious, or even dead? I hadn't thought to ask, which wasn't very bright of me.

I'd also like to find out more about this Order that Ahmad was thinking about. It might be that he simply didn't know and was flying blind, or he absolutely knew I was in his head with him and was feeding me misinformation.

He's sort of like professor Snape in my way of thinking. He might be trustworthy, but he's definitely suspicious and it might not take much to turn him. Frankly, if he was in Carmine's group, I'd suggest sending him far away from anything important or sensitive.

Of course, thinking Carmine's name got me back to planning my strategy for New Jersey. I needed to decide how to approach the whole thing. Not only was I a persona non grata in the state by the mob, but I was also wanted by the cops and presumed dead. I could take Bobby along to do the illusion thing on me, but he's too well known as my normal partner in crime. It might be better to simply try my hand at a disguise. I used to be pretty good at makeup and hair coloring. Going back to basics might be just the trick to fool a bunch of snakes. Then the only thing left would be my scent. There was no mistaking I was Sazi . . . or was there?

I wondered if there was a way to actually start a conversation with Ahmad mentally, like I could with Sue. It didn't seem like he knew I was there, but I wondered- Searching with your mind is a lot like standing in a pitch black room with your feet strapped to the floor and trying to find a particular object by bending and reaching to feel around. If you know what you're looking for, it doesn't take long. But when you're just reaching to find out if something is there, that's harder. Now, I knew that Sue's mind was there because in my head it was like a bright, warm spot of sunshine through a window. But if Ahmad's mind was out there, it was either hidden or dark by nature.

Of course, about the time I gave up and decided to go back to bed, I fell through the looking gla.s.s with a suddenness that took my breath away. The hotel room disappeared behind the new reality of concrete walls and a silver door that was sparkling around the edges.

No, wait. Not sparkles. Sparks.

I could smell metal burning. Someone was using a freaking welding torch to cut away the hinges of the door. Either someone upstairs forgot the combination to the high-tech lock I knew was outside, or something really interesting was about to happen.

The scent and bright light brought Ahmad fully back to his head. He began to carefully spit toward his hands, which seemed a sort of strange thing to do under the circ.u.mstances. Except . . . ah, I realized what he was doing. He was cutting apart the bindings with his own venom. Pretty slick.

But he apparently hadn't had anything to drink since they brought him down here, so spit was in short supply. Still, he was able to get enough onto one bracelet and the other chain that he was able to pull them apart and sit up before the cutting stopped.

I was curious to see what the visitors would do next, since the door wasn't made of balsa. It was meant to withstand a feral, insane, magical creature of unknown ability. Raven and I couldn't manage it alone when I visited, and he's one of the more powerful alphas.

Whoever was on the other side of the door was no lightweight either, because dark-skinned male hands appeared around the bars near the top. The door hesitated and then began to move inward, an inch or so off the floor. Ahmad flicked his tongue out repeatedly, trying to catch the scent of the person through the scorched metal. Just before the door swung to the side, he apparently did and his reaction was telling.

I was catapulted inside Ahmad's head, no longer an outsider watching, as I felt our tongue frantically move around in a dry mouth, trying to find enough fluid to make the venom sacs work. If Nasil found me helpless and in chains- But it wasn't the man I'd spent my entire existence loathing and fearing who first came through the door.

I felt my brows raise and a hoa.r.s.e croak that hurt my throat. "Tuli?"

Her entire face lit up and her taste was filled with both relief and joy. It carried over to the word that was barely loud enough to hear. "Rimush." She flung herself at me so fast that all I could do was catch her so I didn't get knocked onto my back. Her lips were on mine before I could react and the taste of her sweet, almost salty venom was enough to make me clutch at her arms desperately. No. I had to push her away before I took leave of my senses the way I used to in the palace. She hissed from the sting of the silver in the cuffs and looked down at the burns struggling to heal at my wrists. She turned her head and whispered. "You see? I told you he was a prisoner."

"You did indeed." Now I raised angry eyes and pushed Tuli the rest of the way from me, preparing to fight. Nasil looked just the same, except his hair had grown to shoulder-length, the way he'd worn it for so many centuries. He let out a small smirk that could mean nothing, or everything. His voice was likewise quiet, the tone amused. "It appears you could use some help, my prince."

What in the name of Anu was he doing here? Should I whisper or raise my voice and alert everyone in the clinic? I had to presume they arrived alone or Tuli wouldn't bother speaking softly, so I followed suit.

"I hardly need help from the likes of you, Nasil. As you can see, I'm nearly free on my own."

He glanced at the solid steel-and-silver door, still smouldering lightly from the torch cuts, then raised a brow at me. "Oh, without question, my lord. Shall I return the door to its place so you may escape under your own power?"

"Stop it, both of you." Tuli was in no mood for our banter, which was reasonably friendly at this point. There was no purpose antagonizing him until I had full freedom of movement. He was too fast and too deadly to risk that. "Of course we're going to help you, my prince. It's why we came."

It was? But that journey takes nearly a day, and I haven't been back long enough for anyone to grow concerned. Or had it been longer than I believed? "I've only been gone a day. I told you I would return in several."

Tuli blushed and stared at the floor, which confused me. I thought at first that the traitor Nasil wasn't going to answer me, but he raised that single brow again-probably because he knew how much I hated it. "We left only a few hours after you did. Tuli seemed to believe it was critical we reach you before . . . something happened. I have to admit to a certain amount of surprise we found you in chains. It does seem to support Tuli's . . . feeling."

I stared at her, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. That wasn't like her. "Explain."

I reached out to grab her arm to make her look at me but she slipped out of my grasp with a speed I hadn't known her to have before. "We really don't have time for discussions, my lord. We have little time to get you to safety before they find the cat."

Had they harmed Amber? Charles would tear the world into bite-sized pieces to find them . . . and me if they had. "What have you done, Nasil?"

He was busy dripping a strong chemical acid on the cuffs on my ankles, and looked up at me with the sort of disdain I expected from him. "Please give me some credit, Ahmad. Do you really think me foolish enough to kill anyone here-much less Charles's wife? I merely hit Amber with a tranquilizer. But I only used enough for an elephant-sized target, so we probably only have five more minutes before a healer of her stature wakes up. And she'll have a nasty headache, which won't make her a pleasant kitty to encounter if she discovers us walking off with a Wolven prisoner."

Nasil knew Amber nearly better than anyone, so I believed that he'd used a sufficient, but nontoxic dose. He'd been the supposed friend of her brother, Antoine, for more than a decade and had been spying on the council for Sargon without my even knowing. I didn't trust him, but I couldn't argue he knew his job.

While Charles would no doubt be displeased that I left custody, I could think of no better scenario for Nasil to find me in than this one. If I truly had been in league with my father, and Wolven discovered it, I would be in this exact same location awaiting trial before the full council. "I presume you have transportation waiting outside? Are there others with you?"

Nasil shook his head as he pulled apart the two pieces of the inch-thick cuff around my leg with a sizzling of flesh that made us both wince. "We came alone and while we have a stolen car outside to take us away from the complex, we flew commercial to get here. We'll have to figure out some other way to get back before we're discovered."

I couldn't help but smile darkly. It would serve him right for putting me through this level of h.e.l.l. Nasil looked at me with interest when I swung my legs from the concrete slab and chuckled. "Actually, I may have a solution."

Chapter Twelve.

I CAME BACK into my head with a start as the scene went black at the clinic. I couldn't seem to figure out why I kept getting these random flashes, yet had no control over them. Worse still, they were starting to make my head ache like I had a pinched nerve. I grabbed my chin and the top of my head to see if I could get my neck to pop and ease some pressure, but the muscles were too tight . . . probably from Ahmad's struggle against the silver chains.

"Tony? Is something wrong?" Sue's sleepy question was accompanied by an increase in the warm light in my head and it shook away some of the cotton in my brain.

"No, I-" I paused and reconsidered. Sue's a smart woman. More than once she's come up with an answer that had been eluding me. She's been spending a lot of time reading through old records at Wolven headquarters, trying to figure out what was stolen by the mole. "Y'know, actually, yes. There is."

She patted the bed and pulled back my side of the covers. "Come tell me about it."

So I did. The trick was not to let the warm press of her skin against me lull me back to sleep. There's just something about when she's got one leg curled over my hip, with an arm around my waist and her head on my chest that makes everything right with the world and reality fade away. While I really needed the sleep, I also needed to decide what to do about Ahmad. I didn't know what his solution was and without that, there wasn't much to tell anyone if they asked where he went.

It took the better part of an hour just to tell her the highlights of the last few days. "And now I'm back here with you."

"How weird," she said. Her brow wrinkled under the fingers I was using to stroke her hair. "Well, let's go through this. Ahmad thought it might have been the cave that did it, and I've read about that sort of thing happening in some of the really old books I've found. But why you, and why him? If it should be anyone, it should be Will Kerchee. That would make sense at least. He's the one you were in contact with in the cave, or even Councilwoman Calibria or the other agent. But Ahmad?"

I shrugged, which moved her head and she had to readjust. "Precisely. But it is what it is. I just need to figure out how to make it work for me. You know Lucas and Charles are going to grill me about what happened now that they know I'm in contact . . . even occasionally, and they're not going to let me leave to go deal with my job for Carmine. I have to at least get them started on something."

She let out a slow, "Hmmm" and tapped one fingernail next to my belly b.u.t.ton. "What did he think again right at the end? As exactly as you can remember."

That was easy, so I repeated it. "It would serve him right for putting me through this level of h.e.l.l. But I don't know who him is, so I don't have any idea what it might mean."

She paused long enough that I felt my eyes starting to close. But I woke up again with a start when I felt her smile against my skin. A moment later, a flash of color jumped into my mind and the scent of triumph filled the air-sort of like bitter orange marmalade to my nose. "I think I know, and you've got a call to make."

A SLEEPY, GRUFF voice answered on the fourth ring. I was already showered and dressed, which I did while Sue explained what she believed happened. I tried to push through an image into Ahmad's mind. I'd managed a sound while I was standing under the hot water, but no image. Still the loud, whining roar I'd heard was probably enough to ask the question. "Go ahead."

"It's five A.M., Lucas. Do you know where your plane is?"

I could hear the confusion in his voice, which told me that either they'd given Amber a bigger dose of tranq than they thought, or he hadn't answered his phone from several earlier calls. "What? Tony, is that you? What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

He sounded too tired for the long explanation, so I opted for the short one. "I'm pretty sure Ahmad escaped the cell in the bas.e.m.e.nt this morning with some help from Nasil, and is on his way back to the jungle . . . in your jet."

I could hear sounds of abrupt movement in the background and then his voice wasn't so sleepy anymore. "Nasil's captured Ahmad? Did you have another hindsight from him? Was he . . . lucid when they grabbed him?"

I shook my head as I tried to reach my other shoe where it had bounced during last night's romp. But the landline cord wouldn't reach. Sue noticed and walked across the room to pick it up and hand it to me on her way to the bathroom with a cosmetic bag tucked under her arm. I made a kissing motion at her before I replied. She smiled and winked. "Lucid, yes, but not captured. He went willingly. In fact, he suggested it. I think he's ticked at you for putting him in chains and thought having to track down your plane would serve you right. And I'm still not certain whether to call them hindsights. These feel different. I still think they're real-time."

I could hear tiny little blips over the phone line. Probably checking his cell phone for missed calls. He must have a high-end model. I can't do that with mine when I'm talking on it. "n.o.body's called me. Are you certain about this?"

I let out a chuckle. "Oh h.e.l.l no. I'm not certain about a d.a.m.ned thing lately. But so far, these images have been dead-on, so I figured it was worth calling you. I'm already dressed, so I figured I'd wander back to the clinic with Charles's car to check it out. Thought you might want to come along. Are you in Boulder or Denver?"

"I'm in Boulder, at my house. But I don't want you coming up here. If things went badly . . . no. I don't want you up here."