Gods, he has the sexiest grin. He always appeared so bitter, so grim, yet then, with one heart-stopping curl of his lips, his entire countenance changed, his amber eyes growing warm.

"It must be me, lass."

"But this could merely be a trick! You do recognize me as your mate, true, but that doesn't mean you should or even that it's real. I could very well have enthralled you. Some witches only have to recognize that they want something, and then, all of a sudden, it's theirs. That could have happened."

"And yet you believe that you could have left behind that enthrallment when you took the mortality curse away? You were weak and nigh out of your head with fatigue and injuries. You canna look me in the eyes and say you would be capable of removing one without the other."

When she pursed her lips, he raised his eyebrows.

She looked away and said, "Maybe not in the past - "

"Did you feel another of your hexes?"

After a moment, she shook her head.

"And you dinna do anything to me at the Hie. If you had no' had your glamour on that night, I would have recognized your scent then." Way up.

"You're reaching, because you want something definite. You want your black and white. And that's not what you're going to get with me."

He had a self-satisfied look on his face, a relieved one, that made her want to groan with frustration. "If you're telling me the truth, Mariketa, then there's a chance you truly are my mate."

"Why would you get two? Are you special?"

"You might be... you might be reincarnated." He frowned. "You doona look shocked."

"No. My friend Regin has a reincarnate, a berserker who's mad for her and keeps coming back. And he never misses an Accession."

"Aye, it makes sense that the Accession could fuel these events - your reincarnation as well."

She didn't feel that this was round two for her - wouldn't she sense it in some way? "Was your mate like me? Do we resemble each other? Act alike?"

"You're nothing alike, other than your names and ears. She was fey as well."

"How did you meet her - by entombing?"

He ignored the last and answered, "I'd known her all her life. After a five-year absence I'd returned to her father's kingdom, and she'd grown into a woman."

"Wouldn't you have known what she was the minute you met her?"

He shook his head. "No' always. Females of different species often need to reach maturity to trigger the Instinct."

"I just don't sense this about myself. And that berserker always gets his memories of his previous lives. I don't remember anything like that."

"You're young still."

"Say all this is true - "

"It's true."

" - the fact remains that I don't want you. Even if fate decreed that we had a bond, I definitely don't recognize it. I don't even like you."

"If we had no bad blood between us, would you... like me?"

"I'd be attracted to you, but there's no way I'd want anything permanent with you - bad blood or not."

"What the hell's so wrong with me?" His eyes flickered, and the hint of uncertainty he'd just revealed was drowned out by a surge of arrogance. "I'm strong, I can protect you, and I'm rich. And I vow to you, lass, once you experience what it's like to share my bed, you will no' ever want to leave it."

His eyes bored into hers as he said the last, and despite herself, his utter confidence in this area affected her, forcing her to wonder what tricks a twelve-century-old immortal would've picked up over the years.

She inwardly shook herself. "MacRieve, when I settle down it's going to be with a male that has - oh, I don't know - a sense of humor, or of modesty. How about a lack of scathing hatred toward witches? Maybe a zest for life? Too much to ask that he's born in the same millennium?"

"Some of these things canna be changed, but know that I was no' always so... grave as I am now."

"It doesn't matter. We're just too different. I need a male who will get along with my friends, my witch friends, who'll be current enough to know the difference between emo rock and jangle pop, and who'll be able to get me through the ice world in Zelda."

MacRieve was no doubt speculating in what ice dimension this mysterious land of Zelda was. He finally said, "These differences are surmountable - "

"And the age difference? You keep talking about how young I am, but all you're doing is reminding me how old you are. Any minute now you're going to say something really lame like 'When I was your age... ,' and I'm just not going to be able to keep from laughing at you."

He scowled at that, but still said, "I'll change your mind about me. You'll warm to me."

"In two days? That's your plan? Forget it."

"Damn it, witch, are you no' even curious about where this could lead?"

"No, but I am curious how you can be when you despise my kind. How quick you were to tell me that when I suggested we work together in the Hie! I will never forget your disgust." Did his jaw clench? "Why do you despise us so much?"

He shrugged. "With witches you never know what you're in for. All false faces and deviousness."

"But with Lykae, what you see is what you get? Oh, wait, I totally forgot about the beast that lives inside you. And then by the time you see what you're in for, it's too late, isn't it?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm one among the most powerful species on this earth - none are stronger than the Lykae - and I've trained for war or fought it for my entire life. Yet you, with your wee body and utter lack of training, can still pin me by the throat. It's no' natural. Witches are no' natural."

"That can't be all."

"That's all you'll hear tonight."

"You know what? I'll play. If you answer one question correctly, I might consider possibly thinking about giving you a shot to maybe win me over."

"Ask it, lass."

"What if we somehow worked through all the obstacles between us and were together for a couple of years or so, and you were given another chance to go back for your mate? There could be another key. Would you ignore it if it was handed to you?"

Emotions seemed to pass over his face. He scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck. "I could lie, but I will no'. I'd use it."

Her lips parted. "Then why in the hell would I invest my time and my feelings when you won't be doing the same?" She stood, storming away from him. "Game over, MacRieve."

"But you have to understand why." He shot to his feet and seized her elbow. "I believe it would be you."

"I don't feel like I have a pre-owned soul. And furthermore, I like myself. Other than some late-blooming magickal powers and some sealed legal records, I think I'm pretty nifty. Yet you would just wipe me out entirely?"

"You would no' be wiped out. Just different."

"What about my friends and family?" Not that Mari's family - being Jillian - would overly miss her. "What about the prophesy, of being Awaited? I have responsibilities."

"You'd have other family, another destiny - "

"If I'm a reincarnate and that soul's not available when I'm born, then I'm not me. You know that's true." She was shaken by how much this bastard was hurting her with this. "So just a hint: The next time you're courting a female, try not to divulge that you would readily wipe out her entire existence with the turn of a key - so you could be with another woman you preferred over her!"

22

Bloody brilliant, MacRieve, Bowe thought as he lay staring at the cavern ceiling. Drops of water traveled along it against gravity, before trickling down a stalactite. He exhaled. Not only hadn't he made progress with her, he'd likely deepened her hatred.

He was accustomed to doing as he pleased - and to having others do what he pleased as well. Yet when he'd wanted to talk to her more, to explain, the look in her eyes had said she'd been about to snap.

Bowe knew he shouldn't have answered as he had. Of course, she wouldn't view the situation the same as he did. But her question had caught him completely off guard. He was used to thinking along those lines but hadn't expected her to.

He should have just lied. As soon as the thought arose, he dismissed it because he didn't ever want to lie to his female. Except that she might not be his at all, and now he was farther away from the means to determine for certain.

He glanced over at her, lying on the other side of the fire with her back to him. Could Mariketa truly be a different version of Mariah? An utterly different version? Or was he seizing on reincarnation because it absolved him of guilt - for Mariah's death and for his undeniable lust for another?

The two looked nothing alike but for their ears. Mariah had been tall and lithe and so graceful, seeming to float when she walked. The petite witch rolled her hips sensuously until her every step sent blood rushing to his groin and away from his brain. For the thirtieth time tonight, he ran the heel of his palm along his shaft. He wanted to watch her walk naked to a bed he was in.

He told himself he wasn't comparing the two females to determine which was better but only to explore his reincarnation theory.

Hell, he didn't even know what he would do with a key now. Would he truly go back if he believed the witch would never live?

That was the crux of it, because if he knew for a fact that he would erase the witch, then he could be certain that she shared a soul with Mariah. And with that certainty, he could stay with the witch, even if there was a key, and there would be no guilt.

Wait. Why had he immediately decided on the witch in this situation? If he could just as easily have Mariah, wouldn't he prefer her? Mariah had been everything that was perfect.

Yet for the first time, Bowe admitted - with difficulty and reluctance - that she might not have been perfect... for him.

For most of his adult life, Bowe had said what was on his mind, and damn the consequences. Life was too long not to. But he remembered that his uttering even the mildest oaths would dismay Mariah - no matter that he and his kind had been using those words for millennia before they'd been deemed bad.

He'd often felt like he was walking on eggshells around her. He'd striven to change for her, hoping to make himself a gentleman for her. Yet some traits were just a part of his nature.

He enjoyed his bed play dirty, and like all males of his kind, he was aggressive in bed. But Mariah had been a fey princess living in the eighteen hundreds and had been stymied with a very limited sexual mind-set. She'd never been aroused by Bowe - had never desired him as he did her. Bowe had known this, for she'd made no secret of it. With her violet eyes glinting, she would stroke him under the chin as she vowed that she would be the one to tame his beastly nature.

So he'd struggled to ignore his baser urges because she would have been horrified or even fainted if he'd acted on them. The sex words he'd wanted to use he'd stifled. The places he'd wanted to kiss her he'd tried to put from his mind...

He'd never claimed her, and the one time he'd touched her between her thighs, his heart had sunk to find her utterly unaffected by his attentions. As cold as ice.

But when he'd stroked Mariketa, she'd been lush and wet, her body so ready to receive him. And the way he spoke? It aroused her. He knew the self-pleasuring witch would indulge in whatever would give them satisfaction. That night in the tomb, if he'd decided to taste her sex, she would have moaned with anticipation and spread her legs wide for him.

Maybe she hadn't been seething with power that night, but with passion, a passion stoked by him. Bowe hadn't realized until now how much Mariah's lack of desire had affected his confidence.

At once, he flushed at his uncharitable thoughts toward her. She'd been a sweet lass, and she'd had much to offer a male.

She'd been a gentle fey of royal blood and good family, and marrying her would have brought about a valuable alliance between her kind and his. Elegant Mariah had chosen him to take care of her. Out of all her royal suitors - and there were many - she'd chosen him to marry. She would've been a good mate and a caring mother.

He frowned. Except that she'd told him she hadn't wanted to have children. No matter how long he'd always looked forward to a family.

But then she hadn't been a bloody witch either.

Bowe turned to his side away from Mariketa. This confusion wasn't as racking as the constant guilt, but at least with the guilt he'd known where he stood.

He heard Mariketa stirring and recognized that her desire was building once more. She eased to her side, then over again. Oh, bloody hell, she was not furtively grazing those sensitive breasts of hers. She hurt for what he would gladly kill to give her.

He palmed his shaft through his jeans yet again, hissing in an agonized breath. One hundred and eighty years had passed since he'd been brought to come by another. Not ten feet from him, a trembling bundle of lust in the form of a fantasy lay aching for a male's touch.

How much more could he take?

23

Overstimulation.

Being on the cusp of immortality left a lot to be desired. Literally.

Mari hadn't had a pocket rocket in her bag for no reason. She'd needed the thrice-daily release it provided like an ailing person needed medicine - she might as well have had a prescription for it. And now she craved an orgasm so badly that she'd briefly considered using MacRieve.

How could she still be attracted to him after his admission? She tried to ignore the need. Think of other things.

She would not think about how firm his lips were or how unyielding his erection had been when it had rubbed against her ass.

She wondered if she could work this out for herself right now, without him hearing. Two quick strokes and she'd be done. At least for a couple of hours. Maybe he was already asleep -

"Gods, Mariketa, I need to touch you."

Not asleep. "Go to hell."

"You think I canna tell how much you need a male? You keep forgetting what I am."

"I know exactly what you are. And what you're capable of."

He crossed to her so silently, she didn't even know he'd moved until he lay beside her. "Let me help you."

"Any closer, MacRieve, and I'll pin you to the ceiling and cackle at your expression like the witch that I am."

Her eyes must have changed, because he narrowed his. "This will only get worse. If you're truly transitioning, I canna imagine how you must be feeling."

Pretty damned bad. And by bad she meant horny. The need was unrelenting - how she would ever get used to this she couldn't imagine. She'd already been in love with sex even before she'd been on the verge of immortality and an eternity of superhuman lust.

And yet she hadn't had it - in four years. The timing of her breakup with the demon Acton had been regrettable - right at the advent of the cloak years. When she hadn't a chance in hell of attracting another lover.

Now she could enjoy sex once more. Now she yearned for this Lykae to stroke her.

"If you will no' let me pleasure you, then pleasure yourself." She'd begun to notice that the more aroused he grew, the more pronounced his accent became.

"Maybe I just will - if you leave."

"I canna leave you, no' alone in here. Just do it. We've established that you're no' shy."

He was so close that she could feel the heat of his body and smell his clean masculine scent. "I know your game. You think I'll get so lost that when you reach out, I'll welcome your touch - "

"I'd vow to the Lore that I would no' touch you. It will give you what you need and me a chance to earn your trust. There's no need for you to suffer just because you doona trust me."

"And what exactly would you be doing?"

"The same."

"Oh," she answered inanely. The idea of seeing him handling his thick erection until he came made rational thought leave her brain.

"I believe I'd go to my knees if I thought it would move you in this." His golden eyes were so intense when he gazed at her - as if there was nothing else in the world worth seeing. "Or I'd return the hand you gave me tonight." His voice husky, he said, "Mariketa, think of how good it will feel."

She couldn't seem to take her eyes from his, even when she amazed herself by skimming her hand down her front to her panties.

His brows drew together. "Ah, you good lass," he rasped.

She swallowed. "You start."

His hand flew to his zipper. When he began pulling it down, the sound was surprisingly loud in the cave. He drew it open slowly as if he didn't want to spook her from what they were about to do. Her breaths came quick once he grasped himself in his jeans.

Yet movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention away. A sizable cave spider crawled along his leg, but MacRieve was so absorbed in looking at her that he didn't even notice.

Rising to her knees, she reached for it. He must have thought she was aiming for his groin because he hissed an oath, and his hands seized her waist. After letting the spider take hold of three of her fingers, she brought it forward, displaying it to him. MacRieve abruptly released her.

When she returned from relocating it outside and lay back down, his eyes were narrowed. "You were terrified of that scorpion in the tomb, but no' of a spider the same size?"

"I'm not afraid of things like that anymore, not after I had insects crawling all over me... " In the dark, for weeks.

Her lips parted. What a timely reminder.

A bucket of cold water poured over her head couldn't have awakened her more sharply from this sensual stupor. Making her tone biting, she said, "And actually, I think the incubi varied my steady diet of blood with some, so I'm accustomed. As a witch I'm supposed to have a connection with all low creatures like that anyway."

His face fell.

"You almost made me forget what you're really like, Bowen the Bitter." She turned to her side, away from him. "But I'll be on my guard now."

24

Mari woke the next morning as surly as a bear roused in winter. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin, exhausted from the surprising demands that thwarted desire placed on her body.

Blearily rubbing her eyes, she scanned the cave but didn't see MacRieve. He'd gone, leaving behind fruit for her, which she regarded with a glare. Fruit was not her breakfast mainstay. She wasn't a coffee drinker, but she was an Eggo eater, and she hadn't had a single waffle in weeks.

He'd also left a change of clothes for her and had already packed up everything but her hiking gear and her toiletries. Did he think to dress her now?

One thing that was missing from the ensemble: a cloak. For the first time in years, Mari would get ready for the day without a cloak or glamour.

Was she worried about the prediction? Not really. She suspected she could handle the "immortal warrior." Her strategy? Throwing him.

In fact, she couldn't believe she'd dreaded this so much and for so long, and scowled to think of all the days at the beach she'd missed and the dates she'd failed to secure because males thought she was a hideous little troll covered in yards of scarlet cloth.

She could have resumed her glamour last night, but what was the point? The horse was already out of the barn in that matter. Besides, she hadn't realized how cumbersome and draining the glamour had been until she'd been freed of it - she felt like she'd shed a ten-pound parasite.

Once she rose and began motivating, she braided her hair into two plaits to cover her ears, as she hadn't had to do in years. Then she pulled her mirrored compact from her toiletry case - but not to check her hair or to make sure that her eyes weren't puffy from crying last night. No, she wanted to further investigate her new discovery.

Gazing into the mirror, she swallowed, then whispered, "My mother says I must not pass... " When she'd finished the rhyme, her own reflection was replaced by the visage with shining eyes and swirling hair. Mari was actually conjuring, using the power of yet another caste. Because... she was a freaking captromancer!

She decided to ask the mirror something she had always wanted to know. "What does the mark on my back mean?"

"In a dead language, it says, the Queen of Reflections."

"A queen?" A witch was considered a queen of an element when she was more powerful with it than any other witch. Mari had never met one before.

"What's the warning in the rhyme? What can't I know?"

"I'll show you." The hand broke the surface of the mirror, the glass becoming pliable to allow it - and the apple she presented - to fit through.

Mari stared at the shining apple, her mouth unexpectedly watering for it as though it were a waffle. She shook her head hard. "No, why don't you just tell me?"

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