She couldn’t help the little spurt of joy rushing through her veins. She wanted Zev to fall in love with her for who she was, not because he had no choice. She wanted to fall in love with him for himself. She couldn’t go through her life without choices. She wanted to be the one to choose her own path. If she made mistakes they would be her mistakes.

Zev complicated things for her, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to resent him. How could she not be proud of him? How could she not look at him and be attracted to him? She might not want to be, but each time his gaze rested on her, her heart fluttered wildly. Her breath caught in her lungs and the scorching heat in her body raged. She was a fire dragon, and heat and fire were her world, but when her veins filled with molten lava and pooled low and heavy, coiling tight, the flames threatened to engulf her. She was tempted to find out just what that fire was all about.

She floated the first body she came to over to the next closest one. This was one of her scariest moments. She didn’t want to set the entire forest on fire. The few times she’d practiced calling lightning, she’d been in a clearing. Twice, she’d had to call down rain to stop the grass and flowers from burning.

Taking a breath, she turned her attention to the sky. Clouds shot up like a tower, climbing fast, roiling and churning as if angry. Lightning forked throughout the whirling clouds, lighting them up in various places as the bolts sought a target. She let out her breath and focused, straining for control. Lightning, raw and crackling with power, whipped through the sky. She fought the white-hot energy, corralling it and bringing it down to strike the two bodies dead center.

It was a huge accomplishment. She wanted to leap up and down with joy. The moment she forgot what she was doing, that whip snaked back up to the sky, lashing everything in its path. Several trees burst into flames.

She hissed an unladylike curse under her breath, one she’d heard Zev use, and lifted both hands to the sky to fill the towering cloud with water. She concentrated on dumping it directly over the trees crackling with flames. At once the fire copied her hiss of annoyance, flickering defiantly for just a moment and then giving up.

She fanned the flames incinerating the two snipers, bringing up the temperature until they burned clean. The ashes cooled quickly, leaving only the silver stakes behind. After retrieving the silver, she opened the earth beneath the Lycans and allowed the ashes to drop deep.

Nice, Branka, Zev praised her.

Fen, obviously monitoring the conversation, wasn’t quite so kind. I’m coming back with a camera to take a picture of the trees with all those scorched branches, though. Josef has an Internet page where he likes to put up botched spells and really bad mistakes. I hear he puts them up for a vote and whoever’s entry wins gets money.

You wouldn’t dare, Branislava challenged in her most fierce tone.

Of course I would.

Tatijana, you traitor, Branislava hissed. Keep that man of yours under control. I’ve got to do this two more times and he’d better not come here and take pictures and give them to Josef.

How did I get into this? Tatijana asked innocently. I was just making certain you were all right, keeping an eye on you like we do with each other and he was . . .

Sneaking. That’s what he was doing, Branislava accused, trying not to laugh as she made her way through the forest to find the next pair of bodies.

I find the most interesting things in my lifemate’s mind, Fen ventured, unrepentant. This one is worth bucks.

Zev listened to the banter, letting the shared amusement warm him, easing the sting of betrayal just a little bit. He nudged Damon, indicating to him to get out of the tree. This would be the telling moment. If Damon made a break for it, or tried to kill him, he’d been lying the entire time. Zev hoped that wasn’t the case, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Damon, even if it meant Daciana would be his enemy for the rest of his life.

Damon rose slowly, lifting his hands toward the sky, indicating he wouldn’t go for a weapon. He knew Zev, knew him for the relentless, implacable hunter that he was. He could be a killing machine when he had to be. He was fast and strong and there was no give in him. Damon wasn’t about to make any mistakes.

He leapt to the ground, keeping his hands in the air, making certain to land away from his weapons. Zev hadn’t so much as moved, but the stake in his hand was in a throwing position and Zev never missed—not anytime Damon had heard of. He landed in a crouch and slowly stood, his arms up, palms showing his hands were empty.

Zev dropped down beside him. “Do you have any other weapons on you?”

Damon even kept his nod slow. “In my boot. Taped to my back.”

“Put your hands down, you look ridiculous,” Zev snapped. He had no idea what he was going to do with Damon. He wasn’t going to take him before the council members to judge for his actions, not until he had a chance to look into Damon’s mind.

“I honestly don’t know what the hell I’m doing here,” Damon said. “I have no idea why it sounded so logical to me. Then, when I’m up in that tree and the wolf poked her head through the brush, everything in me just rebelled at the idea of wounding her.”

“I could cut off your head and read your memories,” Zev offered, half serious.

“You’re pretty pissed with me, aren’t you?” Damon said.

“You have no idea. I need people I can count on. We’ve got a war brewing and assassins running around. Lycans have always been the peacekeepers, the protectors, and this time, it looks as if they’re the ones starting the war. I was counting on you and Daciana to have my back while I’m trying to straighten this out. The last thing I ever expected was to find you here with a gun in your hand about to murder Skyler or Dimitri.”

The Lycan alpha male, pack leader mentality got the best of him and Zev cuffed the back of Damon’s head hard enough to make him stagger forward.

Damon rubbed the back of his head with a wry grin. “I guess I had that coming. Where’s the rest of my team?”

“They’re dead, Damon. What did you expect? You go hunting Carpathians in the forest at night, they’re going to come after you, especially if you’re trying to kill their women. You’re lucky I was the one who found you.” Zev glared at him. “I’m still thinking about killing you on principle alone. Don’t think you’re out of the woods yet.”

Damon turned to face him. “They’re dead? All of them? Lycans don’t get killed that easily.”