She slid between the three white cones and entered another tunnel, hoping Nell remembered to keep her head down. For a moment, a thrill of satisfaction flowed through Millicent as she realized she had indeed saved her friend. Even though she told herself the Duke of Ghoulston would release Nell once she’d done his bidding, she’d feared the old woman wouldn’t survive her captivity. That she’d never again see the shape-shifter that had become family to her.

Then why didn’t she feel completely satisfied? Why did she keep thinking of soft blue eyes and wavy blond hair? Of his blood spilling on the ground as the swarm of guards overwhelmed him?

Of the way he’d left her to save another woman. And Selena, at that.

Millicent huffed. The man meant nothing to her but trouble. She’d best concentrate on how to get the relic off her wrist without giving up a part of herself to him.

The tunnel began to warm and the walls to glow, relieving some of the blackness. She’d had to rely on her cat senses to get them this far. Millicent picked up her pace without jogging Nell any more than necessary. The old woman’s grip had become tenuous and she knew she had to find a place for them to rest soon.

The tunnel abruptly ended and Millicent narrowed her eyes at the brightness. A large cavern opened before them and she struggled to breathe, adjusting to the thick humidity of the chamber. She slowly sat and Nell slid off her back. When Millicent shifted to human, she blinked at the sudden wealth of color.

A glowing forest of emerald, sapphire, and scarlet spread out before them. Spindly-limbed trees, much taller than those aboveground, swayed in a warm breeze Millicent thought might be created by the heat of the hot pools mixing with the cold air of the tunnels that vented the chamber. Another sort of growth hung suspended from the roof high above them, but she could not decide if they were flat vines or roots, since they looked more like glowing lace fans than anything else. They swayed more wildly than the trees below them.

“What is this place?” croaked Nell.

Millicent turned and studied her with a frown. Nell’s time in that prison had weakened her, dulling the bright sheen of her red hair, adding even more gray to it. And she was too thin. “I’ve been here only once before, when I first discovered this place. It’s beautiful, but something about it…”

“It’s alive,” said Nell.

“That’s just a wind making everything move. We’re not used to that in the Underground.”

“It’s more than that. Can’t ye hear it?”

Of course she could. The trees swayed against each other, their rubbery texture creating an eerie sigh, the fans above a gentle whispering. The undergrowth on the sandy floor moved as well. Tubular plants seeking flying insects of glowing blues and oranges brushed against pitted stones of opalescent white.

Millicent rose. “Don’t get spooked by a bit of wind, Nell.”

“It ain’t that, I tell ye. The forest knows we’re here, and hasn’t decided whether to welcome us or not.”

“Well, then,” said Millicent, smiling at her friend’s vivid imagination. “Let’s hope it decides to like us, ’cause we’re staying for a few days. You need food and rest, Nell. And this is the only place I could think to get it that the duke doesn’t know about.”

Nell was weaker than Millicent thought, because she gave up the argument too easily, closing her eyes with a tired sigh. Millicent shifted to cat, the transformation taking a bit longer than usual, testament to her own fatigue. She’d carried her friend many miles through the Underground, and despite her were-strength, she did have her limits. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept.

Nell felt as if she collapsed on top of her, more than climbed on, and Millicent slowly padded her way through the forest, the temperature climbing with each step she took. Despite her bravado, she avoided the touch of the glowing limbs as best she could, and tried not to step on any living growth. She went deep into the forest, careful to cover her tracks, hoping to make it difficult for the duke’s men if they’d managed to follow her through the twists of tunnels.

Tiny clicks sounded in the undergrowth and Millicent fought the urge to hunt. The round, hard-scaled creatures made an excellent dinner, and her mouth watered at the thought. But she needed to find them a safe place to sleep first.

She didn’t quite manage it. When Millicent stumbled across a soft patch of sand, carpeted with the deadfall of the fans above, her limbs gave way, and she sank with a tired sigh. The heat and humidity had drained her of what little strength she had left. She noticed the trees created a thick circle around them, and as her eyes began to droop, it seemed that they swayed with the wind, growing denser, creating a barrier of protection to hide them.

Maybe Nell was right. Maybe the forest had some sort of intelligence, and had decided it liked them after all. Millicent fell asleep with that oddly comforting thought.

And awoke to the sensation of being watched.

She felt Nell’s slight form curled up behind her, the old woman’s snores the only discordant sound in the rhythmic whisper of the forest. Millicent cracked her lids, her were-vision especially attuned to the slightest movements around her.

Sir Gareth sat across from her, his back against a tree, his pale blue eyes fixed on her own. He wore only a short pair of drawers and his belt, the scabbard of his sword digging in the sand. His hair curled with dampness and the smooth skin of his chest shone with a light sheen of moisture. Millicent’s stomach did a little flip at the sight of him and she covered her reaction by yawning widely, revealing her impressive set of fangs and teeth. She rose with a stretch, careful not to disturb Nell. When she shifted to human, her vision bombarded her again with the color of the forest.

She blinked. “How long have you been here?”

She noticed he had his own sword back in his scabbard again, and she couldn’t even see a red mark where Selena had bitten his neck.

He glanced at Nell and replied just as softly. “Not long. Where are we?”

Of course. He’d probably still been with Selena when the relic sucked him back in. “Far away from the duke’s underground mansion. Did you save her?”

His brow wrinkled. The tree he sat against glowed an emerald green, making his hair appear tinted with the same color. Blast, no man looks good with green hair. But he did.

“Oh,” he replied. “You mean Selena. I managed to clear a path around her just before I disappeared. She was still alive.”

Millicent shrugged. “A blooming shame.”

He smiled that devastating smile of his and stood, one smooth motion of rippling muscle beneath gleaming skin.

“You’re half-naked,” she blurted.

He shrugged. Blast, he shrugged. It did things to his shoulders and chest that made her want to explore those muscled contours with her fingertips. She’d seen many a man half-clothed and she’d never had this kind of reaction. Millicent averted her gaze, focusing on the changing colors reflected in the sand at his bare feet.

“It’s hot as Hades in this chamber,” he replied.

Of course it was. Millicent’s petticoats stuck to her legs and stopped the breeze from reaching her skin to cool it. But she hadn’t taken half her clothes off just because of a little discomfort.

He crossed the distance between them and touched her hand. “I’m glad to see that you and Nell are unharmed. Is this place an illusion?”

His touch tingled. The shock made her look back up at him and she pulled away. “No. Nell and I would’ve seen through it.”

His smile turned sad when she pulled away from him, but his eyes quickly sparked with curiosity at her words. “Then… Nell is a shape-shifter as well? What is her nature?”

Millicent noticed he hadn’t said “beast.” It made her feel—oh, she didn’t know. Oddly warm inside. And she found herself telling him more than she would have otherwise. “Nell is a firebird. But she rarely shifts anymore. It takes energy to change to were-form, and she’s old and tired.”

His gaze traveled to the loudly snoring woman. “In all the years I’ve lived, I’ve never seen a firebird. They are very rare.” He sounded almost reverent. “What does she look like?”

Millicent closed her eyes, picturing her. “She’s beautiful. Brilliant red plumage and a tail so long it trails like an elegant skirt behind her. She can breathe fire, and her feathers get hot enough to burn with orange flame. But fire doesn’t bother her. Even in her human form, I’ve seen her caress it as if it were an old lover.”

“I hope I can see her were-form, sometime.”

She felt his breath on her face. When had he gotten so close to her? Millicent’s eyes flew open and she took a step back. “I hope you don’t. She shifts now only when she’s threatened or furious.”

“Verily?” He looked into her eyes. He had very large, very blue eyes, his lashes several shades darker than his hair, outlining them so they appeared even larger. “It bothers you, doesn’t it? The thought that age might rob you of the ability to shift.”

“Of course. How would I protect myself without my were-form?”

“Perhaps you will have someone to protect you.”

“Not bloody likely.”

Gareth curled his hand into hers and tugged. “Come, I want to show you something.”

Millicent allowed him to lead her through the multicolored glow of the forest, his touch no longer a threat to her senses, but somehow comforting. As if she didn’t feel so quite alone. Although Nell sometimes acted like a grandmother, they rarely touched each other. And no man would dare attempt to. But Sir Gareth seemed so casual about reaching out and making a physical connection, as if he couldn’t help himself. She supposed that after centuries of seducing women, it came as natural to him as breathing.