"It won't go after anyone who's not connected. " Sam frowned at the unscarred ground. He'd spent most of the night thinking it through. "Fact is, I don't think it can. "
"No, exactly. " Mac straightened. "This entity needs to feed off the power and the emotions of those of us who are tied to the original circle. "
"A lot of islanders have ties to the original circle, however diluted," Zack pointed out.
"Yes, but it doesn't want them. Or need them. "
"He's right," Sam told Zack. "It has only one focus, one purpose now, and it can't waste time or energy by scattering it. Its magic is limited, but it's canny. It fed on Ripley's emotions before. This time it fed on mine. It won't happen again. "
"Oh, yeah, you've always been a real even-tempered sort," Zack muttered. "You wanted it to go for you. "
"It worked," Sam pointed out. "The thing is, I didn't hurt it that bad. It should've come at me agai
n. Another charge and I could've gotten it into the circle. I could've held it there. "
"It's not for you," Mac said simply.
"Fuck that. I'm not standing back while it waits for a chance to go for Mia's throat. That's what it wants, that's what I felt from it. It'll have to get through me first, and that's not going to happen. She can make whatever the hell choice she's going to make, but in the meantime, I'm going to rip its goddamn heart out. "
"See," Zack said after a beat. "Real even-tempered. "
"Kiss ass. "
"Okay, okay. " Mac stepped between them, patted the tensed shoulders of each man for peace. "Let's just keep our heads. "
"Isn't this sweet?" Mia's voice dripped honey. "The boys are out playing in the woods. "
"Shit," Zack muttered after one look at his wife's angry eyes. "Busted. "
Ripley hooked her thumbs in her belt, tapped her fingers on her pockets, and strode forward. And got up in Mac's face. "Lucy, you got some 'spaining to do. "
"No point in hassling them. I asked them to come. "
"Oh, we'll get to you," Ripley promised Sam, "but there's a natural pecking order here. "
Mia stepped forward, and felt the ripples of power. "What happened here?"
"You might as well spill it," Zack advised Sam. "Take my word for it. I've dealt with these three more than you have. "
"Let's go inside and - "
Mia simply slapped a hand on Sam's chest before he could move past her. "What happened here?" she repeated.
"I took a walk in the woods. "
Her gaze shifted, rested briefly on the ground. "You used the circle. "
"It was there. "
Part of her resented that he'd been able to use what was hers, what belonged to the three. It tightened the connection, made his link to her - to Nell and Ripley - unarguable. "All right," she said calmly enough. "What happened?"
"I ran into your demon wolf from hell. "
"You - " She held up a hand, more to stop herself than to keep Sam silent. Because her first reaction was gut-wrenching fear. She willed it aside - not away, that was beyond her - and made herself think. And felt fury rise up and strangle fear.
"You called him. You came out here in the middle of the night, alone, and called him out like some swaggering gunslinger. "
He hadn't known she still had that much temper in her. Or that it could, as always, trigger his own. "I like to think it was more Gary Cooper-esque. "
"This is a joke to you, a joke ?" Fury all but swallowed her whole. "You would dare call up what's mine? You can stand between me and what's mine to do while I - what - shrink aside wringing my hands?"
"Whatever it takes. "
"You're not my shield, not my savior. What's inside me isn't less than what's in you. " She shoved him back a step. "I won't tolerate your interference. You're meddling because it makes you feel like a hero, and - "
"Take it easy, Mia. " Even as Zack spoke, the keen edge of her gaze cut to him, raked over his face. Recognizing a woman ready to bite out a man's heart, Zack merely held up both hands, stepped aside. Sam, he decided, was on his own.
"Do you think I need your help?" She rounded on Sam again, drilling a finger into his chest.
"Stop jabbing at me. "
"Do you think because I lack a penis I'm incapable of fighting for what's mine? So you pull your idiotic, manly display, then call your idiot men friends so you can discuss how to protect the helpless women?"
"I've never seen her like his," Nell whispered and watched, fascinated, as Mia shoved Sam back another step.
"Doesn't happen often. " Ripley spoke out of the corner of her mouth. "Really cool when it does. " She glanced up as clouds, black as a fresh bruise, boiled into the sky overhead. "Man, she is supremely pissed. "
"I said stop jabbing at me. " Sam curled his fingers around the fist she was currently slapping against his chest. "If you're finished with your snit . . . Careful," he warned as thunder bellowed.
"You arrogant, stupid, insulting. . . I'll show you a snit. " She used her free hand, intending to shove him again. And saw the wince of pain as she bumped his shoulder. "What have you done?"
"We've just covered that. "
"Take off your shirt. "
He worked up a leer. "Well, baby, if you want to finish things that way, I've got no problem with it. But we've got an audience. "
She solved the matter by reaching up and ripping his shirt open.