Lair of the Lion

either, mio fratello."
    Sergio and Violante took up positions on Isabella's left side. They refused to look away from the slavering lion. The beast shook its massive head, eyes glowing red in the night.
    Isabella, always sensitive to the malevolence of the entity, felt it gather itself for the final attack. She knew its ultimate target was Nicolai. It fed the beast, fed natural instincts, hunger and rage, until the emotions swirled together, culminating in the lion's need to kill.
    In concentrating its entire power on the don, the entity had to leave the others alone.
    Captain Bartolmei caught his wife's arm, pulling her away from the two cowering guards. The soldiers broke and ran some distance away, terrified of the crouching beast.
    Rolando and Theresa stepped up beside Sergio and Violante to face Nicolai.
    Without further warning, the lion exploded toward them. Theresa and Violante both screamed and retreated behind their husbands. The captains backed up. Francesca covered her face. In that split second, time stopped for Isabella. Terror was a living, breathing beast in her heart. But this was the man who had rescued her brother from certain death. The man who carried the weight of his people on his back, carried a legacy others would have crumbled beneath. This was Nicolai. Her Nicolai. Her heart and soul, the laughter in her life, the love. This creature was her man.
    Isabella flung herself forward to meet the attack. She would not allow the entity to take him from her without a fight. "Nicolai!" She called his name, wrapped her arms securely around the shaggy neck, and embraced death.
    The great lion snarled and shook his head to throw her off. Her hands bunched tightly in the mane. Isabella buried her face in the wealth of hair. She felt the jaws close around her ribs and shut her eyes, breathing a final prayer.
    "Nicolai!" Francesca launched herself forward, her arms circling the lion's massive head.
    "Mio fratello. Ti amo!"

    The great beast shuddered with indecision.
    Rolando Bartolmei and Sergio Drannacia followed the lead of Nicolai's betrothed, braving certain death to close their arms around the large creature. Their wives stumbled forward in their wake, touching the monstrous animal, praying to keep up their courage.
    "Sophia's here," Francesca said, awed. "Sophia and Alexander. They're together, touching Nicolai. And the 'others.' All of them. They're here with us."
    Isabella felt them, the spirits surrounding her, surrounding Nicolai, lending their strength to hers to battle for possession of Don DeMarco.
    "My boy." Sarina and Betto were there, tears in their eyes. They led the servants to the courtyard. "We see only the man, Nicolai, nothing else."
    The hot, panting breath heating her side was all at once against Isabella's neck. She could feel his face, not a muzzle, pressed tightly into her shoulder. She clung to him with every ounce of strength she possessed, whispering words of love, of hope.
    The entity had pulled back, realizing it was fighting for its life, not just power. But, regrouped, it struck at Nicolai again with all its energy, pouring the malevolence, the hatred, the dark, twisted power into the being shimmering somewhere between beast and man.
    Isabella felt the fur, the teeth, the claws, but she held her ground. Nicolai could have killed her in seconds, yet he hadn't. "Listen to me, my beloved," she whispered against the shaggy mane. "You never lied to me. I've always known of your legacy, and I've always chosen you. You, Nicolai. Beast or man, you and I are one. I haven't run, and I won't run.
    Choose for us. I love you enough to accept your decision. This thing that threatens us can't take that from either of us."
    She heard a growl first, a rumbling. The words were raspy as they reached her ears. "Ti amo, cara mia, I love you. I can't harm you. I can't allow anything else to harm you."
    Nicolai's lips moved up her neck, her chin, and his mouth found hers, settling there to devour the sweet taste of her.
    His kiss rocked the earth beneath her feet. His arms were hard bands around her, his body solid, muscular, the frame of a man. The ground shifted and rolled again.
    "Nicolai! Isabella!" Francesca screamed the warning even as the captains dragged the couple from the courtyard.
    They stumbled back out of the area, watching in horror as the ground buckled and split apart to form a deep chasm. Rain poured down. Jagged streaks of lightning danced across the roiling sky, veins of