Blood of the Volcano

Maya has learned nothing but contempt for the weakness of her human body. She lives for the temple ritual that transforms her into maenad form, ready to administer the vengeance of the volcano god. Killing a fugitive shifter is not just her duty, but her delight--until, against all odds, he captures her, trapping her in her worst nightmare. Her vulnerable, easily controlled human form. Marked for destruction by his forbidden gifts, empath and shifter Philos is a warrior for persecuted people like him. Now he has the enemy at his mercy--a maenad desperate to regain her power. But when they touch, he finds his empathic power is a terrible danger. To his people, and his heart. Gradually Maya realizes Philos is not a monster. Yet even as she hesitantly offers to help in the war against the priests, she can risk no more than the bare beginnings of friendship with the man she was supposed to kill. Anything more, and she will forever lose access to the power she cannot bear to live without...