"Hold onto that pulsing light ray, Sariana. Follow it back to its source."

Gryph never knew what made him try for a working link. No woman had ever been able to work prisma according to the history he knew.

But he was desperate and Sariana was a most unpredictable female.

He touched the other side of the prisma lock and carefully tuned into it. Sariana was there. There was definitely another presence in tune with his lock and it was not a weak presence.

Gryph didn't stop to analyze what was happening. He cautiously reached out for other rays that would be generated by a crystal ship, the way he had been doing all afternoon."

Without any warning he found them.

The unseen vibrations of prisma light focused on the weapon kit lock and bounced through Gryph's head with such force that he nearly screamed.

He did hear a scream, but it wasn't his own. It was Sariana.

He wanted to reassure her but he wasn't given the chance. Unprepared to handle such an incredibly strong focus, Gryph's brain did the only sensible thing. It shut down temporarily and plunged him into unconsciousness.

Chapter 15

SARIANA was shaking as she knelt beside Gryph. He was lying in the same unconscious sprawl he had been in the first time she bad seen him. Frantically she sought for a pulse in his throat. Her own pulse was racing as if her bloodstream was attempting to dilute and drain away the impossible, unnamed rays of light that had filled her head for a split second.

"Gryph, wake up. Please wake up." Her trembling fingers found the steady beat in his throat and she told herself he was all right. "Come on, Gryph, open your eyes," she ordered tightly. Her whole being willed him to awaken. She almost collapsed when his dark lashes fluttered and lifted. He gazed up at her

for a long moment.

"I always said you were an unpredictable woman, Sar-iana. But this time you've outdone yourself." Gryph swore softly as he sat up. Gingerly he reached for his weapon kit and reattacbed it to his belt.

"What happened?" she demanded, sitting back on ha heels in the sand.

"You helped me work prisma," he told her simply. "We found the weapon ship. Or at least we found the beams it's putting out. I've never tuned in to live prisma crystal before, but I was told years ago that if I picked it up I would recognize it. The men who taught me that were right. It's very similar to neutralized prisma but it has a slightly different pulse. I'll be able to track it now." He leaned back against the rock from which he had toppled a few minutes eariier and gave Tier a strange smile. "It's supposed to be impossible, you know."

"What is?"

"No woman has ever worked prisma. The original Shield teams were all male and all their descendants are male

"What about their Shieldmates?" Sariana asked. She was getting a distinctly uneasy feeling. Gryph gazed up at the stars for a moment before answering. "Until now being a Shieldmate meant only

that a woman had the ability to link with a Shield and, if all went well, give him a son. Sometimes, if everything went very well, there would eventually be two or three sons. Some experiments have been done through the years, but no woman has ever been able to work prisma beyond the point of being able to tune in to her lord's lock. We've always assumed the talent didn't go farther because the women had never undergone the original genetic alteration. They might have the potential, but without the chemical injection needed to strengthen that potential, women can't truly work prisma."

"Sounds like just the sort of conclusion a bunch of men would arrive at," Sariana said with a shaky smile.

"I have to tell you something, Sariana. I think that whatever happened between us that first time we linked was unusual, to say the least. It may well have been unique. You remember the way you felt? You picked up on the pain of my wound, my fever, and then there was the sensations of the link itself plus your own, uh, feminine reactions."

"You don't have to remind, me," Sariana told him. "I remember it all quite well. You said there might be some "initial discomfort." I believe that was the euphemism you used."

In the firelight Gryph's cheekbones seemed to darken to a dull red, but his eyes met hers steadily. "That's all I had ever been told to expect. But I talked to Detek about it and he said - "

Sariana was abruptly outraged. "You talked to Delek? Another man? About us? About what happened that first time? Gryph, how could you? Have you no respect for my feelings? My modesty? By the Lightstonn, what right did you have to discuss something that personal with someone I don't even know? I will die of embarrassment if I ever meet him. Of all the stupid, egotistical, unfeeling things to do."

He groaned and massaged his temples with both hands. "Please, Sariana, I could do without the cutting edge of your tongue tonight."

"You deserve it!"

"Maybe, but do me a favor and save it for later, all right? There are more important things to discuss at the moment."

"Ha!" But she said nothing more. She had the uncomfortable feeling he was right. Gryph eyed her warily and then went on with his story. "As I was saying before you jumped all over

me, I talked to Delek about our initial linking. He said it didn't sound normal to him. He said that I had been told the truth. There is supposed to be a faint burning sensation from the lock when the man tunes the woman to it. There is also generally a feeling of disorientation as the man and the woman catch traces of each other's feelings and emotions. There is a lot of powerful sexual energy being exchanged in such circumstances, and the sensation of picking up on your partner's passion can seem very strange until you get accustomed to it. Then it becomes very, uh, exciting. I've told you before. Shields and their mates have a strong bond between them. That bond starts with the sexual relationship. It's unique."

"You've already explained it doesn't necessarily lead to love," Sariana said stiffly. "A Shield's first duty to his clan is to create a son. Love has nothing to do with that."

"It's always nice to feel needed," Sariana muttered.

Oryph held up a hand in protest. "You have chewed on me enough tonight. No more. Not now." Sariana sighed. He was right. "Go on."

"I was just trying to explain to you that right from the start there was something different about our relationship. When you and I are in bed together we do much more than just pick up on each other's emotions. We practically pour our passion into each other along with whatever else we might be feeling at the time. And we seem to resonate with each other in a way that makes the original sensation stronger. We're like mirrors that both absorb, concentrate and reflect back sensation. When you felt my wound in your shoulder, the pain of it was more intense than the ache I was actually feeling. My fever made you feel hotter than I felt at the time. You transferred that heat back to me and I felt, hotter. You see what I mean? Since that first time together we've both instinctively started figuring out how to control the reaction. We can tune out everything but the passion and the excitement, which is fortunate because otherwise we'd probably drive each other insane. But the interesting part is that we seem to have a bond so strong that it requires such internal control in the first place. We're communicating with each other on some very strange levels, Sariana."