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"That was close," she wheezed.
My heart stuttered, and I swallowed, trying to ignore the intense relief twisting through me. "Enjoying a quick break under a heap of naked bodies, Princess?" I said, forcing a smile. "Isn't that my thing?"
Her hazel eyes widened, then she shook her head. "Not the time, Jaiel."
I helped her to her feet, ignoring the sharp pain in my shoulder and side. "Right. We still have people to save."
The now-human mages I'd hit with my charisma began rousing, and her jaw dropped as she caught sight of something behind me.
I spun to see Tye jogging toward us, face and arms covered in scratches as six pups squirmed beneath his arms.
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"Do your thing and fix these!" he demanded with a growl as he held them out to me.
Nodding, I pulled on more of the charisma and sent it into them, relief filling me as the small pups quickly returned to their childish forms.
I was almost empty, though, and I could feel the monster inside stirring. If it thought it had a chance at overpowering me, we were all fucked.
But there were still hundreds of shifters in their wolf forms.
Kaiya looked over at me with a panicked expression, and an answering panic burned inside me.
BOOM —
The stronghold shook, sending dust falling from the ceiling. I sprinted to protect the roused children, covering several while blocks rained down around us.
Kaiya's hazel eyes rounded, and she turned to help a child to his feet, muttering curses under her breath.
"What was that?" I yelled as the child ran away.
"Japhire and his men must be trying to get back in to finish the job —" Alpha Blackwood said, stepping up to my side as another crack shook the ground.
I took in the terrified expressions of the people around us and the still brawling wolves spread across the room.
"This isn't going to work," I ground out, my panic building. "By the time I get to a tenth of these people, whatever's behind that door will break through, and those who haven't been roused will have killed each other. I'm sorry, Princess —"
Chapter 54
Kaiya
cAAAaaaaWWwwWw
The relic let out a gleeful sounding caw, and I glared up at the monster. It looked ancient, silver feathers molting, milky white eyes watching the body mages as they struggled and died.
I had no doubt it was waiting for us to finish killing each other off so it could feast in peace.
A pair of wolves lunged for Jaiel, and he picked up a spindly chair to defend himself with. I gripped my splintering staff more tightly and took stock of the situation.
He was right. There was no way we could wake all these shifters.
And even if we could, where the fuck would we go?
"FINN!" The frantic voice broke through the chaos behind me, and I spun to see Alpha Blackwood running toward the guest wing entrance as a small form stepped out.
Holy hells. How did Finn get back in?
"How in the seven hells?!" Jaiel hissed, echoing my thoughts. "Isn't that door the only way in and out of the guest wing?"
