Just then the door opened.One man, whose powerful aura was so strong, he couldn’t be anyone else except Alpha Jericho, walked in.She vaguely remembered him from when Brinnah held her.He was followed by a man that made her headache flare back to life.One look at him and she jumped off the couch, crouching in a defensive position.Her fingers turned into claws, ready to rend him limb from limb.
“Kadie?”Corbin asked.
The man shook his head.“That’s not Kadie at the moment.She has an attachment.”
“A what?”Alpha Jericho demanded, looking from the man to her.
“Something has hitched a ride with her.”He held up his hand and a fireball formed, dancing on an invisible string.“Time to give her back, witch.”
****
Corbin stepped in frontof Kadie to protect her.He’d be damned if he’d allow her to be hurt.
“You harm my mate and you won’t see the sunrise.”
“I’m not fighting you, shifter,” Niall said placatingly.“I only want to separate her from the witch.”
“You’re a warlock,” she spat, her voice sounding thin and hollow, like an echo.“Why would you help?”
“Because I have no war with witches or shifters.This plague will kill a lot of innocent people.Will you please let me help you?”
For a tense moment, she studied him.Then slowly the claws retracted and Kadie stood up straight.“All right.But one wrong move, warlock, and you’ll be singing soprano.”
“Understood,” he acknowledged.
Chanting under his breath, Niall closed his eyes and swirled his hands around.Light dimmed around them and Corbin tensed.The ground shook and the sound of thunder clapped just as Kadie fell.He managed to grab her body before it slammed onto the hardwood floor.Lifting her into his arms, it alarmed him that she weighed almost nothing.When the light returned, he blinked, and his gaze zeroed in on a translucent, amorphic body.Although he supposed there might be slight definition, it was hard to tell as the spirit undulated to an invisible wind.
“Hello, there,” Niall greeted.“I’m Niall.Who might you be?”
“My name is Elspeth,” she said, her voice still echoey.“I was once part of the Moon Temple Coven, until they killed me.”
“Your own coven killed you?”he asked, shocked.
“Because I disagreed with what they did.They brought back the red death.”
“Wanna tell me how this started and why I’ve lost two members of my pack?”Jericho demanded, butting into the conversation.
“It started with a kidnapping,” Elspeth replied.
“Who was kidnapped?”
“The alpha of the Moondust Pack kidnapped the High Priestess’s daughter, to use her magic for himself.In retaliation, the High Priestess brought back the red death.”She shook her head.“What he did was wrong.What she did was worse.Violence should never equate violence because no one wins.I knew about the cure, so I scried for a unicorn and it revealed he or she was in Sheridan.My actions drew the wrath of my coven, and they killed me for my disobedience.But before I died, I tagged the last unicorn, and my spirit guided her here.”
Corbin glanced at Kadie.
Jericho frowned.“Your own people murdered you?”
“Well, I was never the popular witch.”
“But there isn’t a unicorn here,” Jericho said.“At least I don’t think so.”
“You’re right,” Niall agreed.“There isn’t.I would’ve sensed the presence.”
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Elspeth insisted.
“Why not?”Corbin asked.
“Unicorns were hunted to near extinction, and the only way they were able to survive was to hide themselves.Because of their pure magika, they erased their shifter scent and lived as humans.”
