“You’re up again, Gray,” Deirdre said, queuing up another blast as my guy righted himself and another one charged at Deirdre.
I took a deep breath and tried again, drawing in power as a spell took shape in my mind:
Goddess of the earth, Goddess of the sea
In this battle I call upon thee
Lend me your strength, avail me of your power
Before this magic, make my enemies cower
Channeling my intentions into the words, I repeated the spell out loud, forcing the magic out through my palms.
The force of my attack was so strong, so unexpected, I had to fight to stay on my feet. It slammed into both hunters, simultaneously knocking them backward, dashing their heads against a sharp, rocky outcropping at the water’s edge.
The tide surged forward, staining the beach with their blood.
“Oh, shit,” Deirdre whispered. “That’s… not good.”
“We need to call Emilio,” I said as the rest of the hunters took off, disappearing down the shore the way they’d come. “They might be part of the group he’s looking for.”
We jogged to catch up with the hounds. Sparkle had dragged her quarry back to Sunshine, and now the two feasted on his body.
His face was mangled beyond recognition.
“Sparkle,” I called. “Sunshine. Come.”
The stopped their gorging and stood at attention, wagging their massive tales, panting, tongues lolling, blood and flesh dripping from their razor-sharp fangs as they padded over to me.
They were a goddamn nightmare, and if I’d eaten lunch, I’d be spewing it all over the beach. Yet when I looked at them now, all I could feel was gratitude.
“So,” Deirdre said, placing a tired hand on my back as she tried to catch her breath, “next time we plan a grandma-granddaughter outing, maybe we could try something a little more traditional? Knitting club, perhaps? Checkers?”
The leftover energy from the magic and the fight made me jittery, and I let out a nervous laugh, grateful for the small release. “Something tells me you’re not the knitting and checkers type, Grams.”
“No, child. I suppose I’m not.” She let out a sigh, pulling her coat tight around her neck. There were so many words in that sigh, so many things still unsaid between us. But for now she shook her head, looking at me with tired, knowing eyes. “And I’m sorry to tell you, neither are you.”
I looked down at my palms, the center spot where my magic had emanated from. Two men had died by my hands, yet my hands were clean, the skin smooth and unmarred.
Inside, the magic stirred. Warming me. Comforting me. Reminding me that like Deirdre, I wasn’t born to have a normal life. I could pretend otherwise, I could fight that fact as hard as I’d fought my mother when she’d held my head under that freezing water.
But in the end, the only choice I really had was acceptance.
I was a Silversbane witch. The witch of the prophecy. And my work was just beginning.
Twenty-Five
Gray
Vita mutatur, non tollitur.
The words were printed on the Tarot card I’d drawn, and I repeated them out loud, tracing my finger over each one.
Life is changed, not taken away.
Emilio, Elena, and the RCPD shifter squad had arrived on the beach minutes after Deirdre’s call. Emilio took our statements, then ordered Hobb to bring me and the hounds back to the house. Not wanting to leave town after the attack on my life, Deirdre checked herself into a hotel in the city.
Ronan and Darius were gone when I got back. Now I was alone on Elena’s couch, looking for guidance from the universe.
