Fall back to the moment of three minutes past.
She repeated the mantra several times, not stopping until she’d completed a full circle around us, magically cutting us off from the shifters.
“It’s a confusion spell,” she explained when she rejoined the group. “It’s not much, but it’s all the blood I can spare on short notice.”
“What’s with the three minutes thing?” Ronan asked.
“Each time they hit the boundary, their minds will revert by three minutes, so they’ll feel like they haven’t initiated their attack yet. It’s essentially a time loop—it should make them retreat and start over. But seriously, guys. This is like, blood magic 101 stuff—totally makeshift. We’ve probably got about ten, fifteen minutes tops before it wears off.”
Lansky took another look at his van. “We need to get that thing on the road. It’s our best shot.”
“On it,” Ronan said, and Lansky and I followed him down into the ditch. Physically, we were the strongest and best able to push it out. But that meant leaving Haley and Jael unprotected—a prospect I didn’t like one bit.
“Hold the circle, you two,” I said. “The moment you sense the magic weakening, give us the signal.”
“You think those things can understand us?” Lansky asked, jerking his head toward the beasts across the road.
“I want to say no,” I said, “but I’m inclined to err on the side of caution these days.”
“Alright. On three,” Ronan said.
We crouched down and grabbed the bumper.
“One, two—”
All three of us jumped the gun, but after a few more attempts, we finally got the job done, shoving the two-ton van out of the ditch and back onto the icy road. It skidded to a stop, looking as tired as the rest of us undoubtedly felt.
Jael helped us out of the ditch, and we headed over to inspect the vehicle that would hopefully get us home.
“Can’t believe the airbags didn’t blow on this one,” Ronan said, knocking on the hood. “You guys slid in face first.”
“Yeah, remind me to bust Hobb’s balls about that later,” Lansky said. “He was supposed to take it in for a re-install after the dealer sent out a recall notice, but he blew it off.” He crouched down to take a look underneath, inspecting the damage. “Okay. Aside from the obvious cosmetic shit, the front axle’s bent, and the bumper looks like it’s folded in against the front right tire. But if we go real slow and don’t take any sharp turns, she’ll get us home.”
“Assuming she starts,” Ronan said, wiping the icy slush from his eyes. All of us were wearing caps of snow three inches high. Poor Haley’s teeth were chattering, but bloody hell, the woman was still smiling.
I left Ronan and Lansky to deal with the van while I checked on Haley and Jael.
“Five minutes,” Haley told me. “Spell’s fading.”
“It’s some spell, though.” I put my hand on her shoulder and leaned forward, peering into the snowy woods. None of the shifters had moved from their posts, not even to attempt a breach. “They’re completely immobilized.”
“They’re not the most predictable creatures, that’s for sure.” Haley shook her head. “I’m not sure if it’s my spellwork, or something else keeping them at bay.”
“Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth, shall we?” I winked at Haley, then turned to Jael. “Anything you can do?”
“I’m afraid not,” he said. “Though not for lack of trying. Their minds have been secured against manipulation—likely they’re only susceptible to Darkwinter influence.”
“Darkwinter?” I asked. “So these aren’t Jonathan’s hybrids?”
“No way,” Haley said. “Jonathan was too much of a loose cannon to make something this dangerous and, I don’t know. Coordinated? They haven’t attacked yet, but look how they’re standing in formation like that. It isn’t accidental. They’re watching our every move. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more of them further down the road.”
She was right. They’d positioned themselves at even intervals, and when I looked closely, I saw the slightest movements of their eyes, following Lansky’s footsteps as he approached.
Jael and Haley were right. These weren’t Jonathan’s rotting, broken creatures. They were powerful, genetically altered, fae-made beasts bred for a purpose we could only begin to guess at.
We needed to get out of there.
“Bad news,” Lansky said. “Engine won’t turn over.”
