Instantly, Benji let out a deep and guttural growl, squirming in Emilio’s arms. Emilio did his best to comfort the little creature, shielding him from the fox’s line of sight. But the fox didn’t seem at all disturbed by Benji’s obvious disdain, nor did it seem to care much about the group’s presence.
It simply watched them.
Waiting.
“Are you kidding?” Dina barked, gesturing toward the fox with a wave of her hand. “I don’t get it. Are we supposed to just walk up and take it?”
Olivier snorted. “I doubt it’ll be that easy.”
Dina raised a brow at Olivier in a silent challenge. And before anybody could dissuade her, the silver-haired girl gave a determined nod and charged forward, straight toward the fox.
But Olivier had been right.
One moment Dina was standing in front of the fox, hand outstretched toward the key, and the next she was doubling over inpain, a broken cry erupting from her throat. Catherine’s eyes widened and she instinctively jolted forward, but when she reached Dina’s side, her own face contorted in agony, knees buckling as she clutched her head.
Masika felt her body move, but Catherine extended her hand before Masika could close the distance between them.
“Don’t—move.”Catherine gritted her teeth. She slowly peeled her eyes away from Masika, seemingly using all her strength to grip Dina by the collar and yank her backward. The second the pair fell a few feet away from the fox, whatever pain had been coursing through them seemingly vanished, and their faces instantly relaxed.
“What…the hell…was that?” Dina asked through labored breaths. She fought to right herself, swaying as she found her footing.
“It must have some sort of defensive barrier,” Analisa commented, inspecting the fox from a distance. “Though I’ve never seen one quite likethatbefore. Defensive barriers usually limit mobility, not causepain.”
“Well,” Dina huffed. “That thing caused pain, all right. I thought I was dying all over again.”
Catherine winced. A sweat-slicked strand of hair clung to her forehead, and Masika resisted the urge to brush it back.
“That must be the final test,” Catherine muttered, panting. “Find a way to pass through the defensive barrier and take the key.”
Masika eyed her carefully. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
Catherine gave a feeble nod. “I’ll be fine.”
“Well, how the hell are we supposed to dismantle a defensive barrier we’ve never encountered before?” Olivier asked, exasperated. He pointed at Analisa. “You! You’re a healer! Can’t you do one of your—” Olivier wiggled his fingers, making what Masikaassumed was a poor attempt at re-creating one of Analisa’s famous healing spells.
Analisa sighed. “No. That’s not how this works.”
The others began to argue back and forth, different theories and ideas being hurled left and right, but Masika could barely hear them. As the room exploded into arguments, Masika felt something stir inside her.
It started at the base of her spine. A faint call. A strange awareness. Masika wondered at first if it was her own voice—her subconscious whispering to her in the back of her mind. But the longer she listened to it, the more she realized that it wasn’t her, but someone else.
Somethingelse.
A voice.
Closer.
She stepped forward. Beside her, Emilio was saying something, though she couldn’t quite hear him. It was as if everything in her peripheral vision had melted away. All she saw was the fox and the key tucked in his mouth. Nothing else.
Closer.
Masika gently pushed past Emilio. She felt her arms moving.
Someone was shouting at her.Stop! Don’t!But Masika could no longer hear them. She continued forward, inching closer and closer to the fox, until she was kneeling right in front of it, peering down at the creature’s dark eyes.
She was close enough that the pain of the defensive barrier should have shocked her by now, and yet…she felt nothing. No pain. Just complete and total calm. She lifted her hand and scratched the fox gently beneath the chin.
It watched her.
