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“Be careful,” I said.
A smile twisted his lips but didn’t ease the concern in his eyes. “I’m not the one about to step into a viper’s nest. Eli, let’s go.”
Once the two men had disappeared into the bush, I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm the inner quivering and then said, “I’ll need to call the wild magic to me before we get into the protected area.”
“That’s a damn dangerous step given the toll it takes on your strength—especially when I’m nowhere near my peak.”
“I’m not about to call on your strength—not when you’ll probably need every drop to freeze that bastard’s thoughts.” I hesitated. “I’ll have to let the wild magic roll around you, though, just to fortify the illusion it’s attached to the two of us. It’ll hopefully stop any sudden attacks.”
“Until he figures out it’s all a ruse,” Belle muttered.
“By that time, Ashworth will hopefully be safe and you’ll have frozen the bastard’s thoughts.”
Of course, hope was something that hadn’t always been our friend in the past. I just had to keep my fingers crossed it was different this time.
I glanced at my watch. Eight minutes had passed. Time to get a move on. I drew in another of those useless breaths then closed my eyes, threw out my hands, and said, Come to me.
This time, there was absolutely no hesitation.
The wild magic came, and with such force that my knees buckled under the sheer weight of it. All I could feel, all I could see, was the energy that poured into me. It was bright, fierce, and powerful; it was the wildest storm ever created, a volcano on the verge of eruption, a force as ageless and as endless as the earth under our feet. And while it stretched the very fibers of my being to the point of breaking, this time—unlike that very first time I’d welcomed it into my soul—there was an odd sort of rightness to it. It was almost as if this force and I were in fact one being, separated only by flesh that was far too weak to hold such energy for too long.
No human ever born should be able to contain this sort of power. No human was ever meant to control it. But Belle was right—this ancient force was in me. Somehow, it was part of me—part of my very makeup.
I drew in a breath, pushed all the questions and doubts away, and then looked at Belle.
“Your eyes are full silver again,” she said.
“Good—he’ll think he’s dealing with a proper royal witch.” I motioned to the trench. “I’ll go in first, just in case the heretic does have some sort of ground protection in place.”
I dropped down and belly-crawled down the trench’s length, sucking in my stomach and pressing deeper against the ground at the point where the tunnel dipped to get under the barrier. Its foul magic caressed my spine and sent my pulse into orbit again. There really was nothing weak about the spell that now guarded the wellspring’s outskirts, no matter what Eli said.
I rose from the trench and turned to face the wellspring. Even though I’d only been here once—and we’d approached it from a totally different direction—I innately knew where it was. It was a pulse—a heartbeat—that echoed through me.
“Lizzie?” Belle said softly, as she rose from the ground and dusted off the grit. “You okay?”
“Yes.” I held out my hand. “Let’s go.”
Her fingers twined through mine. The force that was in me swirled around our hands, and she gasped softly. The wild magic immediately pulled back, and instead rolled around her entire length, surrounding her in its power but not actually touching her.
She didn’t say anything, but her concern slipped through me. I gripped it as tightly as I did her hand, needing both psychical and mental contact to counter the fierce, bright pull of the wild magic.
It would be very easy to get lost in that brightness. So very easy.
I
led the way through the scrub. With the wild magic infused in my soul, the night was as bright as day. The air was sharper, and filled with so many amazing scents it was beyond my capacity to interpret them all. But it at least gave me some insight as to what werewolves saw and smelled on an everyday basis.
The wellspring’s heartbeat grew stronger, a pulse that matched my own. That oneness was increasing, even though it should have been impossible.
I shivered but ignored the growing fear and tried to concentrate on the here and now. On getting close to the heretic, on seeing if Ashworth was okay, and on making sure the three of us somehow survived. While Aiden might be out there, and might well be able to take the heretic out without us ever really being in danger, I wasn’t about to rely on that.
The trees began to thin out. Ahead, standing within a clearing that was washed in moonlight, were two figures. One of them was Ashworth. The other was little more than an ominous shadow—a shadow whose power stained the air with darkness.
If he ever got hold of the wellspring, it really would be the end of light and happiness in this reservation.
We came out of the trees and then stopped. The wellspring was a fierce white light that was almost blinding, and my spell the sole remaining thread around it. Only it wasn’t just my magic—it was the wild magic. Eli had been right—the heretic hadn’t dared touch it.
His gaze swept from me to Belle and back again, and a slight frown marred his scarred features. “Well, well, two witches for the price of one.”
