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My breath rushed out of me when I remembered the state of limbo. “Be careful! Don’t fall into the darkness!”
I should have been more concerned for myself right about now, but Perse took precedence. Before the soul-torn wolf could close in and negate my arcana, I shoved it forward like a knife and carved into the veil between the worlds. The veil refused to give for a heartbeat. Then it tore open, and Perse surged forth.
Her bathrobe flapped around her like a warrior’s cape. I nearly laughed at the comparison. Hand over my mouth, I managed to keep the sound down. Of course, the soul-torn wolf knew where I was. I didn’t know why I felt the need to hide.
“Get out of here,” Perse whispered as if the wolf would be able to hear her. “That fucker has been hunting you for days now.”
“Where am I supposed to go?” I flung my hands out.
Perse rocked back on her heels, lips pursed. “Shit.”
I nearly guffawed. It was the stress, making me a little off kilter. “Where is my own damn wolf?”
“Call him,” Perse urged.
“With my phone? The soul-torn wolf will be able to hear!”
Perse grabbed onto my arm. “Not your phone. The hot cop is your familiar. You can summon him with your arcana.”
I blinked, surprised. “Excuse me? How do you know that, and I don’t?”
Perse gave a half-shrug with a clear look of pride written across her face. “I’ve been haunting that bitch of a goddess bothering you. She doesn’t pay any attention to me, so I’ve been able to hear all sorts of things.”
Taken aback, I couldn’t find anything to say. It shouldn’t have surprised me that Hel had been keeping things from me. Everyone was. I’d had to fumble through life on my own up until this point. That wasn’t about to change any time soon.
The only thing that’d changed was that I wasn’t afraid of my own power anymore. I could control it, to an extent. It wasn’t going to ruin my life anymore, because I wasn’t going to let it.
Hands on my thighs, I prepared myself for what I needed to. My arcana would slip away if the soul-torn wolf got too close. Magic didn’t exist without fate, it seemed. So, I had to hurry.
Would the soul-torn wolf feel this? I didn’t know until I tried. I cast my arcana out in a massive net, hoping to catch Maddox. Beside me, Perse hissed.
“Not like that. He’s your familiar. I’ve seen every witch show there is. Familiars have a special bond with their witch. Can’t you use that?”
I cracked open an eye to give Perse a sidelong glare. She shrugged as if she hadn’t just told me I was doing everything wrong. With a sigh, I pulled my arcana back. It dragged along every dead thing and the pockets of fate-less nothingness along the way. A shudder raced down my spine with every little severed thread I touched.
Maddox wasn’t going to like this. Not the summoning, but what we would have to do next. There was no saving this wolf. So long as the soul-torn wolf existed, he would continue tearing the world apart. He had to be put down.
The thought made my stomach churn. I almost didn’t want to summon Maddox. I couldn’t put him in that position again. It wasn’t fair of me. I needed to figure this out on my own. If I could bear this burden for him, then it might make up for all the ways I’d failed him before.
A howl outside shook me. I startled, half expecting Perse to laugh. She didn’t. Her expression was grim. If she weren’t already dead, I would have bet her face would have drained of blood, too.
Instead of reaching for Maddox, I shoved my arcana into the earth and reached for anything dead I could find. The portals weren’t open, so I couldn’t invite the souls to return, saving me a lot of energy. Would anyone be mad if I took it from the nearby fauna?
“What are you doing?” Perse whispered urgently.
I kept my eyes closed as I searched for something to raise. “Doing this on my own.”
I was mildly disappointed that moose weren’t native to the area. They thrived in the northern states, but not here. The best I could reach was a collection of coyote corpses. They wouldn’t be able to take down the soul-torn wolf on their own, but they might give me time to run.
“Keys. I need keys.” I stood and ran down the hall while keeping my arcana fixed on the coyote skeletons.
Would Maddox be mad if I took his new SUV? Probably, but I wanted to live.
“Summon Maddox!” Perse followed me in hot pursuit. “What are you doing? You’re going to need him.”
I shook my head. “I can’t make him do this. I’ll just have to find a way to kill the soul-torn wolf on my own.”
How? I wasn’t sure yet. There was a wealth of untapped power still sitting deep inside me. It had to be of some use or else Hel wouldn’t put up with my bullshit. She wasn’t humoring me, but she also hadn’t struck me down yet despite all my defiance.
