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“Is it possible to overdose on magic?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at me expectantly.
“It’s possible, but not probable,” I tell him, pulling away from him. “Now where were we?”
I’m a little shaky on my feet, but I manage to stay steady while Everett scrutinizes me closely. I pretend not to notice his concern. I clear my throat and start to cast the spell to keep us hidden from the wolves. I add some perimeters to the spell that might be taking it too far, but to hell with it, I’m in the mood to show off.
I feel a bit more normal when I’m done casting, thankfully.
Kind of worn out, but not like I might collapse any second.
Everett’s still looking at me as if he thinks something’s wrong, but he hasn’t decided yet if it’s worth starting an argument over.
“Okay, it’s done. They won’t smell us, or see us, or hear us,” I tell him.
He blinks at me. “What?”
“Did I stutter?”
He shakes his head. “They won’t see us, or hear us? What kind of spell is that?”
“It’s a cloaking spell,” I explain. “It’s kind of like we’re walking around in a bubble of magic.”
He looks around warily. “A bubble? Could it burst?”
“No, but it could wear thin. We should get moving before that has a chance to happen.”
I follow the faded scent trails of the strangers, not wanting to waste time. Every minute we’re out here is a minute I’m away from Oscar, and he’s going to need me when he wakes up. He’s going to need all of us around him.
“What do you mean ‘wear thin’?” Everett asks as he catches me up.
I try not to roll my eyes. He doesn’t know much about magic, and honestly this is kind of out there as far as spells go. If I hadn’t been so determined to try every last spell I could get my hands on when I was younger, I wouldn’t even know about it.
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” I tell him. “Some magic depends on who it’s being used against. If they halfway suspect there’s magic around, the magic will stop working so the cloak will fade until we’re completely visible and they can see us and hear us and smell us.”
“That’s weird,” he mutters.
I shrug. “That’s magic. It’s not always practical, but it’s the best I’ve got for the situation, so we’ll just have to make do.”
And we’ll just have to hope to hell the unknown pack aren’t aware that a witch-wolf hybrid is part of the territory they encroached upon. Though if they were out there on purpose, I doubt they didn’t do their research. It wouldn’t be hard to find out about us. Hundreds of students and a half dozen witches are aware of the Dartmore-Hartnett pack. Every supernatural in town knows who we are.
The forest is more than big enough to get lost in. If we didn’t have scent trails to follow, I’d have a hard time finding my way back home. Everett’s lived here his whole life and he knows these woods like the back of his hand. He moves past me and leads the way forward with a little less hesitation than I’m currently exhibiting.
The bad feeling is back.
I don’t like what we’re doing, and my wolf backs up that sentiment.
I quickly run through a list of defensive spells in my head, figuring out which ones will work best if we end up in a fight. Unfortunately for us, I don’t think I have the reserves left for anything too powerful, and I’m pretty sure I’ll pass out if I try to draw more power before I’ve rested.
The scent trails get stronger right before we reach a campsite up ahead. I count three large tents spaced out several feet apart with a fire pit set up in the middle, and seating arranged around the flickering flames. There are eight individual scents here, including the ones we followed to get to this location. More wolves than we expected to find.
Everett touches my arm, and I stop walking toward the site.
“Stay here,” he tells me. He keeps his voice low when he starts to speak. It’s the smart move even if they probably can’t hear us. “Get ready to teleport back to the mansion on my signal.”
I don’t get the chance to tell him there’s no way that’s happening. That I’d pass out if I attempted that kind of spell right now. He doesn’t wait for an answer. He was giving me an order. Typical Alpha behavior. He darts off to the right, getting closer to where the strangers are gathered just out of sight off to the side of the fire.
I slowly move in the same direction, earning a glower from Everett as I get closer.
I give him a shrug when I reach his side. It’s better if we don’t talk.
