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My teeth bared in a feral smile that could have done any full-blooded wolf proud. I glanced at the three men ranged to each side of me and murmured, “Think you boys can handle half those casters?”
Eagerness glinted in their eyes as they moved until several feet of empty space surrounded each of them. “The pleasure is all ours,” Shea drawled, and swirls of shadow energy exploded respectively around each man as they shifted into oversized wolves with shaggy black fur, sleek and powerful bodies, and muzzles filled with wickedly sharp teeth.
“I’ll take the ones on the right!” I dissolved the disposable shield so I could redirect the energy elsewhere. They gave canine nods before snarling and leaping across the room with lethal grace that their intended victims never saw. Instead, three of them fell to the ground beneath pissed-off wolves aiming for their vulnerable throats and abdomens. Wolves with an innate resistance to magic and supernatural healing properties.
Showtime!I thought with a bloodthirsty snarl of my own.
The nine remaining Spellbinders barely glanced at their fallen comrades. Instead, they redoubled their efforts to smash through Kayleigh’s shield. And they had alotmore energy to spare than my sister did.
Good thing I worked best under pressure.
Radiant energy responded to my will in a heartbeat, solidifying into several razor-thin lariats I sent flying toward the two nearest Spellbinders. The acrid stench of burning fabric and skin hit the air as their clothing ripped in several places. This spell didn’t act like fire…more like molten lava. And I knew from personal experience it hurt like hell.
Confirmed when both casters immediately dropped to their knees and began to writhe. Under other circumstances, I might have felt guilty. Buttheyhad been the ones to start this fight. I just hoped to be the one toendit.
Well, along with a little wolfie assistance.
A quick sideways glance revealed each of the wolves in question had quickly dispatched their initial targets and were closing in on their new ones, when only two of my six opponents had fallen.
I really needed to up my game.
I sent my magical lariats shooting toward two new Spellbinders. One ended up rolling on the floor screaming just like the first two, but the second sensed the spell whipping her way and split half her focus to shield herself. On the plus side, that meant she had half as much energy to channel against Kayleigh’s barrier. But it also meant I had to expend more energy to finish her off before I could turn to the final two Spellbinders.
I muttered a curse and formed two spells at once, something that was a particular talent of mine. The first resembled a sledgehammer formed from pure energy, which I sent slamming against my target’s shield while I formed several more Radiant lariats.
Sparks flashed through the air as my sledgehammer hit once, twice, and then a third time. Cracks splintered the Spellbinder’s shield, but she merely grunted and continued slamming her own spell against my sister’s shield. Almost as if she consideredhergoal more important than stopping mine. Even if that meant the end of her life.
It seemed fanatical, to say the least.
I gritted my teeth and slammed my magical hammer against the Spellbinder’s shield a fourth time, and it disintegrated as completely as my self-control had last New Year’s Eve. I wasted no time in flaying the enemy caster with my lariats, taking no true pleasure in her shrieks as she fell to the floor. It simply meant I was one step closer to saving my baby sister.
I glanced quickly to where Kayleigh had sunk to her knees, sweat pouring off her skin as agony etched itself across her face. Still, she was miraculously maintaining the last few layers of her barrier despite the onslaught beating against it.
Although there were now only two Spellbinders actively challenging her shield, since Maddox’s cousins were locked in mortal combat with their final targets and the first four of mine were suffering a world of pain burning across their wounds. I was feeling pretty damned good about these two-to-one odds in light of the fact I’d already taken down four opponents and had barely worked up a sweat.
And, as if the universe heard that hubris echoing inside my brain, the parlor’s main door flew open and the six Spellbinders who’d been blocking that entrance stormed inside to back up their colleagues.
“Reinforcements!” I called to alert the three Shadow Wolves.
Indecision had me glancing behind, quickly weighing my two most viable options. Either I could incapacitate the last two Spellbinders about to break through Kayleigh’s magical barrier and enact whatever deadly spell they’d prepared—giving the six new Spellbinders the opportunity to strike. Or I could trust Kayleigh to fend for herself while I dealt with this new threat.
It was a no-brainer, really. We would likelyalldie if I let the six newcomers cast any magic behind our backs.
“Hang on, Kayleigh!” I yelled encouragingly, not even sure she could hear me.
The newcomers sure had, because all six focused their attention on me. After correctly deducing I had taken out four of their colleagues and was about to wipe the floor with the last two, they decided to attack me rather than worry about the wolves on the other side of the room. For the first time since that New Year’s morning walk of shame, I found myself wishing for a hell of a lotlessdistance between my one-time lovers and myself…
Unfortunately, no matter how much magical power my Radiant ass might command, reality didnotrewrite itself at my mere whim.
Facing six opponents at once rather than two at a time was going to be a challenge, even for me. I really only had one option: throw everything I had at them and pray like hell.
But then I noticedwherethe newcomers had stopped to begin preparing spells of their own and realized I might not have to depend on divine providence. My pulse picked up speed as I realized the monstrously ugly chandelier Kayleigh and I hated could sacrifice its existence so I could more likely continue mine…
I divided my Radiant lariats into a dozen razor-thin strands and sent two shooting at each of the Spellbinders. They were easily parried even though I was exponentially stronger than any one or two or eventhreeof the enemy casters. But they’d merely been distractions.
I kept half my attention focused on annoying them with repeated strikes that wouldn’t do much damage—unless they stopped deflecting them—and used the other half to form a deadly, jagged line of Radiant energy. The nearest of the six Spellbinders noticed what I was doing and quickly created a disposable shield like the one I’d channeled earlier. A smile spread across my lips because the woman had made the logical leap that the Radiant blade would be swinging straight toward her.
Too bad I sent it slicing toward the godawful chandelier instead.
