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Above me, a door creaked open. I cursed again and bounded up the stairs. As I did, magic surged.
Not inside. Outside.
Belle.
She was being attacked.
When it came to a choice on who to save, there was none.
Sorry, Deni. I turned and all but flew down the stairs. Felt another surge of magic, heard the sharp clang of metal as something tumbled down the road. I bolted out the door. There were people everywhere—some heading toward this house, others staring toward the street.
“I’m with the High Witch Council,” I yelled. “Get back inside and lock your doors.”
Some obeyed. Many didn’t. I didn’t care. My eyes were on the road, on the car sitting opposite the driveway, and the seething mass of threads that now overran it. Some were Belle’s; she was trying to counter what looked to be a retrieval spell of some sort.
It was testament to the increase in her magical strength that she’d muted the force of the spell enough to remain in the car.
Not sure how long that will remain the case, she said, her mental tones distracted and breathy. This bastard is strong.
Pull on my strength if you need to, I said. I’ll try to find him. He has to be nearby, given he’s still feeding energy into the spell.
And that meant he had to be close enough to see what was happening.
I swung left, leapt over the small brick wall that divided this subdivision from the next, and felt the stranger’s magic surge again. Belle immediately deepened our connection and began drawing on both my physical and magical strength. It would drain me fast, but I didn’t care. That last surge had given me his location.
The bastard was on the roof of the house directly ahead of me.
I raced through the trees, then across the long driveway that ran into the subdivision from the road, approaching from the rear of the house instead of the front in an effort to avoid detection until the very last moment. Thankfully, I couldn’t see any sort of warning or protective spells from where I was, but I also wasn’t about to take any chances.
I eyed the roof he was standing on, did a brief estimate of its height, then gathered all my speed and leapt.
As leaps went, it was pretty shit. But then, I was human rather than wolf, even if the inner wild magic was enhancing my senses, strength, and speed. My shins hit the guttering, and a yelp escaped as I sprawled forward, landing heavily on the slick wet roof tiles. Almost immediately, I began to slide back down. I twisted around and thrust my feet into the guttering. Felt the surge of magic, this time aimed toward me, and threw up one hand. A protection shield flared out from my fingertips, and the shimmering net fell around me. His spell hit a second later, flaring red against the silver and gold threads of my spell.
It was a leash spell, but a type I’d not seen before—no surprise really given my lack of “proper” training.
He didn’t follow up with another attack, instead returning his attention to Belle. Which was odd in many respects—if this man was working for our wraith, why keep going after Belle when he now had me pinned?
Or was it simply a matter of him not seeing—or knowing—the bigger picture. Maybe the wraith had expected me to protect Deni, thereby giving this man enough time to snatch Belle.
If that was the case, then our former dark sorcerer really didn’t understand the bond between a witch and her familiar.
As the stranger’s assault on Belle ramped up, I called forth a simple repelling spell and cast it through the gaps in both my net and his. It sped across the rainswept night and was on him before he sensed it. He spun, raised one hand as if to ward off the spell, but it was already too late.
He was knocked off his feet and sent tumbling past the guttering to the ground.
His leash spell remained active, which at least meant the fall hadn’t killed him. While the three-fold rule didn’t usually apply in this sort of situation, it was always better not to risk it.
Belle? You okay?
Now that the bastard isn’t trying to drag me out of the car, yes. I’ve got him telepathically pinned, though he’s broken his leg and wouldn’t be going anywhere anyway. What about you?
Still contained by his magic but otherwise, fine.
You able to unpick it?
I studied the glowing red threads for a second then said, I think so. It’s not that intricate.
He probably didn’t have the time or energy for anything more than simple.
