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“Give me the ring, Olette,” he demanded, just as I flung my arms out, hitting him straight in the chest, launching him off his feet. I threw my next burst at Roxy, who tried to dodge, but I clipped her in the shoulder and she was launched to the side with the force of the blast. I sighed in relief as the magic barrier resumed its normal color, still intact and no longer under Roxy’s spell. My eyes narrowed on a figure on the other side, slowly pushing himself off the ground with a dazed look on his face.Callan. They must have spelled him.
Lexi didn’t wait, hunched over and already contorting as she shifted to her wolf form. I was way ahead of her.
One of the many things I’d practiced with Callan was shifting, over and over again until I could do it at the drop of a hat. My bunny was small, which meant I could complete the transformation a lot faster than most larger shifters could, and I used this to my advantage, finishing my shift before she was halfway done.
I didn’t dare run back to the pack. Not when I knew Cas was after me. If they could manipulate the barrier, I had no doubt they could find a way through it, and I didn’t want to give them any reason to get any closer to the vulnerable pack. And Callan, who I hoped was okay and was getting help. I was so stupid to think I could do this alone.
Without waiting to find out, I bolted through the trees. a snap of a twig tipping me off that Lexi had given chase. I listened hard as I ran, but only heard one pursuer, Lexi’s much larger form rustling through the plant life. Shit, they must have stayed by the pack.
A roar ripped through the air and my heart froze. That was a roar I’d recognize anywhere, filled with anger and the promise of death. Callan. Hopefully that was loud enough for the pack to rouse and get on the attack. I didn’t know how long that barrier would hold if they were trying to get in.
I spurred my tiny legs on, leaning into my enhanced shifter speed, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to outrun a full-grown wolf. My brain, on the other hand, was surely much larger than hers and I would use that to my advantage. My tail swished as I deftly bobbed and weaved between the trees, trying to create the most erratic pattern for Lexi to try to follow. My little legs strained as I ran under logs and through bushes, places I knew she couldn’t follow. The only way she would get me to stop was if she hit me, and she’d have to get close to do so.
A resounding growl echoed behind me as she expressed her frustrations at not being able to catch me. She was surprisingly limber for a large animal, and while she couldn’t catch up to me, I was also having a hard time losing her. Still, I kept running, my heart racing as I tried to stay as surefooted as possible. One small mistake would be the difference between life and death. Cas needed information from me, but I wouldn't be so naïve as to think Lexi shared the same sentiment.
Just as I thought I might be gaining a lead, one of my feet got caught on a branch, and I went hurtling forward. In my panic, I rotated my body as best I could before I hit the ground, calling my human form to the surface. I spurred the change on as fast as I could, and my limbs protested in pain as I shapeshifted for the second time in only a short time, but I had no choice. Staying in my bunny form would be a death sentence if she could get her teeth in me. I skidded to a stop on the sharp leaves in my birthday suit, my arms coming up to cover my face as Lexi leaped forward, her claws outstretched menacingly.
Lightning raced from my fingers up my arms as her claws sunk into my flesh. I cried out when they hit bone but kept my grip on my lightning, screaming with pain and effort as I intensified them, pouring more and more of my energy into my arms. Lexi whined, her body seizing as the electricity shot into her, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. I cut the power, her body slumping limply on top of me. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her still breathing.What happens to Callan if I kill Lexi?
My teeth clenched as I dumped her off to the side, her claws pulling away from my arms with a sickening squelch. I looked down, averting my gaze when I saw bone peeking through the open wounds. I hesitated as I looked over Lexi’s prone form, her reddish fur stained with the fresh forest earth. I could kill her, now would be the time, but I knew I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t risk it.
It didn’t seem like anyone had followed us, but the sounds of shouting and fighting drifted toward me through the air, my gut wrenching as I thought of what might be happening to the pack. We had some fighters, but the Clover pack was small, even with the reinforcements. But they’d shown up earlier than we’d expected, and shifters were a lot more fragile than magic-wielding Fae.
Everything was falling apart.
I wasted no more time, Lexi forgotten as I raced my way back toward the sound of fighting, needing to help my friends. Cas hadn’t followed us out into the woods, which meant he was probably back there, wreaking havoc on the pack. I had hoped he’d eventually follow me, let me lead them away from the pack, but that was naïve. By the time I made it, the fight had moved back, more toward the pack lands, which meant the barrier had fallen.Shit.
I searched around the ground, quickly locating my clothes and dagger, hurrying back into them. It wasn’t as good as armor, but it was better than running into a fight not only covered in blood, but also stark naked. I’d shifted too many times in quick succession, exhaustion already pulling at my tired limbs, begging me to lay down and take a nap.Not yet.
I skulked my way towards the sound of battle, hoping to stay undetected. Cas, with his crackling lightning powers, was going toe to toe with Callan, who dodged and weaved between lightning bursts in his panther form, trying his best to get a swipe or a bite in when Cas left himself open, which was almost never. Callan was adept on his feet, but he was murderous in his animal form. He’d learned quickly not to get too close to me if he wasn’t sure he would hit. Getting shocked by lightning repeatedly was not a pleasant experience. I sighed in relief that he seemed to be holding his own for now.
The battlefield was pure chaos as the pack battled for their lives under my half-brother's unrelenting army. Roxy, her dark hair flying around her like an ominous storm, threw frightening black clouds of dark magic at Oliver, who adeptly countered with his own fire magic, signs of exertion on both of their faces.
My eyes were drawn to the shifters, the most vulnerable of anyone on the battlefield. The pack had learned a lot during the week to prepare for the fight, but not all of them were as swift and agile as Callan’s panther, and it showed in their fights. Two witches hurled curses and hexes at a group of them, dark tendrils of energy lashing out toward the pack where Wolfe stood at the forefront, huge and menacing in his bear form. He was too big and slow to dodge and weave, so he chose brute force instead, barreling into the nearest witch who shot a dark blast of power that knocked him back.
I gasped as Caleb, a young lynx shifter I’d come to like in training, was blasted by a dark green spell, landing with a thud on the ground, unmoving. It was exactly what I had feared: people getting hurt because of me.
Pure, unbridled rage rose in me as I gripped my dagger tighter, running into the fray to help like an avenging angel at the witch who had cast the spell. A smirk blossomed across her face as she realized who I was, and blackness started pouring from her hands, a dark mist spreading across the ground rapidly toward me.
I couldn’t rush her with the mist, so instead I lashed out, using as much energy as I was willing to spare to launch a lightning bolt at her, hitting her right in the chest. She convulsed, the magic cutting off from her hands as she fell over, but the mist didn’t retreat like I’d expected it to. It had reached me, and quicker than I could imagine, it wrapped itself around my ankles as it slowly tried to climb me. My skin burned where it touched through my clothes, and I screamed, trying to kick it off. The wind increased suddenly, racing around me in a mini-tornado, and the pain eased as the mist was sucked up. The funnel moved quickly, rising high into the air, a swirling mass of darkness and despair.
“These witches are nasty,” Finn told me as he waved a hand, the air he had summoned to save me engulfing the mist, getting smaller and smaller until it ceased to exist, the dark spell completely absorbed. “You can’t let them get too close to you. Remember your training.” That was all he said before he launched back into battle, throwing an air gust straight into a naga who was advancing on us with his poisoned blade held high.
A wolf shifter near me fell, the water magic of an elemental Fae slicing his throat wide open with the sword he carried on his back as he had the shifter’s face encircled in a sphere of water, unable to breathe. I made a move toward them, but it was unnecessary as Lily’s brown wolf leaped through the air, landing on the water Fae with a terrifying snarl as she went straight for his throat, tearing it out in one savage bite.
He crumpled to the ground and Lily raised her head to look at me, blood dripping from her mouth as she gave me a grin. On an animal, it looked completely unhinged. My normally sweet friend seemed to be having the time of her life.
Maybe shifters were more capable than I had originally thought.
ChapterTwenty-Six
Iregrouped toward Oliver, who seemed to be struggling to fend Roxy off, her dark magic slowly ticking away against Oliver. She was a formidable opponent, much more so than her counterparts, and I slid right in, throwing my fair share of lightning strikes at her as she skirted us both. Finally, one of Oliver’s fireballs connected with an unguarded hip, and she cried out, pushing backward.
“We have to find their halfling,” Oliver gritted out as he repelled a particularly nasty shot she sent out in retaliation. There was no doubt about it; she was here to kill.
“What?”
“If we want to trap Cas, we need to gain the upper hand and block his escape point. We’re holding our own, but we need to weaken them.”
