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“You’re right, but hopefully this will just help us convince the council more easily that my father is a tyrant who must be stopped. Sending peaceful diplomats under false pretenses is the number one way to undermine an agreement.”
“Silver linings,” I offered, allowing myself to grin softly at him.
“Silver linings,” he said.
Together, the four of us rushed deeper into the woods, following Oren’s lead. For a moment, it seemed like we really were going to make it, but then we all caught the scent of multiple shifters at the same time. Shifters that didn’t smell like the warm, breezy air of Blath.
Shifters that smelled like Camdaria.
Shit.
For the second instance in far too short a time, we skidded to a stop. Kai looked over at me, his lips pulled into a thin line, and I already knew what he was asking. Could I disguise our scent? It seemed like we were undiscovered so far, but that wouldn’t last long if these shifters were able to catch onto our own pheromones.
We just happened to luck out being downwind of them, so I wasn’t going to let that go to waste. I’d had far too much bad luck in my life to lose any opportunities that presented themselves.
Lifting my hands, I plucked at the magic around me and within myself, trying to wind them together to keep my power steadier. But as my heartbeat and adrenaline began to rise, my grip on those threads of energy grew stronger, more stable.
Gently, quietly, I wrapped it around us, building and building, but it took time to silently create a shield spell that could cut off our scent and the sound of our hearts without also cutting us off from oxygen, and that was just a moment too long.
“Did you hear something?”
A stranger’s voice cut through the afternoon air like they were standing right next to me. That was a Camdarian accent, all right, and it certainly didn’t sound like a peaceful delegate. I held my breath, willing myself to be as silent as possible as I hastily continuing sealing us off from any soldier’s senses.
“Why? What did you hear?”
“I can’t be certain. Just thought I heard… I dunno, something.”
“It’s one of those damn boars that’s all over this island,” another groused, and I felt sweat beading on my forehead as I worked on holding the ephemeral cocoon around us. We could fight, of course we could fight, but it’d be far better to avoid that entirely rather than being caught out in the open. We didn’t know how many Camdarian guards or soldiers were up ahead in the trees or on the road. For all we knew, the ship they’d come in on held an entire unit.
“Come on. If there was something there, we’d smell it. Just come on.”
“Hold on a minute!”
“What are you even going to do—”
A strange, yet horrifically familiar twang reverberated through the air. I finally finished the shield spell in my mind, closing us off completely and managing to secure it, but it was as I finally realized what that twang was that I also understood the mistake I’d made.
My shield was entirely metaphysical, meant to seal us off from enhanced shifter senses and perception. Obviously, if they stumbled upon us, they’d see us, but shielded as we were by the foliage, it was meant so they couldn’t scent or hear us.
The mistake was that I’d been so busy building the perfect way to completely protect us, I’d forgotten about more physical threats, and I was reminded exactly of that when a thin, shining crossbow bolt cut across the thicket and went right into my middle.
I screamed—I couldn’t help it. It was like someone poured liquid metal right into my veins. It took all my control not to drop the spell, as that was the only thing keeping the guards ahead from noticing us. If I so much as let it waver, they would scent my blood immediately.
“Ayla!” Kai cried, running to me, but I could only look down at the bolt sticking out of me. Fortunately, it was only barely in my middle. If it’d been an inch or so to the left, it would have missed me entirely, but unfortunately it was a bright and glossy metallic color, telling me exactly what the weapon was comprised of.
“Silver,” I gasped, barely able to breathe. It was like lightning itself had come down from the sky and channeled itself through all my veins. I screamed again, falling back against Kai’s arms as he held me.
But I held onto my spell, gritting my teeth, forcing the witch half to persist. Even if it felt like I was dying, I was not dropping my spell. I would keep us protected no matter what.
“Get it out,” I practically shrieked, my body wanting to jerk this way and that, but without the coordination to do so. I wanted to rip my own skin off, to throw myself into the deepest ocean and iciest depths to cool myself. I was on fire, and if it didn’t stop soon, I would melt.
“Wait. Are you not supposed to take impalement wounds out?”
“S-s-silver,” I gasped, wondering how they couldn’t notice, or how they couldn’t smell it. Did they really think I would be so affected by just an arrow? Being shot with a crossbow hurt, but it wasn’t anything on the unchecked agony now flowing through me. It was taking everything in myself not to drop the spell and just shriek in unchecked pain.
“Silver?”
I whirled around but could hardly see Kai in front of me. It was like my vision had become static, blanked out by my brain being seared into oblivion.
