by Linsey Hall
They were so wrong.
I reached for my magic, sending it out toward the Shifters to get a feel for their power. There was no time to doubt myself now, just time for action.
It was the first time I’d mirrored a Shifter other than Aidan, and the muddy scent of their magic overwhelmed me. I barely resisted gagging.
But it was easy to get a handle on their wolves. So much faster than mirroring one of Aidan’s many forms. His power was so complex, but theirs was simple. One form. A cinch to mirror.
Heat and magic filled my limbs. My newly sensitive ears picked up whispers—the ghosts?—and my nose caught the scent of the nearby sea. A second later, my body shrank and twisted, singing with magic as my limbs bent to form canine legs and slip out of the restraints.
My vision sharpened, taking in the shocked expression on the Shifters’ faces. I’d changed so fast even I was impressed. A growl escaped my throat as I lunged at the woman nearest me. I sank my fangs into her calf, and blood gushed over my tongue. I didn’t have time to process the taste as I shook her and dropped her to her back.
I lunged for her throat, but dark magic vibrated the air. My fur stood on end and an unconscious whimper rose in my throat. I recognized that magic signature. I stumbled away from the Shifter I’d downed, almost going to my knees in fear.
A man stood at the top of the steps, only ten yards from me. He wore a suit, so benign for so much evil. His power rolled out from him, a tidal wave of strength comparable only to Aidan’s. The magic that radiated from him smelled like rot and decay. It felt like bee stings against my skin and tasted like death in my mouth.
I shuddered, frozen with terror.
Run!
My mind had fractured into two parts. The woman who fought like a demon and the little girl who recognized this man’s power. No. This Monster’s power. Because that was what he was. We hadn’t mislabeled him. Magic that felt like his was the darkest kind. Evil.
Demons poured out of the portal behind him. Five. Bodyguards?
I tried to stop the whimper that rose in my throat as I watched the downed Shifter scramble to her feet. The other approached the man, her shoulders slightly slumped. She was afraid of him too.
Smart Shifter.
She pulled the Heartstone from her bag and handed it to the man. It sparkled blue in the moonlight. My dragon sense tugged, but even it couldn’t pull me out of this fear-induced stupor. What the hell had he done to me in the past that I froze up in fear now?
That had never happened to me. I was the Huntress. I was action, not inaction.
The Monster gripped the Heartstone, not even bothering to acknowledge her. His gaze met mine.
Ice froze in my veins.
Recognition flared in his gaze. “Well, well. What do we have here? Doesn’t your magic feel familiar, little FireSoul wolf.”
His voice snaked around me, spurring me to action. I sprinted away, unable to help myself. Adult Cass—brave Cass—wanted to stay and fight. But I wasn’t that woman anymore. I was scared to the pads of my wolf feet, driven by memories I didn’t quite remember and instinct I couldn’t ignore.
I ran, frantically searching for a hiding place. There were fallen columns and tumbled walls, but nothing big enough. I sensed light a millisecond before pain slammed into me from behind.
I skidded along the ground, my tail and back lit up with heat. He’d thrown a fireball at me. The smell of my singed fur filled my nose as pain streaked through me.
Fear drove me to my feet. I was grateful for the fact that my Shifter form repelled the worst of his magic. A few more and I’d be down for the count, but I could still run now. The wall where I’d hidden with Nix and Del on our recon caught my eye. I raced toward it, desperate for cover. Another fireball shot straight by me, singing my fur but not landing.
I crouched behind the little wall, panting and quivering, then peered around the side. The Monster walked down the stone steps. His five demon guards fanned out behind him. The Shifters had turned into wolves. They stalked ahead of him, growling, their gray muzzles pulled back from sharp white teeth.
How the hell was I going to escape? Those wolves would run me down if his fireballs didn’t get me first.
Fight.
I shivered.
Fight.
I tried to shove away the fear, to surface from beneath the lake of terror that drowned me. I wasn’t that scared little girl anymore.
The memory of stabbing the cell guard and stealing his powers flashed in my mind.
Maybe I was that little girl. And like her, I was going to fight.
But I couldn’t do it as a wolf. I reached for my magic, imagined myself as human, and let the heat fill me. My limbs stretched and fur receded, leaving me naked but too damn pissed and scared to care.
I called upon my lightning, envisioning the hot white bolt and the crack of thunder, letting the crackle and glow fill me until my skin felt electrified. I’d use Aaron’s gift against the master who had enslaved him. As Aaron had wanted.
I surged to my feet and threw out my hands, sending a jet of lighting so big that my fingertips sparked. The bolt streaked through the air as thunder boomed.
Quick as a snake, the Monster raised his hand. The lightning bounced off an invisible shield, ricocheting up into the sky. From either side of me, ghostly blue figures surged forward.
Had backup arrived?
The transparent figures of the long dead ladies of the night surged toward the Monster and his pack. Their robes and elaborate hair flowed behind them. They weren’t able to make contact, but they startled him enough that I was able to call upon more lightning. I threw it toward him, immediately drawing upon more.
The Monster deflected the bolt with his shield, but the second hit. He barely stumbled though.
Damn, he was strong.
I raised my hands to try again, sweat dripping down my spine, but the Monster raised his hand and released a sonic boom. A wave of power unlike anything I’d ever felt blasted me backward.
My head cracked against the stone. Stars danced behind my eyes.
The force of his boom felt like it pulverized my insides, shattering my ribs and turning my organs to soup. My breath strangled in my lungs as I tried to suck in enough air to keep going.
As my vision began to clear, I struggled to push myself up. Something hard slammed against my throat and pushed me to the ground. Fear made my eyes fly open. The Monster loomed above me, his expensive shoe pressed against my throat.
I gagged at the feeling of being beneath his shoe. Naked. Without my weapons. Too weak to throw lightning. Rage suffused my fear, and I struggled to rise. He was too strong though, and I still too weak.
“Isn’t it a pleasant surprise to see you here, FireSoul.”
His voice was sickeningly pleasant, his face that of a nondescript middle-aged man. But his magic washed over me like a wave of tar, even worse than the collar at my throat.
I spat at him.
He pressed his foot down. Pain surged as my throat felt like it crunched.
“Now, now, that’s not very nice. Girls should be nice, shouldn’t they?”
Rage lit in my chest, hotter than a thousand suns. I tried to scream at him, but no sound could escape my throat.
“I’ve looked for you for years,” he said. “But how lucky I am to find you here. A gift.”
A gift?
“Fucck ouu.” The garbled words felt good.
“That’s not nice.” He leaned down to grab my arm. “Come on, we’ll teach you a lesson about how girls are supposed to behave.”
Oh hell no. I ignored the pain screaming through my body and reached deep for my magic. It electrified my skin, but before I could release a bolt of lightning, an enormous golden blur plowed into the Monster, lifting him off me and slamming him to the ground nearby.
Aidan stood over the Monster, who sprawled on his back, the Heartstone gripped in the fist nearest me. Aidan’s great claws dug into the Monster’s chest. Nix appeare
d at Aidan’s side a second later, looming over the Monster like an angel of death.
The Monster’s gaze met mine, fury burning in its depths. A second later, he disappeared.
The dark stain of his magic on the air followed him, but so did the tug of my dragon sense. I focused on it, trying to locate the Heartstone or the Monster, to finish the job we’d started.
But the Heartstone was gone. Like, really gone. Nowhere on earth that I could sense. Same with the Monster.
But how was that possible?
Growls sounded from my left. The wolves approached Aidan, snarling, and crouched low to pounce. Beyond them, Mathias, Del, Claire, and Connor fought the remaining demons. Fire and steel flashed through the air. Their master had taken his portal with him, so they were left for the clean-up crew.
My gaze was drawn back to Aidan. Nix lunged at one of the wolves, a long spear in her hand. But Griffin-Aidan stood stock still, his gaze on the wolf who approached him.
He wouldn’t kill her.
Of course.
His father had killed her father, but he wouldn’t kill her.
I didn’t have that problem. I leaned up on my elbow, tried my best to ignore the pain in my side, and sent an enormous bolt of lightning at the wolf. Thunder cracked and the white light lit up the ruins surrounding us. The wolf tumbled to its side.
As it staggered up, I sent another bolt, this one smaller. My power was waning. The wolf fell again. I’d have felt guilty if I weren’t wearing this collar and couldn’t remember Amara’s face.
The wolf climbed to its feet. Its thick Shifter hide would keep repelling my magic.
I closed my eyes and pushed the pain to the back of my mind as I reached out for the wolf’s signature. I was going to have to fight on her terms. The muddy smell of her magic filled my nose, but I resisted gagging. Power and heat filled my limbs as they shifted. Reshaping my bones and organs gave me strength, as if anything that had been wounded had now healed.
I climbed to my feet and charged her, the wind in my fur. She turned to meet me, snarling and snapping, then lunged toward me. We collided in a blur of fur and fangs. Her sharp teeth caught me in the side, but I bowled her over and snapped at her underbelly.
My lips grazed only fur as she jerked away, but I followed, vengeance and rage propelling me. I leapt upon her, going for her throat. My fangs sank deep, blood gushing over my lips and tongue. I shook my head, tearing at her flesh.
She shifted, the wolf disappearing to reveal the woman beneath me. I released my jaw and followed suit, transforming back to human. Her eyes were closed and her throat torn out, but she wasn’t dead yet. Close, though.
My mind flashed back to Aaron, to taking his power as he lay dying. To the cell guard who I’d killed as a teenager. Covetousness welled within me, the dragon in my soul rising. I tried to force it back. I hadn’t planned to take her power. Just to kill her.
But fire filled my soul, burning me from within. The flame spread through my limbs, licking at my skin. It raced away from me, faster than I could catch it.
I pressed my hands to her shoulders. The white flame reached out to her, sinking inside her, stealing her magic. I would take her wolf Shifter into myself. Hunger surged, a force of its own that operated outside of me. Joy flared as I stole from her.
My magic examined hers, veering away from the muddy part that reeked of betrayal and evil. It sought out the pure magic, the kind that hadn’t been tainted by this woman’s grief and rage, and drew it back into me.
Her wolf’s enhanced senses flashed through me. Her animal connection to the earth grounded me. The bright light of her magic replaced the fiery pain that filled my body.
When the last of her life’s blood drained onto the white marble, the magic in my collar died. My soul buoyed, my body stopped aching.
She’d been the one to put the collar on Amara. She’d been my master.
She’d deserved what she got.
I dragged a shaky hand over my sweaty brow. What had happened to me? I’d stolen her power—and I’d liked it. That hadn’t happened with Aaron. I crawled away from her, bombarded by my heightened senses. I shook my head and forced my new Shifter senses to fade so I could think.
I’d once said that I could never steal the gifts of an unwilling supernatural. That it would destroy me.
I hadn’t realized I wouldn’t have a choice. The FireSoul within me had risen up, taken over. And I’d liked it. Too much.
Because I’d awoken it by embracing my magic?
I had no idea. But it scared me. Taking her power didn’t bother me as much as I’d expected it to. She’d been evil. She would have sold Amara to the Monster. Now I could use her Shifter power in my fight against him.
But the fact that I’d been compelled to steal it—like an addiction I couldn’t fight—freaked me the hell out. And I’d actually liked it? I shuddered.
I tried to shove the fear to the back of my mind, climbed to my feet, and looked around. My limbs felt like jello, so sitting would be good. Somewhere away from the Shifter’s body. I found a big stone block and collapsed onto it.
My friends were polishing off the demons, and the ghosts were sitting on the steps of the great building like they were watching a soccer game. Nix was backing away from the body of the other shifter. Like her sister, she’d also transformed in death.
Aidan approached me on two legs, apparently having changed back into his human form. He tugged off his jacket and crouched down, handing it to me.
“Thanks. I really gotta practice not incinerating my clothes.” I didn’t care so much about being naked while I was fighting. Trying to stay alive was pretty much the only thing on my mind. But the aftermath sucked. I wasn’t a huge fan of standing here stark naked. The memory of strapping my daggers to my thighs this evening flashed in my mind. Aidan had given those to me. “Damn it. I incinerated my daggers.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you some new ones.”
I smiled. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I’d like to.” He reached out and helped me to my feet. My legs were still wobbly from using so much power, but at least the dark taint of the collar’s magic had faded.
I reached up and pressed the latch. Tensed, I waited a second. My muscles relaxed when the thing fell to the ground, harmless.
“How did you guys get here?” I asked.
“The spell faded after a while. Though it sucked until it disappeared. Then Del and Nix tracked you. Del transported the two of us. Mathias followed with a transportation charm and brought Claire and Connor along.”
“Thanks.”
“Duh. Of course we’d come.” Nix’s voice sounded from behind me.
I turned.
She wiped her bloody hands on her jeans. “You want some pants and shoes?”
“Yeah. That would be great. This is a very undignified way to enjoy my victory.”
“I don’t mind.” Connor grinned as he approached. The short sword at his side was coated in demon blood. His bag of potion bombs was collapsed and empty.
“Shut up,” I said.
He grinned.
“Thanks for coming, though,” I said. “I know it’s not your usual thing.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t like it. Every now and again, the demons need a good beat down.”
“Yeah, yeah, brother dearest. You’re so tough.” Claire approached with a grin, her sword now sheathed over her back. Behind her, Del stood in phantom form, chatting with the ghostly ladies of the night.
Connor grabbed Claire and put her in a headlock. She squealed.
My heart lit up like the sun. This had been a hard night, but having my friends around reminded me of the good stuff.
Nix conjured a pair of jeans, socks, and boots and handed them to me. I glared at Connor. “Turn around.”
He did. But Aidan didn’t.
“You too.”
Aidan’s gaze lingered on my face before he turned. I tugged on the jeans, socks, and boots.
&
nbsp; “All clear,” I said.
They turned to face me.
“Going commando?” Connor asked.
“Seriously, shut up, you idiot,” I said.
Claire punched him. I grinned, then swayed. I’d used every bit of power I possessed and then some. I was going to need a long nap soon. Aidan wrapped his arm around me and fit me against his side, providing enough support that I could stand.
Mathias approached in human form. Like Aidan and the Shifters, he was skilled enough to not incinerate his clothes. I really needed to practice.
“The Heartstone is gone,” I said. “I couldn’t get it, and I won’t be able to.”
“He took it?” Mathias asked.
“Yeah. Somewhere that my powers don’t follow. I can’t sense him or the stone.”
“Who was he?” Mathias asked.
For a split second, I thought of telling him about my past and the Monster who hunted me. But secrets came too naturally to me. Secrets kept me safe. So I told him as much truth as I could. “The Shifters didn’t say. Just that they were getting the Heartstone for him. And that they hate Aidan. Elenora was right. They were Dougal’s daughters. Perhaps he knew of their rage and enlisted them in some plan. Whatever it is, he wants the Heartstone for it.”
Mathias nodded and stepped closer. He glanced over his shoulder at Claire and Connor, who’d walked away to join Del and the ghosts.
“I thought they looked familiar,” he said quietly. “I’ll pass on what you’ve said to the Council. It’s best that you not return to Glencarrough. You’re lucky you escaped without anyone connecting your scent to that of the captured FireSoul. I won’t tell anyone what you are, but keep your secret close.”
“Thank you.” I believed him.
“And we’ll see to it that you’re paid in full.”
“I didn’t succeed.”
“I’d say you went above and beyond.” He eyed the collar on the ground at my feet. “And you saved Amara, the most important part of this. We’ll be able to create another Heartstone, though it will take great sacrifice. It may take time, but Glencarrough will be safe again eventually.”