“Because I believe I may be about to become her second familiar.” He breathed those words and there was a heavy amount of irritation with them. “She needs our help. She’s young and wildly powerful but blocked from her elemental magic and forced to face the darkest parts of her heart and soul. And her fear makes her more dangerous than anything else.”
“Yes,” she said softly, “she has a right to that fear.”
“Never said she didn’t.” A rumble slid out of him. “The fire is going to keep coming for us.”
And then I was deeper into the sleep of pure exhaustion and I didn’t try to hold myself out of it even a little. So, the bear thought he was going to be my new familiar?
We’d have to see about that.
*_*_*_*
They woke me two hours later.
“Pam, the caravan is ahead.” Oka’s voice was more inside my head than out and that was likely the only reason I woke.
I blinked, seeing nothing but white fur floating in front of my face. It reminded me of a book I’d read when I was a child. The Truffula trees from The Lorax. What was the name of the author?
“Dr. Seuss,” the bear said.
Oh, shit. He was in my head?
“Only a little. It’s filled with that cat of yours.” He laughed. The bear laughed at me. All I could think about was how horrifying it was to have a man inside my head. One thing to share my head space with Oka, I trusted her, but a man?
Jesus Roosevelt Christ.
His laugh rumbled through his back and under my skin and my thoughts immediately went in a direction I didn’t like.
What happened when you were attracted to a familiar? How the hell could I feel attracted to a bear? What was wrong with me?
Oka choked and burst out laughing and my face flamed hot. “Stop. I need to walk,” I said.
Oka kept on laughing and I could feel the bear’s confusion. Shit, I could feel him and his emotions already.
“I’ll bet you like that,” Oka snickered.
I put my hands over my face. “Stop it. I literally don’t have the energy to deal with this right now.” I slid off the bear’s back and looked behind us. I wish I could say the flames were nowhere to be seen, but that was not the case.
They were only a few hundred yards back. Less than the length of football field. A proper football field, not that Americanized version.
I did a slow spin, knowing it was eating up time. But I had to see just what we were dealing with. The flames weren’t just behind us but curling to our right.
“South, they’re pushing us south,” I said. I stumbled into a slow jog, waving at the caravan.
The drivers slowed, and Richard was the first to leap from the truck. He ran back and caught me up in a big hug, ignoring the fact that I was walking with a tiger on one side and a bear on the other.
“Pamela!” Just my name, that’s all he said. But it was enough.
“Think you got room for three hitchhikers?” I asked.
“Not if they are staying this size.” Richard let me go and glanced at Oka, then the bear.
Oka shifted down to her house cat form and leapt up, not into my arms, but a very surprised Richard’s.
I smiled. “She knows I’m tired. She’s going to make you carry her.”
We started toward the trucks, hurrying, but not running. I glanced at the bear. Curiosity rolled through me. What would his smaller form be? A teddy bear?
He took a mock swipe at my leg. “Insolent.”
And then he shifted.
Not into another animal . . . but into a man.
And not an old man as I’d thought, but a man closer to my age than Richard’s. His hair was a light blond with a chunk of white in his bangs that hung over his face, partially hiding those blue eyes of his. He was, to say the least, a well put-together giant of a man. For the first time in how long I didn’t know, I was looking up into someone’s face. His shoulders were broad, and despite his size, he looked to be nothing but muscle.
“Wow, you’re a big one,” Richard said, clasping the bear-man’s hand. “Glad to have you with us. Thank you for helping Pamela.”
“Mac,” the bear shifter said. “And Pamela is my reason for being here.”
Richard’s eyebrows went up and again my face flamed hot. Damn it, this was not how things were supposed to go, were they?
Oka made herself comfortable on Richard’s shoulder and I saw the way her lips quirked to one side. Amusement flowed through our bond.
“We need to move,” I said, breaking through all the other stuff going on. “We have to go until we find water. It’s our only chance.”
We loaded up into the back of the slowest truck. I sat on the tailgate and Mac sat beside me, quiet as we watched the witch fire consume everything in its path.
“Who put those bracelets on you?” Mac asked after about ten minutes.
“A troop of elementals. I . . . the Sylph’s name is Jayla.” I didn’t look at him but stared at the bracelet with the clear diamond in it. The pain that had erupted in my head as I’d tried to connect with air and use it was still there, an ache in the back of my skull.
“How . . . did Oka avoid the pit?” I asked.
“You caught her and tossed her aside,” he said. “You don’t remember?”
A chill swept down my spine. “I don’t. I tried to connect with air, tried to catch her and the pain just overtook me, and I saw the Sylph.”
He grunted. “This is old magic they used on you.” He touched one of the bracelets. “A dark elemental magic. They must be very afraid of you to use it.”
He wasn’t really telling me anything I hadn’t guessed. I just had never put it into words before.
I wrapped my hands around my wrists. “Any chance you can take them off?”
“If I could, I would.” He shook his head.
“Any idea who might be able to?”
His blue eyes lifted to mine. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry.”
I nodded and looked toward the blue and green flames. Really, I hadn’t expected a different answer.
The flames were relentless and drove us farther south with each passing hour, much farther south than we wanted to go. All day they drove us onward, southward. My fingers itched to do exactly what Mac suggested and use wind to hold the flames back. But I couldn’t, of course.
The trolls, and whoever their master was, were driving us, but to what?
I checked those who’d taken some bumps and bruises when the trolls attacked, but by some miracle, no one was badly injured. Except for Sage.
More than once, I snuck a glance at the man sitting close enough to me that his thigh brushed mine. It took me two hours to drum up the courage to ask him the question I couldn’t figure out on my own.
“I thought familiars were only ever animals? How is it that you are . . . a true shifter?” I asked.
Mac turned and looked at me through his bangs. “Elementals liked their slaves. And some of their slaves turned out to be shifters, who turned out to be great familiars for those the Mother Goddess had not gifted with a real familiar.”
I blinked a few times as that new piece of information sunk in. Familiars tended to be gifted only to the strongest elementals, to help guide and strengthen them. But if a weaker elemental could have a familiar connected to them . . . no doubt they would do it.
“Is that why you seem . . . distant when you speak inside my head?” I asked.
Behind us, a spate of whispers started up. Right, the idea that I could be somewhat telepathic would freak people out.
Mac shrugged. “That, and Oka has the first position as your familiar. I’ve connected to you, but it’s . . . different.”
That was an understatement. “What did you owe Faris that you had to become my familiar?” The only thing I could think was that Faris had saved his life. How else could he owe the vampire such a big favor? And the truth was, Faris didn’t save anyone for nothing.
He shook his head and his broad shoulder
s tensed. “That’s not a story I am going to be sharing anytime soon.”
So much for that line of questioning. I opened my mouth to ask him another question and he put his hand over my mouth. I frowned and shoved it off.
“Hey—” I said, and he cut me off again, this time by the look in his eyes.
He tipped his head to the side. “You hear that?”
A distant rumble, like thunder, almost, but not quite.
Oka climbed out of the back window of the truck and bounced over to me. “There’s a river ahead.”
Perfect, that was exactly what we needed. The witch fire could burn on the top of the water, but only if there was an accelerant. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to cross.
If we could get across it—that was the key. If it wasn’t too deep. The trucks rumbled to a stop and I jumped out. My legs wobbled, worn-out even with the rest in the truck, even with the sleep on Mac’s back.
That bloody black magic literally sucked the life out of me. Which was one more reason not to use it.
Yet I knew if I had to, to protect these people I would. Just thinking about it made my stomach twist and my skin bead with a cold, nervous sweat.
I hurried to the front of the caravan, my cloak swirling out around me, pushing in front of me with the wind at my back.
I bent down on the banks of the river and strode in, despite the ice cold against my legs. Mac was beside me in a flash.
“Shit, this is cold,” he grumbled.
I laughed. “You’re a polar bear and this water is too cold?”
He shrugged. “I’m not without an awareness to ‘cold as a witch’s tit’ ice water.”
My eyebrows shot up. “That’s an incorrect statement. Just so you know.”
From the truck behind us, I felt Oka’s mirth, and my lips tipped up slowly as Mac closed his eyes, his face paling.
“Sorry, old habits.”
We stood in the middle of the river. While wide, it wasn’t deep, the level coming up just above my knees. I waved my hand for Richard to get moving.
Richard driving the lead truck gunned it, kicking up some dust on the banks. The Humvee with the kids in it—their noses pressed to the glass as they stared down at the water—was next. The final truck was the slowest.
I stared at the flames as they visibly picked up speed. “Make them hurry,” I yelled.
Mac yelled at them to gun it, again. But they couldn’t go any faster and I knew it.
I stood in the river and stared as the flames took form, dancing into the shape of a woman.
She raised her hands and the flames were fanned to life. If they touched the back of the truck, all the occupants would be consumed. I snapped my hands up and screamed as the black magic ripped out of me, like a wound being torn open.
It took everything I had to direct it to the blue and green flames. The dark magic was like a wall and it slammed into the flames with a tremendous boom that rippled the air.
Oka was suddenly there in her tiger form. “Breathe, Pamela. Breathe. You’ve got this.”
“I can’t hold it. It won’t listen to me!” I cried out. Pain and fear undulated and danced through me like thousand knives slashing at me all at once. Tears tracked my cheeks, hot and then gone with the waves of heat.
“You have to,” she said. “And you will.”
I locked eyes with her and did as she said. I focused on my breathing and Oka’s chartreuse eyes. With her at my side, I could do anything. The muscles in my upper chest began to spasm, my fingers went numb, and I was panting for air.
The flames beat against the black wall of magic I held onto by the skin of my teeth.
“I’ll tell you when,” Oka said. “You are strong enough, never doubt it, Pamela.”
Mac was still yelling at them to go, and then there was a roar as he shifted into his polar bear form.
A rush of heat blew in from behind me and with it the sound of grass burning, of the crinkle of dried brush eaten up in flames.
Oka looked behind me. “Hold the wall, Pam, we’ve got time.”
Mac splashed to a stop beside us and let out a snarl. “Now, let go of your magic!”
Oka shook her head. “The last truck hasn’t cleared.”
All I could do was hang on to the wall as the magic fought me, the flames pushing toward that last truck, edging across water, and then dying out a foot in.
And that’s when I knew for sure . . . “There’s another witch,” I whispered. “She’s in the flames. She’s directing them. She’s the one who wants us to go south.”
Oka and Mac spun, each facing a different direction, but the witch was nowhere near. I let my eyes finally lift to see the final truck spin out once and then power up the far slope of the river.
Safe.
There was nothing fancy about it, I let go of my connection to the wall and the magic whipped back to me, hitting me so hard I flew back into the water.
Mac took hold of my cloak and dragged me through the river.
I went under, spluttering as he towed me the first ten feet. I came up and rolled to my belly, barely able to keep my head above the water even though it wasn’t all that deep.
“Oka!”
“I’m here!” She splashed along beside me. We were swept downstream a hundred feet or so before Mac dragged me out of the water and onto the bank.
I looked back upstream. The blue-green flames twinkled and danced at the water’s edge, but they didn’t cross.
Mac shifted back to his human form, leaned over and helped me stand. I stumbled a little and he caught me up in his arms. Steadying me.
He smiled down at me, blue eyes sparkling under the shag of white bangs. “Good work, witch.”
“Mac, what’s your real name?” I asked.
Oka shifted back to her house cat form and butted her head against my leg. Mac let me go, the warmth of his arms a literal sense of loss. I bent and picked up Oka.
“Short for Macmahon. It’s an old Scots name. My mom was a stickler for the old way of doing things.”
I started toward the back of the caravan. “Thank you. For . . . everything. You’ve saved my life twice now.”
“That’s my job.”
“For how long?” The question popped out of me, catching us both off guard.
He shrugged his broad shoulders. He really was a big guy. But a polar bear shifter would be big, wouldn’t they? “I don’t know. Faris didn’t give me a time limit. And I’ll be honest, you intrigue me. He said I would be helping a witch. I just didn’t realize . . .” It was apparently his turn to trail off. Mac shrugged again. “I’ll go see what I can do to help the others. Try not to get killed while I’m gone?”
Oka rubbed her cheek against mine. “I’ve kept her alive this long. I don’t really need your help, you know.”
He reached out and grabbed the tip of her tail and gave it a tug. She hissed at him and he walked away, laughing.
Oka growled. “Oh, he—”
“Just yanked your chain?” I smiled.
She grunted. “You’ve got the hots for him.”
My jaw dropped. “Totally inappropriate, incorrect, unfounded.”
“Sure thing, but I’m inside your head. He intrigues you, first man to do so in three years. You could do worse. Then again, you’ve not had much choice, have you?”
I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. “I could do worse is the meme for our new world when it comes to choosing men.”
We laughed together, because it was ridiculous, and the stress of the day lent itself to laughter, uncontrolled and full of the realization that we’d survived again. If barely.
I urged the caravan to move on from the river and around the next bend in the road before I let them stop.
I was not the only one exhausted, and when we stopped, there was a physical sagging of every person I saw.
Even with that, they muttered to each other, unable to stay still as they looked around. Their nerves were showing, and after the last few days, I
couldn’t blame them. It certainly felt like the world had turned on them. First the wolves, then the zombies, now the trolls and the fire. What next?
I approached a small group that contained Tristan and a few others. Tristan gave me a nod. “Good job.”
“Thanks.”
I didn’t give them any platitudes that it would be okay. There was no knowing what would happen next.
I worked my way through the groups, checking to make sure there were no injuries and doing my best to calm them. The fire is stopped, and the fire will keep anything from coming up behind us; you can rest now was my mantra to them.
When I passed Mac, he was off to my left, helping two women set up their tent. I wasn’t sure if they needed the help or just wanted Mac to stand a little closer, seeing as they kept touching his biceps, which made me laugh.
He lifted his head as I went by and gave me a wink.
Cue the instant flush of heat in my face. Damn it, Oka was right. I did kind of have the hots for him. I slowed my feet, listening in on Mac’s conversation with the two women.
“But Richard didn’t tell us we were staying here,” I heard one of them argue with him. “Are you sure we should set up a tent? Do you have a tent? You could stay with us.”
I choked a bit. Holy hand grenades, that was hardly subtle.
Mac cleared his throat. “I think Richard is a bit indisposed, at the moment. The tent breaks down easy enough if he wants to move.” Mac’s voice was calm, but the women still seemed unsure. I lifted a hand to the women, catching their eyes.
“I’m going to check on Richard now. The fire is stopped so we’ll stay here for a bit,” I told them.
One of the women glanced across the river, the fear clear in her eyes. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep here tonight.”
I glanced at Mac, who just shook his head. “You’re safe now, I promise. The witch and I will keep it that way.”
Her eyes bounced between Mac and me until they landed on Oka, who purred and sidled up next to one of the ladies. “She’s a tiger, huh?”
I nodded. “She’s got some bite behind her purr, that’s for sure.”
Oka leaned into the woman’s leg, offering her some comfort, and it worked. She visibly relaxed, and even set to gathering sticks for a fire, although I wasn’t sure we’d need it. I, for one, had had enough fire for one day. I wanted nothing more than a bed and two solid days of sleep.
Aimless Witch Page 17