Page 70 of Cursed Wolf

A scream pours past my throat, and I backpedal, but my instincts have other ideas. One second, I’m trying to find a way to escape, and the next, my hands jut out in front of me, and magic sparks on my fingertips.

All I hear is the pounding in my head as the zap of power snaps outward, colliding with the zombie. He convulses and drops to the dirt ground, his body seeming to cave in on itself, decomposing right before my eyes until there’s nothing but dust.

Wrenching my gaze to the other creatures coming toward me fast, I can hear the grunting sound of fighting behind me.

“Ragnar,” I call, snapping my attention toward them where two zombies are down, and the guys are in a fight with others, Crius beneath one. Panic rips into me. Not waiting, I hurl my magic toward his undead, along with the other two. The men grunt as they turn toward me in shock, but I don’t have time to explain that I’m going to kick all the undead ass. My body thrums with each attack, and as my mother did, I focus on drawing the energy out of them.

I did it to the zombies by the river when we rushed to the mountains to my mother’s home, and I’ll do it now.

“Narah!” Ragnar sounds panicked.

“Give me a sec,” I yell as I thrust my hands out, sucking all the energy out of these fuckers. More of them come out of a nearby home, teeth gnashing, fast feet carrying them toward me. Instead of retreating, I rush toward them as lines of power dance in the air.

Is it bad that I'm enjoying myself?

My body tingles as I turn more of them to literal dust. Stepping forward, my legs wobble beneath me, and I can feel the heat of my magic running up my arms.

“Narah, stop!” Ragnar snaps so loudly behind me, I flinch.

The last zombie collapses into a pile of dust, and I call back my power, surprising myself with how much more control I have now. When I’m convinced no more undead are coming for us, I turn to my men with a bit too much excitement and have trouble standing up. Stumbling, I catch myself, then lift my gaze.

“Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty—” My words catch in my throat when I find the three staring at me as though they’ve seen a ghost. Stone’s mouth is open, and Nikos is frozen in a strange pose, his hands to his stomach and his face a statue in permanent shock.

“Why are you staring at me that way? You’re kinda scaring me.” I keep peering over my shoulder, looking for more undead.

“Narah… your skin.” Ragnar’s voice shakes, which makes me even more scared.

Glancing down at my arms, I scream. Seeing pale white skin with my veins blue and bulging, I rub my arms.

Goddess, what happened to me?

“Make it go away. What’s going on?” I cry out as tears pool in my eyes. I’m frightened and so confused as a wave of heavy exhaustion slides through every inch of me. A sudden bone-crushing ache cuts through me, and I cry out as my knees give out from under me. Ragnar catches me before I hit the ground. I’m in his arms in no time, crying as terror bites into me.

“What’s going on with me?” All I can think about is Harmony. I have to see her again. I have to!

Stone and Nikos are at my side, touching my brow and arms.

“You’re freezing to the touch,” Stone murmurs, his voice cracking. “Why would you draw all that dead energy into you?”

“What do you mean?” I blink up at him. “I did it to a couple of zombies a few months ago, and I was fine.” Exhaustion comes at me once more, and the world spins.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Stone says, his hand on my cheek.

“I look like some kind of alien. Am I going to die?” Trembling, I stare at my arms again.

Everyone looks at Stone for a response.

“Well, when you take energy into your body, it impacts you, and if you draw in something dead, your body will be impacted. It could even kill you if you go overboard.”

“Crap, you’re really scaring me. Please tell me I’ll be okay, and I’ll never use my magic on a zombie again.”

Just as Stone begins to explain, the world tilts. I grasp onto Ragnar.

“Everything keeps spinning.”

In a flash, my world goes dark… dragging me down with it.

21

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