Page 67 of Resurgence of the Pack

Greg and I thundered towards the thief as Torrance grew a fireball and rolled it towards the wolves. It was huge and ponderous so it was easy for the agile wolves to leap out of its way before it fizzled out uselessly a few paces away from them.

The thief had pulled the bag off his shoulder and Esme and I leapt to stop him from putting the orb inside it. As we landed on his chest, we didn’t hesitate – Esme never hesitates. She bit down on his forearm, tearing through muscle and sinew and even chomping through bone. He gave an unearthly scream and dropped the orb as he clutched at his ruined arm.

Torrance sent another fireball rolling towards the attacking wolves. Before it could reach them, the eyes of one of the Staffordshire Pack wolves turned blue and it used air magic to blow the fire back at him. Torrance didn’t blink; he knew he could absorb the flames easily.

I hate this bit,Terrance muttered into my mind and winced. Before I could ask what he meant, the thief pulled a packet of something from his pocket with his good arm and threw it into the fire. I saw Torrance’s eyes widen in panic but he could do no more as the fires hit him. And this time … he didn’t absorb them. Lit up like a beacon, he stood there screaming.

Langston ran towards him. ‘TORR!’ he shouted in anguish.

I shifted into human. ‘Drop and roll!’ I screamed at Torrance.

But he didn’t drop and roll, he just ran around in circles, still screaming as his own flames burned him alive.

Torrance, call the fire to us and then throw it somewhere else!I suggested urgently. He did as I bade, pulling the flames from himself and tossing them away. In his haste to end his suffering, he tossed the spare flames towards the seat of power – where they instantly caught on the wooden structure.

This was a fucking mess.

‘Get water!’ I screamed at the Staffordshire pack. ‘Hurry! Save the seat of power!’

The wolves stared at us, frozen by indecision. They’d been braced for an attack and we were interlopers, but now we were talking aboutsavingthe seat of power. Were we friend or foe?

DO IT!Esme barked.

After a moment’s hesitation half of the confused wolves loped back to the mansion to get water; they’d been whipped into action by our alpha command, even if they didn’t understand how that was possible. The other halfstayed and watched us, growling threateningly but not taking any steps to attack us.

I looked around, torn. I wanted to help Torrance but, sick as it made me, I turned back to the thief. He was the reason that I’d come here; I’d help TorranceafterI had the orb.

I was just in time to see the orb’s light flicker, pulse and go out. The man in black frowned but still dropped it into his go-bag. Son of a bitch!

The Staffordshire wolves staggered and fell, and Langston gasped and dropped to the floor like he’d been punched. He lay there dumbly in his wolf form, slowly blinking his golden eyes, then he shifted into human form. He sat up slowly and turned to me, his eyes wide. ‘My air power! I can’t reach it!’ he panted in panic.

The Staffordshire wolves must have reached the same conclusion. Feeling weakened, they beat a hasty retreat back to their stronghold.

Recriminations boiled through me. I had screwed up and I had failed. The orb was in the go-bag being sent to who-knew-where; Torrance was covered in severe burns that he couldn’t possibly recover from, and Nina was on fire. God, I was so rubbish at this. Everything that could get fucked up had gotten fucked up.

Beat yourself up later,Esme snapped.Fix it now!

She was right: feeling sorry for myself wasn’t helping anyone – and God knows, there were plenty of people in need of help.

Abruptly, Langston spotted Torrance, staggered to his feet and collapsed next to his former best friend. Torrance’s skin was a mix of blistered skin and blackened flesh. Not an inch of his alabaster skin remained, not that I could see anyway, and his clothes had melted and meshed with his scorched torso.

‘Oh my God! Torr!’ Langston reached out and cradled his head. ‘Torr, you’ll be okay. We’ll get you to a healer.’

I shook my head. Torrence wasn’t going to be okay, not by a long shot; he had minutes left of his life, if that. The shock or the wounds were killing him, and we didn’t have time to waste. If I was going to save him, I had to do it now. The orb was lost to me – for now – but at least I could do this. Hopefully.

Torrance was hanging on to consciousness by the barest thread. He mumbled something I couldn’t make out. I turned to Greg. ‘Put out that bloody fire!’ I ordered, pointing to the smoke pouring from Nina and then I ran headfirst into a burning building.

Because I couldn’t save Torrance without a little help.

Chapter 34

‘Hello?’ I called out as I walked into the seat of power. ‘Nina?’

The house shuddered around me but didn’t reply. I pulled my piping power up from my gut and reached out to the house.Nina, honey! I need you to focus.

I’m on fire!she screamed. It was a fair point.

Help is coming,I promised.I’ve sent the wolves to get water. You’re going to be okay,I tried to reassure her.

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