Page 25 of Tangle of Lust and Lethargy

The dire wolf turned her massive head toward the fighting men. A low, rumbling growl rose in her chest, promising violence.

As she tensed, ready to leap into the fray, I reached out, my hand hovering near her fur. “Maggie,” I stated. “Are you sure about this? Something’s not right here.”

Her gaze remained fixed on Justice and Garrick as if she hadn’t heard me. Or worse, didn’t care.

What dark power had taken hold of my friends and the love of my life, and how far would it push them before this was over?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Maggie’s massive wolf form charged into the fray, her powerful muscles rippling beneath her fur.

Time seemed to slow as I watched Maggie collide with the brawling men. Her jaws snapped and tore into flesh indiscriminately. Blood sprayed, droplets hanging in the air like crimson mist.

The metallic scent of blood mingled with the musky odor of wolf and the inexplicable sweet aroma.

Garrick’s pained yell and Justice’s inhuman snarl rang out. Tufts of Maggie’s black fur joined the blood, floating on the breeze like macabre confetti.

A rush of adrenaline flooded my system, and an overwhelming urge to join the melee consumed me. I wanted to be in charge, to show I was supposed to be their leader. My muscles tensed, my body instinctively preparing to leap into action. But a small voice in the back of my head held me back. I didn’t possess supernatural powers like the others. What could I possibly do?

I reached for my backpack, fingers fumbling with the zipper.

My hand plunged inside, searching for the familiar hilt of my dagger. Instead, my fingertips brushed against something smooth and cool.

A jolt of electricity raced up my arm, accompanied by a shower of golden sparks.

I jumped back with a startled yelp, nearly losing my balance. The shock wasn’t painful, but it sent a wave of clarity crashing through my mind, drowning out the siren call of violence.

My chest tightened, but my thoughts were clearer than they had been since entering this cursed meadow.

I blinked rapidly, taking in the scene before me with fresh eyes. This was madness. My friends—Garrick, Maggie, and Justice, all people I cared about deeply—were tearing each other apart.

I turned to my backpack, this time more deliberately. What had I touched? The memory of my mother’s gift surfaced through the haze. With trembling hands, I reached in and pulled out the Mirror of Aethereal.

The mirror’s surface rippled like liquid silver, reflecting distorted images of the chaos around me.

My mother’s clear, urgent voice emanated from the mirror.

“Justice and the others have been touched by lust demons. They are all around you. Jump into the portal before they touch you.”

Dread pumped through my blood, and goosebumps erupted across my cold, clammy skin.

I hesitated, torn between the instinct to flee and the desire to help my friends. The sounds of the fight behind me grew more frenzied, punctuated by growls, cries of pain, and the sickening sound of tearing flesh.

“You can’t save your friends until you get the hourglass.”

I spun, my gaze darting frantically across the meadow.

Something seemed to move through the air, a ripple in reality coming directly for me. Though I couldn’t see it, I could feel its wicked intent.

The air around me was thick and heavy, as if I was trying to move through syrup. Still, I threw myself toward the circle of standing stones. As I passed between the ancient monoliths, the world seemed to twist and blur around me. I couldn’t hear Justice, Garrick, or Maggie in their death fight.

My stomach lurched like I was in freefall, every nerve in my body screaming in alarm.

An icy, bitter wind whipped around me, its razor-sharp gusts slicing through my clothes and seeping into my bones. I crashed into something unyielding and frigid. The impact forced the air from my lungs. I gasped and blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision as stars danced before my eyes.

The biting cold seeped into my skin, numbing my fingers and toes. As my senses slowly returned, I became aware of an eerie silence broken only by the howling wind. Snowflakes, sharp as tiny daggers, pelted my face. I struggled to push myself up, but my hands sank into a thick blanket of snow.

Disoriented, I looked around, searching for any sign of Garrick, Maggie, or Justice. But all I could see was an endless expanse of white, broken only by jagged ice formations looming like silent sentinels in the distance.

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