Page 61 of Of Flame and Fate

The witches run toward us. Genevieve’s long black hair sails behind her, mere steps from a witch with long silver hair, her indigo gown blending into the night.

“Taran, move Emme,” Genevieve orders.

I don’t argue, lifting Emme and trying to coax Shayna out of the way. Her hand is gripping her sword, her gaze set on Tye. “I’ve never seen him like this,” she says.

She didn’t like him hurting Koda. None of us did. They’re supposed to be friends. Except nothing is normal, not the storm, not Johnny, not anything we’ve seen.

“Genevieve,” I say. “What’s happening?”

“Fate and Destiny can’t co-exist,” she says, mirroring Gemini’s exact words. She slams the edge of her staff into the ground, tracing a circle around Johnny’s writhing body. On the opposite side, the other witch does the same.

Genevieve steals a glance my way. “The skies are reacting to their magic. If Ines and I don’t create a strong enough barrier to encase him, and buy the others time to get Destiny off the mountain, the mountain will split.”

“The mountain willsplit?”

“Yes,” she replies, moving quickly. “Fate and Destiny should never meet.” She looks up and toward the road. “She’s coming. She’s coming now.”

What feels like a tsunami of magic rages down the mountain. Johnny is screaming, but over his screams, and the increasing clamor of thunder and lightning, I hear her.

Destiny’s cries fill my ears, the anguish in her sobs palpable. The air shifts, each particle filling with the extent of her hurt.

Tye, now human, slowly rises, his naked skin dripping with sweat. “What are you doing to her?” he roars, his fierce gaze fixed on Johnny.

The wolves growl, snapping their fangs and keeping Tye from Johnny.

Genevieve and Ines begin chanting in their respective languages, their voices raised and their magic pumping into each syllable. But it’s not enough. Their words of power only mildly affect the cacophony of energy advancing toward us.

The witches dig their staffs into the ground, yelling over the destruction of the escalating storm. A globe, alternating in sparks of silver and yellow surround Johnny, growing denser with each punch of magic the witches use to reinforce it.

More lightning, more thunder. The storm is closing in, bringing down more trees. Genevieve and Ines are now screaming, putting everything they have into their spell. But they’re only two people trying to stop a dam of energy from bursting.

Wicked winds swirl, turning the small space between us into a cyclone of divination, and leaving us in the eye.

Kodachangesback. “It’s not working,” he hollers. His long hair smacks against his face. “We have to get our mates out.”

Gemini looks to the road. “We can’t leave the Fate, nor can we risk drawing him closer to Destiny!” he yells. “Genevieve, we need a stronger blockade around the Fate.”

“We’re trying!” she counters. Her voice is barely audible, and like Ines, her entire body is quaking.

“Proteggere!” Genevieve commands. “Proteggere!”

“Protéger!” Ines orders. “Protéger!”

Protect they mean, nourishing the spell with all their might. They’re trying and formidable. They’re just not enough.

That tsunami of power I felt approaching amplifies, ready to drop as an army of SUVs careen down the mountain.

My right arm shakes uncontrollably, making it hard to keep my feet. Each jolt of lightning that strikes the earth slaps at my power, challenging it and attempting to cast us aside.

Oh, and my arm doesn’t like it one bit.

The familiar buzz surges through me, coming to life and increasing in viciousness the closer the strikes land. My arm is angry.No, I’m angry. The foreign power I’m feeling more like a threat and an invasion, rather than something natural and welcomed.

I don’t think about what I’m doing. I follow my arm’s lead, permitting my fear and frustration to soak my magic in wrath. It’s now my arm and I challenging the clashing energy, calling it out and making it clear it’s not the only thing here with power.

I ball my hand into a fist and raise it, barely keeping the flowing energy tensing my muscles contained. “Power,” I whisper, my vision clearing as the potent energy effluxes and comes crashing down. “Give me power!”

All at once the bolts of lightning rampaging the sky thread, forming a flashing cobweb of light that join at the center and become one.

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