Page 60 of Of Flame and Fate

Her legs tremble, giving away the amount of energy she expended. I stroke her hair. “Honey, I don’t think you should even walk, at least not yet.”

“She won’t have to,” Gemini says. His nostrils flare from the amount of blood he scents on her. “Let me carry you, Emme,” he offers. “You’ve already done enough.”

Bren opens his mouth, ready to argue, but ultimately edges further away from her.

Shayna pops into the compartment with Koda behind her. He brushes off the broken glass covering his arms and shoulders. Lightning flashes behind him, making him appear more ominous and giving me a view of the blood soaking through his white T-shirt.

The front windshield must have shattered, and like our wolves, he used his body to protect Shayna. “You dudes, okay?” she asks.

Her position from the cockpit must have provided one hell of a play-by-play, and she’s likely shaken up. But Shayna is very much a 'don’t panic unless we’re out of weapons and we’re about to be eaten’ kind of gal. We landed, and despite the lightning and thunder continuing to browbeat the mountain, that’s good enough for her. “Time to move, team. Can’t stay here all night,” she reminds us.

She’s right. By now, Johnny is openly weeping in pain. I start toward him when a wave of magic sends me sprawling backward. Gemini catches me, holding me in place.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

My vision sharpens as I feel my irises go white. “It’s Destiny,” I say, her presence barraging my senses. I jerk my head to the right, expecting her to materialize. “She’s coming.”

“They can’t be together,” Gemini snaps. “We have to put some distance between them.”

Bren and Koda charge toward Johnny, breaking through the straps and setting him free.

“It hurts,” Johnny cries, his moans turning to sobs. “It hurts so much.”

Koda throws him over his shoulder, his long legs kicking through the bent metal door and busting it open. Shayna chases after him. I stumble forward, my legs leaving the ground when Gemini sweeps me into his arms.

“Babe, don’t,” I say. “Get Emme.”

“Bren has her,” he answers tightly.

As he speaks, Bren races past us, embracing Emme close to his body.

We’re in a sprint straight down the mountain, only to cut a sharp left when lightning strikes and demolishes an entire row of trees hugging the road.

Through the long, thick branches of sugar pines hovering over us, I catch a glimpse of the thickening clouds as they gather momentum. I think it’s close to dawn, it has to be. But there’s no trace of light. Darkness reins, its rule interrupted by the harsh appearance of lightning as the storm reaches another pinnacle.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“Four miles from the peak,” Gemini replies.

He leaps down the rough edge, his feet sliding and maneuvering through the sharp rocks and thick vegetation. Koda glances back, making sure Shayna stays close. He and Bren are barefoot, not that you would know it by how fast they’re hauling ass.

We reach the next steep, the ground leveling slightly when something passes us, moving like a blur of motion.

“Tye,no!” Gemini yells.

A white lion barrels into Koda, knocking him and Johnny across the terrain. Koda’s back strikes a tree, the impact ricocheting him off the trunk. As he rolls, hechanges, into a very pissed and ferocious red wolf.

Gemini’s twin wolf rips through his back, passing us and tearing through the ferns and rocks to stand between Koda and Tye.

Bren jets forward, leaving Emme with Shayna who’s guarding Johnny’s limp form. From one leap to the next, hechanges,the large paws of his brown wolf digging into the earth and kicking back the soil.

It takes all three wolves to subdue Tye’s large lion form.

Gemini sets me down between my sisters. I’ve never seen Tye so out of control, his long fangs snapping and his claws raking in the air, fighting to reach Johnny.

“Enough,” Gemini growls, stomping forward.

Thunder roars, shaking the ground and sending more lightning to zig-zag across the sky. An explosion of light bursts on either side of us, one yellow and one silver, materializing the two head witches, their long staffs raised high in the air.

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