Page 51 of Gone Hunting

“I think so,” Liam says. He eases to his feet with Celia’s help, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“This whole thing ismessedup,” Koda says.

I can’t argue. I don’t know where Mimi is headed with this. I’m only hoping it’s somewhere semi-sane.

The egg cracks open and a baby owl spills out. It chirps, looking at Celia. It chirps again.

“I think it’s hungry,” Liam says. “Hey, Celia. Are you up to breastfeeding?”

“It hasa beak, Liam,” Celia reminds him.

“Is that a no?” Liam asks.

About seven scorpions spill through the crack in the ward. Koda kills the first two.Geminiand I go after the other ones. Celia slams the poker into a scorpion that escapes our wrath, making it scream as its guts spurt out.

The little owl scoots toward Celia, stopping in front of the mutilated scorpion. It starts to feed on it, causing its feathers to sprout and its body to grow. A few bites. That’s all it takes for the little owl to triple in size.

By the time it finishes growing, the owl is almost as tall as my hip and we’ve squashed at least three dozen more scorpions.

Koda curses as he looks out across Mimi’s property. “There’re still hundreds out there!”

The owl hoots, glancing up at the dead owls lining the ceiling. Celia and Liam jump when one that’s missing an eye blinks at them with two very new, very bright eyes. It flutters its feathers, flapping its wings several times before leaving its perch to devour another dead scorpion.

Another hoot follows a rise of magic that screams of Mimi.

“Gemini?” I say, watching the last few owls come to life.

Gemini steps out of the way of the swooping birds, watching them eagerly feast on the scorpions. “Yes?” he asks.

“Owls hunt and kill scorpions, don’t they?”

I don’t have to look at him to know he’s smiling. I’m too busy taking in how fast the owls are growing. “Scorpions are part of their diet,” Gemini agrees.

Mimi is in dire need of a straightjacket and she’s borderline psychotic and unpleasant most of the time.

But that hag can wield a spell.

Chapter Fourteen

The owls lead the charge, swooping out of the cave behind the one Liam birthed, its fervent hoots urging them on. The wolves and I follow, beating into the scuttling scorpions with our feet and bare hands.

The owls were dead until moments ago. As Mimi’s spell fades, they’ll likely return to their posts. Until then, they’re living and soaring andeating, flapping their immense wings and tearing into the scorpions.

The leader dives down, snagging one of the larger scorpions in its talons. Another jets toward it, snagging a claw. Together, they rip it in half, the remains of the scorpion sending the other owls into a frenzy and enticing them to attack.

“Look out!” Celia screams.

I think she’s yelling to Liam, until the original scorpion, now longer and meaner, whips its tail right at my heart.

The stinger grazes my skin, but it doesn’t penetrate. I dodge out of its reach when it strikes again, only for it to turn on Celia when it sees her exposed.

Celia swings the poker and clips the tail. The scorpion shakes off the dead stump, growing another stinger in the time it takes before he leaps again. The creature’s movement are quick and exact. Celia takes another swing, aiming low. She barely nicks it and doesn’t come close to hurting it.

She leaps backward, the wicked thing slicing at the fabric of her dress and almost stinging her. I break open the two other scorpions I’m fighting like lobsters and go after the one bent on killing Celia.

I don’t wait for it to strike again. I snatch it by the tail and pound its body into the ground like a hammer. Over and over it collides against the earth until the tail rips off and the lower half stops moving.

“Aric!” Celia yells.

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