Page 32 of Wildfire Witch

In a way, they were evenly matched. Bulk and power versus grace and discipline—neither could get a hit in.

“Rusty! Cer! Cut it out,” I called.

The combined noise of rushing wind and dragon roaring was going to catch attention quickly, if it hadn’t already. They fought on, locked into this duel. Seth tugged on my arm, muttering, “They can take care of themselves.”

“I’m sure, but…”

I pulled free of Seth’s grip and checked with Aodhnait.“A little fire? That shower felt like it did wonders for our heat.”

“Yes, but be conservative. The limit is still dangerously close,”she said.

I waited for my opening and stopped near the clashing men. My palms heated and burst into flames, which I scattered in a bright show of sparks and popping embers when I clapped. “Stop!” I yelled.

Rusty and Ceridor froze. The dragon shifter had a grip on the wind fae’s staff, his other arm cocked back to punch. Ceridor had his shoulders angled to roll and rip his weapon away with the motion. They both turned to stare at me.

I propped my fists on my hips. “We’re all on the same team. Let’s go, and I can explain later,” I said.

“Youallowedthis mongrel to paw at you?” Ceridor asked, his frosty fae presence coming through in his voice, despite still appearing to be a shifter.

“What in the flying fuck is happening?” Rusty demanded. He shoved Ceridor away by the staff, tail flicking with agitation.

“Okay, really short version—” I began.

“Uh, guys!” Seth called nervously.

I pointed to each of them and spoke in a blur. “Ceridor, wind fae. Seth, water witch. Rusty, earthen dragon shifter. All fated to me, the cursed witch. Okay? Let’s go.”

The lip curled, disgusted expressions Ceridor and Rusty leveled at one another could’ve curdled milk. They probably couldn’t have had a worse first introduction to one another. But they joined me in looking around the corner of the hall, where several armed fire bros were rushing into some semblance of a battle formation.

Rusty, still half-shifted, bared all his fangs. “This’ll be fun. I’ve wanted to smash some of these idiots’ heads in since I got here.”

“Child’s play,” Ceridor said under his breath. He whirled his staff in preparation, drawing a cyclone of dusty air toward him.

They charged ahead of us, while I glanced toward Seth. “I’m supposed to be the driver,” he said. But he held up his hand, solidifying the humidity in the air to droplets of water and then into two wickedly sharp knives made of ice. He handed me one, holding the other point downward and ready to stab someone if necessary.

The knife he’d given me started to melt in my hand immediately. I pressed it to my forehead for some cooling relief before it was completely gone. “I can’t use any more of my magic. Guess we wait for an opening,” I replied.

Rusty’s roar shook the building, sending a shower of dust and plaster down on us. I winced as he grabbed the first shifter he could reach and crushed his skull with a terriblecrunch.

The other fire bros reacted a heartbeat later, striking back with a deafening report of gunfire. Ceridor willed the wind to send each shot wildly off course and I ducked back around the corner with Seth so we wouldn’t get caught by a stray bullet. I reached out and took his hand, closing my eyes.

The wet, soothing presence of his magic was there, just beyond my reach. I’d brute forced the melding of our magic back in the apartment, but now I felt we didn’t have the connection to do something like that without catastrophic results for my body. I opened my eyes and smiled up at him. “If I don’t get another moment to say it, thank you for coming to save me. But how are you here?”

Even glamored to look like a stranger, Seth smiled his perfect white grin. “You’re welcome. We tracked your phone until they turned it off or destroyed it.”

I immediately patted my pockets. I’d completely forgotten about my phone in the “excitement” of the last few days. Whatever its fate, it was gone now.

“Once the signal cut off, we drove around lost.” He grimaced. “The Fire Brotherhood hide their presence here well, but we found it. And you.”

There was a grunt and a heavy thud around the corner. A dragon’s snarl followed, before a fire bro sailed through the air past us and crumpled against the cell bars he landed against and slumped over, motionless. Seemed like we were winning, but I didn’t dare peek and get myself killed by accident from a stray bullet. We were way too close to true freedom to risk a stupid mistake.

“Where are we?” I asked, to distract myself from the ongoing fighting.

“Montana,” he answered. “We’re super close to a national park and a mountain range. It’s really pretty. Also, a dead giveaway for where a huge group of shifters would hide. The locals have their own kind of ghost stories about wild wolves and massive shadows flying overhead after dark.”

“Triggering your Moortide senses? Did you erase some memories?” I made the same motion he had when we first met. He did it back with his free hand, flicking out a sprinkling of sparkles. “Neat trick.”

“Thanks. I definitely thought this would be the most impressive thing I could do to win over my anam cara.” He spoke with my kind of sarcasm and elbowed me.

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