Page 92 of Charming Her Monsters

First, we need her to explain her name, and why she lied about her age.

Once again, I remind myself that information might not be accurate.

“It’s getting late. We should go back.” Arran glares at the evening sky like it’s his enemy.

“I have one more person I’d like to visit and then we can return.” A string is plucked at the back of my mind as soon as I say this. Someone has crossed my wards. “Fuck.”

“What?” Arran grabs my shirt collar and growls in my face. “Is it Jade?”

“My ward alarm was triggered.” My eyes lock on the place I had planned to portal out, and I race toward it.

Arran is on my heels and in his full werewolf berserker mode by the time we get across the street and into an alley. Thank fuck no human is around to see him. We don’t need to be reported for revealing our supe natures to the mortal realm. He’s been caught too many times already, and the authorities will punish him if it happens again.

We rush through the portal and stare at the lake house. It was reckless to portal directly to my home, but time is of the essence when my sanctuary is potentially threatened. Besides, my home has already been compromised by the enemy.

There’s an actual magical skirmish happening on my front lawn. The area is about an acre of mostly open space, dotted with large ponderosa pines. If I’m correct, by the look of the damage, this battle began at the back of the house, or perhaps inside.

Flint is limping but throwing a boulder at someone who looks very much like the bastard Rob. Blasts of magic hit Flint’s back, and he staggers from the impact. When I look at where the blast originated, it’s just as Mal and Dwayne said. Sloan and Galiana are indeed Rob’s companions.

“Where’s Jade?” I mutter. “Or Calder?”

Arran’s berserker shakes his head, telling me he doesn’t see them either.

I don’t appreciate trespassers… especially witches and warlocks threatening my pack and my mate.

“Let’s take these assholes down,” I snarl.

Arran’s berserker charges right at Rob.

Bummer, I was going to call dibs. Oh well, if he has issues, I’ll tag in.

Sloan. This is the dickhead who snuck into my fucking sanctuary—who tricked Jade into staying in her home. Spied on her. On us.

Yeah. I could definitely satisfy my bloodlust with his death.

I reach out with my gift to read him, then I plan to scramble his brains. Ah, Mr. Fucking Floofer has great mental shields. It will take time for my magic to smash them down, but I will make it happen. Then I’ll see what’s inside and scramble his memories and personality so damned much that he believes he actually is a hamster, after all.

I storm over to Sloan’s hiding spot behind a tree trunk.

Righteous anger rises in me—mostly at myself for believing I could leave Jade today with Floof-Sloan escaped and still missing. He likely had been watching and knew this would be a suitable moment to attack.

Perhaps to snatch up Jade?

Sloan spins, finally realizing that I’m almost on top of him. His eyes widen and the magical blast he intended to lob at Arran hits me square in the chest, burning my shirt.

It stings a bit. He’s either weakening due to all the magic he’s thrown around or he’s not that powerful to begin with. Probably both. And sure, most spells bounce off of me, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be painful when they do.

I swat the flames out on my shirt, then grasp his head. He squeals like a rodent. That’s a little too on the nose.

Tightening my hold on his head, my magic works double time to crack his shield. The witch, Galiana, hits me from behind with a blasting spell. Wow! I would have thought she’d have more punch, but maybe she has been exhausted already.

It makes me believe the witches’ claim that supernaturals aren’t the only ones suffering horribly from the disappearing magic in the realms. Perhaps witches are being hit even harder than we are and won’t admit how bad it is.

Perhaps the excuse that they believe that supes are depleting magic by just our existence does have a more desperate origin. Weaker witches are likely to be hit harder than those with more innate power.

It makes me wonder if they expect Jade to have more power than they do, and if they wish to harness and manipulate her magic for themselves.

Not on my watch.

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