Page 17 of Wolf Tamer

I don’t stop to think how she knows about that. Even with the little strength I have left, I kick out toward her midsection with my left leg, determined to land a hit. Mae sidesteps, and I fall off balance and land on my stomach.

Well, double shit, this isn’t good.

Luckily, Reid is there to pick up the slack.

He launches himself at her without further ado and manages to slice a decently sized gash into her upper thigh. Mae drops back with a grimace but doesn’t stop. Balls of energy immediately alight in her open palms, without any sort of incantation, and she hurls one at him and the other at me.

I duck toward the dirt, inhaling a lungful of the stuff.

“Come on,” I order my hands, shaking them in front of me like it’s going to somehow make the magic work when it hasn’t yet.

If I could just manage to slide my invisibility over both of us, then we have a chance to get out of there. Together. The witches will never be able to track me.

It’s a very slim possibility at this point. It seems like I have a better chance of growing wings than making my magic work.

I glare at my stubborn hands. I made sparks appear in a cell warded against magic, didn’t I?

A sharp yip follows a whine, and I glance up to see that Mae has singed a second spot on Reid’s tail.

That dirty rotten bitch.

I glare at her, and the rage is exactly what I need. The tops of my fingers disappear, my power growing in strength until I lose sight of my arms up to the elbows.

A little more, I urge. If I can muster a little bit more, use up the last bit of strength that I have, then Reid will be fine.

Later, I’ll wonder why my immediate thought is for him rather than myself.

Much later.

I use my hatred for Mae as fuel. For all of them. I use the bitterness for my parents and the fear that I’ll never see my little sister again. Every ounce of injustice I’ve ever felt in my life is poured into my magic, and I feel it explode out of me in a wave. Reid meets my eyes for a brief moment before he disappears, his form winking out as though he’d never existed.

Gotcha.

I flash Mae a single victorious grin before the magic encompasses me and I’m gone. My senses lead me to Reid, and I grab him by the scruff of the neck. Already, I’m drained. If my magic needs energy to work, then we’re about ten seconds away from being out of time because I’m going downhill fast. But I’ve done it.

We’re both cloaked.

And if I speak, I risk giving us away. A quick squeeze to his scruff again has him transforming back into his human form. It’s the fastest I’ve ever seen a wolf shift before, and pain is written across his face. He catches me just before I lose feeling in my legs.

The energy leaves me in a rush, like a receding tide, and suddenly I’m not sure how I’m keeping my eyes open. It’s as though someone wrung me out to dry. It’s worse than any sort of flu or sickness that I’ve had.

“I’ve got you.”

His words echo distantly in the back of my head with the ringing in my ears making it almost impossible for me to latch on to the words. My eyes flutter shut.

I’m powering down.

“Run,” I try to say.

It doesn’t make a difference whether I want this or not. Reid takes me in his arms, cradles me against his chest, and with the slight jostle of his loping strides, he takes me away from the clearing and the Buson witches.

ChapterSeven

Reid

Her body is limp in my arms, and I know she’s used too much. Hell, we both have, but I know the day isn’t done and there are people counting on me. My mate is counting on me, and I might have managed to get to her before she burned, but at what cost?

She pushed herself too hard, already weakened when I found her.

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