Page 77 of Wolf Tamer

More Buson witches appear through the shimmering circle. They push their way through, filling the room within seconds. I recognize most of their glaring, hateful faces from my own witchy “trial.”

“This is the way you want to play it?” I ask them, assuming the position and doing my darndest to not show my fear, but my heart is beating wildly behind my ribs.

“How dare you still stand against us, your sisters,” one of the women—Sarah, I think?—tries to say. “You’re not one of them, not a… amonster.Step aside, Tasha Ward, and let us pass.”

“Monsters can also come in long skirts and high heels,” I say and dip my head their leader’s way. “Wouldn’t you agree, Mae?”

She doesn’t respond, but her narrowed eyes never leave me. I shift slightly to cut off their access to the main staircase.

“Now, if you’ve learned anything about me, it’s that I’m hard as hell to kill and I don’t give up without a fight, so I’m going to give you one chance to turn around, climb your skinny asses back into that portal, and never come back. It’ll save you a lot of bloodshed.”

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Mae laughs loudly. It’s not long before her crones follow along. Emily just bares her teeth at me.

About a dozen highly trained witches and a wolf set on revenge against an assassin with fizzling powers she can’t control most of the time? The odds aren’t exactly in my favor, but false bravado has always served me well in the past and it’s the only thing I’ve got right now, so I’m going to use it.

Come on, sparky hands. Don’t fail me now.

Without waiting for them to attack as a group, I pivot on my heel to draw them forward. Two witches surge around Mae to intercept me, and I slam my elbow into the nearest one, full force, knocking her down on her ass. The second witch shoots a blast of ice at me, and it grazes the side of my head, taking some of my hair with it.

Unfortunately for her, it’s the green light I need to go into work mode.

And for me, work mode is deadly, although I wish I had my knife on me. Or at least something sharp. I always feel better with a little steel in my hand.

A second wave of magic, along with an incantation in Latin I don’t understand, tears across the hallway and throws me off balance. My arms windmill around me, but I’m not fast enough to catch myself, and I crash down into the recently replaced side table. A rainbow of colors burst in front of my eyes, and the sole of a shoe hits my side, sending me sprawling to my stomach. And if that isn’t insult enough, someone steps on my back.

“Poor Tasha. She always thinks she has more power than she actually does.”

That’s Mae. I’d know her voice anywhere, especially in my nightmares.

I try to turn and look at her, but I’d have to be an owl to catch a glimpse, because she’s the one on top of me.

A few more of them step into position around me, and my lips round in horror as Mae digs her heel deeper into my back.

“Fat load of shit you know. I’ve got more power in my pinky than you lot do,” I try to say.

“What shall we do with her, ladies?” Mae coos. “Take her with us and finish what we started?”

“We shouldn’t waste the time.” I recognize the voice as Emily. Averypissed Emily. “She’s the least of our worries. Kill her and we can get on with things before the rest of pack come running. Once Reid gets here, we’ll have a fucking war on our hands.”

Oh fuck, Reid!

There’s no way I can warn him either. He’s going to be walking blindly into danger.

“Oh, no.” Mae clucks her tongue. “This one is too special to kill right away. She’s made fools of us. I’d like to pay her back tenfold.”

Emily laughs before saying, “She’s really not special. Trust me.” She bends down low and inhales deeply, her nose only inches away from mine. I plan to wipe that smug little smile off her face somehow, but I need her closer yet.

The shoe between my shoulder blades presses down harder, sending a wave of agony trailing down my spine.

“You’re a pain in my ass,” Emily goes on with a sneer. “I should have killed you sooner. Nothing special. Just a nuisance.”

I don’t need my hand free to smash her face to pieces. Searching deep inside myself, I locate that same spot I accessed in the cell and again outside with Oliver. That anger, that fear, that raw emotion. Using my magic this way makes it unpredictable, but right now, I’ll take anything to get me out from under Mae’s shoe. Lighting Emily’s hair on fire will just be a bonus.

“You weren’t even good enough to be Reid’s whore.” She laughs. “Stupid bitch.”

“You going to monologue now?” I ask her, diving deep into the pool of my power and feeling it, surprisingly, start to respond to me, rising inside like the tide until it fills every nook and cranny. About damn time. “Classic evil villain move, except you’re too big of an idiot to know when you’ve been beaten.”

She rolls her eyes, not realizing that I’ve freed my hand. “Can we just shut her up please? She’s giving me a headache.”

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