Page 6 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

Reed hesitates, but I think curiosity, and I would imagine a need to set his magic free again, ultimately makes the decision for him.

“Okay. Everyone get behind Ransom,” Reed orders.

We all move to do as he has asked. The kelpies and the spirit animals doing the same although only Winston and Wallace are remaining now, and I have no idea when the rest of them disappeared and to be honest it’s not at the top of my list of priorities right now to figure it out.

None of us argue or comment as we move behind Ransom so he can put the ward up to protect us. We all know what abig deal this is for Reed. Neith must realize too, because she stops by Reed on her way to Ransom, and puts her hand on his chest, I’m not sure what she says but it has Reed chuckling, and his shoulders becoming slightly less tense as he nods and then gently pushes her toward the rest of us.

As soon as we are behind Ransom, he does his thing, and although I can’t see anything, I can feel it, and I know that we are now all inside a very strong ward of magic. In theory, it should protect us if there is any blowback from Reed’s power. The truth of it is that Reed is strong as fuck, and I don’t think even he is aware of how powerful he really is.

Ransom calls out to him, “Everyone is safe.”

“Okay, how big of a blast are we talking?” Reed asks him.

Ransom smirks, “Give it everything you have got. Wings out, glamor fully dropped, and blast the fuck out of the ward. I can fix it if it breaks, but if I am right, then it’s not going to break.”

“If you are right?” Griff asks, his eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” Ransom replies, with a twinkle in his eye that has Neith grinning.

I am starting to release that Neith is a bit of an adrenaline junkie. She loves danger.

“Are you sure about this?” Reed asks, looking nervous.

Ransom nods, and Reed glances at Neith.

Neith smirks, “Hey, you know I think you’re super sexy with your wings out.”

Reed chuckles, his eyes heating briefly before he nods. “Okay, I’m really sorry if you guys end up smooshed to the floor. I will try to keep the blast focused ahead of me.”

“No worries,” Evander replies, “I think we’re all curious to see what Ransom thinks is going to happen.”

Reed nods but doesn’t say anything as he turns back to face the ward. His glamor drops, immediately freeing his magic, and even with Ransom’s ward around us, we all drop one knee to thefloor apart from Neith. At least we are still upright and can see what is going on. Ransom’s magic is absorbing most of Reed’s.

“So, fucking cool,” Neith whispers.

Reed looks absolutely formidable when he truly lets himself and his magic be who he is. It makes me sad that he can’t do it all the time, and I have actually been trying to work on something in the lab that could lessen the effect that he has on other people and mean that he could be himself without having to remain in such tight control of it all of the time. Unfortunately, I’m not getting the results I want, and until I have something promising to tell him I won’t be telling him that it’s something that I’m working on.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Yes,” Ransom replies, “remember, give it everything that you’ve got.”

Reed’s back is to us, but he nods once to signify that he’s heard us.

His magic builds and grows, and just when I think that he’s reached his maximum, he somehow pushes it even further as he manifests his magic into a glowing ball of pure power in front of him. He doesn’t look like he’s straining to do it at all, and if anything, I think he is more relaxed than I have ever seen him. It’s fucking impressive, and not for the first time, am I glad that Reed is the kind of person that he is and that he is on our side.

The more that it grows, the more worried I become that we are just asking for trouble and that whatever Ransom thinks is going to happen isn’t going to. It’s too late for me to voice my concerns though as Reed suddenly releases the ball of pure magic and sends it soaring toward the ward.

I brace myself.

I figure that it is either going to pierce straight through the ward, creating another hole that we are going to need to mend, or it’s going to destroy the ward completely, and Ransom isgoing to have to spend hours recreating the complex spells that are built into it, and we’re going to be vulnerable while it’s down. Either way, it will most likely damage the forest beyond the ward. Fortunately for us, we own it, we have the ward set up a few miles inside our boundary line just so that we have a buffer between us and the next property owners.

Reed’s blast hits the ward and stays suspended where it is as it gets surrounded by another glow of magic. I watch in astonishment as Reed’s magical blast is absorbed by the ward.

“Whoa,” Reed mutters as he turns around to face us, his glamor falling back into place as he turns so that when he is actually facing us, he is back to the Reed that we are used to seeing.

“Damn it,” Neith mutters, a slight pout on her face, which I’m assuming is because Reed doesn’t have his wings out anymore. She continues, “Okay, so what does that mean?”

“It means that you definitely have magic, and a lot of it,” Ransom starts to explain with a proud smile. “Your magic absorbed Reed’s and then distributed it into the ward to make it even stronger.”

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