Page 35 of Whispers of the Magical Forest

He was right. While the others were lost to the mage’s magic, one shifter still maintained a somewhat normal form. It hung back and directed the others like a commander. The tactical positioning made it stand out among its more feral companions. At least until Argies noticed it.

He moved faster than I could track. One moment he was beside me, and the next, he had the pack member pinned against a wall. Heat rolled off him in waves, and flames flickered at the back of his throat when he snarled. "Where is my mate?" The words carried undertones of his dragon. It made me want to run and hide.

"You're too late," the shifter gasped. Dark blood leaked from where Argies's grip tightened. Shadows writhed beneath its skin, trying to break free. "She's already being prepared. The vessels-"

Grey lightning cut off his words as Thanos deflected an attack that would have taken Argies's head off. Argies had been so consumed with his rage he hadn’t seen the other werewolf who was coming at him from the side. The bolt of Thanos’s power turned the guy to ash. "Perhaps this conversation would be better continued somewhere less exposed? Before the entire pack decides to join us?"

He had a point. More shadows were gathering at the edges of the street. My wound was screaming from being close to so much of the vile power. The corruption was feeding off the ambient shadow magic and trying to spread faster. We needed to regroup and question our new friendproperly.

"Fall back to the B&B," I suggested, then grunted as feedback from the corruption made my knees buckle. The shadow magic was really getting creative now. I loved how it was finding new and exciting ways to make everything hurt. Bas caught me. I breathed a sigh of relief as his magic wrapped around mine protectively like a warm blanket against the chill. "Pretty sure I still have that bottle of Winter's Embrace in my trunk. Magical healing always goes better with Fae wine."

"Only you would think of wine at a time like this," Violet said, but she was already moving to cover our retreat. Her phoenix fire created a barrier between us and the encroaching shadows. The golden flames pushed back the darkness.

"I'm a problem solver," I shot back as I leaned heavily on Bas. "And right now, I'm solving the problem of how to interrogate a corrupted shifter while dealing with magical wounds and missing friends. Wine seems perfectly reasonable. Plus, it's Fae wine. That practically makes it medicinal."

Gadross appeared beside us. His copper artifact was clutched in his hand. "I've cleared the area of mundies and set up confusion wards. No one will remember anything unusual. Perhaps next time, we could avoid massive magical battles in the middle of town on the heels of a dramatic dragon entrance? The paperwork on this is going to be a bitch."

"You're no fun," I told him, then had to lean harder on Bas as another wave of pain hit. It felt like ice spreading through my veins. I could feel invisible fingers trying to get a hold of me. "Although, somewhere with chairs sounds pretty good right now. And walls. Walls would be nice. Very supportive, walls."

We fell back in careful formation. Our time working together made the movement almost choreographed. Thanosand Violet guarded our rear while Bas helped me walk. Argies dragged our captive along. His grip never loosened even when the shifter tried to dissolve into shadows. The remaining shadow-wolves paced the edges of our group but didn't attack. They seemed to be waiting for something. Or someone.

The B&B's wards welcomed us like a warm blanket. They pushed back some of the painful chill flowing through me. Bless Violet for insisting we lay them upon arrival in town. We had gone all out when setting them up. There were layers of protection spells woven with phoenix fire. I'd never been so grateful for her paranoid habit of warding every place we stayed.

"Right then," I said as Bas helped me onto the room's chair. The wound throbbed in time with the captive shifter's struggles. "Let's have a chat with our new friend about vessels and corruption and where exactly they're keeping Aislinn. Unless he'd prefer to deal with an increasingly angry dragon?"

The shifter snarled, shadows writhing beneath his skin like living tattoos. "You don't understand what's coming. The First Ones-"

"Save it," I cut him off. I channeled as much command into my voice as I could while feeling like death warmed over. Thankfully I had twenty years of experience using them with difficult patients and even more challenging doctors while working at the hospital. "I've had enough cryptic warnings for one day. Start talking sense, or I'll let the angry dragon decide how to get answers. And trust me, his diplomatic skills are somewhat limited when his mate is involved."

Argies growled in agreement. His eyes glowed with barely contained dragon fire. The shifter looked between us and took in the gathering power in the room.With the evil magic kept away, ours became even more obvious. Thanos’s demigod essence was a light in the room. Add Bas's fierce Fae magic. Violet’s witch-phoenix mojo, and one very pissed off dragon shifter and it was enough to make even me piss my pants. The odds weren't exactly in the guy’s favor.

"Fine," he spat. "But you're already too late. The vessel is being prepared. Marcus will obtain the last two-"

A strong pulse of corrupted magic sparked as it hit the wards. The malevolence slithered past and cut through the air. The nasty feel made me double over and call out as the wound flared with agony. The shifter's eyes went wide and then completely black. Shadow essence poured from his mouth like smoke next. He convulsed once and went still.

"Well," I said into the shocked silence. "That's not ominous at all. Though I have to say, points for dramatic timing."

"They killed him," Violet whispered. "The corruption consumed him from the inside out. How did it get past our wards?

“Fucking hell. How was that spell triggered remotely?" I added through gritted teeth.

"They're watching," Bas concluded grimly. His magic curled protectively around me as another wave of corruption pulsed through my wound. "Our tracking must have gotten close to their location."

"Good," Argies said. His voice was rough with his dragon. The temperature in the room rose several degrees. "I want them to know we're coming."

I looked around at our gathered group. We had Fae, demigod, phoenix, dragon, and witch magic. Plus, whatever Gadross was packing in those artifacts of his. The corruption might be spreading, but we'd faced worse odds before. "They'd better be ready for one hell of a fight," I said. "Though maybe after we deal with this wound. Being eatenfrom the inside by shadow magic is really putting a damper on my battle enthusiasm."

"First," Bas said firmly, his fingers already tracing healing runes around my wound, "we deal with that. Then we find Aislinn." His eyes met mine, full of concern and determination. "And then I suggest we have a very long discussion about your definition of a normal wine-tasting trip."

CHAPTER 13

VIOLET

The dead shifter's final moments kept replaying in my mind as we prepared to infiltrate pack territory. The way the shadow essence had poured from him like smoke and his eyes went black before the life drained away was going to feature in my nightmares. If I ever slept again. Between worrying about Aislinn and watching Fiona fight the corruption spreading through her wound, rest seemed like a distant dream.

Thankfully, we had somewhere to start. Gadross had managed to track down the pack's current location. It was a long shot that we would find her in an open area on their property. It was our best connection to this mess. The tracking spell we’d done hadn’t given us an exact location, but it had sent the twisted shifters after us.

"The tunnels should connect here," I said as I traced the path on the ancient map we'd retrieved from the archives. My fingers left trails of golden light across the yellowed parchment. "They lead to some wine cellars that were built over even older passages. According to this, some even datedback to Roman times. Their choice to move here makes sense given how Dark magic has twisted their nature. The limestone walls are brilliant for dampening magical signatures."

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