Page 124 of Elora and the Crow

“Ronin,” Cece whispered, her horrified gaze glued to his body.

“He’s gone,” Jonah said. “We have to move, Cece.”

She continued to stare at Ronin, and Jonah gave her a shake. “He is gone, Cece! Move!”

She stumbled across the clearing with him, but they pulled up short when more than a dozen zombies blocked their path.

Cece’s hand gripped his, her body shaking wildly as she glanced at him. “Jonah…”

“This way!” He yanked her to the left, stopping when more zombies appeared.

Cece stared at a pine tree, her hands glowing green again. A large branch jutting out from the trunk creaked and grew impossibly long before it moved in a whistling arc to smash into a few of the zombies blocking their path. The branch knocked them over like bowling pins, but more of the undead immediately crowded in to take their place.

“There’s too many,” Cece said, her voice filled with bright panic.

She cried out when Ronin’s body burst into flames and the zombies eating him caught on fire, their bodies turning to ash almost immediately.

Jonah gripped his knife in one bloody hand, staring at the zombies surrounding them before barking, “Back to back, Cece.”

She pressed her back against his, her body shaking and her breath coming in short, hard gasps.

“Keep fighting,” Jonah rasped as the moaning zombies shambled closer. “Don’t give up, Cece, we can -”

“What the hell?” Cece said when all of the zombies suddenly dropped to the ground, their rotting bodies going still.

Jonah kicked at one with his foot, but it didn’t move, and he turned to stare at Cece as understanding dawned in her eyes. Jonah followed her gaze across the clearing, his stomach hitting the fucking ground when he saw Elora lying in the snow. Malencia stood over her, surrounded by bright yellow light. Elora’s light was barely visible, a blue shimmer that surrounded her and was growing smaller by the moment.

“She’s had to use all of her magic against Elora,” Cece said. She gave Jonah a wild-eyed look of excitement. “Her protection spell will be gone!”

She tore free of Jonah’s grip and ran across the clearing. Jonah ran after her, his heart thudding in his chest and fresh adrenaline surging through his veins.

Cece stopped a few feet from Malencia, and green light shot from her hands. Without looking at her and keeping one hand pointed at Elora, Malencia flicked her other hand toward Cece.

“Fuck!” Jonah shouted when Cece’s body rose in the air, and she was thrown nearly ten feet, landing in a crumpled heap in the snow at the base of a tree.

Malencia grinned at Elora, her voice perfectly understandable in the sudden quiet. “Let’s give the green witch a taste of her own magic, shall we?”

Jonah watched in horror as Cece sat up, blood trickling from her head and a dazed look on her face. Malencia waved her hand, and a thick branch tore from the tree. It hovered in front of Cece before impaling her in the stomach. Cece shrieked, her body bowing before she fell back against the tree. She stared at the branch sticking out of her guts as blood poured from her mouth and her fingers traced the branch.

“Cece.” The soft cry yanked Jonah’s attention back to Elora. She stared at her best friend, her face twisting with guilt and fear. Her gaze turned toward them, and as they locked eyes, Jonah realized with horror that Elora’s light was fading completely. Her magic was failing, and she was about to die.

“Elora, no!” he screamed, charging toward them, his feet slipping and sliding in the snow. “Baby, no!”

The hot fear a drumbeat in his chest, he closed his eyes and concentrated as Elora’s sweet face appeared in his mind. Something clicked in his head, his shifting ability slotting neatly into place within him as if it had never been gone.

Fierce joy replaced the fear, and with a low roar, he shifted.

* * *

Elora toldherself to keep fighting, but the pain radiated from every part of her body, and the agonizing onslaught was slowly destroying her magic. Her gaze slipped from Jonah’s as he screamed and ran toward her. She stared at Cece, deep sorrow blotting out the pain for a moment as she studied her dying friend.

“Oh, Cece,” she croaked. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

A roar tore her gaze from Cece, and she stared in mute surprise at the giant lion racing toward Malencia.

“Jonah?” she whispered as the lion crouched, his powerful back legs digging into the snowy ground as he launched his body at the dark witch.

Malencia screeched laughter and hit the lion with a beam of yellow light. His howl of pain sent fear for Jonah shuddering through Elora as she struggled to keep her failing barrier spell in place.

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