Page 7 of Stolen Oath
Apparently, all we needed was serpents to deal with hyenas.
Who knew?
CHAPTER4
Char didn’t wait to see if we agreed with her offhanded comment from earlier. As soon as her potion manifested into the creepy snakes she snapped into motion. Taking hold of her signature, black, floor-length dress in both hands she yanked it up and bolted for the human, her chestnut curls bouncing over her shoulders. The woman was all soft curves, boobs, and swaying hips, but she could make an Olympic sprinter jealous. The sorceress was as fast as a bullet. Focused on her, I almost missed the blonde hyena hunching down and preparing to pounce on my friend.
My heart jumped and hit the roof of my mouth and my fists clenched by my side.
“Èirigh san adhar!” Rise in the air!I barked out the spell, not caring if anyone sees me through the wall of glass that was the store front, my hand reaching for the hyena on all fours with my palm up. Magic burst from my fingertips and lifted the jerk away from my friend flinging him to the side into one of the shelves.
“Don’t you dare!” Dimitri snarled from next to me and threw himself at the shifter on our left, tackling him into the remaining shelves in the center of my store just as Char made a grab for the woman.
The shifter still on two feet turned his attention to the bigger threat that was Dimitri, losing his hold on the human, thankfully. The woman jumped into Char’s arms, sinking her nails into my friend’s shoulders hard enough to break the skin. Char’s loud hiss made me livid although I couldn’t blame the human at all. The woman was sobbing so hard, my heart hurt.
Crystals, porcelain, and glass spread out all over the vinyl floors, sending shards everywhere when the two males collided. I bet blonde had no idea the wolf was going to play fetch with him that day when he woke up. Grunts and flesh hitting flesh followed the tinkling of the shattered statues when fists started flying faster than human eyes could track them, but I didn't have time to worry about the loss of merchandise. My focus was on the two shifters in front of me, now that the woman and Char were relatively out of danger. My friend dragged the woman away from the two fighting males and out of reach from the dark haired hyena. I felt like sagging from relief but we werenot out of the woods just yet.
Dimitri, who shifted mid-jump, had the blonde guy pinned to the ground, snarling and growling as he bared his sharp teeth in his face. I could see the fear in the hyena's eyes while he struggled to break free from the alpha's grip. Dimitri was formidable when dressed in a nicely pressed suit. Pissed-off Dimitri was someone everyone should avoid at all costs. Yes, he’s on our side, but even I'm smart enough to be intimidated and not to get too close to the large black wolf.
Meanwhile, the guy on the right had shifted back to his human form, his eyes darting frantically around the store as he searched for either a weapon or an escape route, but there was no way out for them now. Not before they fessed up to everything we needed to know.
Char cradled the woman in her arms away from the two shifters while standing in the middle of the snakes that were still slithering on the floor in a giant, black ball of writhing bodies.
“Let him go,” I said to the wolf, my voice cold and steady as I walked over to the shifters wrestling each other. “I want to make sure they regret coming here today, right after they tell us who sent them.”
The male's eyes widened in fear as he saw me vibrating from the rage clawing my insides. I could feel the magic building, crackling around me, and thickening up with each passing second as it lifted strands of my hair to dance around my face on an invisible breeze.
Dimitri shifted back to his human form with a grunt of pain, still holding the hyena down with ease. He looked at me with concern, knowing the kind of destruction I was capable of when pushed to my limits, no doubt remembering the battle we had with the mages not that long ago.
Unfortunately, I couldn't hold back anymore.
These two came into my store, threatened those I care about, and caused chaos in front of the humans. They needed to learn their lesson.
Lifting my hands, I felt the energy building inside of me, thrashing and churning like a living thing. The air crackled with magic as I chanted words for a spell I'd never seen or heard before under my breath. A violet shell of swirling energy started collecting and pooling at my fingertips while a strange scent permeated the air around us, burning my nose with the stench of chared wood and smoldering ashes. The taste of iron flooded my mouth and a low hum sounded in my ears, similar to that of an engine warming up.
The tightness in my chest spread to my arms, my hands tingling as the power increased.
I found it difficult to breathe yet forced myself to remain calm or there was no telling what could happen.
The shifter underneath Dimitri started to whimper and plead for mercy while he struggled to break free, his nails ripping off as he clawed at the floor after he managed to turn to his belly.
But it was too late. Not just for them, but for my friends too.
Whatever this thing was inside of me, it was already in motion with a mind of its own.
It released very suddenly, unleashing a wave of energy that sent all of us flying backward in all directions, crashing into whatever displays of candles and incense were left. The impact shook the entire store, sending the register and the glass counter tipping over and tumbling down with a deafening crash.
“Holy crap,” I breathed out, scrambling up on all fours to peer around a broken column of a shelving unit. “Did I just do that? What in all the worlds is going on?” My voice trembled and a hint of hysteria was noticeable in the high-pitched tone.
A shiver raced up and down my overheated body because whatever magic came out of me was a bone-chilling, arctic blast, blanketing everything with snow and coating the vast space white.It only left me burning up as if I had a fever.
“Allie!” Char called out from somewhere to my right, her tone filled with worry. It was impossible to see with all the white and the dust from broken shelving still floating in the air. “We need to move this somewhere else. There are humans gathering on the street taking photos with their phones.”
Just then, the door flew open and a crowd of people started flooding in, some with their phones still up in the air to capture what was happening. The blast of power coming from me and all the noise as I destroyed our store while it shook and trembled must've gotten the attention of passersby.
“Is everyone okay?” a gentleman called out, rushing in with concern while scrunching up his features. “Anyone hurt? Miss? Are you hurt, Miss?”
“Get your hands off me, human,” Char snapped, and I almost laughed at her annoyance while the man gawked at her for referring to him as human as if she was an alien.
