Page 27 of Stolen Oath
The sound stopped and a shout of rage echoed from the creatures below us. Their bellow bounced off the tree trunks when they jerked their heads up and started climbing with breakneck speed.
CHAPTER14
“You know, Allie. Sometimes,” grunting from the force she put behind her throw Char tossed a glass potion toward a large oak half a yard away from us, exploding it into pieces. “It’s better to keep your mouth shut so you don’t provoke the Fates. I believe I have brought that to your attention before. Correct?” A dozen or so vampires and hyenas exploded along with it, their body parts flying in all directions.
“You have mentioned it once or twice. Yes.” Admitting begrudgingly, I flinched when a broken branch zipped passed my head and embedded itself in the trunk next to my ear. “Char, I love you and would like nothing more than to chat but can we talk about this a bit later, please? I’m little busy trying not to get decapitated here.”
As if invited by my snarky comment, a dagger sang through the air, the blade whispering loudly from the speed it was thrown with. My right hand sprang in front of me on reflex, palm facing ahead, and my skin begun to tingle in preparation of the spell.
“Reothadh.” Freeze I commanded under my breath and the tip of the long knife touched the center of my palm before it stopped its trajectory. Discarding it with a flick of a wrist I waddled down the branch where I was crouched in hopes to avoid more sharp objects being thrown my way by hiding my body between the leaves as much as possible.
I was a thief damn it, not an action hero. Good at lurking in the shadows and running away, not fighting.
Thank the lucky stars for Char.
The sorceress was a force to be reckoned with, perched on a branch like a falcon with a line etched between her brows and her corkscrew hair wild around her face as she picked her victims off with an unnerving precision.
She’d dip a hand in her tote, lob a potion at someone below us that would be too close for comfort, then mutter something about needing to make more protection charms before pitching another potion at someone’s head.
A hyena snickered crazily from below the tree we were using as our standing ground. As much as it bothered me I reached deep within me and pulled on the air magic I stole from the elemental not that long ago. It rushed eagerly under my skin like a cat craving attention and a tremor of unease rushed through me.
“Thig adhair, dèan mar a tha mi ag àithneadh.” Come Air, do as I command.I urged the element, hoping to avoid unnecessary deaths of which we already had too many in just that patch of the woods.
Not that I had any problem with any of those wishing me harm dying, per se. I strived to be and considered myself a kind person. Not a saint. The moment they point their sharp blades or powers in my direction I’m done caring for their wellbeing. If they do the same to those I care about I hoped they met their maker in the most painful way possible.
Strong winds picked up through the trees, gaining speed as they neared our little standoff patch. I couldn’t tell how many of the attackers we started with but there were a little over a dozen left at that moment when a whirl of air started lifting them off the forest floor along with leaves, rocks and who knows what else.
“Ohhh, smart.” Char turned to the side so she could face me and grinned. Only her teeth were visible, unnaturally white, in the moonlight and the glow of the fluorescent potions she flung around at the shifters and vamps. “I could get used to this. Although you should’ve used it earlier to help us out of the house instead of making me dangle on a rope and show my ass like it’s an exhibit A. The vamps were eyeing my white buns. I know it.”
“Seriously, Char. You’re still stuck on that?”
“I’m not lying you daft woman.” Huffing in annoyance she blew a strand of hair out of her face. “My ass cheeks were tingling. I could feel their gazes there.”
My mouth opened but nothing came out. We stood untouched in an invisible bubble on our tree while all around us thick branches were swaying harshly left and right, some of them bending down to sweep the forest floor. Vamps and hyenas were clutching the thickest roots for dear life so they don’t get lifted in the air. Through the thundering of the strong winds around the trees a howl of a pack of wolves could be heard and goosebumps pebbled my skin freezing anything I was about to say in my throat. It was getting louder, rising over the screaming whirlwinds telling us they were getting closer at an alarming rate. My panicked gaze found Char’s and I froze for a long moment not knowing what to do.
“Keep it going.” Char yanked her tote in her lap and started rummaging through it frantically. “I have to have something here to explain the winds. I’ll find it, you keep going.”
Cold sweat trickled down my back while I held the air under my control, pushing harder so I could pick up our attackers and chuck them as far away from us as possible. Maybe we could run back toward the mansion, steal Dimitri’s car and get the hell out of there before any of the pack see what was going on here. Fear clawed at my throat tightening my airways like a fist. So lost in all the different scenarios on how my secret would be revealed I didn’t notice anyone sneaking up until it was too late. Hand still up in the air so I don’t lose connection with the element, I braced myself on the branch and took a deep breath so I would give more effort. That’s when I felt it.
The penetrating gaze had a tangible weight to it.
My eyes snapped down, where the roots of our tree were curled up like a barbwire fence to protect us thanks to one of Char’s potions. A gray wolf with a wide white patch of fur on his chest stood firm, all his four paws planted on solid soil in the middle of the vortex I was creating like it was a gentle breeze. It struck me as odd not just the fact that it was unaffected by my magic, but that I immediately thought of the wolf as a he instead of a she, yet, there was such certainty about it I could’ve placed my life on the line if need be.
Without realizing what I was doing, my palm begun lowering and the strong winds slowed down as if I was ready to reach out for the wolf to help him up to join us. We were high up in the tree making it difficult to really see him yet somehow everything around me faded and the wolf’s face zoomed in to a point where I was gazing into his brown eyes from close enough to see the golden flakes in his irises.
Unnerved by the entire situation, everything in me screamed to move, hide, or jump from the tree as long as I hid the fact it was me who was controlling the air around us, but I couldn’t move to save my life. I couldn’t even speak to ask Char to do something. Anything at that point.
Much to my relief a shout came from somewhere in front of us, the loud bellow bouncing off the thick trunks. It repeated again a minute or so later while me and the wolf stood frozen in our stare off.
“Alaska!” Dimitri’s voice came through that time loud and clear. “Charmaine!”
Loud snapping of branches and the rustling of leaves from where we were perched broke the connection I had with the wolf. My head whipped around thinking a vamp or a hyena managed to climb so they can attack us only to find Char emerging from the thick foliage holding a broken two finger thick branch in front of her like a sword.
I gaped at her like a fool, my jaw unhinging and dropping to my chest.
“We are here.” She called out to the alpha and flicked her hair over her shoulder with the free hand. “Good thing you spoke so I can stop the winds. Last thing I want to do is hurt friends.”
There was a leaf sticking out from one of her curls and for some dumb reason I found it fascinating. It was bobbing every time she turned her head and her hair bounced. It had my undivided attention for longer than it should’ve until my brain registered that she was waving the stick at the emerging shifters like a magic wand ready to spit spells at them.
