Page 68 of Magic Hunted
“You can’t do this to me. Titan ordered me to do what I did. I had no choice, I…”
I’d heard enough and nodded to Taredd and watched as he ran Peder through with his sword. He gripped the hilt with two hands, then ripped it upwards, slitting the last member of the cadre open to his throat.
Peder’s intestines fell to the jungle floor beneath his feet. He coughed up blood as his body spasmed in its final throes of life before slumping still. His death was far too easy, too small a price to pay for the people he’d tortured and killed. For the delight he took on witnessing the suffering of others. Shanyirra dropped her magic from around Peder’s body and he slumped to the ground onto his spilled intestines. Wisps of blue magic rose from his body and drifted through the branches. Titan would know Peder was dead when his magic returned.
“You knew Zahra,” Dias said, as Shanyirra let Peder’s body drop to the ground.
I looked up at him, taking in the lost glaze in his eyes. The type of hurt that never went away. “I knew Zahra was close to you.” I’d often see her with them while I watched them from the shadows. Her smaller figure always stood out compared to their much larger bodies. “I thought she was your mate.”
A smile touched his lips. “She was more like a sister. Our friend.”
When the cadre had brought Zahra into Titan’s chamber my stomach had twisted because I’d known what Titan had planned for her. I also knew she was innocent. They all were.
“We could never work out why the cadre came for her. She wasn’t a shifter. She was only human,” Savvas said. “One of the few humans who wanted to know us. Of course, we befriended her.”
“It didn’t matter. Not to Titan,” I said. If only I had enough power to go back in time so I could save every soul who had perished needlessly, but I was only dreaming. Titan and The Six had branded the earth with their cruelty forever.
“But you saved her. She’s alive,” Ashir said.
I nodded. She’d still suffered and I’d had to stand by and watch. “I wish I could have done more for her. I got her out of the stronghold, but I don’t know where she is now.”
She’d disappeared into the jungle. I couldn’t take her further than that. I’d longed to go with her, with any of the few people I’d saved, but Titan’s slave studs had always stopped me from going too far.
I’d always returned as Titan had known I would. The slave studs simmered beneath my magic, a constant reminder that he owned me and could summon me at any time. But if Ryo told Titan where to ambush us, then surely he would be here too. I had the grimoire locked inside me, something Titan was desperate for. Yet now the battle was over, the only sounds in the jungle were of leaves fluttering in the breeze and tiny creatures rustling in the undergrowth.
“If Titan sent the cadre and every human in his stronghold to capture us, where is he?” I said, my skin prickling as my stomach turned over. He wasn’t here. He had never planned to be here because it wasn’t a certainty I’d be here. There was only one sure certainty, and that was the piece of the grimoire in wolf territory. While we fought here, there was no one defending the wolves.
“We have to get to the wolves. Titan’s going after that section of the grimoire. For all we know, he could be there already,” I said.
Ashir cursed under his breath and tension ran through the warrior elves surrounding us.
“We’ll take the warbugs. Going underground will be faster.” Taredd wiped the blood off his sword on Peder’s body before sheathing it into the decorative holster at his hip.
I gazed up at the warbug’s hard shell and my thighs throbbed, chafing and sore muscles making themselves known even through my soft leather pants.
“We’ll follow you in our panther forms, General.” My panther was eager to emerge and run as much as my human side.
Taredd nodded his assent and leapt on top of his bug. He helped Shanyirra to sit behind him. The older woman was braver than me, or perhaps she’d spent her time on the back of the beasts and had built up muscles.
I wasn’t going to miss riding on that creature. They might be big and brutal, but my panther was its equal.
I handed the sword to Taredd. “Could you please look after this while we Change?”
He took the hilt and slipped it into his holster. “Of course.” He nodded to one of the elves. “Please keep their clothing safe. I’m sure they’ll prefer to dress when we arrive.”
A warrior stepped forward. “Yes, General.”
Taredd whipped his warbug and it tore into the earth, using its massive pincers to burrow into the ground. The rest of the elves guided their warbugs to do the same.
I slipped my clothes off and bundled them into a ball. Ashir took my clothes and handed them to the elf. I let my panther flow over me and the next instant I stood on four paws in the middle of my mates’ panthers.
My panther brushed against their flanking, scenting them. She allowed them to do the same to her. She reveled in the decadent, soft glide of black fur against hers, the feel of powerful muscles steadying her and the distinct scents of her mates in her fur. She was eager to get to the wolves, raced into the tunnel Taredd’s warbug had formed and dove into the dark.
She paced herself, enjoying the burn of her muscles, the earth pounding beneath her paws and running with her mates at her side. As a panther, the magic buzzed in my blood, the same as when I wore my human body. It was there, ready to be bent into action through my will, a steady force that brought together both my forms.
There was no knowing how long we ran. Only that her fur was coated with sweat and her body pinged with fatigue. On and on, we followed the warbugs as they chewed through the earth.
Taredd bent over the back of his warbug as it plowed through the earth, a bubble of Shanyirra’s magic protecting him from being thrown off the back of the creature. The light thrown from the bubble was enough to guide us in the absolute darkness. This was how the tunnel system beneath the wastelands had formed. Centuries of warbugs chewing through rock had created an incomprehensible maze. Suddenly, they came to a grinding halt, the warbugs’ claws clattering against rock in agitation.
