Page 72 of Magic Hunted
There was a hard glint in Serafine’s eyes that told me of the steel inside her. It made me like her already. “I hate them all. I’m more than ready to annihilate every single one of The Six left.”
“You’d better start referring to them as imposters,” I said.
Serafine’s face lit up. “Imposters! Yes, that’s exactly what they are.”
A boom echoed overhead and golden lightning streaked through the dome. It webbed with white splinters racing from horizon to horizon. Golden waves of magical light rippled, making the fractures splinter with the horrible sounds of dry bones cracking.
Ice formed in my veins. “Titan. He’s attacking the dome. We have to protect it. If he gets in, everyone’s lives here are at stake. He won’t stop until he has the grimoire.”
“How can he be so strong? The dome held up to Drisella’s attack,” Serafine said.
A burst of white magic glowed over the cracks as Shanyirra tried to heal the dome. Her eyes blazed white as she worked her magic. “He’s strong. Stronger than he’s been before. He’s…taken the magic from the two dead imposters. I can feel it through the residue of his magic. He’s absorbed their energy into his. We have to get to the wall to where he’s causing the damage. Our combined magic will be strong enough,” Shanyirra said.
Alerick growled, low in his chest. “Can we trust you, mage?”
“If you trust no one else, trust me, alpha. If we don’t act now, we’re all doomed,” Ashir said.
“I trust Haera. She wouldn’t be here unless it was absolutely necessary,” Serafine said.
“Haera has already saved me once and she’s come here to save me again. She’s earned my trust a million times over,” Anise said.
“If this is the way, then we’ll fight the imposters. They’ve taken enough from all of us,” Damon snapped.
Alerick turned to Serafine, his face a mask of tension. “Stay between us at all times, little mate.”
Serafine nodded and the quad morphed into wolves in a smooth glide of reforming limbs. The three alphas surrounded a stunning snow white wolf before they dashed into the woods.
“We’ll fly overhead and meet you there,” Anise said. She stepped a distance away and morphed into a turquoise dragon. The dragon alphas Changed, the clearing now filled with terrifying predators. They sprang from the ground in powerful leaps and took to the sky, wings pumping with great thrusts shaking the tops of the trees.
The ice prickled inside me as another boom shook the dome. The webbing splintered. It would only be a matter of time before Titan breached the wall.
“You can do this, Haera. We believe in you,” Ashir said.
I nodded, my mouth dry. This wasn’t a matter of belief. This was a matter of having to, because the outcome was too terrible to imagine. If Titan breached the dome, death would be a blessing and I didn’t have that luxury.
“If anything is to happen to me…” I was Titan’s target and I knew my mates would put themselves in danger to protect me.
“Titan won’t get close to you,” Savvas said, his eyes glowing a fierce caramel.
I squeezed his hand. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I’ll come back…but you won’t and I…I can’t live without you.”
Dias’ fingers traced my cheek, drawing my attention. “We love you too, magic.”
Another boom echoed through the dome. “We have to go.”
My mates Changed into three sleek massive panthers. I willed my panther forward. My body flowed into my animal form once more and then we pounded through the woods. The earth thumped with warbugs plowing their way through the trees.
I followed the scent of the wolves, dodging moss-covered trunks and damp earth. My claws dug into the cold, damp forest floor, my nose tingling with unfamiliar scents. Titan had forced me to Change into a wolf when he sent me to trick the wolf alphas, but it was only an outward appearance. My senses were still human then, but now that I was a panther the woods were a mess of unfamiliar sights, smells and sounds. So different from the jungle, but just as brilliant in its own way.
Our surroundings took on a gilded quality as we galloped to where the dome touched the ground. I broke through a line of trees and skidded to a stop, my legs locking at Titan’s body infused in a ball of crackling blue power on the other side of the dome. Bolts of magic flashed over him, an electrical storm of his own making.
Wind whipped his dark clothing. His jacket flapped behind him and his white shirt thrashed as he lifted his hands filled with balls of magic. I’d never seen his magic so bright or so powerful. Nor the madness reforming his face into a mask of potent fury. He threw magical bolts at the dome. The wall rippled and the cracks shattered into thousands of splinters. It was seconds away from disintegrating.
“To the wall. Put your hands on it. Quickly,” Shanyirra said.
Serafine and Anise ran to the glimmering golden wall, putting their open palms on the dome. Shanyirra stood next to Anise, chanting under her breath. My heart galloped in my throat as I stepped next to Serafine and put my hands on the wall.
My stomach twisted when Titan smirked, his inky gaze travelling over us all. “Like little lambs to the slaughter. You’ve made this too easy for me.”
