Page 30 of Big Top Bear Raid
“Only the powerful ones who’ve learned the spell,” Urskin replied.There wasn’t any hint of smugness or pride in his tone even though he’d just declared himself one of the powerful ones.Instead, Urskin pulled out a small pendant in the shape of a broom and placed it on Wraith’s shirt.Then he muttered something.The shirt undulated gently as if caught in a wind that Wraith didn’t feel.The pendant glowed yellow for a few seconds before fading.Holding out the shirt, Urskin smiled.“There you are.”
“Uh, thanks,” Wraith murmured, finding himself in awe of the aging warlock.He took the shirt and pulled it back on.Since it was minus most of his left sleeve, he quickly tore off his right sleeve at about the same height, making him sort of match.Then Wraith wrapped the sleeve around his left bicep in a make-shift bandage.“Should we—”
Before Wraith could finish his question, he heard the padding of feet approaching.He tipped his head and realized from the crunching on gravel that they weren’t human feet.Turning, Wraith watched as Zion and Acadia, both still in bear form, peeked around the corner.Spotting them, Zion led the way forward.
To Wraith’s surprise, Warsaw rode on Zion’s back.He cradled a small dog in his arms, and his expression held worry and pain.The dog whimpered softly, and Warsaw made crooning noises to it.
“Warsaw?”Urskin cried, jogging toward them.“What happened to Jasmine?”
Wraith hurried after him, glancing between the trio.
“I caught Steele and had put him in cuffs,” Warsaw told him.His expression held a mixture of anger and worry for his dog as he glanced at her.“Lawrance showed up on my motorcycle.Jasmine was still in my sidecar.”Warsaw shook his head, his tone turning pained.“He threw her out, Urs.Just picked her up by her scruff andflungher.I tried to catch her, but she hit a tree.”Warsaw stared down at his whimpering dog.“I think she broke her leg or something.”Then his cheeks darkened as he muttered, “Steele hopped in my sidecar, and they got away.”
As Warsaw had been explaining, he’d slid from Zion’s back.Zion took that opportunity to shift.A second later, Wraith found himself wrapped up in his naked mate’s strong arms.
“Are you okay?”Zion rumbled, one hand teasing along the edge of the bandage on his bicep.“I hated leaving you, but—”
“I know, Zion,” Wraith comforted him by rubbing up and down his back, teasing along the edges of the raised flesh.“And I’ll be fine now that Urskin removed the poison.”Tipping his head back, Wraith gave his mate a peck on the jaw.“I’m kinda glad you weren’t here.That poison shit was gross.”
Wraith didn’t add that it had hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.He would keep that little tidbit to himself.
“You can help her, right?”Warsaw asked plaintively, redrawing Wraith’s attention to the big distraught man.
“Of course, I can, my familiar,” Urskin assured, caressing the big blond’s cheek.“Come lay her here.”He pointed toward a patch of nearby dirt.As they both moved that way, Urskin called over his shoulder, “Would you guys take charge of Goldsteen and Kyle, please?Don’t worry.The cuffs on the apprentice nullify any magick attempts.”
“Right.”Wraith felt a little embarrassed that he’d completely forgotten about them.“We’ll take care of ’em.”
Wraith eased out of Zion’s arms and peered toward where a shell-shocked-looking Kyle was sitting where Urskin had left him earlier.He was staring at them all, but his expression held an odd mixture of vacancy and fear.It seemed that seeing Zion shift caused his brain to check out a bit.
Has the guy never seen a shifter change?
While Wraith thought that was odd, there was no telling what ridiculous notions Lawrance had filled Kyle’s head with.
Not my problem.
Wraith turned his attention to Goldsteen, but he needn’t have worried.He still lay unconscious where he’d fallen when Wraith had pushed him out of the knife’s way.Wraith had registered that he’d hit his head on one of the bars of the bear cage, but considering he’d seen the rise and fall of the human’s chest, Wraith had been more concerned about his own pain from the poison.
Crossing to Goldsteen, Wraith knelt beside him and first checked the man’s pulse.It was strong and steady.Then he carefully felt around the human’s head.Wraith found a little blood at the top of his temple, almost hidden by his hairline, telling him where he’d hit his head.There was also a bit of swelling there, too.
After relaying that information to Urskin, the warlock told him he would check him after healing Jasmine...just in case.
Wraith began moving Goldsteen into a more comfortable position, a little bit closer to Kyle, and noticed Zion hovering close to him while his attention bounced between him and Acadia.His bear’s cousin stood near Urskin, still as a statue.If a bear could stand at parade rest, Wraith imagined that was what it would look like.
Once Wraith had Goldsteen settled, he called, “Uh, Urskin?”When the warlock glanced his way, he pointed at Acadia and arched one brow.
Urskin glanced at the bear, and his eyebrows shot up.“Oh, uh, right.”With a smile at Acadia, he told him, “Relax however you wish, Acadia.I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes.”
The tension immediately drained from Acadia’s body.He eyed Urskin for a few seconds, and the warlock gave him a smile and nod.Finally, Acadia began slowly moving toward Zion, his expression almost wary as he took one step after another past where Urskin knelt beside the dog.
“The spells make you take everything very literally,” Urskin murmured, glancing Zion’s way before refocusing on Jasmine.“Don’t they?”
Zion nodded once.“They did,” he confirmed.When Acadia reached Zion’s side, he rested his hand on his cousin’s massive head.“And the spell to remove this hurts like a son-of-a-bitch, but it’s worth it.I promise.”
Acadia chuffed before leaning into Zion’s touch, as if saying that any pain to end his entrapment would be well worth it.
Deciding to give Zion and his cousin a moment, Wraith squeezed his mate’s free hand.“Keep an eye on these two, okay?”When Zion furrowed his brows in silent question, he grinned at his mate before looking at his nakedness pointedly.“I’m going to pop over and find you some clothes from that clown closet we hid behind.”
Zion grimaced.“Clown clothes?”he whined.
