Page 62 of Emerald Flame
Now.She made quick work of the final set of photos then shoved the last plan on the floor. She hoped it would look like something had knocked them off in the chaos.
When she moved herself inside the shield, she nodded and put her phone away.
But she found Warren in a sweat.
Something was wrong.What is it?Her own heart rate skyrocketed.
Glissane. He’s either in the building or on his way.
How do you know?
Because apparently, I’m part warlock now. Trust me. He’s here.
As she set her witch senses on the wizard, she felt his presence.
Warren started to move, but she held his arm.Stay very still. You’re right. Glissane is here. Now that I’m no longer focused on the plans, I can sense him as well. Movement inside the shield will draw his attention.
She felt Warren ease into a place of almost vampire-like stillness, a frozen place of immobility resembling death. If he could do it, so could she. Modeling his pose, she dropped to the same quiet state.
She stood next to him near the south wall. She didn’t shift her gaze around either. Instead, she used her peripheral vision. She caught glimpses of Glissane’s signature, a faint shimmery green aura. She could tell he was searching the space.
Julio appeared from the direction of the stairwell. It seemed he could see the aura as well. “Are you sure Alpha Warren is here? He can’t go invisible. He’s a wolf.”
Glissane didn’t respond. Instead, the shimmer of his aura continued floating around the room. She didn’t dare move or even glance his direction. He’d see it.
The shimmer grew closer to their position.
She could only hope he couldn’t hear the thundering of her heart.
She forced herself to calm down.
From Warren, she detected nothing. If anyone failed in this situation, it would be her. So, she strove to do as he’d told her more than once, to simply dial it down.
A minute passed, then another. The entire room was still. Anytime a wolf entered the space, Julio waved him away. Maybe Glissane was communicating with him telepathically.
A quarter hour passed.
Kiara felt like she was playing chicken with a ghost. Yet she knew if she moved, she’d be caught. Warren seemed to sense the dire nature of the situation as well.
She tried not to let her mind wander. She had a habit of giving her thoughts away with unconscious gestures, a shrug, a flick of her fingers.
Somewhere outside the compound, she heard a distant exchange of gunfire. At almost the same moment, guards appeared from the direction of the stairwell.
“What’s going on?” Julio shouted.
“Alpha Fergus’s wolves have fired on your northeast outpost. We’ve seen it on the security footage. The wolves are wearing his amber-trimmed tanks.”
Kiara remained as still as she could, but if anything was going to break the stalemate, it was news of an attack.
The next split second, everything happened at once. She watched Glissane’s shimmer become more visible as he whipped away from their position. The next moment, the wizard and Julio turned and flew down the hall toward the foyer, Warren gripped her arm.Let’s get out of here.
By now, she knew the drill. When he reached for her waist, she leaned into him so he could take them both wherever he wanted to go.
We’ll head out through the back courtyard.
He whipped them past the table that once held the plans, then through the open wall into the courtyard. A number of wolves had already taken to the air, so he kept them levitating low and near the brick pavers. She remained as relaxed as she could and concentrated on using her levitation to stay pressed up against him. He would have to navigate them both out of harm’s way. They might be invisible, but they could collide with anything physical.
When he reached the building on the other side of the large patio, he ascended slowly then stuck close to the roof. Wolves suddenly appeared from the other side coming up and over the house. He dropped them both down flat to avoid getting hit.
