Page 36 of Sugar Rush

I would have questioned that further, but I spotted a familiar figure standing in the middle of a crossroads ahead, the mysterious light source of Herallan lining his big, grey shoulders with silver.

"Taj!" I shouted and raced ahead.

Thank fuck.HavingTaj out of my sight made me as sick as the dizzying fall. I'd just got him back this morning; I couldn't lose him again.

Ark held stubbornly onto my hand, running with me; his shadows rushed forward like a battering ram in front of us, growing thicker.

I ignored the wall of shadows and ran to Taj, barrelling into him and hugging—huh? This wasn't Taj; I'd know his body anywhere. He was big and hard with muscle, but he melted a little any time I hugged him because he was secretly a big softie. This Taj didn't melt; he stood stiffly.

So I reared back and kneed him in the balls.

"Where's my mate, you pound-shop lookalike?"

The dupe didn’t reply.

I threw a punch into his chest, and swore colourfully at the tenderness that exploded through my knuckles. The second my hand connected, Taj dissolved into six orange, bushy-tailed foxes.7"Whatthefuck!"

"Of course," Arkan muttered, catching up to me and yanking me out of the path of the foxes as they tumbled to the floor, their ears cute and pointed, but their orange faces utterly wicked. "Hellfoxes."

"Hellfoxes?"I shrieked, jumping aside when one of the creatures lunged at me with its cute little face parted in a laugh. "What in the devil’s name is ahellfox?"

"Nasty little bastards," Ark explained, his blue eyes sharp on our surroundings as we backed away from the crossroads. "They were the devil's faithful pets before the hellhounds, but they became corrupted by the power. They had to be sent away when they began to merge with the power."

"Merge," I echoed, flinging my hand in front of me until flame burst from my palm, bright orange but tipped with black. Cool. My magic was like a mystery grab bag; you never knew what you were going to get.

"They became pure magic themselves, but with the volatile nature of a wild animal, and the playful, mischievous personality of foxes. Not a good combination."

What psycho thought giving an animalmagicwas a good idea? "So how did Dev stop them?"

Arkan shrugged.

Arkan.Shrugged!

We were screwed.

"He must have locked them here, as guardians of the sceptre. But there were originally nine of them. I don't see the other three."

A blur of orange and black came at my left, and I threw myself out of the way instinctually, fiery hands thrown up to protect myself.

Another leapt at Ark, separating us.

The wall of shadow wrapped around me, keeping me safe. But the fox let out a chattering noise of clear amusement, and brushed against my ankles like an affectionate cat. Only, this was a taunt—the shadows grew worryingly thin.

"At the risk of RSPCA coming for me, will my fire scare them off?" I yelled, jumping away from the fox and relieved when the wall of darkness followed.

I squinted through the shadows for Arkan, and spotted him wrapped in his magic across the road, nothing more than a skeleton glimpsed through shadows. A pair of foxes crept up behind him while another raced at his front, and I saw exactly what the sneaky fuckers were up to.

"Ark!" I yelled, but before I could warn him, he took a step away from the running fox—and tripped over the other two.

He fell and…

"What the fucking fuck!" I screamed, jolting forward on instinct as the foxes were absorbedintoArkan.

"Oh no," I breathed, a laugh bursting out of me at the sheer absurdity of this whole damn place.

The foxes wereinsidemy mate? Ark just … had foxes in him now?

The shadow wall fell around me, which was just typical.

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