Page 81 of The Powerless Witch

“Fucking dogs!” Regina spat, motioning with her hand toward the closest two of my men. The air shimmered, slamming into them with such force that they were sent flying above our heads. Dodging them, I sped forward just as a ball of fire formed in her hand, pulsing and growing rapidly.

‘Take cover!’I shouted in warning, throwing myself behind a wide three-seater as the others scrambled to hide. The spell burst, heating the air and crashing into the walls so hard, it left charred marks behind.

“Werewolves, they never learn.” Regina’s low voice reached my ears, followed by the loud clicking of her heels. “How did they pass the wards? And where in the Goddess’s name are Samara and Mathias?”

Her voice grew quieter as she moved away, and I gritted my teeth in annoyance while I watched the fires burn around us. I couldn’t wait for them to settle or we were going to lose her and if we lost her now…

‘Isaac, wait!’Allison yelled, but I ignored her, pushing myself to my feet. It was hard to breathe from the smoke and when the flames licked my fur, it hurt like hell. Not enough to stop me, though, and definitely not enough to take me down.

The sound of running feet told me the others had followed.

I dashed into the corridor where the witch had disappeared, catching a glimpse of her and that damn fox just before they turned the corner. She was heading toward the back entrance—or maybe the staircase to the second floor?—but she wasn’t running. Why wasn’t she running? Or fighting for that matter, it was like she couldn’t be bothered with us.

The realization made my skin crawl. She didn’t fear for her life. That could only mean she had something, something powerful here, that protected her and that could wipe us out without her moving a finger.

Fuck.

The floor suddenly shook, and I almost crashed onto the ground when I lost my balance. The sound of shattering windows and crumbling walls came from upstairs, forcing me to run faster.

“You have to be kidding me!” Regina screamed somewhere ahead, but it wasn’t fear that made her voice shake, but rage. “They brought adragoninto my house? I will murder them all! Samara! Mathias! Where the hell are you?”

I rounded the corner just as she descended the first steps of the curved staircase. The fox hissed, moving in front of the witch as if it was planning to protect her. Was that her familiar? If it was anything like Nym, then we were going to have a problem.

“I don’t have time for this!” Regina hissed. “I gave you mercy by letting you live and you have the audacity to damage my home? I will destroy you and everyone you care about!” Her eyes lingered on me and her lips pulled into a wicked grin that made me bristle. “Just like your pack all those years ago, Isaac. Remember them? BecauseI do. Oh, I remember your father and your Alpha when they gave us your names. I was there, you know. You should have died with them, you useless mutt! But instead, you ran like a little coward, leaving your family to rot, and then came back with more of your kind! This city was a heaven without you all here!”

The ground shook again, but this time, it wasn’t Gideon’s doing. In fact, I didn’t think it was the ground shaking but me. Her words echoed in my head over and over, the color draining from the world as everything turned red. I distantly heard Allison speaking to me, but I had lost all control over my body.

Rage guided my limbs, the hatred I had been pushing back bursting on the surface.

She was there. She had made it happen. She had killed my people. The real reason those children were taken, the real enemy who brought death to our doors. She must have worked with the hunters back then, just like she did recently.

I should have known. I should have fucking known!

Fear flashed in Regina’s eyes and her hand shot up as if she planned to push the air like she did with the others. I jumped to the side just in time, nails scratching the surface of the wall as I evaded her spell and propelled myself forward.

The air around her darkened, shadows swooping in to wrap around her. Just before I tackled her to the ground, she disappeared, reappearing by the tall glass doors leading to the backyard.

Howls echoed through the house and more replied outside, making her grit her teeth. She leaned down and touched the fox’s back with her fingers, whispering something in a language I didn’t know.

“Take care of them,” she said to it, then turned around and blasted the door open with a wave of her hand. I took a step after her when I noticed the fox had started trembling. It was barely bigger than a dog, I doubted it could stop me, let alone the rest of us, but even as I moved closer, it didn’t falter.

Instead, it drew forward—and with each step it took, it grew. I gawked while I watched the tiny creature’s head rise toward the tall ceiling, a mouth that could easily devour me in two bites opening to show sharp teeth as long as my legs.

It went after me first, swiping a paw toward the staircase and barely missing me as I jumped down. Its nails tore through the wood, sending flints and splinters flying in the air, but it barely paid them any mind as it turned to face us, filling the whole corridor and blocking the door.

‘The windows!’Allison bellowed, and my eyes snapped to the tall, narrow windows that lined the wall, each of them framed with intricate woodwork and filled with stained glass.‘Peter, we’re leaving this thing to you!’

We moved at the same time, ducking under the fox’s enormous paw before jumping toward the wall. The glass shattered with ease, raining on the grass outside as we landed in the garden. A yip that made my head pound echoed behind us, swallowed by a chorus of howls, barks, and growls, we while the sound of fighting increased.

A few more wolves came after us but I was already running, eyes locked on the blonde woman, surrounded by hedge figures and mer shifters in human form. One of them was already lying lifelessly on the ground, neck broken.

Shadows were swirling around Regina as if she was preparing to translocate again, but as we ran closer and closer, she remained where she stood. I reached her first, jumping at her from the back, but before I could tackle her to the ground, the shadows flared bright orange, blinding me and setting my fur on fire. Pain exploded everywhere and even as I rolled over the ground a few times, the flames didn’t go away.

‘Water!’Allison shouted through the mindlink, but I was already jumping into the artificial pond I spotted. The spell released me after a few seconds and by the timeI got out, Regina was surrounded, my wolves and the mer shifters fighting against her ward.

Still, she didn’t translocate. But why? What was going on? Did she really think she’d win against so many of us? Or was she unable to, for some reason? What was going on?

Another roar came from the house, and the second floorexploded. Flames and rubble erupted toward the sky, then two red wings stretched over them. I stared in awe and horror while the dragon clapped his wings once, twice, and he was then airborne, soaring through the clouds just as the moon peaked through them.

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