Page 68 of The Soulless Witch

“We are in position,” I whispered, but before I got any answer, there was a tap on my elbow.

“There is a magical ward on the building,” Celeste said, nodding toward the door. I followed her gaze, narrowing my eyes against the heavy wood, but saw nothing. And then a soft flicker, like a spiderweb carried by the wind, made the skin on my neck rise.

“Fuck!” I cursed, looking up and down the empty street. “Roman, they have a witch.”

“It’s not a witch, it’s an artifact,” Celeste contradicted immediately, taking another step forward before I grabbed her shoulder. She looked at my hand in warning and I let go reluctantly. “If we break the artifact, the ward will disintegrate. I just need to find it.”

She crossed the street as if she had every right to be there while I held my breath, half expecting something to explode in her face. When she stopped by the door to inspect it, my body moved on instinct and I took a step after her. A hand grabbed my elbow, and as I looked back, Allison shook her head. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I retreated to the shadows, locking my eyes on the witch while she continued to study the exterior of the building.

“What is happening?” Roman’s voice came from the phone, making me jump. I had almost forgotten about him.

“Celeste is breaking the magical ward that’s on the building,” I replied, watching her slip the wand out of its place on her thigh. Allison snorted, but her laughter died down when Celeste moved her hand away from her body, whispering something. Her magic flared, enveloping her in a soft orange glow, and the tiny stick, no bigger than the length of her palm before, grew to the size of a staff even taller than her. Allison murmured something under her breath, but I was too focused on the witch to hear her. Celeste raised the staff and hit one of the lamps hanging on the side of the door. The glass shattered, and the whole thing fell to the ground, along with the metal clamp holding it up.

She picked a small pouch from the wreckage, setting it flat on her hand. A moment later, the pouch was enveloped in fire so hot that it incinerated it in an instant. The walls shimmered around the building, sending a pulse of energy through the air that made my insides twist. By the time I shook it off, Celeste was stepping toward the door and pulling one of the handles. The wing opened and…nothing happened.

Turning her head slightly, she smiled, giving us a sign to move.

“What the hell is going on?” Roman snarled, the frustration in his voice promising violence.

“There was some kind of artifact protecting the building and she destroyed it. It was in a lamp. There might be one on your end as well. She…she’s fine,” I breathed, jogging to where she waited. Allison followed and then the others joined us, peeking through the cracked door into the darkness waiting on the other side. “We are ready.”

“Then let’s get this over with,” Roman said from the other side of the line. “Keep her safe.”

The call disconnected just as I reached Celeste’s side, looking her over to make sure she was in one piece. When the others opened the second wing of the door, I gave them a sign to go in first. Half of them shifted, moving to take the lead. Grabbing Celeste’s elbow, I pulled her to my side, ignoring the looks the others gave me. They hadn’t been particularly thrilled to hear that Celeste would be joining our group, especially after I told them that she was likely the Order’s main objective, but nobody had questioned my orders, not even Daniel. Still, I wasn’t sure if their fear of witches was stronger than their hate.

To my surprise, Celeste didn’t pull away. She walked beside me, her arm brushing against mine while her eyes darted left and right in anticipation. Her other hand squeezed the piece of wood—now back to wand-size—and the soft glow of her magic danced over her skin. Yet as much as I searched, I could not feel the overwhelming power I remembered from eighty years ago. I couldn’t see the monster that killed my father with one blow.

We cleared the first floor, walking through a wide corridor with glass rooms on both sides—likely a shopping center in the past—until we found the door leading to the underground level. Despite it being unmarked and inconspicuous, it was hard to miss when it was the only thing made of hard metal and lacking any traces of dust or rust. And the smell, of course. Humans have come and gone through there, some as recently as a few hours ago.

Everyone looked back at us and I was just opening my mouth to tell them to keep going when I realized they were not looking atme.

“No wards,” Celeste whispered, and they turned to the door again. One of my wolves, still in her human form, tried the handle. Locked. Even if the humans below hadn’t felt the dispersing energy from the broken spell, there was no way they wouldn’t hear the banging if we tried to tear it down.

“Can you do something?” I asked while one of my men prepared to throw himself at the door. Celeste nodded. Humans and wolves stepped back as she strode among them without a whiff of fear coming from her. There were no padlocks or bolts, but entering the Order’s headquarters, even if it was just the front, had been too easy so far.

Her magic flared brighter, causing goosebumps to crawl over my skin. A soft click came from the door, but before she could reach for the handle, my senses went on high alert, screaming for me to run, to hide, to take cover.

Instead of listening to them, I ran the other way—forward, toward her. Wrapping my arms around her, I yanked her out of the doorway just when the metal wings exploded outward with a deafening bang. We hit the nearest show window, falling through it in a rain of shards as wails, roars, and more glass shattering filled the air.

Covering her with my body, I looked over my shoulder just as the smoke cleared, revealing half a dozen figures stepping out of the corridor. One of the wolves tackled the first hunter to the ground and tore his neck open before the others could blink. Gunfire sounded, and the wolf squirmed, attacking another of them. More gunshots echoed through the building, and the wolf fell to the floor, his heartbeat coming to an abrupt stop.

Cursing under my breath, I staggered to my feet, pulling the witch with me. I moved to run when she yanked herself from my grip, the wand—now back to the size of the staff—raised in the air where she twirled it in a circle. The soft glow that illuminated her body slipped around the wood, creating a whirlpool of color. Then she took a step toward the hunters.

One of them shot at her, but before I could yank her back, the bullet sunk into the glow around her fast-moving staff, before dropping at her feet. Pale and thick, the charge was made of silver, and after I had time to see where it had landed, a thought struck me. The bullet hadn’t been aimed at her; it had been aimed atme. She had just saved my life.

The hunter fired again and again, but his bullets never went past the spell she was weaving. That’s when he threw his gun aside and slipped a knife out of his belt, the tip gleaming with something purple and smelling of herbs. I had no idea what that was, but Celeste’s faltering step told me it wasn’t good.

The hunter aimed and threw it toward her. She ducked, the knife passing through her spell like it wasn’t even there, and only my werewolf speed saved me from getting hit by that thing.

Snarling in frustration, I charged, transforming mid-way. The others were already fighting with the remaining hunters, several of the humans now lying mangled on the bloody ground. Two more wolf bodies lay unmoving.

Jumping on the hunter while he was rushing to unsheathe another blade, I sunk my teeth into his arm, ripping it off. He wailed, but the sound quickly turned into a low gurgle as my teeth tore his throat. The minds of the other wolves pushed into mine and I allowed them in, trying to sort through the excitement and panic.

‘Calm down!’I shouted through the mindlink and at once, everyone went quiet, even the unfamiliar voices.‘We keep going! Stay alert and watch each other’s backs!’

‘Yes, Alpha,’my pack replied readily as they moved to surround me. I looked up at Celeste, who was standing with her fingers wrapped around her staff, a frown on her face while she stared down at the corpse of the hunter who had attacked us. I hesitated whether I should shift again, but being in this form made more sense. I was weaker in my human body.

She turned to look at me and her expression closed, hiding the fear that had shone in her eyes before.

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