Page 77 of Cursed

Fortunately, my aunt is capable of opening the portal near our safe house. Before she takes over watching Myra, she creates another one just outside the asylum for us and our faerie troops.

When the portal snaps shut behind us, I can’t look away from the haunting sight of Ravenhollow with its Victorian manor style. It’s painted in dark colors of black and maroon. It appears to suck the life out of you with its very presence.

I suppose that’s exactly what it does…

My mother died here—probably from being drained of her magic and soul. And now my love and coven are likely facing a similar fate.

I pray to the Goddess that Hollis and Landis are alright too. Not only have I grown to care for them, but Shayla would be devastated if she survived and not her mates.

The flower faeries zip away, almost unnoticed, getting into position.

I don’t like risking their safety in this crazy plan, but I realize if we don’t stop these evil supes, then we are all completely fucked.

Rourke strips off his shirt, preparing for his shift. I don’t like risking him in this plan either. Heismy coven mate, just like my aunt said.

Seeing them so ready to risk their lives for Shayla, my anger for Branden and Rourke ebbs. I know it wasn’t our fault that the other half of our coven was captured, but I needed to be angry.

Now I’m afraid I will lose them too. They aren’t even my friends—yet. But I can see with their new, more open attitudes, I could grow to love them as brothers.

Tavi flies over to us, where we are hidden in the tree line. “Everyone is in position and waiting for your signal.”

Branden hands Rourke the small jug of tea with a stopper.

“Some of the flowers may make you a bit sick, so only drink when you are ready to shift… a dragon’s stomach will be better equipped to handle the toxins,” Tavi warns Rourke again.

“Thank you.” He lifts the jug of tea brewed from each of the participating faeries’ flowers. “And make sure to get clear of this place after you do your part,” he says.

Tavi gives him a frown but doesn’t promise a thing. That worries me, but I’m not their master, and they wouldn’t listen to me anyway. If they want to stick around, they will do just that. They are nothing if not stubborn.

After moving back several paces, so he has room to shift, Rourke uncorks the concoction, throws it back, and coughs. I can’t imagine it tastes good, much less to a shifter’s heightened senses. He waits for a beat for his body to absorb the magic within the brew, energetically connecting the faeries and the shifter. There are only a few ways to circumvent a dragon’s resistance to outside magic, and that’s gettinginsidethem. It’s one reason why dragons must be careful what they ingest. But not all magic is equal. And weirdly enough, dragons and faeries have a natural magical connection.

Then bam! He’s a giant beast. And I’m just hoping this will work.

Rourke flaps his wings, and we all get hit with a blast of warm air. He lifts up and lands on the front gates. As soon as his clawed paws hit the wards, they light up around the entire asylum. He should be zapped unconscious for his efforts.

I would know. I tested Ravenhollow’s barriers years ago when I was foolish to think I could take on the asylum on my own. But I didn’t get anywhere because of the complex warding.

However, since Rourke is a dragon, the effects on him are almost nonexistent. He’s only prevented from entering, not harmed in any way by the ward that appears as an enormous glowing net-like dome over the facility.

Hundreds of flower faeries fly from out of the foliage and descend upon the glowing net of the ward. Through their temporary link with the dragon from the potion, they use their magic combined with his to break down the ward. Faeries also have a resistance to other’s magic, one of their primary defense mechanisms. Even now, with all of them attacking the wards, they are taking only a piece of the asylum’s protective magic… draining the original magic influx that created it.

They pull and struggle even with their resistance to a mage’s magic.

Branden and I glance at each other when we see the ward weakening. Then we turn back, readying ourselves to race forward when it falls.

“Come on, come on,” I whisper.

We need this to work quickly, before someone inside is alerted to their ward failing.

It’s been less than a minute since Rourke made contact with the gate, and he and the faeries began to work their collective magic.

A half dozen supes race out of the front entrance a moment later. Likely, the supe who created the force field is inside and must have felt it being tampered with.

A fire mage lodges a flaming ball at one of the faeries near him.

Rourke roars with an effort to redirect the fire, but he can’t manipulate magic inside the warding.

Unfortunately, with the weakened ward, most of the fire sprays through, landing a direct hit on the faerie. The little being cries out and falls backward, rolling down the curved bubble of the ward. Her tiny wings burnt and no longer functioning.

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