Page 51 of Frost and Felines

"Besides the fact that multiple witnesses just saw him running from the scene?" Mallory crossed her arms. "I'm sure the security cameras caught everything too."

Gregory squirmed under Kieran's paw, his usually impeccable suit now covered in snow and mud. "This is assault! I'll sue!"

Kieran growled, a deep rumbling sound that made even Mallory's spine tingle. He pressed his paw down a little harder, making Gregory wheeze.

"Careful, darling," Mallory said to Kieran, though she couldn't help smirking. "We wouldn't want to wrinkle his suit any further."

Vivian's perfectly painted lips twisted into a snarl. She yanked a crystal pendant from her neck, ancient runes carved into its surface glowing an eerie blue. "You think you're so clever, don't you?"

The air crackled with magical energy as Vivian traced patterns in the air. Suddenly, the ground beneath Mallory's feet shifted and buckled. She leaped back just as spikes of ice erupted where she had been standing.

Thunder rumbled overhead as Mallory's anger built. She tried to keep her emotions in check, but seeing Vivian attack theplace she had grown to love made that difficult. Wind whipped around them, catching Vivian's designer scarf, and sending it flying.

"My Hermès!" Vivian shrieked. She slashed her hand through the air, sending a wave of force that shattered the inn's front windows.

Glass tinkled to the ground as Mallory's control slipped further. Lightning crackled across the sky, illuminating Kieran's massive tiger form still pinning Gregory down. His blue eyes met hers, full of concern and trust.

"Stay back!" Mallory called to Charlotte and the staff. "And someone call the police now!"

Vivian's runes pulsed brighter as reality warped around them. Tree branches twisted into grasping claws, trying to snag Mallory's clothes. The snow beneath her feet turned to quicksand.

Drawing on her power, Mallory summoned a gust of wind that lifted her clear of the trap. Lightning struck the transformed trees, reducing them to ash. Her hair whipped around her face as the storm grew stronger.

"You're nothing but a temporary distraction," Vivian spat, conjuring more magical traps. "Once you're gone, The Hearthstone will crumble."

"Lux Grove will never be as special as The Hearthstone and you know it." Mallory's voice floated on the wind as rain began to fall. She could feel her control fraying at the edges, the storm wanting to grow wild and destructive.

Kieran growled encouragement as Mallory faced off with Vivian. His tail lashed back and forth, clearly wanting to help but unwilling to let Gregory escape and join forces with Vivian.

Lightning crackled through Mallory's fingertips as she deflected another of Vivian's attacks. The rune witch's spells glowed with an eerie blue light, but Mallory matched each blastwith her own power. Her storm magic surged through her veins, stronger than she had ever felt it before.

"Is that the best you can do?" Mallory taunted, summoning a gust that sent Vivian stumbling backward. For once, she didn't fear her own power. The Hearthstone needed protecting, and she would do whatever it took.

Vivian snarled, her perfect makeup running in the rain. "You think you're so special? Watch this."

Before Mallory could react, Vivian's runes flashed brilliant white. A beam of energy struck Kieran, sending him flying backward into the inn's stone wall. His tiger form crumpled to the ground with a pained roar.

Something snapped inside Mallory. The careful control she had tried to maintain her entire life shattered like glass. Thunder boomed overhead as dark clouds swirled into existence, transforming the night sky into a tempest of her rage.

"You shouldn't have done that," Mallory growled. The strong wind whipped her hair around her face as lightning forked across the sky.

The storm responded to her fury, pelting Vivian with hail and buffeting her with gale-force winds. The rune witch tried to shield herself, but Mallory's power overwhelmed her defenses. Windows rattled in their frames and shutters banged against the inn's walls.

"No one hurts him!" Mallory yelled over the howling wind. She thrust both hands forward, channeling all her fury into one massive blast of lightning.

The bolt struck Vivian square in the chest. The rune witch's eyes rolled back as she collapsed into the snow, unconscious.

Only then did Mallory notice Kieran struggling to his feet. She had to stop this storm before it hurt anyone else. Closing her eyes, Mallory reached deep inside herself, gathering every scrap of willpower she possessed. Slowly and painfully, she reinedin the tempest, forcing the winds to die down and the clouds to dissipate. Her whole body trembled with the effort, but she didn't stop until the last rumble of thunder faded away.

Mallory's legs were still trembling as she watched the paramedics load Vivian into the ambulance. Her hair hung in wet strands past her shoulders, and her clothes were soaked through from the storm she had created. The decorations she and Kieran had spent hours arranging earlier lay scattered and broken across the snow-covered ground.

But it wasn't the property damage that made her stomach churn. It was the way people stared at her - mothers pulling their children closer and onlookers whispering behind their hands, their faces twisted with fear and suspicion. The same looks she had received after the tornado incident.

"Did you see what she did?"

"Such destructive magic..."

"Someone could have been killed..."

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