Page 52 of Wicked Fate

“No.” Cassi lifted a hand. “There’s something here.”

“Ember says she can feel cloaking magic.” Ryker’s arm tightened.

I slowly scanned the area, searching for something to stick out. I squinted at a patch of moss-covered earth with divots that looked as if something were lying on top of it. The others probably couldn’t see it, but a large, iridescent shadow sat right on top of it.

“It’s there,” I said, pointing at the spot. “I can see the shadow that hides it.”

Cassi slid off Kendric’s back and brushed some twigs from her body, though a few were still stuck in her hair. She walked in the direction of my gesture, and her eyes widened. “Yes, I feel it getting stronger.” She kept moving even when she was right on it.

“Stop.” I jerked forward, trying to reach he,r but it was too late.

Her shin hit the invisible rock, and she tripped over it and twisted her ankle. Her body hit the ground, and she whimpered before she could stop the noise.

Lovely.Gage appeared at my other side and panted.We already have enough stacked against us, so why not let our witch get injured?

I hurried toward her, and Bruce and Sun did the same. The problem was that they were heading straight to the rock as well.

“Stop,” I whispered sternly. “You need to head to the left to go around it. Follow my lead.” The last thing we needed was Sun and Bruce injured too. There was no telling what we were getting ourselves into, but I knew, without a doubt, that all the shifters needed to be ready and well to shift at a moment’s notice.

I dropped next to Cassi and touched her ankle.

She groaned and winced. “I think I sprained it.”

That’s a problem,Xander linked.Most of the time, sprains are worse than an actual break.

My heart thundered, and I could sense Ryker’s frustration, fear, and determination funneling through our bond, adding to mine.

Bruce knelt beside me as Sun walked around Cassi to her other side.

“I know you’re in pain and it hurts.” Her ankle was already swelling, and I hated what I was about to ask of her. “But you’re at the rock. Are you up for getting this over with before we get caught?”

She nodded and slowly moved her legs behind her so she could kneel. “I can. Just know if the witch cloaking the vampires and now this rock is truly on the vampire queen’s side, then…”

“They’ll know as soon as your magic connects,” I finished for her. I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum because, no matter what we tried to do to save innocent lives, we kept getting served cruel circumstances.

“Immediately,” she confirmed. Her eyes locked with mine.

“We’ve come too far to turn around now.” Ryker rubbed his eyes as his rage boiled into me. “We can’t just leave without trying. The grenade gave away that we’d left, so this may be the only chance we have to gain an advantage because I suspect they’ll soon double their guards.”

“Agreed,” Bruce said as he reached between Cassi and me. When his hand hit the shadow, he quit moving forward, and his mouth gaped while he shook his head. “That’s fucking disturbing. It’s like I’m not touching anything, and yet I can’t move anymore.”

Cassi braced her palms on her thighs, trembling slightly as the weight of our decision pressed in. “Once I get us in, the witch performing the cloaking spell will feel my energy. If she’s loyal to the vampire queen, she’ll alert them immediately.”

Silence descended once again, and even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

“So what you're saying is,” Bruce said grimly, “there’s no way we aren’t going to have a shit-ton of blood suckers upon us very soon.”

Cassi flinched. “Most likely.”

My stomach sank hard. I wasn’t up for another battle with vampires, but clearly Fate didn’t give a damn. It was going to happen, even if I asked her nicely not to plague us.

“If we all stay together, that will help, but we may emerge only to face a bunch of vampires ready to attack.” Cassi touched her ankle and jerked her hand away as her face twisted in agony. “Either way, this isn’t going to be easy.”

Fuck. I placed a hand over my heart. No matter what happened, we always seemed to wind up in worse situations than we expected.

“Can you spell the perimeter to at least give us a heads up?” Ryker nodded to the others. “So we aren’t walking in completely blind.”

“I… I can’t.” She pointed at her satchel, her ankle, and the rock they couldn’t see. “I don’t have enough supplies or energy. If I spell the area, I might not have enough to get the witch out. Our magic is fluid and connected with earth. It drains quickly and has to replenish to ensure we don’t cause unjust harm. Either way, all it would confirm is what area is being breached. It won’t give us an idea of numbers.”

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