Page 80 of Freed Wolfsbane

However, that’s not really my problem. He’ll find out what a dumbass he’s been eventually.

Ignoring the mage, I continue walking forward. He slings another spell at me. Without even having to think about it, my magic deflects the hit and sends it sailing back to the mage. He ducks, and his spell hits three Knights behind him. They convulse before falling to the ground.

“What the fuck was that?” Ryker growls at the mage.

The mage straightens and brushes dirt off his expensive black suit. “The McAlister boy sent an attack at us. It took out some of your men.”

I scoff.

Ryker’s brown eyes snap to mine. “What’s so funny, cur?”

Shrugging, I figure it doesn’t matter if they know I have magic now. Them not knowing won’t really give us any advantage at this point. “That wasn’t Saint’s magic. That was your pet councilman’s own spell that I reflected back at him.”

The mage glares at me. “She’s lying. She’s a wolf, so she can’t even see magic, much less deflect a spell.”

I let some of my magic trickle into my palm to form an ice-blue flame. “Oh, did I forget to mention, I have mage magic, too?” I can’t help my delighted grin as I watch the mage’s face turn a fascinating shade of purple as he looks between me and my magic.

“That’s… that’s not possible!” the mage screams at me. “We killed all of the hybrids a thousand years ago and have kept mages from mating outside our species. You’re lying!”

As much as I enjoy the mage’s outrage, I don’t want to sit here talking forever. Dismissing him, even as he continues yelling at me, I crouch in front of this side of the tomb. We’re severely outnumbered. While we have a chance against twenty-five Knights, Ryker, and the mage, there’s no guarantee all of us will make it out of this unscathed. I’m hoping something in the tomb will help me level the playing field. If not, at least I can destroy the curse and seal the tomb before they kill me. That’ll make it pretty hard to create a new one.

I can’t see any place where the crystal would go, but I run my hands over it just in case. When I get to the middle of the slab of stone, I feel a small indent, no bigger than the point of the pyramid top. Grinning to myself because I’m pretty sure I just found where to unlock it, I stand up to tell my mates what I found. Before I can fully straighten up, a hard body slams into me.

CHAPTER38

BRIAR

Igasp from the impact as I land hard on my back on the cold stone floor. Looking up, I see one of the Knights on top of me. His legs pin my arms in place as he looks to the side and fires. A scream builds in my throat when I see that he’s firing at Bastian, once again in wolf form. He’s grappling with three other Knights.

Before I can even shout a warning, a red shield briefly pops up in front of Bastian to catch the bullet before it winks out of existence.

I blow out a relieved breath before remembering that I currently have a dude I don’t know straddling me. I try to send a blast of magic at him, but with my hands pinned, I can’t aim my power.

When my magic doesn’t work, Dido takes over my body. She plants my feet on the ground and bucks my hips, which throws the Knight over me. He falls forward at the sudden movement, not having enough time to reach out his hands before he face-plants.

Dido wiggles me from under him, and I hop up before he recovers. She aims a vicious roundhouse kick to the back of his head, which has him sprawling out on the ground unconscious.

Looking around, I see utter pandemonium. The Knights are swarming my mates and charging at me, the councilman is firing spells at the five of us, and Ryker is watching the whole thing with grim satisfaction.

I try to run over to my mates, but Dido’s control of my body stops me.“Destroying the curse is how you can help your mates the most. They’re handling everything for now, but who knows what reinforcements Ryker will call in. Focus on the curse so you can leave before that happens.”

As much as it kills me to leave my mates to fend for themselves, Dido’s right. They’re handling the twenty-five Knights well enough for now. I throw blasts of magic at the Knights running at me, which knocks them out of the way. It doesn’t kill them, but it sure seems to hurt by the groans coming from them.

I grin at the small victory as I reach the tomb again. My brief pleasure fades as a portal opens and Knights start pouring through. There have to be at least a hundred Knights in here now, which doesn’t bode well for us.

My mates see the additional reinforcements and fight their way over to me. When the four of them reach me, they form a wall protecting me and the tomb. As much as I want to hop up and fight with them, I need to focus on the curse.

Pulling out the quartz, I shove the tip into the indent I found earlier. I want to cry when the top shatters on impact. Only I could manage to get this far and freaking break the only key we have. Hanging my head, I try to think of something, anything else I could use to open the tomb.

I snap my gaze up when I hear a soft whirring sound. The lid of the tomb starts slowly rising. Glancing down at the broken crystal in my hand, I’m surprised to see a whole, undamaged quartz pyramid in my hand. Stuffing it back in my pocket because that’s a mystery for another time, I shove to my feet and anxiously wait for the lid to lift off all the way.

When it does, I’m surprised to see a lone sword sitting inside with nothing else. The sword is old, chipped, and covered in blood. It doesn’t look particularly special, but this has to be the source of the curse because it’s the only thing in here.

“That was the sword that killed me,”Dido tells me.“It’s steeped in blood and death, which can be a potent combination to fuel a dark spell designed to hurt others. At least, that’s what Anna told me.”

I nod at her because I’ll just have to trust Anna’s word on this. I don’t know enough about spells to really have an opinion.

Bending over the tomb, I reach inside to grab the sword when someone grabs me by my hair hard enough to make my eyes water.

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