Page 22 of Cast in Shadow
He offered me a curt nod. “Will do.”
“Dennis? Come on, kid. Just point me in the right direction.”
“West! From where you are now, head straight west.”
“How far?”
“Two miles, give or take.”
I was moving before he finished the sentence, feeding magic into my muscles to boost my speed. I would never be as fast as Emerson, or any of the Brethren, not when they could simply transport from one place to another with a thought, but if I manipulated my power, feeding energy into the right cells, I could cover that distance in under four minutes.
Technically speaking, I could outrun a wolf, for a while.
But what about a pack of them?
Nguyen followed my lead, though he started falling behind after about two minutes. That was the tradeoff for a bear shifter. Even in human form, he could move inhumanly fast in short bursts, but that impressive speed burned out quickly.
“Pace yourself,” I breathed. “I’ll see if I can get ahead of them and find the girl. Coordinate with Dennis and have him guide you to the cabin. Only shift if you have to.”
He grunted in response.
“Be careful,” I added. “Bridget is an alpha too, and she still has a lot of fight in her.”
“I won’t get killed by a grandmotherly wolf.” He sounded irritated, which meant he wasn’t listening.
“I mean it,” I bit out between breaths. “She’s stronger than she looks.”
“Dennis,” Nguyen growled, dialing his frustration back a little. “Get backup on the way to the grandmother’s cabin too.”
“Already mobilized, but even if they run every light and break every speed limit, they’re still at least fifteen minutes out.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
Dennis didn’t follow up. More evidence of his mental state?
The guy might be a genius, but I couldn’t help wondering if he might be too softhearted to be our communications coordinator.
I pushed harder, pumping a steady flow of magic into my legs and lungs, forcing my body into a more efficient version of itself. Using my magic like this didn’t come without consequences, but I shoved the inevitable pain and misery out of my head and focused on covering as much distance as fast as I could.
A few minutes later, the sweet scent of fear hung heavy in the air, like a mouthwatering dessert just begging to be devoured. To a hunter, that kind of fear was addictive, and it could create a frenzy not unlike dropping a bucket of chum into shark-infested waters.
I slowed to a jog and took in my surroundings. The trees and shrubs looked the same as they had for the last few minutes, but there was an unnatural stillness to the forest that brought me to a full stop.
The pack was close. I could just make out the faint hues oftheir magic creeping closer. That wasn’t great, but what really worried me was the fear perfuming the area.
“Naomi?” I whispered.
A twig snapped behind me, sending a jolt of adrenaline through me. I wheeled around to see more magical auras peeking through the trees. The wolves were circling around to box her in, and there I was, standing right in the middle of it all.
“Naomi,” I said, pitching my voice as quietly as I could. She was a new wolf, but I was hoping her senses had developed enough to allow her to hear me. “Stay hidden until I tell you to come out.”
With that, I turned in a circle again, acting like I couldn’t see the magic pulsing between the shrubs and behind the trees. Each wolf carried a different hue, but they were all some shade of yellow, ranging from a bright gold to a deep, burnt orange. Generally speaking, the darker a person’s aura, the more morally compromised they were.
I seriously doubted the ones with lighter auras wanted to be out here hunting a teenage girl. They were likely running on their alpha’s orders, which couldn’t be refused by most wolves. The darker ones, though, were all-in on this chase. The magic emanating from them was muddied by their dark thoughts and misdeeds, much of it likely driven by greed.
There was nothing wrong with wanting money or power. Those things brought a measure of security, but when a person was willing to do anything to get them, that was when they became a problem.
The wolves swimming in deep orange magic would have had to do unspeakable things to experience that kind of color change, which made them the most dangerous of the bunch. And not just for me.
