Page 44 of Witch Untold
We’d spread out, making a weak line of defense against what was coming. Leo was up the street banging on doors and ordering people to head to the police station. Humans emerged from their homes and places of business, tugging on coats and hats, round-eyed and confused. A few wandered toward us, but Bramble turned on them, screaming at them to get back, hurling curses to ward them off.
She was small but she was a spitfire, and right now she was exuding urgency that was infectious.
The humans backed off and jogged toward Leo, who stood by the cruiser, waving them on.
“Hurry. Now. Yes, Richie has the kettle on. It’ll be fine. Later, Veronica, not now!”
They listened to him, hurrying away from danger. Putting distance between themselves and death.
The horde was getting closer, moving faster. Their pale skin glinted in the moonlight, a contrast to the silver snow. Arms hung too long, sweeping knees. They were too far for me to see their faces, but the way they moved, fluid and with purpose, evoked a primal fear deep inside me that dug its claws into my scalp and curled a fist around my lungs.
“Get ready,” Sloane yelled.
My hands sparked bright against the night and power unfurled at my solar plexus. The threads binding me to the wolves thrummed in a low-grade vibration. If I focused, I’d be able to reach out and feel them. Instead, I tamped down, muting the connection. They didn’t need to feel this. They didn’t need to know how afraid I was.
Bramble stood to my left, daggers at the ready, breath pluming in hard puffs around her face. Sloane was to my right, long sword uncloaked and clutched in her hand. I’d hit the fuckers with magic first and take it from there.
My thighs bunched, body tense and ready, flooded with the adrenaline ready for a fight.
Jasper, Elijah, and Conah would have to wait. Fuck. I hated detours and distractions, and these ice fuckers were going to pay for throwing off my plans.
“What are those?” Leo came into view behind us. “Where did you get those weapons.” His gaze flew from the horizon back to us. “Who are you people.”
I gritted my teeth. “We’re the people who save your ass. Now go. Get as many people to the prison as you can.”
Leo dithered.
“Go!” Lauris boomed.
He turned and ran.
But there would be no running for us.
“Hold the line!” Bramble cried out, daggers flashing as she turned her wrists. “Cut them down fast. No one gets past.”
“Not asking for much, then.” I grinned at her.
She matched my grin with one of her own. “We got this.”
A frisson of excitement shot through me. Excitement for the fight to come. The wicked part of me that reveled in a fight was awake and eager for confrontation, and the fear melted away.
Yes. This was better.
Power surged through my limbs as the horde hurtled toward us. Their faces were visible now, mouths snapping, teeth dripping. I caught sight of something dark amidst the horde. A flash of what looked like fabric.
And then the screams finally hit us, eerie and high-pitched and totally fucked up.
“Brace!” Sloane yelled.
The first wave hit. Power shot out from my hands, searing a path across an ice walker’s skin to reveal blue and purple beneath. It opened its mouth and screamed, blasting me with its foul breath. Power hit it in the face, burning off its skin, but it continued to come at me.
Fuck, its skin was growing back. I pulled my blade from my waist and swiped up, snagging its abdomen and opening a path up its torso. The thing screamed again and fell back, but another took its place. Blast of magic, blade to the torso, rinse, repeat. Around me, Sloane, Bramble, and Lauris held their own. The ice walkers fell one by one, almost all down by the time the second wave hit.
“It’s working. Keep going!” Sloane cried out.
We moved forward to meet the onslaught, to move the fight away from the town.
“Throw a boom potion,” Sloane called out. “Slow them down.”
