Page 11 of Magic Hunted
My paws pounded on the ground, sending leaf debris flying as I bolted away. Titan’s army lunged, coming at me from behind trucks and thick foliage. The cadre had brought nearly a whole contingent with them.
I darted away, a fraction before an arrow lodged in a trunk, and nearly ran head first into a human soldier. Savvas leapt from behind me, locking his teeth onto the man’s forearm and wrenching to the side. The soldier let out a piercing cry and staggered to the ground, clutching an arm that now bent in the wrong direction.
A bush burst into flames next to us, incinerated by a flash of magic as Sinon ran after me. I darted under a shrub and sailed over a broken log and into a soldier aiming his crossbow at us. The twang of the bow preceded a cry from Savvas as an arrow embedded into his flank. Blood oozed from the wound as his leg crumpled beneath him.
“There is no escape,” Peder shouted, his face twisted with rage.
Ashir and Dias hedged off Savvas as I looked for an avenue of escape. Thick vegetation held the threat of shadows and hidden soldiers. Peder was right. Titan’s soldiers were everywhere, and we were surrounded.
I panted, desperate to get away from them. My muscles pinged with adrenaline. The faint burn of my wound was distant compared to the panic that pounded through me.
Ashir had killed Kalos. For me.
Peder and Sinon would slaughter the alphas before they took me to Titan. There would be no retribution. A shifter attacking a human, especially someone magically turned by one of The Six was an immediate death sentence. No trial necessary.
The magic inside me quavered. My vision hazed, then reformed in an explosion of color. Green light glimmered from leaves, the air shimmered and a golden line of sparks lit beneath my feet. The magic danced up my paws, covered my body in a glittery flash and filled me with power. Potent energy imbued my cells and connected with the grimoire’s magic inside me. A shimmering heat exploded outwards and a wave of magic burst from me.
The soldiers stalking toward us were thrown backwards in the shockwave. They crashed into sturdy trunks and disappeared into clumps of leaves, the jungle devouring them whole. Branches snapped and small trees were leveled with the force bursting from me. Thick silence pressed around me before the groans of men shattered it.
A deep rumble sprang from Ashir’s chest. His light blue eyes snapped to mine, filled with questions and demands. An arrow embedded in the ground at my feet. A soldier struggled to his feet and lined up his crossbow with shaking hands. Men groaned and clambered to their feet, collecting swords and daggers.
Ashir butted his head into my side, pushing me toward the yellow sand promising the desperation and death of the wastelands, shock making me compliant. Savvas limped with us, the arrow still embedded in his flank. Dias growled, the deep feline sound pulsing under my skin. He caged me between his large body and Ashir’s. We darted beneath bushes, past the barely moving and still bodies of humans, their necks twisted at odd angles, expressions of shock frozen on their faces.
I did this. I’d killed those men with whatever-the-fuckhad happened to me.
“Halt!” Sinon bellowed.
A massive trunk exploded behind us in a burst of blue magic from Sinon’s ring. Shards flew in all directions. Branches snapped and leaves crackled as the tree toppled. Debris fell to the ground as the tree snapped off branches and limbs. Men shouted and the ground shook as boughs slammed into the earth.
Ashir pushed me and together we used the diversion to leap from the line of trees and into the wastelands. Stifling heat singed my nose as we dashed from the shade of the jungle and into the broad sunlight of the barren plains.
Magic shot past the ground near my paws. Grit and stones rained around us in the explosion. Another boom shook the ground, grit stinging my eyes. Peder and Sinon stood on the border of the jungle, their hands glowing blue with flashes of magic dancing on their fingertips.
There was nowhere to hide out here. The plains were flat and stark, dotted by small boulders and dead shrubs. The tall cliff that rose to our right hedged us in. I flinched, sharp shards of terror sliding through my body when another bolt of lightning struck the ground at Dias’ feet. Ashir put on an extra burst of speed. Savvas and Dias nudged me to run faster. My paws flew over the sand, barely touching the burning ground as Ashir headed toward the cliff.
We couldn’t go this way! The cliff blocked us off. The almost-vertical edge rose into the blue sky, unrelenting in its smooth, black rock. There were no hand or pawholds. No way to climb up, and even if we somehow managed it, Peder and Sinon would pick us off one by one.
Ashir relentlessly pushed us towards the base of the cliff before a darker circle of shadow appeared and I saw where he was purposely leading us. He wasn’t running towards the cliff to climb up, he directed us to one of the thousands of cave entrances dotting the wastelands.
The climb up the cliff face would be preferable because being in the wastelands was one thing. Going into one of the caves was certain death, but then the ground exploded beside me. Sand pelted into my fur and blurred my vision. I stumbled but Dias leapt to my side, urging me to run, his fur slicked with blood. We bolted into the cave as magic struck the entrance, sending chunks of rock and gravel down on us and plunging us into thick darkness.
Chapter Six
Blue light broke through the darkness, enough to see luminous moss growing on the damp rocky walls and panthers panting heavily. Savvas collapsed to his belly, body shaking, the arrow jutting obscenely from his hip. The head of the arrow burrowed beneath his matted, bloodied fur. It had lodged more deeply while he’d run, tearing into his flesh and had to have been excruciating.
They could have handed me to the cadre. Theyshouldhave. I would have found a way to escape Titan, but they’d put themselves in danger because of me. It only made me more determined not to complete the bond with them and to find another way to release the grimoire. I wouldn’t ask anyone to tie themselves to me when it would mean their certain death. As loving as my mother had been, I was not her and I would not accept any mate sacrificing their lives as my fathers had done for the sake of a grimoire I had no choice about.
Ashir Changed into his human form and knelt beside Savvas, as did Dias. I crouched away from them as Ashir sank his hand into Savvas’ thick fur. My paw itched to reach out and touch my mate. To provide the comfort I was born to offer. To lay next to him and try to take his pain as though it was my own.
“When I take the arrow out, Change as fast as you can to heal, brother,” Ashir said.
Savvas’ eyes glowed a preternatural light blue before he dropped his chin to the ground in assent.
“Make it quick, Ashir,” Dias said.
The act of shifting could heal wounds. The faster Savvas could Change, the less he’d be in pain although he’d still have to bear the pain of having the arrow ripped from him. I winced as Ashir’ fingers folded over the arrow near the head and jerked it free from the alpha’s flesh. Savvas’ howl turned into a pained grunt as he Changed from panther to his human form. His face screwed up and his body trembled as he lay on his side on the ground, skin slick with perspiration. Black bruising surrounded a crimson slash in his hip. The wound, although healing already, had been deep.
“Can you sit?” Ashir asked, his hand squeezing Savvas’ shoulder.
