Page 31 of Heart of a Dire Wolf
Nic scooped up the phone and pressed a three-button sequence. While he told the Kotoyeesinay sheriff’s department dispatch to warn Tinsel and Pendragor, she took a moment to evaluate the threat and their own resources.
“Are we defending or running?” she asked Nic.
“Defending. Help is on the way...” He trailed off, staring at the darkest corner of the room. A faintly glowing green sphere with inner sparkles floated as if on a breeze. “What is that?”
“The spirit of Oak, Moss’s lover who died in the attack.” She crossed to Nic and took his hand. “I guess the moon goddess decided you get to share my gift for seeing the not-yet-dead.”
“Hearing them, too.” He turned to her with a puzzled look. “He told me to tell you to take your fingers out of your ears.”
“What?” Realization dawned. “Oh, I know.” She unraveled the tiny spell she’d cast earlier, to tell the ghosts to shut up and leave her alone.
The faintly glowing sphere floated closer and enveloped their joined hands.Enemies at the southern border. Light the ring. We will show the heart. Never again.
With that cryptic message, the sphere winked out. Oak had left a clear image of how to trigger the town’s hidden defensive perimeter. That explained the trickle of magic she’d felt whenever she went beyond the buildings.
“Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to.” Nic squeezed her hand. “Let’s go arm the defenses. Can your magic tell us who’s coming?”
“Not until they get closer. I don’t know what it means that the wizard portal is still open.” She shook her head. “I miss my sister. I’m not a good warrior.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “Me, neither.” His smile turned sharp. “But I’m really good at fighting dirty.”
* * *
Harsh mage lights emerged from the trees, followed by the wave of ten invaders approaching from the south. Her magic told her about fifty more magic sources came more slowly. Another force of fifty was circling around from the east, with its own forward unit. She wasn’t worth sending one army for, let alone two, but a newly accessible and vulnerable sanctuary town would be a legendary prize worth taking. No wonder the collective noun for a group of wizards was a “greed.”
She lay hidden on top of a giant rock, waiting for the interlopers to get to a pair of blackened, twisted conifers. Nic skulked in the trees to the east, close to the river. She used their mate bond to share what she was seeing. Hyena shifters in animal form, wearing heavily enchanted battle armor, and guided by mage lights that floated above them, leading them on.
“Ready.”
She launched the spell she’d learned from Ivy. All the angry energy the trees had absorbed from being struck by lightning exploded outward across the snow-covered terrain. The shockwave snuffed the mage lights instantly and sent the hyenas tumbling backward, hard into the rocks and trees.
She couldn’t kill the shifters, in case the wizards had forced them into it, just like they’d done to Nic. Thinking fast, she redirected the magic in their armor to wrap them tightly, while they were still dazed, making it impossible to shift, or even move. She spitefully left a little gift for any wizard that tried to undo her mischief.
To the east, she heard splashing water, angry shouts, and a wave of satisfaction coming from Nic. Moss, the dryad, had asked for aid from the local undines. Any strangers who stepped into the river would soon find themselves a hundred miles away, floating in the middle of Hudson Bay.
Skyla jumped off the rock and trotted back toward one of the seemingly random ring of rocks that circled the buildings. Unfamiliar magic emanated from them as she crossed the invisible line. She wasn’t clear on what the magic would do, but she’d take all the help she could get.
She felt surprise coming from Nic, making her hurry faster to the center of town.
She found him approaching a red-headed man and a dark-haired woman, standing together near the three central conifers. Either they had the stealthiest portal magic ever, or they’d hiked in. Their almost palpable mate bond said shifters, but the drift of floating mage lights said at least one was also a magic user. She hoped they weren’t family to any of the spirits that congregated in the permanent shadow of the trees.
Skyla slowed, to give Nic room to move if needed. His politely interested expression hid wariness.
The dark-haired woman smiled. “I’m Moira, and this is Chance, my mate. We’re from Kotoyeesinay. Our magic said you need some help, so here we are.” Their winter clothes looked practical and their big, expedition-style backpacks looked full and heavy.
Moira stepped forward, catching Skyla’s eye. “Your mate is a Siberian tiger, which makes you the dire wolf under that world-class illusion you wear. It’s nice to meet another Ice Age shifter.”
Skyla’s eyes widened. “Another?”
Moira grinned and pointed to Chance and herself. “American lions. He’s born. I’m changed. We know a couple of Ice Age bears, too.”
Skyla smiled. “American lion, as inPanthera atrox? You’re… Wow.” She remembered well the huge lions from the La Brea museum. She sensed an undercurrent of magic from Moira, more from its edges than its substance.
“We appreciate your offer,” said Nic, “but you’ve landed in a danger zone.” He pointed south and east. “We’re about twenty minutes from a two-prong invasion by an army of wizards who want to ransack a fabled sanctuary town and capture us to sell in their illegal auction. They’d consider it a bonus if they captured anyone else they can sell.” His nostrils flared. “Felines bring a high price. The price for extraordinary Ice Age shifters would be astronomical.”
“Kotoyeesinay is sending help,” added Skyla. “We just have to hold out until they get here.” She tilted her head toward her beloved mate. “He’s Nic. I’m Skyla.”
“How many are in these armies, and what are they?” asked Chance. “Humans?”
