Page 34 of The Magic of Destiny
In the blink of an eye, everything around me was swirling in varying shades of black and gray. A shrill scream pierced my ears, and my heart dropped to my stomach.Cub...
I hit the ground with an oomph, determined to stay on my feet and get to my mate. Stumbling over to her, I scanned her body, not seeing any signs of injury or distress.
“Kai?” she asked, confused.
“I heard you scream—are you hurt, Cub?”
“What? No. I didn't scream,” she replied, looking over at the other guys.
“Ahem…” Faris cleared his throat and raised his hand slowly. “That was me.”
“I think you broke my damn eardrums,” Bram grumbled. “Hurry up, let's get behind these boulders for coverage.”
The six of us crouched down behind a pile of huge stones, some of which stood over ten feet tall.
“The lab entrance we're using is about a quarter mile north,” Bram murmured.
“Weapons check before we advance,” Khol ordered, immediately checking his own.
Everyone made sure their weapons of choice were secured and ready. For mages like Cam and Fischer, their power was their usual choice of weapon, but they also had weaknesses for sharp toys.
Fish liked throwing daggers; it was an art form he was deadly with. Faris had a gods damn axe strapped to his hip. Bram carried a broadsword across his back that was nearly as tall as he was. Personally, I liked to carry a katana, but I knew I’d be shifting sooner rather than later, and Bagheera was a deadlier weapon than any sword.
A gust of wind whipped through the trees as I was double checking my bootlaces. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted.
“No. Fuckin'. Way!” I snarled, startling the others.
‘Kill. Kill. Kill.’Bagheera growled in my head.
“What is it, K?” Cam demanded.
I held up a hand. Sniffing the air for another moment, a feral smile took over my face. Everyone was staring at me, anxiously awaiting an explanation.
“Sloane's here,” I told them, which earned several sighs of relief. “So is Annie,” I added. Sprout damn near burst into tears over that.
“Then what has you riled?” Khol questioned, studying me.
“Sloane's father... he's also here. And I've waited a very, very long time to kill him. His death ismine,” I said, my voice getting huskier and deeper as Bagheera fought to the surface. He was fuckin' chomping at the bit to be let loose.
“The prison was a trap all along then,” Cam concluded. “Asrael must have had another inmate killed, to be used in place of Sloane's dad.”
“I have an idea,” I announced, getting everyone's attention. “Since Napoleon is here now, we should utilize him. By merging with him, I'd be able to slip through basically every level of security in that place. Let me go ahead of everyone. I can scope it out, and my senses will lead me to Sloane and Annie. Wherever they are, I'll be able to find them. I'll still be able to shift into Bagheera later and Napoleon can be useful with other tasks.”
‘You rang?’Napoleon's face popped out of my pocket.
“What do you think?” I asked, bouncing on my feet. I was ready for action.
“I think it's actually a genius idea,” Bram said, grinning. “They'll never see you coming.”
“Agreed,” Cam added, while Faris and Fischer nodded their agreement.
“Perfect,” I purred, cracking my knuckles. “I'm going to strip.” Fish automatically held his hand out to take my clothes. He always put them in his backpack for me; we’d been doing this long enough that it was a habit. Napoleon scurried down my arm, jumping to Sprout, who had her palms out to catch him.
Each article of clothing got handed off to Fischer who then tucked it safely into his backpack. At least I wouldn't have to freeball it after the battle. Probably a good thing. I always got hard as a rock after a good fight.
“If anything feels off, get out of there. Immediately,” Khol said sternly.
“Absolutely, Sir. We have to do this right,” I replied.
