Page 47 of Wrongfully Magicked
Soren studies my face like he can read below the surface, then he nods slowly, like he’s trusting me to know my limits, and my heart warms at his confidence in me.
He turns toward Porter and shrugs. “She’s part of the team. She needs to see what we do, and we need to know what she can handle.”
An inarticulate hiss escapes Cassius, and he storms away like he was mentally stomping on them instead. Darby hesitates for a moment longer, taking a step toward me, then dips his head. “If it gets to be too much, just let me know. No one here will fault you.”
I give him a wry smile, then shrug. “If I gave up every time my life got hard, I would have been dead a long time ago. I can handle this.”
Maybe…
Lack of courage isn’t my problem.
I’ve overcome much worse from my family without flinching, so this should be a breeze.
Yet there is something in the back of my mind that is screaming at me to run and hide. If I don’t turn back now, it will be too late.
Normally, I would trust my instincts. They’ve kept me alive many times in the past when things became dangerous. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. If I want to stay alive, my best chance is to push forward.
I can’t dismiss the feeling that I’m supposed to remain with the guys or something bad will happen to not only me, but them as well.
Our fates are entwined now.
Taking me at my word, Darby steps back and begins working. Porter sighs, like I’m making his life harder than it needs to be, but he doesn’t protest, just steps aside.
I’m face-to-face with the body once again.
Just like the first time, seeing the corpse is a shock to the system, and it takes me a moment to push past the horror. Someone did this to him. That person deserves to be caught and punished. If I can help in any way, then it’s the least I can do.
He deserves to have someone bear witness to his last moments and find him justice.
The corpse is so pale, the flesh is a piercing white. The body is drained of blood, but not from some vampiric creature. No, it looks like claws slashed down his torso and peeled open his rib cage, gutting him with a few efficient strokes.
Entrails lie scattered across the ground in a juicy pile. Stale blood pools below the body, the surface of the puddle almost black, the congealed liquid looking slightly lumpy. The center of the sludge still glistens in the light, and I’d swear that I can almost feel the tacky texture against my fingertips.
The guys talk amongst themselves, reporting what they find, but I ignore them.
Something about the placement of the body, the way the scene is laid out, is achingly familiar, and the hairs on the back of my neck lifts in warning.
I take a tentative step forward, expecting to be hit with the scent of blood and decay, but I’m immediately swamped with the funky odor of dark magic. The air is so thick with the residual magic that it feels like it’s trying to crawl down my throat and take root in my chest.
I cover my nose with the back of my hand, my eyes watering at the stench—a dark medley of human waste and sharp chemicals. It threatens to sear my sinuses with each breath, the vile smell so sinister that my fire roars to life and crackles across my skin in a desperate attempt to eradicate it.
I stumble back from the assault, struggling not to light the whole fucking forest on fire. My heart rattles against my ribs so hard that my chest aches, my head thudding with each beat until it feels like it will implode.
Something inside my brain crumbles.
My vision darkens, and I sway.
The last thing I see is the ground rushing up to greet me.
SOREN
Fire explodes out of Anita in a massive wave that immediately ignites leaves and wilts branches in a ten-foot circle. I might not have known her for long, but I know she wouldn’t lose control like that unless something was wrong.
Flames dance in the air around her, and I don’t even hesitate to leap through the fire. I barely reach her in time before she crashes to the ground. I pull her to my chest, hissing when the heat of her skin burns, despite my immunity from my hellhound, but I only tighten my grip on her.
I won’t let her go now that I just found her.
My clothes don’t just burn, they incinerate. When her flames waver slightly, I sense what triggered her. Dark magic coils around her like a snake, trying to crack open her shield and infect her.
