Authors: K. F. Breene
The wolf in front of
me stuck its tail between its legs, whining as I ran around it. A second later they tailed me, watching my back and flanks like a hunting party.
I shot past a vicious tiger, a massive paw slashing through the chest of
his opponent. Blood and guts spilled out to the ground, making me gag.
Near Toa, I saw a giant—and I mean
giant
—Kodiak bear, wielding huge claws with the sharp intellect of Tim. He stood over fifteen feet tall when upright, swiping at
Dulcha
with hundreds of pounds of raw power. Bodies were ripped in half if they got too close, monsters with twisted heads and strange bodies came apart like statues made of leather, then puffed into smoke. Still, he could barely keep them at bay, those attacking making clones of themselves somehow, shooting magic and drifting toward Toa.
Time to sound the siren.
“Leave the
Dulcha
to me!” I screamed.
The
shaggy bear’s head swung toward me, huge tufted ears twitching. He stood on his back legs, his massive body dwarfing all those around him, while he let out a ground-shaking roar.
I sucked in the magic, feeling my chest spark,
a flame within, glowing to life. Hotter and hotter the magic around me swirled, my limbs catching on fire, my skin prickling. More and more, calling those monsters, one or three at a time, tempting them with my raw power.
“Here monster, monster, monster.
Join me!”
Huge men came at me, glowing tattoos and swords, trying to cut me down where I stood. They felt my draw, felt me calling the power, like the
North Pole attracts compass needles. Wolves surged forward, keeping the enemy at bay, letting me call the monsters. The tiger jumped in my path, launching at a six and a half foot guy about to strike at me, the tiger’s jaw fitting around the guy’s head. I turned my head away as the head popped off.
I held the power, the magic pulsing out in waves, turning every
Dulcha
in my direction. I saw my tree men, wanting a piece of that action, too. This was about to get messy.
I blasted some trees while I waited, red streams firing out from my hands. I sent a spiral of flame toward Trek, a satisfied laugh filling me as his cap caught on fire. My laugh turned into giddy cackling, the magic infusing my body and prickling my skin.
I needed to release soon. I couldn’t totally shut off the tide.
“Clear out of the way,” I instructed my growing mass of
animal body guards as the first five heinous monsters glided my way.
Blue or purple, they weren’t packing much
; more like Halloween glow lights than actual threats.
“
Join me!”
they called in their eerie speech of what sounded like consonants. “
I promise great rewards…”
I pushed out my open palm like a stop motion, and then curled it around and up, grabbing the air around them. I squeezed with my fist, the magic acting out my miming, bending their bodies and exploding the magic out of them.
Sweat beaded my brow, more energy taken than I had anticipated. Not good.
I threw out two
red jets, blasting open a tree and scattering whatever attack pattern the enemy had tried for. A red jet came my way, trying to bind me.
“I know how to break that one
, now.” My black magic crept into the fibers and disintegrated the spell.
I threw out another tree monster, one of the first two having been taken down. I
erupted some hives of blue beetles way far away from me, the pests climbing on anything in their path and magically biting legs and faces and whatever they could get at. It wouldn’t kill anyone, but it sure hurt like bloody hell.
White exploded around me, knocking me off my feet. I landed in a bush ten feet away, my ears ringing,
my leg screaming, surrounded by
Dulcha.
I sat up groggily, furry bodies leaping to my aid, standing in front of me, fangs showing and hair bristling. A panther jumped down from a tree branch onto the nearest monster, scratching and clawing the thing to bits.
My leg
pounded along with my heartbeat. One attempt to get up had my shin bursting with agony and my head swimming. I leaned against the bush and shielded myself from future Trek attacks. It would drain me every time his magic hit my shield, but that was the good thing about having more power than him, he’d drain faster than me. Eat
that
!
I zapped off a few fraying spells, my magic wrapping around
three
Dulcha,
unraveling the fabric of their spells. It seemed to work okay, the creatures disintegrating like a sugar witch in the rain. I zipped off a couple more as white exploded against my shield.
That asshole is starting to piss me off!
Just to be a bitch, I fired off a spell in his direction, a zap of pure electricity. He blocked it, the fiend, but it sucked more energy out of him than he was probably used to.
Back to
the never ending monsters. I needed to learn more aggressive spells.
I created a tree monster too close. Crap!
I fired fraying spells at will, my aim not great under pressure, but the mass of magical bodies starting to crowd around me making even a misfire useful. Smoky wisps clouded my vision, and still they came. Trek must have brought his whole damn arsenal. He was trying for genocide.
“I need you to move me,” I
shouted to four furry bodies slashing at monsters in front of me. “I can’t walk on my leg, but we need distance. They’ll follow me wherever I go; I just have to get there. Somewhere.”
Before the first wolf could get in position, the tiger jogged closer, his movements elegant and graceful even though
his back was as high as my chest.
He gave one growl and a head jerk.
Get on.
“
You are huge, and I think my leg is broken,” I responded, zipping out a few more spells, needing the wolves to start ripping and tearing with vigor as the masses drew closer. It was like a mosh pit at a rock concert.
A mountain lion padded up, his baby-like cry having my bones vibrating. I’d heard real mountain lions when they came down from the mountains, and their screech terrified me.
At least, I’d thought it was a real mountain lion at the time…
The tiger growled and jerked its head again, the smaller lion—though not
by any means small—acting like a step ladder to boost me up. The wolves’ snarls drowned out the night, the monsters starting to wade closer.
I grabbed fur and fell toward the mountain lion, half doing a pull-up, half hopping, to get my good leg on its back. I clawed myself higher, the radiating pain in my shin wanting to blot out my consciousness with each pulse of pure agony.
Eye on the prize, I threw my body over the tiger’s back, and then swung my bad leg over his haunches, screaming with the pain. Taking big steadying breaths, I blasted a black spell in Trek’s direction, the magic silky, like an oil slick on water, as it wound through the air--then splashed off his defenses. I’d made that one special, though. It would act like acid, slowly eating away power levels as it burrowed in. It would deplete me, also, but I needed the end in sight. With my leg like it was, I didn’t have long before the pain and shock took me under. I was already starting to get cold, and it had only been a few minutes. My body had started to shut down.
Okay, time to get serious.
Clutching onto the tiger’s back, not knowing his intention and deciding I didn’t care—I didn’t plan to get off—I thought back to the first time I used a spell on the
Dulcha.
Somehow I had blasted into the fiber of the thing and reached the root to its magic, going back to the source and cutting off the flow of power. Somehow.
Pain making my head
throb, I closed my eyes, not worrying about tears. I felt those bastards floating closer, drifting toward my magic like sharks to blood. I also felt my magical acid dripping into Trek’s defenses, his power eroding and him not knowing why.
My cheek
lay on surprisingly soft tiger fur. I didn’t even stick out my palm. I envisioned a beating heart at the center of each monster, a cord from its body to the source of magic. I created magical shears, so black that light penetrated, bent to it, and got lost in its gaping maw. I plunged those shears into the first beast, rooting around, finding what felt like a well of palpitating magic, and
snipped.
Magic
was sucked out of me. The spell was trying to reach every
Dulcha
, of which there were hundreds. The magic drew from my body and looked for more when I started to run out. I opened myself up wide, drawing it out of the air, stealing it from Trek’s shield, borrowing it from the tiger and surrounding wolves, and calling to Stefan through the link, begging him for help.
Toa’s voice echoed through my head. “Once the spell has been created, it will need to run its course. Your magic is different than mine. With your magic, there is no turning off the fa
ucet once you have set it in motion. You will ride it until it completes the spell, or it drains enough energy to kill you.”
“So that’s what he meant,” I said weakly, my head getting fuzzy. “There are so many,” I mumbled as the magic drained faster than I could fill.
Then I felt a surge. A great swell of swirling elements up through my middle, refilling me with energy as I lay on the tiger’s back, fading. Stefan was replenishing me. He was close! How had I missed that?
I felt more than saw a burnished gold sword held by flashing tattoos on rippled arms, the blade fading to gold as my ey
es drooped, his power diminishing with what he was giving me. I could potentially kill both of us unless he cut off his donation. Which he wouldn’t. But there was nothing I could do.
Protect the tiger!
I heard through the haze.
As blackness consumed me, my body shutting down from the magical trauma and agony from my leg, I heard a
bloodcurdling scream wrench the night. My spell had indirectly reached the source, cutting off the last
Dulcha
from Trek’s original spell. It probably hurt worse than my leg. Like ripping out a kidney without drugs.
“Capture him!” someone yelled.
My mind stopped comprehending. I felt empty. The battle raged, part of the enemy faction trying to get to me, but others running in another direction.
I
began to hear their screams and calls to retreat. And then I felt my last remaining tree monster. I didn’t have the energy to cut the power.
“Get moving. Take her to safety.”
Stefan’s voice sounded like angels singing.
I reached my hand out, trying to touch him, only seeing a hazy
orange glow.
“Charles, with Sasha.
Take the wolves. I’ll help Tim,” Stefan ordered.
I had a lot to live up to if I hoped to match his prowess for command. He wasn’t even directing his own people and they rushed to follow his lead.
I let my mind get even hazier as we moved away from the yelling and sword clashes. Stefan had probably brought his people, which meant the fight was nearly done. Sleep would happen soon. Or fever. We’d see.
Chapter
10
“How is she?” the Boss demanded as he entered the
Mata
hospital cabin twenty-four hours after the battle.
Charles got up immediately from his chair by
Sasha’s head and moved to the other side of the bed. “She’s okay. Compound fracture in her leg, so that’s going to take ages to heal. She’s a human, after all. Toa helped a little with a spell, but he didn’t say how much that would speed it up. Bumps and bruises, she’ll probably be extremely weak with magic for a few days, but other than that she’ll survive.”
The Boss lowered himself into the chair, gently taking up
Sasha’s hand where it rested on the bed. Charles had never seen the man move so delicately, careful not to disturb her. Seeing this form of vulnerability made him nervous; he knew that on the other side of it was a white hot rage that would destroy anything in its path. Charles stepped away toward the window.
Technically
, it wasn’t Charles’s fault sheʼd ended up like this. Jonas had gotten to her first and tried to move her to safety. Out of everyone, no one had thought Darla was smart enough to get in league with Andris and his goons. No one had suspected her of anything more than trying to drown Sasha and steal the Boss back. This was a stretch, even for her. Which was probably why it had worked out badly.
Still, Jonas
had barely gotten away with his life. If not for Adnan, he probably wouldn’t have survived. If Charles had been in his place, he had to admit that things might’ve worked out differently. Charles should have been involved; should have found Sasha and taken her to safety. Sheʼd nearly died. If not for the Boss, she would have. All to save everyone else. Which was ass backward as far as the plan had gone.
“What were the losses?” Charles asked, throwing his gaze out the window so he could stop registering the tender look on the Boss’s face. That shit made him uncomfortable.
“The
Mata
lost a dozen or so, mostly in the first scuffle. Another dozen are wounded and chained to the bed for a while. The
Dulcha
wreaked havoc. Trek must have emptied his store of captives to create that many. They know, without a doubt, what Sasha could represent, and they want her. Or, they want to destroy her.”
“What of Trek, and Andris? Could you get them?”
A smug look crossed the Boss’s face. “I got Trek. Sasha knocked the breath out of him and I got there in time to take out his guard and scoop him up. Dominicous and Toa are seeing to him. They plan to take him back to the Council.”
“Andris?”
Charles was half afraid to ask. Andris was the brains behind the operation, working with whomever necessary to internationally to make their uprising a household name. His level of ambition bordered on an obsession, and his intelligence made everything possible.
The Boss shook his head. “Once he realized the tide was turning, he got skittish. I saw him briefly as I grabbed Trek, but he was already on his way out.”
“So, what does that mean for the Eastern Territory?”
Stefan
brushed some wisps of hair back from Sasha’s bruised and scratched face. Charles turned away again. “We won’t have any problems for a while—Andris will probably join up with another faction to regroup. He’ll search for another way to accomplish his goals. We’ll have a reprieve from fighting for a while.”
“Quiet before the storm.”
The Boss nodded slowly.
Andris was a tricky bastard; the only thing you could count on with him was unpredictability. It made strategy a nightmare.
Or so the Boss said.
*****
I opened my eyes and surveyed my room,
greeted by the same spotless white affair with that chemical smell you seem to only find in hospitals. While I wasn’t in an actual hospital, I had been moved to a room in the encampment that acted like one.
I turned my head to the side, expecting, and finding, my new B.F.F.
lying in the bed beside mine, healing. It had been three days since the battle, and two days since Jonas was moved into my room. Apparently, he didn’t want to be removed from my side, even in the hospital. Somehow, when he’d sacrificed himself to prevent me from being taken, his mind had made the connection that I was worth saving. Charles had said once that thought entered Jonas’s head that was it. Cemented.
“Quit staring, human.”
Being that there was no TV, and he hated reading, Jonas had nothing better to do than to talk to me. Instead, he stared straight at the ceiling. He still hadn’t forgiven me for being human.
I had now forgiven him for leaving me that first battle.
“Did you eat recently?” I asked. I could usually get a response with simple questions that had some relevance.
“Why?”
“I’m hungry.”
“How is that my problem?”
“It isn’t. You’ll notice I didn’t accuse you of eating. I merely asked if you did, wondering if I missed a meal during my beauty sleep.”
Jonas huffed. “Better get back to sleep. You still look like dog shit.”
“Uh hum. So…did you eat?”
His bruised and battered face scrunched down into a tight ball, his desire to ignore me fighting with his need to keep me alive. He hated me even more for it. It caused me no end of chuckling. Especially now that I knew he wouldn’t kill me.
“No. Lunch is coming in about half an hour.” Jonas resumed staring at the ceiling.
He’d sustained a plethora of broken bones, got pounded on, had magical burns and other strange magical
maladies, but he’d killed all the enemy invaders with the help of Adnan. Darla had gotten away, had run as soon as I was out of reach, but no one seemed overly concerned with that fact. Other than me, obviously. She was a crazy bitch, not to mention a scorned woman
The door opened slowly. Charles peeked in, scanned the room’s occupants, grinned at Jonas,
and then winked at me. “You want a visitor?”
“How the hell can we get any peace and quiet with the human getting damn visitors all day?” Jonas growled at Charles.
Charles’s grin widened. “Bro, you need to simmer down. People are going to think you aren’t friendly.”
“I’ll show you friendly,” Jonas muttered, looking back at the ceiling. It was the only place to direct his eyes away from people. The nurse had tried to lean over him to maintain eye contact when it was time to change his bandages. That nurse
had left with a black eye. Apparently hitting Shape Changer females wasn’t the same as human females. Which made sense—the ladies were nearly as strong as the guys, and just as great at fighting.
The nurse had leaned on Jonas’s broken ribs in retaliation.
Tim entered the room with his strangely graceful lumber, the way he walked characteristic of the ginormous Kodiak bear he turned into. He sauntered to the chair at the head of my bed, picked it up and moved to the other side so his face was to Jonas. Not many
Mata
trusted Jonas, even though he’d done the right thing by me.
“Sasha,” Tim said as his soft brown eyes met mine. “How are you feeling?”
I shrugged. “Okay. The pain meds make me feel better. My shin stopped throbbing, too, so I think I’m good for the moment.”
“I’d thought you were safe; that you had been taken to safety. I apologize. You should not have been in that battle.”
“I could’ve been safe—I think—but I couldn’t let your people die for me.”
Jonas huffed, drawing Tim’s alpha stare for a moment. Jonas ignored him.
Tim refocused on me, his face softening instantly. “We were grossly outnumbered. You saved a great many lives. I, and the pack, would like to thank you. You have our favor, and are anointed Pack Friend status. Should you need us, for any reason, we will be there for you. As kin.”
“Wow.” I blinked for a moment, taken aback. “But I stepped on someone in order to ride your tiger like a horse. Surely a few people are a little…miffed.”
Tim’s lips quirked. “Like I said, you saved a great many lives. You showed bravery and courage, even with a bone poking out of your leg. The tiger didn’t mind a beautiful woman riding him.”
“Be careful with your flirting,” Jonas warned, his eyes boring holes in the ceiling tiles. “She is marked.”
“Marked?” Tim asked, his eyes scanning all available skin.
“By the Boss
,ˮ I elaborated. “Humans can’t smell it. Or sense it, or whatever. It’s a chemical thing.” “Well, then, I guess it doesn’t apply outside of Stefan’s kind,” Tim smiled this time, a predatory gleam in his eyes, mocking Jonas. I rolled my eyes.
“What about Ann? Is she okay?” I held my breath.
Tim smiled. “Just fine. A few scratches is all.”
I let my breath out. I’d only talked to her a few times, but I liked her, and I badly needed a friend that was a girl.
“Anyway,” Tim said, his warm hand clasping mine. “I’ll check back in with you later. Let me know if you want me to find you a room a little less…occupied.”
“Yes,
do find her a room less occupied,” Jonas piped up immediately. “Her incessant talking does my head in.”
“
Sweet, ain’t he?” I asked with a grin.
*****
I stood in front of a congregation of Stefan’s clan, wearing a sheer black gown, denoting my magic level. Stefan stood next to me, wearing a sheer suit in burnished gold. In front of him stood Dominicous, Toa by his side, both showing off their magical levels. Also sheer.
I had never seen so many people basically naked in all my life. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be stressed out by that fact. It was unfortunate because what did have me stressed out was a lot more important.
“I stand before you, as your Regional, to proclaim Sasha your mage. Linked with your leader, Stefan, with at least two Watch Commanders sworn to throw down their lives to protect her, Charles and Jonas, she fulfills the requirements for this post. Take notice.”
Everyone in the room, whether they liked me or not, bowed their heads.
I saw more than one hostile stare as faces turned back up—more than one person that wanted to fit me for cement shoes and take me to the lake—but they could not deny my power level. They had no one else for the role.
“Sasha comes to us with the highest power level ever
recorded,” Dominicous continued, his voice rising above those gathered. “She has thrice battled our mortal enemy, and come out on top. Take notice.”
Again with the
near naked bowing; something slightly gross and weird, both at the same time.
“In addition, she has tied herself with the
Mata
, a lost connection we hoped to re-forge. A connection already shown to yield positive results. Through her, they are tied with us. Take notice.”
Stefan
gave the barest of flinches, his hands balling for a fraction of a second. He controlled himself easily, his eyes still trained on Dominicous.
“Welcome her within our fold. We expect great thi
ngs from her.” Dominicous winked at me, intending for me to bow. Which I did, trying my hardest not to cover my lady bits in mortification.
The gathe
red crowd bowed back. And that was that. I now had a job I was only qualified for when in the middle of a war, battle, or any life and death situation. It could be worse, I guess. I could’ve been kicked out of the territory. At least I still had a home.
After Dominicous nodded, and Toa nodded, and
Stefan nodded—too many chiefs—the congregation broke up. Dominicous stepped up to me immediately, offering me his arm. Stefan stepped back, and then turned to see to other matters while Dominicous led me toward a banquet in my honor.
“You did exceedingly well, Sasha,” he said quietly. “I am exceptionally proud of you.
He hesitated, stopping in an isolated corner. “Stefan told you of how we first met?”
S
hivers raked my body.
“Do you remember?” he asked
, his sharp gaze focused on me.
I shook my head. “But I’ve always been able to see your kind. My foster parents thought something was wrong with me until I stopped mentioning it.”
Dominicous titled his head thoughtfully. “It is an interesting topic. One I might like to explore. If we expose human children to us, maybe even share our blood, will they grow to be able to access their magical gifts? It bears thinking about.”
I guess.
“What parents are going to give you access to their kids?”
“Kids without parents need a proper home. You were lucky to find one. Many
don’t. I wonder if I can do good, while also conducting a large scale experiment. It bears thinking about.”
Obviously, he would think about it. I just nodded distractedly.
I wasn’t in the mood to think. I was in the mood to cover up, lie down, and share a quiet evening alone with Stefan.