His lips were turning up in a smile as the strands inched closer together, but before the smile could fully form, a huge burst of light flashed, and the ward crumbled.
A massive gust of wind threw them back, and Riven stumbled. His arms swung, windmilling backward as he forced himself to stay upright. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that others weren’t so lucky and had ended up on the ground, though most were scampering to their feet.
The clouds that had seemed dark before began to grow in their blackness. The lightning cracked across the sky and somehow felt sinister. The magic filling the air was no longer that of the sprites but was evil. It slid over Riven’s skin like thick oil. He threw up a shield around himself and then glanced around to see how the magic was affecting the others. Jareth was doing something that was making his skin glow. His jaw was tense and his back ramrod straight. Riven decided the djinn must be trying to control his power so that he didn’t destroy the city. Movement beyond Jareth caught Riven’s eye. Thalion had his bow drawn and double arrows ready to fly at the draheim, as did the other elves.
“Aim for under the neck,” Thalion yelled. The arrows released, soaring through the air. But before they could hit their mark, the projectiles froze and then fell. Jareth whipped out his hand, using his power to push the arrows away so they didn’t accidentally impale anyone not on team Ludcarab. Riven continued to watch the elf king, trying to figure out how he’d stopped the arrows. That wasn’t elf magic. He didn’t have to wonder long. He got his answer a moment later when Alston appeared, and he wasn’t alone.
Chapter 2
“I feel like I must be prepared for anything and everything at all times. At some point along the way, you’d have thought I would have realized that I am not an all-powerful being and, therefore, cannot be all things in all situations for all people. I am but a dormant female Canis lupus. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to remind myself of this, it still pisses me off when I’m caught off guard.” ~Jen
“They’re gone!” Cyn bellowed as she suddenly appeared in the war room directly beside the table where Jacque and Jen were currently sitting, having just realized that their pack had been betrayed to the Order.
Both girls were on their feet in an instant, their chairs falling to the floor from the force of their rising.
“Who’s gone?” Jen asked, her hands already shaking because she knew what Cyn would say. Call it a mother’s intuition or just the understanding that she’d learned to always expect the worst when someone was running around screaming out thing’s like ‘they’re gone’.
“The pups,” the fae warrior, who was usually so calm and stoic, breathed out around a sob.
Nissa, the high fae Peri had left to help protect the stronghold, appeared a second later. “Alston,” she said through clenched teeth.
Cyn nodded. “Alston and Skender. They blew the door off the nursery, and Alston bound us before we could wield our own weapons or magic. Then they grabbed the pups and left.”
“I felt him,” Nissa said. “But I couldn’t get to him. I tried to flash to his location, but it was as if he had nullified my powers. The sensation evaporated, and I was able to move again. I checked on the children first and then followed Cyn’s magic here.”
Jen felt Jacque’s hand on her shoulder and realized that her friend’s hands had phased to full-on claws and fur. Jen closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm herself.
“They’re just … gone,” Cyn mumbled again, as though she were trying to convince herself there was some kind of mistake.
“Did they say anything?” Jacque asked.
Another fae warrior, Talia, suddenly appeared next to Cyn. “You flashed before I could show this to you.” Talia held her hand out to Cyn. A folded piece of paper sat clenched within it.
Jen snatched it before Cyn could move and quickly unfolded it. She read it three times, her mind frantically trying to grasp the words through the haze of rage and fear. “He says we are to come to Arizona and bring Sally if we want to see our children alive and unharmed,” she read, looking at Jacque, who appeared about as calm as Jen felt.
Before anyone could respond, Sally and Costin came running