I shrugged.
“No way, Big Kitty loves you. He’d never be mad at you,” Marcy crooned. “Besides, cats don’t get mad at people, they just get annoyed, and then all you have to do to fix it is feed them and they’re totally over it. We’ll get Big Kitty a nice sucker and he’ll be good as new. How’s that?”
Maggie didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyway.
“Are you ready this time?” Tally asked me pointedly, bringing us all back to task. “It’s my daughter’s naptime and I’d like to wrap this up if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, she’s ready.” Marcy smirked. “Look at her face. That’s her determined look. See the way her lip is quirking up at that odd angle and her head is tilted slightly to the right? That’s her game face, and it’s on.”
“You pain me. Right here.” I pointed to my backside, keeping it clean for Maggie. I knew Marcy would appreciate the gesture. “And it makes me want to use this.” I pointed to the bent knuckle on my middle finger. “And if I’m so wimpy, why don’t you come in here and give this a try, huh? We’ll see how long you can stay in the circle with demon magic up in your grill.”
“I can’t do that. You see, it’s a sliding wimp scale.” She readjusted Maggie on her hip while trying not to laugh too hard. “And my wimp runs strong. One blast of that demon juice and I’d be a goner. And once I was dead, you’d have one angry werewolf up in your grill and you’d wish you were already in the Underworld.” She chortled. “The demons would be delightful compared to the wrath of my guy. He’d rip this place apart trying to avenge my dead, broken body.”
James and Marcy were mated in every sense.
And she was right. If something were to happen to her it would shatter him. Angry would not be an apt term. Ballistic would be closer to the truth. The two of them had come back unified from their ordeal with the sorcerers, but the only information I’d managed to pull out of her so far was hazy, involving “near death” and “best sex ever.” It was typical of Marcy to keep it light and not delve too deeply into the trauma, and because she hadn’t ventured into the nitty-gritty on her own, I hadn’t pressed her. More than likely, being kidnapped had shaken her to the core and she wasn’t ready to discuss the details yet.
On the flip side, along with terrifying her, it had also brought out a magic streak I’d known she had inside her all along.
No more tentative Marcy. This was kick-ass Marcy with new, twitchy fingers. The Coven was already in discussions to finally vote her in after she’d schooled a few of her old nemeses once she’d arrived—including Awful Angie, whom Rourke and I had the misfortune of encountering the last time we’d been here. Rourke was determined to strap Angie onto the ancient Vespa she’d forced us to use when we were running for our lives and send her into the lake as payback. But so far our paths hadn’t crossed. It was likely Tally had sent her away on purpose, which had been a smart move.
“I don’t have to worry about a pissed-off werewolf,” I countered. “I wouldn’t let you in this circle anyway—” The blast from Tally’s staff struck me so hard, my breath lodged in my chest and I collapsed to my knees. I grabbed onto my neck and gasped like a fish out of water, but I’d managed to capture the magic this time, so that was a win.
Tally’s element of surprise might’ve been the ticket, but the only problem was I actually couldn’t breathe. I pounded on my chest and clawed my neck trying to force oxygen into my windpipe, but nothing was working.
“That’s it.” Tally’s voice sounded tinny and far away. “Take control of it. Mold it how you want it so you can force it back out.”
It was clear she’d never been on the receiving end of her wicked staff from Hell.
I managed to draw in a single breath through a very closed airway, right as a soft tremor rippled through the dirt beneath me.
The movement was just enough to catch my attention.
Did you feel that? My wolf ignored me in favor of snapping and ripping at the magic consuming us. The hybrid demon magic had manifested as a thick, dark mass in my mind, and as it cascaded over my eyes I was launched into total darkness.
I’d indeed captured the magic, but I couldn’t mold it. I couldn’t do anything with it. And it was taking over as fast as it could.
My wolf managed to tear a small patch of clarity open in my mind and I sucked in another gulp of air as quickly as I could. I was still on my knees, but surprisingly, my body had started to shake in rhythm with the ground tremors.
The vibration running through my body hummed like a musical note.
I wrenched my head up, but I still couldn’t see anything through the dark magic covering my eyes. Do you hear that? My wolf stopped what she was doing, her ears up and alert.
Someone was yelling and the only thing I could make out was my name.
Then two more words.
“Don’t go!”
2
Don’t go where? Where do they think we’re going? My wolf didn’t respond. Instead she cocked her head to the side, listening. The ground beneath us began to quake faster. Words were trying to force their way into my mind, but I couldn’t make them out.
Someone screamed.
I shook my head, trying to clear the cloud of demon essence, but it was useless. It was too thick and concentrated. Focus on the sound, I told my wolf. I pushed outward, trying to break through whatever had encapsulated me.
With a resounding pop he came through in a rush.