Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,47

in fresh water. Still, could Kian use his water magic to convert the lake to be shark-friendly?

No way was I waiting to find out.

My heart stopped, and full-on panic seized me.

The dark shadow thing drew closer, and I caught a glimpse of blue fabric … like Kian’s robe. Then with a crushing pain it—he?—latched on to my ankle.

I screamed again. Only this time, water rushed into my nose and mouth. The shadowy-monstrous thing, which I was 98.4% sure was Kian, pulled me deeper down, and I did the only thing I could think of … and punched him as hard as I could. The crystal in my hand bludgeoned the shadowy beast, and I felt bone crunch beneath my fist. The water bloomed even more red, and Rage flooded my mind.

‘What the hell, Nai! Are you okay?’ I didn’t have time to respond.

The pressure released on my ankle as well as the wound, my shields taking my injury. I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, and with a gasp of desperation I sucked in water.

No, no, no!

Something swam under my arms as I started to sink, and a heartbeat later, someone hauled me out of the water and dropped me on my stomach.

“Dammit, Nai!” Reyna snarled. “Don’t you dare die on me.”

Coughing and gagging, I spewed water as she pounded on my back. “S-stop,” I sputtered. “Rey … stop. I’m okay.”

The beating stopped, and I rolled over onto my back, blinking up into the night sky. To my right, a blur of blue robes rose up from the water, and then I heard fist connect with bone. Panting and still trying to catch my breath, I let my head loll to the side…

What. The. Mage?

Soaking wet, Reyna had left my side and was now beating the ever-living crap out of Kian! She held the front of his soaking wet robes in one fist and pounded him with the other. He was well over six feet tall and going limp in her arms as she landed blow after blow into his face. And next to the douchebag of the year, lying on the ground, was someone else, a body who was also apparently unconscious with a horrible head wound.

Still hacking with each breath, my coughs turned into a panicked gasp.

“Hey … Rey…”

Reyna’s attention jerked to me, her fist still poised over Kian’s unconscious face as his body went fully slack and crumpled to the ground.

“Yeah?”

Struggling, I pushed up on my hands until I was sitting upright. “I’m pretty sure killing him is against some sort of rules. Besides, if you do, you’ll only be killing his shield.”

Pointing at the inert body next to Kian, she growled, “His shield is already dead.” Then she kicked Kian in the side, but he was out cold and didn’t even flinch. Still staring down at him, she snarled, “You’ll never have another shield from the wolves again, asshole. Ever.”

Then she trotted over to me.

“Mother Mage, Nai. I’m so sorry,” she said, shaking her head and flinging drops of water. “I … he showed up and blasted me with a crushing wave. By the time I came to…” She swallowed hard and then asked, “Did you get your soul stone?”

I held up the crystal.

“Halle-frickin’-lujah.” She hauled me upright and then ducked under my arm to help support my weight.

Scanning the surrounding area, I looked at the dark waters of the large lake as it rippled in the moonlight.

‘Nai…?’ Rage growled in my head.

‘I’m good. Slight hiccup. Is Honor okay?’ I knew he would have taken the brunt of my injury.

‘I had to give him some mage wine, but he’s good.’

‘Okay. Let’s chat later,’ I told him and then looked at Reyna. “I’m ready to go,” I said, shuffling forward. “Please.”

“You betcha.” As Reyna led me back toward Grandpa’s castle, I looked at the crystal in my hand. Maybe one inch wide and three inches long, it was optic-clear quartz, but the surface was dusted with sapphire blue dumortierite, and deep within the point was a blue inclusion … in the shape of a butterfly.

Gotcha.

Chapter Eight

The next morning, I woke up with the sun, so excited with the prospect of seeing my mom. Not only could she show me how to open portals between realms in case the high mages closed them to keep me from seeing Rage, but we were long overdue for a reunion. The one time I’d seen her in the Realm of the Dead when I went to get Honor, it was only