Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,11

as he moved closer. With every step he took, I could feel magic wash over us. Familiar magic. Magic that jarred my bones and rattled my DNA.

Fey magic.

“Knox,” I whispered as dread crept up my spine. My fingers dug deeper into his flesh, and I swore he could feel my fear. Or maybe he could smell it as it seeped from my pores.

Mack eyed Kat like he wanted to play out his fantasy of fucking her and killing her right then and there.

“Come here,” Mack said, and that press of fey magic grew heavier still. Knox went stiff under my hand.

Kat cocked her head at the alpha of NYC and stared. “I’m confused; did you want me to kill you? Because I kind of assumed that the good old boy system was still in place and you’d want a male to fill your shoes, but I’m game for a rematch if you are.”

“I said come here!” he bellowed, and the wave of power behind it nearly bowled me over. I looked at Knox, who was breathing hard, the strain in his expression plain even in the dim light of the club. Beyond him stood Brunton.

Knox’s third took a step forward, and realization began to dawn.

“I don’t respond well to demands,” Kat shouted back at Mack.

Mack’s wide eyes were murderous, and his cheeks reddened with the fury building inside. Then they turned to Brunton, who continued forward as though he’d decided to eliminate Mack himself. But Mack didn’t look worried at all.

And that worried the shit out of me.

His damn smile returned. “Kill her,” he said quietly. Brunton turned on a dime.

“Shit!” I gasped as my fears were realized.

Mack, like the fey king, had the ability to control the wolves. Kat seemed to have been right in her assertion that she was beyond his power, but that sure as fuck wasn’t going to do her any favors as Brunton approached. I grabbed Knox’s arm and squeezed tightly, the memory of breaking the fey king’s hold over him in Faerie fresh in my mind. Contact had always amplified our bond, and in that moment, I needed it more than ever. I didn’t have the amulet to help me this time, and I silently prayed that I wouldn't need it. But even if my touch enabled Knox to resist to the king’s magic, the need for contact would make fighting Mack’s pack of wolves, who were inching closer with every passing second, kinda challenging.

“Brunton!” Knox yelled, having come to the same conclusion I had. He moved to drag me to his third in command, but the New York wolves cut him off. “You have to fight this!”

Brunton, however, did no such thing. Instead, he launched himself at Kat, who stood ready to weather his attack.

After that, everything went to hell.

Grizz let loose a roar that shook the room, and I looked over my shoulder to find half a dozen wolves yanking him away from Kat. He fought them while Knox tried to free himself from my grasp to help Kat.

“No!” I screamed at him. “If I let go, he’ll control you, too, remember?”

The pain in his eyes as he acknowledged that truth helped us not at all. “Then hold on tight,” he said as he darted into the fray with me doing just what he’d said. And all the while, I felt the weight of Faerie bearing down on me.

“Help him!” I shouted over the din. Wind stirred behind me, then blasted past, tossing Mack’s wolves across the room. Sickening thuds echoed through the space as Knox stormed toward where Mack lingered well away from the front line. But more and more of his pack came at us, peppering us with blows and bites.

Connected to Knox, I pushed past my fear and fought to pull forth something—anything—that could help us defeat those we’d come to recruit. Because it was clear now that that would never happen.

Not with Mack running the show.

Claws raked across my cheek, pulling my attention back to the battle at hand. It was just the motivator I needed. Fire blossomed in my free hand, growing with every ragged, angry breath I took until it was a swirling inferno of death ready to prey upon those surrounding us.

“Burn them!” I screamed before lobbing the firebomb into the fray. It exploded, igniting the New York wolves in its path. They burned but never faltered in their attack—because Mack wouldn’t let them. He stood in the safety of the back of the room