“Where’s my sword?” Charity asked, flexing her hand, ignoring the ache in her knuckles. She tried to thread her way around Steve, wanting to help Devon, to hold up her position in the pack. But Steve and Cole both pressed in closer, trapping her between them. Penny stopped her from going around them.
Frustrated with her inability to do her part, she gritted her teeth. She should be fighting, leading the charge. She felt it in her bones. The role of precious cargo didn’t suit her.
“Do we change, boss?” Steve called.
A grunt sounded from behind. A tug at her middle urged her to take her place beside Devon. Her magic surged again. Just like before, Devon’s magic blended with it, purified it, and when it washed back through her, it carried the sweet song she kept hearing when her magic was working properly. Maybe it wasn’t her song at all—maybe it was theirs.
“He needs help,” Charity said, shoving Steve to get him moving.
“That kid does not need help,” Steve said, respect in his voice. “He can work a blade as good as he can work his wolf.”
“Yes, Steve, change. You too, Cole and Yasmine,” Devon called. “The rest of you, take the packs. Get moving, Emery.”
The line started moving again, Emery taking orders without a problem.
“You are shedding your distress,” Penny said urgently, plucking at Charity’s sleeve. An itch between Charity’s shoulder blades said they were being watched. “It’s calling to the creatures in this wood. You’re basically advertising your vulnerability. That can’t possibly be the way your power’s designed to work—”
“It’s probably supposed to do the opposite and I’m doing something wrong,” Charity said in frustration.
“Can you do something about that, Turdswallop?” Emery called back.
Charity frowned, wondering if he was talking to her, when Penny answered. “Working on it.”
“Turdswallop?” Charity asked.
Penny shrugged one shoulder. “He finds strange things funny. Anyway, don’t stress about your magic. I didn’t have a clue at first. Thank pearl-clutching hobos that I met Emery when I did, or I would’ve been lost. You’ll get it, don’t worry. As soon as someone gives you direction, you’ll take to it like a duck takes to water. I can tell. Now…” Penny patted her arm, which was nice, then slid her palm into Charity’s personal space—down her elbow to her lower back, over her butt, and down the back of her thigh.
“That’s… Why—”
“Sorry. Just pasting a spell to you without asking permission. It’s faster that way.” Penny moved to the other side. “It’ll help us all.”
A flickering light caught Charity’s eye just beyond the tree to their right. Steve growled, a sound like an earthquake. The light flicked off.
“We got company,” Emery called.
Another light flared to life deeper into the wood, flickering happily. It called to Charity, beckoning her closer.
“Nasty buggers,” Penny murmured, her hands working.
A silent purple explosion lit up the trees, illuminating the wood in violet light. A crowd of humanlike creatures, no more than two feet tall, screeched within the brush that only partially concealed them. Pointed teeth filled their mouths, and huge, pale blue eyes blinked in their leathery faces. They ran from the light, two clattering into each other and falling down.
More light explosions flared brightly, making Charity squint. The feeling of danger throbbed from her other side.
She turned in time to see one of those creatures launch itself at her, its wide mouth full of teeth, its arms out to wrap around her neck.
She staggered back and thrust out a palm, eyes wide. A spark ignited next to the creature’s chest, and her magic exploded in a violent surge of electricity. The thing was shoved backward before its entrails splattered across the leaves and brush behind it.
Charity’s head swam and her knees weakened, but she pushed on as another creature jumped toward her. She punched it in the face with her magic. The back of its head blew off. She ran forward on wobbly legs and kicked one of the leathery things like a football. It tried to latch on to her leg, but it couldn’t get purchase. Its little claws ripped her jeans and scraped along her skin before it was airborne.
“I need my sword,” she yelled.
“You need to conserve your energy or you’ll kill the alpha of this pack,” Penny shouted, her hands dancing through the air.
The end of her words were drowned out by Cole’s roar. He lumbered in front of Charity, swinging his big arms at the growling and spitting