Bloodfire (Blood Destiny 1) - Helen Harper Page 0,50

All I had to do was keep quiet and stay out of the Brethren’s way. You wouldn’t think it would take all that much effort. My gaze fell on the massive prone body of the beast we’d just killed. I should probably focus on it and see what I could find out about it rather than trying to engage any more shifters in small talk.

Ignoring the continued stares of the others, I headed up to the beast’s head and crouched down. It was definitely an ugly looking thing. Its black eyes were fixed sightlessly to the horizon, as if it was waiting for whatever had summoned it to this plane to come and help. A few of the shifters came over as well and stood over it, looking down. As I tilted my head, something glittering on the side of its cavernous nostril caught my eye. It was a little silver stud pierced into the side. I appreciated its glitter for a moment before I reached over and hooked my fingers inside the nostril itself, finding the butterfly keeping it in place and pulling it out.

One or two of the shifters beside me looked faintly ill. Whatever. I liked shiny things and this would find a place in my little wooden chest with all my other memorabilia.

Alex came up. “Whatcha got there?”

I showed him, wordlessly. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself to speak yet without incriminating myself further.

He looked at it and grimaced. “Lovely,” then focused on the beast itself. “Sweeet! A terrametus beast! How did you get it in the air?”

Staines appeared in front of us. “We knocked it off its feet for a second at her,” he nodded to me, “behest. Then she killed it. It did not fly.”

Alex seemed rather impressed. “It didn’t need to. That moment away from the ground would have done it. Terrameti get their strength from the ground, as soon as they lose contact with the earth they become as weak as kittens. Nice work, Mack Attack!”

There was a glint of skeptical approval in Staines’ eyes. He turned to Alex and raised his eyebrows. “Where were you during the attack, Mr Floride?”

There wasn’t a trace of embarrassment anywhere to be seen on Alex’s face. “Dude, I told ya on the phone. I don’t fight. I’m a…”

“Lover, not a fighter?” It popped out before I could stop myself. I was really going to have to stop doing that.

Fortunately the mage didn’t try to kill me or grab me as Corrigan had done, he just laughed instead and licked his lips suggestively, “Something like that.”

Corrigan himself had apparently recovered enough from the trauma of having someone speak back to him because he strode arrogantly back over to us.

Alex touched his forelock in mock obeisance at the Lord Alpha and grinned at him easily. “That’s not the first time I’ve seen pack members’ rage mean that an alpha’s compulsion doesn’t work properly. You guys are taking this death pretty seriously.”

I blinked in surprise and tried not to appear too pathetically grateful at the mage offering me a get-out clause. Corrigan grunted slighted and ignored me completely, focusing on Alex. “Do your thing, then.”

He jerked back slightly. “What now? But I thought…”

“We haven’t got all day, or night. The thing that killed the Cornish alpha left no traces.” He jerked his head at the terrametus. “That did. So you need to scry and tell us what you can see.”

“Alpha dude, I’ll do better than that, I’ll show you.”

I was surprised that Corrigan didn’t try to rip Alex’s head off his shoulders too for calling him dude. Instead he just folded his arms and rocked back on his heels. Disturbingly he was still naked from his shift back to human. So was everyone else but somehow Corrigan’s nudity demanded more attention. At least I’d spent enough time around the pack to avoid moving my eyes to anywhere other than his face. It wasn’t easy though.

I decided that looking at Alex was probably a safer option. The mage had closed his eyes and I noticed with fascination that blue sparks were forming at the clenched fists he had down by his sides. There was a faint hum in the air then he opened up his palms.

Blue light sprang forward, snaking through the air. It streamed past the body of the terrametus as if it wasn’t even there and instead curved through in stretched coils to the top of the dunes. That was where the seven coals were. The