begging, witch.”
My hand clenched the scarf. I ground out between clenched teeth. “Never. I will never kneel before you again.”
“Brave words, little mouse,” he murmured. His nails dug into Deirdre’s arm, leaving crescent-moon gouges, and he dragged her back toward one of the rents in the air. “Shall your friend here pay the price? I can break her to make you obey. You will watch every moment.”
I pulled out the scarf but held it behind my back. He would have to break his concentration in order to step through the rift. Nola growled and a gray streak bolted through the air, slamming into him. Deirdre staggered back, almost tripping into the rift, and I barely grabbed her leg in time to haul her back. She huffed, “Thanks,” before she started calling down magic.
Rocko laughed and raised his hands in the air, chanting, and I took his distraction—all of that miserable attention directed at Deirdre—as the perfect opportunity to throw my knitting in his stupid, ugly, awful face.
Chapter 38
Henry
They watched from afar—too far away, in Henry’s estimation—as something happened in the dusty lot. The air crackled and tore, and Henry swore under his breath as a scarecrow stepped out of thin air.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Todd said. “He can actually do it.”
Evershaw growled and didn’t look at his cousin. “Focus, damn it.”
The three women talked with the sorcerer, while the wolves tried to circle closer and get a sense of what hid in those shimmering, rotating slices in reality itself. It made Henry’s wolf deeply uneasy. He didn’t take his eyes off Ophelia, and he was damn certain Evershaw didn’t take his eyes off Deirdre.
Todd muttered, “Smith says they’re closing in on where Silas is.”
Evershaw growled. Henry inched closer to the broken fence where they crouched, not wanting to be visible in case it spooked the sorcerer. He hated waiting. Hated it. “What have the trackers found? Any other movement? What about the bears?”
“The noose is tightening,” Todd said. “Just breathe, dude.”
“The noose can’t tighten around a son of a bitch who disappears into thin air,” Henry snapped. “Dude.”
The second-in-command growled under his breath. “Watch your tone, pup.”
“He’s right,” Evershaw said. “We can’t afford to treat this sorcerer like any other prey.”
Henry was about to weigh in again when the sorcerer moved and touched Deirdre. He started growling and then couldn’t stop. It hurt Ophelia to see the other witch in the sorcerer’s clutches; Henry felt it like a fresh wound. Evershaw damn near levitated in his fury, and he started to turn before either Todd or Henry could snap him out of it.
Henry didn’t dare look away as Ophelia tried to distract the sorcerer. “We can’t wait. The boss is going to lose it.”
“Smith says...”
Something changed in the air. The semi-familiar static built and built until Henry sneezed and his eyes watered, and he knew that one of the witches—maybe both, or maybe it was just the sorcerer—called on their magic. He clenched his fists in Evershaw’s clothes as he tried to hold the alpha back. “We don’t—”
Ophelia called out in a strong, clear voice “I bind you!” and lightning tore through the otherwise sunny sky. It crashed into the dusty lot and sent everyone flying back. A scrap of thin fabric drifted in the breeze and wrapped itself around the sorcerer, who shrieked and clawed at his throat. Nola, in full wolf form, staggered to her feet and tried to shake off the impact of whatever Ophelia had done.
Henry lost his hold on Evershaw, who bounded out in wolf form and raced across the street to try and reach his mate. Henry ran, his heart in his throat, as the sorcerer reached for Ophelia with both hands. He meant to take her away. That bastard wanted to harm her and take her where Henry wouldn’t be able to find her.
Deirdre howled something and stomped her foot, and the earth itself tremored and shook. An icy wind kicked up and knocked the sorcerer back a step, and threw everyone else aside as if they weighed no more than dandelion fluff. Henry snarled and fought the wind to reach Ophelia. She struggled with something, some invisible cords attaching her to the sorcerer, and if he couldn’t reach her...
Nola charged and threw her shoulder into the sorcerer, trying to knock him aside, but the man shouted and brought his hands down and then Henry’s sister fell limp to the ground.
Another howl tore itself from his throat. Henry lost control and threw himself