Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up #4) - K.F. Breene Page 0,75

Shifters think it means I am about to attack. And you think it is pleasant.”

“I don’t know about pleasant…” I murmured.

“That is the tiger, is that correct? I remember his scent,” the basajaun said. “Austin’s brother.”

“Oh.” I tore down the magic keeping him put. “Yes. He was worried about my safety. I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes, of course. My family is the same way. There’s no one you can trust with your mate more than your sibling.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that I was drunk—”

“He has done no wrong here. Unless he charges now, and then I will have to tear off his limbs. That would hardly be my fault—”

“No!” I put out my hands. “All is well. Let’s not use language that might…cause issues.”

The wolves circled in the cage, not much room in there to move around, their hackles raised and teeth bared. I cocked my head, aware again of the feeling of approaching danger, but it wasn’t from them. It never had been. Something else lurked in the dark.

The woods were clear, though. Not even animals lurked in it tonight. The wolves and the basajaun must’ve scared everything off.

“Okay, let’s see… How will we divide them up?” the basajaun said as the fliers started to land.

I held up a hand, feeling that strange, pulsing sense of danger. It was getting closer.

“Get back in the air,” I whispered. “Push out into the woods. Stay out of sight.”

I pointed at Kingsley, his stare now on the basajaun, who’d surpassed me as the most dangerous thing around. My gesture grabbed his attention. “Now you can change.” His glance back at the basajaun had me shaking my head. “Not because of him—”

Thunder rolled across the darkened sky. I released the fog, letting the stars twinkle down at us, not one cloud hindering their glow.

A flash of heat and light assailed me, Kingsley now a huge tiger, larger than his natural counterpart, his shoulder up to nearly my neck.

“Gracious,” Sebastian said softly.

Spiderwebs of lightning crackled through the air as another peal of thunder rolled, this one coming from the west. Beside it glowed a ball of fire; jets of flame dripped down from the sky.

“What is it?” Sebastian asked, turning to look up.

We waited in silence, the danger pulsing in my chest.

“The answer to my summons.”

Twenty-Two

A big, dark blot on the night sky ate the starlight as it passed. Another peal of thunder, closer this time, boomed through the air, chased by zips of electricity around what I realized were huge wings, beating in a steady drum. A different beast trailed the first, its wings leaving curls of flame in their wake.

“There are two,” I said, moving without meaning to, walking toward the porch of Ivy House.

“Prepare,” Ivy House said, as if I needed the warning.

“Blend into the shrubbery, basajaun,” I commanded. “I’m not sure how this is going to go. Edgar…keep to the shadows for now. Let’s see what happens.”

Even the wolves had stopped snarling, now all looking up at the sky.

“Shall I…create some sound and visibility barriers so the non-magical residents in town don’t call the police?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes, please, though I think Austin has someone on the police force.” I watched those enormous wings beat at the sky. They had to be twenty or thirty feet wide, the wingspan incredible. Closer still, and I realized the beast actually had two sets of wings, the second and smaller set at the back of its almost serpentine body. I couldn’t make out the coloring, but the body was lighter than the wings, which appeared to have a pattern, different areas catching and throwing the light.

It beat at the air, overhead now, before it opened its great beak and blistered more thunder across the sky. Lightning zipped around its wings and snaked out. The power concussed the air as the beast lowered to the ground, lightning still rolling across its feathers.

“Thunderbird,” Sebastian said, in awe. “I’ve never seen one. They are incredibly rare. Your magic called this?”

“Yes. I feel the danger of it.”

A phoenix soared above it, wings and tail dripping fire, doing lazy circles as the other landed.

“It called that, too?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes,” I said, keeping the “Mr. Obvious” to myself.

The thunderbird pulled in its mighty wings, standing on a pair of legs equipped with three vicious talons each. Lightning climbed from its head like hair before settling down.

The phoenix flapped its wings, and fire blew out in all directions. It lowered, landing next to the thunderbird in swirls of heated air