Midnight Kisses (Shifter Island #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,10

for that.” The high mage pinned me with a glare, and I dropped my gaze to Rage’s knees.

I could feel the galaxy dude looking at me, assessing me like spiders crawling over my body. Was that magic? It felt like he was touching me, and my wolf didn’t like it. I could feel her cowering. Breathing in deeply through my nose, I felt my wolf suddenly lurch to the surface.

Now?

I’d struggled with control over my wolf form since I was a young pup. In a fight, when instinct should take over, my wolf mostly stayed inside, so I was forced to fight in my human form. Other times, like this, she was too eager to come to the surface. She had it backward … and was wildly unpredictable.

She was not happy.

A small patch of fur bristled on the top of my hand, and Rage immediately reached out and clamped down on it. The contact was so sudden that it stopped my shift. Clutching my fist firmly in his, he pressed against me and nodded to the high mage.

“All set?” Rage’s voice held something I couldn’t place.

Protection?

I felt the high mage’s energy leave the car then, no longer creeping over my skin and stirring my wolf.

“Go ahead.” The high mage handed the papers back, and the portal started to swirl—like a rainbow inside of a washing machine. Then, he disappeared. Poof.

Gone.

I let out the breath I’d been holding. And Rage released my hand.

“Their last heir, sir,” Justice teased, mocking Noble’s voice far too well.

“Screw you, dude. They legit give me nightmares. I heard a high mage could make it so you shoot blanks—or even that you couldn’t get it up—”

“You can come out of my armpit now,” Rage muttered, shoving his elbow into my side.

Blushing, I straightened, not realizing until now how much I’d tucked into him. “What? I was … looking for my earring.”

I didn’t even have pierced ears.

A sly grin played at the edges of his mouth. “Mmm-hmm.”

Noble threw the car in drive and, as we inched forward, glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “No more talking. Focus on your breath. Got it?”

“Wait, I—”

He gunned the gas, and the tires squealed as the car beelined for the shimmering portal.

Blessed High Mage Council, don’t let me die.

As my breathing grew short and shallow, I pinched my eyes shut and then opened them because I didn’t want to miss a thing. I was going to Alpha Island, to the magic lands. Going through a portal. This was epic even if I was about to die.

The car got closer, and I sucked in my breath, tensing my thighs with an iron grip.

Rage reached over, grabbed my forearms, and slid his hands down to mine, stroking my skin.

Holy mage…

Threading our fingers together, he leaned into me and whispered, “Relax.”

Everything inside of me melted. That voice was almost as good as his lickable-pheromone-yumminess. Any witty response I might’ve had evaporated as we entered the rainbow washing machine.

The entire car lit up like the aurora borealis, colors splashing across the seats, ceiling, and walls. Not to mention me and the quads. With a flash of agony, my vision turned white as it felt like my skin was ripped away. My stomach flipped, but Rage’s grip on my fingers clamped down, keeping me steady. When I thought I couldn’t take the feeling of being spun any longer, the car shot out of the portal and to the other side. Rage dropped my hands as quickly as he’d grabbed them, and like a mist of cool water on a hot day, relief washed over me, followed by a sense of rightness. I took a deep breath, but my smile faded as I looked out the window.

What the heck? Where was the magic?

I blinked and shook my head. Staring at the trees, I nudged Rage with my elbow. “It looks exactly the same as before we went through the veil.”

Rage grunted. “What did you expect? Faeries?”

Well, clearly the hand holding was to keep me alive, not because he enjoyed my presence.

“You okay?” Noble asked.

I nodded. “Never better. I think someone owes you money, right?”

He grinned and held his hand out to Justice. “A fiver, please.”

“Is this seriously happening right now?” Justice groaned. “She’s like the scrawniest wolf ever. How did she not puke?”

I looked at Noble, and he winked.

Hah! I had an ally in these brothers.

Now that we were in the magic lands, that meant we’d be to Alpha Island shortly and then on Academy grounds …