Midnight Lies (Shifter Island #2) - Raye Wagner Page 0,76
strange rumble emphasized his fear, but I didn’t need him to finish the warning to know what he meant.
Panic coursed through me.
Declan had created a bomb—and we’d walked right into the center of it. A death trap—for all of us.
There was no time to think.
Mother Mage, let my magic work.
I shifted, wolf to human in an instant.
Magic thrummed in my veins—in my chest, in my every pore. But would it be enough?
‘Honor!’ I grabbed my friend by the neck scruff and pulled him to my chest, throwing a layer of protective energy above us. I didn’t know how to put up magical shields, but if fire was red, then I wanted blue. All the blue I could muster. Blue like the ocean. Like the crystalline waters around Shifter Island. Beautiful, life-saving blue for me, Honor, and everyone in the cellar beneath us.
White light exploded behind my closed eyelids, and heat blasted toward us as I waited for the pain.
Only, it didn’t come.
So … I blinked.
Still clinging to Honor’s fur, I sucked in a sharp breath and raised my head. Blazing red fire magic skimmed over the top of the blue shield dome I’d created, the red and blue blurring together into a vibrant mauve like watercolors mixed together.
My family home was gone—exploded into dust and splinters of wood. All except for the piece of hardwood floor where Honor and I still sat, curled together.
‘Rage?’ I reached for our bond, relieved when I felt his presence on the other end.
‘Are you okay? Is my mom free?’ he asked.
Damn.
‘Almost … I hope.’
I looked a few feet to my right, where the door should have led to the cellar, and nearly lost my focus. Wheezing with relief, I stared at the magic—my magic—shielding not only me and Honor but Lona and Elaine as well as my friend Callie, who happened to be with the other two women in the cellar below us. All three of them were bound by the hands and ankles.
They were alive!
My magic protection bubble popped, disappearing at once, and Honor and I tumbled down the steps into the cellar, the haze of smoke less here than in the house.
I landed against a canvas bag of potatoes with a groan.
“I seriously hate Declan,” I muttered, climbing to my feet. I scanned the smoky space, trying to locate the three females, and Honor bounded over to where we kept the potatoes. “Elaine? Lona? How are you—?”
“Honor!” Elaine shouted and then burst into sobs. The smoke cleared enough for me to see the black wolf nuzzling her.
Emotion tugged at my heart, a sharp contrast to the anger I held for Declan. A mother knows her child, no matter what.
‘My mom!’ Rage yelled, yanking me from the warm fuzzies. ‘Get that curse off my mom so I can kill Declan.’
‘One hundred percent behind you on that. Almost died. I’m on it now.’ I strode toward Elaine, pausing only long enough to grab the wire cutters sitting next to a basket of butternut squash. I snipped the zip-tie from Elaine’s ankles and then grabbed her hands, “Tell me about the spell Surlama did.”
“You’re naked,” Elaine said, gasping and wide-eyed, looking from me to Honor before breaking into another sob.
Nudity wasn’t that big of a deal among wolves though most learned how to better manage their modesty by my age. Yet, here I stood, butt-naked in front of my future mother-in-law.
‘She’s in shock,’ Honor said, stepping to my side.
Because, really, what else could go wrong?
I nodded and clipped the second binding to free her hands. “The spell?”
Elaine just continued to cry. I think seeing her once-burned son back, in the flesh, had broken her. Was there better etiquette for this kind of situation? Because I wanted to shake her.
“Nai Crescent!” Lona scolded. “How dare you run around naked in front of guests? Callie, give her your jacket.”
My gaze jumped to my bestie Callie, who shucked off her jacket like she’d done it a million times for me.
“Sorry the zipper’s broke,” she said with a half-smile.
“And put on those pants,” Lona said with a huff, indicating a pair of jeans that sat atop a donations bag in the corner of the room. I crossed the room quickly, slipping into the jacket and pants. Then, I handed Callie the wire cutters so she could free Lona.
“Are you okay?” Callie asked.
“No. Not at all.” In fact, I was so many levels past okay. “But good to see you, girl. We need to catch up. Later.”