getting the feeling back to my body. Power always hums under my skin, my mother would tell me, and a single concentrated breath will ignite it to life.
The landscape before me sharpens, colors brighten, and I scan the area for the sparks of magic. Those indicate a spell, yet there’s nothing here. Not in this location, anyway. Just the oppressive sensation like something is pushing down on my shoulders. I glance down at my hands and remove the gloves for full effect. Tiny white lines of magic leap across my fingers, and I smile at how pretty they look.
I sigh at the burned magic on my fingers, but there’s nothing to be done about those, and it’s not like I have to keep concealing them from the Viking wolves. They know what I am. Ragnar guessed it when we first met, something I’ve been meaning to ask him about. But that’s not important… not now.
On quick steps, I reach the edge of the woods and wave for them to join me. “It looks all clear. Let’s start.”
They don’t move. “You sure?” Ragnar asks, staring into the forest behind me like he expects a monster to leap out at him.
“Would I really risk never seeing my sister again?” I reply quickly, not wanting to make this trip any longer than it needs to be.
Ragnar scrutinizes me for a long, hard moment.
“Or are you having cold feet?” I ask.
He huffs, shoulders springing back, and he looks back to his men. “Are you all ready?”
They nod almost in unison, then the four of them stride into the woods alongside me.
“We need to keep our distance from the path,” I tell them. No one protests, though they are studying the terrain, the path, the shadows in the distance with uncertainty. “Spells would be more likely near the path. Us staying away means we are hopefully safer from any hexes.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Nikos asks.
While I’d like to admit that I really don’t and I’m doing my damn best, I lift my chin in his direction, remembering I need to come across as a strong witch. “Of course I do. I can detect where magic has been used before we walk into its snare.”
He looks at me like I’ve just told the world’s biggest lie, except that part is pretty accurate. The fact that I’ve never encountered a lot of magic up to now is something he doesn’t need to know. As long as I follow my mother’s instructions and keep an eye out for enchantments, we should be safe.
“Just remember, you trick us and I won’t hesitate to leave your body in these woods,” he threatens.
I swallow the lump forming in my throat, never lowering my gaze from his.
“You heard the girl, let’s move,” Crius mutters and brushes past Nikos.
“After you then,” Stone says, waving an arm for me to take the lead.
Striding over shrubs, fallen logs, under low-hanging branches, we move swiftly. The deeper we progress, the heavier that earlier sensation tightens around me, except I spy no sign of magic.
Stone groans as if in pain, and I turn to him, scanning him from head to toe. His face is twisted in agony, and he’s gripping his middle, looking like he might topple over any second.
Panic drags through me that I missed something obvious. “What’s wrong?”
The moment he drops to his knees, an ear-shattering howl breaks the silence from behind me. I whip around, only to see Ragnar stumbling into a tree while Nikos trembles as if he’s about to transform and is fighting the urge. Crius is breathing heavily… too heavily.
That’s when a sharp pain strikes me in the pit of my stomach, and my wolf shoves against my insides like she’s trying to rip out through my rib cage.
I scream, the pain like burning water poured over my skin. My knees hit the ground as my wolf starts erupting out of me. She’s scared… so scared that if I let her emerge, she’ll bolt out of here just like those two other wolves we saw.
Someone’s whining, another growling, but I can’t focus on them when I feel like my body is splitting in two as I fight to hold back my wolf. She’s never hurt so much or tried to get out this fast before. I stiffen, my muscles rigid, knowing what I’m feeling is her fear.
Goddess, my wolf is petrified of these woods. If I let her out, there’s no way I’ll be able to re-enter