Wicked Wings (Lizzie Grace #5) - Keri Arthur Page 0,50

best. But I kept my mouth closed and stepped into the gap between the two vehicles. While there was no protection from the rain, it did at least offer a little respite from the cool breeze.

I didn’t immediately start spelling, though. Instead, I studied the trees opposite, looking for luminous, gossamer wisps. There were none evident, but I could nevertheless feel the distant pulse of power that was the main wellspring.

I just had to hope I could connect to either its threads or Katie’s. To do anything else would not improve Karleen’s opinion of me—though I personally doubted it could get much lower.

After a deep breath to center my energy, I began raising Ashworth’s incorporeal protection circle, watching the spell strings closely, trying to keep them exactly as he’d structured them. But as the spell rose in the air around me, so too did the wild magic that was now a part of me. Or rather, had always been a part of me, but had simply lain dormant until I’d come into contact with the unrestrained magic here.

I ignored the fear-based shiver and continued with the spell. While the end result wasn’t exactly the same as Ashworth’s, it was close enough.

I tied off the ends but didn’t immediately activate the spell, and glanced at Aiden. “Right, let’s do this.”

I might have said it softly, but his mother immediately left her car. There was certainly nothing wrong with her damn hearing.

I told them both where to stand and then activated the circle. “Don’t move around too much, because if you hit the spell wall you’ll tear it open.”

Karleen’s gaze swept the immediate area, no doubt seeking the threads she had no power to see. “How are we supposed to know where the boundaries are? And what use is a protection spell that’s so easily shattered?”

“There’s three feet of wiggle room around us,” I said. “The circle’s strength lies on the outside; had I made it similarly strong inside, it’d cause serious harm if you accidently stepped into it.”

“Then let’s proceed before the rain gets too much heavier.”

Annoyance flared yet again, but I pushed it back and silently called to the wild magic. At first, nothing happened. The distant pulse of power continued unabated, and the night remained free of those luminous, fragile wisps of energy.

Then, gradually, a few responded, moving through the trees like slivers of moonbeams. I held out my hand; after a few heartbeats, the fragile strings slipped through the protection circle and twined themselves around my fingers. There was no sense of Katie within them, so I clenched my fingers and used them to amplify my call for her.

More moonbeam slivers responded. They curled around me, caressed me, amplifying the power of my call. After a few more minutes, a different sort of energy touched my skin. Katie had answered.

Your wish?

Her voice, I noted, was clearer and stronger than before. Either our connection was growing, or my tie to this place was. Your mother wants to talk to you.

I cannot speak directly to her. You know this.

You can if you inhabit me.

She was silent for a second. That could drain you significantly, despite the wild magic’s presence in your soul.

A statement that basically confirmed my theory. Then don’t be long.

Her amusement ran through me, as warm as a silvery sun shower. I won’t. Warn them.

My gaze rose to Karleen’s. “She’s here, but you can’t speak to her for long. As Aiden said, it’ll take a lot of strength out of me.”

She nodded, her expression a mix of hope and disbelief.

I took a deep breath and then closed my eyes. Katie, the stage is yours.

She stepped into me. Her soul sang with the energy of the forest around us, a force so fierce and bright that my skin burned and my heart raced. The air was sharper, thick with scents that stirred my soul and made my blood race with the need to hunt and chase. The night was brighter, too, and the moon a power I could feel deep in my heart, deep in my very soul.

Katie’s soul, I reminded myself, not my own.

“What do you want, Mother?” Though the voice was mine, it held a cold power that was all Katie.

Karleen’s eyes widened. Perhaps she recognized the tone if not the voice. “If this is truly Kate speaking, tell me what I said the night you told me of your intention to marry Gabe.”

Katie forced a smile, though it was all teeth and little humor. “Over your