he focused on the witch’s spells.
Baer would have preferred Wiley not being anywhere near the park and the coming fight. His soul mate was a gentle, sweet man who should not be in the middle of this. Except Wiley was also a fierce fighter when his mind was set on something. And right now, his mind was very set on getting all animals free of Ardette’s power.
The night was chilly, colder than it had been recently. The dew on the grass was seeping through his shoes and starting to dampen his socks. Ahead of them, Clay held up a hand, calling a stop to their slow progress through the woods. They’d left the paved path and were cutting among the trees. Not far away was the soft slosh of water. Part of the park was marshlands, which didn’t give Baer a good feeling. Lots of snakes and gators were in this area.
“Close?” Baer whispered.
“Very,” Clay replied. He turned and looked at Baer, then Wiley. “What are you feeling?”
Baer rubbed his head against the ache that had started there before they’d even parked. “Darkness. It’s like my powers are continuously hammering on a brick wall.”
“I’m not much better,” Wiley admitted. “It’s like a black fog closed around us as soon as we drove into the park.”
“Do we retreat? We can return to the plantation and think of a new plan. There’s no point in continuing if we don’t have some kind of advantage here.”
Baer looked over his shoulder at Wiley. His lover’s face was screwed up in concentration. He could feel the pain that was throbbing in Wiley’s head, but it was nothing compared to the young man’s determination. Pride swelled in Baer’s chest, and he nearly reached out to pull him closer.
“No,” Wiley said and added a shake of his head. “This may be just a cloaking spell or something to confuse us. The moment I see the animals under her control, I know I’ll be able to push out her spell. Baer can then steal them for his army.”
As plans went, it wasn’t the greatest. They were hoping to simply steal away Ardette’s army and use it against her and the rest of the pestilents. Combined with Clay and Lucien’s gifts, it should be enough to overwhelm them and wipe the pestilents out. Of course, part of that plan was also dependent on taking out Ardette as quickly as possible.
Clay grunted his agreement and turned to face the direction they’d been heading. Lucien was directly behind him, while Grey was bringing up the rear and carrying enough firepower to take control of a small town.
They walked a little farther until they came to a large clearing that was filled with brightly colored tents and temporary structures all set up around a bonfire that was nearly burned out. The place looked like an old-school circus or maybe a hippie caravan. Not that he’d ever seen either of those things in person.
Only a few pestilents could be seen outside, walking in the same slow courses around the area. These were the guards while everyone else had to be asleep in the tents.
Lucien nudged Clay with his forearm and grinned wide. “You ready to light up their life?”
To Baer’s shock, Clay smiled. “Shake, rattle, ’n roll, baby.”
“Oh God, shoot me now,” Grey grumbled under his breath.
Clay looked over his shoulder at Baer and Wiley. “Take care of the animals as quickly as possible. Either Baer takes control of them or you send them out of the area.”
“Got it,” Wiley said firmly.
They watched from the shadows of the trees as Clay and Lucien boldly marched into the camp. One of the pestilents stopped where he was and did a double take to see them walking so brazenly straight into the pestilents base. The vile creature backpedaled and opened his mouth to raise an alarm when Clay swept one arm toward him. A heartbeat later, a tree root shot out of the ground and stabbed straight through the pestilent’s chest.
“Whoa!” Wiley said on a gasp.
“Not bad, old man,” Lucien mocked. “Why don’t you step back and watch a professional work?”
Lucien moved in front of Clay and raised both of his hands as he took up position before the first tent in the row. The Fire Weaver sucked in a breath and slowly released it as if he were centering himself. And then with the smallest flick of his wrists, fire broke out on the top of the tent, instantly eating into the super-thin fabric.
With