I leaned over on the railing and rested my weight on my elbows. She stilled at my relaxed gesture. Behind her, a lion shifter approached on silent padded feet. “That’s right, bitch,” I spat. “Keep looking at me.”
Her face dropped. Max grabbed her in his jaws. She screamed as he shook her like a rattle. When he spat her out, she shot clear across the room. Her back slammed into the island bench. I heard the crack, but I was already at the bottom of the staircase.
Max swiped at his face with his paw. His shook himself like a dog coming in out of the rain. When I got close, he growled in warning. I knelt in front of him, making sure my head was lower than his. I held out my hand with the palm up. The last thing I needed to do right now was challenge his dominance. A shadow whipped out from behind Max. Bradley came at Max’s side with blinding speed. He raised his sword with both hands. I threw the knife without thinking.
Giselle was forever going on at me for having terrible aim. Before, I would have tried for Bradley’s head. A headshot was just cooler. But in a life-and-death situation, I needed to take any hit I could get. So I went for the biggest surface area. A step before Bradley could swing at Max, the knife sank into his chest right above his ribs. It robbed him of his momentum. Max caught on and kicked out, sending Bradley sprawling in the same direction as Chanelle.
Max butted his head against the floor. Whatever was happening, he couldn’t shake it. I thought of Andrei and knew Max was on the verge of going rogue. I swiped some of the blood from my cheek with my left hand and smeared it across his already-bloody nose.
I had Lucifer’s blood. I imagined it would be more enticing than anything a necromancer could come up with. My hunch proved correct. As hard as Max was fighting, his predator instincts latched on to the scent of prey.
I shot to my feet and ran out the door. He came charging out after me. Glass and wood splintered in his wake. I ignored it all and pumped my legs as quickly as they would go. I turned the corner around the back of the house and pushed my aching lungs to their very limits. Max gained on me in the blink of an eye. But another second and I was within the field of wolfsbane.
If he was in his right mind, wolfsbane would have given him pause. Instead, he raced right through the field without so much as a second thought. A metre from the pit, I turned and waved my arms in a blatant taunt. He came sailing over the top of me. Lions, like all cats, liked to play with their food. I was sure he had every intention of pouncing on me. His claws were an inch away from my face when I dropped to my stomach. He went right over the top of me and crashed into the pit. The silver net ensnared him. Max let out a deep rumbling roar. The scent of burned hair filled my nose. He wouldn’t be able to last long in there without sustaining permanent damage. But the silver would challenge his healing ability and hopefully drag him back from the edge of going rogue.
I slumped to my knees, completely out of breath. I wanted to just sit here until Max calmed down a little. A second later, the fire went out.
Kai three. Supernaturals zero.
For a second, all was quiet.
And then Kai’s muffled groan filled the night air. I was on my feet and running in a second.
50
I reached him at the same time Chanelle did. Bradley was already there along with the remaining mage. Kai was on his knees inside an arcane circle fluctuating between silver and red. He clutched at his head.
I turned on the mage. “Why is he inside a circle?” My voice could have frozen a lake.
“It wasn’t me,” he said. A stone lodged deep in my throat.
Chanelle bared her teeth at me. She was bleeding from the back of her head. Her silk slip was charred above her thigh.
“Come closer,” I snapped. “Let me finish where Max left off.” I was weaponless and my insides felt hollow, but if she came at me right now, I would tear her head off with my bare hands.
“Kai,” Chanelle said in a quivering voice. She knelt down in front of him. Her hand came up to hover a centimetre from the perimeter of the circle. She was being so careful not to disturb it. I smashed my fist into it. The resultant roar of magic sent an electrical charge through me. I was thrown back three metres. My tailbone hit the ground first. The rest of me flailed. A shot of pain radiated up my spine. Chanelle screamed as the circle discharged and she caught the tail end of it.
My whole body felt too hot. It was like my insides had liquefied. An inward glance told me the seal was holding. It was just my pathetic human body that was hurt. I dragged myself back to the perimeter of the circle.
Kai’s fingers laced through his short hair. He grabbed it as though frustrated. He had bent over. I gaped as he smashed a fist down so hard it cracked the earth. The same frustration ate me up from the inside. Without my magic, I couldn’t break through the circle. I sat there completely useless as Kai thrashed.
Even though I knew I would be shocked for it, I slapped my bloody palm against the circle. “Hey, jackass!” I called out. “Snap out of it.”
To my utter astonishment, the
