That earned a chuckle, although his expression remained cloudy. “I thought they were lying in wait for you. I thought ... they said they were going after the mage.”
A dark whisper of worry ran down my spine and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. “What if they weren’t talking about this particular mage?” Honestly, I hadn’t meant to voice the question. The way Zoe and Aric reacted had me snapping to attention.
“Sami,” they said in unison, scrambling to their feet. They were already racing back in the direction we’d come from.
Gunner didn’t hesitate to follow, although he looked as confused as I felt. “Do you think this was all a ruse to get the kid?”
I wanted to say no. I wanted to believe that Sami Winters was perfectly safe, perhaps playing cards with her vampire and bitterly complaining about her parents. Yet that notion didn’t feel quite right.
“I don’t know.” I had to push myself to keep up. The run from the cabin had been bad enough, fueled by adrenaline and worry. Those same things gave me strength now, but I wasn’t a runner by nature.
Zoe and Aric were the first to burst through the line of trees. Almost instantly I smelled something foul, something rotten.
“Sulfur,” Gunner announced, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the shadows for movement. “Someone has been casting spells.”
“It has to be the witches,” I replied. “Maybe the female shifters double dip on the paranormal front. They must’ve been trying to break through the wards.”
Zoe didn’t speak but there was determination in her stance. She clenched and unclenched her hands into fists at her side. I expected her to head for the cabin but she remained rooted to her spot, her eyes roaming the darkness surrounding the cabin.
“Cowards,” she hissed, moving her eyes from one side of the property to the other. “Dirty, filthy, rotten, disgusting cowards.” It was only then that I got to see her vent, and I knew the tree Sami had attacked earlier would never be the same again because the pink fire Zoe unloaded on it burned so hot and fast the trunk of the tree instantly turned black.
“Baby, you need to take it down a notch.” Aric sounded calm but when my mind touched against his, trying to get a reading for the situation, I could feel the abject fear rolling off him. “She’s probably fine.”
Zoe shot him a dirty look and then stomped toward the cabin. “Sami!”
I cocked my head, waiting, but the child didn’t respond. I wasn’t certain if that was a good or bad sign.
“Sami,” Aric called out, his tone much more conciliatory. “It’s Daddy. It’s okay to show yourself.”
Still nothing.
“I’ll check on her.” My instinct was to head toward the cabin, so that was where I pointed myself. Zoe shot out her arm to stop me. “What?” I was honestly confused. “Your daughter is most likely inside ... and my cat.”
She barked out a hoarse laugh that felt out of place. “It could also be a trap. They could be inside.”
I studied her a moment and then shook my head. “You would know if there was danger inside. You sense things.”
“Not when you’re protecting the property with wards, I don’t. I could break them down but I’m assuming you don’t want that.”
I thought of Emma and the fact that she could enter whenever she wanted. I was close to telling Zoe she could do whatever she wanted and then reality set in. The wards were my only source of protection. Breaking them down now was unwise.
“I’ll go in,” Zoe announced, stepping in front of me. She looked ferocious rather than resigned. “Be prepared to run if I give the signal.”
I had enough time to wonder what the signal entailed but that was about it. Zoe’s fingers glowed an angry red and she crept up the porch.
“I’m coming in,” she called out. “If you’ve hurt my kid, I swear you’ll wish you’d picked another mage to mess with.”
Aric silently trailed behind his wife. I could tell he wanted to shove past her, be the first through the door, but decades married to one of the most powerful beings in the world had taught him patience. Rushing things would get them nowhere.
It was my cabin. To me, that indicated I should be the first through the door. It might not have been a rational argument, but it was something I couldn’t shake. The only thing stopping me from shoving Zoe out of the way and taking command was the fact that she could likely smite me where I stood.
The cabin was dark, and when I flicked the light switch nothing happened.
“They killed the power,” Gunner muttered. “That’s just great.”
Because it seemed like the thing to do, I cast a net of magic over our heads. It was a nothing spell, pretty rather than practical. It was basically the equivalent of plugging in twinkle lights. It worked, though, and we could see clearly from one end of the living room to the other.
Unfortunately, the first thing we all saw was Sami crumpled on the floor.
“Sami!” Aric shoved past Zoe. He was the first to get to his daughter and his anguish squeezed my heart as he rolled her into his arms. “Baby, it’s Daddy.” Tears streamed down his cheeks.
When I risked a glance at Zoe, I found that while she was sheet white, her expression never changed. She was determined, and her shoulders were squared as she dropped down next to her husband.
What was she thinking? I couldn’t imagine myself in her place. Was her child already gone? Did she trade her husband’s safety for her daughter’s future?
There was no time for additional questions because Zoe’s magic ignited when she placed her hand over Sami’s forehead. It was only then that I could see the huge knot near the girl’s hairline.
“Is she ... alive?” Gunner asked in halting terms.
Aric didn’t respond but Zoe nodded, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.
