“Elise, I’m—”
“No!” She screamed as she pushed him to the ground and threw herself on top of him. Before he could figure out what was going on, a bright light exploded above him. Heat seared the air as a fireball launched over them, hitting the statue of the kneeling man and woman.
He rolled her over, protecting her from the debris as the sculpture exploded, sending bits of marble and mortar around them. “What the hell?”
She mumbled something he couldn’t hear as another ball of fire shot toward them. His Lycan instincts took over as he quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled them away to a safe distance. Another sculpture shattered behind them as the fireball missed its mark.
Rage poured through him and he called on his wolf. There was no time to remove his clothes as his animal burst from his skin in a burst of fur, claws, and teeth. It was furious that anyone would dare attack their mate.
Like most Lycans, his animal form was bigger than ordinary wolves, its fur a mixture of brown and gray. Its keen senses picked up something other nearby, and as its massive head swung around, it found its target. Standing by the entrance of the garden was a figure in a red robe, his face hidden by the hood over his head. The robed man raised a hand toward him as a ball of fire formed in his hand.
The wolf sprang into action, leaping into the air toward the robed man. It landed on top of him and immediately set its sights on the man’s throat. As its large maw opened to take a bite, a hot, searing pain made it yelp and roll away from its intended victim.
A stinging burst of pain shot through his wolf, and because they shared a body, Reed felt it too. Singed fur burned at his nostrils and he realized the man must have burned them. The fur was gone from his wolf’s flank and the exposed flesh was red and angry. Goddammit!
“No!”
Elise’s cry made him forget the pain. He looked around frantically searching for her, and to his horror, he saw the robed man approaching her, hands aflame.
Damn you!
He forced his wolf to get up, to reach her before—
Another burst of light blinded him temporarily. When his vision came back, he wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating because of the pain or if what he was seeing was real. Elise stood firmly her arms outstretched as something white streaked out of her hand—was that lightning? Whatever it was, it hit the robed man straight in the chest and sent him flying halfway across the garden. Her mouth open in shock, she stood there, staring down at her hands. With a shake of her head, she seemed to snap back to her senses.
“Reed!” She called. “Where—oh!” As soon as she spotted him, she picked up her skirts and ran toward him.
“Oh no!” she cried and knelt beside him. “You’re—oh God!”
He wanted to tell her that he would be fine. The pain was intense, but he would heal. But they had to get out of here before the robed man tried to hurt them again. He urged his wolf to stand.
“No,” she protested when his wolf tried to get up. “Don’t move. You’ll just hurt yourself more.”
His burned flesh was still stinging, but it would start to heal soon. He had to talk to her and convince her to leave now. Rest and get well, he told his wolf. Slowly, he tucked away his wolf, pushing it deep inside him as he took control of their body and turned back into his human form. A pained groan escaped his mouth as another fresh bout of pain shot through him.
“I told you not to move,” she chastised.
“Where … is …”
Her body went stiff, then her eyes narrowed with steely determination. “Wait here.” She stood up and began to walk toward the direction where she had sent the man flying.
“Elise, I—” When he tried to stand, a wave of pain forced him back to his knees, and he collapsed onto the wet grass. A few moments later she came back, her pretty face drawn into a frown. “He’s gone. Burned through the hedge.”
She removed her riding jacket and placed it over his torso—whether to help with the healing or for modesty, he didn’t know. But he didn’t question it as she sat by him, then lifted his head gently and placed it on her lap. She began to run her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner.
“What the hell happened?” He looked up at her. “What are you?”
Her fingers stopped midway. “I … I’m what they call a hybrid.”
“A hybrid?”
“I suppose … you don’t have them here in England.” She bit into her lip. “My father is a Lycan and my mother is a witch.”
“A witch?” Witches and warlocks didn’t mingle with Lycans. In fact, the magical beings hated their kind. Every few generations or so, war would break out between the two factions. But still, he couldn’t discount what he had seen with his own eyes. Maybe things really were different in America.
“Yes,” she continued. “She’s a blessed witch—meaning she has additional powers—and so do I.”
“You can create lightning.”
“Lightning?” Her expression changed. “Oh. Right. Lightning.”
“But you’re also a Lycan.”
She nodded. “Yes. I can shift as well, and I share my body with a wolf.”
“But that man … he wasn’t a hybrid, was he?” He didn’t sense a wolf inside the man in the robe. “Was he a warlock?”
“I … I don’t think so,” she said.
“Then what is he?”
“I believe he’s something else … a perversion of Mother Nature. He’s what our—my mother’s kind—call a mage.”
“A—”
“Bloody hell, what in God’s name happened in here, Hunter?”
He turned his head toward the direction of the voice. Jeremy stood in the entrance of
