Page 54

Shifterblood.

The raven alpha dove toward one of the other sorcerers, flapping more as she entered the thinning cloud and dove toward the being’s eyes. She pecked one and darted into the air to reset for another assault.

Throughout the clearing, each alpha made short work of one mage until the twelfth one screamed a long spell with her dying breath. As her words faded, each of the sorcerer’s bodies turned bright white and disappeared, leaving no trace except scorched earth behind.

I huffed, and beside me, Olivia panted with her mouth opened wide. We’d beaten them all. Easily. A small fire burned on the side of the building where the balefire had been, but none of the damage had been permanent or even that bad.

A sobering realization slipped into my mind, and I whined before darting toward the manor house with Olivia close on my heals.

Acheron had sent one mage per alpha. He’d known how many would be here, and he had to have known his minions wouldn’t win. If he’d known…

We had a spy in our midst. My thoughts raced and ground abruptly to a halt, bringing me to a screeching stop on the porch so fast that Olivia tumbled into me, nearly knocking me over.Shit!

There could have been something worse. Much worse.

What if this had been a distraction meant to keep our attention here?

Fucking hell.

I had to check on Emma.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

emma

It had been the longest effing Monday-est Monday ever.

I was glad it was over. Sully had gone home all healed up as though nothing had happened to him at all, and the rest of the day had been filled with check-ups.

For the first time since I’d opened my own practice, the day had been a slog to get through, and I wasn’t excited about tomorrow. Light jazz played through the ceiling speakers in my office at the rear of the building. My thoughts kept drifting to Logan and Six-Mile Pack…

To what I was…

To my new abilities…

I’d slept since then, so it all seemed like a dream, a nightmare, none of it real. What was I going to do? Prophecies weren’t real, but turning into an animal hadn’t been real to me last week either. Maybe Dr. Wise would have some information to help make sense ofthings. I only had to get through this weekend and get myself back out to Six-Mile.

Shannon and Riley were out front, finishing the end-of-day cleanup, and I was compiling a report I’d meant to run last Friday. The numbers wouldn’t hold still on the screen, though, and none of the pertinent information made enough sense for me to place a restock order today.

My cell chimed, and I fished it out of the rear pocket of my pants.

Sheila: Sorry to bother you, but Logan made me.

Me: Sully?

Sheila: Sully’s fine, but Logan wants to know if you’re okay.

I scowled at the screen. Now he was using Sheila to get at me. I wasn’t even going to play that game, so I slid my phone back into my rear pocket. Logan might be the alpha, but he wasn’tmyalpha, and I’d never agreed to participate in pack behavior.

My actions were none of his business.

Riley skipped into the room, already in her normal clothes with her red hair piled on top of her head. “You almost ready?”

“Is Shannon ready?” I asked, blinking rapidly to clear the blur in my eyes.

“Almost,” she said. “Ten minutes.”

I wasn’t ready to be alone for the day, so I’d offered totake Shannon and Riley to dinner. After Shannon had cleared it with her babysitter and Riley had checked with her boyfriend, they’d both agreed.