Page 23 of Cursed Magic (Rejected Fate Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

T he panic in Bruce’s eyes and voice told us everything. “They’re demanding that the eleven of us come there. They want to know what we’re doing out here.”

I growled. They fucking knew why we were here. They’d attacked all three of our packs. Did they expect us to just lie down and wait for them to finish us off? I’d rather die fighting than lay myself out for slaughter.

“How could they have snuck up on them?” Raven placed a hand on her chest. “Your pack would’ve heard them approach.”

Ryker laughed bitterly. “Not when they’re able to cloak themselves. If this doesn’t prove they’re behind all of this, I don’t know what will.”

“All I know is that they have twenty of my pack surrounded, which is damn near half of what they left alive. We have to listen to them.” Bruce fisted his hands. “I can’t lose any more people.”

Ryker’s jaw tightened. “Ember and Briar don’t have to be there. This could be a setup. The women can go back to the Suburban and leave while my pack goes with you to handle this.”

For a moment, all I could do was blink. I must have heard him wrong. There was no way he expected me to leave instead of remaining by his side.

Frustration lined Bruce’s face. “It’s not that simple. My pack said they know exactly who’s here.” His voice rose, edged with desperation. “They demanded all of us.”

The sun was setting, causing the shadows of the trees to lengthen. Almost like the shadows the Blackwoods used to cloak themselves were laughing at us.

We have to help them, Ember, Briar linked, her determination filtering through me. We can’t leave them behind. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over what Dad forced us to do that night.

That would haunt me for the rest of my life as well. Though I doubted we’d have survived if he hadn’t, what if we had? Maybe I could’ve seen the shadows that night too, but I’d been forced to run before I was given the opportunity. “There’s no way Briar and I are leaving. Both of us will go with you.”

Raven’s phone dinged, and she swiped the screen. “Lucinda just texted. They’re loading the weapons now and will be on their way shortly. If things go bad, they should arrive in time to help.”

“Then that’s even more of a reason not to disagree. If the Blackwoods want us there,” I said, my voice firm with newfound resolve, “then we’re going. All of us.”

Ryker snarled, and his eyes glowed with barely contained frustration. His wolf surged forward, wanting to command me but knowing at the same time it wouldn’t work. I wasn’t part of his pack…not yet.

Gage sidled between Ryker and me, and Ryker flushed .

Gage stood firm and crossed his arms. “We’re not going unless she’s with us. And if you try to force us, I will join her pack and leave your ass behind.”

Between those words and the way Ryker glowered, my heart cracked in my chest. I never wanted to come between him and his pack, and I definitely didn’t want people leaving him to join me.

Xander nodded. “It’ll cause even more problems if we all split up.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Bruce kicked at the mulchy ground. “I can’t risk something else happening to my pack.”

I took Ryker’s hand, afraid that he would drop it. When he didn’t, I tugged on it as the jolts shot between us. “Let’s go.”

His shoulders sagged, but he nodded.

We hurried through the forest, the trees thickening as we closed in on the invisible line that separated the park from the Blackwood territory.

Each crunch of leaves underfoot seemed amplified in the ominous silence, as if emphasizing that we were entering a very ambiguous situation.

A small clearing opened up, and I could see people clustered together about fifty yards from the edge of the territory.

As we got closer, I managed to pick out Perry and Reid standing in the center of Bruce’s people with at least fifty of their pack members circling them. There was no telling how many more were hiding in the woods and cloaked in darkness.

In my periphery, I searched for signs of iridescent shadows blending in with the darkening sky.

Perry and Reid stepped forward, the alpha and beta of the pack as well as father and son. They almost appeared to be carbon copies of each other, Perry the older version.

Reid’s sparkling blue eyes locked with mine then lowered to Ryker’s and my joined hands. The corner of his lips tugged downward. “I hate that you got caught up in this mess.”

Striding in front of me, Ryker moved so Reid couldn’t see me. He gritted, “You don’t get to talk to her. You talk to me instead.”

No.

He didn’t get to take away my chance for at least partial answers. I moved around him, catching Ryker by surprise. Within seconds, his widened eyes narrowed, and I saw when he accepted that, once again, I wasn’t going to listen to him.

“If you didn’t want me caught up in this mess , Reid, maybe you shouldn’t have murdered my pack.” I was done tiptoeing around them. It was time for the gloves to come off.

“And we’re all here as requested.” Bruce’s hands shook like his shift was coming on. “So let my people go. You’ve killed enough of them.”

The wind blew, lifting Reid’s shaggy blond hair. “Murdered your…” He looked dumbfounded. “Killed your pack members?” His voice went alarmingly high, a sound that I hoped he wouldn’t be able to reproduce.

“What is she talking about?” Perry ran a hand through his short, dark-blond hair. “Did you do something to the Sinclair and Shae packs?”

“Of course not.” Reid straightened to his full six-foot-three-inch frame. “I don’t know what they mean.”

Ryker pointed at him. “Don’t lie to us. We all know what you’ve done. You set us up to take the fall so you can lead everyone.”

Jaw dropping, Reid stared at me and said, “I get that I embarrassed you at the ceremony. I don’t know what came over me, but I swear I never meant to act that way or hurt you. But you can’t believe our pack to be so evil as to…” He squared his shoulders. “ He got you to believe that. And you’d know if I were lying.” His gaze shifted from me. “And Bruce, our packs have been friends with yours for decades. We’d never harm you.”

“Unless your scent was cloaked, Reid.” Raven’s voice cut through the strain, reminding us all of the power they had on their side.

“Cloaked?” Reid’s brows furrowed, and he exchanged puzzled looks with Perry and the rest of the Blackwood pack. Their expressions were so genuinely confused that I almost believed them.

A chill snaked down my spine, and cold pressure closed in from all sides.

A lump lodged in my throat, and my entire body tensed.

Reid turned toward me, his entire attention on me. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re coming.” The pressure increased, and it felt as if a tsunami were barreling toward me to pull me under.

Perry whipped his head toward me. “Who’s coming? And why the hell is the Shae pack spying on us?”

“Maybe…” Gage drew out the word. “They’re curious what backstabbing bastards look like.”

The pressure strengthened further, suffocating and thick. I scanned the area, my heart racing as wisps of shadows emerged slowly from the trees. They coiled closer, surrounding the Blackwood pack with eerie precision .

“The shadows are surrounding them. They have to be controlling them.” I wanted to ask Raven how close the vampires were, but I didn’t want the Blackwoods to know that we had backup on the way. At this point, the vampires should be arriving any second.

“Shadows?” A tall woman from the Blackwood pack spun around. “What is she talking about?” Her voice cracked with fear.

That…didn’t make sense.

“Don’t worry. The vampires will arrive in two minutes.” Raven told them the exact information I didn’t want anyone beyond our group to know.

Why would she tell them that?

What do you need me to do? Briar linked as her fear took hold.

I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I said the only thing I could think of at the moment. Survive.

Slowly, I spun around. We were completely surrounded.

“We should run,” a red-haired man from the Shae pack said. “Don’t wait for them to attack.”

This wasn’t supposed to happen. “We’re already surrounded.”

“What are you—” an older man from the Shae pack started to ask, but then a shadow reached for his neck and shredded his throat.

More shadows poured from the trees with terrifying, coordinated speed. Before anyone could react, they swarmed the Shae pack and us, dark forms tearing into our lines. Screams of pain and surprise pierced the air, and blood sprayed across the clearing.

The Blackwoods weren’t the target. They were never going to be. They’d just bought time to get their fighters set up, and we’d fallen for it.

I spun around and saw a shadow at Ryker’s back.

“Ryker, behind you!” I shouted just as the shadow lunged with its arms extended.

He ducked, and the arm caught only air.

Briar’s panic coursed through me like it had a life of its own. I turned to find three shadows converging on her.

I had to help her. Hell, I had to help everyone!

The Blackwood pack wasn’t being harmed, but several screamed and ran from the clearing. Shadows broke away, chasing them, possibly intending for them to never make it home.

Chaos ensued, and I could only watch as the slaughter commenced.

The shadows ripped through the clearing like a storm, relentless and merciless. They played with us, injuring and drawing out each attack with cruel precision. A dark mass ripped through the red-haired man’s side, his yell echoing in my mind before he collapsed.

Panic spread as quickly as the blood on the ground. I wasn’t sure what to do, and I couldn’t help but notice that none of them were attacking me.

Briar’s scream cut through the chaos, high and wild. I spun around to find a shadow wrapped around her small frame, its claws sinking deep into her sides.

Another one pounced on Ryker, clawing his leg. Ryker fought, trying to grab the shadow, and managed to hold him off, but not for long. All the others were in the same predicament.

If I wanted as many people as possible to live, I had to make the shadows focus on me .

I glanced around and saw a gun in a dying Shae pack member’s waistband.

I ran over and yanked it from the holster, its weight awkward and foreign as I gripped it. My grandfather had taught me to shoot in case we ever got dragged into violence, but it had been more than a decade since I’d held a gun. As soon as my father became alpha, shooting lessons were one of the first things he told me I didn’t need.

If only Dad were alive to see that Grandfather had been right to teach me….

Tightening my chest against that pain, I tried to recall what I’d been shown and aimed at the shadow crushing Briar. My hands shook, and with a deep breath, I pulled the trigger, praying to Fate that I hit my mark and not her.

The bang split through the chaos like lightning, and the shot didn’t hit center mass as I’d aimed for, but the lower part of the shadow’s body. It loosened its grip on Briar with a yelp, giving her a moment to gasp for air and wriggle free.

The shadows halted mid-attack, all of them turning toward me. Though they had no eyes, I felt their gazes prickling over my skin like icy needles.

I fired again, wanting them to attack me. The bullet hit a shadow closing in on Ryker. Its grip faltered, giving him the chance to push free with a savage kick.

My wolf came to the fore, ready to shift.

“Get your guns and fire as they attack you!” I bellowed, half animal and human. “That’s the only way we’re going to live through this.”

Almost in tandem, the shadows charged at me. I spun around, yanking my clothes off as my wolf broke free. My bones cracked, but I kept moving, knowing I needed to gain distance from them, or I was as good as dead .

My back broke, and I was running on my hands and feet until they turned into paws underneath me.

A shadow swiped my side, and I whimpered as I took off toward Blackwood territory. We’d come here to find the witch, and I would try like hell to reach her.

I didn’t pause when Ryker yelled my name. The wound ached, but I pushed through and kept going.

The shadows managed to keep up with me as I raced through the trees. My breath came in ragged bursts, and they closed in, swift and unrelenting. One lunged from my right, tearing into my shoulder and sending a searing pain across my upper body.

I stumbled but forced myself onward, knowing I had to keep moving or it would be over. Another shadow swiped at my hind leg. My muscles screamed with every step, frantic and despairing, but I kept running.

Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed that a huge number were chasing me. At least that would give the others a better chance to survive.

Blackwood territory wasn’t far—if I could make it there, maybe I could find and kill the witch behind all this and end the terror.

A dark form bolted ahead of me, cutting off my escape route. I tried to change course, but more gathered in my path, uniting to block my way. I halted, sharp agony from my injuries ripping through me.

Shadows swarmed from every direction, closing the gaps and multiplying before my eyes. I was surrounded. Trapped.

A claw sliced across my side, and I yelped and fell to the ground.

A massive shadow loomed over me, menacing and deliberate, as if contemplating its next move. Its hand extended slowly, letting me know I was about to die.

Out of nowhere, a searing warmth burst between the shadow and me, and I had no doubt that I’d soon be heading toward the light.