Page 147 of Magical Mayhem

The fire broke free.

It ripped out of me with a scream I couldn’t hold back, a torrent of light and heat that surged across the courtyard. The ground cracked and split, and rivers of molten lava crawled outward in glowing veins. The air itself shuddered, sparks flaring in a storm of embers.

Malore staggered, his shadow-form shrieking as the fire wrapped around him. It wasn’t just flame.

It was memory.

The Flame Ward burned more than flesh; it stole pieces of him, clawing into his stormlight, dragging fragments out.

I saw them…flickers of his past, spilling into the fire like ashes.

Malore walking the Keeper tree line in Shadowick, younger, his eyes fierce with hunger.

Malore whispering into Gideon’s ear, his voice twisting with promises and lies.

Malore turned his back on Stonewick, laughing as the curse spread.

The fire devoured each vision, searing them away. He roared, clawing at his own face, his form flickering as if it could unravel under the weight of what it lost.

But the fire didn’t stop.

It circled the fighting wolves. The flames spiraled like a crown of embers, trapping them in a ring of heat. Every snap of her jaws, every rake of his claws, sent sparks flying higher.

The earth itself ignited, the stones glowing as though magma flowed beneath. The courtyard became a furnace, the Academy looming behind us like a fortress against the inferno.

And still, the fire poured out of me.

“Maeve!”

Keegan’s voice snapped me back, dragging me from the roar.

He was at my side, gripping the railing of the steps, his gaze wild with strain. His body trembled, sweat pouring down his face. His claws had already begun to sprout, his jaw lengthening, his veins burning dark beneath his skin.

He was fighting the shift.

“Keegan,” I gasped, reaching for him even as fire still blazed from my palms.

“I can’t.” His voice broke into a growl. His spine arched, his body shuddering as the wolf clawed at him from within.

“Resist it!” I begged, my throat raw. “You’re too weak. Your body can’t take another shift right now. Please, don’t!”

Sacrifice.

His gaze locked with mine, fierce and agonized. “If I don’t… he’ll kill her.”

The Silver Wolf howled, her cry echoing across the battlefield. Malore slammed her into the ground, his claws driving toward her throat. My fire surged higher, searing his shadow-flesh, but still he pressed down.

Keegan staggered forward, his body convulsing, the wolf tearing at him. His hazel eyes flickered gold, then dark, then hazel again. His breath came in ragged growls.

“Keegan, listen to me!” I shouted, forcing my fire to flare brighter, trying to drag Malore’s attention back. “You don’t have to fight this alone. Not now. Resist for me. Please.”

His claws dug into the stone steps, cracking them, his chest heaving with the effort. “I—can’t…”

The Flame Ward flared in me again, so hot it nearly blinded me. I staggered, sparks raining from my hair, my skin glowing like embers. I pressed a hand to his chest, the fire sparking where I touched him.

“Then let me hold it with you,” I whispered. “Let me share it. Don’t let it take you.”

His eyes locked on mine, a flicker of clarity breaking through the haze. His body still trembled, the shift clawing at him, but for that heartbeat, he didn’t move.