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Chapter Twenty-Five

W hen the witches finally took the dome down, Iven knew they would target him first. He was the one who could keep the three of them the safest with his magic. Iven did his best to come up with a plan beforehand, but as soon as the dome fell, so did his plan.

The three of them had their backs to each other, keeping eyes on the witches.

Cass and Kinnison were in their third forms. They were so large they made him feel as though he were the size of a child.

If he stepped back, he could disappear between them.

As comforting of a thought as that was, he was the one who would get them out of this mess.

But Cass and Kinnison intimidated the witches. He could see it on some of their faces.

“What’s the plan here?” Cass’s voice was deeper, more menacing.

“We kill as many as we can and hope back up arrives before the witches kill us.” Iven let a flame spark on his finger. He pushed it to the center of his palm and then let it build big enough to form into a ball with his hands.

The further the witches backed away, the bigger the ball became.

“That’s your grand plan?” Cass growled.

“Do you have a better one?” Iven’s ball became bigger than he had intended and heavier.

“No, but you’re supposed to be my fearless leader.” Cass’s growl turned into a snarl.

“I’m your boss. Not your leader. Kinnison is your alpha.” Or he sort of was. He was an alpha and the only one who claimed the title, so by default that was true. “And I’m not fearless.”

Iven hurled the ball of flame into the crowd of witches, giving it momentum with his magic. People screamed when the fire reached out and grabbed them as though it had grown arms. Iven kept the ball rolling until the witches smartened up and ran from the ball’s path.

“I think the plan is sound.” Kinnison turned toward the damage that had been done. His canine eyes were wide, which seemed odd in his wolfy face. He appeared as though he was some sort of cartoon brought to life.

Kinnison took his eyes off the witch in front of him for maybe half a second, but it was just enough time for the witch to gain the upper hand. The witch threw some sort of green powder at Kinnison.

Her hand moved in Iven’s peripheral vision. He reacted out of instinct when he made them freeze.

It gave Kinnison enough time to move out of the way of the green cloudy substance. He pushed Cass out of the way at the last minute too. The green substance fell to the ground, blending into the grass.

Kinnison didn’t hesitate when he slashed the witch’s throat open.

Iven created a stream of fire. Using the flame from the ball he’d already created took less energy than conjuring a new flame.

He made a steady stream between the ball and his hand. All he had to do was bend the stream at the right opportunities.

Witches gathered near the cornfield. They were out of range of Iven’s flame, so he couldn’t use it to get to them. But it was clear they had death and destruction in mind.

Within seconds, Kinnison doubled over and held his gut as if it were being ripped out of him. He fell to the ground. The shift came upon him in an instant and he took on his human form.

Iven couldn’t leave Kinnison. If they were going to make it out alive, they needed his magic. But he couldn’t leave the witches unattended, either.

If he froze all of them at once, it would drain his energy, which would bring them right back to the real problem.

But he could stall their magic. He could only do it for a few minutes. But it might be enough time to get out of there.

He wasn’t sure why he didn’t think of it before. Well, he knew why. It was a dirty move. One that came with consequences.

Cass must have known what he was about to do because he shook his head. “We work together.”

Iven threw his flame at a witch who was running toward them. The witch chanted a spell. It was clear from his smirk that he thought he had the upper hand. But the smirk turned into surprise and then pain as the flames engulfed him.

“How?”

“Freeze each one in my way. That shouldn’t drain you if we go one by one.” Cass stepped toward a witch, challenging him. The witch was easy to kill.

Iven didn’t need to help Cass.

The next one wasn’t so easy. She had a spell ready when Cass came at her. She was slower than Iven though. So before she could execute the spell, Iven froze her in place and Cass slashed her throat.

They repeated the process one more time before their enemies caught on.

The witches, who were hurting Kinnison, turned on Cass. He doubled over.

Dread twisted his gut. He panicked, not sure what to do. Conjuring the magic that would stall the witches was almost instinct and born out of fear. The magic grew inside him. He almost lost control as it left him and entered each of the witches.

Their eyes widened in shock and then they screamed in pain as their magic hardened inside them, turning into a sort of cancer that grew.

Kinnison and Cass stopped writhing in pain. Cass was the first to stand. His gaze met Iven, and he cursed.

Cass shifted and took out the witch closest to him. They were easy pickings without their magic. The one thing separating them from vulnerable humans was the one weapon they no longer had. The council prohibited a magic user from stalling another’s abilities. The punishment was severe.

Kinnison didn’t hesitate. Marric’s mother had been a witch. Kinnison had to know about stalling magic and the laws regarding it. Yet his only response upon recovering was to shift into his third form and kill as many as possible. He was ruthless in his pursuit.

Everything stopped when police sirens sounded in the distance. Kinnison and Cass stopped picking off the witches as though they were plucking weeds, and Iven ended the spell that stalled the magic. But the witches were fast to recover and when they chose him for a target, the pain was severe.