Page 105 of Shifters Unifying

He stuck out his elbow, and she slipped her arm through his. I shot him a look of appreciation. As much as he annoyed the shit out of me and had me questioning Olivia’s taste in mates, he tried to be decent, and he was loyal to Emma.

We exited the cabin as Olivia appeared at the corner.

“There’s my righthand man,” I said, pulling the door closed on the cabin. “I’m sure she’ll know how to get you to Emma.”

Olivia nodded to me from the perimeter of the building, a slip of paper flapping in her hand. “Logan, when you have a minute, I need to talk to you.”

I turned back Emma’s mother. “Sophia, I’d just like to thank you for your patience as we deal with… everything that’s going on right now. We’ll get Emma, and as soon as she gets here, you’ll see she’s as well as can be expected.”

Olivia eyed me as though she wasn’t sure how I’d take the news she had to give.

I frowned. “Well, what is it? Spit it out.”

Her gaze cut to Sophia and then back to me. “Maybe we should discuss it in private.”

“Don’t have time for that. I’ve got to get back to paperwork.”The list of the dead.

She opened her mouth, hesitated, and then shrugged. “What the hell. You’re right, Jasper. We should have brought some popcorn along.”

Beside her, Jasper crowed. “Aye. That would have hit the spot.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I growled.

“Emma’s gone,” she said with a shrug.

Sophia rounded on me, her face a picture of fury once more. “What have you done with my daughter?”

Well, motherfucker.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

emma

Somewhere in Louisiana

My ankle bones crunched on landing, and my legs folded as I slammed into the earth in the clearing in front of the cave. The ground shook from the impact of a thousand pounds of bear, and I fell backward onto my furred bottom with Marcus clutched in my furry arms.

Hell. That hurts.

Pain shot through me as I scooted back into the cave, hoping desperately that none of our attackers had yet gone inside. As softly as I could, as gently as bearly possible, I placed him on the ground beside me and jumped up back onto my rear paws. Freaking everything from my bear tail down screamed in pain. So much for magic keeping me safe. My bones had to be broken.

I shifted to my human self, summoned a flood of power, and began hastily crocheting magic into the strongest shield I could, fitting it to the mouth of the cave. With my hands stretched toward the entrance, I knit as fast as I could. Shadows rained down from the ridge, over the sheer rock face, and landed on the ground in front of the opening.

Figures raised out of the ground, and one stuck its arm into one of the gaps, its fingers stretching into long shapes, clawing their way closer and closer.

Whimpering, I trembled and leaned away from the slow-motion attack. Finally, I pulled my magical weave tight, effectively chopping off the inky limb.

The figure screamed, a tormented sound. It recoiled.

The appendage dropped into the cave and squirmed on the ground like a headless snake before it disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving only an ashy residue on the ground.

Four of them threw themselves at the see-through wall I was erecting and spread themselves over the surface. More shrieks echoed through the woods as they broke down against my magic, turning from shadow to blackened skeletons to nothing. The pressure from their sacrificial attack weakened the strength of my wall, and I trembled as the weave broke in several places.

Six more mages took the place of the first four.

“Darkness is no match for light,” I snarled.

At my feet, Marcus moaned. “Emma? What’s happening?”