Page 55 of Shifters Unifying

Jasper winked at her from his place beside Olivia. “Why, she’s the multimorph, lass. All manner of unexpected shit happens with Emma around.”

“I’m not sure about all that,” I said, unwilling to take the time to explain. “But maybe I can help guide you.”Andmymagic is stronger than anyone in here.

“What the hell is a multimorph?” John asked.

“Ye’ll see,” Jasper answered.

Olivia’s face tightened, but she said nothing.

Dr. Wise stopped at the bleachers to grab her case, and the trio made their way to the walls near the exit. Dr. Wise retrieved her recording device and whispered into it, describing the date and what was happening in real time.

“Each of you draw on your morph magic, but don’t shift. Not yet.” I reached for Blaze’s hand and laced my fingers through hers. “When a shifter changes, it calls to the energy in the shifters nearby.”

“You think it’ll work?” Blaze whispered.

“Only one way to find out,” I answered. “Everyone hold hands.”

Levi started humming Kumbaya until John told him to shut up. Izzie grasped my other hand, and Oliver shyly took hers. The others linked between them until we formed a nine-shifter circle.

Within moments, each of the other seven had drawn on their shifter energies and filled the warehouse with wind. Images of squirrels, wolves, and a swamp rabbit danced in my head. Another form waited nearby.That one… That’s Blaze.

I drew my own rush of magic, and the amount of power surging through me quadrupled. A gasp hissed from my lips as the flurry filled me with a kind of euphoria.

Emma? What are you doing?Logan’s voice rumbled through my head.

Can you feel it?

Uh, yeah. You’re practically glowing in my head.He paused, and the bond twanged as he tested it.It’s so much power. Too much.

No, no, I’m sharing. It’s not all mine.

Emma…

But I ignored his warning as a renewed burst exploded through the warehouse, and colors fluoresced in my mind. Blaze’s hand fell away, and a wash of color swirled around her, lifting her hair as her body crunched and contorted.

When she stood once more, she had taken the form of a dappled gray Arabian mare, regal and proud. A blue dash of hair graced her forelock, and she tossed her head, whinnying in triumph.

“She’s a horse,” Izzie yelled over the whirlwind. “That’s so much better than a bunny!”

Emma…Logan warned again.

I placed my hand on Blaze’s withers, intending to congratulate her. “You did it! You?—”

My voice died away as rainbow flames erupted out of me and over the circle of nine who surrounded me, and a fresh gush of energy filled me. It detonated out of my chest, sent bursts toward the warehouse walls, and shattered the link I’d forced on the others.

Without asking permission… Without knowing what I was doing…

Nine shifters dropped to the ground, holding their middles and writhing in pain. Blaze contorted and morphed back to herhuman self, naked and burned. Her skin bubbled, and she cried out.

“Shit!” Olivia sprinted toward the relic room at the rear of the warehouse. Her fingerprints released the multi-locked door, and she reappeared a moment later, holding a healing relic from the relic room—a large, angular medallion. She dropped to the ground beside Izzie and Blaze, the two who had been closest to me and both probably the most injured of them.

What have I done?I backed away from the carnage.

Emma, what happened?Logan asked.

All the multimorph abilities and not much training had made me a dangerous entity, barely able to control my magic, casting spells without understanding any of it.Holy fuck.I’d hurt them all.

“Emma, get over here,” Olivia barked. “You’re the best healer in here.”