Shifting Loyalties by Melissa McShane

Author:Melissa McShane [McShane, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Melissa McShane

15

The other werebears immediately followed Silver’s lead. Sienne forced herself to read calmly, even though Silver had closed half the distance between them and she wasn’t sure she’d finish the spell before his jaws closed on her throat. Beside her, Wit was taking off his boots and swearing viciously. He flung the second boot away and shifted, disregarding his remaining clothes. As his body transformed, the clothes tore along the seams, not quite falling off him, but definitely ruined. He roared, and ran at Silver.

Silver checked in his run and altered his course to attack Wit. Sienne wished she could curse and cast spells at the same time. Wit was going to be caught in the spell, and there was no way to warn him.

The spell burst away from her as she spat out the last acid-etched syllables. It fractured into half a dozen bolts of magical energy that sang through the air with a chime like steel striking steel. Each bolt slammed into a bear, making them sway before collapsing motionless on the ground. That left one bear standing. Unfortunately, that one wasn’t Wit. It was the golden-furred bear, who’d been farthest back when they began their charge. He halted now, taking a few stumbling steps until he lost momentum and stopped.

Sienne flipped the pages to scorch. “You’ve seen what I can do,” she said, hating that her voice shook with anger. The bear might mistake it for fear. “That’s just the beginning. Come any closer, and it’s going to smell like burnt hair around here for years.”

The bear stood poised to advance. He put a single foot forward. Sienne began reading, casting swift glances at her enemy in between syllables. The bear put another foot forward. Then he turned and ran. Sienne lowered her book and breathed out in relief. She had no qualms about defending herself, but she’d never been in a fight without her friends to back her up, and she felt unexpectedly afraid.

She hurried to Wit’s side and tried to check his pulse, but in bear form that turned out to be impossible. Nervously, she lowered her cheek to rest near his nose and relaxed when she felt air sighing in and out. As far as she knew, a force bolt couldn’t kill by itself, but hit someone who had a heart condition with it, or a child, and that fact would be cold comfort.

Now she needed to get Wit back to camp—or was that best? If weres had attacked them, might they also have attacked her friends? Or was she the lucky one because she’d gone merrily into the wilderness without her team? She shook her head. That was crazy thinking. They should go to the camp, and everything else could follow from there.

Wit was far too big for her to carry, even in his less bulky but taller human form. For the briefest moment, she thought about leaving him to jaunt back to the camp and fetch help, but without knowing what the situation was there, she couldn’t be sure she could return immediately.

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