Shadow's Howl by Riley Storm

Author:Riley Storm [Storm, Riley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: High House Press
Published: 2019-07-12T05:00:00+00:00

22

Magic coursed through her veins. It had done ever since she was a child.

From the time Jennifer was old enough to understand words, she’d been taught how to control her magic. To bend it to her will. Not only had she been shown how to use it, but she’d also been instructed on when to use it. A good man had shown her that.

Using it on other people was often not a time to use it. In times of rare importance, or emergency, it might become necessary. Now was not one of those times. But nevertheless, Jennifer was convinced it was a proper time.

So, she let the power flow, drawing deep upon the well of it that beat within her like a fire at her core. She drank it all, drawing it out, letting it flood her veins. Walking forward she barely heard Liam behind her.

He vaulted the van, barking orders to his men to prepare themselves, but it was all background noise to Jennifer. She barely noticed it all. Her focus was on her magic, and on the cluster of men ahead of her who were just now noticing her presence.

“Mage,” she heard, the word hissed in surprise.

How did they know, she wondered, until she glanced down at herself. Bright green magic swirled in bands around her arms, flowing down until it concentrated into brilliant green balls in her hands.

The shifters came at her in a blur, moving faster than her human senses could react. She froze. They were so fast! She couldn’t hope to match their reaction times. They would be on her before it was too late.

“Jennifer?”

“Let me concentrate!” she hissed, pushing Liam out of her mind. She needed all her focus right now. The spell was there, at the fringes, but it was proving harder to assemble than expected.

They just moved so fast! The distance was great, but they would be on her soon, if she didn’t cast the spell.

Come on, come on! Just do it already!

She slowed her forward pace, wondering if she should run away, put some distance between them so she had more time to cast the spell. If she could. Even as Jen grabbed at the strands of magic, trying to focus them, weave them together as she’d learned, they frayed and fell apart.

“Jennifer,” Liam urged gently. “If this isn’t going to work, I need to know.”

“You constantly interrupting me isn’t helping,” she snapped, focusing on her hands, putting the oncoming shifters out of her mind. Either she would cast first, or they would reach her first. It really didn’t matter at this point, she only had one option.

The spell rushed back to her in a moment of clarity. “Almost!” she hissed before Liam could say something else. “Almost got it…”

There.

Her eyes snapped open and she thrust her hands forward at the hard-charging loyalists. Emerald-green magic shot forth in an expanding arc with her as the origin point, spreading out to smash into all the loyalists.

Jennifer watched the spell hit home, crossing her arms confidently, a smile on her face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.