Marked By Magic by Christa Wick
Chapter Twenty-Seven
"No!"Oscar screamed as he thrashed in Cade's arms. Sweat poured from the boy and his clothes were loose, making him a terror to hold on to. He turned, slipped an arm out and slashed at Cade's throat at the same time he sunk his teeth into the big wolf's shoulder.
"Fuck!" Cade snarled, the skin on his throat healing as he tried to get Oscar to unlatch from his shoulder. "Can we spell him first?"
Iris dismissed the question with a headshake. She had no idea if any sleep or numbing spell on the cub would affect the larger spell she and Michelle were weaving. She knew it would, at a minimum, interfere with their concentration more than his terrified outbursts.
"Grin and bear it, boss," Tanner advised from where he stood with one hand on the cell door and the other wrapped around his pistol.
Mason charged into the area in front of Camille's cell. Dried blood flecked his skin. More blood soaked his clothing, but Iris could tell from the mix of scents that none of it was his own.
"I've got wolves down in the Lesser North Face under heavy attack. The Hunters have mortars and they aren't afraid to collapse the whole damn mountain!"
With Cade fending off a fresh attack from Oscar, Mason spun toward Iris.
"You, wolf-wi—"
Tanner grabbed Mason by the back of his shirt and tossed him a few feet down the hall.
"Then collapse the Lesser North Face entrance on the attackers," Cade said, his words rubbery with his bottom lip split down to his chin, a white flash of bone visible beneath the blood and torn flesh.
With Iris and Michelle still chanting, the door to Camille's cell began to glow.
"Fuck…" Mason said, getting to his feet. "You're freeing that bitch? Are you trying to kill us all?"
The glow stopped as Michelle's voice cut off.
"I'm sorry," she said, turning from her position and extending her arms toward Oscar.
Cade released the boy. A sobbing Oscar rushed into Michelle's arms. Iris wrapped a firm hand around each of his arms.
"Esme's dying," she told the cub. "Right now, she's in the bad man's house and she's dying. The bad man is there and he has an army with him, an army that's bigger than the one trying to break into the mountain."
Oscar buried his face against Michelle's neck, one arm jerking within Iris's grip as he tried to press a hand against his exposed ear.
"Liar!" he screamed. "You're going to sacrifice me! Camille said there's too much magic in me, that…that…they should huh-huh-harvest me."
"Before the bad man kills Esme," she continued pressing, "he'll kill Denver first and then Philia and Ta—"
"No!" Oscar screamed, twisting to face Iris. "No, no, no!"
Blue witch flame erupted at his final scream. It haloed around the boy for a heartbeat, then coalesced into a small, tight ball that hit Iris center mass. Michelle recoiled from Oscar. Cade ran to assist his mate as the boy barreled past Mason, only Tanner giving chase.
"Help her!" Cade ordered Michelle as he placed Iris on the ground.
Michelle pressed her palms flat against Iris's chest, closed her eyes, then shook her head.
"No, what?" Cade yelled. "Don't tell me you can't help her."
Michelle looked up, witch light ringing her pupils as she glared at him.
"Iris is helping herself," she explained. "I don't know how, but I can feel her taking the energy and magic he hit her with and rerouting it, making it her own. I don't think a regular witch could do that, but her regenerative powers as a wolf might be driving this. Now, if you want to actually accomplish something, find Oscar and bring him back."
He hesitated, his gaze harder than diamonds.
"Fine," she snapped, standing. "It's not as if all your friends at Gibley are about to be slaughtered."
