Tasting triumph, Conall shifted and lunged forward, expecting to enter the circle easily. He was blasted back, landing with a sickening thud on his side. Ignoring the pain of the broken rib, he pushed to his feet. The force field was now taller, and wider. Wind swirled around the grand wizards and their captives, making it impossible for Conall to even see them.
I can’t get to them, Conall, Raoul projected.
Conall looked around, searching for some way to get around this new force field. His eyes landed on a tall, fair-haired man in the distance. His arms were at his sides, palms open, his eyes closed. Conall looked back to the force field, and then back to the man. Was he controlling it? He sniffed and froze. A druid. Conall didn’t have time to think on that. Time was flying and he needed to get his mate.
Flattening his ears against his head, he stalked the druid slowly. When he was a good distance away, he broke out into a run, lunging directly for the man’s throat. Pale eyes opened when Conall was only inches away and the druid stepped back. Conall hit him square in the chest, breaking his concentration.
Get them, Raoul!
The druid easily put distance between them, teleporting from under the black wolf and rising gracefully to his feet as sharp yellow eyes focused on him.
“I have no quarrel with you, wolf,” he stated in a calm voice. He held out a hand, as if pacifying a wild animal.
Conall’s response was a deep snarl as he stalked him.
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Be of ease, wolf. I do not wish to kill you.”
A loud scream touched both of their ears, and Conall cringed and spun around, his eyes searching out his mate. The force field was down, and Raoul and the rest of the wolves were swarming Cronin and the grand wizards. Cronin now held a helpless Vivienne against him while Cassie screamed.
Son-of-a-bitch!
The druid forgotten, Conall took off in the direction of his mate, halting when saw the blade against Vivienne’s throat. She looked calm, but he knew she must be terrified.
“Call off your dogs, Athelwulf! I have no need for her if I can’t resurrect the druids,” Cronin roared, looking around for Conall.
Do as he says, he projected to his pack. Hopefully the rest of the packs would get the hint and follow his lead.
One by one, the wolves inched backward, but not very far.
“Continue,” Cronin bellowed to Cassandre, who had tears streaming down her face. When she didn’t do as if he commanded immediately, Cronin pressed the blade into Vivienne’s skin. She winced as a thin stream of red began to travel down her neck. Conall snarled as he attacked the force field once more. He barely heard Cronin’s “Now” above the roar of anger in his head.
***
Cassie was caught on the verge of both crying and throwing up, unable to figure out which she wanted to do more. Her mother had disappeared despite arriving just a few moments ago, and Cronin now held a knife to her twin’s throat. She couldn’t lose Vivienne.
She was in the process completing the spell when her eyes landed on him. Alexander. He stepped into the circle, and closed his eyes. The wind around them kicked up once more. He was reigniting the force field to keep them in and everyone else out. Her tears fell even harder. Stupid. She was stupid to have ever trusted him.
The words left her mouth. The chanting of the grand wizards surrounded her. Something from within burst forth, and words she had not learned tumbled from her lips. There was a loud sound, a trembling of sorts, as if the earth were splitting, and she looked up to find a portal opening not inches from her face. What looked like a cloudy, almost smoky place was slowly becoming visible.
Something cold touched her hand and she looked down to find a golden dagger was clutched in her fist. Etched into the handle was a trident.
You know what to do, Cassie.
Alexander was speaking to her. Confusion made her still before she shook her head vehemently. She would not! How could he expect her to?
Do it, Cassie.
No! It was one thing to recite a spell to save her twin. It was quite another to kill an innocent man, especially a defenseless one who was most likely dying already. Alexander’s eyes opened, and seemed unfocused.
I told you that you would have to trust me.
I will never trust you again.
He moved to her and retrieved the knife from her numb fingers. He leaned down and sliced two identical cuts on the witch’s wrists. They didn’t bleed for a few seconds; then blood began to gush. As soon as the flow hit the pentagram beneath him, the portal began to grow. What was a small inch widened to many inches….
Cassie gasped and stepped away as the witch’s blood ignited the pentagram beneath him. She lifted her eyes to Alexander. How could he do this to someone, especially as it had been done to him before? Or had it? Either way, he was a monster.