Page 76 of Final Shift
A human would have only heard the screaming.
My land rumbled and bucked around me, roots flinging themselves from the ground, spearing the dredges of my people. I couldn’t fight an enemy I couldn’t see. None of us could. We weren’t mages. We were shifters. Most of us had no inherent magic other than the shifting ability we were born with. Being resistant to magic would help none of us if we got speared through the eye by a tree root.
I never thought Evie’s type of magic would be so dangerous, but here Danu and the blonde bitch with her were showing me how very wrong I was. I’d seen Evie fight with her earth power, but there was a grace to hers, a thoughtfulness in her actions.
This was straight terror.
Titania floated above us, her hair streaming like pale tentacles waving through quiet waters. I’d seen this bitch once before—right before she sentenced Evie to certain death in that damned tree. Moments before Evie destroyed her.
Or so we’d thought.
The goddess laughed as she swept through my people, the sound like a chorus of bells. I clenched my fists, lowered myself into a position, gathered my magic, and prepared to let go.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Every Lord had one devastating power they kept close to the vest and never revealed unless it was a life or death matter. Even then, some Lords chose to take their secrets to the grave.
I’d never seen Rowan’s, and we agreed to let him keep his secret until he was forced to use his. I hoped we’d never see that day.
We popped onto Caelan’s land straight into chaos. Shifters lay scattered on the ground, most injured, some unmoving. Roots slashed and punctured anything in its path. The earth rumbled under my feet. I went to my knees and punched power through the ground, before one of those roots hit us.
Moira swore under her breath. “What the hell.”
Rowan put his arm out. “Stay where you are.” His voice was low and urgent. “Do. Not. Move.”
Magic shattered the air, veins of golden power snaking through the ground, touching each and every shifter. At its nexus stood Caelan, a glowing specter of power. He was down on one knee, his arms stretched out like he was taking a benediction. Every vein in his body glowed with power, but as I watched, hisskin broke and split, every bruise and cut and broken bone from his people disappearing, only to reappear on the Lord.
Ethan let out a low whistle. “The Blood Dominion,” he whispered.
“Don’t move,” Rowan said again.
I was still on the ground, my fingers sunk a few inches into the earth. Danu lurked somewhere beneath us, the oily feeling of her magic seeping into my skin. But something else was happening.
I sucked in a breath. Caelan’s magic overwhelmed my body, Pack magic searing my veins. I’d made a huge mistake. That tiny kernel of magic I’d left inside him had linked us. I could feel the immense power roaring through his blood because the same flowed through mine.
“Evie?”
Rowan’s voice sounded like it was underwater.
Caelan threw his head back, an unearthly howl tearing from his throat. A second later, he leapt for Titania’s throat.
“Move,” Rowan growled. Garrett peeled away from the group. My feet felt like they were nailed to the ground.
“Nnnngghhh,” I said.
Moira went to her knees beside me. “Evie.”
Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Oh shit. Rowan. Her irises. Look at her eyes.”
Rowan spun. He sank to the ground and gripped my chin. “Evie. Your eyes are gold. What the hell?”
His attention snapped to Caelan and back to me. “Shit. You’re linked to him. How do I fix it?” When I didn’t answer, Rowan let out a string of invectives. “Evie!”
“Nnnnggghh,” I said again. My breath came in heaving rasps; my heart pounding against my rib cage. I had to release him. If I didn’t, I would overload myself. I sprawled out on the ground,my cheek touching the cold earth, and I sent a small tendril of vine toward Caelan.
I had to touch him to release him, and moving was out of the realm of possibility right now. The vine lifted from the earth and shot upward, slapping Caelan on the back of his calf.
