Page 105 of Blade

I managed not to go over the hood of the truck and I even moved my hands away from the truck in time not to puncture the door. I wasn’t going to explain that damage to my mate. How I could do a partial shift now I didn’t know, but it was something I was going to think about later.

“Fucking hell.” Henley was still in his macho family role, so logically I knew he couldn’t be too hurt, but Euston’s smirk had me wondering if killing him would be as easy as the pigs had been. “This can’t be because I couldn’t live under their thumb any longer. That would be stupid even with your IQ.”

That seemed to be what tipped Euston’s lackies over the edge.

They laughed.

And then all hell broke loose, as Henley would’ve said.

It was too fast to follow and almost like a TV show came to life. Euston pulled a gun but he didn’t aim it at Henley.

Nope.

He aimed it at his own people.

Chaos exploded.

Henley dropped to the ground as the wolf shifted and the lightning guy whipped round to face Euston. The other two guys stepped closer to Euston but then one moved back, hands up. Magic filled the air but I couldn’t see who was using it or what was happening.

I wasn’t built for this kind of family drama, so as I threw open the passenger door, I fell back on the only thing I could remember from my childhood.

How to call the Guardians.

I’d practiced the words as a child more times than I could count and it was the only spell I remembered without having to think about it. The words just came as I slammed my knuckles into the tiny cup hiding the marbles and grabbed a handful of the innocent-looking toys. I missed who yelled, but I threw them in front of the truck as the gun went off.

Okay, I could see why Henley kept calling them flashbangs.

They flashed and banged and everyone went down.

Well, everyone except Henley…he got up.

“Wow.” As he dusted himself off he marveled at the bodies on the ground. All I could think of was getting to him and suddenly I found him wrapped in my arms before I could process what I was doing. “That was cool. Do you know how fast you went?”

No.

Holding him so tight he squeaked, it took me a second to find a response. “I think I’m faster now than I was before.”

My mate’s mind always went a thousand miles an hour, but before he could get his questions out, magic started to build.

Had it worked?

Had I actually put the intent in the word right?

“Fucking hell.” Henley’s eyes got wide as a portal opened in the parking lot, lighting up the whole area as the magic shimmered. “What did the marbles do this time?”

“Um, I think that’s my fault.” Kind of. “My mother said the magic police would come if I said the words. Evidently that wasn’t just something they told kids?”

Amazingly enough, it actually worked because a tall magical guy in a gray suit and holding a teddy bear stepped out and looked around like he was just as confused as Henley was. “Interesting.”

Yep.

“Like a magic 911. That’s cool.” Swallowing hard, Henley pressed himself closer to me. “Your cops wear nicer clothes. Do you know how much that suit costs?”

I’d have said the clothes were unexpected but the whole thing was unexpected.

“You’re not a child.” He seemed to decide to focus on us, probably because we were the only ones standing…and conscious…before tossing the bear back through the portal. “That spell hasn’t been used in generations.”

“Um, my mom taught it to me when I was a little kid.” Was that enough information? “Back in the 1930s. I was…well…under a spell that went wrong for a long time. My mother said if I used that spell the Guardians would come and help me.”