CHAPTER FOURTEEN || REED
The witches formed a circle around the spot where Harris and I had been attacked.
Poppy stood at the northernmost point of the circle, her red hair catching the pale light from the illumination spell.
Tatiana claimed the spot opposite her, and Wynn positioned herself equidistant between them.
The two other witches filled in the gaps, completing the ring.
They formed a shape roughly like a five-pointed star—a pentagram—which, I supposed, was fitting.
Ethan and Nathaniel stood off to the side—not surprising. Ethan could neutralize any form of magic. He’d been the one who’d donated the vial of his blood to the pack. He was probably here in case something went horribly wrong and the spell needed to be shut down.
“Everyone else, stand back,” Tatiana ordered, her voice cutting through the unnatural quiet. “And be ready.”
At my nod, the pack moved, forming a loose perimeter around the witches.
Lee and Hunter were both shirtless, barefoot, and wearing athletic pants with an elastic waistband they could easily shimmy out of when they shifted.
They stood together on my left, their postures identical, weight balanced, practically vibrating with tension, ready to move in an instant.
Lacey was on my right, an axe in her hands, her eyes narrowed in determination.
Daniel was just beyond her. Oliver hung back near Emma and Sarah, who had insisted on coming despite my protests.
Lindsey stood between them and the circle, her arms crossed.
She had stripped down to her sports bra and athletic pants, like the twins.
The modesty was for the benefit of the witches, not for the pack. We were all very accustomed to nudity.
“Those of you who’re going to shift, do it now,” I said. “There might not be time once the portal opens.”
Lee and Hunter exchanged a look and shifted. Lindsey did the same.
I raised my hands and, with a single thought, let my fingers transform into long, razor-sharp claws.
My teeth elongated into the canines of a wolf and my eyes shifted as well, plunging the clearing into the grays, blacks, and blues of wolf vision—wolves can’t see red.
I left the rest of my body alone, so I would retain the defensive advantages of a wolf’s body and the maneuverability of a human.
One of the powers of an alpha was that I could control my shift as completely as I wanted to. Once anyone in the pack who wasn’t the alpha initiated the change, they had no choice but to complete it, shifting fully into a wolf.
Harris’s breath caught as he saw it. He stared at my hands—now claws—and then raised his gaze to meet mine.
I felt a flicker of unease. I had never shifted in front of him before. Not on purpose, at least. What if he was afraid?
“You’re incredible,” he breathed, his eyes searching mine. “The golden eyes—that’s the wolf I’m looking at, isn’t it?”
I was suddenly aware everyone was staring at us, witch, vampire, and wolf alike. But I—and my wolf—felt a rush of pleasure at his words, nonetheless. I nodded at him, ignoring everyone else. “Alphas are the only wolves with gold eyes. But yes.”
“He’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
“Perhaps we can focus upon the task at hand,” Tamrand said, shooting us a dark look. He hovered near the tree line, his vivid blue eyes fixed on the space where the portal would open. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides.
“You’re right,” Harris said, giving Tamrand a sharp nod.
He pulled his gun out and held it with both hands, the silver bullets loaded and ready in the chamber.
I could hear the steady thrum of his heartbeat, not nearly as frightened as an ordinary human ought to have been.
He added, “We need to help Sally. Everything else can wait.”
“Quite right.” Simone’s eyes glinted with the reflected light of the illumination spell. She stood just behind Poppy, as though prepared to whisk her witch away at a moment’s notice. “It is time.”
“Begin,” Tatiana said.
In unison, the witches began to chant. The words were in a language I didn’t recognize—old and heavy, each syllable rending reality apart at the seams. The floating orbs of magical light flickered and dimmed, then flared brighter than before. The ground beneath my feet trembled.
Magic rose around the clearing like a tide. As I watched, golden threads spilled from the witches’ fingertips, weaving together in the air above us. They twisted and knotted, forming patterns too complex for my eyes to follow.
Harris sucked in a sharp breath beside me, his gaze locked on the same spot mine was. “Holy shit. That’s beautiful.”
I shot him a startled look, but he didn’t seem to notice. He could see the witches’ magic as well?
Though, perhaps that wasn’t so surprising—after all, he had already demonstrated he was capable of channeling my powers through the mate bond.
When I looked back up, the threads of magic had begun to spiral inward, pulling tight around a single point in the center of the circle.
Poppy’s voice rose, becoming more forceful, and she spoke the incantation once more—a command that couldn’t be ignored. A surge of power like a lightning bolt shot from her into the weak point in reality the coven had created.
Instantly, a fissure appeared in the air, a thin vertical line of absolute darkness swallowing the light around it. The rest of the witches’ chanting grew louder, more urgent. The line widened, splitting reality apart.
Then, through the rift, I could see it.
The Otherworld.
It wasn’t what I’d expected. I’d pictured something alien and hostile—twisted and gnarled trees, a sickly, unnatural light.
But what lay beyond the portal looked almost normal at first glance.
Just another forest, like the one we stood in—though darker and denser, the trees taller and older.
The colors were all wrong, though. Too vivid, as if someone had turned the saturation all the way up.
The greens were almost neon and the sky—what little I could see of it through the canopy—was a deep, bruised grayish-blue.
If my vision had been human, it probably would’ve been purple.
The moon was blindingly bright through the trees.
The shadows were wrong, too—inky black and thick.
And there was something moving in them.
“Everyone, hold the spell until it stabilizes!” Tatiana commanded, her voice strained. Sweat beaded on her forehead. “We need to anchor it to—”
She didn’t get the chance to finish.
The Algea shot through the portal like a bullet.
It was faster than I remembered. One moment the rift was empty.
The next, the creature was there, its tattered white gown billowing around it, its elongated face twisted into a grotesque grin.
Its black eyes were fixed on Poppy, as if it had immediately identified her as the most powerful piece on the board.
The wolf within me lunged forward, all instinct and fury, and I threw myself between the Algea and the witch.
But my claws raked the empty air.
The creature flickered—there, then gone.
Suddenly ten feet to the left, it let out that same bone-chilling laugh I remembered from our first encounter, the sound of it scraping against my nerves like broken glass.
Lee and Hunter, in wolf form, circled to flank it.
Lacey darted in from the right, the axe gripped tightly in her hands.
But the Algea was too fast. It phased through Lee’s lunge, solidified just long enough to rake its claws along Hunter’s side, wrenching a yelp of agony from him. Then it vanished again before Lacey could swing her axe.
Hunter, in wolf form, staggered back, blood matting his fur. The wounds were deep.
“Don’t let it touch you!” I barked, my voice a guttural snarl, deeper than it usually was.
The witches didn’t break their chant. I understood why: they couldn’t. They hadn’t been able to anchor the spell to make it ongoing. If they stopped now, the portal would collapse and Sally would be lost to us forever. This was our one chance to save her.
Tatiana’s face was pale and tight with strain. Wynn was swaying dangerously on her feet. Poppy’s hands shook, a crackling stream of power pouring from them. The two other witches were struggling even worse.
As I watched, one of them suddenly fell to her knees, gasping, her face drained of color, and then hit the ground hard. She didn’t get back up.
Tatiana shot her a horrified look but didn’t stop chanting.
The Algea was more intelligent than I had ever given it credit for. It apparently understood that the witches were the ones responsible for disturbing it. And that Poppy was doing most of the heavy lifting. It hissed in fury and rounded on the redheaded witch again.
Simone moved in a blur, appearing directly in the Algea’s path, one gloved hand outstretched, a gleaming dagger clutched in it. The Algea slammed straight into the blade, which went deep into its shoulder.
The creature screamed and recoiled, its semi-corporeal form flickering wildly, the wound glowing as if packed with embers—which likely meant her knife was pure silver.
Simone’s eyes narrowed at the Algea as she yanked the blade out. “Stay away from my witch!”
The monster hissed and went after Wynn instead, who didn’t look so good. Her skin was ashen and her forehead was beaded with sweat.
In the same instant, on the other side of the circle, another of the witches collapsed, her hands clutched to her chest. The portal shimmered, going out of focus before stabilizing again.
Nathaniel intercepted the Algea in the air, slamming into it and driving it to the ground. His hands closed around its throat. Or tried to, at least.
The Algea phased away again, slipping through his grip like smoke.
It reappeared behind Wynn, apparently fixed on killing the witches still holding the spell.
I launched myself at the monster, teeth bared, my jaw elongating into a snout with a simple act of will.