Chapter 13 #2
For the longest time I’d assumed that my wolf was exactly that—my wolf counterpart, a part of me that had to do with my wolf magic.
When I thought I was a bitten wolf, that had made all the sense in the world.
But now? I suppose I should have realized that if I had both lykos and kitsune magic, that I’d also have both forms as well.
I mean, even Mona had said I should have both—that I should have my father’s abilities.
Still, we’d been so busy that it had never occurred to me what that form would look like or how that shift would occur. But now I understood.
My wolf was not just my wolf…she was my magic—pure magic—and she had the ability to shift into both wolf and kitsune forms. As my body jolted and seized, fire licking up my skin, I had flashes of other forms as well, ones that merged the two together, but right now my magic surged the exact opposite end of the spectrum and forced my body into a shape it had never held before.
Kitsune.
In a singular moment, everything stilled, and while I could hear my mates distantly in the background, all I could focus on was the burning around me, the purple and pink flames.
I opened my new eyes and saw my paws, small like my wolf’s but with fur that was orange and pink, flashing like a light show along the flames surrounding me.
It was beautiful. But before I had time to admire my new form more, the landing underneath me seemed to shake.
The magic that surged through me had been enough to make it unstable, rocks starting to crumble and fall.
I had to get down—now—or else that would be me.
Turning towards the box, I grabbed the diamond between my teeth before backing up and taking a true leap of faith.
I could feel an energy like never before rolling through me, and I felt so extremely powerful, my body rocketing through the air like a comet.
Was this how Ryder felt all the time? I could feel the addictive appeal and the adrenaline coursing through me.
I didn’t even falter as I saw the ground approaching, the forty-foot fall nothing as I put complete trust in my magic.
I could feel how powerful we were, and I knew that there was nothing else to do but completely surrender to it.
When my paws hit evenly, landing solidly on the floor, I felt a sense of pride in my abilities, bolstered by the knowledge that I’d been right to trust myself.
To trust my magic.
“Shield your eyes until I can get her to shift back,” Ryder warned. “I’m serious.”
Turning towards my mates, I saw Tore and Dakota partially shield their gazes before dropping their hands in realization. I couldn’t verbally express that my magic wouldn’t hurt them, but it was clear both they and Ryder realized it, their concern replaced by shock and awe.
“Holy shit,” Dakota said. “You’re fucking magnificent.”
Offering a sound of happiness, I placed the diamond on the floor before looking around the space, wanting to see what this form of mine looked like.
Tore knelt down to pick up the stone, but I was far too distracted to pay attention to that, trying to figure out a way to see myself before I shifted back.
When I spotted an antique mirror in the far corner I trotted towards it, stopping dead as I came into view.
Dakota was right—this form was magnificent.
My pink eyes roamed over my fire-wreathed form as my tails—multiple tails—fluttered behind me. Ryder approached and watched me with fascination, kneeling down and running a hand through my fur, flames running up his arm in greeting.
“Are you okay, Effie? That power blast—”
I barked and nuzzled against him, my tails brushing over his skin. His smile grew and his eyes flashed gold. “I shouldn’t be surprised you have nine tails, kitten. You’ve always been extraordinarily powerful, but I think you and your magic are finally realizing it.”
He wasn’t wrong. Nine tails though? That was crazy!
“Everything—” Caedmon’s voice sounded choked as he stood in the door with Julian, both of them staring at me in surprise.
I immediately ran over and rubbed my scent over them in this new form between doing the same to Dakota and Tore again.
We were way too excited right now, but I couldn’t control it.
Their voices surrounded me, a mixture of relief and surprise and awe.
I knew I needed to shift back, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Well, until Ryder spoke up.
“This diamond, Effie—this was the only thing up there?”
Knowing we needed to talk, I forced myself to shift back, groaning as my arms gave out and I laid on the floor, feeling like my muscles were putty. “Yes, only thing—Julian!”
I giggled as he lifted me up, and I rubbed my nose against his neck, melting into his chest. “But yes, that was the only thing. We need to hang onto it. I don’t understand why, but my magic is telling me it’s important.” And I was trusting that.
“Then we should keep moving,” Caedmon said evenly, trying to moderate the nervous edge to his tone. “The forest was too quiet while you guys were in here—almost as if it was only acting ‘normal’ while you were around.”
“Best way to put it,” Julian agreed. “Shit was unnatural.”
“Let’s go then,” I agreed. Julian gently put me down and I stretched, my muscles feeling sore in a very different way.
Shaking myself slightly, trying to get out of the weird haze of magic that shift had caused, I followed my men out and back into the clearing with an involuntary smile tugging at my lips.
“That was really cool,” I said as we stepped onto the path.
“Nine tails,” Ryder mused. “Very fucking cool, kitten.”
My toes curled at the way he swore, something about it very appealing to me. Caedmon looked over, his eyes filled with interest. “I didn’t even count how many, although it shouldn’t surprise me.”
Both of them kept saying that, and it made me feel…well, a lot more powerful than I probably was. Then again, Ryder had said that he was very powerful, and he had eight tails. So what kind of power would I have with nine? I just wished I understood more about those powers overall…
“Shit,” Tore cursed as we came to a hard stop. A massive tree had fallen across the path about ten feet in front of us. I didn’t know if it had fallen before the magical explosion, but I felt like we would’ve been able to see it before…I was going to bet it was because of the magic I’d unleashed.
I didn’t say ‘massive’ lightly, either. The thing had to be forty feet in width alone, creating a gigantic wall that severed our path in all ways—meaning we couldn’t climb over, crawl under it, or go around it.
As we slowly approached the tree, I realized that there was something off about it.
The energy coming from it wasn’t natural.
“Do any of you feel that?” I asked my mates.
“Doesn’t feel real,” Dakota said.
Turning back to the tree, I slowly lifted my hand to press it to the wood…and my fingers slipped right through the surface like a hologram, an action that triggered our entire world to shimmer and shift all at once.
“What the hell?” Tore growled as the ground fell away, everything disappearing except the small island of land that housed the six of us.
The sky, the wall of forest around us, the ground, the massive fallen tree—all gone to reveal a white void of emptiness.
The only other thing that existed was another tiny island maybe forty feet ahead of us, with absolutely no way to reach it.
“What do we do now?” Julian asked.
I focused inward on my magic, hoping for another clue like at the tower, my face scrunching in concentration. Only to realize that this time, it was giving me absolutely no help. We were truly stuck here, in the middle of nowhere.