Chapter23
Nix
I was staring up into the sky while the engine of Gray’s pickup rumbled on. The vibrations had turned my back and legs numb about two hours ago, leaving them weird and itchy.
Five hours down. Just a couple more minutes to go.
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
Just a couple of minutes to go until we found out whether my shields and barriers were good enough to smuggle me, Angelo, and fucking Heath onto Green Creek Bay’s pack lands without being detected.
If my barriers and shields failed…
My stomach churned, acid rising in my throat. I didn’t even want to think about it. At best, Gray would formally lose the challenge. At worst, there’d be charges against us. A whole different fight. Possibly an outright war.
“Getting cold feet?” Heath whispered. He was lying next to me on his back, staring up at the sky, just like I was. “You’re stinking up the place with your fear.”
I took a deep breath before I answered. “Just nervous.”
“Not so sure your barrier will hold up?”
Pressing my lips together, I gave a short nod.
It wasn’t news to them. The fact that I’d only had a couple of hours to prepare the truck meant I hadn’t been able to take as much time as I’d wanted.
I hadn’t been able to carefully add layer upon layer or to funnel magic into it over several days like I’d wanted to.
I’d done as much as I could with the time limit and resources I’d had, but I’d had to be careful about not spending too much magic.
Draining myself before invading enemy territory was a stupid idea.
“It’ll be fine. Levi said you did a great job,” Angelo whispered and gave me a smile. Having Heath on one side and him on the other felt like having an angel and a demon sitting on my shoulders.
“Because Levi, the newfound mage, knows so much about barriers.”
“Thank you, Heath,” I said, rolling my eyes.
The problem was that he wasn’t technically wrong. Levi didn’t know much, and everything he did know was because I’d taught him. But what if what I’d taught him wasn’t actually good? What if what I thought was vast knowledge about barriers actually wasn’t compared to what Callum knew?
What if…
Fuck.
Fuck you, Heath!
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then stared at the sky again. It had already darkened, pale grey making way for a night sky muted by clouds.
The magic surrounding us was brimming. A shield hiding us from view.
A layer of soundproofing to keep our sound waves from going out while enabling outside sounds to come in.
A barrier that should keep us hidden from magic detection.
In theory. A layer that heated the air within the bed of the truck.
A layer that kept our scent hidden. All of them woven into an intricate net, powered by Levi’s and my magic.
Mostly mine. However, Levi had insisted on filling up my well afterwards. Something about him being safe inside our barrier and not needing much while I was basically running a black op in enemy territory.
“It’ll be fine,” Angelo said.
It had to be.
Callum’s freedom and our lives depended on it.
Heath let out a huff, clearly not as certain as Angelo.
Why did he have to be part of my group? I’d gladly have taken Paul or Rhett instead.
I mean yeah, Rhett was Gray’s Second and kinda needed to be there for the fight.
And Paul was the pack’s deputy, and even though he was a real police officer for the humans, he kind of dealt with legal stuff for the pack, so it made sense he had to be there for the fight too.
And yeah, maybe Gray’s reasoning about Heath and Angelo being the best fighters in our pack had some merit to it.
As had the fact that they were strong as fuck, came from ruthless packs, and knew how to hold their own.
But… Heath? Really?
That guy didn’t trust me or mages, yet I was supposed to trust him and put the fate of another mage in his hands.
I kept staring at the sky but sent a thrill of magic out ahead until I felt the first bits of the barrier. My body tensed as the barrier’s magic echoed in my chest, a soft static, way less intense than I’d expected.
I sent out more magic, probing and assessing.
It was odd.
The barrier was strong but basic.
Was it a ruse? A thoroughly enforced barrier disguised as a basic one?
I blew out a breath, anxiety spiking, as I kept trying to figure out what was going on.
In theory, one could completely contain the barrier’s energy and keep it from bleeding out. You wouldn’t get the static feeling before touching it.
But that wasn’t what was going on here because I did feel the static. However, the barrier was lacking in a lot of departments.
“What’s up?” Angelo asked.
“We’re gonna cross the barrier in about a minute,” I whispered. “And either the barrier really is as basic as it appears to be, or…”
Or we were fucked.
I certainly knew which option I was hoping for.
“What do you mean by basic?” Heath asked and turned his head to me, his blue eyes boring into me as if he was trying to read my mind instead of waiting for a verbal answer.
“Basic. It’s strong as fuck, but lacking finesse and a lot of the protections I’d think a mage whose whole reason for being kept prisoner is to reinforce the barrier would implement,” I whispered.
In theory, we could talk just fine. No one could hear us, but talking loudly while on a stealth mission felt utterly wrong.
“It’s just a very strong barrier that… warns the pack about outside shifters. As far as I can tell, that’s it.”
There wasn’t even anything that would keep outsiders from entering.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Angelo asked, and I turned my head to face him and shrugged, nerves churning in my gut.
“If that’s really what’s going on, then yeah. It just seems… wrong.” I sighed, trying to sort the feelings inside me in a way they’d make sense to others. “They have a mage permanently… residing with them. They really should have…”
I stopped, my breath catching in my throat. Static increased, the crackling in my ears getting louder and louder. My eyes widened as I watched the barrier gliding over my woven shields and the barrier I’d surrounded the bed of the truck with as if there was nothing here.
No alarm.
No lights flashing.
No invisible wall that kept us from going on.
Nothing.
We left the barrier behind us, and the truck rumbled on, followed by the second car in our entourage.
“We’re in,” Heath breathed, his aura swirling.
We were indeed in. Part one of our mission had thus been a success. However, the next parts were the more complicated and dangerous ones.
Above our heads, trees swayed in the winter wind, branches heavy with snow. A crow cawed, then a wolf’s howl tore through the evening air.
“They know we’re here,” Angelo said, eyes darting to the right even though the way he was lying in the bed of the truck meant he couldn’t see what was going on outside. Neither of us could. But Angelo and Heath had their superior noses, and I had my magic.
Closing my eyes, I felt around me, searching for auras.
“Three wolves,” Heath added, scrunching up his nose.
I found the angry, swirling signatures of wolf shifters running through the woods a couple of feet to our left, hidden by the trees and the night. I nodded. “They feel… aggressive.”
Just like Knox’s wolves had. There was a hardness to them, an anger within. Their wolves were out for blood. The back of my neck began prickling, the hairs rising, darkness creeping in.
I was back in California on my way to the packhouse, the car rumbling and sputtering, surrounded by complete darkness. I should’ve turned around back then. I should turn around right now. This was dangerous. If we got found out…
“Breathe,” a voice whispered, and a large, warm hand squeezed mine.
I flinched, but the hand was relentless, its warmth seeping into me until my vision stabilized and I focused back on the muted sky above, noting all the little things I could see.
Like the moon shining through the clouds.
The canopies looming over our heads. I could feel the wolves hiding in the woods—we were up to five, with more waiting along the road.
“Sorry,” I said and turned my head, only to stop in shock.
Heath.
Heath was holding my hand.
I cleared my throat.
“My mind… wandered for a moment.”
He nodded, jaw clenched. “I get that.” He looked like he wanted to add something, but in the end, he kept quiet, squeezing my hand one last time before letting go.
Warmth washed through my body, soothing my nerves. Gray. I smiled and sent a wave of affection back before I focused back on my two partners in crime. I really, really needed to keep my head in the game.
“ETA?” I asked.
“Five minutes,” Angelo answered, eyes locked on his watch. “If Connie’s time estimates are correct.”
As it turned out, Connie’s time estimates were pretty accurate. It’d taken us seven minutes to reach the packhouse where a big part of the pack had been waiting, mainly male shifters, snarling menacingly, obviously trying to assert their dominance and intimidate us.
It didn’t work with Gray—he seemed more amused than anything when he hopped out of the truck without a care in the world. However, Connie was a different story. The poor kid was terrified. His aura was swirling so badly I almost got dizzy just reaching out for him.
Our group was quickly ushered away from the truck and inside the packhouse, the Council official declaring he needed a few signatures before the fight started.
I held my breath, the bond in my chest aching as Gray walked into the lion’s den.
“Are we alone?” Heath whispered. “I can’t hear anyone, but there are too many different scents in the air to know for sure if someone’s watching our cars.”
Taking a deep breath, I checked. The packhouse was brimming with auras, clouding my senses, but… “There’s someone in the woods, I think. A couple of yards to the left. No idea if he’s a guard or not.”
It could, in theory, be a wolf out smoking.
Heath gave a curt nod. “Good. Did you check for the mage?”
“He’s not here.”