Chapter 45
Chapter
Forty-Five
REID
“Let him go and keep your hands where I can see them,” the human said, unperturbed by the fact that a massive tiger and a grizzly were engaged in a battle to the death only yards from us.
I reached inside for my magic, but I doubted I’d have enough to knock this man down and I really didn’t want to hurt my baby.
Were there any spells I could cast to protect myself?
I’d never tried to create a ward that was immune to bullets before. Was it possible?
Wards used less energy than offensive spells so I might be able to pull it off. Slowly, I released Hawk and raised my hands in the air. I stepped away from him slowly, allowing him to slump to the ground so that he was out of the line of fire.
Immediately, I tried to create a ward, but my vision wavered.
I was exhausted, and I’d already used more magic to take down the warlock and the trafficker. I couldn’t risk using any more.
“Come over here,” he ordered.
I moved as slowly as I could, silently assessing him. I wasn’t much over five feet while this guy was closer to six, so there was no chance I’d be able to physically overpower him. I just had to hope that I was worth enough to Ace Amato that he wouldn’t hurt me.
He rolled his eyes. “Speed it up. I haven’t got all day.”
Narrowing my eyes, I scanned the area frantically, searching for Nathaniel.
My heart sank when I spotted him standing near Aaron, both of them in cuffs.
Aaron was standing guard over Nathaniel’s prone body in his human form—the cuffs must be preventing his ability to shift and blocking Nathaniel’s magic.
Neither of them could help me.
I tripped, my legs weary, and fell toward the man. He shoved me and I staggered back, spots appearing before my eyes.
He raised the gun and I stared down the barrel.
My life didn’t flash before my eyes.
Instead, there was a void.
Just blackness.
And then Melinda roared and swiped the gun from his hand, tearing his arm to shreds. He screamed and fell on his ass, scrambling away from her.
I turned, almost numb and with none of the urgency I should have felt, noting that the tiger was bleeding from a gut wound. Not dead, but temporarily out of action.
Melinda shifted, and my eyes flew to her face because I really didn’t want to see her naked. “We need to hunker down and stay very still. Keep up the compression.”
I hurried over to Hawk and resumed my post at his side. Melinda grabbed his ankles and dragged him closer to the side of the container, where we were less likely to be seen.
My gut dropped at the sound of footfalls nearby.
I didn’t dare look back, but Melinda’s wide eyes told me I should worry.
“Hands up,” a man ordered.
When I turned, four men had us pinned against the container.
One of them aimed his gun at Melinda and shot with absolutely no forewarning.
I screamed, and a blaze of blue light—so bright it was almost blinding—pulsed from my body. My magic, reacting to intense emotions, trying to protect me even though I’d nearly used it all up.
My vision flickered, darkness creeping into the corners.
My body flopped sideways and I opened my eyes just in time to catch myself as I hit the cold metal of the shipping container.
Everyone was on the ground. All four assailants, but also Melinda and Hawk.
Belatedly, I became aware of an emptiness inside me where my magic should be.
Fuck.
I’d unwittingly attacked someone from Grizzly Ridge and now my magic really was completely gone, leaving me defenseless.
Not only that, but without my magic, I couldn’t sense my baby’s magic.
Until now, I’d known they were—at the very least—still alive because I’d been aware of that different magical flavor inside me.
Now, that reassurance was gone. I could only pray that my magic wanted to protect my baby as much as I did.
Sluggishly, I got up and I scrambled over to Melinda, checking her for a bullet wound. I couldn’t see one. Maybe I’d somehow destroyed the bullet before it hit her.
Another trafficker, who must have heard people hitting the ground, stumbled around the corner and caught sight of me.
“You’re the warlock omega everyone’s saying is worth a fortune,” he growled, stepping closer before pausing to look at his fallen comrades. With an angry curse, he rushed me. His arms came around my waist and he tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
A rhythmic thump-thump-thump sounded somewhere nearby.
I’d heard something like it before but couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I turned my head, searching for the source, but the alpha carrying me readjusted his grip and I had to close my eyes against a wave of nausea.
The wind whipped my clothes, but it wasn’t natural.
Oh, no.
Suddenly, I knew why the rhythmic thumping was familiar. It was a helicopter. They’d occasionally come and gone from my coven.
I beat my fists against my captor’s back but he didn’t slow. Metal clanked in front of me and then the world swam as he dropped me onto a hard floor and shoved me until I was pressed up against something firm.
A wall, maybe?
Or the inside of a helicopter?
My captor jumped in behind me, metal clanked again, and then my gut dropped as we began to lift into the air.