The first bolt of lightning hit between his front feet, and he took off for the trees, dodging the next two bolts by a few feet each, then began weaving through the trees on the edge of the property. He knew this land like the back of his hand, could have navigated it with his eyes closed, so it was easy to lead the demon on a chase that only frustrated it and made it scream.
But as he was dodging the demon, pulling it further and further into the forest, the witches had gathered in the yard. Standing in a circle in the rain, they joined hands and raised them to the sky and chanted the words of the spell over and over. Enraged, the demon began flinging bolts of lightning so fast, Daniel could barely escape.
Instantly the rest of the pack appeared out of the trees, advancing on the demon in a circle, their teeth bared. Momentarily surprised, the demon paused and looked around it, then laughed.
In a strange warbling voice, it said, “You think shifters can defeat me; this should be fun.”
Daniel felt the trees beginning to stir and knew that the spell was working, so he shifted back to his human form. “I don’t think we can, but they can,” he said, pointing to the circle of witches.
The demon screamed and started for the witches, but suddenly the wind began to blow the clouds away, the rain stopped falling, and it began to shrink. Then a huge black hole opened in the ground and the demon disappeared into it, his screams disappearing once the hole closed.
***Cassie***
Cassie had her eyes closed, still trying to break the spell when she heard her father say, “The time is here; the potion is ready, and I don’t see any reason to wait any longer. I’m finally going to pay my debt and still have enough magic to make me the strongest witch in the world.”
Her eyes flew open; her father sounded mad, sounded nothing like the man she’d grown up with, and now she understood what evil could do to someone. All his years of using the dark side had finally caught up with him, and this was his last-ditch effort to save himself.
Cassie heard rustling behind her and then to her shock, two men came in the room, Demetri between them. Deacon smiled at him. “I think you know our old friend, girls,” he said. “Charlie, you might not know him quite as well as Cassie, but thanks to him, you’re alive. I would have killed you, but he was in love with your mother and wouldn’t let me. Turns out he did me a favor, so I thought I’d let him watch my triumph.”
Demetri fought, but couldn’t free himself. “Deacon, don’t do this,” he managed to say before the guards shut him up.
“I’m going to do this, and you’re going to watch, just to make sure you know that you made this possible,” Deacon said, picking up the goblet.
He walked over and stood in front of Charlie, who had her mouth clamped firmly shut. “Open up and take a drink; it’s not so bad, and you did agree,” Deacon said, then grabbed Charlie by the jaw and squeezed.
Her mouth popped open, and he dumped the contents of the goblet into her mouth, she managed to spit some of it back on him but swallowed the rest. A white mist began to appear around her, and as it grew brighter, Charlie’s color began to fade: not just her skin, but her hair and clothes became a dull gray.
Horrified, Cassie watched as the mist began to enter Deacon’s chest. He turned to her and smiled, and she knew that she had to do something, that she wasn’t going to let him drain Charlie’s magic without a fight.
Taking a deep breath, she envisioned what she wanted to happen, and the air began to stir around her. Pushing harder, she watched the mist disappear into her father and anger began to fuel her magic. Then suddenly her hands were free and just as she’d imagined, she jumped to her feet and pushed Deacon to the floor.
The stream of mist was broken, and with a whoosh, it all went back to Charlie. Deacon got to his feet and raised his hand to Cassie. “That’s the last time you’re going to interfere,” he said, then she felt herself lifted off the ground and her head slamming into the wall.
When she opened her eyes, the room was spinning, and there was a bright flashing light. But then she realized that Daniel, Annabelle, Justin, and Steven were standing in the room. Not sure if she was seeing right, she closed her eyes and opened them again.
She tried to get up, but the room rolled strangely, and she slumped back against the wall again. Daniel started toward her, but her father threw his arms in the air and chanted a spell, making the air shimmer, and Daniel fall to his knees.
Deacon stepped back in front of Charlie, and the mist began to move again, streaming into his chest even faster than before. Cassie watched, her anger and frustration growing until, with a burst of energy, her magic flared to life. She stumbled to her feet, no plan in mind but intent on stopping her father.
When he turned to her, that smile back on his face, she lifted her hand, pointed at him, and said, “You’ve been stealing people lives for too long; it’s going to stop here and now. It’s time you gave back what’s not yours.”
Deacon laughed at her, and she felt her magic flare again, and without knowing where it came from, she began to recite a spell. When she’d finished, Deacon’s eyes got big, and he looked down at his chest where the mist was flowing the other way. He staggered to the chair next to Charlie and slumped into it, his body limp.
With the spell broken, the others rushed over to them, Annabelle already chanting a spell to return Charlie’s magic. When Daniel reached Cassie, she collapsed in his arms, unable to believe what she’d just done.
Daniel lowered her to the ground and tried to turn her head away from the sight of her father’s body on the chair. “I didn’t mean to kill him,” she said, her chest heaving with sobs.
“But you didn’t have any choice; he would have killed you both,” Daniel said, stroking her face until she calmed down.
“What happened to Demetri?” she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“Your father killed him when he tried to stop him after he threw you against the wall,” Daniel said, pulling her farther onto his lap. When she winced, he asked, “Are you hurt? Is the baby okay?”
“I think so,” she said, putting her hand on her stomach. She could feel that little kernel of heat deep inside her and smiled. “The baby is fine. Is it finally over?”
Daniel nodded his head. “I think so,” he said, then leaned down and kissed her. “I thought I’d lost you there for a while. That’s a kind of pain I never want to feel again; promise me that you’ll never leave me, Cassie. I love you so much and, I don’t think I can live without you.”
Cassie had dreamed of hearing those words one day, but she’d never imagined that they would be coming from a man like Daniel. “I love you too, Daniel, and I know we’re going to have a wonderful life together. Just like in the fairy tales, you’re my prince, and I’m your princess, and you saved me from the tower so that we could live happily ever after.”
“But you saved us from the dragon, my princess,” Daniel said, kissing her on the forehead.
“Well, why shouldn’t a woman kill a dragon?” she said, pulling his head down and kissing him.
About the Author
Serena Meadows has always been obsessed with writing short stories since she was in junior high school. She writes paranormal romance stories of all types but writing about sexy steamy alpha shifters is her passion. She lives in Denver with her two dogs. On her downtime (which is rare), she enjoys hiking and camping in the mountains or riding her bike with her own alpha male to keep her safe and warm. Typically she enjoys an evening curled up buried in a good book or watching Netflix. She also enjoys time with good friends.
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Serena Meadows
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