by C. L. Bright
“I agreed to go with you if the rebels will allow it,” Dante stated. “It’s more important to get Serena to safety. I still need to try to get your bracelet and find a safer place for Serena. Maybe it’s best if I don’t go with you.”
“Nicolas will tell the others what you’ve done,” Serena argued.
“And you don’t know what they’ll do to you,” I added.
“I know what they’ll do to you and Serena,” Dante replied. “I’ve always followed the rules, so I’ll suffer the least for what happened.”
“You can all come with me,” Alaric announced. “There are others I need to convince, but I’ll do my best.”
“Do you honestly believe your people will let us stay?” Serena asked.
“I don’t know,” Alaric admitted. “There are no guarantees, but I think the odds are in our favor. We need to get out of here. I hear vehicles approaching.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Serena replied, but I heard them.
It was always possible they weren’t looking for us. Dante had thought it would take longer to find Nicolas bound and gagged. He’d also expected it to take hours or days to track down the truck we’d left in since he’d disabled the tracking spell.
“You should shift forms in case you need to fight,” Alaric told me.
“My animal form isn’t exactly intimidating,” I stated.
“But you’ll have an easier time escaping if you need to,” Dante argued.
He had a point, so I reluctantly stripped out of my clothes. Dante put them in the pack he carried. As I made the change, the strangest thing happened. My magic called out to Dante’s, and when he responded, mine latched onto it. Some of his energy fused with mine.
When the change was complete, I looked over at Dante to see if he was as affected by what had happened as I was. His eyes registered shock, but he smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay. We’re meant to do that.”
“Hah!”
Dante smiled at me. “Stop mocking me, little cat.”
“Little cat? Oh, no, I’ve already told you that’s not okay!”
“We’ll have to work on a nickname later,” Dante assured me.
Alaric had moved to stand beside Dante, and he looked between us before asking, “Are you communicating telepathically?”
“Yes, though I’m not sure how,” Dante replied. “Nothing like this has happened any of the other times my magic touched Juliet’s.”
“This is an interesting twist,” Alaric mused before shaking his head as if to clear it. “No time to ponder that now. Follow me.”
He pulled a small bag from his pocket, stripped out of his shorts and put them into a bag that he slung over his neck. Once he was in wolf form, I could communicate with him.
“I hear several trucks approaching,” Alaric told me.
“They might not be after us,” I pointed out. “They might be hunters.”
“Do you believe that?” he asked.
“No,” I admitted. “We need to get away from here quickly.”
We raced through the trees with Dante and Serena right behind us. They moved as quickly as possible but were still slowing us down.
“We may be leading them to your people,” I told Alaric.
“Not to worry,” he replied. “We’re heading away from there. Once we lose the spellcasters, we’ll loop around a different way. I’m not taking any chances. These spellcasters are tracking us. There’s a trap to the left up ahead. Make sure you stay on my right side.”
I followed his instructions, moving to his right to avoid the trap.
The spellcasters were out of the vehicles and following on foot.
“Do you have anything on you they could be using to track us?” I asked Dante. “They seem to be having too easy of a time following us.”
“It’s always possible one of us has a tracking spell on us that we don’t know about. I’ll try working a spell to locate it while we’re moving,” he replied.
“I hope you find it soon. We’ll never get away if they can track us.”
It took Dante ten minutes to locate the tracking spell, but by then, it was too late.
Chapter 38
The first blast of magic practically singed my fur, and I scrambled to the side as Alaric turned to face the threat with a snarl.
“It’s the knife,” Dante shouted as he pointed to the knife in Serena’s hand.
She shook her head. “It can’t be.”
“It is,” Dante insisted. “Drop the knife and run!”
“It’s too late to run,” Nicolas taunted as he stalked toward us with five other warlocks. “I recently switched Serena’s knife with this one so I’d have an easier time locating her at home. I never dreamed it would help me track down my treacherous brother.”
“You bastard,” Dante hissed. “You’ve tormented Serena for years. No more. You won’t hurt her or Juliet.”
“I don’t see how you have much room to tell me what I can or cannot do,” Nicolas said with a laugh. “You’re going back with me to face justice for what you’ve done.” He looked over his shoulder at the five spellcasters behind him. “Trap the familiars. I especially want the cat alive.”
Serena threw her knife at the warlock preparing to toss a spelled net at Alaric. It struck his hand, and he screamed.
Nicolas lunged toward her, but Dante tackled him, and they both hit the ground with Nicolas on the bottom.
Alaric could have taken off and saved himself; instead, he lunged at a warlock about to attack Serena. His teeth sank into the warlock’s thigh.
I was a skilled fighter in my other form, but I didn’t like the idea of fighting naked, so I’d have to make do with what I could accomplish in cat form.
When I saw Nicolas reach for something in his pocket, I lunged for his wrist, sinking my claws and teeth into his flesh. He dropped the box he’d pulled from his pocket, and Dante grabbed it, using whatever spell it contained to stun one of the warlocks.
I felt the force of Nicolas’s magic, as heat seared the right side of my body so badly I released his arm and fell back. As I struggled to my feet, Nicolas pulled his foot back to kick me, but Dante snatched me out of the way.
A strange thing happened when Dante touched me; the pieces of our magic which had already mingled became even more entangled. I felt a surge of power flow through me, and I sensed Dante also felt it.
We had no time to explore this reaction.
Nicolas’s gaze locked with mine after Dante set me on the ground. “You’re not going to get away!”
Dante started toward his brother, but another warlock attacked from his side, leaving me to deal with Nicolas on my own.
His lips lifted in a taunting smile as he moved closer. “Now, where were we?”
I hissed at him as I felt mine and Dante’s combined magic flowing through me. My skin stretched as my view of the world shifted.
It should have been impossible, but I somehow transformed into a much larger cat. I was now eye-level with Nicolas’s thighs.
“What just happened?” Nicolas asked nervously as I growled at him, no longer sounding like a tiny cat.
When I lunged, he jumped back and sent blue flames of power at me. The heat held me back and made my vision blur.
“More spellcasters are coming!” Alaric warned.
“We have to get out of here, Dante! More spellcasters are approaching,” I warned.
Even as I gave that warning, I didn’t think I could move. The hot magic of Nicolas’s spell made it impossible to see.
Dante broke away from the other warlock and tackled Nicolas to the ground again, breaking the spell.
“Go! You have to get out of here!” Dante shouted.
Nicolas’s fist connected with Dante’s chin, and he rolled so he was on top. When he tried to stand, Dante grabbed his wrist and held tight.
“I can’t leave you,” Serena argued.
Dante punched Nicolas before sending another burst of magic at the other warlock still in t
he fight. “Please, Serena. Stay with Alaric and Juliet. There’s no reason for us to all get caught. You have to get out of here now. Other spellcasters are coming, and we’ll never be able to fight them all off.”
I didn’t want to leave him, but Dante was right. Staying would be suicide.
Serena snatched up the pack with my clothes as well as her own. I couldn’t make out what she said, but I knew it was a spell by the magic that flowed out of her and enveloped the area in a hazy mist.
“That should distract them,” Serena said before turning to run. “Dante! Come on! We have to go!”
But I already knew he wasn’t going to follow us. I fought my instincts to stay behind. If I was dead, I’d have no chance of helping Dante. I had to escape and come up with a plan.
As we raced through the trees, I still felt the remnants of the spell Serena had cast, but I no longer heard any other spellcasters.
The farther we got, the more my fear of being followed eased. When we finally stopped for water at a creek, I was certain we’d lost the spellcasters, and that’s when sadness set in.
Dante had given up his freedom for us.
“He was a brave warlock,” Alaric told me through our telepathic link.
I turned to him with a growl.
“He’s not dead. Don’t talk like he’s dead.”
“He’s not dead,” Alaric agreed, though I could tell he didn’t believe that.
Chapter 39
It took more than three hours to reach the rebel settlement, and I’m not sure I could have found my way back to where we’d started. Alaric wasn’t kidding about taking the roundabout way.
“Stay here.” Alaric had just changed back to his human form, and he didn’t wait for a response as he left us on the outskirts.
The shapeshifters who’d watched our arrival only spared us a glance before following Alaric.
I didn’t shift out of my cat form right away, instead moving to Serena’s side and looking up at her. She appeared ready to drop after walking so far.
Her smile was tentative when she looked down at me. “You’re much bigger.” She studied me closer. “I’ve never seen any cat this size, but I’ve read about some. You look like a panther.”
My larger size could be temporary—just a reaction to Dante’s magic.
Dante.
My heart clenched. Shifting back to my human form, I quickly dressed after Serena handed me my pack.
“How are you holding up?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “I’m doing better than I would have expected. Is this what your home is like?”
I shook my head as I looked around at the crudely made cabins and clothes drying on lines tied at the far end of the settlement. There were several firepits, possibly used for cooking.
“My home has most of the same modern conveniences as Azuredale.”
“You aren’t a rebel,” she remarked as if it had just dawned on her. “That’s why you needed a bracelet.”
“I wasn’t a rebel before now,” I said with a wry smile.
“Yes, I suppose we both are now,” she replied softly. “Can I be a rebel if I’m not a shapeshifter? Maybe it’s more accurate to say I’m a fugitive.”
“Thank you for helping me, Serena. I’m not sure where I’d be if it weren’t for your bravery.”
“I was terrified,” she admitted. “I still am.”
“Same here,” I replied. “Do you think Dante will be okay?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “He’s never broken any rules before, but this was a huge rule. How did you end up with him?”
As I told her the story of how I’d met Dante, others moved closer. When I stopped speaking, I found that nearly two dozen shapeshifters of all ages had gathered around me to listen. Alaric was with them.
“That’s quite a story,” Alaric mused with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
A female near Alaric nodded. “I’ve never heard of a hunter helping one of our kind.” No effort was made to disguise her distrust when her gaze landed on Serena.
“This is my friend, and she risked her life to save me,” I told the shapeshifters as I took Serena’s hand.
“It’s not the first time she’s risked her safety for one of our kind,” Alaric added.
“We shouldn’t discuss that since I failed the first time,” Serena insisted.
“But you tried,” I argued before turning my attention to the shapeshifters. “She was already in trouble for trying to free a young shapeshifter.”
“This is Serena,” Alaric told the others. “I told you the stories of her bravery, and I’ve offered her my protection.”
Eyes widened in the group as some gasped with surprise. Others continued to eye us warily.
“We aren’t a sanctuary for spellcasters,” a male snapped.
“It’s not your choice,” Alaric snarled.
“You don’t have final say either, Alaric,” another male argued.
My gaze moved around the others as I spoke. “Serena can’t go back to Azuredale because she helped me. I understand if you can’t accept her here, but I ask that you at least let us sleep here tonight. We’re both exhausted.”
A female stepped forward, and the others moved to the side so she could pass. “There is no question as to whether we can accept you. You’re welcome here, but the witch is another story.”
“I won’t abandon Serena,” I stated.
Alaric took his place at Serena’s other side. “Neither will I. Serena also saved me today.”
“She did?” the female asked as she focused on Serena. “You saved my son?”
Serena shrugged. “He came to help Juliet, and we were all fighting on the same side. I don’t know that I’d say I saved him so much as prevented him from being hit by a spell.”
“You saved me from being captured,” Alaric insisted.
“I never expected a spellcaster would save one of our kind,” Alaric’s mother mused. “It shocked me when one saved Alaric the first time. Two spellcasters—no, two hunters—helping him? That’s almost impossible to believe.”
“Do you associate with a lot of spellcasters?” I asked.
Alaric’s answer confirmed my suspicions that they worked with spellcasters to monitor their territory. “We avoid all but a few, and we never associate with hunters. They’re brutal killers without an ounce of compassion.” He flashed Serena a sheepish grin and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “You and Juliet’s warlock seem to be the exception to that rule.”
“Are we staying at least for the night?” I asked. “Or should we find another place to hide?”
“You’re staying,” Alaric announced. “If we judge Serena by her heritage rather than her actions, then we’re no better than the spellcasters we oppose.”
Murmurs moved through the crowd before Alaric’s mother nodded. “It looks like you’re staying. I can’t promise more than one night. The leadership council will meet to discuss the matter. Alaric will show you to an empty cabin.”
After she walked away, I let out a sad sigh.
“You’re thinking about your mate, aren’t you?” Alaric asked.
“He’s not really my mate,” I argued. “I feel like he should be, but we’re not bound.”
“You must have started the process if he could hear your thoughts. I didn’t know that was possible between shapeshifters and spellcasters. Let’s get you set up in a cabin so you can get some sleep,” Alaric suggested when Serena yawned.
Once we were settled into a small cabin with two beds, Serena asked, “How long do you think they’ll let us stay here?”
I shrugged. “We’re here for tonight, but who knows if they’ll ask us to leave tomorrow?”
“You don’t plan to stay long anyway, do you?”
“I’ll stay as long as it takes to come up with a plan to rescue Dante.”
Nothing would keep me from the warlock I loved.
Juliet and Dante’s adventure continues in Beyond the Black Mist.
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Author’s Note
I hope you are enjoying this new world. When I first started writing this series, I expected it to be an adult paranormal romance, but Dante and Juliet led me in a different direction.
Check out Beyond the Black Mist to find out what happens next in Dante and Juliet’s story.
Authors and readers rely on reviews, so please also take a moment to review this book.
About the Author
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, C.L. Bright is a hard-working homeschooling mom who loves music, cooking, and reading. Even with her busy schedule, she still manages to find time to explore her artistic side by writing tales of unique worlds.
A few middle school typing classes sparked her obsession with writing and launched her creative adventures. Since then, she has devoted herself to exploring the art of storytelling. For several years, she used a pseudonym to write adult romantic novels. When her writing piqued the interests of her daughters, she decided to venture into the young adult genre so they can also enjoy her books.
