The Silver Wolf.
Keegan’s mother.
She snarled, her body glowing with moonlight as she tore into him, claws sinking deep where my fire had already singed. Malore roared, stumbling back under the combined assault. For the first time, he faltered more than a step, his stormlight dimming, his shadow form breaking apart.
A mother’s love.
Keegan stared, his face a storm of shock and grief and fury all at once.
He staggered, reaching for the railing, his voice hoarse. “Mom…”
But she didn’t look at him.
Not yet.
Her fangs sank deeper, her silver glow blazing bright against his smoke. My fire flared higher, feeding on her light, wrapping them both in a storm of flame and moonlight.
For a heartbeat, hope seared brighter than fear.
But the fire inside me didn’t calm down. It surged higher, hotter, demanding more, threatening to consume not just Malore but everything.
I swayed, the edges of my vision burning white, my body trembling as though I were the wick of a candle about to snap. The Flame Ward was awake, alive, furious.
And I didn’t know if I was its bearer or its sacrifice.
The battle still raged around us, shifters and witches clashing with shadows, my father’s torch blazing, Twobble’s blade flashing, students’ chants rising like a hymn.
But all I could feel was the heat rising, hotter and hotter, my veins molten, my heart a forge.
The Flame Ward was calling me.
And if I gave in, it would burn everything in its path.
I clenched my fists, every nerve screaming, and tried to hold.
Because if I couldn’t, if I fell into the fire, Stonewick would fall with me.
The courtyard was a storm of fire and shadow, silver and smoke.
The Silver Wolf tore into Malore with a ferocity that shook the air, her claws flashing like moonlight sharpened into blades. Every strike sent cracks through his form, smoke hissing from the wounds. He countered with claws of storm, slashing arcs of lightning that scorched the stones and split the night. They collided again and again, the impact rattling through the earth beneath my boots.
I stood frozen, my breath coming in ragged bursts. The fire inside me surged higher, spilling out in sparks that singed the ground. I tried to pull it back, tried to quiet the roar in my veins, but the Flame Ward wasn’t listening. It wanted to burn, to consume.
Control it,I begged myself.Don’t let it control you. Don’t prove Malore right.
But every time Malore struck her, every time his claws raked across her silver fur, every time she staggered, I felt my chest ignite hotter. Rage and fear braided together, feeding the fire until it blurred the edges of my vision.
She snarled, teeth sinking into his arm, dragging him back from the Academy steps. His roar shook the courtyard, shadows flaring like wings.
I clenched my fists, shaking, fire flickering dangerously close to spilling out of me. My heart hammered so fast I thought it might burst.
I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t lose Keegan.
The Flame Ward blazed, demanding release.
And I didn’t know if I could hold it back much longer.
Chapter Forty-Four
