Ward’s grumbles sounded scarier as a bear.Fine. Hurry. And do not let go, Evie.
Ward reached as high as he was able and I wound a coil around his claw, extending as far as I my scales would reach. We ended up a couple of inches short.
I barely kept the panic from my internal voice.Almost there! Get taller or something. Am I supposed to toss it to you and you contain it?
Ward lifted a little more, which only made the distance left to go more unattainable.I’m going to shift once you hand it down. My bear is of magic; they negate each other.
Now you tell me, when we’re fighting off murder creatures? You can’t shift. They will tear you apart.They would tear me apart.
So close. Could I extend my tongue toward it?
Full confidence colored Ward’s voice.I will keep you safe.
The words curled deep in my belly. He meant it. It gave me the heart to close the few inches left. I would make it if I held on to the tip of Ward’s claw. I stretched harder, committed. Instantly, we were a foot too short as two wolves latched on to Ward’s legs and pulled. I wound tight against his wrist.
Traitor!they howled.
Ward swatted them, flinging them across the sanctum with me in a front-row seat for the violence. The commotion alerted the rest of the shifters to our mission. The whole brood of them darted toward us. Ward fought them with a lot less violence than I would have imagined a few hours ago - pushing, shaking and throwing shifters when he just as easily could have killed everyone. Ward made a healthy circle around us and tried to reach the relic again, stretching as far as he could go.
It wasn’t enough and at any moment, the shifter gang would realize they could pull us down if they worked together. I did the unthinkable and let go of his claw to push myself the last few inches into the Goddess’ hands. I pulled the rest of myself up to the relative safety of the statue’s embrace as they dragged Ward down into the pile of shifters swarming him. His bays of pain rattled every one of my nerves. I had to stay cool and stop this.
The relic in the Goddess’ hands was a clear crystal bottle, but a small neon glow pulsed behind it. I slithered over to inspect the sleek metal box the size of a card case behind the relic. It didn’t appear to belong with its slick surface and eerie glow, but it wasn’t doing anything either, so I turned to the bottle. All I had to do was get it down to Ward and he would handle the scary part. Maybe.
An earth-quaking roar knocked dust loose from the rafters as my once-friendly teddy bear burst from the pile of shifters in a full rage. Blood and fur flew in the face of his unbridled anger. I guess the relic’s call was back. Animal screams and yowls made my blood curdle. Okay, this was okay. I didn’t feel all ragey, and I was right next to the thing. I would handle this. They might all be bloodthirsty killers, but I sat up here and they stood down there.
Ward smashed his whole body against the statue and he proved me wrong about how strong it was as he dented it.
This was fine. I tried that deep breathing Maggie was always trying to get me to do. Ward didn’t kill me on sight in the bar and I was in his Goddsforsaken mouth, so these shifters had to be redeemable once we stopped the relic from broadcasting. This turned out to be a little more quest participation than reading a book, but—a jolt almost sent me tumbling off the statue.
The other shifters followed Ward’s example and rushed the metal Goddess—clawing, bending it, working together to get to me. The weird thing was, they timed their attack with the pulse of that neon light. Did the metal box do something to them, too?
One problem at a time. I had to stop the relic. Magic containment. What did I know about magic containment with Ward off the table? Well, I was magic even if I could have done without that birthday surprise. The relic wasn’t affecting me. I stared at the bottle, swallowing hard. This was going to suck.
The stopper was tough to work off the crystal bottle. I stuck my head in the top, peering down at the syrupy liquid inside. The whole statue shook, groaning ominously.
Don’t be a ball sack,I pep talked myself and shoved my head into the bottle, slurping down the liquid inside. I held my breath as my tongue touched it, but as soon as it hit my mouth, euphoria spread like warm butter all over my jaws as the best of Fallon’s cooking melded with Yule spice and a refreshing summer picnic.
A soothing voice accompanied the deliciousness in my mouth.
Embrace your destiny.That sounded promising. She would restore my destiny as a human.
Save my children.I tried despite their best efforts.
Receive your power.The voice sounded weird, I would admit, but not weirder than the hand I felt encouraging more relic into my mouth. I didn’t need motivation, already greedy for more of the lush liquid. The moment I chugged the last drop, all shaking of the statue stopped. Popping my head out of the bottle, I gaped down at the sea of naked men and women tumbled on the floor.
Ward shook his head, like he just got his bell rung, which I guess he had. Deep gouges and chilling bite marks marred his body and oh my sweet cream—he was packing a monster between his thighs, which thankfully looked completely unhurt. The wounds on his body should have been more concerning, but they were closing inch by inch and I didn’t get a good look at all of him in that dim cave.
“Evie,” he called.
It was like a midnight fantasy displayed just for me, and my mouth turn into a faucet.
“Evie!”
Would that even fit in a woman’s insides? That took “rearrange your guts” a little too literally.
“Viper!”
I blinked as a big, scarred hand covered up my fixation.
