It hit him straight in the side, and a roar burst from Jagger’s mouth as he whirled about to face me, teeth bared. I sent off a few more blows, and he retaliated by leaping at me. I twirled away, barely getting out of the way in time, before blasting him against the back wall with a frantic surge of power. A guttural half-human sound lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. He was clearly pissed, so I braced myself, expecting Jagger to come back fighting even more viciously. But instead the shifter dove between the couch and fireplace and fell to the ground with athunk.
What the hell?
I took exactly two steps forward before promptly jerking backward as a wolf rose up from the ground. The wolf snarled, making ice fly through my veins. This was bad. Very bad. Jagger had already been a formidable fighter as a man, and as a wolf, he’d be even better. Not only that, but the magic imbibed in shifter flesh when they were in animal aspect made them more difficult to wound and kill. Even if they were a young, untrained shifter, it took a lot to hurt them in animal form.
And Jagger in his animal aspect wasn’t just any wolf off the street. He wasmassive, like alpha status massive. At least one-hundred and fifty pounds, with claws and teeth so long that they looked like they could rip me open in a single swipe. His amber eyes glowed dangerously, and a growl emanated from his throat.
Oh shit!
Simultaneously, Alex and I ran toward each other. Hopefully, he wouldn’t go for Miss Iris, but I figured that for the moment she was fine. After all, she wasn’t the one who had pissed Jagger the hell off. And clearly if he was going to kill us, which by the looks of him I didn’t doubt for a second, he still needed Miss Iris to see his plan to fruition.
“Got any ideas?” Alex asked the moment we were shoulder to shoulder.
“Nope,” I said, shooting a beam of purple at the wolf just to keep him a safe distance away.
“I have one. Maybe. It’s going to take a lot of skill. Hold him off?”
“You got it.” I began shooting off magic like it was my job. There wasn’t enough time to set an intention for each assault like I did with everyday spells, but it wasn’t necessary either. I’d fallen back on working with emotions, channeling them into attacks that were holding Jagger back.
Sort of.
When one of my strikes went a little wide, Jagger took full advantage of it. He lunged at us. Reacting instinctively, and totally stupidly, Alex and I broke apart. The wolf went for Alex first and, thinking fast, Alex threw up a shield. But Jagger wasn’t deterred. The wolf merely used the shield as a wall, ricocheted off of it, and directed his claws straight at me.
I stumbled backward, tripped over Miss Iris’ legs, and landed straight on the sagging couch. Dust puffed up from the old material and filled my eyes. I squeezed them shut and began coughing uncontrollably.
A force ran into the couch, and I flailed about to steady myself. A howl rang out, loud as hell and totally terrifying. Still, I was determined not to show fear, so I forced my eyes open. Right away, I flinched.
Jagger’s wolfish face was mere inches from me. Dog breath filled my nostrils and I swear it looked like the bastard wolf was laughing. Although my hands were shaking, I brought them up to defend myself.
The wolf’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t look alarmed by the threat. Probably because he could be at my throat in seconds and he knew it.
Which meant I’d only have one shot.
I loosed a scream and released a burst of magic, hoping that it would be strong enough to throw him across the room.
But to my utmost horror, Jagger jerked out of the way just in time and my power soared right on past him.
The wolf’s eyes narrowed and I saw the end plainly. His lips pulled back, revealing long white teeth and then, without hesitation, Jagger’s head darted forward.
Thunk!
A dog-like whine filled my ears, followed closely by a human gasp.
What the hell?My eyes popped open and a half sob choked out of me.
Alex was gripping the kitchen counter, his other hand outstretched and trembling. A shield of crimson surrounded Jagger, small swirls of magic whooshing around him as he tried, and failed, to fight his way out.
All my air whooshed out of my lungs and my weight sagged into the couch as the realization that we were safe washed over me.
Chapter Nineteen
As neither Alex nor I had cell phones on us, I had to haul ass back into town to get reinforcements. Once I finally found the sheriff and told him what had happened a few others were standing nearby. They joined us and street by street we gathered more people, including the mayor. By the time we marched through the town’s wards half of Wandstown trailed behind me.
We arrived back at Butcher cottage to find Alex on the brink of collapse. Sweat dripped down his face and his arms trembled violently as Jagger repeatedly rammed his massive wolfish body into the shield. The mayor noticed Alex’s exertion and instructed the medics to move quickly. They whisked Miss Iris away on a stretcher, but the rest of the townspeople remained behind to hear what had happened.
My parents and a handful of Spellcasters professors dashed in right as the medic left. As soon as Jagger noticed them, he stopped fighting and resorted to glaring at the group of professors.
I breathed a sigh of relief that they were there, and not only because Jagger had let up on attacking Alex’s ward. While most of the residents of Wandstown were witches and could probably have handled Jagger if he fought back, those witches who lived at Spellcasters were more skilled in magic—and at getting information out of people.
