“What now?” Silas murmured, his heart a lead weight in his chest.
As if in answer to his question, the ground began to shake. He bent his knees to avoid falling over. The three interlocking circles had transformed into a pit of fire. In the center of it all, a dark figure rose, a huge beast, humanoid but for two massive horns growing from the sides of its head. The sight of the thing filled Silas’s heart with the kind of dread he’d only known in nightmares.
“By the goddess,” Jason murmured.
Olivia held a dagger out to Alex, his eyes focused on Laina’s unconscious body.
Rage filled Silas, a deep, hot need for revenge that made his skin bubble as his wolf came to the surface. He hated Alex and as the goddess was his witness, he would not let him win. Concentrating all his hateful energy on his right hand, Silas drew on the eclipsed moon above and willed the appendage to shift. His bones broke and his fingers melded into his palm.
“Silas… by the goddess.” Jason backed out of the hole. He looked toward Meredith. “I’ve never seen this done before.”
With his shifted hand, Silas dug, giant claws ripping through the stone and packed earth. In no time, the hole was big enough for Jason to fit through. Meredith’s fox backed away as Silas slid through next, rotating his shoulders through the hole in the rough earth. He arose outside the cage, with only one goal in mind. He was going to kill Alex Bloodright.
“What the hell is that thing?” Jason asked, gaping at the form within the fire.
Silas took a deep breath before answering. “We’ve never been formally introduced, but I’m guessing that’s Panaal.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Through the fire and smoke, Silas tried to take in the horror that was Panaal. Aside from his size—he was at least eight feet tall and twice Silas’s width—his horns and the reddish tinge of his skin were a ringer for the human concept of the devil. Panaal’s terrible eyes absorbed the light of the fire, soulless pits of darkness that chilled Silas to the bone. The beast was here but not completely corporeal. His form flickered with the fire.
Alex’s grin broadened as he viewed Panaal. “My lord, I free you from your ancient bindings!” Panaal’s presence caused the earth to quake, the fault line beginning under the immortal being’s cloven hooves.
Flattening his hand atop the shaking book, Alex read again, the guttural series of syllables coming fast and frantic. As he accepted the diamond-shaped blade from Olivia, its obsidian color flashed in the firelight. A black blade. Laina had mentioned it was a black blade that had stabbed her at Four Paws. Alex had marked her as his sacrifice from the beginning! Silas sprang into motion as the bastard centered the blade over Laina’s abdomen.
“No!” Silas screamed. He ran toward Alex at full speed, the ground shaking beneath his feet. With the slightest gesture of his head, Alex ordered Olivia forward. She barreled toward Silas at a full run. Although he was twice her size and werewolves were stronger than shifters, he’d have to deal with her quickly if he was going to save Laina.
He tried to veer to the left and use her momentum to his advantage, but at the last second, she leapt into the air and caught him around the neck. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her force and weight knocking him to the ground where the two rolled across the packed dirt of the clearing. With a sound like a pop and a splash of something warm and thick, her body transformed into a snake that constricted around his neck, arms, and legs.
Alex raised the dagger.No. No!Silas fought, pushing and biting at the boa constrictor Olivia had become, but to no avail. Then, a miracle. A red fox sprang from ground to altar, it’s teeth sinking into Alex’s wrist. Meredith! Taken by surprise, Alex dropped the dagger. She didn’t waste a moment. Meredith released Alex’s wrist and caught the hilt of the blade between her teeth, Her delicate red paws scrambled under his arm and off the stone slab.
And then Jason’s face was above his own. “Damn, some women don’t know how to let go.” He slammed a sharp rock against Olivia’s reptilian head. She loosened her grip for a fraction of a second. It was long enough. Silas wedged a hand under her coils and lifted, sliding fluidly from her grip. Unfortunately, since Jason still held her head, the serpent coiled around him in a heartbeat.
A high-pitched cry turned Silas’s attention to the altar. Alex had caught Meredith by the tail, her furry red body twisting masterfully to keep the dagger from his opposite hand. But she was in pain. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the fight for long.
“Why isn’t he using the amulet?” Jason asked as he wrestled the boa.
“Nickelova is dead. I don’t think it works anymore.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Jason pinned Olivia’s tail under his knee. “Go! Help Laina and Meredith.” The boa snapped at his face as he squeezed her throat. “I’ve got this.”
Silas took off toward the altar. Alex saw him coming and stopped reaching for the dagger. Instead, his hands landed on the fox’s slim neck. He gave her slight body a hard shake. With a sickening crack Silas could hear yards away, Meredith’s body went limp in Alex’s grip, the dagger dropping from her teeth. He cast her aside as if she were garbage and scooped the blade from the dirt.
“You fucking bastard.” Silas plowed into Alex, thrusting the dagger above his head. They toppled to the ground, Silas on top.
Alex managed to turn the dagger around, pointing it at Silas’s face. With both hands clutching Alex’s wrists, Silas could keep the sharp point from piercing his flesh, but just barely, and his mind was cognizant that if he was wrong about the amulet, one pulse could incinerate him. The earth shook harder, the sound of cracking earth coming from the vicinity of Panaal.
“Why can’t you see, Silas? This life you’re living is meaningless. It’s an illusion. You call yourself alpha, but you have no real power. You are a pawn of the goddess. Panaal could make you a god.”
Silas grunted, his muscles straining to keep the dagger at bay. “I don’t want to be a god. All I want is to keep the people around me safe. And that can’t happen while you’re alive.” He pushed harder on Alex’s wrists, his arms growing fatigued from the effort.
A groan came from the direction of Meredith’s disposed body. Silas concentrated on keeping pressure on Alex, even when the rogue wolf’s eyes darted toward her. Out of the corner of his eye, Silas saw the movement of human flesh. She was alive, and she had shifted. With jerky, pained movements, she passed them and headed for the altar.
“No!” Alex yelled. “Don’t be a fool.”
Concentrate, Silas told himself.Don’t get distracted. He kept his eyes on Alex, even when his expression revealed extreme distress.
“You stupid girl,” Alex spat. “If you interrupt the spell, there’s no telling the consequences.”
