“Keep your power contained,” he murmured to Jess, leaning closer to brace his arm against hers. “Keep your cool. You can’t interrupt the challenge. Aurora has a long way to go before she’s in danger.”
Jess’s hands balled into fists, but the feel of her magic deadened.
“Good,” he said. She needed to relax her body, to show she was unaffected even if she wasn’t, but for now, they’d just work on her magic. Austin should probably battle Cyra again to give her some practice…but he’d really rather not. Fighting that phoenix hadn’t been at all pleasant.
Aurora was up and after Carlos, bleeding but showing no sign of pain. Neither did Carlos. They were both impeccably trained shifters, and they wouldn’t show pain until they were almost dying.
He backed off to keep her from jumping on him again, and she stalked toward him. He tried to circle, but she cut him off. Tried to circle back, and she cut him off there, too. She was on the attack. He’d riled her up, and she was about to fully unleash her beast and let the darkness consume her. It was a trait she’d gotten from her grandfather—one she shared with Austin.
In a blink, she was all action and big-cat power. Wrapping her forearms around the wolf, Aurora wrestled him, crashingher heavier body into his. He struggled to stay on his feet, fighting against her grip, then faltered. She was at his throat in a moment, but she didn’t just grab and hold on, cutting off his air. Instead, she tore at it, ripping left to right, essentially chewing his throat open to do maximum damage.
Blood gushed, and Carlos struggled weakly.
Aurora wasn’t in control of herself anymore. She settled on top of him, still ripping. It looked like she was trying to kill him, and equally like she would succeed. This hadn’t been much of a fight at all, just like every challenge before. When Aurora lost herself to the darkness, as when Austin did, she boosted her power—her effectiveness, her unbridled viciousness—in spades.
Unlike Austin, she’d never been afraid of the darkness. He wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
But Brochan, tensing at Austin’s side, realized the danger. It was time to stop this.
Austin nearly turned to Jess, but she held up her hand as she stepped forward. “Enough, Aurora,” she said calmly, and a pulse of magic hit them all. It felt…almost peaceful, tranquil, but was a command nonetheless. “It’s over.”
Ignoring her, Aurora kept at it. Carlos barely moved. He’d thrown in the towel and needed the challenge to end before it turned fatal. They were in the red zone, almost to the limit…
Austin stepped forward this time. “Jess?—”
She shook her hand a little, and another shock of magic cut through him. Peace…with an edge. A warning to calm down. It wasn’t for him—it was still directed at Aurora—but everyone felt it. Jess was being transparent in her leadership. “Aurora, enough. It’sover,” Jess said, violence ringing in her voice.
The magic changed, a countdown now, hard and stinging.
Aurora tensed but didn’t relent. Fights that went this far, especially when someone lost themselves to their beast, often had to be forcibly ended. If the shifter had a lot of power, peoplecould get hurt in the process. This was why Austin wanted Jess to get used to this—he needed her at his side in case the worst should happen. He needed her to protect others if he should lose himself and not be able to come back, just as they were witnessing with Aurora.
“Je—” he started, ready to handle it himself.
Aurora yelped, then flew, rolling through the air. She slammed into the ground ten feet away, nearly hitting a spectator. The great tiger righted herself with a snarl, then lunged forward, aiming for Jess.
Austin tried to intervene, but he bounced off a wall of magic that gleamed around the challenge area.
Calm as could be, Jess gracefully stepped over the prone wolf in a protective posture. “It’s over, Aurora. You need to claw your way out of the darkness. Come back to me.”
He realized she was talking to Aurora like he had once spoken to Jess when her gargoyle weighed her down. She was trying to guide Aurora as he had once guided her.
Aurora bunched and lunged, but Jess thrust her hand forward, magically batting her away. The tiger flew again, this time to the right.
“Climb out of the darkness, Aurora,” Jess said in that calming tone, this time with a command worming through it. “Your beast does not rule you—it helps you.Youcontrolit,not the other way around. Fight your way back to the surface.”
“I’ll be damned,” Tristan whispered. Austin would have to ask him later what he was responding to.
Carlos’s throat began to mend, and his bleeding slowed. Jess was healing him as she worked with Aurora, a protector and a teacher at the same time.
Austin’s pride swelled. He couldn’t have picked a better co-leader or mate. This would get out to the rest of the pack.Thiswas why they were all concerned about her well-being.
Aurora lunged once more, but her heart wasn’t in it.
“Claw your way to the surface,” Jess commanded, and this time, power roared in her words. “Come on, Aurora, you’re more than a mere beast. Prove it.” She waited a beat. “Austin had to find his balance as well. So did I. Youhaveto have balance when you’re flirting with the darkness. That side of you is a great asset…until it’s a danger. Stability should not come with a warning label.”
“That’s something a gargoyle would say,” Tristan whispered, leaning toward Austin. “Language like that appeals to the cairns.”
Good to know.
