I hoped he didn’t regret the decision now. Not that anything would have stopped Slade in that rage-filled moment.
Hunter’s expression remained cold and indifferent, and when he finally burst through the spell, he scooped me into his arms and held on protectively. “Baby,” he growled, “are you okay?”
Tilting my head to examine him, I was relieved to find none of that sticky magic on his skin any longer. “Of course I am. I didn’t even get touched. Are you okay?”
He buried his face against my neck. “Yeah, I am now.”
Slade dropped the tiger’s body and head, which rolled a few feet away to sit there like a macabre trophy. “Will that kill the rest of his pack?” I asked, unsure how it all worked for semi-complete quintets.
Hunter’s shoulders lifted in a brief shrug. “It’s different for every pack. It depends on who the heart is, who holds the strongest bonds, and how weak their beasts are. I personally hope they’re all gone now. It’ll save us tracking their disloyal asses down later.”
Slade strode over to us, wiping his hands down his black pants, which only removed a fraction of the blood coating the dragon. He examined me as closely as Hunter had, and appeared satisfied that I was okay. “What happened?” I asked them. “How did Sorenson even get in here?”
“He called for a meeting,” Slade said shortly, “then ambushed us with magic. There was no sign of the witch when he entered, and no unauthorized magic came into this city. I still can’t feel them.”
Hunter growled, and his hold briefly tightened on me. “So, how the fuck did they do this?”
Slade’s lips thinned, and it was clear that he not only didn’t know, but he was pissed about it.
As I peered around Hunter to check on Kellan and Finley, who were starting to stir also, there was a surge of magic in the street once more.
Slade’s eyebrows drew together as he glanced above the heads. “Jewels,” he murmured. “She must have felt the spell?—”
He broke off, and I wondered if we were all struck by the same thought. Jewels was in the city, but hadn’t come until the attack was over.
“What if the witch helpingisJewels,” I bit out. “That might be how they made it into the city without any detection. You all consider her an ally, and she’s in and out of this fucking place like she owns it.”
Hunter opened his mouth as if to deny the possibility, but he couldn’t voice the words. If there was any witch in the world he trusted, it was Jewels. Well, as much as one could trust a witch.
“I always wondered why she put up with our shit for years,” Slade rumbled. “But I could never find anything damning on her. If she’s a traitor, she played her game well.”
Too fucking well.
Jewels strode into the crowd, using magic to drag a shifter along beside her, while keeping one hand wrapped around her captive’s throat. A captive I knew very well: Cora.
My lungs seized as I frantically examined my friend, only breathing again when I noticed the small rise and fall of her chest.
Hunter stepped forward, angling himself to hide me from witch view. Slade did the same, and I felt the rise of their beasts. “What are you doing, Jewels?” our entitled alpha called, his voice carefully modulated.
From the sliver of view left to me, she didn’t look very happy. “Fletcher made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’m sorry, but if I had to choose between a future where magic rules or one where shifters use and abuse our power, then I know where my loyaltylies.” She met my gaze from where I peeped between the alphas. “Just hand the dragon and the omega over. She never deserved you anyway.”
“Not a chance,” Slade said, casually. As if he wasn’t concerned at all. “You’ll have to kill all of us first, and we won’t go down easy.”
No!I would throw myself at Jewels in a heartbeat before I let any of them get hurt. We all just needed to live to fight another day.
Jewels’ faked sadness morphed slowly into annoyance. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, dragon. I have the power to kill you. I mean, how do you think I managed to keep you all in stasis like this? Hmmmm.” She tapped her chin. “It might be thanks to that energy I took from you four.”
Slade slammed his hand against his chest. “It returned to us. I felt it.”
Her snort was a tad deranged. “You felt the touch of energy as I pretended to slip it back, but you were too distracted to realize I never truly returned anything. You’re too freaking powerful to notice the small loss, but for me it was immensely useful. It also allowed me to cater my spells specifically for you all. It was clever of me to enhance that spell on Kellan until he was too weak for any other option than you all to consider sharing your strength. It worked out even better than I planned, except I hoped he would die. Little shit.” She did a fake bow, as if we’d given her a round of applause, and my heart lodged in my throat as my gaze shot to Kellan, who was glaring and moving his arms, though the rest of him remained locked in place.
“The cost of doing business, I’m afraid,” Jewels continued.
Hunter’s fury sent heat pouring from him, scorching my face, and he kept shuffling back to get us further away. He probably thought I was about to sacrifice myself to save Cora and my alphas.
Most likely he was right.
She was my best friend, and they were my heart—no one was fucking dying for me today.
