I shouted his name again and ran forward. The curse had almost made its way across the entire pasture. Its edges curled mere yards from him, getting closer with every second. Heavy anticipation pounded through me as a boulder sank in my chest.
I reached my hand out to him. “Come on!”
He saw the look on my face. “I’ll only slow you down, Clarissa. Please, go?—”
“I’m not leaving you,” I snapped. “Nowtake my hand.”
Gripping my arm, he hauled himself forward, wincing when he put weight on his left foot. He leaned on my shoulder as I dragged him away, glancing over my shoulder at the curse.
We only had seconds left.
It was so close, I could smell it—sour and musty, like decaying leaves mixed with stale dust. It clung to my nostrils and wrapped around me, making my head swim.
But there was something else.
At first it was a soft buzz. Hardly noticeable, like an insect flying around my ears. It crept along my skin, raising the hair at the back of my neck and thrumming to the beat of my pulse.
It felt like…magic.
“Clarissa, we’re not going to make?—”
On instinct, I put both of my hands on his shoulders and shoved with every ounce of strength I could muster. He went sprawling forward with a strangled yell.
The curse crashed into me.
23
Clarissa
Magic jolted through my body, like molten gold lighting every cell on fire. I stretched my arms out wide as the wind whipped at my hair, sending it whirling around my face.
My fox half slammed back to life. It was like…like coming home after a lifetime away. Like having a veil lifted from your eyes and finally seeing the sun once more. It was beautiful.Freeing.
And the curse…it had stopped moving.
Sparks burst behind my eyes. I barely contained a groan as the familiar magic soared in my bones, my veins, my heart. That empty well inside me filled to the brim with warm, glowing power, as if a dam had been released.
But…
The magic kept coming.
It poured from me like a torrent of water. When I tried to grasp it in my hands, it slipped right through my fingers, flooding me. Panic bubbled up inside my chest, colliding into me, spilling over.
It was too much.
I couldn’t control it.
Magic exploded from my feet all the way to the tips of my ears. I staggered to my feet and met Thorne’s eyes for a split secondbefore my fox half burst from beneath my skin with a snarl that echoed across the village. My red fur rippled in the breeze, my claws sinking into the crumbled soil as my muscles and joints screamed for release.
Every sensation barreled into me. Every sound, smell, taste. Along with all the heightened emotions I’d been suppressing these past few days. The fear, the anger, the adrenaline and irritation were all sharp claws scraping at my mind.
It was an onslaught. My limbs vibrated with the force of it. It clouded my vision, making everything hazy, and when a shadowed form stumbled closer, I let out a growl. My ears stood so straight, an ache formed from the strain.
I flinched when a muffled voice called out to me. Other sounds filled the air, more unfamiliar forms closing in.
A hand reached out, and I snapped.
I swiped my paw through the air, connecting with something solid. My claws embedded themselves into soft flesh.
