“Gabe, wait! Don’t go again!” Otis cried, grabbing me. “Tell me more about thebarrier!”
The sound of steel hitting hardened scales reverberated in my ears. I saw Jared swinging his sword from the corner of my eye. Lorenzo snarled, letting out a roar that staggered the mobbackwards.
“Gabriel!” Lorenzosnapped.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Everyone,juststop- “
They weren’t going to stop. Spears flew past my head. People were throwing literal stones now, and I winced as a few pelted me in theside. “Ow!”
Otis wasn’t spared anymore, either. He cried out in pain. Instantly, Dustin ran to his side and covered his mate’s body with his own, acting like a shield. Guilt flooded me. Otis and Lorenzo were both being hurt, and it was my fault. I shouldn’t have even come down here. I had to get awayfromthis.
“Lorenzo, I’m sorry,” I shouted over the noise. “Let’sgo.”
In a lightning-fast swipe of his claws, Lorenzo picked me up and launched himself into the air. But the mob didn’t stop. In the time it took for Lorenzo to gain momentum and lift off properly, people threw stones and weapons - and not all of them missed. Lorenzo hissed in pain. His flapping became more haggard. I gasped when I saw the wound in his wing membrane, a two-inch gash that was openlybleeding.
“Lorenzo, you’re hurt!” Icried.
He gritted his teeth and pushed his musclesharder.
A spear flew towards him. There was nothing I could do. I shut my eyes and winced insympathy.
When I opened my eyes again, there was a shimmering silver bubble around us. Abarrier.
But one that Lorenzo couldn’t hold for very long - not while flying away from a mob, bleeding, and carrying me at thesametime.
I held my breath until Lorenzo was high enough to clear the wall. He sailed over it easily, then banked towards the ground. There were no human raiders in sight, but my stomach still clenched withtension.
Lorenzo grunted as he touched down. He put me down, then took his wing in hand. The gash was stillbleeding.
“Lorenzo, I’m so sorry,” I cried. “This is all my fault. Dante was right, I never should havecomeback.”
To my surprise, Lorenzo growled at me and bared his teeth. “You came here for a purpose. Don’t let a single setback stop you. If you have something to do, then doitnow.”
I was taken aback by his stern command, but it brought me back down to reality. I couldn’t lose my focus just because things hadn’t gone perfectly. Turning, I faced the imposing stonewalls.
Right - thebarrier.
Stoneheart pack was going to get one if they wanted itornot.
I shut my eyes and focused my energy into my fingertips, imagining my power flowing into them. My mind’s image was black, but I imagined the slight glimmer of a barrier breaking through the darkness.There.I just had to chase thatimage…
I bit my lip absentmindedly as my whole body tensed with concentration. I needed this to work. Ithadto work. There was no otheroption.
Energy flickered. I opened my eyes. In front of me was the vague shimmering tell-tale light of a barrier. I was filled with hope, but I neededmore. I shut my eyes again, hard, and focused all my energy. Slowly, I felt the magicspreading.
It wasn’t enough. I gasped, panting hard. Even with the pregnancy strengthening my magic ability, I wasn’t strong enough to create a barrier around the entirety of Stoneheart pack. I fell to my knees and cried out inexasperation.
“It’s notworking!”
Lorenzo lumbered beside me, sunk his claws into the ground and growled. “Keepgoing.”
I wasted no time. I tried again, pulling the thread of clear magic out from within me, channeling it all into the shape Iwanted…
This time, the barrier was bigger. It was a half-dome in front of Stoneheart pack’s walls. I gasped in excitement. Maybe with Lorenzo’s help, we could reallydothis.
But Lorenzo didn’t look so good. His face was screwed up in both concentration and pain. His blood dripped onto the earth. Once again, I was overcome byguilt.
“Don’t stop!” Lorenzo snappedatme.
