“You mean kill them?”
He gave me that disgusting smile that told me I was right. “Yes. Witches have delicious blood. You can feel their magic. It’s a boost in energy.”
I back away, pressing my back against the door. I prayed that Ryan would run and that he would be far away from any danger.
“Now, to get rid of you.” He moved toward me. I reached for my magic and pulled it out. I watched as he paused for a moment, his eyes growing wide.
“If I’m going down, you’re going down with me,” I said, feeling sparks fly. I wasn’t going to let him get away. I had to protect everyone.
Chapter 24 - Kaleb
I was sitting in my car when I heard the scream. My head snapped away from my phone, and I spotted Ryan running down the street. I frowned, wondering what had bothered him so much to run away like this. The hair on my body rose, knowing something wasn’t right.
I got out of my car and slammed the door, crossing the street.
“Help!”
“Ryan, what are you doing!?”
Ryan stopped a few feet away from me, out of breath and stammering for words. His eyes were wide with fear and panic. “He…he’s…you…you…he…”
“Ryan, breathe.” I walked closer, then looked toward the road. He was coming from the shelter. Had he bothered Nora again? She had actually used her magic to prove a point?
I looked back at Ryan. He was shaking with fear. I knew that Nora was able to use magic, but she’d never done anything that made someone look like this. The twisted up, telling me it was something else.
“What’s going on?”
“The dog…he…he shifted.”
“What?”
Ryan caught his breath. “There’s a dog…he shifted into a man.”
My heart stopped beating, and I looked at the road. Something was wrong. “Ryan, you’re not making sense. What the hell are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t make sense, that’s the problem,” Ryan yelled back. “We were talking…Nora and I were just talking, and this dog…he…he shifted into a human. Kaleb, he had fangs.”
A hybrid. But how was it possible? They couldn’t shift into animals. They, like us, had form. There was no possible way a hybrid could have shaped into a dog.
“That’s impossible.”
He nodded. “It is yet it happened. Nora told me to run. He’s going to kill her.”
“And you left her alone!”
“She needs help!”
Just then, a loud crashing sound erupted like a bomb had gone off. The ground shook violently, and we both turned just as smoke erupted into the air a little distance away.
“Shit,” I cursed and looked at Ryan. “Keep going. Call for Brandon and tell him we’ve had a breech.”
I ran past him and headed down the road toward the shelter. As I cleared the large trees, I took in the shelter. My eyes widened, taking it in. There was a fire burning on the entire left side of the building.. The smoke was pouring out of the back door of the shelter where the dogs were, where I knew that Nora would be. Images filled my head with all the possibilities that could happen. She could be hurt, crying for help. She could be pinned down by the shifter, begging for help. Or worse, she could be dead. I went running inside, my blood pumping. I shoved the front door open and coughed as smoke had already filled the space, making it hard to see. I scanned the space, finding the front empty. The desk was bare, and my lungs burned for oxygen. I waved my hand, coughing as I moved toward the back door. I could hear the dogs barking loudly,whining in fear. I shoved the door open, not prepared for what I found.
The back area was in flames. All the dogs were locked in the kennels, clawing at the doors, trying to get themselves free. I found one of the kennels open, a man lying on the ground, half charred. I couldn’t see his face, knowing that he had likely been hit by the fire, or maybe he started it.
My eyes went to the other body that lay on the ground just a foot away from him. Nora was bleeding on her head and unconscious. Her hair fell freely around her, and her body looked limp, her body contorted like she’d fallen or blacked out.
“Nora!” I rushed over to her side, pulling her into my arms. “Nora.” I wiped at her head, feeling the blood covering my hands. I shook her, hoping she would open her eyes, but she didn’t. She looked pale, her body limp in my hands. She felt cold like a statue, and worry ate at me. No one should be this cold, unless…
