“More?” Vanessa frowned.
“Go for it,” our mate assured.
“Eeeeeeek!”
Shutting her eyes, Natalia’s body tensed, and she leaned forward like she was fighting the force with her body. The fire receded from her hands, but a glint of blue movement called my gaze to her ears.
“Are you okay?” Dante asked after she didn’t move for several seconds, our mate’s eyes were still closed.
“Natalia,” André called, and we all stepped toward her. The silence was killing us.
“I’m fine,” she assured.
Chest constricting, Dante, André, and I began walking toward her, but she lifted her hand to stop us, focusing dazed eyes on us.
“I said I was fine.” The bite in her voice told us she didn’t want to be protected, so we stopped mid-way. “Stronger.”
“Eeeeek. Eeeek!”
That attack would have scrambled anyone else’s brain, but Natalia stood strong.
“I got this. I’m just dizzy.” Her words seemed confident, but she lost her balance, sidestepping not to fall.
“Fight through it,” André guided. “Find a way to come out of it.”
“If the worst it can do is affect your vertigo, use the fire to protect yourself from surrounding threats while you can regain control,” I advised. “It’s the best defense you have.”
“When in doubt, burn everything to the ground.”
Chuckles escaped Alyce at Dante’s antics.
Nodding, Natalia took a couple of settling breaths until she was able to open her eyes and straighten once more.
“Is it the fact that she’s also a Vampire that helps her stand it?” Dante asked André and me.
“It shouldn’t.” André paused. “Both VampiriandWolf Shifter ears are extra sensitive because of their enhanced hearing sense. It should have affected her…”
“Then it has to be the fire protecting her…” Dante reasoned, and we nodded.
When our mate refocused on Vanessa, a look that said she was about to cause trouble captured her face. “Give me everything you have. Like you did when the Hunters attacked us.”
Vanessa glanced toward us, but we nodded—hesitantly, because it went against everything inside us, but we did. It was best we learned what her fire could do here, in a controlled place rather than out in the middle of a battle.
Squaring out to her target, Vanessa filled her lungs, letting the ability fly free. “Eeeeek. Eeeeek. Eeeeek. Eeeeek!!”
The cut-up bat shriek extended from Vanessa’s mouth in powerful, visible waves, the forest trembling in response as it rushed over us on its way to our mate. André, Dante, and Alyce were forced to cover their ears as they dropped into a crouch, the potency of the shriek overpowering Dante’s protective spell and André’s venom shield.
Natalia’s feet anchored her to the ground fiercely, her body leaning forward a second before the soundwaves crashed against her being, and straining against their might. This time, the fire rose in her ears as it danced, creating a block for her.
She took a forced step forward, trying to hold her position against the attack, but it seemed stronger than she could handle this time.
Slowly, Natalia let herself fall to her knees, still trying to fight it.
“Are you okay?” Dante asked, receiving no answer.
“Natalia!” André called.
Nothing.
