Behind me, I felt the witches reach the incandescent pulsing heart of the convergence and connect with my white wolf.
It was as if I’d grabbed three live wires all at once. Magic roared through me and into the six women at my back. For a terrifying instant, I couldn’t tell where I ended and the ley lines began.
To my shock, my wolf lifted her head and howled.
It wasn’t a sound of pain but rather one of exhilaration.
Raw earth magic blazed through every nerve we possessed.
The witches channeled it.
Didi and Mrs. Chen quickly shaped the northern line into a binding. Melody and the older Ashgrove witch wove the eastern line with hybrid power, Melody’s fae light giving it a sharpness that cut through Esmeralda’s powers like a scalpel. The younger two Ashgrove witches drove the southern line upward in a wave of green fire that slammed into the column of dark magic and began to devour it from the base.
Esmeralda screamed.
The Black Chalice Rite finally shattered under the triple attack. It imploded with a sound like a thunderclap, the inky wave collapsing in on itself. The windows in the house exploded, sending debris flying across the lawn.
The stolen healing magic of the Lincoln sisters burst free in a cascade of golden light. I followed it with my gaze as it streamed through the air and back toward the house, seeking the three women it had been taken from.
Didi and the others didn’t stop there.
The combined force of three ley lines and six furious witches crashed into Esmeralda with a violence that lifted her clean off the ground.
What happened next defied all laws of nature.
Esmeralda’s body convulsed in midair. Her scream twisted, warping from a human cry into something high and thin. Her limbs contracted. Her spine curved. Bones cracked and reformed. Dark hair rippled and shortened into sleek black fur.
I blinked as the most feared dark witch in Amberford shrank into a small, furious, hissing black cat that hit the lawn with an undignified thump.
It scrambled to its feet, golden eyes incandescent with rage, and opened its mouth to issue a protest. An indignant yowl was all that came out.
The cat froze, pupils rounding in sheer terror.
A stunned silence fell across the property.
“Er,” I managed.
The cat bolted.
Barney caught it like he was attempting a touchdown. The vampire wrinkled his face in disgust as he rose and held the cat by the scruff at arm’s length.
It screeched and windmilled its claws with homicidal intent.
“I believe this belongs to the Alliance now,” the vampire said sourly.
The cat’s yowl reached decibels that should not have been possible from an animal that size.
I swayed on my feet. The magic of the ley lines and my white wolf power were receding, leaving me bone tired and shaking.
Samuel’s arms closed around me before my legs gave out.
I leaned into his chest, grateful for his touch. His wolf pressed against mine through our bond, warm and steady.
“Are you okay?” I mumbled.
“I’m the one who should be asking you that.” Samuel’s voice shook a little. His arms tightened.
“The Lincoln sisters,” Melody said urgently. “They’re still inside!”
