She beamed back. “I try.”
Tatiana cleared her throat pointedly.
Poppy sighed, dejected, and added, “Alright, showtime.”
And then we watched as the witches worked together to open a portal to the Otherworld, where anything at all could come through.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN || REED
The witches formed a circle around the spot where Harris and I had been attacked. Poppy stood at the northernmost point of the circle, her red hair catching the pale light from the illumination spell. Tatiana claimed the spot opposite her, and Wynn positioned herself equidistant between them. The two other witches filled in the gaps, completing the ring. They formed a shape roughly like a five-pointed star—a pentagram—which, I supposed, was fitting.
Ethan and Nathaniel stood off to the side—not surprising. Ethan could neutralize any form of magic. He’d been the one who’d donated the vial of his blood to the pack. He was probably here in case something went horribly wrong and the spell needed to be shut down.
“Everyone else, stand back,” Tatiana ordered, her voice cutting through the unnatural quiet. “And be ready.”
At my nod, the pack moved, forming a loose perimeter around the witches. Lee and Hunter were both shirtless, barefoot, and wearing athletic pants with an elastic waistband they could easily shimmy out of when they shifted. They stood together on my left, their postures identical, weight balanced, practically vibrating with tension, ready to move in an instant. Lacey was on my right, an axe in her hands, her eyes narrowed in determination. Daniel was just beyond her. Oliver hung backnear Emma and Sarah, who had insisted on coming despite my protests. Lindsey stood between them and the circle, her arms crossed. She had stripped down to her sports bra and athletic pants, like the twins. The modesty was for the benefit of the witches, not for the pack. We were all very accustomed to nudity.
“Those of you who’re going to shift, do it now,” I said. “There might not be time once the portal opens.”
Lee and Hunter exchanged a look and shifted. Lindsey did the same.
I raised my hands and, with a single thought, let my fingers transform into long, razor-sharp claws. My teeth elongated into the canines of a wolf and my eyes shifted as well, plunging the clearing into the grays, blacks, and blues of wolf vision—wolves can’t see red. I left the rest of my body alone, so I would retain the defensive advantages of a wolf’s body and the maneuverability of a human.
One of the powers of an alpha was that I could control my shift as completely as I wanted to. Once anyone in the pack who wasn’t the alpha initiated the change, they had no choice but to complete it, shifting fully into a wolf.
Harris’s breath caught as he saw it. He stared at my hands—now claws—and then raised his gaze to meet mine.
I felt a flicker of unease. I had never shifted in front of him before. Not on purpose, at least. What if he was afraid?
“You’re incredible,” he breathed, his eyes searching mine. “The golden eyes—that’s the wolf I’m looking at, isn’t it?”
I was suddenly aware everyone was staring at us, witch, vampire, and wolf alike. But I—and my wolf—felt a rush of pleasure at his words, nonetheless. I nodded at him, ignoring everyone else. “Alphas are the only wolves with gold eyes. But yes.”
“He’s beautiful.You’rebeautiful.”
“Perhaps we can focus upon the task at hand,” Tamrand said, shooting us a dark look. He hovered near the tree line, his vivid blue eyes fixed on the space where the portal would open. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides.
“You’re right,” Harris said, giving Tamrand a sharp nod. He pulled his gun out and held it with both hands, the silver bullets loaded and ready in the chamber. I could hear the steady thrum of his heartbeat, not nearly as frightened as an ordinary human ought to have been. He added, “We need to help Sally. Everything else can wait.”
“Quite right.” Simone’s eyes glinted with the reflected light of the illumination spell. She stood just behind Poppy, as though prepared to whisk her witch away at a moment’s notice. “It is time.”
“Begin,” Tatiana said.
In unison, the witches began to chant. The words were in a language I didn’t recognize—old and heavy, each syllable rending reality apart at the seams. The floating orbs of magical light flickered and dimmed, then flared brighter than before. The ground beneath my feet trembled.
Magic rose around the clearing like a tide. As I watched, golden threads spilled from the witches’ fingertips, weaving together in the air above us. They twisted and knotted, forming patterns too complex for my eyes to follow.
Harris sucked in a sharp breath beside me, his gaze locked on the same spot mine was. “Holy shit. That’s beautiful.”
I shot him a startled look, but he didn’t seem to notice. He could see the witches’ magic as well?
Though, perhaps that wasn’t so surprising—after all, he had already demonstrated he was capable of channeling my powers through the mate bond.
When I looked back up, the threads of magic had begun to spiral inward, pulling tight around a single point in the center of the circle.
Poppy’s voice rose, becoming more forceful, and she spoke the incantation once more—a command that couldn’t be ignored. A surge of power like a lightning bolt shot from her into the weak point in reality the coven had created.
Instantly, a fissure appeared in the air, a thin vertical line of absolute darkness swallowing the light around it. The rest of the witches’ chanting grew louder, more urgent. The line widened, splitting reality apart.
