“Yes,” Silas said curtly.
“Are you going to tell me?” I understood he was stressed, but if Silas truly wanted my help, he’d need to help me out in return. “Where have you seen a lycanthrope if they’re not allowed on the island?”
Silas didn’t answer. We were close to the beast now. Ahead of us sat a huge boulder, an outcropping over the river. Silas nodded for me to silently duck behind it first. He followed closely, both of us silent. We were now within earshot of the beast, and I couldn’t risk giving away our location.
Except it was too late for discretion. The beast’s eyes focused on us as we peered out from one side of the boulder. I hovered closer to the river, and as I did, I felt a swell of power within my body. I paused for a moment, closed my eyes at this rush of magic within me. I felt wetness on my feet and realized I’d stepped into the shallow water.
“Silas,” I said, looking down at where the water was glowing in a circle around me. “I think the river is making my powers grow.”
Silas looked at me in confusion, then shook his head and focused on the beast. “The vulnerability is their eyes. Aim for the eyes.”
“How are we supposed to get close enough to aim for the eyes?” I looked at the beast’s teeth. “I think we’ll be dead before then.”
Questions flashed through my mind. Silas was a Hunter. He’d obviously traveled to far-off lands and faced different creatures, both good and bad. How did he know a lycanthrope’s weaknesses if even the Rangers weren’t trained about them?
“Stay behind the rock,” Silas said. “I will take care of him.”
He said this confidently, like he’d done it before, but I couldn’t just leave him—my partner, my mate—to face off with an evil beast. I took a step after Silas, but he predicted my movement. He took my hands in his and then gently guided me back.
I lost my balance, stumbled into the water, and the halo around my body sizzled and crackled like I’d been electrocuted. Silas paused, watching this power surge.
“Stay here,” he said. “Your powers are stronger near the river. They’ll protect you.”
Then Silas ducked out from behind the rock, pulling something that looked like a dagger from his person. He moved forward, one with the shadows, until he was within circling distance of the beast.
I couldn’t stay still. I kept my feet in the river. My body felt warmed by the magic, like liquid gold had been poured into my veins. It felt good, felt right, to be connected like this to my powers again. I didn’t exactly know how to use them, but I knew this was my best chance of helping Silas, and that would have to be enough.
As Silas circled the beast, I glanced behind to the other side of the island. Most of the riverbank had been cleared. A fewRangers had taken up posts along the side of the dirt road, keeping islanders away from the water’s edge.
I turned back to Silas. His blade was now glowing. His lips were moving, like he was muttering something. Some sort of spell. And then before I could breathe, he lunged toward the beast. A tight, targeted bolt of magic shot out from the end of his dagger.
The creature dodged it, but the magic hit the lycanthrope’s hind leg as he moved, and he let out a howl that could be heard from the other side of The Isle. By now, the festival music had dulled, and everyone was aware that something was happening. The hope that had been so bright on everyone’s faces had most likely dulled to a nervous panic.
The beast lunged at Silas, and I let out an audible breath as the thing sprang at least ten feet toward him. I shrieked his name, but I was too far away to do anything. I remembered what Silas said—go for the eyes. But how could I reach such a small target from so far away… and no magical training?
I felt my magic growing with my concern for my mate, and when I raised my hands, I didn’t have to think—didn’t have to feel—it just belted out of me in thin, spiderwebby strings. I had no control over where they went. It felt like I was splatter-painting, and just hoping some of my magic hit the target.
Some strands did, but other strands hit nearby trees, which started them on fire. A few strands even hit Silas. A wash of relief rolled over me as I watched my magic get absorbed into him, like my very magic was opposed to hurting Silas. Like my powers recognized my mate. Protected him, instead of destroyed.
Even so, my heart raced because of what could have been. If that had been someone else—anyone else—I could have seriously hurt someone I cared about. What if it was Lily? Ranger X? Millie?
I winced as my magic catapulted into the treeline behind the lycanthrope. Dry brush burst into flames, quickly turning into a wall of fire now behind the beast and Silas. The blaze burned bright, creeping toward them, on the verge of encircling them in a deadly ring.
“Silas, this way!” I shouted.
I couldn’t leave the water. I needed to help, but I couldn’t control my powers.
Silas darted my way, likely because he didn’t have a choice.
“I have an idea,” I told Silas, as he reached the water’s edge. “I have too much power to control. Can you channelmypowers?”
Silas’s eyes widened as he considered, then he gave a nod. “I think so. My dagger—it’s a Hunter’s blade. It works by channeling magic through me, and if I channel it through you… I don’t know if it’s strong enough to handle your magic, but there’s only one way to find out.”
I reached out, clasped my fingers on Silas’s. He took my hand. Water swished around my ankles, caressing my skin like the cool touch of magic itself. I closed my eyes, focusing on my powers—on gifting them to Silas. Willing them to be used as he needed them.
Silas began muttering a spell in a language I couldn’t understand. As he did, I could feel him siphoning magic out of me. The power flowed down my spine, through my fingertips like someone had yanked up the drain on a sink and the water was rushing out. I could feel it depleting me, even as it was invigorating Silas. I let my head drop forward as the last dregs of power washed out of me.
When I finally looked up, Silas’s dagger was smoking. The carcass of the beast lay in a heap. Fire raged around him. Silas’s shoulders were heaving, and sweat beaded his brow.
“It’s done,” he gasped. “It’s done.”
As soon as he said the words, my legs gave out. I collapsed to my knees on the sandy bank of the river. The water rushed over me, up to my waist, but I was too weak to move. To stand. To offer much of anything.
Silas sheathed the smoking dagger, then reached down and lifted me. When he found me too wobbly to stand, he slung me across his chest. He marched north instead of returning to the Lower Bridge.
He carried me through the edge of The Forest. I lost consciousness as we crossed at where the castle bridged the two sides of the island. I came to briefly as Silas helped me out of my wet clothes and got me into a nightgown, then tucked me into bed.
As he perched on the foot of the bed, I reached for him, and whispered, “Stay.”
