Ugh. Why did my voice sound so breathy?
Rage’s green eyes were wide, mirroring my shock. He swallowed hard, but his rough voice held a note of warning. “I meant for you to stop talking … so you can focus.” He swallowed again. “Or you could be ripped in two.”
What the what?
My eyes bugged. How did my father not coverthatin his brief chat on portals? “How do I not get ripped in two? That seems like something important you should tell me.”
“Just calm down and focus on your breathing,” Honor shared with a snicker, and I suddenly felt like I was going to faint.
Noble reached back toward me. “Alpha Island invitation.”
Oh, the swirly thing my father had handed me this morning. Was that a part of this portal process?
I pulled it out of my back pocket and unfolded the paper. Noble then looked at Rage. “Crescent Clan heir summons.”
Rage held another thick piece of paper out to his brother, and I craned my neck to try and read it. Too late. All I saw were more magical swirly letters and the same embossed emblem.
Noble rolled down the window.
“What’s next—? Whoa!” I stared opened-mouthed as a man materialized out of freaking nowhere.Boom.One second, nothing; and the next, the guy was ten feet in front of the car … floating in the air. I looked closer. Not a man. A high mage.
My body froze and skin tingled. I’d never seen one before.
Honor tapped my chin. “It’s rude to stare.”
Holy crap.
I shrank down, half-hiding my face in Rage’s arm but also keeping one eye out to see the race who ruled us all.
Pretty much … scary as hell. At least, I couldn’t imagine anyone more so.
The high mage was close to seven feet tall, thin and wiry, wearing dark robes with swirling galaxies of stars that moved on the cloak. He didn’t walk so much as float, and the closer he got, the more his presence crawled through the car. The air charged with electricity, and I had to tamp down my fear. His eyes were the most unsettling because … eyes shouldn’t look like that. Like his robes, his eyes were dark with small universes swirling in slow circles within. My legs went weak. I wanted to ask about them, but I also wanted to live, so I kept my questions to myself.
His gaze flickered to the papers held before him.
“Another heir from Crescent?” The mage’s voice sounded like a blend of French horn and wind chimes. More contrasts that were freaky when put together.
“Unfortunately,” Rage offered, making the high mage grin, “Rules are rules. If the council sends the summons, we’ll respectfully fetch.”
I didn’t know Rage well, but that sounded like sarcasm, and I didn’t appreciate the dog reference.
“Their last heir, sir.” Noble looked slightly less terrified than I felt.
“Well, thank goodness for that.” The high mage pinned me with a glare, and I dropped my gaze to Rage’s knees.
I could feel the galaxy dude looking at me, assessing me like spiders crawling over my body. Was that magic? It felt like he was touching me, and my wolf didn’t like it. I could feel her cowering. Breathing in deeply through my nose, I felt my wolf suddenly lurch to the surface.
Now?
I’d struggled with control over my wolf form since I was a young pup. In a fight, when instinct should take over, my wolf mostly stayed inside, so I was forced to fight in my human form. Other times, like this, she was too eager to come to the surface. She had it backward … and was wildly unpredictable.
She wasnothappy.
A small patch of fur bristled on the top of my hand, and Rage immediately reached out and clamped down on it. The contact was so sudden that it stopped my shift. Clutching my fist firmly in his, he pressed against me and nodded to the high mage.
“All set?” Rage’s voice held something I couldn’t place.
Protection?
