“High crime!” a dozen more voices took up his pronouncement, and the guards voiced their agreement, the thudding of their feet coming at us from the woods.
Was killing Nolan a high crime? Frick.
I dropped to the ground and buried my hands in Rage’s singed fur.
“Rage, they’re coming for us.” Fear and confusion stole my confidence, and the magic left me. I looked up. Kaja stared at me, her jaw unhinged. Mallory and Heather were gone.
The three remaining Midnight brothers stepped out from behind my best friend, in their human form, all of them wearing the same look of shock.
“It’s you,” Justice said, his voice hoarse. “You’re the high crime.”
What did that mean?I gulped, and tears burned my eyes. Blinking to clear them, I felt the tears drip onto Rage’s wolf as I looked down at him. “What am I?”
Rage’s yellow eyes pierced my soul, holding me captive. He bared his teeth, but without a growl or snarl, I didn’t understand. I frowned, but before I could askwhyhe looked like he wanted to rip my head off … hebitme.
As soon as his teeth broke my skin, his wolf’s voice filled my mind.‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me.’
Gone was the short beast like speech of his wolf. This was … magic, a spell, a …shieldspell. Dizziness rocked me, and I swayed.
Why would Rage be my shield unless…
The truth hit me like a ton of bricks.
The marks.
What Nolan said aboutpretendingto be a high mage.
Was I … the high crime my clan was banished for?
That was impossible, right?
My uncle had committed the high crime.
My breathing grew shallow.
Was itme?
Justice, Honor, and Noble appeared before me, all in their black wolf forms. One by one, they tore at my flesh with their teeth until my blood soaked their gums.
‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me,’Justice said in my mind.
‘I am your shield,’ Noble said. ‘Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me.’
And then Honor pledged,‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you, will first pass through me.’
Four shields.
All four Midnight brothers had just pledged and sacrificedtheirlife before mine.
I stood, lips parted and speechless, when the king entered the grove. His guards flanked him, and the high mages arrived with their shields.
The king’s eyes widened when he saw the four Midnight wolves around me, and his face paled.
“Get away from her,” he growled, his dark hair flying free of his gel as he shook his head. “Get away from her, now!”
The high mages wore equally repulsed expressions of disgust like I was the scum of the earth—all except one.
The nice old dude with gray hair and silver cloak stared at me, but when he caught my gaze, he turned away. Was he upset or hiding something?
