“Change of plans,” I told them both as I waved for Reyna to join us. “Apparently, I do need more than one or two shields because of howextraI am.”
Kaja snorted.
“What does that mean?” Reyna asked, stepping forward as she glared at me. “You don’t need us?”
“I still need you. I just need Rage and Honor too.” I explained how I’d released Justice and Noble, but I’d be keeping Rage and Honor as shields—at their request. Then Kaja stepped forward and took the shield oath, binding herself to me.‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me,’Kaja said as she nipped at my wrist.
I felt her merge with me, and suddenly, the hole Justice left was still there, but the pain was gone.
Reyna was next.‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me.’She drew blood from my wrist with her teeth, and then the discomfort that severing Noble’s bond had left was no longer there either.
I had four shields once more.
When we were done, Kaja bumped my shoulder. “So, what’s next?”
I looked to Rage, and he nodded.
“Now, we get ready for battle,” he said somberly, the tone in his voice fitting for the situation. No sane man delighted in war, but defending our freedom, land, and loved ones made it necessary.
Lucky for us, Jakko delivered. Both in the magic-canceling grenades as well as pulling in the lower mages from Mageville. While most of them weren’t trained in hand-to-hand combat, a large percentage of them—like 62.3%—had skills that could help: illusions and explosives were at the top of the list.
The biggest surprise of the day was when I discovered Julian refused to take Fiona as a shield.
“He said he didn’t deserve one,” she said, shaking her head. “At least, not yet.”
We were dressing in selkie armor when she dropped that bomb on us.
“I’m pretty sure none of us ‘deserve’ one,” I said. Let alone four. “What’s up with the yet part?”
Fiona strapped blades to her thighs. “For being a total asshat, he can sure grovel. He said that if he survived the battle tonight—if he redeemed himself—then he’d take a shield. I’ve gotta give the dude props. He wants to earn some respect.”
The fact that Julian was willing to risk his life was gutsy. But with two younger siblings trained to take over as the high mage master of water, he wasn’t the last of his kind, so I left it alone.
By the time we were all assembled in our teams, I was feeling pretty good. We set out in a fleet of boats and swimmers, heading toward the shore of Shifter Island to go to war. As we drew near, my insides twisted, and bile burned the back of my throat.
There, mounted on pikes on the beach of Shifter Island, were the heads of those who’d fallen to the blood mages.
Those mother-effers were going to pay.
Chapter Sixteen
The headsof our fallen people told me two things. One, the blood mages were sending us a warning message of their brutality as if that were enough to intimidate us. For me, it only reinforced the need to act now. The second thing was that the bloodsuckers had taken over Shifter Island as well as High Mage Island. Which meant plan A.
I stared up into the darkening sky and waved to the hawk leader. He and another hawk each held powder grenades that Jakko had made. Hopefully, they’d flush out a large number of the blood mages before they dropped them.
The birds of prey melted into the darkness over the island.
Aerial assault inbound.
We waited for the screams that would no doubt come when the hawks attacked the blood mages, and each second felt like an eternity.
‘I’m going to take my team in,’Rage told me.‘We want to capitalize on the initial chaos.’
I nodded, but even knowing he was sticking to the plan, I couldn’t help the churning in my gut.
Rage and the wolves slipped from their boats and waded to shore. The packs shifted into animal form, but the alpha heirs remained human so they could use their elemental magic. As soon as they were ashore, the packs disappeared into the wooded areas surrounding the grounds of the castle and academy.
Next came the other shifters: bears, selkies, lions, foxes—every single shape-shifting animal had been called in to purge this evil from our island, and almost all of them had answered. They packed the beaches of Shifter Island all in their animal forms, and I took a moment to behold the sight. It looked like an African safari or a massive zoo escape. Bear stood next to lion, who had a raptor perched on his back. Then they, too, crept into the trees to await the signal.
