All of the wolves attacked me then, but I knew it wasn’t them necessarily, it was Novus working through them. I backed up. They nipped at my legs. And without thinking I charged up my palm with sunlight magic, blasting a beam of light through the cord and watched as it cut in half, sucking back into the house like a rubber band that had suddenly snapped.
A simultaneous howl and human male scream rang out of the house and onto the sandy beach. Chills rose up onto my arms.
The wolf whose cord had been severed fell at my feet, panting, and then stood facing the oncoming pack, snarling at them.
The sound of a window breaking drew my attention to the house. I saw the back of Artemis’ long green cloak as he slipped into the living room window.
Yes. Save my mom,I prayed.
‘Do them all! Quickly, before Novus gets out here,’Brayden’s grandmother commanded.
I was sleep deprived. My ankle felt like it was on fire from the wolf bite, and the freaking leader of the Wild Hunt was inside with my mom.
I honestly had no time to process this, but all I knew was that severing that cord caused Novus pain and that was all I needed. I had to kick a few wolves out of the way as they tried to attack me, but I was able to grab three of the cords in my hands at the same time. With a deep breath, a powerful laser beam of buttery yellow light shot through the cords and they snapped back into the house. The windows shook with Novus’ rage, and a woman’s blood-curdling scream tore from the house. My heart seized in fear as if I’d been plunged into ice.
Mom.
Forgetting the final wolf, I tore into the house through the back door and wrenched it open. Novus stood in the mudroom waiting for me. He held my mother by her hair. Black blood dripped down his nose. Was he injured from my taking the soul wolves?
I could only hope.
There was a wild look in his eyes. “You can sever soul ties. Iwantthat power.”
Without thinking, I pulled a shockwave and sunlight power into my chest, through my arms and then finally thrust my palms at his face. The explosion knocked him and my mother backward, separating them. Her scream of pain tore at my heart. I hoped I hadn’t hurt her.
My mom struggled free of him just as Artemis jumped out from the hallway. A light brighter than the sun illuminated the room momentarily, and I took that opportunity to rush forward and grab my mom.
“I got her,” Morgana’s voice came from behind me.
My mom looked like she was in complete shock. The light bomb had faded and she stared at Artemis with disbelief. The bright glowing light in his hands had dimmed and turned to golden threads which pinned Novus to the carpet like yellow snakes.
“Artie?” she mumbled.
Artie.That’s what my mom called him?
Morgana dragged her backward, out of the house and hopefully far away from here. I couldn’t leave Artemis to fight Novus alone. Just when I was wondering what we were going to do, and how we could get out of here without dying, the ghost wolves stepped into the room. One by one, they circled Novus, who was thrashing on the carpet, sprawled across our living room floor like a butterfly pinned to a board. Bursts of dark smoke flew from his skin, but Artemis blew it away with a strong wind. I knew Artemis’ power was keeping him there, but I wasn’t sure for how long. The Elder Fae had limits.
‘Free me and then we need to run.’It was Brayden’s grandmother. She stood at my side, hackles raised as if fighting some inner urge to rip my throat out. She was the last wolf I had yet to free.
Without wasting a beat, I reached for the final cord tethering her to Novus, and tore it in half with my sunlight magic. The animalistic wail that came from Novus then was akin to a creature being tortured. One second he was pinned to the ground, the next fire licked away from his body, lapping outward and sticking to everything.
I stumbled backward in shock as the flames started to consume my childhood home.
“No!” I whimpered.
In an effort to avoid the flames, Artemis lost his hold on Novus and stumbled out the front door as I rushed out the back. The fire was all-consuming, the heat of it reaching me so quickly I thought I’d been burned.
In a last-ditch effort to avoid being lit on fire, I leapt off the porch and landed on the sand, the five spirit wolves coming with me. I couldn’t really think; all I could do was run to avoid the flames. Artemis suddenly appeared beside me, grasping my upper arm, and he looked down in shock at the wolves gathered around me. One by one, small wispy cords grew from their navels… and towards me. I backed up, trying to get away from the cords but they just came faster. They floated into the air and attached to my stomach. A warmth spread into me.
I froze, completely unnerved by the entire thing.
‘Alpha.’
‘Alpha.’
‘Alpha.’
‘Alpha.’
