Steve pushed in close, his strong shifter magic swirling around and within Charity’s and Devon’s magic. Helping them fight back the tide.
“More,” Devon said between clenched teeth. “More shifter magic.”
“Oh, I see,” Penny said. “Yes, that’s smart.” Her fingers started moving. Emery watched for a moment before he reached in between her hands, his fingers dancing.
Devon held on, working with Charity’s magic, using everyone else’s power to help balance it. To back it down.
“I’m good,” Charity said again, her fists balled up and her eyes shut. “I’m good.”
“More magic,” he said, his head getting light from the effort of calling up his magic.
Andy bumped Steve to make room and pushed in. Dillon and Macy crowded in behind him, the others behind them. Penny pushed her hands toward the group.
Charity sucked in a breath. Thankfully, the surge calmed. The tide turned.
“Almost there,” Devon said, taking a breath with her, pushing the hot agony of her magic away. “Almost there.”
Charity took deep, ragged breaths. She nodded and straightened up slowly, her whole body shaking. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”
This time, Devon thought to himself. This time they were okay, but it had taken the whole pack and two natural dual-mages. If these surges got any stronger, he didn’t know if they’d be able to pull her back.* * *Devon, in his human form, awoke with a start in the dim cave they’d chosen to hunker down in. A rock poked into his back and water dripped on his head from the cave ceiling. His pack fanned out around him, one and all in their animal forms, making the most of their rest. Deep breaths said they were still deep in their slumber.
Two shapes stood at the mouth of the cave, shadows against the glow of the coming day. Their hands worked together, the movements urgent.
That was when he felt it—danger, deep and intense. It thrummed through him, a warning he couldn’t possibly ignore.
He straightened up quickly, careful not to rouse Charity beside him. Dillon, who lay on his other side, snapped his eyes open and lifted his head to see what was wrong, quickly noticing the dual-mages at the front of the cave.
After pushing to his feet and stepping over the furry bodies of his pack members, who woke up one by one, Devon stopped at the mouth of the cave beside the dual-mages. His bones practically rattled with the pulse of warning just outside.
“The wards have been tripped,” Penny said quietly, her hands still moving. “We’re trying to invert our magic so a magical person can’t see or feel it. I think what we’re doing is going to work.”
“It’ll work,” Emery said, barely loud enough for even Devon to hear.
“What creature, do you know?” Devon asked as the pack roused.
Penny shook her head. “Being that there are a lot of magical creatures in this neck, and I don’t know the feel of any of them, I couldn’t build any sort of identifier into the spell.”
“This far into the wilds, it could be a handful of creatures, most of them not looking for trouble,” Emery said.
“I sense danger.” Devon peered out into the thick trees and brush directly in front of them before trying to see to the sides. The small, overgrown path they’d used to get to the cave curved off to the left. If someone was on it, they were excellent at stealth, because even with improved shifter senses, Devon couldn’t hear or smell anything out of the ordinary.
“How do you feel?” Penny asked.
Devon took stock of himself. His feet ached and sleep dragged at his eyes, but he wasn’t as tired as before. This was manageable. Although he wasn’t in his wolf form, he was healing up at his usual rapid rate.
Which meant…
He dashed to Charity’s side and pressed two fingers to her neck. Her pulse thumped like a jackrabbit. He felt her forehead and sucked in a breath. She was burning up.
“She’s cutting me off, somehow,” Devon whispered. “I don’t feel the gush of her magic.”
“I can’t…” Penny sounded frustrated. “I have to finish this before I can help.”
“Yasmine, change,” Devon commanded softly, knowing Yasmine’s mom worked as a nurse in the Brink.
Yasmine met Devon at Charity’s side. Her eyes widened as she pressed a hand to Charity’s forehead.
“Did we bring any ibuprofen?” she asked. Devon shook his head. Shifters never needed it—he hadn’t thought Charity might. “Bring her some water. She needs to stay hydrated. If we have a cold compress, that would help, too.”
“Go,” Emery said to Penny. “I can finish this.”
A twig snapped outside of the cave. Everyone froze, turning that way.
A soft rustle, so quiet that Devon wondered if his ears were playing tricks, sounded to the right. After a brief pause, he heard it again. Adrenaline coursed through his body. Magic drifted around him, everything in him saying he needed to change. Danger was right outside. But if he did that, he couldn’t communicate with Charity or the mages.