I swung my fist around in a blur and knocked it cleanly out of the air.

It bounced out of my field of vision and I heard it plunk in the water. We’re moving too fast for most of them to mob us, but when we reach the gate, we’ll have to work fast. I don’t know how we’re going to keep them from attacking us. My wolf barked and showed us glowing, our power pushed out like a shield. Do you think we can do that? Like Stasis? She yipped. I’d gone into a cocoonlike state the last time I’d been bitten by a poisonous insect. All my power had been channeled outward like a protective bubble to keep me alive. We can try, but if we go into full Stasis, we’ll be trapped down here for a long time. We have to try for half-Stasis. Is that even possible?

I had no idea, and judging by my wolf’s reaction, neither did she. But we needed to do something or we weren’t going to make it out alive. These little beasts were going to eat me alive until there was nothing left but a skeleton.

Twenty more paces and I spotted a large glowing area. I see something. My wolf funneled more power to my muscles. Together we were siphoning everything we had. Another Trow ran into my line of vision, but I dodged it easily as it lunged haphazardly. It sounds like there’s a horde of them behind us. Let’s start transferring our energy outward. Gold strands of power manifested in my mind. We need to weave it together. I concentrated on the golden light pushing it together to form an opaque mass. The glowing up ahead became clearer. That doesn’t look like any gate I’ve ever seen. What is it?

It was a monstrous brick wall.

The only thing adorning it, or making it appear remotely like any kind of passageway, was a gigantic curved knocker with the head of a vampire bolted to the middle.

I knew instinctively if I touched the vampire bad things would happen. We don’t go near the knocker. My wolf barked in agreement, still focusing on managing our magic. We were steadily moving it outward. How are we going to get past that brick wall? It will take too long to tear a hole through it, if that’s even possible. Once we stop, we aim the magic out like Stasis and pray it’s enough to keep the Trows off us until we can figure out how to break through. I’d been unconscious the last time I’d gone into Stasis, but when I’d woken up, I’d felt the power. I had to make it feel almost like that. We couldn’t force it too far outward and risk losing consciousness. That would be a very bad thing. I’m counting on the fact the Trows don’t have much magic. If they do, we’ll need a plan B or they’ll rip through our barrier with their greedy pointy teeth.

I ran straight up to the wall without stopping, jamming my claws into the bricks. Now! My wolf shot the concentrated power outward like a balloon. My golden power flexed tightly around us, right as the first one launched itself forward. Can you feel them? Are they bouncing off? I craned my head around. Ohmygods. We were already knee-deep in nasty Trows. But they couldn’t get to my body. The power block had worked and they were furious, jumping and spitting, that they couldn’t get to the prize.

It’s working and I don’t feel much magic coming from them. Now we just have to break the ward. I closed my eyes and ran my hands along the wall, trying to sense the magic. As I did, my bubble of protection flexed. Shit. I don’t think we can keep the Trows out and break the ward at the same time. It’s going to take too much of our resources to do both. Once we grasp the ward, we’ll need to shift the power from our shield into the spell. It’s going to leave us open to bites for a few moments, but it can’t be helped.

Double damn.

I continued to run my hands over the coarse brick. The ward tasted tart and old, like biting into an unripe crab apple. It had the same underlay as the cell chains. What kind of magic is this? I’d never come across it before. It doesn’t have a witchy signature like Tally’s or Marcy’s, or even Selene’s. My knowledge of spell casters was limited, so it wasn’t saying much. Do you taste that? The spell had manifested in the back of my throat in a physical way, settling on my tongue like a coat of pollen. Whatever it is it’s ancient, and I have no idea how to break it.

The Trows continued to snarl and leap around my feet.

This was becoming a funhouse. We need to split our power and start filtering half of it into the spell. With effort, I grabbed on to some of the power, and as I funneled it forward, as predicted, the barrier between us and the Trows shrank. We have to keep no less than a foot between us and them.

Suddenly their behavior changed and they quieted.

Do you hear that? What are they doing? The Trows had stopped jumping and were now emitting weird clicking noises. They’re pissed they can’t get to us and I think they’re discussing their options.

Thinking these little beasts had intelligence was almost too much for me. Yuck.

I had no choice but to ignore them and turn back to the task of breaking the ward. I searched for a weakness. Yuri said it would take everything I had, but I can’t even find what to focus on. The spell feels like a cloud. How do I break apart cloud? When I try to touch it, it moves. She flashed me a picture of us pouring air into a balloon. You mean fill it up? Yuri had stated emphatically I needed to close the gate when I was done. Then once we’re through, we suck our power back out? That must be it. I had to inflate it and then take it back out so the ward stayed intact and nothing else could get free and come after me. We can’t fill this sucker up slowly; it’s too big. It will drain us dry and leave us to the Trows. We have to go all in and jam it full in a few seconds. Hopefully it will work. If not, I got nothing and the Trows are going to eat us.

My wolf growled uneasily, but I took it as a yes.

We really had no other option.

Ready? The Trows had backed off for the moment and were having a full-on clicking discussion likely on how to get around my barrier and end me. I hoped like crazy that whatever I did to the wall would be so shocking that they wouldn’t have enough time to react for the few precious moments while we stood unguarded.

My wolf went into a fighting stance in my mind, ears back, low snarl.

This was it.

In the time it took to blink, I grabbed on to the power outside of my body and threw it all into the bricks. The wall took it greedily. I closed my eyes and focused on filling the rest of it up. I grit my teeth hard as the energy yanked us forward, crushing me into the barrier. I held my ground, shoving my power to the far recesses of the gate as fast as I could.

Almost there, I panted.

Without warning there was a massive tearing sound and both my arms slid through the bricks.

Keep pushing outward. Along with the ward cracking, there was a ridiculous shriek behind me and a beat later multiple sharp teeth tore in to my legs. Pain zinged up my spine. The Trows had figured out I was fair game. I kicked my legs out in a desperate attempt to fling them off me.

Just a little more and we’re there.

My waist and shoulders began to inch through the opening. The bricks hadn’t moved. My body was literally seeping through the barrier. The entire thing must be an illusion. I pressed my face into the ward and found it was black like a void.

We’re almost inside. I gave one more internal shove, throwing the last of my power into the final nooks and crannies, and passed completely through the bricks with a loud pop. Absolute darkness consumed me. The Trows shrieked their displeasure on the other side. They sounded muted from in here. I was relieved they hadn’t been able to pass through. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel claustrophobic inside the ward, but I knew if I stayed much longer, a possible phobia might develop.

I extended my arms outward, testing.

My power was still all around me, keeping the space open, but the ward pressed down against us, trying to beat my power back. We’re in a no-man’s-land. We need to blast through to the other side and we have to do it before the ward chokes our power out.

I closed my eyes, even though it was dark, and concentrated on the energy around me. The only thing we can do is gather our power and try to force it back out in a blast and hope it’s enough. I exhaled, and in one motion, sucked all the power that I’d encased in the ward back into my body. It plunged back in like a shot, making me stumble. The ward compressed as I took my magic back, stealing the air out of my lungs.

I braced my hands in front of me.

As quickly as I could, before the ward crushed the life out of me, I shot a concentrated blast of power out in front of me. A big boom of thunder hit my ears and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on a dirt ground panting.

I blinked and looked around.

I think we’re out.

I sat up slowly, dusting off my hands. I twisted my legs around and examined them for Trow damage. I’d been so amped up on adrenaline and power, I hadn’t felt the continued assault. My spandex was full of holes, but it was still intact. Everything is healed already. Thank goodness those little shits didn’t have any venom. I was in my Lycan form, and apparently my muscles were harder to ravage.

Brushing off my legs, I stood and tried to figure out where I was.

It was dark, and I took a step forward, right as something rammed into the back of my legs. I crashed to the ground, rolling once before I shot to my feet, crouching low, arms out to the sides in my fighting stance.

“It’s wonderful you could join us,” a voice whispered in my ear. “We’ve been waiting.”

17

There was no one in front of me. The tunnel was empty. It was not as dark as where I’d just been. My eyesight adjusted and I saw there was a slight incline leading uphill, which I assumed would eventually lead me out of this underground hell to freedom.

The breathy voice hit my ear again as soft prods, like invisible fingers, landed all over my body. “We need you, Jessica. Come help us.”

Another voice, this one childlike, cried, “You took too long. I want to see my mommy.”

My fur sprang on end as my skin erupted in millions of goose bumps.

Ghosts.

Yuri had said the tunnels ran under a cemetery. No, no, no. Please don’t tell me we’re trapped underground with a healthy number of ghosts. My wolf’s ears were pinned back. Don’t panic, I told her—but really, I needed those words myself. I cringed at the thought of ghosts. How do you fight against something you can’t see? My wolf was equally freaked out. Her canines were exposed, her lips curled. It would be hard to defeat beings who had such little power and no magic.