28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

My phone flared to life, Archie calling. Greg's phone rang at the same time: Liam. We both swiped to answer.

‘Isaacs is here!' Archie said without preamble. ‘He's got into Nina!'

‘Fuck! Get the pups down to the basement – Devon ones, too. We're on our way!'

‘How many?' Greg barked.

‘Ben, drive back to the mansion,' I ordered. ‘We're under attack. Sorry, Dad, we've got to bounce.'

‘What do you mean, you're under attack?' Dad said, alarmed.

‘We'll be fine,' I lied easily. ‘I'll call later.' I ran out, leaving him with a host of new memories and a pounding head. I called Maxwell as I ran. ‘I need you!' I begged hastily. ‘At the mansion. I'm being attacked by a rival werewolf and his pack.'

‘We're on our way,' he promised .

‘Get Grandy to phase you. If Isaacs is already inside the seat of power, he might have Terrance – and if he has, he's got fire magic at his disposal.'

‘On it!' he responded sharply.

We rang off and I ran out to where Sara and Jacob were talking quietly. ‘Get us back to the mansion! Now! We're under attack.'

Behind me, Greg had also hung up. ‘I called Bastion,' he said. ‘He's on his way.'

I could only hope that all our allies got there before Isaacs could do too much damage. Would he hurt Nina? Surely he needed her to accept him if he was going to try and wear Terrance and name himself King?

‘Face me,' Sara barked. I stepped up close and personal and she wrapped her arms around me. I clung to her as she bent her legs, beat her powerful wings and thrust us upwards. In a blink of the eye we were airborne, shooting through the air. We were high up and the atmosphere had thinned and cooled. How the dark seraph wore so little clothing was beyond me.

The air rushed past my face with such force that it was difficult to breathe. My eyes were streaming, too; Superman did not accurately convey the problems you faced when flying .

We arrived at the mansion to absolute chaos. The lawn was covered with wolves and I was instantly transported to Ben's vision, the one he'd been stuck in when he'd become a werewolf.

There were bodies everywhere, human and lupine. The acrid scent of smoke hung heavy in the air and cries of agony were dancing on the breeze. The sun was baking down on us, sweat drifting into our human eyes, stinging us.

Time to shift , Roan said grimly.

Let's do this, I agreed.

The shift rolled over us, pleasurable and full, and we ran to join our sister and our Queen. Another wolf ran towards us but we didn't want to hurt them. They were misguided, not evil. We pulled our air magic forward and blasted them off their feet.

Stay down, pup , Roan growled to the younger wolf. He stayed down.

We raced forwards to Lucy where she was battling the asshole that had started all of this.

I realised I'd made Ben drive to the mansion while Greg and I had flown dark-seraph style: that was why he was late to the party. But in his vision we'd had air powers. Had I done something wrong? Screwed up? Why hadn't I managed to awaken the orb? Why hadn't I tried harder? Now it was almost certainly in Isaacs' hands, as was my Nina. If he hurt her or Terrance I'd rain all kinds of hell down on his head.

Pulled by Grandy, Maxwell and Alyssa stepped out of the shadow of the mansion. I ran to them first, because I had a harebrained idea and those were always the best.

Should be called wolf-brained then, Esme muttered.

‘Maxwell,' I panted. ‘I need to pipe you to see what your fire looks like. Do I have your permission?'

‘Of course.'

I gripped his hand and pulled up my magic. Like I did with Esme when we shared our body, I merely resided within him for a moment, careful not to control him. I focused on him as he called forth flames to his hands, and I saw the spark of fire flare within him.

Now that I knew what being a fire elemental looked like at a magical level, I drew up my magic and piped myself, looking inward for that ember that Terrance had spoken of.

I searched for what felt like an age but could only have been seconds, and then I saw it, the smallest hint of warmth buried deep within me. Treating it like my father's clearing, I carefully pulled back a multitude of layers that were laid over it, frustration growing that it wasn't as quick and easy as I'd envisaged. Finally I removed the last layer that had been banking the flames and carefully, gently, breathed into the small ember at the heart of me.

I used the memories Nina had freed for me of my mother and my father, of myself. Grow, I commanded the ember and, seized by my piping power, it did. Warmth flooded me, like I'd stepped out from the cold of the shadows into the glorious sun.

As I'd seen Maxwell do, I called the flames to my fingertips. New magical pathways formed and flared, dusting off old routes as fire licked along my veins and exploded from the tips of my fingers.

‘Holy shit,' Maxwell breathed, eyes wide.

I had no time to celebrate the return of fire to my magical makeup. I had a foe to face – and I was certain he'd have fire, too.