I launched myself in the air, leaping the distance onto the chains.
Rocks above my head exploded with incredible force. “Get away from him,” Selene shouted. “You cannot save him! He’s under my spell and the chains are enchanted. He will never wake for you.” I kept moving. “Stop!” There was a delicious hint of desperation in her voice.
The moment the silver touched my fingertips the skin on my hand sizzled. I transferred my grip to the inside of my arm, blocked by my shirt, and slid down the length, leaving a trail of blood in my wake. My wolf channeled energy to me as I went. I barely felt the pain. “You never intended to kill him,” I said to Selene with confidence as I landed on the bottom of his boots. “Why would you kill him when you can keep him all to yourself once I’m gone?”
Her scream told me everything. “You know nothing, mongrel! I will kill you both! Just watch me.” She fired a spell, but it went wild, hitting the rocks five feet to my left.
The moment my body had touched his, it responded on its own.
Mine.
Vibrations of need rang through me. My wolf had been so right. I’d kept this emotion from myself, trying to protect something inside so it didn’t break. They’d been locked away in a private place in my mind, because emotions this intense were dangerous. Even now I tried to block them, or they would overwhelm me completely.
She hadn’t lied. The chains were heavily spelled. Her power lashed at my body. We have to break the spell. Can you get a read on it? My wolf snarled. The red of the spell had begun to enter my skin. We have to hurry.
“You will both die.” Instead of firing a new spell, Selene flew at us in a rage, her porcelain features taking on an edge, making her look like a devil doll. I worked overtime to hack at the spell in the chains, but it wasn’t going to break that quickly. I grasped the chains with my hands to steady myself, my fingers bleeding, and kicked toward her as she came at us. But she spun upward, avoiding my strike.
She was behind me before I could register the direction change.
The only warning I had was a single scream just as a spell crashed into my back. I was on the ground before I knew I had fallen, breath completely gone from my body. My wolf was frantic, yipping and snapping at the red lines as they entered my mind, urging me to move and get back to Rourke. I’m trying. Get the spell first.
Selene’s voice rang from above, and I cracked open an eye.
“Well, that was easy. I told you—you are no match for me.” She stood on Rourke’s boots, where I had just been. Fury surged through me. Get away from him.
She’d hit us with the same death spell, but she didn’t know I’d already defeated it. My vision was momentarily red, but no lines etched across my mind. Golden light quickly formed a halo in my mind and all the red that had struck me was pushed outward before it could take hold.
“Are you dead yet, wench, or do you need more?” There was curiosity in her voice, likely because I hadn’t started convulsing.
I lay still, my eyes cracked slightly open, trying to play opossum and figure out my next move. Rourke needed me now. There was movement up to the right. Eamon. He had quietly freed his sister from the netting, likely regretting his betrayal by now, especially in light of his lover wanting him dead. Selene was too focused on me and I needed to keep it that way. But before I could start pretending to convulse, another spell hit me fully in the chest.
“Why aren’t you dead yet?” she snarled. “There is no way you can survive that spell.”
I didn’t have to fake anything. My body jumped, ringing with energy anew as red washed over me again, pushing and prodding into my shield, enough to make me quiver and moan. It might be too much this time, I gasped. My wolf chuffed at me, as my body vibrated and rocked with her spell. Once again, there was a haze of red, but no lines.
“Die, mongrel,” Selene called as I moaned again. “Once you die your mate will grow to love me once more.”
“Never.” His voice hadn’t been above a whisper.
My body stilled.
My heart began to race like a greyhound. My mate’s voice boiled through me, triggering more responses. Mine. My anger blasted a new stream of power into my golden shields and Selene’s lingering red disintegrated around me like ash. My hands healed in an instant. My wolf snarled and spat, urging me to rise and rip the witch apart.
Instead of moving at her urging, I stayed motionless.
“You are mine!” Selene shook the chains holding Rourke. “Your mate is dying. Do you hear me? Once she is gone there will be no other standing in our way.”
“Not… yours,” Rourke ground out. “Never yours.”
I tried to send Rourke a mental missive. I had no idea if mates were connected internally. Rourke, please, you have to listen to me and play along. I’m not dead. I’m right here. Selene’s spells don’t work on me. Tell her you love her, for chrissake! Anything to make her cut you down. My wolf sprang in my mind at that idea. I ignored her.
“You’ve always been delusional,” he whispered to Selene. “Just kill me now. I won’t live without her.”
Stubborn man. We move now, I told my wolf. Selene is focused on Rourke; it’s time to act.
But before I could spring, there was a breeze as Selene’s black thigh-high boots landed on the ground beside me. “Can you see this, Cat?” She pulled the foot of her pointy boot back and kicked me high in the side. I bit my tongue, but acted like I was still in the throes of her spell. “See that? She’s almost dead.” Pain raced through my side. The bitch had broken my ribs. “There’s nothing that can stop my death spell, not even your whore. She’s never coming back—”
I lunged upward. “Wrong, Selene,” I said as I grabbed hold of her legs and pulled. She went down. I rolled on top. “I’m not dead yet,” I snarled. She struggled to wriggle out from under me, muttering a spell under her breath. My physical size was much bigger than hers. No wonder she always chose to vanish. “No more spells.” I whipped my fist back and smashed it into her face. She screamed. I had effectively stopped her spell midsentence.
“You biiiiitch!” She squirmed under me. Her head was damaged from the blow, but her body was healing it at an alarming rate. Damn, goddesses.
“No, Selene, you’re the bitch,” I snarled. “And this is for harming my mate.” I smashed my fist into the other side of her head, extremely satisfied when her eyes rolled back into their sockets and she did a little convulsion of her own. “And this is for hurting my new friend.” I slashed my claws down the front of her chest, raking it open, leaving deep furrows in her cream skin. “Do you hear me? Now you’re the one who’s going to die, Selene!”