Entwined Strangers (BBW Shifter Romance): Sorcery & Shifters Book 4 (3 page)

I dig into Trent’s side with my sneakers. The building rooftop we’re heading to rushes up toward us. I can’t tell if we’re going to make it, but refuse to close my eyes. I need to see my fate coming.

Trent lands on the building ledge, breaking chunks of rubble off, and springs forward with our momentum. His dire wolf legs absorb the shock of landing, but he still has too much speed to stop moving. He has to keep running across the rooftop.

Trent leaps over the building ledge on the other side. Flying again, but not for as long this time.

Trent lands easily and puts on the brakes. He has more control now, but the rooftop is covered in gravel, causing us to slide. Muscle can’t slow us down now, but claws can. He digs them into the surface and brings us to a complete stop.

I look back at The Vault, which is only two buildings away. The soldiers can see us clearly and are taking aim with their guns. Trent sees what they’re doing too, and starts moving again. I only have a second to react. I turn my back to the soldiers and smother Piper.

“
Sustento in Carne.”

Maintain the Flesh.

I say the words like an instinct and hope they work.

Bullets ricochet off my body.

Thank the powers my magic is back. The Vault must somehow suppress any magic that Felix doesn’t allow.

Trent runs us behind the elevator room on top of this building. It’s large enough for us all to hide behind. A line of bullets follows our movement until they strike the structure instead.

It’s such a bold daylight attack, firing automatic weapons at us over the city, but their guns aren’t making a sound. They only make noise when a bullet whizzes by or strikes the rooftop around us.

I look down at Trent beneath me. He’s been hit. Dammit, that’s not good. I still don’t know how to heal somebody other than myself, but even if I did, his damn tattoo would probably make him immune.

To make matters worse, the protection offered from my spell is almost done. Those few bullets were enough to make short work of the barrier protecting me. It’s really not made to stop high-velocity projectiles.

Maintain the Flesh can protect me from an amorous werewolf, but using it to protect me from bullets is quite another thing. Regardless, I cast the spell again for good measure. It’s all I’ve got.

“Stay with your father,” I tell Piper, and slide off Trent’s back.

I look around the corner to see what the soldiers are doing. The moment I do, the soldiers respond with a hail of bullets. I duck back down immediately after they bounce off my head.

Holy fuck! I just poked my head around the corner! I refresh Maintain the Flesh. That’s three castings in less than a minute. They really don’t want me to see them. If I could, there’s at least two spells I could cast. These snipers must know that.

These soldiers are expert marksmen with orders to kill us. To make matters worse, we’re pinned down behind this elevator box. With my brief glance back the soldiers I counted two men taking aim at us with rifles, but it was hard to see them with bullets bouncing off my face.

If nothing else, Candice and Saffron will sense that I’m casting spells again. They won’t know
where
I am, but they will know
what
I’m casting and how frequently. That will set off alarms. They may even start looking for me with divination magic. After that, it’s just a matter of time.

If they figure out where I am, Saffron at the very least can teleport. It’s a huge expense to the quicksilver pool, but this is an emergency. Even so, I’m imagining a best-case scenario here. It might take my coven a lot longer to get here than we can afford.

More importantly, Candice and Saffron have no idea that I’m facing Felix’s men. I would really want them to know that beforehand. He adds a whole new dynamic to the equation.

I look around at the adjoining buildings. Some are taller, some shorter, but they’re all closer to each other than the four-lane thoroughfare we just leapt over.

I look back at Trent. I realize now that he’s been hit twice. Once in the arm and once in the leg. My first-aid training tells me that neither wound is immediately life-threatening, which is fortunate, but they aren’t healing. Trent said they would be ready for a werewolf. That must be using silver bullets.

“Is Daddy going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry, Piper. Your daddy is tough. In fact, he’s so tough that he’s going to jump with us on his back again. And he’s going to keep jumping from building to building until we are very far away. It will seem like we’re flying, and we kind of will be, but he won’t start until I leap onto his back with you.”

I stare into Trent’s crimson wolf eyes.

“That’s the cue, understand?”

He nods his massive head. I look back to Piper.

“Okay, hold on tight, Piper. This is going to happen fast.”

I step out from behind the elevator box and make myself a clear target.

The bullets pepper my head instantly, blinding me from seeing clearly. They churn through the protection my spell offers.

“
Sustento in Carne. Sustento in Carne.
Sustento in Carne.”

I keep casting it over and over again. The bullets grind through the spell at the same speed that I can say the words.

Until they stop.

Now.

I leap onto Trent’s back and he starts running immediately. I grab his fur in just enough time as he make the first leap. He lands on the adjoining building and keeps going, tearing across the rooftops.

Trent leaps from one building to the next with ease. I can see bullets striking around us, but the gunmen are shooting wildly. My gambit paid off.

They might be expert marksmen, but they had to reload eventually. That means range-finding us through a scope again. It’s not easy to do quickly, especially if your target is moving.

I thought about casting Remove the Flesh on them when they reloaded, or even Stop Motion, but there’s no telling how many more soldiers would show up afterward. My first priority has to be getting Piper to safety.

Trent pours it on, crisscrossing over the rooftops where he can, creating even more space between us and the marksmen.

At this point, they would have to make an extraordinarily lucky shot to hit me. So instead of casting Maintain the Flesh again, I call up a different spell. One that will enshroud my body in a cloak of sorts. The effect will include Piper, so long as she stays close to me.

“
Celare ex Praecantatio
.”

Hide from Magic.

Felix won’t be able to track us using divination spells, but unfortunately that also means Candice and Saffron won’t be able to either.

And, of course, that’s when a bullet zips through my shoulder.

I’m in shock at first, staring at the hole in my shoulder. It doesn’t look real. I’ve never been shot before. I actually thought it would hurt more than this.

Then the pain catches up with brain.

It’s like a spear has been driven through my flesh. The bullet went in one side and out the other. My right arm goes limp.

I can’t grip Trent’s fur anymore. I have to hold on using only my knees and left hand. Neither of my two companions know what happened yet. At least the bullet didn’t hit Piper.

I can heal this, but I need a safe place to cast the spell when we’re not moving and I can focus on the wound properly. A place where I can think straight. I’m already faint. If I let go now, I’ll fall.

Trent looks back at me. Maybe he’s wondering why I let go of him. I can tell he sees the bullet wound, but then he looks forward again. He leaps through the air to the next building. Landing is going to hurt.

Sure enough, the pain explodes in my shoulder. It would seem bullet wounds don’t like being jostled.

I look back at where The Vault is located. It feels like there are too many obstacles between us and the marksmen now. The Vault is a much taller building than the apartment blocks we’re leaping across. If the shooters go to a higher floor, they’ll be able to see us again.

“Take us someplace place out of their sight,” I tell Trent. “Any place with protective cover will do. I need to stop for a second.”

Trent looks around and adjusts his direction. He leaps to a building that’s one story shorter. Trent absorbs most of the shock with his powerful legs, but not all. The landing hurts even more this time, like a burning-hot poker in my shoulder.

My legs and core muscles have to do more of the work now. The same muscles that Mason has been giving a workout in the last two weeks.

Mason. You are still back in the country with Candice and Saffron, probably wondering what happened to me. So much has happened in such a short period of time. Too much to think about right now.

My thoughts are fuzzy and becoming even less distinct by the moment. The world is beginning to blur as Trent gallops beneath me. Piper has no problem holding on to her father. Me, not so much.

“I can take one more jump like that and then I’m done. If I pass out, the spell hiding Piper will also stop. I need to stay conscious and she needs to be close.”

Trent heads for another building. It’s even lower than the building he’s running across now. A three-story. There’s a laundry line of clothes stretched across it.

He bounds across the space between buildings. I almost black out when his feet collide with the rooftop. The pain in my shoulder feels like daggers beneath my skin. Trent slides across the surface and comes to a stop. That’s when I slip off his back.

It’s not quite a fall. It’s not quite a dismount. My feet touch the ground and then my body crumples, flopping onto my back.

There’s a spell for healing wounds. I know it. I learned it decades ago. I just haven’t cast it in a long time. There hasn’t been any need. How does it go? The Latin word for curing? Fixing? Healing? What is it? My mind swims through all the words I know.

Words. There’s so many of them! I’m having a really hard time focusing right now. I can’t even think straight. I’m feeling so lightheaded, which makes perfect sense. I’ve lost a lot of blood.

Suddenly Trent is looking down at me. Not Trent the wolf or Trent the half-man, half-wolf. Trent the man. He looks concerned. I didn’t think his red eyes
could
look concerned. They look vicious most of the time. Maybe I’m just seeing what I want to see. Maybe I’m delirious.

Trent puts pressure on my entry and exit wound at the same time. Piper kneels down beside me as well. Crying.

“Don’t die, Ms. Aberdeen! I still have so many paintings to show you!”

Adorable. I’m dying and Piper’s biggest worry is that she gets a chance to show me her latest works of art. The thing is… I do want to see them. She’s always been so talented. If I could only think of that damned spell.

Trent looks at me. Furrows his brow.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Don’t be. You did all you could.”

“No. That’s not why I’m apologizing.”

“Then wha—”

Trent sticks a finger into my bullet wound.

“HOLY MOTHER OF BALLS!”

At least, that’s what I think I’m saying. My mouth is actually screaming a litany of obscenities. They all come out at once, I’m sure, without making a lick of sense.

I thought landing on each rooftop was painful. That was nothing compared to this level of agony. The effect, however, snaps me back to clarity. At least for a second.

“If you know any healing spells you can cast on yourself, now would be the time,” Trent says firmly.

I do, but only one. It finally comes back to me.

“
Mederi Ipsum
.”

Mend Self.

There it is, like it was waiting for me the whole time.

I touch my shoulder and activate the magic. My mind is clear, sharp again, thanks to Trent thrusting his finger in the wound. Not that I have any intention of thanking him right now. That hurt like hell. I don’t ever want to feel that kind of pain again.

The flesh begins to stitch back together. A few more moments pass and even the pain begins to subside. I sit up.

“You… you can do magic?” Piper asks,

“Yes,” I tell her. No point in denying it now. I’m a witch.”

Her eyes widen.

“That. Is. So. Cool!”

Children have the strangest reactions at times like these. We’re still in danger and she’s completely oblivious to it. Kids definitely live in the moment.

I look over my shoulder back at The Vault. It’s completely blocked behind taller apartment buildings now. Good. Who knows how far those rifles can shoot. Then I look at Trent and realize that he’s not wearing a shred of clothing. He did shift into his largest form after all.

“I saw a clothesline on this roof as we landed here. Maybe they have something in your size?”

Trent looks over and sees what I’m talking about.

“Stay with Ms. Aberdeen,” he tells Piper. “I’ll be right back.”

He needn’t have said anything. She barely hears him. Her eyes are the size of milk saucers, watching the magic heal my wound.

As Trent walks away, I notice two bullet wounds on his body, one in his arm and the other on his leg. He’s still bleeding from both shots. Trent is trying to hide it, but they’re causing him distress. His face is more stoic than usual.

“Grab an extra t-shirt. One I can rip up!” I yell out to him.

Trent nods.

“So how long have you been a witch?” Piper asks, trying to steal my attention back.

“My whole life,” I tell her.

“Can you teach me how to cast spells?”

“I can teach you ritual spells. The kind you have to draw, but spells like the one I just cast? You have to be born with that.”

“That sucks.”

“What about you? Your mom and dad are both werewolves. That means you’re going to be a werewolf too, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Piper says. She looks away sheepishly.

“Well, that’s cool too. I can’t leap from rooftop to rooftop. Your dad can. That will be you one day.”

“Sure, but werewolves… are hairy. I don’t want to be hairy.”

Of course. What little girl would?

I can’t help but feel impressed by how well Piper is dealing with everything. Either that or she’s been exposed to this kind of chaos before. Regardless, she’s holding it together really well right now.