Pure Blooded (14 page)

The bokor was grappling for control but was too weak to take over all their minds. I bolted toward the wolves I knew she was puppeteering, striking them down quickly.

She shouted and writhed on the ground in obvious pain.

Marcy called, “I’ll take the wolves on this side—”

“No!” I yelled as Marcy flew backward, arms flailing. Her eyes were wide as her mouth gasped for air.

Something had her by the throat.

It had to be the loa. I dug my hand into the pouch as I ran, withdrawing another spell. I couldn’t remember what color did what, but I knew the word to use. This one was orange and I shouted, “
Irrata!
” as I threw it down on the ground.

It exploded in a burst around us.

The power of the spell shot me backward and I crashed into a totem pole, luckily not one with a wolf attached. I was back at Marcy’s side in an instant, thick orange smoke lingering in the air. She was rubbing her neck and coughing, still trying to catch her breath.

“Did it work?” I asked. “What spell was that?” I reached down and held my arm out to her.

She took it and I pulled her up. “It was a null,” she said. “And I think it worked better than expected.” She swished the fading orange cloud away with her hand. “I think I underestimated your blood, Wonder Wolf. Those spells are packing some serious power.” She blew her hair out of her eyes. “Honestly, they shouldn’t be working as well as they are against this kind of strength. That loa is fierce. Her magic is so strong, it crackles with energy.”

“Maybe we should’ve brewed more?”

She chuckled. “I did what I could. But we’re lucky—without these, we’d be fresh meat. Where’s Naomi?”

“I tucked her behind the altar. Better question is where is the bokor?”

Marcy glanced around. “I don’t know. She was right here on the ground a second ago.”

I spun in a circle. The wolves had gone eerily quiet too.

“Oh no,” Marcy whispered, tapping my shoulder.

I slowly turned to where she was pointing. The bokor stood twenty feet from us, her remaining wolves surrounding her, calm and at the ready, with the strongest one at the forefront.

Danny.

“Nooo!”
I wailed, anguish tearing at my throat. “Please, no!” I tried to get to him, but Marcy held my waist firmly, keeping me rooted.

“This may be an illusion,” she murmured close to my ear. “She’s playing with us. He can’t be dead from her usual methods. He’s supernatural, and he wasn’t in the circle before. She just called him in, likely because he’s not completely under her control yet.”

Danny’s wolf was fierce.

He stood shoulders above the other rabid wolves, but his brown coat was already coming off in patches, his muzzle dripping with yellowed saliva.

“He is one of mine now,” the bokor said, her Haitian accent back. The cadence was oddly hypnotic. “And he will do my bidding as I ask it.”

I straightened, my wolf howling. I called out to Danny in my mind, and to my happiness, my Alpha connection was present. It wasn’t as strong as it had been before, but it was still there. “I bet he won’t.”

“We shall see.” She grinned. “Go, my beast!” She set him loose and he launched himself at me without hesitation.

I let him come.

His front paws slammed into my shoulders and we both flew. My back crashed into the ground, and as we slid, I took my hands and wrapped them around his neck, fisting the fur tightly in my grasp. Once we stopped, he went for my throat, snarling and snapping. It took all my combined strength and magic to hold him just inches away from my face. But I was in my Lycan form, and I could hold him for as long as it took now that I had him. “Daniel Walker!” I shouted, infusing as much power as I could into my words. “Stop!”

He faltered for a moment, his overly bright eyes dimming. But a moment later something ignited in them once again and he began to snarl. He smelled sickly, like my father had when he’d been cursed, but he wasn’t dead, so that was something.

“Marcy!” I yelled. “Take the bokor down! She’s in his head.”

Marcy charged the priestess, her fingers out front wiggling.

“Danny.” I gritted my teeth as I turned us over, bracing my stomach and legs against his squirming torso, effectively pinning him. “You have to
quit this
! It’s me, Jessica! Your Alpha.” I threw power into his body, my breath hitching when I sensed the same mustard-yellow masses coating his insides that had infiltrated my father. The curse would kill him if we didn’t get it out, and once he was fully dead he would be in her control forever.

I wasn’t about to let that happen.

Marcy shouted, “Listen, you ancient witch for hire! I can play games too. How about this?”

I couldn’t see what was happening, but the bokor shouted in pain in response to Marcy’s spell, and Danny’s eyes flickered. “Do more of that, Marcy,” I urged. “It’s working.”

I told my wolf,
When she hits the bokor again, we send our power
into Danny’s body and try to force the rest of her control out. Her presence shouldn’t be too hard to detect
. I hoped.

Marcy incanted another spell as I pushed power into Danny, trying to shove out the spell or however she was controlling him.

As I did it, Danny lost some of his will to fight me and relaxed. I tried to reason with him again. “It’s me, Danny,” I murmured in calm, soothing tones, praying I was getting through to him as I continued to force her out. The yellow masses pulsed but didn’t disappear. I tried to insert my power between them and his body, just like I had done with my father. “Listen, you have to help me out here. We need to cut this sorceress off. I know you’re still in there, and I’m not letting you go without a fight, but having you cooperate would be extremely helpful right now.”

He cocked his head at me and I read his confusion, and then his eyes lit with the unnatural brightness once more and he began to snarl at me, lunging and snapping at my face.

“Dammit,” I grumbled, holding him down with a forearm locked over his neck. “If you’re not going to do it for me, then you need to do it for Naomi.” He struggled beneath me, not heeding my words, growling and biting. “Danny! Do you hear me?” I got as close as I dared to his face. “Your mate needs you!” I sent more power into his body.

This isn’t working. We’ll have to use magic to force her out
, I told my wolf.
I don’t know what it will do to him. I don’t want to blow him up, so we need to tread lightly
.

Transferring power was different than blasting something with magic. One acted like jumper cables on a battery and the other would tear through him like a hurricane. What I needed to do was find the sorceress’s signature—whatever she was using to control him. It was in there somewhere.

I concentrated on the task as Marcy and the bokor went back and forth, spell for spell. My friend was holding her own and I
was extremely proud of her. I slowly threaded magic into Danny’s body until I found something.
There, I see it
, I told my wolf.
Those thin, almost transparent yellow lines connecting the masses together? We concentrate our magic on those places and destroy the connection
. I prayed it would be enough as I sent a multicolored burst of magic into his body and aimed it directly at the yellow lines.

Danny jumped like he’d been defibrillated, and the bokor let out a bloodcurdling scream. “You don’t like that, huh?” I called as I sent one more blast of concentrated magic into his system and all the lines snapped at once.

Danny shook his huge wolfy head as his haze finally lifted. He glanced up at me and seemed to be surprised to find me over him. Then, without hesitation, he ran his huge tongue completely over my face. I chuckled. “I knew I hadn’t lost you yet.” I gave him a quick hug and eased off him, wiping the saliva away with the back of my arm.

Danny rose on unsteady paws, staggering as one of his knees gave out. My magic hadn’t gotten rid of the masses. I had only broken her mind control over him. We had to get him out of this realm and to Ray as soon as possible. That was the only thing that could help him now. Danny made a move to lie down and shift back into human form.

I shook my head. “Not yet,” I said. “Naomi needs your protection, and shifting right now is too risky in your condition. I didn’t just free you from her hold to have her snare you again.”

At the mention of his mate’s name, he growled, pinning his ears back. He angled his muzzle in the air, and once he found her scent, he took off. I let him go.

I stood, turning to where Marcy and the bokor were still circling each other. With surprise, I saw that the rest of the rabid wolves were lying on their sides. “How’d you do that?” I called as I moved toward them.

“I figured out the spell she was using,” Marcy said triumphantly. “So I countered it with one of my own. It was a deceptively easy one. I almost missed it. It’s the kind of spell you learn in grade school.”

“You know nothing,” the sorceress intoned in a flat voice. “My wolves are part of me. They have only gone to sleep but I will raise them shortly.”

“They went to sleep because I kicked your spell to the curb.” Marcy had her fingers up, ready for the next round.

I came up behind Marcy and addressed the bokor. “Are you the one who’s making these people into wolves? Or is it the loa?”

The sorceress threw her head back and cackled, her multicolored robes flashing, her grimy, broken teeth exposed to full effect. “My magic is beyond your understanding, female wolf. But mine coupled with my darling Marinette’s—we are a force like nothing you’ve ever witnessed.”

“So it’s true,” I said, trying not to be too stunned. “The loa is Marinette.” I glanced at Marcy. “You were right.”

“Imagine that. I mean, by strict percentages, I’m bound to be correct at least half the time,” Marcy answered. “But I can tell you, I wish I had been wrong about this one.”

Something whispered by my ear.
Your time has come
, it said.
I have dreamed of this day
.

I swatted the air in front of my face. “Marinette,” I called. “I see you’ve finally recovered from the last black spell we gave you. Your henchman here is claiming you are both extremely powerful, but we drove you away fairly easily. You’re not looking too incredibly fierce to me now.”

The bokor started to laugh and it sent the hairs on the back of my neck straight upward. I glanced at Marcy. Dammit, we were missing something big here. She shrugged and said, “I have no idea what’s going on, but I don’t like it either. Something’s off.”

“You wanted me here, Marinette, so I’m here. Let’s finish this,” I called. “Or are you too weak?”

Hot air wafted by my face, prickling my skin.
I created you… now I will take back what’s mine
.

It took me a moment to process what was about to happen, but when I did, I shouted to Marcy, “She’s going to try and get—” All at once, dank air infiltrated every part of me, pouring through my nose, my ears, my eyes, pushing into me with relentless strength and energy.

She was inside me, devouring me in an instant. And I fell to my knees.

I heard Marcy yell, “Grab a spell! Grab a spell!”

Mindlessly I jammed my hand into the pouch and grabbed the last three spells. I drew them out, but instead of throwing them to the ground, I took one deep breath and smashed the bags against my body, saying all the words. The spells were crafted for me, with my blood, so I assumed they wouldn’t render me unconscious or do anything overly nefarious.

There was a crushing noise as they all exploded, making my eardrums ring, but I managed to keep myself steady. Then suddenly the smoky, spell-filled air around me went totally still.

I coughed and wiggled my fingers, swishing away the cloud of mingled aftereffects. I couldn’t feel the loa in my body. The air in front of me was muddy brown. “Marcy, what happened?” I called.

She came up behind me. “Well, you successfully froze, stunned, and protected yourself against the loa. Can you feel her in the air? Was she doing what I thought she was doing?”

“She was inside me. I don’t sense her right now, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Wait,” Marcy said. “If you froze her with that spell, then we should try and do something more, and we only have a few minutes at best.”

“What do you have in mind?” I glanced through the haze and spotted the bokor on the ground. “She looks asleep.” I raised my eyebrows at Marcy. “Or is she dead? That would be the better scenario.”

“She’s asleep or stunned, or both. But that was all me. I hit her with another combo. I have no idea which one worked, or if they both did. But it doesn’t matter, we need to hurry and deal with the loa first. She’s the bigger fish we need to fry in this dead swamp.” Marcy waved her fingers in front of me and magic brushed by my face. It made a crinkling sound, like a potato chip bag being rustled, and the air around me started to pop and crackle.

I stood, brushing myself off. “What are you doing?”

“No, stay still. I’m exploding all the air particles around you. If the loa was in your body, and you successfully shot her out and froze the air around you, then maybe we can get rid of her by exploding the particles around you.”

“Good thinking,” I said. “Hit close to the ground too. Maybe some of her ghostly particles landed in the dirt.”

Marcy aimed downward. As she did, I backed away slowly. “I’m going to check on Naomi and Danny.” Marcy nodded as she kept her focus aimed at the place where I’d just been standing. I rounded the altar and gasped. I kneeled immediately, plunging my hands into Danny’s fur, trying to ignore when it came away in tufts in my hands. “It’s going to be okay,” I murmured in his ear. “I promise you.”

He whined at me from his position lying over Naomi’s back. He had nudged her away from the altar and had draped his body over hers, protecting her. She still hadn’t woken. But he was clearly in distress, the curse eating away at his insides.

“Danny. I need you to roll off of her.” He growled at my instruction. “I know you don’t want to leave her, but I have to examine her for injury. She should’ve woken up by now.” He grudgingly let me maneuver him away, but I settled him as close to her as I could. “It’s going to be okay.” I stroked his fur while searching
Naomi’s body. “We’re going to eliminate the threat, and once we do, we’ll get you both out of here.”

He lifted his snout and snapped his jaws. Then he shook his head. “I don’t care if you don’t believe me.” I turned to address him. “That’s the way it’s going to be. Everyone is getting out of here in one piece. All of us. Now, let me see what’s wrong with your mate.” I got down on my knees and hovered over her. There was nothing outwardly wrong with her that I could detect. “Naomi.” I shook her lightly. “I need you to wake up.”

No response.

I placed my hands on her abdomen and sent a trickle of power in, searching for what was wrong. I was so focused on my task, I didn’t hear Marcy approach.

“What’s that mark on her shoulder?” she asked as she leaned down and peeled a piece of Naomi’s dress back to expose a sickle-shaped mark that appeared to be inflamed and pulsing.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think that’s the mark she got when she fought Selene,” I said. “Once she woke from her torture in the cave, it was there. I remember seeing it. But now it looks angry. Do you know what it is?”