The Shifter and the Witch

Deklan

As soon as I see Malek, I go after him. I take a punch to the snout, shake it off, and retaliate with a snap at his beefy arm.

I miss.

Dammit.

Malek growls and opens his fist. His fingers curl like an eagle’s talons. I eye the sharp, deadly points of his claws. Angling my body, I just avoid a swipe to the ribs. The razor-sharp points of Malek’s 6" black claws come a mere inch from ripping through my skin.

Moving fast and aiming low, I lunge at Malek’s thigh and sink my teeth deep. A roar of pain and anger erupts from the demon.

Yes! The Jogon’s cry is music to my ears.

My pleasure is short-lived, though. Suddenly, I find myself hurtling through the air. I slam into a wall. I hit with such force I go right through it and crash onto the floor in the hallway.

It’s a good thing I heal fast because that probably cracked a rib or two.

A split second after I hit the hallway floor, Malek is on top of me. He wraps his claws around my throat and squeezes. I try to snap at the demon's ugly face, but I can’t reach him, so I go for an arm instead. I make contact and bite down. Malek curses as my fangs pierce flesh. The Jogon’s grip on my throat doesn’t loosen, though; it tightens.

The demon lifts me and slams me back down against the floor, jarring my teeth loose.

I grunt.

I don’t need my brain bounced, thanks.

“You ready to see your friend again?” Malek sneers down at me, his creepy eyes narrowing into slits.

At the mention of Tuk, I growl, a fresh rush of anger powering me. I rock to one side, gaining momentum, then rock the other way and throw the asshole off. While he tumbles away, I get to my feet and get my prey in my sights. I rush down the hall toward him, ready to make my kill.

Adrenaline courses through me, making me faster but not fast enough to get to Malek before the asshole gets to his knees. The demon raises a hand between us, and an arc of fire shoots off his fingers. I press tight to the wall as the flame races toward me and just barely miss getting hit. The plant stand at the end of the hallway takes the damage meant for me.

Oh, well. Better the Ficus than me.

I peel myself off the wall and start toward Malek again when a resounding crash from the bedroom stops me dead in my tracks.

All of my attention goes to Lucy. My gaze swings to the left, and I try to see what’s happening in the bedroom through the hole I made in the wall when I crashed through it. I can’t see anything, and my wolf whines with concern.

As I try to see what’s going on in the bedroom, I become aware of a bright orange light in my peripheral vision and turn my focus back to Malek. The Jogon has taken advantage of my distraction. He’s now on his feet, a fireball growing above his palm.

The flame quickly reaches ‘Oh, Shit!’ size.

I curse. I know there’s no avoiding that.

A malicious grin spreads across Malek’s face.

My moment of distraction, quick as it was, has cost me a lot. I have nowhere to go and no time to get there. I’m about to be fried.

My final thoughts are for Lucy. I hope she gets her sister and gets out of there okay. I hope she’s able to help Hannah. I hope she lives a full and happy life.

My wolf whines.

I know, bud. I wish we could have lived that life with her as much as he does.

Malek whips the fireball down the hallway, and I close my eyes and hold my breath. That breath rushes out of me when a hand settles on my side and fingers fist in my fur. My eyes pop open, and my gaze swings to the left.

Lucy!

I’ve never been so happy to see someone in my life.

My wolf huffs his appreciation of my mate’s timing.

One second, I’m watching a fireball come flying at me, and the next, I find myself back in my kitchen. The change in scenery takes a few moments to compute. As I register the familiar surroundings and process the fact that I’m not roasted, I feel Lucy’s grip on my fur loosen. Her hand slips away from me, and I look over at her. She’s on her knees, staring down at Hannah, who’s unconscious on the floor next to her.

I scan Lucy for injuries as I shift shape. Except for some scratches on her arms, she appears to be okay.

My wolf rumbles his relief.

As I stare at her, she looks up and over at me. “You okay?” she asks.

Her eyes drop down my body, and she scans me for injuries like I just did with her.

I nod in answer to her question.

I’m okay. Thanks to her.

***

Lucy

A few moments earlier...

After hitting the wall, I get up and try to freeze my sister in place but can’t. She cranks her arm back and lets it rip, pitching a hot and deadly fastball at me. I send it flying out the window and then immediately start coiling my power.

My plan? I’m going to send her into the wall behind her. I’m hoping the impact will be hard enough that it knocks her out.

Hannah reaches a hand toward the pieces of glass that landed on the bedroom carpet when the window broke. She raises the fragments into the air with her power and aims the pointy ends at me.

I’d be impressed with my sister’s ability to improvise during a fight if I wasn’t currently the target for those glass shards.

The glass comes at me, and I throw my hands up and use my power to shatter the shards into itty-bitty slivers. I get scratched all to hell, but I’ll take getting scratched over getting stabbed any day.

I gather my power again and get ready to blast Hannah off her feet.

Sorry, sis, this is for your own good.

I swing my arms up and towards her, hitting her with my powers. She flies back like a piece of fluff, slams into the wall, and drops like a rock to the ground.

I wince. I might have used a little too much energy.

“Sorry,” I apologize, even though she can’t hear me.

I go kneel at her side, lay a hand on her leg, and prepare to teleport us to the hallway to get Deklan and get gone. If he hasn’t killed Malek yet, we’ll have to get the demon another night. We need to get Hannah contained in the energy cage back at his place before she wakes up.

I teleport to the hallway and appear behind Deklan, and my heart jumps into my throat at the scene I teleport into. Deklan’s about to be incinerated!

With not a second to lose, I teleport myself and Hannah closer to him. I grab a fistful of his fur and teleport again. A second later, the three of us are in Deklan’s kitchen, safe and sound.

I let out the breath that got caught in my lungs when I saw that fireball barreling towards Deklan. That had been close. Way too close. After that super close brush with tragedy, I’m going to be running on adrenaline for the rest of my life.

My gaze falls to Hannah as I let go of Deklan’s fur. She’s still out cold which is a very good thing.

Deklan shifts shape beside me and I look back over at him. I run my eyes down his front, from his head to his toes, checking for injuries.

“You okay?” I ask, running my gaze back up his body to meet his.

He seems to be unharmed, amazingly.

His nod helps my stomach unclench. A little, at least. I wonder if my heart will ever dislodge itself from my throat.

“I’ll teleport us upstairs,” I murmur, reaching a hand toward him.

“Go ahead with her,” he replies. “I’ll meet you up there.”

Dropping my hand, I nod and teleport Hannah and myself to the spare room. The two of us materialize on the bed.

Though I know I probably should, I don’t immediately set the cage. Hannah could come to at any moment, and I really don’t want to have to fight her again, but I can’t make myself move away. She’s such a beautiful sight. A sight I thought I’d never see again. A sight I haven’t really been able to take in until now because, ya know, she’s been awake and trying to kill me.

Overcome with emotion, my eyes start to fill with tears. I blink, clearing my view of Hannah, and those tears spill over. They quietly roll down my cheeks, leaving damp tracks I wipe away.

“I’m so sorry, Hannah,” I whisper. “I should have looked for you. I...”

Hearing Deklan coming up the stairs, I fall quiet and look out into the hallway. I watch him walk by on his way to his room to get dressed. Next to me, Hannah stirs, and my gaze flies back to her. I relax when I see she’s still unconscious, but I get up to set the cage.

I don’t want to press my luck.

Careful not to wake her, I go to the foot of the bed and grab the crystal I left out of place and shift it into proper alignment. The forcefield comes to life. Hannah’s contained.

As much as I want to call Zareena right now, I don’t. Hannah isn’t going anywhere. I can let my friend sleep. I’ll wait until a more decent hour to call her.

With one last look, I leave Hannah and go find Deklan. He’s in the bathroom, trying to apply a cream to his back. He’s thrown on a pair of jogging pants and nothing else.

“Here,” I murmur, stepping up behind him. “Let me.”

He looks over his shoulder at me.

“Thanks,” he says and hands me the jar of arnica cream.

He looks forward again as I start gently rubbing the cream into his skin. I’m going to have to get him to apply this stuff to my back. That slam into the wall I took is starting to register now that my adrenaline’s dropping.

After covering every inch of his back and sides, I set the jar on the counter.

“All done.”

Deklan turns around and faces me. “Thanks.”

The need to touch him, to get physical confirmation that he’s there with me, alive and unharmed, rolls up on me like a tidal wave.

“She’s still out?” he asks as he slides his hands around me.

I nod.

That horrifying moment when I teleported to the hallway and saw that fireball coming at Deklan plays in my head, and my stomach rolls. If I’d been a minute later, he would have been toast. My distress must show on my face because Deklan’s fingers curl under my chin and gently nudge upward until our gazes meet.

“Hey,” he murmurs, his eyes searching mine. “You okay?” he asks, and I shake my head.

No. I’m not.

“When I saw that fireball coming at you...” I start and stop. I shake my head again and drop my eyes from his. “If I’d been a moment later...”

Deklan’s hands cup the sides of my face. He tilts my head back, making me meet his gaze again.

“But you weren’t,” he says. “I’m okay.” Silver spreads through his eyes, swallowing up the blue. “You saved my life,” he murmurs.

Slowly, he lowers his head and presses his lips to mine. I’m just melting into his kiss when a shout from down the hall cracks the air.

“Son of a bitch!”

That furious exclamation startles me and Deklan apart.

Damn.

It seems Hannah’s awake.

With Deklan right behind me, I hurry out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into the spare room. I find Hannah sitting up in the bed, scowling at the forcefield that contains her. My sister looks over when Deklan and I enter the room.

“You’re awake,” I say.

She just glares over at me with disgust in her eyes.

“Let me out,” she demands.

I move further into the room and stop near the end of the bed. Deklan follows me over.

“Yeah,” I say in response to my sister’s demand, drawing out the word, “that’s not going to happen.”

Sorry, not sorry.

“So, what’s the plan here, morons?” she asks, looking back and forth between me and Deklan.

She gets up and walks to the foot of the bed and kicks at a crystal. It doesn’t budge. Whoever’s contained in a crystal cage can’t move the crystals. I’m sure Hannah knows this, but she tries to move them anyway. She fires a small energy ball at a crystal and ends up sending herself backward onto the bed.

If she was pissed before, she’s fuming now. She curses a blue streak, gets back on her feet, and returns to where she was just standing.

She’s clearly not in the mood to listen, but I try to talk to her anyway.

“Hannah -”

“Let me out,” she demands, cutting me off.

“Hannah,” I repeat, keeping my voice quiet. “Calm down.”

Her eyes narrow. Her hands fist at her sides. “Let me out,” she repeats in a calmer voice, “and I won’t make you suffer before I kill you,” she promises. Her voice loses its cool on her last three words.

“Tempting offer,” I reply. “But you’re staying where you are.”

“You can’t keep me here forever,” she says, glaring daggers at me.

Normally I’d be immune to that kind of look, but I’ve never gotten that look from someone I care about before.

“Not forever, Hannah.” I agree. “Just until I can fix you.”

She isn’t on board with that. She snarls and curses me out.

“Hannah -” I say, “I’m just trying to help you.”

“Screw you.”

Tears prick the back of my eyes. I can’t stand seeing my sister like this.

“Hannah, you just -” I start to say.

“Lucy -” Deklan cuts in. He raises a hand to my arm, and I look over at him. “Don’t waste your breath,” he says. “You’re not going to convince her of anything. Let’s just let her be ’til morning.”

Heart heavy, I nod. I know he’s right. There’s no point in talking to my sister right now.

“You’re right.”

“When I get my hands on you,” Hannah growls, and my gaze returns to her. “I’m going to rip you to pieces.”

I don’t bother responding to that threat. I take Deklan’s hand and let him lead me from the room. As I walk away from Hannah, I quietly send up a prayer that she’ll be feeling a lot differently in a few hours after Zareena and I try to perform a mind restoration on her.

***

Deklan

I take Lucy’s hand, escort her out of the spare room, and shut the door on Hannah’s profanity-filled ranting.

She’s going to be fun to listen to for the next few hours if she keeps that up.

Lucy sighs wearily beside me, and I squeeze her hand in a small attempt at offering comfort. We both know her sister wouldn’t be spewing that vitriol at her if she was in her right mind, but still, it has to hurt to have someone you love coming at you with so much hate - to see evil wearing your sister’s face.

Lucy and I enter my room, and I shut my door, adding another barrier between us and Hannah. We can still hear her, but not as clearly.

I turn around and find my arms full of Lucy. She wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my neck. Seeing my mate in such pain breaks my heart.

“She’ll be better soon,” I assure her, and press a kiss to her temple.

“If I can undo whatever was done to her,” she murmurs.

I give her a squeeze. “You will,” I reassure her.

I obviously have no idea if she’ll be able to undo what was done to Hannah, but I’m choosing to have faith and hope right now.

I pull back from Lucy a little, and she lifts her head and meets my gaze.

“We should try to get some sleep,” I suggest. “Morning’s going to be here soon.”

She nods wearily, and we both get ready for bed.

I don’t think we’re going to get much sleep, but we can try.