Pushing my shoulders back, I resolved to stop being so affected by him even if his presence was comforting in this creepy-as-hell place, because it was best to remember who I was dealing with. Jenkins hadn’t recommended the Fire Wolf for his looks.

As we reached the end of the hall, the sound of dripping water came from farther ahead.

“Do you hear that?” I asked uneasily. A part of me expected to see a ghost hanging from a noose in a shower stall.

The Fire Wolf stopped. “I do.” He didn’t move. Instead, his entire body tensed.

“What is it?”

A long moment passed before he said, “I sense something.”

I stiffened. “Do you feel a ghost too?”

“I don’t know, but stay close.” He took another step and asked quietly, “Do you feel anything from your sister?”

The quivering remains of my twin bond were nearly gone, but I clung to a sliver of it. “I think we’re getting closer to where she was held, but it’s fading fast. I won’t be able to sense where she was held for much longer.”

“I think you’re right. Her scent is growing stronger, but there’s something else too.” He made a discontented sound.

For the life of me, I couldn’t detect whatever the hunter was picking up, and it made my stomach tighten.

I shivered, and it felt like a ball of lead settled in my stomach. Not only was this place haunted, but now it was also giving off sinister vibes to the hunter. Not good.

The brush of the Fire Wolf’s warm hand on my elbow had me drawing to an abrupt stop.

“We’re not alone,” he said so softly that I almost didn’t hear him.

Those words had only just left his lips when a flare of potent, malicious magic scorched across my skin and two sorcerers appeared in the dark.

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Chapter 12

I instinctively reached for a death potion just as the Fire Wolf’s arms wrapped around me. Before I knew what was happening, I was flying through the air and tumbling to the floor.

The hunter rolled on top of me, and the stench of the filth surrounding us flooded my nose.

Before I could react further, the Fire Wolf was off me and throwing a blade. It must have hit its mark because a shrill hiss followed.

“Go back the way we came!” the Fire Wolf roared.

The two sorcerers joined hands and the hunter leapt to the side just as they sent a surge of magic blazing at him.

I stumbled to my feet as the spell created an arc of light in the hall. Death curses.

Another curse flew from the sorcerers’ fingertips. It was twice the size of the first.

“Watch out!” I called to the hunter as I shot a bolt of magic.

The sorcerer I’d aimed at ducked just as the Fire Wolf dodged, but the sorcerer was on his feet again, throwing a new curse. It lit up the air like a firework, and I finally caught a clear view of them.

Their gaunt faces were pale, skeletal, and sickly looking, but their magic was dark and heavy, and their feel, their look, their smell . . .

My breath sucked in. “Warlocks,” I whispered. Shit, shit, shit.

“Yes,” the hunter replied as he whipped blade after blade through the air toward them. “Get out of here!”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I threw a potion at one of the warlocks, but he dipped to the side, his movements a blur. The potion exploded in a useless cloud on the floor.

Fuck they were fast.

I tried a binding spell, then a telekinetic one, then a death curse. All the while, I dipped and moved, swayed and dodged, as they cast spells at me just as fast.

But each spell I threw missed its mark. They moved with inhuman speed, as though the wind carried them in gusts, and as if they could disappear and reappear even though that was impossible.

Sweat beaded on my forehead, and one of the warlocks hissed at me as he began to swirl his palms, crackling power forming between his hands.

I threw another potion, but he dodged that one, too, moving so fast that no amount of my training could have made me hit the mark.

Shit. I only had three of those potions left.

A zing through the air caught my attention, right before a throwing star embedded itself into the warlock’s shoulders. A bolt of magic followed, sizzling through the air, but the warlock dodged and avoided that hit from the hunter.

The Fire Wolf was fighting just as fast, if not faster, than me. The warlock wrenched the throwing star from his flesh. In another blink, he’d hurled it back at the hunter in blinding fury. My heartbeat skipped, but the Fire Wolf managed to dart out of the weapon’s path.

I erected a shield spell around myself as the warlocks lobbed curses one after another, going faster and faster and faster. My spell shattered so I turned into a tornado of leaps, dips, and rolls. It took everything in me just to stay on my feet and not get hit.

Fucking A.

I panted and trembled as reality set in. Warlocks were notoriously strong since they were filled with dark magic. We may not survive this.

“Tala. Run, now!” the Fire Wolf growled as he erected a shield spell around himself. He threw his shield my way, extending it, but after three rapid hits from the warlocks, his shield shattered too.

I locked my jaw. “No way. I’m not leaving you with two against one.”

I swirled my hands as the Fire Wolf erected another shield before withdrawing a magically charged gun. He shot over and over at the warlocks.

But the glowing bullets missed them, the warlocks’ bodies moving impossibly fast, as though they could see the bullets and avoid them.

Magic swam through my veins as I summoned all of it. It crackled and filled my arms, flowing down my limbs as a ball of sizzling power grew at my fingertips. I hurled my arm back, about to unleash an avalanche of power that would stop even these two momentarily, but then an abrupt wave of black energy hit me.

A scream parted my lips as I flew backward, smashing into the ground.

My summoned magic vanished, disappearing in a blink. I clutched my stomach in agony. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. I’m hit, I’m hit, I’m hit.

Molten, dark power flowed into me, drowning me in its intensity. I curled into a ball. I was dying, the pain alone told me that.

I gasped, then sucked in another breath. The pain didn’t abate, but I was still alive.

What’s happening?

I was vaguely aware that the fighting continued. The Fire Wolf kept throwing, shooting, dodging, and rolling, all the while calling to me over and over.

But the overwhelming surge of malicious magic kept barreling into me in unrelenting waves. It didn’t stop, but I didn’t die.

It’s my fucked-up magic! My magic was on the fritz again. Un-fucking believable.

I blinked and rolled to the side in agony. Through slitted eyes, I saw that one of the warlocks was also doubled over.

He was on the floor, too, rolling around in a state similar to me. A sickly cry came from him as his partner continued fighting the hunter.

I clamped my mouth shut, swallowing the yelp of pain that flooded my system, as whatever the hell was happening to me refused to release its grip.

The Fire Wolf shot a lightning-quick glance in my direction, then a ferocious snarl erupted from him before he leapt and shifted midair.

Shredded clothing fluttered around him, drifting to the floor like confetti as he landed on four huge paws. Despite my sorry-ass state, I gaped at how beautiful he was.

An immense wolf with russet-colored fur intermixed with dark-gray, cream, and black hues, stood with hackles raised. He crouched and sprang at the still standing warlock.

The Fire Wolf landed on the warlock’s chest, smacking the dark sorcerer to the ground, but the healthy warlock was too fast. In a second, he’d rolled away and sprung to his feet.