Inhale in, exhale out. Throw. Charge. Duck. Roll. Inhale in, exhale out.

My body fell into the seasoned pattern that I’d spent my entire childhood and adult life training for. Vaguely, in some part of my brain, I was aware that the new feeling of others’ magic wasn’t affecting me, but I didn’t allow myself to dwell on it, too worried that it would interfere with the rhythm I’d found. Because I wasn’t messing around. My life could literally end if even one of these fuckers got to me.

“Tala!” the Fire Wolf bellowed when one of the werewolves tried to pounce on me. “On your right!”

I swayed to the side, nearly losing my balance as the werewolf sailed over me. “Thanks!”

But the werewolf landed on his feet and spun while the other closed in. The wolves flanked me, one on each side, and they leapt, coming at me simultaneously with their jaws open as snarls flew, all while the sorcerers worked in tandem while Star Tattoo Guy still fought my binding spell.

Jumping to my feet, I leaped to the side when I hit both wolves with another binding spell midair.

Although my spell hit its mark as both wolves froze in flight, I didn’t time my landing right. Just as my feet hit the ground, one of the sorcerers lassoed me in a whip of burning magic. My entire body seized, my teeth chattering. A brief sense of panic hit me, but I locked it down before it could grow.

A ferocious snarl came from the Fire Wolf as he continued to fight valiantly against the cuffs.

Taking a deep breath, I retreated to that calm place within me. This wasn’t the first time I’d been snagged in a fight.

Remember your training.

My eyes drifted closed as the sorcerer lifted me from the ground.

“Well, well, what have we here?” He tsked. “A collective that’s escaped from her room.”

I peeled my eyes open as my breathing calmed. I didn’t bother with a reply as I opened the well of magic deep inside me. I would need all of it for this.

“We knew you were hiding your true potential all this time.” The sorcerer’s eyes gleamed. “And I have to say, very impressive for a female.” He arched an eyebrow at me, his look taunting.

Obviously, this guy thought I was my sister, but I welcomed the distraction as I beckoned my magic forth, letting it surge through my body in hot, brimming streams.

With my body still held suspended in the air, and the sorcerer’s burning magic wrapped around me, I replied through my chattering teeth, “You say female as if that’s something to scoff at.”

He laughed “Well, it is. Wouldn’t you agree? It didn’t take too long to subdue you.”

“Five to one, yet I was holding my own. You’re right. You’re such a big man.”

His lips thinned, but my jabs seemed to do the trick at distracting him. I let my magic build more as a slow smile spread across my face. “Tell me what you think of this.”

A questioning expression came over his features just as I unleashed the full potential of my power. I broke through his binding lasso in a flurry of sparks.

Power seared through me, blazing along my limbs as my body became a blur of death and malice.

I landed on all fours and dodged to the side just as the other sorcerer tried to bind me again, but with my power humming through me, I was too fast.

I whipped around the room as both sorcerers shot spells at me, death curses again and again, and the two wolves finally broke free of my binding spell and leaped at me once more.

My heart pumped steadily, as my fingers proved steady and sure. I threw a potion at the wolves, hitting one. It exploded in a cloud of poison, and I whispered a maximizer spell to expand it until it snagged the other wolf midair.

I vaguely heard the Fire Wolf calling out who was coming at me from which direction as both werewolves fell down in a tangle of seizures.

Three down. Three to go.

I kept moving, the spells from the sorcerers unrelenting as I attempted to get closer to my hunter.

Meanwhile, Star Tattoo Guy finally broke through my binding spell and flicked his wrists. Fire appeared around his hands.

Lovely. This place was about to get really hot.

A snarl came from the Fire Wolf. He’d somehow gotten to his feet despite the tightly bound handcuffs and shackles.

I drew a blade from my pants and whipped it at one of the sorcerers. He ducked at the last moment, but it still nicked the top of his ear just as Star Tattoo Guy charged.

The Fire Wolf leaped into his path and head-butted him.

Nice. Head-butting. I’d have to try that someday.

I threw another potion at one of the sorcerers and cast a binding spell at the same time. Both hit their mark. The sorcerer I’d been aiming at went down, dead before he hit the floor as the other let out a strangled cry and rushed to his side.

Four down. Two to go.

I whipped around just in time to see Star Tattoo Guy grin before sinking his burning hands into the hunter.

My lungs seized, panic blooming through me. No!

The Fire Wolf’s clothes erupted into flames as Star Tattoo Guy let out a victorious laugh.

But his laughter died when the Fire Wolf’s entire body became alight. The demon hunter rose to his full height, scorching flames rising from his entire length before he shouldered Star Tattoo Guy awkwardly to the wall in his bound state. He pinned the half-demon against it as the flames weaving around my hunter shifted from blue, to indigo, then purple, and eventually black.

Star Tattoo Guy wailed in pain as the Fire Wolf grinned through the flames licking his skin. “Haven’t you heard who my mother is?”

Another burst of fire from my hunter had Star Tattoo Guy’s entire body burning. The half-demon squealed as the black flames swallowed him.

My breath came fast, my heart thudding at what I was witnessing just as I lobbed another spell at the remaining sorcerer.

The sorcerer flew back, hitting the wall, but was on his feet just as quickly.

Heat grew at my back, and a quick glance over my shoulder had my eyes widening. The entire room was on fire.

“Tala!” my hunter bellowed. “Get these off me.”

I whipped around just in time to see the sorcerer dart out of the room. Fuck, he’d escaped.

I twirled to the hunter. “But the fire!”

“I can control the flames. They won’t grow past that wall until I tell them to.”

“Oh.” Useful.

“Hurry. With that sorcerer gone, who knows how long we have until he returns with reinforcements.”

I skidded to a stop behind him and studied the glowing blue cuffs.

“Can you cut them?”

I crouched down and whipped a blade from the left side of my belt. I didn’t have Prisha’s magic, so I couldn’t infuse it with extra power, but it was spelled. It could cut through almost anything. “We’ll find out.”

I slipped the knife under the cuff’s binding and wrenched up. A loud crack followed, and my knife jerked in my hand, a shock biting through me, breaking through my calm. My heart hammered.

I cursed. “What the hell are these?”

“Handcuffs crafted specifically for powerful supernaturals.” He didn’t sound particularly enthused about that. “Can you break them or not?”

“Give me a minute.” My mind raced through the catalog of hundreds of spells that I had stored in my long-term memory as the Fire Wolf’s black flames continued to dance along the wall. But like he’d promised, the fire didn’t grow.

It felt as though my heart was going to beat out of my chest, and it only galloped more when I heard my sister’s shout from down the hall again. She sounded panicked now, frantic. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Were they doing something to her?

I tried to concentrate on my breathing again, but my breaths refused to cooperate.

“Well?” the Fire Wolf snapped.

“I’ll need to combine several spells to create enough power to hopefully crack this binding. I haven’t attempted anything like this before. I’ll try.”