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Autumn
Two more hours and we’d arrive at the werewolf palace. My pulse accelerated at the thought of what was sure to be a struggle to the death. I’d fought for my life way too many times before. But those were small-time, never more than a few opponents at once. And in those instances, I stood a chance. Now, not so much.
Getting through an army of hundreds whose sole reason for existence was to protect King Mortimer and the throne—and likely glamoured into giving up their lives for his—was a different matter entirely.
And now I would have to somehow get into Mortimer’s suite without him sensing me? What a joke. Zack, how will I get close to the palace with a witch and not be seen? I can morph, she can’t. The helicopter’s not going to work because once we drop from it, Mortimer will be on alert.
Go the helicopter route. The men on the roof won’t bother you. I think I can get the building locked down right when you get here, at least temporarily. But your number one priority needs to be getting into Mortimer’s suite before he overrides the lockdown and opens it up again. Inside, you’ll see a Picasso painting on the back wall. Move it aside and type star-eight-six-five on the panel. From there, you’ll pull the lever up to keep the place under lockdown. Then you’ll have to change the password or anyone can undo our work.
And I reset the password how? I hoped he’d give me more, but he didn’t reply. He was probably near a werewolf and didn’t want any telepathic energy sensed. I was lucky to have stolen those brief moments with Zack.
My stomach roiled. The looming battle was getting a little too real for me. “Dathan, I need to go straight for Mortimer’s suite and disable the override so the building will stay in lockdown mode. That way no one else will be able to enter the building. Less people to fight.”
“We’ll have to fight them eventually, but it will be easier if we kill Mortimer first.” He slowed as we approached a small town. “If Zack neutralized the guards on the roof, we’ll be fine while you do what you have to do.”
“Okay.” I needed to practice whatever witchy powers I’d gotten from Dathan and Jane. I had put it off the last few hours because I couldn’t play with my magic the entire six-hour drive and still keep my witchy powers. Dathan wasn’t thrilled over the others learning about my magic, but I didn’t know if it was possible to be discreet. One of the six supernaturals in the car was bound to sense what I was doing and then Dathan’s secret would be out.
But I couldn’t put it off any longer. Since we were currently passing through a town, I had more things to experiment with.
In the distance, I spotted a mound of dirt in an empty parking lot. I zeroed in on the top of it, my mind’s eye seeing each tiny speck. When I imagined flicking the top of the mound, it looked like a gust of wind hit it. I’d moved the sand around! I scanned the area for people, but only a couple were walking along the storefronts. None of them seemed to notice what I had done.
Up ahead, a speed limit sign oscillated in the wind. Focusing on it, I willed it to stay still. It stood rigid for a few moments before I released my hold.
But that was simple stuff. I wondered if I could control bigger things, for instance people. Or powerful supernaturals. Experimenting on anyone in this car was probably a bad idea.
The Escalade accelerated as we approached the end of the town. A side street accommodated a big truck and I zeroed in on it, imagining the wheels lifting off the ground. The front of the truck reared up like a stallion, then dropped and quivered when it hit the ground.
Whoa.
I didn’t want to waste my magic. I needed to move on, test as many different witchy abilities as I could with what little time we had left. Dathan, I’m going to see if I can block people from sensing me. I’ll practice on you. Let me know if you lose track of me.
How did I even begin to block my energy? I imagined my power staying inside my body, rather than flowing out. But it didn’t feel right. Holding onto my energy wasn’t natural at all.
I can still sense you behind me, Dathan said.
“A strange energy is coming from you, Autumn.” Tessa tilted her head, studying me. “You’re going in and out.”
Zoe stared at me, squinting. “I’m thinking my grandmother has been very generous with her blood.”
I looked to the ceiling of the cab, waiting for Dathan to interject. I was guessing he’d come to the same conclusion as I—if I was going to practice, everyone would know soon enough. I cleared my throat. “Maybe she needs us as powerful as we can be to give us a better chance of bringing her family back.”
“Ah, that’s why we sensed you changing,” Tessa said. “You’re practicing magic.”
“Yes, my blocking skills.” I twisted around in my seat to face her.
“You’re on the right track if I can sense your energy level fluctuating.” Tessa studied me a moment. “When you morph into a different form, you see it in your mind, right?”
“Yes. But in this case, I’m seeing others not sense me. Sort of.”
“Imagine an invisible barrier,” Zoe said. “You know how we extract images from your mind or we can insert them there? Blocking is similar. We’re placing a barrier around us which blocks our energy. Try it again.”
Zeroing in on the driver’s seat in front of me, I started at the floor of the Escalade and slowly built up an invisible wall. Once it rose above Dathan’s head, I fortified the wall, then felt it grow taller until it reached the headliner.
“Well done, Autumn. You’ve fallen off my radar,” Dathan said. “My confidence in you has been well placed.”
My mom sent me a strange look, like she’d never really seen me before. “I’ve underestimated you, haven’t I?”
I shrugged, since it didn’t matter what I did. She and Dad would always hover over me as if I were five.
“You’re on a roll.” My dad pulled a dagger from his waistband and held it out on his palm. “Take it.”
They’d all figured out I had witch blood running through my veins. No doubt they all smelled the vampire on me as well. No point in hiding anything now. Besides, I needed the practice.
“Once you work it out, don’t spend any more time practicing. Move on. You need to save your magic,” Dathan reminded me.
My new, temporary powers were definitely out in the open now. Here goes...Imagining an invisible string connecting me to the dagger, I zeroed in on it.
Nothing.
“Not sure what you’re doing, but it’s obviously wrong.” Chait chuckled. “You’re basically rearranging space and energy. While you bring in the dagger, you also part the Red Sea, so to speak. Except in this case, you’re moving atoms out of the way and then the dagger uses that space.”
Brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that? I willed the dagger to come to me, making a path for it so nothing was in the way. It didn’t budge. I took a deep breath, focused on the dagger again. I ignored all eyes on me—even Dathan’s in the rearview mirror—and shut them out. And then I relaxed and decided the dagger was already in my hand. I held out my palm in time for the dagger to slam into it.
I laughed. “I did it.”
“Yes, you did,” my dad whispered. He reached past my mom and cupped my face, then leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “Having power doesn’t always mean knowing how to use it. Dathan’s instinct was correct in putting his faith in you. I’m damn proud of you, honey.”
“Easy on the gushing. We still have an epic war to wage and even with those abilities, we have very little chance of winning.” Dathan slowed when we passed gas station signs and took the exit, making a right toward the gas pumps.
“Thanks, Dathan,” I said, adding some salt to the words. Why did he have to steal my thunder? “Always so uplifting.”
“Just keeping it real.” Dathan killed the engine next to a pump. “If you can block your presence, you can enter Mortimer’s room without a witch.”
My adrenaline spiked. He wanted me to go in all alone? Oh, God, I hated him.
“He’s got a point, sweetheart.” My mom shook her head. “You’re the only one who can block your presence and still morph into something small enough to get into Mortimer’s suite.”
After fighting werewolves, then vampires and running to the shape-shifter compound to gather an army, we’d ended up with my parents, Dathan, Zack, four witches and myself. Not an army at all. And at the end of everything, all the effort we’d put into the final plan, it would all come down to Zack and me in the werewolf castle all alone?
He and I were so screwed.
