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Zoe Finn collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard as the blinding white light surrounding her faded away. She looked down, surprised to find soft sand underneath her hands along with jagged stones that cut into her palms. She quickly brushed off the sand and scrambled to her feet, jumping in fright as seagulls cried loudly overhead. The sun had just started to rise in the sky like a great orange ball peeking through a blanket of clouds.
A blanket of dull, grey ocean stretched around her. A desolate beach and clifftop spread out behind her. She shivered as the wind whipped against her.
Where the hell am I? she wondered. Am I on an island? This place looked nothing like the picturesque Mersea Island she often visited with her partner, Nick. Christ, where is Nick? How did I end up here all alone?
Sabine’s spell was supposed to reverse the curse that had hidden Zoe’s childhood memories and true identity, not send her here. Zoe glanced down at her hands and noticed her cuts had started to heal. The blood stopped flowing and pink scars appeared. Even now, the curse prevailed, still protecting her from physical harm.
Where the hell had Sabine’s spell brought her? Zoe hugged herself and felt the sea breeze bite through her thin pyjamas. Why didn’t I have the sense to change into proper clothes?
Then again, there hadn’t been any time. After being dragged out of bed by the Circle’s guards, she’d been imprisoned and almost executed by the Circle itself.
For a moment, she thought she had died. As luck would have it, it had only been a ruse by Raf and Sabine, two of the Circle’s leaders, to help her escape. Before casting the spell, Sabine told her that it would restore her lost memories but could have unforeseen consequences too. Even so, landing on an island in the middle of god-knows-where hadn’t been something she’d anticipated. The spell should’ve at least undone the curse. Even if it had backfired, she had no idea why it would take her somewhere else.
Maybe the spell didn’t work, and I’ve ended up in some kind of Hell. She stumbled along the uneven ground, glad she at least had shoes on.
Most islands were inhabited nowadays, and this place looked large enough to house a few thousand people.
Step one was to find someone on this island that could help her. Ideally, someone with a phone who could speak English. Could the spell have transported her to another part of the world? She guessed anything was possible.
Zoe tried casting her senses to both scan the area for any potential signs of life and to get a clue about where she might be. Static charged across her mind, making her head throb. Okay, my senses are out. Do my other powers work?
She blurred, using her speed to reach the other side of the beach, and then carried on walking.
Nick? she called. Nick, can you hear me? Sabine? Raf?
No answer came.
Well, it was worth a try. Glancing up at the steep clifftop, she realised it would take hours to reach the summit walking normally. Taking a deep breath, she jumped, using her speed to propel herself skyward, only to find herself almost stumbling over the cliff’s edge. Phew! It worked. Static charged over her skin, making her head ache from the pulse of the ley lines—the strongest she’d ever felt. Whoa, this place feels like it’s made of power. Where am I?
Ley lines were veins of magical energy that ran through the earth. Magical beings could tap into them to gain energy or transport themselves from one place to another. Zoe raised her hand to open the lines, but abruptly stopped. Where could she go? Not home, that would be the first place the Circle’s trackers would look for her. They’d only arrest and try to execute her for crimes she hadn’t committed all over again. She couldn’t go to Nick or the others for help either, the Circle would no doubt be watching them too. Nowhere was safe for her.
Zoe ran a hand through her long brown hair, wishing she’d had a chance to tie it up. Nick? she called out again with her mind.
Still no response.
Guess I’m on my own.
She’d just have to see how this played out until she could somehow contact Nick or Sabine for help. She didn’t want to risk bringing Nick here unless she had to. He’d be in enough trouble already for trying to help her escape from the Circle.
Something blurred out of the corner of her eye, and she spun around to see what it was. Magic flared between her fingers as she steeled herself for an oncoming attack.
There was nothing there but trees that stood like silent spectators watching her every move. Again, she tried to cast her senses out, but all she got was more static. Her athame—a knife used to channel magic— would have been comforting right now, but the Circle had taken it away before they imprisoned her.
Something blurred again at too fast a speed for her to notice who or what it had been.
Nick? No, he wouldn’t sneak up on her.
Icy grass crunched beneath her feet as she hurried on, eager to put some distance between her and whatever had been spying on her. After all the magic she’d seen since finding out she was a fey guardian, she wasn’t surprised that there might be magical threats on this island.
Keep moving. You’re not powerless. You’re a guardian. You hunt bad things and creepy stalkers.
The feeling of eyes watching her increased, so she blurred, using her guardian speed to put some distance between her and whatever was after her. Trees whirled past as she shot across the clearing. Ducking into the woods would be her safest bet. She could lose whatever stalked her in there. She wondered if it was the same entity that had harassed her for the past few months. The strange, shadowy being had followed her around, killing people in its wake, then tried to frame her for those murders. She still had no idea who or what it was, or what it might want with her.
Something dark shot past her, and the biggest wolf she’d ever seen—too big to be a normal wolf—blocked her path. All grey fur and muscle with amber eyes flashing as bared teeth growled at her.
Oh crap! Zoe skidded to a stop as another wolf appeared behind her. It looked just as big as the other one, red coated and muscular with gigantic paws. Ah hell, why did I have to land on an island inhabited with wolves? They’re extinct in Britain!
“Nice wolfy,” she breathed. “Why don’t you just move, and I’ll go far away?”
It snarled at her, showing large canines that made her gulp.
Zoe threw up her hands to blast each wolf with a beam of gold light, and both beasts yelped as they flew through the air.
She took off at breakneck speed, low tree branches catching against her clothes as she ran. She wondered if her banishment sigils—magical signs that channelled power—could banish creepy wolves to the underworld like they did with fey but didn’t want to stick around to find out.
Why didn’t Nick train me to deal with wolves? I guess that’s not part of a guardian’s job description.
She stumbled and lost her footing. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, leaning against a tree for support. Nothing but more dense forest stretched out before her.
Damn it. There had to be civilisation around here somewhere.
I have to keep moving. Wolves can smell people. They could be after me right now.
Her feet pounded against earth as she made her way through the tree line. As she broke it, something hissed through the air and struck her shoulder, making her yelp with pain.
When she inspected it closer, she saw it had burned a hole right through her pyjama top.
Great, wolves with magic – even better!
A dark-haired man appeared in front of her as he shifted from his hulking wolf form, making her gasp. He had pale blue eyes and wore jeans and a black T-shirt.
“Holy crap!” Zoe muttered as another man appeared behind her.
“You are trespassing on the alpha’s island,” the first man said. “Who are you?”
Zoe opened her mouth to tell them, then hesitated. The Circle was still after her. Nowhere was safe. Dorian, one of the Circle’s leaders, wouldn’t stop until they put her to death—for real this time. “I’m no one. Listen, I don’t know how I got here, so if you could just —”
The second man grabbed her arms and wrenched them behind her back. “Trespassers aren’t welcome on this island. If you’ve come to challenge our alpha, you will be put to death.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Your alpha isn’t on my list of priorities.”
His grip felt far stronger than that of a human’s, she noted as she tried to wriggle free. She head-butted him, then blurred away.
The other shifter shot in front and grabbed her. “You won’t get very far. We’ll chase you over the entire island if we have to,” he growled.
“Listen I have no idea where I am or why I’m here so...” She tried to wrench her arms away again, but his grip tightened around her wrists like a vice.
A voice carried on the wind. “Zoya...” Suddenly, the blurry figure of a woman appeared. “Zoya?”
“Who’s that?” Zoe gasped. She tried to make out the woman’s features, but the figure seemed to blur into the background. She caught a flash of dark hair but couldn’t make out anything else.
“What are you talking about?” the first shifter demanded.
“That woman.” She pointed to the blurred figure, but the woman vanished in a swirl of light, as if she had never been there.
“There’s no woman. You—”
Zoe’s hand flashed as she summoned her magic and blasted the shifter holding her off his feet. “Okay, boys. We’ve established I have power too. Now I’d—”
Before she could finish, the first shifter lunged at her. She blocked his first blow as he tried to grab her, then a second as he tried to backhand her.
The second shifter came at her, blurring with shifter speed. Zoe dodged him and drew a sigil in the air, which flared with bright golden energy. She had no idea if it would work or not, she only knew that she had to get the hell away from them.
Both shifters were sent flying as energy exploded around them from the glowing sigil.
No idea where that sigil came from. With no time to ponder it, Zoe took off, calling on her power of invisibility and blurring as fast as she could. She had to get the hell off this island. Luckily, its weird energy made it impossible to sense what direction she was going in.
Tree branches snagged at her clothing again, and this time the sharp branches bit into her bare arms. She staggered, clutching her head as the pulse from the ley lines pounded in her skull like a jackhammer.
Another blast of energy knocked her to the ground. She winced at the pain, gripping her stomach where the blow had struck her.
When she looked up, a woman stood up ahead. Her long brown hair fell almost to her waist and her eyes glowed a hot amber, making her alabaster skin shimmer. Power rolled her off her like waves crashing against rocks. She wore jeans and a purple blouse and stood glaring down at Zoe.
“Who are you?” Zoe asked, scrambling up into a sitting position.
“I might ask you the same thing,” said the woman, hands on hips. “I’m Christy. I’m the alpha. This is my island. You need to tell me why you’re here.”
