“The bobcat Alpha and his council went up there with the other mage,” Jezza gasped, his strength at its lowest ebb. John was basically holding him up, his arm around Jezza’s shoulders.

“Another mage?” Serena asked, her head whirling. She had thought they were done, but now they weren’t? And there was another threat? She cursed under her breath.

“There’s a fissure up there that leads right to the caldera. Best place to try to tap into the volcano,” Jezza coughed, clearly in bad shape but willing to fight to get his message out.

“They’re really trying it? To seize the power of a volcano?” Joe asked, his brows drawn down in concern.

“They really are,” Jezza confirmed. “Thanks for freeing me, but the job isn’t over yet. You have to stop them.”

“But none of us have magic. How do we stop a mage?” Joe asked, still frowning.

One of Jezza’s eyebrows rose and Serena could see the humor in his eyes. “How did you stop Victor?”

“More luck than wisdom,” Bob admitted, also frowning. “I can see the magic, thanks to this talisman, and it seems to protect me, but…” he trailed off and Serena knew he was concerned about trying his luck against a mage for a second time.

“Well, somebody’s got to face her. I tried but there were too many pawns in play.” Jezza’s eyes burned with anger at his own failure. Serena knew it was going to take a long time before a man like Jezza forgave himself for not being able to stop the bad guys from winning—even temporarily.

“We’re here for you now, brother,” Joe said in a strong, reassuring voice. “I’m only sorry we didn’t know what you were up against sooner.”

“You said somebody’s got to face her?” Bob asked, picking up on something Serena had noticed as well. “The second mage is female?”

Jezza looked straight at Serena and she felt a frisson of premonition. She almost knew what he was going to say before the words came out of his mouth.

“You’re not going to believe it. Hell, I didn’t see it until she turned on me. I always knew she was a witch, but I didn’t think it was literal. Somewhere back in her ancestry—and not too far back, I imagine—there had to be a mage.” Jezza was sort of rambling as his eyes started to close, his blood loss catching up with him.

“Who? John asked. “Who is the second mage?”

But Serena didn’t need him to say the name. She already knew.

“Lizzy. The woman who went out of her way to adopt me when she realized I was being raised by a human foster family. Lizzy is the mage. She’s pulling the strings.” Serena felt the knowledge click into place inside her mind. Somehow, she’d always known what Lizzy was capable of, but hadn’t wanted to admit it.

Lizzy had played her role to the hilt, allowing Jack to take the lead. Lizzy outwardly gave every impression of being a good little bobcat wife, following everything the Alpha and her mate told her to do to the letter. In reality, Serena now realized, it was Lizzy who’d been giving the orders all along.

And finally, Serena knew what she had to do. If there was going to be any peace in her future, she had to confront her past.

“Lizzy came to the Cascade Clan from somewhere back east,” Serena said, thinking back. “They were always vague on the details. Jack was from here. Old Jerimiah was his uncle.”

“She’s a follower of the Venifucus and the main driver behind this entire operation,” Jezza revealed. “She intends to use the power of the volcano to weaken the barrier between the worlds and pull Elspeth back into the mortal realm. And damn me, but she’s really close to achieving her goal. I could feel the veil weakening when Victor had my power connected to the volcano. The mountain is resisting, but it needs a being with free will to direct its energy. I tried, failed and was captured. But one of you might succeed where I couldn’t do it alone.”

“I can speak to Koma Kulshan,” the werewolf Alpha said with startling conviction. “If you can get me close enough and distract the mage, I can try to connect with the mountain.”

Serena and Bob stared at John. She was wondering if he could back up his brave words, but he seemed confident and assured.

“Well, then.” Bob’s voice brightened with purpose. “Looks like we have the seeds of a plan. I’ll go in first and work on distracting Lizzy while you do your thing with the volcano.”

“And I’ll try to free the Alpha and his council,” Serena piped up. “They might have done evil things, but they don’t deserve to die for Lizzy’s insanity. All the Clan wanted was to make money. I can’t believe any of them would buy into a Venifucus plot to bring about the end of the world as we know it. They were stupid and greedy, not evil.”

“I don’t think—” Bob began, but she cut him off gently, stepping close and looking deep into his eyes.

“I have to do this so we can have a future together—free of my past,” she told him. His gaze narrowed and she could see that he wanted to come up with some plausible argument against her going into danger yet again, but he finally gave up. Bob reached down and kissed her once, lightly.

“I don’t have to like putting you in the line of fire, kitten,” he whispered.

“I know,” she whispered back. “But thank you for letting me be who I want to become. I know it’s hard for you, but I also know it’s necessary.” She felt that truth down to the soles of her feet.

“I’m sending our medic and Chico down the mountain with Jezza and Waldo,” Joe added in a firm voice. “The rest of my guys and I will help up top in any way we can.”

The mountain rumbled and a few rocks fell inside the old mine. It was clearly time to get this show on the road. They headed toward the exit, helping Jezza as they met with the small cluster of Joe’s men who waited just outside the mine entrance.

“Serena,” Jezza’s voice made her pause as Joe handed him off to another soldier. “Jack is up there too. You should know…” his voice was getting weaker as his wounds began to catch up with him. “Most of the Clan has been in thrall. Under a spell. If Lizzy dies, it might free them. Tread lightly. I think none of them have been in control of their own destiny for years. They might not even realize what they’ve been doing all this time.”

It was good to have Jezza confirm her thoughts. She nodded. “Thank you for helping me get out when you did, Jezza. You’ll never know how much it meant.” She had to say something, in case she never saw the jaguar shifter again.

“I know, sweetheart. I saw…” his voice trailed off as he turned away. The medic was treating him right then and there, not waiting for them to get to safety before staunching the continued flow of his blood.

Serena met the gaze of the medic, who up ‘til now had been just another one of the soldiers. She didn’t know his name, but she could easily interpret his expression. Jezza was in bad shape.

“We’ll be here on the slope for a little while, ma’am,” the medic said as he continued working. “No sense moving him farther until we have him stabilized a bit. The guys will help and we’ll take good care of him.”

Serena saw how Waldo and Chico were already assisting, one holding equipment ready and the other cleaning off wounds on other parts of the jaguar shifter’s body. Jezza was in good hands and as safe as they could make him for the moment. Of course, nobody would be safe until Lizzy was stopped.

Serena nodded her thanks and turned toward the slope of the mountain. Far above, they could see a glowing fissure in the rock that had been hidden until now. There was a dirt path that snaked along the outside of the mountain, leading right up to where they needed to go. She walked up to Bob and looked around, noting that Joe and the remainder of his men were already fanning out, heading up the mountain by various paths.

“Shall we?”

 

Bob and Serena took the trail up to the fissure in the rock. It was the easiest path, even if it wasn’t the most direct. The werewolf Alpha, John, was their silent shadow, following close behind.

“I don’t see any magic along here, but I expect there’ll be quite a bit once we hit the fissure up there. Don’t take any chances,” Bob advised as they jogged up the path.

The mountain began to rumble again and the light coming from the crack near the top of the mountain intensified.

“I bet the area geologists are going nuts right about now,” Serena observed as they made their way ever closer. “They have instrumentation buried all around here to read and record seismic events. The mountain hasn’t been this active in hundreds of years.” She knew the history of the area, as most residents did.

The air grew hotter as they ascended and the light coming from the fissure seemed to grow from red to orange. The mountain shook a few times while they were climbing and Bob reached out to steady her.

“You don’t have to do this, Serena.” She knew he was pleading with her for his own peace of mind, but she also knew she had to confront Lizzy once and for all. This was Serena’s time to make a firm break with her past and the opportunity might never come again—especially if they didn’t manage to stop Lizzy’s insane plans.

“Sorry, but I do. You’ll see. Let’s just get up there. I don’t think we have a lot of time left.” She didn’t have words to explain the compulsion driving her now, but she knew she had to go up, into the glowing fissure.

Bob looked up and then back at her as something within the mountain roared. “I think you’re right.”

They didn’t waste more time on words, heading straight for the fissure that was only a few yards away. Bob paused when they drew even with Joe, who was hiding in the shadow of a boulder off to one side of the entrance.

“There aren’t any magical traps here,” Bob reported somewhat tersely. “But I can see into the fissure a bit and the pathway into the mountain is marked with the remnants of glyphs. Most of them have shaken loose already and the glow of the string of symbols is fading. Follow where I walk and you should be okay.”

He took Serena’s hand and led her inside. John and Joe followed in their footsteps and she thought maybe a few of Joe’s guys followed, but she didn’t look back to see. Her full attention was on the wide crack in the mountain that went up more than sixty feet to form a high, narrow passageway that wound deep into the heart of the mountain. The heat intensified as they went deeper, but it was still manageable. At least for now.

Bob paused as they came to what appeared to be the final turning in the passage. Peering cautiously around the bend, she could see the bobcat Clan council lined up in a horseshoe configuration facing the center of the volcano, their backs to the passage she was in. There was a wide ledge at the end of the passage that overlooked a vast caldera far below. Swirling and bubbling lava filled the pit and seemed to grow angrier by the minute. At the center of the horseshoe of men was Lizzy, her hands stretched out toward the swirling pit below, in which red lava flowed lazily, bubbling occasionally as it became more active. The heat was nearly unbearable and the smell of sulfur almost choked her.

Lizzy had stirred the mountain to life so that the red crust of lava far below was turning to orange at a rapid pace. Things were—quite literally—heating up.

On closer inspection, Serena saw that the horseshoe formation was becoming ragged and Lizzy looked awful. Maybe when they severed Jezza’s power from Vincent’s spell, it had taken its toll up here on Lizzy. Serena could only hope that had been the case.

There were six bobcat elders in the horseshoe, the Alpha and Jack among them. Lizzy stood facing the caldera of the volcano and even Serena could see the air shimmering with power as whatever Lizzy was doing managed to weaken the veil between realms.

Bob stepped out of cover first. Serena was right behind him, as was John. Joe stayed hidden for the moment, keeping his forces in reserve.

“I really don’t think you should be doing that,” Serena called in as loud a voice as she could muster in order to be heard over the roaring of the mountain.

Lizzy turned around, startled, and her gaze fell on Serena. “You!”

Oh yeah, Lizzy was pissed. Too bad. So was Serena.

“Yeah, I’m home. Did you miss me?” Serena couldn’t help the sarcasm but she almost regretted her rash response when Lizzy lobbed a magical fireball in her direction.

She was at Bob’s side, so instead of being burned to cinders, the power rebounded back toward Lizzy, reflected from that handy cross around his neck. When this was all over, Serena was going to hunt down that old priest and give him a big hug and kiss on the cheek. That old man’s kindness had saved them over and over this night.

Lizzy screamed in frustration and a little pain when her own fireball pushed her toward the edge of the pit. She scrambled for footing, finally righting herself, but whatever spell she’d been working on to make the air shimmer and wave had been interrupted. It hung in the air, but grew no stronger while Lizzy was otherwise engaged. Good. Now they just had to end her to make it all go away.

Easier said than done.

“You bring me a wolf pup and a…” Lizzy sneered at Bob, sniffing loudly. “Some kind of big cat, is it? With a magic trinket. You can’t stop me!” she screamed. “Nobody can stop me.” She turned back toward the pit and raised her hands once more. Dammit.

“Koma Kulshan will never answer to you, evil one,” John called out, stepping forward, though he was careful not to go past Bob’s line of defense. Lizzy ignored John—until he started chanting.

Serena felt the power in the native words and the cadence and rhythm of them. She didn’t know what they meant, but she understood they acted as some kind of counter to whatever it was Lizzy was trying to accomplish with the mountain. As Serena watched, Lizzy’s spell unraveled and fizzled, the woman making a guttural sound of anger and frustration before she turned back toward them.

“I told them Iceland was the better choice,” she muttered, clearly so angry, she was more than a little unhinged. “But no…” she exaggerated the word. “Some stupid tiger had to mess everything up and then they gave me the honor, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready for any of this!”

She seemed sort of pathetic just then, but Serena looked around at the men who were clearly enthralled. Their blank gazes held no knowledge. Their scruffy appearance reminded Serena of everything bad about the Clan, even though it was clear now that there had been magic at work. Evil magic. In the form of Lizzy and those she served—most likely the Venifucus.

John continued to chant and the mountain began to quiet by slow increments. It was still wild. The lava still flowing far beneath them in the caldera, but the jets of steam and gas had quieted down to bubbles instead of geysers. Whatever John was doing was having a good effect.

Lizzy seemed to realize it too, casting her desperate gaze about the massive chamber. She screamed and seemed to pull herself together. She wasn’t a young woman, or particularly good looking, but now that it was out in the open, her power was palpable. Serena swallowed the fear response Lizzy so easily invoked and steeled her resolve. She had to stay strong. It looked like Lizzy was losing this battle, but she was still a force to be reckoned with and they had yet to truly defeat her.

Lizzy pointed to one of the bobcats standing in the semi-circle and began issuing orders to her minions. “Kill the werewolf,” she shouted, and the man—the Alpha of the bobcat Clan—turned to do her bidding. His eyes were blank, but he was still a strong shapeshifter. In fact, he was the biggest and strongest of the bobcats, used to fighting and leading. Though his beast was smaller than the wolf, in human form they were a good match. If they fought on two feet, he would be a challenge, even for the wolf Alpha.

“There’s our opening,” Serena whispered to Bob, who stood close by her side. The space where the Alpha had been, at the apex of the half circle allowed a straight path through to Lizzy.

John kept chanting even as Lieutenant Joe appeared to intercept the bobcat Alpha. Lizzy ordered more of the bobcats to join the fight and Joe signaled his men to come out of cover. Before long, one side of the cavern had erupted in battle, leaving an even clearer path to Lizzy.

Bob and Serena advanced on the woman—a single unit with a single purpose.

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize all these years what an evil bitch you are,” Serena spoke, her goal to distract Lizzy enough so that Bob could take her down. “I mean, I knew you were a bitch, but I didn’t realize you were in league with the Venifucus. How low do you have to sink to associate yourself with bottom feeders like them?”

“When I return Elspeth to this realm, I will sit at her right hand and rule over the earth at her side. I’ll kill you last, Serena,” Lizzy spat. “You’ve been a thorn in my paw since the day I first spotted you. Why they made me adopt you, I’ll never know.”

“They?” Now Serena was truly intrigued. “Who made you adopt me? I thought it was your idea.”

Lizzy spat at her. “Me? Saddle myself with a brat? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have done it if the High Priest hadn’t ordered me to. He didn’t want you running around on your own. Said with my influence you wouldn’t dare interfere in our plans and yet look, here you are, interfering with my plans. You’ve always been a total pain in my ass, Serena. Well, no more.”

Lizzy launched a bolt of power directly at Serena, but Bob and his cross were there, redirecting the energy back at Lizzy. She stumbled as the bolt rebounded, sending her closer to the edge of the pit. She didn’t seem to realize how very close she was to falling into the roiling mass of super-heated lava.

“You’ve always been cruel, Liz. Consider this my termination of adoption. I don’t want you in my life anymore. I never did.”

Bob stepped closer to her as Lizzy prepared another volley, this one even bigger than the last. Perhaps she thought battering at Bob’s shield might eventually break it? Serena thought that was a pretty weak strategy, but Lizzy kept forming her ball of power. It glowed red in her hands and continued to gain in size as Lizzy conjured it.

Doubt crept into Serena’s mind, but Bob didn’t hesitate. He prowled forward, closing the gap between himself and Lizzy. Serena could see the claws tipping his fingers as his body morphed into the fierce battle form that was the deadliest combination of animal and human. It wasn’t easy to hold that form for any length of time, but Bob was an Alpha. He was stronger than most shifters and the way he prowled and stalked Lizzy in that most taxing and deadly of forms proved his strength beyond the shadow of a doubt.

He advanced and Lizzy let loose with the biggest strike yet. It bounced off Bob, like all the rest, rebounding on Lizzy and sending her straight over the edge of the pit this time. Her scream echoed through the rumbling cavern as she plummeted to her death.

Serena and Bob rushed to the ledge, watching her tumble. There was no way to save her. No chance for her to escape her fate. She splashed into the pool of molten rock and disappeared.

The lava and jets of fire boiled up around the place where her body had been for a long moment, before finally subsiding. When Serena looked up, Bob was back to his human form and John was on her other side.

“Koma Kulshan has taken her power into itself,” John said over the continuing rumble of the mountain. “She is no more.”

“Praise the Lady and Her Light,” Bob intoned, reaching out to grasp Serena’s hand. The connection between them was strong as they turned to face the ongoing battle.

Joe’s guys had been fighting with the six bobcat elders, keeping them from helping Lizzy, but when Serena turned around to look, three of the elders were out cold. One was dead and the other two were just standing there, dazed.

Serena grit her teeth as she realized it was the bobcat Alpha and her adoptive father, Jack, who were still standing. They looked a little worse for wear, having taken more than a few hard hits from the soldiers, but they were still conscious, if a bit confused.

Serena marched right up to Jack and slapped him across the face. When he didn’t respond, she subsided, but she had a few choice words to say to him. Dimly, she realized John had started chanting again and the volcano was beginning to simmer down behind them. But it didn’t really matter to her. Jack was her focus now and Bob was right behind her, there if she needed him.

“You were supposed to protect me,” she accused, pointing her finger at Jack’s chest. “You adopted me and then abused that sacred trust. You’re a worm, Jack, and if I never see you again, it’ll be too soon.”

Jack’s response was like nothing she could have predicted. He sank to his knees in front of her and hung his head.

“Forgive me.” His voice broke on the words. “I saw what was happening, but I was powerless to prevent it. I didn’t want her to adopt you, but she wouldn’t be denied. She always did as she pleased and for the past few years, she made me do whatever she wanted regardless of my wishes. I’ve been weak and you paid the price. I’m sorry, Serena.”

Stymied by the apology she had never expected, Serena didn’t know what to say. She felt Bob’s hands cup her shoulders and she just shook her head. She didn’t have words to speak to the man who had beat her up so many times. Could she forgive him? She honestly didn’t know. If she did, it would take time. A lot of time.

Serena turned to Bob and gave him a quick hug. “Let’s get out of here.”

Bob stroked her cheek and nodded, smiling briefly at her. He then looked up to find Lieutenant Joe standing right behind Jack.

“Let’s get the bobcats out of here. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to help John, but I think the crisis is past now. Unless some other mage shows up out of the blue, we should be done here.”

The lieutenant nodded and helped Jack to his feet, treating him more gently now that the spell holding the bobcats had been broken by Lizzy’s death. Serena watched as Joe’s men took charge of the fallen bobcats and headed toward the passageway.

But before they could get there, an unexpected face appeared coming through the fissure. Jezza had arrived. He was supported by Chico on one side, but as soon as he entered the incredibly hot chamber, he was able to walk forward on his own.

As he walked closer, his injuries began to fade and he seemed to gain strength with each step.

“How is that happening?” Serena asked aloud.

“The volcano is healing him. I think its power is still linked to him somehow,” Bob answered. “I can see a line of energy flowing from the caldera straight into him.” Bob seemed stunned and they turned to watch Jezza’s progress as he moved toward John, on the rim of the sheer ledge.

If Jezza was going to turn bad, this would be the moment... But no. He simply stood at John’s side, breathing in the hot, slightly sulfurous air, gaining strength before their eyes.

Then he stretched out his hands over the edge of the pit and spoke words Serena couldn’t hear. She could see his lips moving, but only John was close enough to hear the words. Whatever it was Jezza said, it calmed the volcano. As they watched, the lava’s glow went from bright orange to red, and a thick, rocky crust started forming at the edges of the pit, working toward the center as the mountain cooled its temper.