Chapter Thirty-Seven

Luke

 

Bursting out of the trees, with Ayani and Lazu on either side, the first thing I saw was my wife-to-be laying out my ex with a knockout punch. Lind went down, and Reagan shook out her hand, wincing. Next, I saw the black panther growling and pacing in front of her, brimming with energy.

Her power is burgeoning, Lazu said. I think you can decide this, Lukas.

Leaping over fallen Skrors, I shifted back and grabbed Reagan, pulling her close. “You okay?” Then I turned and faced the beach. Skrors, a vryke, Barrowmen, and the SB. “This is not how I pictured today going.”

“Sorry,” Reagan said with a rough laugh. “Yeah, I’m okay. Luke, Lind…”

I glanced around for Lind, but she was running for the boat, a hand over her face. When she looked back, her eyes were wide and fearful.

“She’s gone.”

“Everyone is after my stupid abilities,” Reagan said. “Luke, maybe I should—”

“No,” I said. “Reagan Grace, you are one of the keys to Winfyre’s survival. To its future.” I pressed my lips to her forehead. “To mine.” I pulled back and took her shoulders. “I’m going to shift, and I want you to dive into that power, to remember who you are and what you’ve been through. Just like you did for Cass. The second you become a fully realized Riftborn, none of these fools have a chance.” I gripped her harder as she stared at me, bewildered. “I’ll explain the rest later. Trust me.”

“I do, I just don’t know—”

“No, you do,” I said. “You made it here on pure grit, with a flicker of your power. Imagine what you can do when it wakes up. Don’t be afraid. Me and your sister are here for you—just like you were there for us.”

Cassidy let out a growl of approval.

Reagan looked at her, then at me. Finally, she nodded and stepped back. She lifted her chin high as the vryke twisted through the air and the Barrowmen lifted their weapons. Her eyes sparked with gold lights, and the air began to burn around her, dancing with flickers of light.

The clash of one world against a new, Lazu said.

We will distract the Barrowmen for as long as we can, Ayani said. They can weaken us. If that happens, we will lose our hold on these forms. But we won’t leave you.

The two wolves streaked down the beach, faster than any animal, and hurled themselves at the Barrowmen. There was a horrible screeching as the two clashed and whirled, the wolves growing bigger and snapping their jaws around the staffs.

I shifted, throwing myself into the wolf, and the world around me leaped to life.

Reagan hummed with power behind me, as bright as a star and as wild as the ocean. She dug her feet into the sand as she tugged on her power, trying to feed it to me. I could vaguely sense her connection to her sister, but ours wouldn’t catch.

Skrors rushed towards us, whipping out the weapons of the Rotted, while a few pulled out crossbows. Cassidy ran up to them, moving almost too fast to be seen, and then she roared, knocking several off their feet. The reverb almost made me dizzy, and I dug my paws in.

Now I see why everyone was after Reagan, the goddamn Holy Grail of Winfyre.

While Cassidy went on offense, I stuck to defense, keeping close to Reagan and easily dodging the clumsy Skror attacks. With the Excris looming behind them, none of them were paying attention, and several had fled back to the boat. Cassidy was also a factor.

Reagan let out a cry, and I whipped around, spotting the vryke hovering next to her. One tendril had wrapped around a wrist, and another was launching itself out. I raced forward and knocked it back. It skittered, end over end in the sand, now with more of a form. It was hideous, flashing in and out of existence, something with grasping fingers and gaping maws.

Panting, holding her wrist, where a red welt had leaped up against her skin, Reagan looked up at me. “I’m okay. I can do this. I have to do this.”

If that thing gained a form inside of Winfyre, it could end it, I remembered. The wolf guides had elaborated on that. It would continue to seek out energy, sucking up all the greenery, destroying fields, and going after shifters. If it got a hold of Xander…

Stupid, interdimensional parasite.

“Luke!” Reagan warned.

I whipped around. One of the Barrowmen was past the wolves, charging down the beach towards us. I stepped closer to Reagan. Maybe I should get her and her sister out of here, maybe—

I whipped around, and Reagan was there.

She fell to her knees, extending her hands to me. One pressed against the side of my face, while the other went to my chest. Her eyes closed, and sand whipped up around us, faster and faster. Inside, however, it was a calm oasis. Suddenly, slowly but surely, a liquid gold light began to pour through me. Pure energy, as bright and potent as sunlight.

It then rolled over me in a wave, energy waking up latent abilities and making me as strong as if I’d been a shifter for a thousand years.

As the sand fell, I gave Reagan an affectionate lick, and she laughed.

Running towards the Barrowmen, I glanced back at Reagan as her eyes flashed with light, her powers bursting into bloom. Light and energy rolled over the beach, warming my blood and eviscerating the vryke. The Barrowmen tried to flee, but I knocked down one, then caught the cloak of another. The last, Cassidy had caught.

As Reagan’s power rushed over them, dampening their powers and rendering them useless, the excess blast reduced them to ash. Their screeches wailed away on the wind.

Ayani and Lazu glowed more brightly, their eyes going to me, then to Reagan. Then they turned and went back into the woods.

Thank you, I thought.

Lazu gave me one last look before he disappeared into the trees.

Skrors were picking themselves up and running for the ocean, hurling themselves in. At the same time, shifters burst from the trees, Rett, Kal, and others. Abruptly, I shifted back, and Cassidy did, too. Reagan’s younger sister flopped into the sand and closed her eyes.

“Oh my God, that was insane,” she said. “And also kind of a ride.”

“You know it’s not always like that when you shift, right?” I asked. “Reagan’s abilities amplified your powers, and—”

My words were cut off as Reagan tackled me and hugged me, then got up and rushed to her sister, hugging her and squealing. They rolled in the sand, laughing and almost crying.

“Graces don’t do anything halfway,” I said.

A shadow fell over me. “You can say that again.” I looked up and saw Xander. His eyes traveled over the beach and back to me. “What happened here?”

I held out a hand, and he pulled me up. Before he could say a word, I pulled him into a rough hug and clapped his back. Xander stiffened, giving me a wary look when I stepped back.

“Reagan, Cassidy, and I, but mostly the Grace sisters, took care of the vryke and the Barrowmen.” He gave me an incredulous look. “No need to pay tribute.”

Reagan scrambled to her feet, sand in her hair and stuck to her cheeks. Her eyes were wide as she studied Xander, and he swallowed, giving her a wary look.

But she smiled. “Xander, we’re family. Don’t worry.” In a whisper, she added, “Badass.”

“You know?” I asked.

“I know,” she said and held out her hand to Xander. He tentatively took it, and I saw the flash in his eyes as he received her memories. “Bloodtamer. Interesting.”

“Alternately, Amplifier, or Kinetic,” I said.

“Kinetic,” Xander said and glanced at Cassidy as she came over, looking curious and awkward. “That’s the one that suits you. Winfyre is lucky to have the Grace sisters.”

“What are you going to do about them?” Cassidy asked and nodded at the ocean, where Skrors were flailing around, and shifters were taunting them from the shores. “Prison?”

“We never keep Skrors for long—they tend to spoil,” Xander said and folded his arms. “Eh, let ’em go, Northbane,” he called out and glanced at Reagan. “They’re not coming back.”

“So,” Cassidy said. “Should we go back to the party?”

Reagan and I looked at each other. “I am pretty hungry,” she said.

“And Winfyre parties go all night,” Xander added.

“They do?” I asked.

“Sure, why not?” Xander asked, and something of his old grin was on his face. 

“This is the first party we’ve ever had,” I said, putting an arm around Reagan as we walked up the beach. Kal and Rett caught up. “Are you makin’ a new law, Head Command?”

“A new tradition,” Xander answered with a laugh.