Daide unclenched his fists. At least an hour had passed since the Witches left them trapped in their spell. Worse, his few interactions with Karin had been terse. All business. Not that he wasn’t more than willing to do everything he could to assist her in treating the whale Shifters, but the lack of anything personal cut deep. It shouldn’t. Nothing had passed between them beyond professional courtesy.

He had to pull his head out of his ass and damned fast.

A blast of magic flashed. Ketha ducked, and an enchanted battering ram ran headlong into the invisible walls surrounding them. For a brief moment, the bones of their prison glowed, looking like vines twined together. Daide stared at them as an idea took shape.

“Goddammit,” Ketha snarled. “What’s that? Our tenth try?”

“I stopped counting a while back.” Zoe patted her arm, but the corners of her brown eyes were pinched with concern.

“Brute force isn’t going to defeat that thing.” Viktor slapped a hand against the wall, drawing it back fast. They’d discovered touching the barrier long enough to activate it packed an unpleasant wallop.

“Focus your power at the bottom,” Daide said. “The structure is weaker there.”

“Sure and ’tis the only spot we haven’t tried,” Zoe chimed in.

“Isn’t our power stronger together?” Viktor asked. “It worked that way when we fought the Cataclysm. You’re leaving firepower on the table.”

“Yeah, but you were Vampires then,” Aura pointed out.

“I still think it’s worth a shot,” Recco argued. “It can’t be too much longer before the Witches return. I’d just as soon not be sitting here like trussed boars.”

“If we were boars, we’d be out of here,” Daide muttered.

“Okay. You asked for this, so don’t bitch if it backfires in some way I can’t foresee.” Ketha moved next to Viktor. “Zoe, you manage Recco’s power.”

“I’ll pair with you,” Aura told Daide. “Basically, open your magic to me so I can draw from it. It’s similar to what we did when we stood against the Cataclysm.”

“How do I open a channel for you to tap into?” Recco asked Zoe.

She exchanged a glance with Ketha, who nodded. “The animals. Turn things over to your wolf.”

“Got it,” Recco gritted.

Daide smothered a knowing look. He didn’t like ceding control any better than Recco, but he also didn’t want to muck up their best chance of escape.

“Aw crap. We have to hurry. I caught a whiff of Witch.” Power shimmered around Ketha, turning the air incandescent. Magic formed, looking like loops of shiny silver rope. She threaded it through her hands, and the other women each grabbed hold.

“What do we do?” Boris asked.

“Don’t take this wrong,” Ketha said, “but you and Ted stay out of the way.”

“Help is here,” Moira crowed, sounding a lot like her vulture probably did. “Perfect timing if I say so myself.”

Daide scanned the skies. An enormous flock of vultures blotted out the day’s light. “Won’t they die if they run into the barrier?”

“Some will.” Moira set her mouth in a thin, tense line. “It’s up to us to make certain they sustain as few casualties as possible. We have to hurry.” Her nostrils flared. “That hint of Witch is turning into an absolute stench.”

Daide reached for his coyote, activating his psychic parts for it to access easily. “Ready?

“Yes.”

The alteration didn’t catch him by surprise this time, but allowing entrance to his inner landscape was harder than it appeared. It required a Zen state of mind, which he’d never been very good at. Recco had been the martial arts guy.

The reek of rotting vegetation and old, chewed bones surrounded them. If the Witches had a stink, he hadn’t noticed it the first time. Maybe being sheathed in their spell amplified their magic, or muted his own.

Ketha chanted a few words in Gaelic. Aura, Zoe, and Moira repeated them. The rope glowed red and slithered from Ketha’s hands to ground level where it butted against the barrier, making hissing sounds. From above, a cacophony from hundreds of pissed-off vultures rose in protest.

“Give me more magic,” Ketha growled. “This isn’t enough.”

Daide felt power pour from him and feed into the rope. It grew to twice its girth and pulsated like a beating heart. Along with his power, he sent his will. Magic might not be his native environment, but concepting worked for everything else. Believing in the outcome often forced nature to come around. He’d had scores of patients who should have died, but hadn’t.

Aura shrieked in Gaelic. The rope rammed the barrier, and black-tinged fire exploded around them. Smoke rose, thick and oxygen-stealing. He gagged and coughed. Had they succeeded? He peered through fire and darkness, totally disoriented.

Aura clamped a hand around his arm. “Goddammit! We did it.” She dragged him through burning debris and batted at places his clothing had caught fire. Blinking and gasping for air, he whacked the back of her smoldering jacket, singeing his fingertips in the process.

The vultures formed a protective arc around their new position, cawing furiously. Warm bird shit rained down on them, but Daide could have hugged every single bird.

“Are they all okay?” he asked around raw places where he’d inhaled smoke. The fire burned on, forming a twenty-foot column in the spot where they’d stood. What the hell was it using for fuel?

“Not sure,” Aura croaked. “If anyone can find injured vultures, it’s Moira. Look, there she goes now.”

Moira pulled up her hood to protect her hair and dashed into the column of fire. She must have employed magic to find the birds, because only seconds passed before she ran back out cradling three vultures in her arms.

“Bring ’em here,” Recco called.

Daide held out his hands and took two of the birds. One was dead, but the other might make it. He massaged its chest gently and puffed air through its beak.

“Magic is better,” his coyote said. “Let me.”

“Sure.” Daide hadn’t yet reclaimed his paranormal side. He watched carefully while the coyote worked fast, scrubbing the bird’s lungs of smoke and stabilizing its erratic heartbeat.

“Excellent job,” Daide told his bondmate. “If I ever open another veterinary practice, you’ll have to teach me some of your tricks.”

“Gladly.” The coyote sounded pleased—and happy.

“I need your magic. Now,” Ketha cried hoarsely.

Daide smoothed the bird’s feathers and let his bondmate extract whatever magic he had left for Ketha and Aura to tap into. He turned and faced the direction the putrid smell was coming from. The vultures swung around as a group and flew hard for Witches running toward them. Dark lightning bolts surged from their extended fingertips.

“Yes!” Aura screeched. “Something we can target.”

“Moira. Tell your birds to hold off until it’s safer,” Ketha said tersely.

“Will do,” Moira said, followed by a spate of Gaelic. The birds rose another fifty feet into the air, remaining out of harm’s way.

White shafts of pulsing magic crashed against dark. Where they collided, sparks flew. Off to one side, the column of fire kept right on burning. Was Witch magic a combustible substance?

Hands extended, Ketha marched toward the Witches, flanked by Aura, Zoe, and Moira.

“Come on, men.” Viktor fell in behind his wife. Recco and Daide formed a line next to him, both still holding injured birds. Because he was adding his power to the mix through his bondmate, Daide focused on the vulture curved against his chest.

The closer the magics got to one another, the more violent the explosions when they collided. Understanding punched Daide in the gut. Ketha should have been a military tactician. She was herding the Witches toward the burning column. Surely, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to get trapped in their own working.

He quieted his mind, in case Witches were adept at reading thoughts. Bright, blue-white light surged around the four Shifters, and their Gaelic chant picked up rhythm, cadence, and volume. Power flew through Daide as if someone had opened a spigot to its full-on position. He staggered but remained upright.

With a roar, a wall of magic bore down on the Witches.

“Now, vultures. Now,” Moira shrieked.

The birds flew at the Witches from above, pecking out eyes and digging their sharp beaks into exposed flesh. Blood flowed, adding a metallic stench to the already overpowering Witch reek.

Ketha and the women had halted. Lines of strain carved deep into their faces, but their ploy was working. Inch by inch, the Witches stumbled backward. One screeched when fire licked at her backside, but her attention was diverted—along with her magic. It was exactly the opening they needed.

A mighty heave, and the magical wall Ketha had woven drove the Witches into the flames. Except for one.

“Move aside,” Recco barked, followed by, “Daide?”

He scooped the vulture from his friend and feinted sideways. Recco raised the Remington to his shoulder in a single, fluid motion and fired. The Witch raised her hands, clearly intent on blocking the bullet with magic, but it ducked and wove like a homing pigeon, evading her power and burying itself between her eyes.

The vultures in Daide’s arms squawked and squirmed. Daide understood, and he loosed his hold on them so they could wing skyward to join their kin. He hadn’t counted how many Witches they faced, but none remained.

At least not here. Daide’s ears rang from the rifle blast, and he shook his head to clear them.

“Listen up,” Viktor shouted, his voice sounding garbled. “We can celebrate later. Come on. We’re going back to Arkady, and then we’ll figure out how to free Leif and the dolphins.”

“Hang on,” Daide said, scanning the ground. “We need to make certain there aren’t any more wounded vultures.”

“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking. Bring them along,” Viktor instructed. “They can fly free once you’ve fixed whatever ails them.”

“Moira. Do you have some special way to locate hurt birds?” Recco retracted the rifle’s bolt, and the expended casing bounced on the ground.

“My vulture is on it.” Moira’s dark hair was streaked with ash and blood, and she sank to her knees. Vultures perched on both shoulders and cawed at her. She cawed back, having presumably ceded her vocal chords to her bondmate. The vultures flew off in groups of twos and threes and returned carrying wounded birds suspended from their beaks. Altogether, half a dozen had sustained serious injuries.

Between Recco, Moira, and himself, they carted the birds back to the Zodiac. The vulture flock flew overhead, making a hell of a racket and clearly concerned about their fallen comrades.

“Here’s a stroke of luck,” Viktor muttered as he hastily untied the raft. “Surprised those fucking Witches didn’t puncture the pontoons.”

“They’re arrogant,” Ketha said.

“Aye. Never occurred to them we’d defeat their enchantment,” Zoe cut in.

“We very nearly didn’t,” Aura muttered. “Damn but they’re strong magically. If it hadn’t been for Daide’s suggestion about focusing our efforts at ground level, we’d probably still be trapped.”

Daide felt quietly pleased by her compliment as he leapt nimbly into the Zodiac, checking on the birds he’d tucked beneath each arm. One had a broken wing. The other, a collapsed lung. “Want to help?” he asked the coyote?

“Yes, but the broken bone will need time to mend.”

Daide nudged Recco. “Let your wolf assist you, amigo. It will leverage magic to heal, which is way faster than how we were trained.”

“Really?” Recco sounded intrigued.

Moira’s birds cooed softly at her, not sounding like vultures at all. With a shake from heads to wingtips, both took off and joined the group still circling above. She smiled and climbed into the raft.

“Damn, you fixed them fast,” Daide said.

“When it works, magic’s the best potion there is,” she replied.

Viktor fired the motor, and they edged toward where Arkady rode at anchor several hundred feet out in the bay. “Want to let Juan know we’re on our way?” He aimed the question at Aura.

“Already did. I talked with him as soon as we were free. Wanted to make certain they didn’t put themselves at risk sending the cavalry out for nothing.”

Daide worked on the vultures with his bondmate as the raft skated across quiet surf. Quiet by Ushuaia and Antarctica standards. When he glanced at Arkady, he saw people lining the gangway’s stairs and Juan at the bottom. Adrenaline still hummed through his body, leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

“Are Witches all that’s left in Invercargill?” he asked.

“Good question,” Moira answered him. “I know exactly who to ask.” She tilted her chin skyward. “The birds will know.”

The ones in his lap made small chirping noises as if to agree. They were stronger, but he hoped they’d remain aboard for at least a day or two.

“Can you talk with them?” Daide asked his coyote.

“Not exactly, but Moira’s vulture bondmate can.”

Moira drew her dark brows together until a vertical line formed between them. “Now that’s damned interesting.”

“What?” Ketha turned her penetrating gaze on the vulture shifter.

“My bondmate asked for information. Humans barricaded themselves into a fortress north of town. The birds aren’t certain, but they believe there could be as many as a hundred left. Apparently, they formed a strange alliance with the town’s two resident Vampires—”

“Aw shit,” Ted groaned and looked from Viktor to Recco to Daide. “That’s what you used to be, right?”

Moira made a chopping motion. “This gets stranger still. These Vamps protected the humans.”

“Aye, like as not in exchange for blood,” Zoe muttered. “Witches would have had sufficient magic—and knowledge—to kill off the Vamps, particularly if there were only two.” She stopped to take a measured breath. “Do the birds know how many Witches there are?”

“They can’t count,” Moira replied.

“Then how did they know about the Vampires?” Zoe countered.

“They described two. When I asked if they’d ever seen others, they told me no. I’ll take a crack at having them describe Witches and see if I can come up with a rough nose count.”

The Zodiac chugged up to the gangway platform, and Viktor tossed a rope to Juan who tied it off and leapt into the raft. Falling to his knees, he wrapped his arms around Aura and held on tight.

“It’s all right,” she murmured. “I’m all right.”

“But you nearly weren’t,” he said. “Last time ever you go anywhere without me.”

“You couldn’t have helped much,” Viktor told him. “Move over so the rest of us can exit the raft.”

Juan let go of Aura and scrambled back onto the platform and into position to stabilize things and help with the injured vultures. “I suppose this means you didn’t locate any supplies for the boat.”

Viktor grunted. “Christ, mate. How about, glad you’re all alive? We tried to get inside that marine supply place we used to use, but it was booby-trapped. Probably how the Witches knew we’d arrived, now that I think about it.”

Juan helped Boris, Ted, and the women onto the platform. They filed up the gangway, and he called after them. “Grab something to eat and meet on the bridge.”

“See you soon,” Zoe called from the rail spanning Deck Three, her words probably meant for Recco.

“Could you grab some chow for us both?” Recco yelled back.

“Aye.” Her red hair flashed bright, illuminated by a ray of sunlight breaking through the cloud cover.

“Have you heard anything from Leif?” Daide asked. He still sat on a pontoon, holding his two vultures.

“No, and the whales are damned worried about him and the other dolphins,” Juan replied.

Footsteps clattered down the gangway until Karin stood on the platform. Angling her head, she looked at the birds. “More patients for us?” Her white hair blew every which way in a moderately stiff breeze. “I’m actually warming to veterinary medicine. Not much difference when you cut to the meat of things.”

“The whales,” Daide said. “How are they?”

“The two I dosed are well enough to shift. The other three were in better shape to begin with, but they’re still infested. If you’d been here, what would you have done?”

“We were hoping to use the whale tanks at the cetacean institute,” Recco answered. “And for their array of instruments. They’d have had robust enough equipment to introduce the medication intravenously.”

“Does that mean I didn’t give those two enough to totally treat their problem?” Karin asked.

“Probably,” Daide said, “but you provided enough of a break, they’ll grow stronger. See,” he went on, “most animals have a resident parasite population. It doesn’t bother them unduly and doesn’t impact their lifespans.”

“Maybe,” Recco broke in. “We were never sure about it since even if you could find a specimen that wasn’t infested, no one’s done compare and contrast studies on longevity.”

“Never mind the philosophy,” Juan said. “Get moving so Vik and I can put the raft away and join you on the bridge.”

Daide handed his birds to Karin to free his hands to exit the Zodiac. Once he’d taken his charges back, Karin did the same for Recco, and they trooped up the gangway steps.

“The birds want to be outside,” Daide’s coyote spoke up.

It made sense, plus the other vultures, which had been circling, were landing in groups of three and four on Deck Three’s broad, flat open area. “We can leave them beneath this overhang,” Daide suggested.

“Not inside where it’s warm?” Karin asked, sounding concerned.

“They’re wild creatures,” Daide said. “Warm isn’t important to them.”

“Looks as if they’ll be well cared for.” Recco swept an arm to encompass the flock gathered on the deck.

Another vulture, larger and coal black, flew purposely from one of the upper decks. “Moira?” Daide asked.

She squawked at him before answering in telepathy. “And who else? Leave them to me.”

Karin stuck out an arm, and Moira landed heavily on it. “Oomph,” Karin made a face. “With all those feathers, I didn’t expect you’d weigh so much.”

“Never hassle a woman about her weight.” Moira cawed laughter.

Daide laid his birds in a sheltered area against a bulkhead. Recco followed suit, and they moved into Arkady through the nearest door.

“I’m off to find Zoe and food,” Recco announced, “right after I stop by my cabin and get rid of this jacket. It still stinks like cinders and Witches.”

“See you upstairs,” Karin said.

“Yup.” Recco hurried down the corridor to his cabin.

Daide sniffed, surprised Recco had been right about Witch-stink. He hadn’t quite acclimated to the stench, but he hadn’t been paying attention to it, either.

“How rough was it?” Karin asked without preamble.

“Bad,” Daide said. “We almost didn’t make it.”

“I’m not surprised. Witches are a nasty bunch. As unprincipled as Vamps, but in a totally different way. Their magic is far stronger, and they’re smart, where Vampires are mostly arrogant.” She eyed him. “Do you want to change your outerwear too?”

“Why? So I don’t put everyone off their feed?”

“Something like that.” She smiled.

Daide almost smiled back, but then remembered Leif and his arm around her. He stood straighter. “You must be worried about the dolphins.”

“Oh my yes. We all are. I’ll rustle up something for you to eat, so you can show up on the bridge once you’ve changed.”

“Thanks. Appreciated.” He didn’t want to leave. Karin’s energy drew him like a lodestone, but he’d be damned if he’d make a fool of himself fawning over a woman who cared about someone else.

“When the dust settles,” she said, “I want to know more about the whales and their parasites. Plenty of dead worms shot through their blowholes.”

“Sure. The medication you injected is a potent parasiticide. From the sound of things, it worked as fast as it did on the dolphins, which is how I titrated the dose.”

“By guess and by golly?” She grinned.

“You nailed me dead to rights. Regardless, it appears to have been effective.” He couldn’t help himself. He grinned back right before he turned and hustled down the corridor to his cabin.

I cannot get sucked in, he lectured himself as he traded his clothes for something cleaner. By the time he headed for the bridge, he had his emotions under lock and key. And he hoped to hell they’d remain there.