20
MADDOX
Ajolt ran through my heart. My feet tangled mid-run. I went tumbling head over paws and landed in an ungraceful heap while a familiar power washed over my skin.
Untangling my limbs, I launched back into a run—in the opposite direction.
Addie’s arcana grabbed ahold of my attention and refused to let go. It wasn’t that she’d taken ahold of me. Instead, she sang like an alarm at the edges of my mind. I needed to get back to her.
Go, go, go, the beast urged.
“Oh, thank fuck. You’re already on your way,” a female voice said as it faded into the distance.
I’d never heard ghosts before, but I was certain that’s what I’d just experienced. Her presence rippled along my fur like a cold wind. I left her behind because there was no turning back now.
Addie
“Perse,”I whispered, heart hammering. “Where did you go?”
Her presence had been comforting. Now that I was alone, my hands trembled. The keys rattled in my hand, forcing me to clench them tight in my palm.
I could do this. Already, I could feel the coyote skeletons pulling themselves together. They pulled life force through me to grow flesh and fur once more. It was an odd feeling, but not an unfamiliar one. They gathered and ran towards the house to intercept the soul-torn wolf.
I waited at the door, my ear pressed to it. The thunder of my heart nearly drowned out anything that could have been heard beyond it. I was a little afraid that the soul-torn wolf would pounce on the door and pin me to it.
Wherever you are, stay away, Maddox.
He would get caught in a fight that he couldn’t win if he came to me now. Not because he couldn’t defeat the soul-torn wolf, but because he would be forced to kill. I didn’t want that for him.
The coyotes arrived. They tingled on the edges of my mind like an extra limb. Without souls, I had to pilot them manually. I pushed them to go in search of the soul-torn wolf. All the while, I lurched into action. My body was oddly split. With a portion of my consciousness in the coyotes, the other half stumbled around inside my body.
My feet slapped the ground like bricks. I listed off course and slammed into the side of the SUV, making a big thud—thereby alerting my location to everyone around. I flinched and braced for the soul-torn wolf’s attack.
It never came. The screech of claws against pavement filled the air behind me. I grimaced, expecting the worst. Instead, a familiar presence tugged at my arcana. The coyotes fell into formation around Maddox like they knew what to do.
“No, you can’t be here!” I said urgently. “Run. Leave!”
Maddox barely spared me a look. He didn’t have time. The soul-torn wolf jumped from the darkness in a white blur aimed directly at me. I threw myself back against the SUV like that would do anything to protect me.
Maddox surged upwards and formed a shield between myself and the soul-torn wolf. The soul-torn wolf bit into Maddox’s side, drawing blood. I knew that no infection would be able to take over Maddox’s body because he didn’t have his soul, but that didn’t make this any more bearable.
I’d wanted to run on my own. Now, I had to stay and make sure that Maddox wasn’t forced to do the one thing he didn’t want to do: kill.
“Get in the car,” Perse urged when she appeared beside me.
I damn near yelped at the sudden sight of her. She was fraying at the edges, only her core solid as she pulled on my arcana. With every gnash of the soul-torn wolf’s teeth, more fate threads snapped. More of Perse vanished.
“No! Don’t go!” I shoved arcana at her.
Maddox needed that power. I tried to split it between the two of them, but it left me swaying on my feet. This power had been endless. What happened? Where had it all gone? I couldn’t be nearing my limit. I refused to believe it.
Deep, I dredged. I reached as far into my own well of power as I could. There, my arcana swirled in ice-cold waves. It was the well of nothingness, the void that consumed life. I hesitated, unsure of what I was potentially awakening.
The sound of snarls and gnashing teeth pushed me forward. Maddox twisted and snapped at the soul-torn wolf, but the creature leapt away from him at the last second. If Maddox could tear through the portals and teleport, this fight would have been over in an instant. I didn’t think making him bigger would help. He needed to be nimble and…
I’d been about to thinklethal, but I couldn’t let him kill the soul-torn wolf.
That was my job. I turned back to the ice-cold arcana deep within my soul. There was no knowing what it could do, but I had to trysomething.