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My eyes narrow at the witches. If I could see their hands, it would be easier to discern whether they were casting magic. Then something occurs to me.

My hand still around Logan's wrist, I ask quietly, “How precise is your aim?”

“How precise do you need it to be?” Logan raises a brow.

“I want to knock off her hood.” I point at one of the witches.

A slow, wicked smile forms on the mercenary’s lips. “Consider it done.”

He takes aim and throws the rock. The witch’s hood is pushed back, revealing a young woman. Even from this distance, I can see the glazed look in her eyes. But it’s her mouth I’m more focused on. Her lips are moving.

“They’re casting a spell.” A feeling of foreboding settles within me.

The guard behind us looks terrified. “What’s that? Why are those wolves here?”

“Sound the alarm. Evacuate the city,” I tell him, my eyes fixed on the witches. “An army of wolves are on their way to wipe you out. Stop gawking at us and go!”

The guard doesn’t wait around. He runs off, and a few minutes later, loud gongs begin to sound in various parts of the city. That has Karina’s shifters stirring. The witches’ lips begin to move faster and a moment later, they lift their arms.

“Oh, shit.”

I immediately raise my barrier, all the way above the walls. I’m just in time too. Out of nowhere, the witches create bows in their hands, bows made of pure fire. An arrow of fire is already lodged in the bow, and they pull, releasing them.

Patrick and the others step back in alarm, but I don’t flinch. The arrows of fire smash against my barrier and disappear.

“What happened?” Nathan looks shocked. Their stunned expressions tell me that they’ve not seen the extent of how much my magical abilities have grown.

“We have to buy time for them!” I feel a surge of frustration as more arrows fall upon the shield. My barrier has the ability to block magical attacks, but that does not mean that I can sustain it for eternity.

“Jared, Nathan! Find out how long the evacuation will take!” I can already hear the fearful screams of the citizens. A city is far larger than a town. I doubt more than half of them are even aware of the attack. They’re probably just wondering about the alarms going off.

“Sophia,” Logan warns me. “Look.”

I look in the direction he’s pointing and my heart sinks as I realize that the numbers of the enemy have begun to steadily increase. We are no longer dealing with just the watchers.

Karina has arrived.

“So, this is where you were.” Karina is sitting on the back of one of the largest wolves as she makes her way to the front of the group. “Quite sneaky. I shouldn’t have underestimated you. You’ve grown quite skilled in magic. You nearly had me fooled back there.”

Her lips curve, but her eyes are furious. “I will not make the same mistake twice.”

I infuse a different sort of magic into the barrier, making it even sturdier and expanding it. It will prevent both physical and magical attacks. But this kind of barrier is the hardest to maintain.

“The humans already know that you’re here,” I hiss at her. “I won’t let you hurt them. I won’t let you start a war.”

“And how are you going to stop me?” The Queen of the North Alliance tilts her head. “With that flimsy barrier that you’ve put up? How long will you be able to keep it up? And just how many attacks can it absorb?”

“As many as it has to!” I lie through my teeth. As long as it takes for the humans to escape. Although, I’m starting to think that I’ve not really thought this plan through. Even if they escape, where will they go? Karina can still chase after them.

Nathan who had hurried inside the gates at my orders, returns. His voice is low and urgent. “They have no way out. They had one other exit, which had been blocked off by Karina’s soldiers.”

Karina lets out a shrill laugh. “Oh, dear. Were you planning to help the humans escape? You really are a foolish child.”

I glare at her, feeling like an idiot. She continues. “I’ve been doing this for far longer than you. Of course I would block off any escape route. The humans aren’t going anywhere. And neither are you. It’s already over for them, Sophia. There is nothing you can do for them. Nobody is coming to help you. The South Alliance is under attack and they’re too busy saving themselves to come do your bidding. Your mate is imprisoned. You have to be a special kind of delusional fool to think you can stand against me and my entire army with just a handful of people and win.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Logan snarls. “Let us be delusional fools. An honorable death is better than being a prisoner.”

I give him a long look. “That’s cheerful. Thanks for the pep talk.”

“He has a point,” Patrick snarls as he looks at the sheer size of Karina’s army. “Let’s be real here, Sophia, we don’t have a very good chance. However, I would rather die than be captured. And if I go down, I want to go down fighting.”

The others agree and I feel despair.

“No matter what, I will get us out of here,” I vow, my jaw clenched. “I’ll find a way out. You won’t die here.”

“How sweet,” Karina remarks. “Delusional but sweet. Your companions will die, but how they die is up to you. I can give them a merciful death if you surrender. If you choose not to do that, I can make sure that the manner of their deaths is something straight out of a nightmare. And I’m quite creative when comes to killing. Your companions are well aware of this. After all, they watched me murder their parents.”

Jared’s face is pale. His hands curl into fists by his side, his knuckles white. “Let’s just get rid of the old bat. If she dies, her army will scatter.”