72

72
“So optimistic.” Karina sighs. “So, have you made your decision, Sophia? What’s your answer?”

I show her my middle finger. “This my answer.”

Karina smiles at me, her eyes angry. “That finger will be the first one that I break. Break down that barrier!”

At this point, my barrier has increased to cover the entire city, and I am expending a lot of magic. However, determination is also a form of fuel. I’m determined not to die.

Karina’s soldiers run in my direction and start slamming themselves against my barrier. My companions shift, but I hold out my hand, stopping them. “As long as you’re in here, you’ll survive. The minute you step out, her witches will weaken you and her soldiers will do the rest.”

“You want us to hide in here like cowards?” Patrick shifts back and snarls. “That is not how we fight!”

I turn my head to face him, my eyes flashing. “That is how I can keep you alive right now! We don’t have the numbers to win and dying pointlessly is useless. Stay here where you are safe. If it was only the soldiers, it would have been fine. But she’s using cheap tricks.”

Logan has also shifted back, and he looks at Patrick. “Fight smart, not stupid.”

Patrick bristles. “I’m sure you are used to being a coward since you’re a mercenary…”

“Enough!” I snarl at the two of them. “This is not the time to turn on each other. I’m telling you to stay. That is my order. You will not join the fight till I am able to take out all the witches!”

Unfortunately, we are close enough to Karina for her to hear everything and she laughs. “Take out the witches? Do you know how many witches I have at my disposal? You can take out a hundred and you won't even scratch the surface.”

Tweaking the magic within the barrier is no easy feat, but manipulating magic is a skill that the Silver Wolf has in abundance. However, I'm not an expert at it yet. It takes me time and effort to weave the magic together that will allow my attacks to land through the border but not vice versa.

Sweat is beading on my forehead and upper lip despite the cold. I have to concentrate on two tasks at the same time and both require me to use a lot of power. Maintaining the barrier and making changes to it requires my utmost focus. But I have to take out the witches at all costs.

“Sophia?” Logan catches me when I stumble back.

“I'm fine,” I gasp, my muscles straining.

“Don't touch our Alpha Female so casually!” Nathan snaps, pushing Logan away and steadying me.

“This is so not the fucking time,” I grit out. “Logan, throw some rocks, will you?”

Nathan stares at me, but the older mercenary picks up on my plan and smirks.

“Gladly.”

Gathering a bunch of rocks from the ground, he begins aiming.

The witches go down one by one. They are not fast enough to avoid the stone projectiles.

But Karina doesn’t look bothered. As she said, they’re easily replaced. More cloaked figures step over the dead bodies and come to stand by the large wolves.

“Should I keep going?” Logan asks, making a show of tossing a rock in the air and catching it.

“Yes. Nathan, go inside the city and ask for guns or any human weapons that can be used from a distance. And if they have a police force, get them out here.”

Nathan heads inside, and the others follow Logan’s lead, picking up pebbles and stones and attacking the witches. Patrick is not very happy about this, but I couldn’t care less. I’m not going to have unnecessary blood on my hands.

As the others begin using the rocks, I take advantage of the distraction and solidify my barrier even more. Once I am sure that nothing can get through to us, that’s when I begin targeting the witches. It unnerves me that Karina is not the least bit bothered. We have taken out about fifty of her witches at this point, which is no small number.

Nathan returns with the police and some other humans carrying rifles.

Karina’s soldiers go down along with the witches, but more replace them.

Attacking Karina is pointless. The witches working for her have her protected with their barrier. Anything thrown at her bounces off.

Why isn’t she worried?

I soon notice something else. At first, I had thought that the speed of the projectiles attacking the witches wasn’t giving them time to avoid them. But now I notice that it is not the case. They simply don’t care. It is as if even the idea of death doesn’t bother them.

My blood chills.

What is Karina up to? Why is she so unconcerned as I take out her witches? More than an hour has passed and now Jared and Patrick are holding me up. My limbs are trembling.

How long can I maintain this barrier?

Karina’s smile is broadening by the minute. She knows I am weakening.

“The offer is still on the table,” she calls out. “I’m feeling generous, Sophia. Put on the collar and leash, and I will kill your friends with as much mercy I can find in myself. If not, I will cut them open and take out their innards while they’re still alive. My witches can keep anybody alive for hours. I didn’t climb all the way to the top without learning a few things about prolonged torture, after all.”

I find my confidence wavering.

Patrick’s hold on me tightens, his voice grim. “Don’t worry about us. You keep doing what you’re doing. You’re not going to surrender.”

I try to create a portal, but I’ve just managed to gather a few tendrils of power when I let out a pained scream. My hand is burning.

Releasing the magic, I nurse my hand against my chest, whimpering in agony.

Karina shakes a finger at me slowly, making a tutting sound. “You didn’t think I would let you try the same trick twice, did you? You don’t know much about magic, it seems. Portals require a specific type of magic drawn from the earth. My witches tainted it. You can’t use it. Don’t even think of trying to escape.”

The palm of my hand, where I had been gathering the magic, feels like someone is stabbing a knife into it over and over again. One look at it has me hissing. It’s turning black.

“What the hell did you do to me?”

“Wolfsbane.” Karina smiles. “You may be the Silver Wolf, but you’re not immune to wolfsbane. I know more about magic than you do. Pity. You would’ve made an excellent witch.”

I curse under my breath. I had hoped to get the others out of here, using a portal. But now?

This is a losing fight.

Even though the humans are fighting alongside us, not asking any questions, it doesn’t matter how many shifters and witches we take out. More keep replacing them. Bodies are piling up around the front line and some of Karina’s soldiers are dragging them off, tossing them to the side. If we had our soldiers, it would have been easier. But this is an impossible situation. No wonder Karina is so calm and confident. She’s just wearing me down.

I can’t afford to be captured. Not when Alex’s life hangs in the balance. I have to figure something out. And fast.

The weight of the barrier is too heavy. While my capacity for magic is more than that of a normal witch, it is not unlimited.