Every survival instinct I had kicked in, and I had to lock my knees to keep from running away. Jason lifted his head and looked at me for a moment, his head tilted to the side like a dog, his eyes now spring green.

I stood frozen in place, my gaze locked on his—on this wolf that suddenly stood before me.

That look only took a second, but that was long enough for hell to break loose.

The creature apparently wasn’t intimidated by Jason’s new form, and it didn’t stop running toward me. It continued its galloping gait, taking air in the last couple of feet and landing with an attack on Jason’s muzzle.

“Jason!” I screamed, but Michael pulled me back. I’m not sure what I would have done, but someone had to do something. Jason was taking an attack meant for me, and I didn’t want him hurt on my behalf.

I looked back at Michael with panic in my eyes. “We have to help him.”

Michael’s answer was nearly instantaneous. “Firespell it.”

I reached down, could feel the quiet hum of energy, and nodded at him. “I think I can knock them down. But you have to get Jason out of the way or I’ll take him out, too.”

Michael nodded. “We’ll get him focused. You get ready to firespell. The timing on this one’s gonna be close. When I give the word, you send it out.”

I nodded, then looked back. Jason and the monster were rolling on the ground, but at least its friends were smart enough to stay back. Jason was getting in nips at the creature’s arms and legs, so the thing’s yips and yelps were probably warning enough to the rest of them. It opened its mouth and screamed, revealing rows of tiny sharp teeth and clawing at Jason’s muzzle as Jason tried to get a grip with his own teeth.

“Jason!” Michael yelled out. “Get clear so Lily can take a shot.”

Jason let out a yip as the thing bit down on one ear and raked its claws across Jason’s back. Jason shook the creature off, but it kept coming, clawing and biting as it attemped to take him down.

“Use the tunnel walls!” Scout yelled out. “Ram him!”

I made myself close my eyes. It was hard to shut out Jason when he needed me, but if I kept watching, I wouldn’t be able to prep the firespell. I blew out a breath, and then began to slowly breathe in again. And as I inhaled, I pulled in as much power as I could, letting it rise through my body from my feet to my hands.

The tunnel shook from impact—I assumed that was the sound of Jason ramming a monster into the wall. I heard a wolfish yip and squeezed my hands into fists to keep from launching myself forward.

I heard scuffling as the power rose. I waited as long as I thought we could risk it, until I held the power—which ached to be loosed into the tunnel—by a thin string of energy.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to end up on the floor needs to be behind me right now!”

More scuffling. As soon as the sounds moved behind me, Michael yelled out, “Now, Lily!”

I opened my eyes—and with a final check to make sure there were no Adepts in front of me—I lifted my hands and pushed them forward, moving all that power toward the monsters that were now only a few inches away.

The firespell moved forward, warping the air as it traveled, a vertical plane of green light and haze that shot out from my hands. It hit the creatures like a shock wave, knocking them all backward, the rest of the energy vibrating the walls of the tunnel as it moved forward.

I probably should have given a little more thought to whether using firespell in a century-old underground tunnel was a good idea. But there was nothing to do about it now.

The five of them lay on the floor, definitely down, but still twitching a little. I hadn’t knocked them out completely.

First things first, though.

My heart still pounding from the exertion, I glanced back. Michael and Scout were crouched together on the floor. Jason sat in front of them, back in human form, blood seeping from a wound at his ear. There were scratches on his face and hands, but he looked pretty good otherwise.

I crouched in front of him. “Are you okay?”

Jason glanced up at me, a twinkle in his turquoise eyes. “Are you kidding me? That’s the most fun I’ve had all night. Well, except for kissing you, of course.”

Not a bad answer from a werewolf, I guess.

3

Jason held out his hands. I stood up, then took his hands and pulled him to his feet.

“You know,” he said, “if you’re open to a little constructive criticism, you cut it a little close there.”

“Maybe next time you should be a little more careful where you fight.”

He rolled his eyes, but he was grinning when he did it.

“Thanks for taking the hit,” I said, pulling off my hoodie and pressing the sleeve to his ear, wiping away some of the blood.

Jason shrugged. “The wolf wanted to fight. And maybe I like rescuing the damsel in distress.”

“Just to clarify, I did rescue you back.”

He slid me a sly glance. “Then that makes us even. For now.”

I grinned back, then checked out Michael and Scout. “You two okay?”

They nodded, then helped each other up.

“Well done,” Michael said, then looked at Jason. “You good?”

Jason nodded.

“You okay, Lils?”

I nodded at Scout, but the relief at putting them down—and keeping us all relatively safe—gave way to exhaustion. I suddenly felt like I was about to get the flu—body aching, drained of energy. I needed warm soup and an equally warm bed. Instead, I still had five twitching slimy things to deal with.