Their response was so damn powerful that I was blown off my feet and ended up butt down in soggy soil. Pain shimmied up my spine, and a gasp escaped, but I nevertheless scrambled upright and chased after the moonbeams. I was never going to catch them, of course, but that didn’t really matter as long as the spell did its job and protected the two people ahead.
My heart now raced so damn hard, it felt ready to tear out of my chest, but I wasn’t sure whether it was fear, exertion, or the cost of casting the magic. Sweat beaded my skin, and each breath was a harsh rasp that raked my lungs. My vision was going in and out of focus, and energy seemed to be trickling away from my limbs so fast that I was beginning to shake.
The moonbeams, I realized abruptly. They were still connected to me, and were drawing down on my physical strength rather than that of the distant wellspring.
I unleashed the luminous sliver at my wrist. As it floated away, the draining sensation eased. My heart still raced too damn fast, and my lungs continued to burn, but both were more likely a result of my desperate flight across the field rather than the drain of the wild magic.
I scrambled up the embankment, digging my fingers into the soft soil to prevent slipping back. I had no idea whether my magic had been unleashed in time to protect Monty and Mia. For all I knew, they could be—
A fierce, unholy scream cut the thought dead.
If the hone-onna was venting her displeasure, that surely meant the shield had worked. Relief surged, even though I had no idea yet if Monty and Mia were okay or injured or worse …
I reached the asphalt, pushed upright, and ran across to the other side of the road. Mia’s car was now on its roof rather than its side, and one of the rear tires had melted. I couldn’t see the hone-onna or even Mia, but Monty stood on the far side of the upturned vehicle, unleashed magic burning all around his body.
Between him and the hidden spirit stood my moonbeam net. It had encased not just him but the entire car, and it was flexing and humming under a barrage of darker magic.
I might not be able to see our dark spirit, but she was definitely still here somewhere.
I slid to a halt, sending stones flying as I scanned the area through narrowed eyes. After a second, I caught an odd blurring in the air—it was the hone-onna’s concealment spell, briefly blotting out her immediate surrounds as she shifted position.
I unleashed the cage spell. She screamed in response and cast a spell of her own—one designed to destroy. It wasn’t cast at me but rather my spell. The two hit and exploded with enough force to briefly rock the car.
The blur that was the dark spirit moved again, this time running away rather than toward us. While I doubted it was another attempt to lure me away, I wasn’t about to give chase.
“Liz,” Monty shouted, “release your net! I can’t spell through it.”
I immediately did so. As the delicate fragments unwound and floated away, Monty unleashed his spell. It wasn’t a tracker; it was too dark, too dangerous, to be something so simple.
It tumbled across the field after the hone-onna and disappeared into distant trees.
“Did that hit?” I asked.
“Don’t think so.” He turned, his gaze briefly sweeping me and coming up relieved. His face was smudged with dirt, and blood trickled down the left side, but otherwise he looked okay. “That was a pretty impressive spell you unleashed—I’m kinda surprised you’re still upright.”
“So am I, to be honest. Where’s Mia? She okay?”
“I’m here and also upright.” She stood up from behind the car next to Monty, her hair a bird’s nest of mud and glass, and a multitude of small cuts over her face. “I wouldn’t mind an explanation as to what the hell just happened, though.”
“Later.” Monty lightly cupped her arm and led her around the upturned car. “Right now, we all need to get the hell out of here before that bitch returns.”
“What bitch?” Mia said, frustration evident. “I didn’t see anything or anyone. The damn tire exploded just before the car flipped onto its roof, and then you appeared to help me out.”
“So Aiden didn’t give you an explanation when he was talking to you?” I asked.
“No, he just said I was in danger and that I was to meet you and Monty along this road. But then, he’s never big on explaining anything.”
“Isn’t that the goddamn truth.” I reached down, grabbed her hand, and hauled her up the incline, then repeated the process for Monty. “I need to check the other car before we go anywhere.”
“Why?” he said.
“On the off chance our dark spirit wasn’t driving herself.”
“Dark spirit?” Mia’s expression was bemused.
“Yeah. You chose a hell of a time to reenter Aiden’s life, let me tell you.” Monty’s gaze returned to mine. “I’ll reverse the truck back. That way, we can nudge the car off the road if there’s no one in it.”
“As long as you’re careful not to scratch the truck in the process,” I said. “He will get annoyed if you do.”
Monty grinned. “I would say boys and their toys, but you’d no doubt throw a jibe about the Mustang in my face.”
“I certainly would, cousin dearest.”
He laughed, caught Mia’s elbow, and guided her over to the truck. I jogged back to the other upturned vehicle. The idiots with the hot pokers chose that moment to get busy in my head again, but I’d already taken one lot of painkillers, and there wasn’t a whole lot more I could do until I got back to the café. And, to be honest, if the headache was the only side effect of casting the moonbeams, I’d count myself damn lucky.
The top of the driver-side door had been partially crushed in the flip over, and as a result, the window had popped out and shattered. I kicked the glass aside, then knelt to peer inside. An unconscious woman was slumped in the driver seat.
She was a wolf rather than a human, and a member of the O’Connor pack, if her hair and scent were anything to go by. Which certainly explained how the hone-onna had gotten through the reservation’s gates unchallenged.
I reached in and carefully pressed a couple of fingers against her neck. Her pulse was a little thready, but otherwise strong. She’d been knocked out, but seemed to have escaped serious injury. Which didn’t, of course, mean there weren’t multiple internal injuries. I turned off the engine and then sat back on my heels and studied the rest of the car. There was no sign of fuel leakage and nothing to suggest the car was likely to catch fire or explode. While hanging upside down wouldn’t be pleasant—I knew that from personal experience—I also knew it was far safer for her to remain where she was until help got here—as long as her vital signs were monitored and the situation didn’t change in any way, of course.
I pulled out my phone, called in an ambulance, and then rang Aiden. His line was busy—maybe he was still connected to Monty’s phone—so I tried Tala instead.
It didn’t even have a chance to ring before she was on the line and asking, “Lizzie—is everyone okay?”
“Yes, but we’ve got an unconscious woman in the other car. I’ve called an ambulance, but I need a ranger up here ASAP. Monty and I can’t hang around, just in case the hone-onna decides to come back for another go at Mia.”