He cocked his head at me and I read his confusion, and then his eyes lit with the unnatural brightness once more and he began to snarl at me, lunging and snapping at my face.
“Dammit,” I grumbled, holding him down with a forearm locked over his neck. “If you’re not going to do it for me, then you need to do it for Naomi.” He struggled beneath me, not heeding my words, growling and biting. “Danny! Do you hear me?” I got as close as I dared to his face. “Your mate needs you!” I sent more power into his body.
This isn’t working. We’ll have to use magic to force her out, I told my wolf. I don’t know what it will do to him. I don’t want to blow him up, so we need to tread lightly.
Transferring power was different than blasting something with magic. One acted like jumper cables on a battery and the other would tear through him like a hurricane. What I needed to do was find the sorceress’s signature—whatever she was using to control him. It was in there somewhere.
I concentrated on the task as Marcy and the bokor went back and forth, spell for spell. My friend was holding her own and I was extremely proud of her. I slowly threaded magic into Danny’s body until I found something. There, I see it, I told my wolf. Those thin, almost transparent yellow lines connecting the masses together? We concentrate our magic on those places and destroy the connection. I prayed it would be enough as I sent a multicolored burst of magic into his body and aimed it directly at the yellow lines.
Danny jumped like he’d been defibrillated, and the bokor let out a bloodcurdling scream. “You don’t like that, huh?” I called as I sent one more blast of concentrated magic into his system and all the lines snapped at once.
Danny shook his huge wolfy head as his haze finally lifted. He glanced up at me and seemed to be surprised to find me over him. Then, without hesitation, he ran his huge tongue completely over my face. I chuckled. “I knew I hadn’t lost you yet.” I gave him a quick hug and eased off him, wiping the saliva away with the back of my arm.
Danny rose on unsteady paws, staggering as one of his knees gave out. My magic hadn’t gotten rid of the masses. I had only broken her mind control over him. We had to get him out of this realm and to Ray as soon as possible. That was the only thing that could help him now. Danny made a move to lie down and shift back into human form.
I shook my head. “Not yet,” I said. “Naomi needs your protection, and shifting right now is too risky in your condition. I didn’t just free you from her hold to have her snare you again.”
At the mention of his mate’s name, he growled, pinning his ears back. He angled his muzzle in the air, and once he found her scent, he took off. I let him go.
I stood, turning to where Marcy and the bokor were still circling each other. With surprise, I saw that the rest of the rabid wolves were lying on their sides. “How’d you do that?” I called as I moved toward them.
“I figured out the spell she was using,” Marcy said triumphantly. “So I countered it with one of my own. It was a deceptively easy one. I almost missed it. It’s the kind of spell you learn in grade school.”
“You know nothing,” the sorceress intoned in a flat voice. “My wolves are part of me. They have only gone to sleep but I will raise them shortly.”
“They went to sleep because I kicked your spell to the curb.” Marcy had her fingers up, ready for the next round.
I came up behind Marcy and addressed the bokor. “Are you the one who’s making these people into wolves? Or is it the loa?”
The sorceress threw her head back and cackled, her multicolored robes flashing, her grimy, broken teeth exposed to full effect. “My magic is beyond your understanding, female wolf. But mine coupled with my darling Marinette’s—we are a force like nothing you’ve ever witnessed.”
“So it’s true,” I said, trying not to be too stunned. “The loa is Marinette.” I glanced at Marcy. “You were right.”
“Imagine that. I mean, by strict percentages, I’m bound to be correct at least half the time,” Marcy answered. “But I can tell you, I wish I had been wrong about this one.”
Something whispered by my ear. Your time has come, it said. I have dreamed of this day.
I swatted the air in front of my face. “Marinette,” I called. “I see you’ve finally recovered from the last black spell we gave you. Your henchman here is claiming you are both extremely powerful, but we drove you away fairly easily. You’re not looking too incredibly fierce to me now.”
The bokor started to laugh and it sent the hairs on the back of my neck straight upward. I glanced at Marcy. Dammit, we were missing something big here. She shrugged and said, “I have no idea what’s going on, but I don’t like it either. Something’s off.”
“You wanted me here, Marinette, so I’m here. Let’s finish this,” I called. “Or are you too weak?”