Grace

I quickly recover from my amazed stupor and manage to blow up a few vamps before they make it down the stairs and into the fight. The supernatural creatures move too quickly for me to blow them up without some wolf casualties, so I freeze them instead. I freeze the wolves as well but am able to let them go. Some of them look confused at the vampires standing stock still. In other circumstances I would have laughed at their large, fluffy heads cocked to the side like a curious puppy. The cuteness dissipates when they snarl at their prey before attacking, ripping them apart until nothing but bloody body parts litter the ground.

‘Luna! Behind you!’ I hear in the mind link and turn to see a vampire kicking off from the ground attempting to reach me. I blow him up in mid-air, showering myself in blood and goo. I can’t help but scrunch my nose in disgust as I wipe the foul-smelling mess off of my face.

‘Look at that! The Luna bathed in the entrails of our enemies!’ Liam shouts in a fake Scottish accent through the mind link and I hear snickers ring through my mind. I look down at him, only to panic when I see a vampire creeping up behind him. I freeze him quickly and smirk at Liam

‘Maybe you should watch your ass, Beta.’ I tell him smugly. He spins around so quickly it looks like he’s chasing his own tail. The thought makes me chuckle as Liam disassembles the vampire one limb at a time.

The battle continues until I hear a loud explosion from around the corner of one of the houses. I lower myself to the ground and take off in the direction. When I turn the corner, I see four of our wolves writhing on the ground in pain, whines coming from them as they lick their wounds. Blood is spurting from the leg of one of them. I look to the ground and see a satchel, blackened from the explosion. It’s obviously powerful magic that only a witch would possess. I run to the most injured wolf, pushing some herbs into his wound to aid the healing. He howls in agony at my hands protrusion into his wound, but settles down almost immediately as the herbs begin to work.

‘Grace?!’ Liam calls into my mind. I stand and look around frantically for him.

Just as I locate his large brown wolf, a vampire jumps onto his back, sinking his teeth into Liam’s shoulder. Liam growls in pain, flinging the vampire off of him. I blow the vampire up in the air as I run to Liam.

‘Fuck, this vampire venom stings like a bitch.’ He complains as I begin a healing charm.

‘Yeah, because it’s meant to paralyze a wolf.’ I remind him as the charm I use begins to suck the venom from the puncture wounds. Liam’s body begins to shake, and he lays down on his belly in front of me.

‘I’m so tired, Grace.’ He says quietly and I nudge his chin.

‘Stay awake for me, Liam.’ I tell him urgently, cupping his fluffy wolf head in my hands. I see his eyelids begin to droop closed, and I work the charm again, tapping into a source of magic I haven’t used since the day I left my mother’s coven.

It felt both right and wrong. I could feel the magic swirling around me, making its way up my body and into my hands. It was like the gentle caress of an old friend, inviting and kind. At the same time the power from the magic began to fill me. I could feel my heart hardening as I prepared to use the magic. Magic takes a toll on a witch, it can burn us from the inside out, making us into a shell of a person. That’s what happened to my mother. She was no longer a person, just a vessel for power. It was an ugly existence, one without empathy or love. One I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Part of me didn’t blame my mother. This feeling, the power, was intoxicating. It would be so easy to give myself over, allow it to consume me. But when Owen’s face flashed behind my eyelids, I snapped out of my fantasies of all consuming power to focus on the matter at hand.

I pushed the power through to Liam, coaxing it to do as I pleased. My hands began to heat up and a gentle glow emanated from them. The glow spread into Liam as I watched his body begin to glow a warm golden color. His eyes closed as his body relaxed against the ground, my hands the only thing keeping his head up. I pushed more power into him, careful to restrain it as much as possible so it didn’t take over my body. His body began to glow brighter as I imagined the light working as a form of fire, burning the vampire venom out of Liam’s blood. Slowly, he began to gain his strength back. Eventually he looked almost as bright as the sun until his eyes popped open and he bounded onto his feet with a snarl, looking from side to side for an enemy. The light faded slowly from his body and he stood tall, proud and completely healthy.

‘How’d you do that?’ he asked when he was convinced we were safe.

‘I’m a witch. Why do I have to keep explaining this to you people?’ I say cheekily trying not to smirk at him. He lets out a wolfy huff before glaring at me, which is actually hilarious when he is in wolf form.

‘Yeah, yeah. It just amazes me all the things you’re capable of.’ He says, turning to look for more vampires. His words cause my smile to fade and my heart to hurt at what I would become if I continued to use my magic in such a way. No one can become so powerful without sacrifice, and all too often that sacrifice was their humanity. That’s something I wouldn’t give up for anything.

I’m suddenly anxious to be reunited with Owen. I want to smell him and use his touch to calm my frazzled nerves. I look around and see wolves carrying vampire body parts to a bonfire, preparing to burn them into ash and prevent them from resurrecting. I wander around looking for Owen, going to the far side of the coven where I felt him earlier. Liam comes up next to me, still in wolf form, and I thread my fingers through his fur and rub him gently. He lets out a little purr, which is suddenly cut off by a growl.

“What’s wrong?” I ask out loud. The anxiety I felt earlier begins to grow every moment I can’t see Owen. Liam puts his snout in the air and inhales heavily before growling again. He begins to run around the coven, nose to the ground sniffing as if he’s tracking something. I follow him to the edge of the coven where the forest becomes dense.

“Liam, what’s wrong? Where’s Owen?” I ask, my voice quivering. Liam looks at me, and even in wolf form I can tell his eyes are sad.

“He’s not dead! He can’t be!” I scream as I clench my fists, trying to keep my eyes from filling with tears. Liam’s wolfy head shakes and he shifts back, throwing on a pair of shorts.

“He’s not dead, but he’s gone.” He says and I sniffle as I try to understand his words.

“What do you mean gone? He wouldn’t have left without me.” I say as Liam grips both of my hands in his.

“He didn’t, Grace. He was taken. The vampires took him.”