Chapter 85
Fleven fot
We stood just outside the keep, the mersing son slicing through the treetops like a Blade made of gold. Aty three mates flanked me. armored up and radiating lethal energy, while the elite wolf strike team waited a few paces behind us, weapons strapped and ses sharp,
Lachlan was borefoot in the grass, his shirt rolled to the elbows, his hands glowing faintly as he whispered in Old Garlic. His grower was like warm honey and wildfire, comforting, but dangerous if you fucked with it.
“Ye ready, mo ghrá? he asked without looking up.
Ready as I’ll ever be to step through a magical hole in the universe, I muttered.
Daxon grinned, cocking his gun and slinging his pack over one shoulder. “Better than a fourteen hour flight again.”
“Moon Goddess bless and fucking amen,” I muttered.
Ashrian chuckled beside me. “We almost died of boredom last time. And those airplane snacks were a war crime.”
“Ye lot are dramatic as fuck,” Lachlan said, smirking as the portal began to shimmer in the air before him.
“Never again,” Daxon deadpanned.
The air went cold. Not from the magic, but from inside me. Lyssira stirred. Finally. Her voice purred into my mind like liquid moonlight. “The Goddess speaks.”
I froze, my hand tightening on the strap of my axe. “Selene is talking to Lyssira.”
My mates immediately turned to me, alert and listening.
“We are on the right path,” Lyssira whispered. “But darkness coils ahead. The vampires are watching. And they are not alone.”
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath. “She says we’re doing what we’re meant to. We’ll find our allies. But Aegis is watching.”
“They always are,” Ash muttered grimly.
“There’s more,” I added, my heart sinking. “The Moon Goddess warns us, the vampires have witches now. Ones who’ve turned against her.”
That made even Lachlan’s magic falter. He turned slowly, his expression hard. “Traitor witches?”
“Dark magic,” I said, nodding once. “So we need to be careful as hell.”
“Wonderful,” Daxon growled. “Just what we needed. Evil spellcasters.”
Ash ran a hand through his hair. “Guess we’re gonna need more than knives and axes.”
Lachlan’s magic flared brighter. “Then it’s a bloody good thing ye brought me along, aye?”
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14:38 Thu, Oct 2 M…HES
Chapter 85
I smirked despite myself. “You’re so cocky.”
‘Cause I’ve got the cock tae back it up, lass.”
6:4
“Gross, Daxon muttered with a laugh. “We’re literally going to battle.”
“And I’m bringin’ the morale,” Lachlan winked.
The strike team tensed, their eyes scanning the tree line as the air shifted again, sharp and electric.
“Let’s move,” I said firmly. “We’ve got allies to find. A goddess to serve. And some traitorous bitches to burn.”
Lyssira rumbled with pride in my mind. “Now that’s the fire I wanted to feel again.”
50
Lachlan stepped forward, planting his feet firmly in the mossy ground, arms relaxed at his sides as he took a slow breath. The air shifted around him, thick with tension, thrumming with power.
He muttered something low and ancient, words I couldn’t understand, but they slithered over my skin like silk and static. The sky above darkened just slightly, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
His hands lifted, fingers splayed.
The earth beneath his feet sparked faintly with threads of golden light, curling up his legs like vines. A pulse of raw magic rippled out from him, warm and electric, and the air before him began to shimmer.
Then bend.
It looked like heat waves at first, distorting the forest behind it, then it tore open with a sound like fabric ripping through thunder. A circle formed, ten feet wide, suspended in the air like a mirror made of water and flame.
On the other side, were rolling hills and ancient stone fences glowed under a silver sky.
Scotland.
Lachlan turned slightly, smirking, his eyes glowing like blue fire. “Portal’s open, mo ghrá. Let’s go shake up the fuckin’ world.”
I grinned at my boys and winked, “Let’s get to it, shall we?” I stepped forward, checking my gear one more time, and practically skipped through the portal.
The second I stepped through the portal, I knew I’d fucked up.
One second I was standing in the field beside Lachlan, all smug and badass, ready to walk into fae haunted Scotland like I owned it. The next second? I was face down in cold ass wet grass, coughing like I’d inhaled a swarm of bees and someone had drop kicked my lungs into another dimension.
Beside me, Daxon was on his knees wheezing like he’d just run a marathon in wolf form. Ashrian let out a string of very creative curses in what I think was ancient Elvish. The entire strike team, six of the fiercest wolves I’ve ever seen, were sprawled out around us in various positions of post-portal regret.
And Lachlan? That smug bastard just sauntered out like he was stepping into a goddamn commercial.
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14:38 Thu, Oct 2 M
Chapter 85
He didn’t even stumble.
ଝଚ (50)
“Should’ve warned us!” I snapped, brushing moss off my jacket and glaring up at him. “A little ‘hey, this portal might feel like getting yeeted by a moon dragon’ would’ve been super helpful.”
Lachlan just grinned, the bastard. “Aye, but where’s the fun in that, mo ghrá?”
“Right now I’m torn between kissing you and punching you.”
‘Ye can do both. I’ll take it.”
Before I could launch something, possibly my boot, at him, he lifted his staff and murmured something under his breath. Instantly, soft golden orbs appeared in the air, floating like will-o’-the-wisps. They hovered in a perfect trail, illuminating a narrow path ahead that cut through wild moorland, mist curling between the hills like something out of a Celtic fever dream.
“Well damn,” Daxon muttered, standing and stretching. “You are handy.”
Ashrian dusted off his coat, eyeing the glowing orbs warily. “Remind me to stop underestimating the pretty mage.”
Lachlan chuckled and pointed ahead with his staff. “We’ve about five miles tae go. Through the moors and the trees yonder. MacCrae land’s veiled from non coven eyes, but they’ll be expecting us.”
“Let me guess,” I said, falling into step beside him, “if we step off the path, we get eaten by magical fog, cursed trees, or pissed off spirits?”
He winked. “All o’ the above, mo ghrá. So stay close, aye?’
The others grumbled behind us as we began to hike, weapons on our backs, tension running under our skin like live wire. The Highlands stretched out around us, wild and untamed. The kind of place where legends were born and nightmares went to party.
Lyssira stirred in my mind, finally shaking off whatever moon magic nap she’d been in. “I like this place. It smells like blood and destiny.”
“Of course you do,” I muttered under my breath.
Lachlan glanced at me sideways. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” I smiled sweetly. “Just talking to my inner murder wolf.”
He threw his head back and laughed, loud and carefree and beautiful. Gods help me..I might love that sound more than I should.
And with that, we followed the light of the orbs into the misty heart of MacCrae land.
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14:38 Thu, Oct 2 M…
Hunted Hybrid – Aegis War Saga 1
