“Hell, there’s hardly a front way off this property.”
“No, don’t kill anybody!” she shouted into the ether.
“Okay?”
“Not you, the bobcat got a little enthusiastic. Don’t hurt anybody either! Just keep them away from the road! I can’t believe I’ve become the person I hate.”
“What?”
“I’m asking animals to defend us.”
“Would your pack, um, your coven kill any of them?”
She whistled. “Good point.”
As they got near the gate, the animals got thicker, but they didn’t impede their progress. Somehow, she talked them into holding back the witches and keeping the way clear. There had to be twenty different species and close to a hundred animals altogether, all mutual enemies or prey, and they were all doing her bidding.
He had to confess that when he first heard of her talent, he didn’t think it was very powerful.
He began to feel hope for himself. If she could do this with wild animals, the wolf was really nothing.
It reared up in anger, and he hushed it absently as they made it through the gate, where they were immediately pelted with some kind of potion.
“Dammit!” he said, unable to see. He started the windshield wipers and then just stuck his head out the window to try to keep on the road.
He risked a glance around to see women in the woods fighting off various animals.
“Please don’t hurt them,” Penn whispered.
He wasn’t sure if she was talking to the witches or the animals. He was looking at her and nearly missed the woman step into the middle of the road. He came to a screeching halt and almost t-boned the trailer as the woman raised her arms.
“That’s Siobhan,” Penn said and reached for her door.
Instinctively, he hit the child locks. “Don’t.”
“You’re not going to run her over!”
“Hell no! Just give me a second.” He did not want her to go out there.
He opened the sunroof on his truck. There was a bar that kept it from being open too far, but he broke that off and slid the glass away. Penn stood up, and he took her hand, feeling the connection snap into place. He let as much magic through as he could.
“You have betrayed the Griffin coven,” Siobhan intoned. Her voice was deeper than he expected. She was probably in her sixties with black hair and a shock of white at her temples. She wore what he considered the Colorado uniform of jeans, hiking boots, and a plaid shirt. She held a crossbow in her hands.
“I haven’t,” Penelope whispered.
“You are banished, and the wolf’s life is forfeit.” She raised the crossbow.
“Damn,” Asher said, and instinct took over. He yanked Penn’s belt loop, pulling her back into the truck, and threw himself over her as the crazy lady loosed the first bolt. It slammed through the windshield so hard, it didn’t even crack; it just left a golf ball-sized hole in the supposedly shatterproof glass.
Asher looked around for the bolt when pain snaked down his arm. He found it lodged in his shoulder and cursed again. He cared a lot less about running her over now. There was plenty of room to get out of the way. He jolted forward as a second bolt took out his side view mirror.
“Not the truck!” he shouted as he zoomed forward. Siobhan didn’t move.
Penn cursed a blue streak next to him, then started mumbling. A giant shape lumbered toward the road.
He hit the brakes as a moose plucked Siobhan up daintily with its enormous antlers and took off through the woods.
“Do not hurt her,” Penelope shouted and then looked at him. “Drive!”
