trembling.
*Leave. Him.
Alone.* Each word came out tightly, with anger and deadly power
coiled behind it.
"You've made
yourself an enemy," Patrick snarled aloud.
"So be it,"
said the cool light voice from across the street. "Just don't touch
our friends."
He held still,
watching, while the Lioren mage built shields around the dark
little wolf and his companion. Clever shields, too, deftly created
to deflect both detection and active magic, the shields themselves
subtle and near invisible unless one knew where to look—designed to
shunt senses and magic away, not counter them directly.
Light swirled
and gathered into a gate; against it, he saw the silhouette of the
Lioren mage and the two wolves flanking him, then they vanished
through it, and the gate imploded neatly.
Showoff! No
mage should be able to walk after pulling that, let alone be
capable of gating!
Livid with
humiliation and rage, he drew himself together and went in search
of a place to sleep... one he'd have to pay for, he realized in
disgust. His gifts would be of no use to him for some time to come.
He didn't dare even summon his allies; in this condition, he'd be
easy game for them.
I'll find you,
Lioren and you'll regret ever starting this! Next time I'll be
ready for you!
* * *
"Here they
come," Flynn warned, a heartbeat before Kevin's familiar gate
coalesced in the centre of the circle to bring the trio home. Kevin
sank to his knees in front of Deanna and buried his face in her
shoulder, shivering.
Deanna wrapped
her arms around him, hugging him close. "What happened?"
The wolves
shifted calmly to human, and Cynthia and Naomi moved quickly to
examine what wounds they had.
"Mage-fight,"
Bane said.
"I lost my
temper," Kevin said, pressing close against Deanna miserably. "He
wasn't very strong at all, I backlashed him, might have burned him
out completely, I don't know if I managed to pull it back fast
enough..." He looked up at her, tears in his eyes, but couldn't
find any more words.
"He was
threatening Jesse," Bryan pointed out reasonably. "It's not like
you just pounced him for no reason and with no warning."
"I still
shouldn't have lost control!"
"Kev," Cynthia
said gently, laying a slim pale hand over Bane's rib-scores; the
bleeding gradually slowed, as she hurried the clotting process as
much as she could. Not a lot, she was witch, not healer, but
enough. "You are nothing like what you were when Dia hauled you
away from Rebecca. You've done better than anyone expected at
learning how to keep your temper under control, and you've done it
much faster. One mistake, under provocation like that, isn't the
end of the world."
"Bryan said
you warned him first," Lori said. "And it's not like he could have
been unaware of how strong you are. If he persisted, then he made
his own choice and took his chances."
"I might have
burned out his gifts totally. That's kind of a steep penalty for
being obnoxious, don't you think?"
"No," Bane
said, unruffled. "I don't. We decided to protect Jesse, and we did.
Leave it at that, phoenix. You're tired, most of that power you
were using was pure adrenaline and there wasn't much light to back
it up. That's making things look worse than they are. Someone take
down the circle."
Deanna simply
grounded the raised power directly into the earth, while Cynthia
did a hastier than normal thanks-and-dismissal of the summoned
elements. As the support of the circle faded, Flynn sagged forward,
then let himself sprawl on the carpeted floor, clearly worn
out.
"Dia, get Kev
to bed?" Cynthia requested. "I'll call Gisela and Liam and then get
Flynn into bed. Lori, can you find Kev and Flynn and yourself
something to eat? Naomi, can you keep an eye on the wolves and keep
doing what you can? You're better at healing than I am anyway."
Lori headed
for the kitchen, and Naomi only nodded, still examining Bryan with
witch-senses for other
*Leave. Him.
Alone.* Each word came out tightly, with anger and deadly power
coiled behind it.
"You've made
yourself an enemy," Patrick snarled aloud.
"So be it,"
said the cool light voice from across the street. "Just don't touch
our friends."
He held still,
watching, while the Lioren mage built shields around the dark
little wolf and his companion. Clever shields, too, deftly created
to deflect both detection and active magic, the shields themselves
subtle and near invisible unless one knew where to look—designed to
shunt senses and magic away, not counter them directly.
Light swirled
and gathered into a gate; against it, he saw the silhouette of the
Lioren mage and the two wolves flanking him, then they vanished
through it, and the gate imploded neatly.
Showoff! No
mage should be able to walk after pulling that, let alone be
capable of gating!
Livid with
humiliation and rage, he drew himself together and went in search
of a place to sleep... one he'd have to pay for, he realized in
disgust. His gifts would be of no use to him for some time to come.
He didn't dare even summon his allies; in this condition, he'd be
easy game for them.
I'll find you,
Lioren and you'll regret ever starting this! Next time I'll be
ready for you!
* * *
"Here they
come," Flynn warned, a heartbeat before Kevin's familiar gate
coalesced in the centre of the circle to bring the trio home. Kevin
sank to his knees in front of Deanna and buried his face in her
shoulder, shivering.
Deanna wrapped
her arms around him, hugging him close. "What happened?"
The wolves
shifted calmly to human, and Cynthia and Naomi moved quickly to
examine what wounds they had.
"Mage-fight,"
Bane said.
"I lost my
temper," Kevin said, pressing close against Deanna miserably. "He
wasn't very strong at all, I backlashed him, might have burned him
out completely, I don't know if I managed to pull it back fast
enough..." He looked up at her, tears in his eyes, but couldn't
find any more words.
"He was
threatening Jesse," Bryan pointed out reasonably. "It's not like
you just pounced him for no reason and with no warning."
"I still
shouldn't have lost control!"
"Kev," Cynthia
said gently, laying a slim pale hand over Bane's rib-scores; the
bleeding gradually slowed, as she hurried the clotting process as
much as she could. Not a lot, she was witch, not healer, but
enough. "You are nothing like what you were when Dia hauled you
away from Rebecca. You've done better than anyone expected at
learning how to keep your temper under control, and you've done it
much faster. One mistake, under provocation like that, isn't the
end of the world."
"Bryan said
you warned him first," Lori said. "And it's not like he could have
been unaware of how strong you are. If he persisted, then he made
his own choice and took his chances."
"I might have
burned out his gifts totally. That's kind of a steep penalty for
being obnoxious, don't you think?"
"No," Bane
said, unruffled. "I don't. We decided to protect Jesse, and we did.
Leave it at that, phoenix. You're tired, most of that power you
were using was pure adrenaline and there wasn't much light to back
it up. That's making things look worse than they are. Someone take
down the circle."
Deanna simply
grounded the raised power directly into the earth, while Cynthia
did a hastier than normal thanks-and-dismissal of the summoned
elements. As the support of the circle faded, Flynn sagged forward,
then let himself sprawl on the carpeted floor, clearly worn
out.
"Dia, get Kev
to bed?" Cynthia requested. "I'll call Gisela and Liam and then get
Flynn into bed. Lori, can you find Kev and Flynn and yourself
something to eat? Naomi, can you keep an eye on the wolves and keep
doing what you can? You're better at healing than I am anyway."
Lori headed
for the kitchen, and Naomi only nodded, still examining Bryan with
witch-senses for other
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