The mountainmoved.
The cabin behind them shuddered, and part of the hillside began to slide, slowly at first, then faster.
“Fall back!” Medraut shouted. “Retreat!”
But there was nowhere to go. The forest had come alive around them, and Muriel and Brandon were its voice.
Within minutes, it was over.
Collectors were on their knees, bound by rope and root and vampire restraints. Medraut’s cold eyes found Muriel's, brimming with hate and madness, and he smiled.
“This isn't finished, Keeper. The Consilium knows what you have. They'll never stop?—”
Brandon swung, connecting his fist with Medraut’s jaw.
“Let them try,” Brandon said. His hand found Muriel's, their fingers lacing together. Green light flickered between their joined palms—his magic and hers, intertwined.
Matt shifted back to human form, grinning. “Remind me never to piss off an earth witch.”
“Elementals,” Jason corrected, looking between Brandon and Muriel with something like awe.
“You good?” Jason asked.
“Good enough.”
Jason tossed him a set of keys. “There’s a car parked about a hundred yards out. Head back to the estate. We’ll clean up here and meet you back there.”
She wasn’t going to argue with that. Muriel snatched the keys out of Brandon’s hands. “I’ll drive. You rest.” She tugged him toward where Jason's car waited beyond the tree line.
To her surprise, he went.
As they walked away from the cabin—now partially collapsed, the hillside unstable, the Collectors trussed up for Zarek's team to transport—Muriel felt the adrenaline start to fade. In its place was a new power. Not wild surges she couldn't control, but deliberate and focused.
“Have you ever done that before?” Muriel asked.
“What? Get kidnapped? Unfortunately, no, not my first abduction.”
Muriel frowned. That was something else to talk about—later. “No, I meant pooling magic like that.”
Eyes closed, head leaning back, he smiled. “No. You’re my first.”
“Is that a mate bond thing?”
“I don't know,” he answered. “I've never had a mate before either.”
The bond hummed between them, stronger than ever, as if it had been forged in fire.
Muriel hadn’t forgiven him completely for not telling her about the mate bond, but that was no longer forefront in her mind. They'd need to talk about that, once he was healed and they'd both had time to think.But right now, with his fingers wrapped around hers and the memory of their combined magic still singing through her veins, Muriel felt only relief.
He was okay. They'd fought together. And the Collectors had learned exactly what happened when they threatened her mate.
Everything else could wait.
20
BATTLE WON, NOW THE WAR
BRANDON