Alpha Asher and Lola novel Chapter 219

Chapter 219

Instantly, I could tell that I had no control over this form. Thoughts drifted through its head, flowing like a winding stream, but I couldn’t tap into them. The terrain was too

rocky, too tumultuous to allow me to get any closer. Instead, I was left with whatever stray thoughts washed ashore and the emotions that followed them.

I stood on the shoulder of a narrow, winding road. Clusters of trees surrounded me like a cage, spanning up and up and up to kiss a sky full of stars and to bask in rays of silver moonlight. By all accounts, it was beautiful, but there was a sourness to the fresh air that felt an awful lot like foreboding.

Sensations battered me left and right. Sounds and colors were duller, not as vibrant as what I was used to. The sheer cold of the air against my skin was numbing, carving through the flowing skirt and buttoned blouse I wore.

A single emotion was all I could snag, and it filled every crevice of this body until it’s joints began to ache.

Cordelia was worried.

I looked back at my car, a Nissan that had seen better days. Somehow I knew that she’d taken a beating on the long drive to the pack all those months ago, but that she was in good enough shape to run.

Which is why, as I stood there on the shoulder of the road, I knew that there was no reason the engine should’ve stalled. The minute I pulled over and lifted the hood to inspect it, another wave of emotion trickled through this body, along with a harrowing realization.

Somehow, I knew that magic had been involved.

It was dull, but there was a fragrant sort of darkness that tainted the air and mixed with the pungent smell of the exhaust.

A branch snapped just beyond the guard rail, too far within the darkness of the forest for the human eyes I stared through to make out. There were no other sounds, but the feeling of being watched, it was strong enough that anyone would take notice.

Much like the familiar rush of my own magic, a pulse of electrifying energy swirled in my stomach, but it carried with it something dour.

Just then, a pair of eyes gleamed from within the forest, right where the crack of tree branches had sounded. They were round and golden, peering through the darkness to where I stood.

“You do not frighten me.” My mouth moved, but it wasn’t my voice that came out. It was Cordelia’s. “I have lived a long life, but you are mistaken if you think I’ll part this world willingly.”

The branches shifted again, only this time the cracking worsened. Trees bowed as the wind kicked up, cold enough to make me shudder. Another wave of magic and I somehow knew that I needed to leave this place right now or something bad would happen.

I waited for my heart to leap through my chest, but the feeling never came. In fact, Cordelia felt oddly calm all things considered.

This was the first time I’d felt Cordelia’s magic for myself, and the intimacy between her and her gift was incredible. It was like an instrument she’d crafted with her own two hands and spent the last decade mastering all on her own. There was a fondness between the two, a mutual sort of respect that was astonishing.

Moving as quickly as a human could, I grabbed the charms around my neck and plucked the right one from the mess of tangled chains. The amber bottle was no larger than a quarter, but the oil inside was strong and fragrant.

It was the scent of autumn, of crisp leaves and spices, carrying notes of elderberry and holly.

It was warm against my pointer finger, it’s heat never once fading, as though the wind couldn’t touch it.

Hastily, I began to draw a sigil on the hood of the car. Lines crossed left and right, surrounded by a ring of two circles that overlapped one another.

It was a sigil to banish dark magic, one that was tricky and precarious in the best of situations. Magic sparkled in the oil like specks of silver, but it wasn’t as strong as it should’ve been. I could tell it wasn’t going to last very long, which meant I needed to make the best of it.

I rushed around to the driver’s side of the car and hopped inside, forcing it into drive before slamming on the gas and peeling down the road.

There was a sharp, electrifying tug to my stomach, and I knew I’d just narrowly missed a terrible fate.

Just as I began to wonder where I was going, another thought floated to the surface of Cordelia’s mind.

The prison cells, that’s where I needed to go. Zeke would be there along with a handful of guards. They’d believe me when I said I was being chased, they’d protect me until the threat was gone.

When the car began sputtering just ten minutes later, Cordelia let slip a curse.

Where there hadn’t been any visible signs of damage earlier, smoke now spewed from the car in thick waves, clouding the sky and temporarily blotting out the moon.

I flattened the gas pedal to the floor, but the accelerator refused to budge. A flicker of panic broke through the stream of Cordelia’s thoughts, but like someone truly in control of their emotions, she embraced it and set it free.

The car limped to a stop, collapsing against the curb as it let out a final gut-wrenching gasp before dying completely.

I scanned the small field outside the driver’s side window, then turned to look out the passengers. There was a small park, completely desolate this late at night. There were no writhing tendrils of shadows in the forest, only unending darkness, the kind a human-witch or not-couldn’t peer through. 3

Hastily, I wrenched open the glove box and rummaged through its contents, clueless to what I was looking for until I pulled out a cellphone. I jammed my finger into the power button and a “low battery” sign flashed on the blackened screen.

“Unreliable technology.” I huffed, hearing Cordelia’s voice rather than my own.

Once more, I peered out at the forest and the park, looking down the long stretch of road I was on, hoping I could make the walk, but somehow knowing that I wouldn’t.

Cordelia’s magic had this sixth sense that wrapped around your bones and forced you to pay attention. It was almost like it had one foot in the future, and the other in the present. At least, that’s what it felt like when it slithered around her head, pulling a single thought to the surface.

If I get out of this car, something bad is going to happen.

It was pure bravery that led the hand that opened the door, along with a gust of acceptance that swelled in my chest.

I stepped out of the car, not bothering to shut the door. Closing it would only cause unnecessary sound. Every crunch of cold earth beneath my feet sent a trickle of alarm down my spine until slowly the sensation of being watched returned full force.

There were eyes everywhere, it felt like. Hiding in the trees along the road, buried in the mulch of the playground, in the hedges that lined the paved pathways in perfectly sculpted cubes.

I bowed my head, my hand snaking up to grasp an amulet I didn’t know the purpose of, when Cordelia’s hushed voice filled the open air.

“If I am to die tonight, I will accept my fate, but please do not let it be for nothing.”