Page 100 of Bedeviled

She guffaws. “As if you’d win a fight against me.”

I smile, even as, at my back, I feel another shudder work its way through my friend. Only now I feel entire swathes of her muscles clench and spasm against me.

Shit. Running out of time.

Luckily, the thought has barely crossed my mind when I see the thin, luminescent blue line that cuts across the forest.

The boundary line.

Thank the Goddess.

I practically sprint toward it, half expecting to be stopped by rogue witches or monsters.

For once, nothing attacks me out of the blue, and we safely cross into werewolf territory.

I take several more paces into pack lands before I set my friend down.

Sybil’s legs are shaky like a newborn colt’s, and from what I can see of her face…she looks wan and unwell.

I reach out to steady her. “I’m still here. I’m not going to leave you.”

She groans and doubles over, her hands digging into the chilly earth.

Crone’s Cane, she’s going to shift.

I crouch down and rub Sybil’s back, eyeing the darkness beyond us. I’m sure we’ll be noticed by the pack at some point. I just don’t know if any of them will come in time. The trembling in her limbs is getting more pronounced.

While Sybil’s distracted, I form a small orb of light in my palm.

“Find Kane Halloway and lead him here,” I whisper in Sarmatian.

The small glowing ball lifts above us, then streaks away through the woods, looking like a sprite as it weaves between the trees before it disappears from sight.

Sybil moans, her loose, dark hair hanging like a curtain around her face and hiding it from view. I grab a spare hair tie from my pocket and gather it up and tie it back.

“Do you want to take off your clothes?” I ask.

She scoffs. “You could at least wine and dine me before trying to get into my panties,” Sybil jokes weakly, her voice threaded with pain.

“Sybil.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t…I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

I swear I see her muscles ripple beneath her purple shirt.

“Yeah, sure…” I place a hand along her spine and focus my magic. When my power leaves my palm, it settles onto her clothes. The fibers part along neat seams, and the garments fall to the ground.

“What are you doing?” The last part of her words come out as a growl, and when she glances over her shoulder at me, there’s an amber gleam coming from the back of her eyes—her wolf peeking out.

It’s captivating but also terrifying as shit.

I swallow down my thoughts.

“Just shut up,” I say. “It’s the full moon, you are going to shift, and the last thing I care about is seeing your tits, okay?”

I kneel next to her as Sybil’s breathing comes in fast, shallow pants.

“My bones—” She gasps, hunching farther forward, and I see a ripple work its way up her back.