Page 110 of Starting a New Life

The magic surrounding us was brimming. A shield hiding us from view. A layer of soundproofing to keep our sound waves from going out while enabling outside sounds to come in. A barrier that should keep us hidden from magic detection. In theory. A layer that heated the air within the bed of the truck. A layer that kept our scent hidden. All of them woven into an intricate net, powered by Levi’s and my magic.

Mostly mine. However, Levi had insisted on filling up my well afterwards. Something about him being safe inside our barrier and not needing much while I was basically running a black op in enemy territory.

“It’ll be fine,” Angelo said.

It had to be.

Callum’s freedom and our lives depended on it.

Heath let out a huff, clearly not as certain as Angelo.

Why did he have to be part of my group? I’d gladly have taken Paul or Rhett instead.

I mean yeah, Rhett was Gray’s Second and kinda needed to be there for the fight. And Paul was the pack’s deputy, and even though he was a real police officer for the humans, he kind of dealt with legal stuff for the pack, so it made sense he had to be there for the fight too. And yeah, maybe Gray’s reasoning about Heath and Angelo being the best fighters in our pack had some merit to it. As had the fact that they were strong as fuck, came from ruthless packs, and knew how to hold their own.

But… Heath? Really?

That guy didn’t trust me or mages, yet I was supposed to trust him and put the fate of another mage in his hands.

I kept staring at the sky but sent a thrill of magic out ahead until I felt the first bits of the barrier. My body tensed as the barrier’s magic echoed in my chest, a soft static, way less intense than I’d expected.

I sent out more magic, probing and assessing.

It was odd.

The barrier was strong but basic.

Was it a ruse? A thoroughly enforced barrier disguised as a basic one?

I blew out a breath, anxiety spiking, as I kept trying to figure out what was going on.

In theory, one could completely contain the barrier’s energy and keep it from bleeding out. You wouldn’t get the static feeling before touching it.

But that wasn’t what was going on here because I did feel the static. However, the barrier was lacking in a lot of departments.

“What’s up?” Angelo asked.

“We’re gonna cross the barrier in about a minute,” I whispered. “And either the barrier really is as basic as it appears to be, or…”

Or we were fucked.

I certainly knew which option I was hoping for.

“What do you mean by basic?” Heath asked and turned his head to me, his blue eyes boring into me as if he was trying to read my mind instead of waiting for a verbal answer.

“Basic. It’s strong as fuck, but lacking finesse and a lot of the protections I’d think a mage whose whole reason for being kept prisoner is to reinforce the barrier would implement,” I whispered. In theory, we could talk just fine. No one could hear us, but talking loudly while on a stealth mission felt utterly wrong. “It’s just a very strong barrier that… warns the pack about outside shifters. As far as I can tell, that’s it.”

There wasn’t even anything that would keep outsiders from entering.

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Angelo asked, and I turned my head to face him and shrugged, nerves churning in my gut.

“If that’s really what’s going on, then yeah. It just seems… wrong.” I sighed, trying to sort the feelings inside me in a way they’d make sense to others. “They have a mage permanently… residing with them. They really should have…”

I stopped, my breath catching in my throat. Static increased, the crackling in my ears getting louder and louder. My eyes widened as I watched the barrier gliding over my woven shields and the barrier I’d surrounded the bed of the truck with as if there was nothing here.

No alarm.

No lights flashing.