The moment Delaney broke the spell, the world snapped into motion. I shifted before I could think, bones bending, magic rushing through me like fire and ice. My paws hit the dirt floor, and I bolted up the stairs, slipping through the half‑broken door and into the night. The woods swallowed me whole.
As a cat, I moved faster than I ever could on two legs. Branches whipped past me. Roots blurred beneath me. The cold air burned my lungs, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was, Jason’s hideout was deeper in the forest than I’d ever been, but instinct pushed me forward. Away. Away. Away.
Get to Raven. Get home.
But the spell Delaney broke was temporary. And I felt it the moment it snapped back. Pain tore through me, sharp, blinding, wrong. My body jerked mid‑stride, m
