Page 68 of Iced Out Mate

“And the black magic?” Miles asked bluntly.

She blinked, shocked, almost as if he had slapped her. “How do you know about that?” She glanced to Miles’ wrist for the first time and her jaw went slack.

“It doesn’t matter how I found out, all that matters is that I did. Macie⁠—”

“Once I started, I couldn’t stop. It gives me everything. A high whenever I work a spell that cocaine, ecstasy, LSD can’t even touch. Nothing can match it. It gave me everything I wanted, except for you, and that just made me more desperate.”

The more she spoke, the more I realized the Macie that Miles had known was no longer around. This Macie had her brain poisoned by death magic.

I was on high alert. I had no idea what she was truly capable of, and that scared the fuck out of me.

“Then you came in the picture.” She turned her attention in my direction. Her stare became icy. The frightened and surprised girl we’d just been interacting with shifted, turning into someone much more venomous. “I knew that you two were fated, even before I confirmed it. I wish I could have welded that bracelet onto your wrist.” She clicked her tongue.

“You need to stop this, Macie,” Miles said. “You need to stop using black magic. You need to leave us alone. That dove stunt, it went way too far. It can’t ever happen again, or we will have to tell The Drudic Council about what’s going on.”

Her eyes went wide at that threat. I could see calculations being made inside her head in real time. Something appeared to settle behind her eyes. The fear shifted. Her eyes narrowed and her head cocked to the side. “No, no. I’ve been thinking about that a lot. And I apologize. I don’t think the dove needs to die anymore.” Macie shook her head, hands down at her sides. She had the body language of someone giving up. Someone exhausted from having to fight for so long. “No, I don’t. Because if I can’t have you, then⁠—”

It happened so fast. So, so fast.

She reached under the large shirt. A flash of silver in her hands. She shouted something. Took aim. Finger pushing down on the trigger. No time to second-guess, no time to fear. Only time to act.

I shoved Miles out of the way. The barrel had been aimed directly at him. The muzzle lit with flame. The bullet whizzed through the air, missing me by mere inches. Miles and I slammed into the floor as I shielded his body from another shot.

But she didn’t shoot again. She shrieked. A wailing, chilling, horrifying shriek.

Shock mixed with confusion coursed through me. I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. Of the fact that Emmy was standing at the door, his eyes wide as he looked down at his bleeding chest, red soaking through the Burlington Bobcats jersey he still wore from tonight’s game.

He clutched at his chest and dropped to his knees.

Chapter Thirty

Silver & Crimson

MILES

Time stood still for a brief moment. Emmy on his knees with his hand over his chest in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

He blinked. Fell forward with a smack against the floor.

Time resumed.

Dylan rolled off of me as I crawled to my best friend. Macie had dropped the gun. She, too, had fallen to her knees. She gripped her throat as if she were trying to strangle the cries that were escaping her.

I had to focus. Keep my head cool even though I just wanted to scream for help.

I rolled Emmy onto his back. Ripped open his shirt and took mine off. I pressed my bundled-up shirt against the gunshot wound. It seemed to have missed his heart—thank fuck. It means there might still be a chance to save him. The silver from the bullet would stop his body from healing itself wherever it had touched, but if the damage wasn’t fatal then maybe we could get him to a healer.

I looked to Dylan, who had picked up the gun and held it as if it were seconds from exploding. “Call the warders. Explain what’s happened,” I said in a simple, stern command. I had to keep my tone calm so I could cut through the chaos.

“Right. On it.” Dylan hurried to my side where he placed the gun down and replaced it with his phone. He called the number meant for us shifters to reach out to when there were issues like this. They’d send EMS workers who were trained in and aware of shifter existence. They’d take us to a small but well-equipped medical facility where a druid surgeon could help Emmy in ways any human doctor simply couldn’t.

They would also inform The Druidic Council about Macie. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sent jailers along with the emergency healers.

Emmy coughed up blood. His eyes were having difficulty staying open. I leaned down and continued to apply pressure to the wound. I tried to detach from the fact that this was my best friend who I was trying so desperately to keep alive. “Hey, it’s all right, you’re good. I’ve got you, Em. Help is coming. It’s okay.”

“My sister…”

I didn’t know what else he was going to say after that. He started to convulse. I quickly slid a hand under the back of his head so he wouldn’t slam himself into the floor. Blood had soaked through my bundled-up shirt, spreading outward on his chest. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t watch him die. Please, no. No, Em, please. Don’t do this.