Wild Things: A Chicagolands Vampire Novel (Chicagoland Vampires) by Chloe Neill Read Free Book Online Page A

reached out his hand. After sucking in a breath, Mallory linked her fingers with his. She closed her eyes as magic began to spill out and through the shifters again. I closed my eyes and savored the hot rush of raw, unmitigated power. It was the life force of the earth, called up by the predators who gathered together to celebrate their community.
    And then it transformed.
    Mallory must have unlocked some magical gate of her own, because a new stream of magic—younger, greener, brighter—began to mix with the magic of the Pack. Her hair lifted like an indigo halo, and her lips curled into a smile of satisfaction and contentment. Of relief.
    Together, the magicks swirled and danced around us, invisible but tangible, like an electric breeze. This wasn’t defensive or offensive magic. It wasn’t used to gather information, for strategy or diplomacy, or to fight a war against a supernatural enemy.
    It simply
was
.
    It was fundamental, inexorable. It was nothing and everything, infinity and oblivion, from the magnificent furnace of a star to the electrons that hummed in an atom. It was life and death and everything in between, the urge to fight and grow and swim and fly. It was the cascade of water across boulders, the slow-moving advance of mountain glaciers, the march of time.
    The shifters moved around the circle, grabbing our hands and pulling us in, connecting us to the magic. Magic flowed between us like we were transistors in a circuit, connecting the shifters to one another and us to them. We moved in concentric circles around the center totem, heat rising until the air was as warm as a summer’s day, until sweat beaded on my forehead.
    This magic was lustful, almost drowsy with sensuality, and I felt my eyes silver and my fangs descend in an answering call. This was the magic of feasting and fucking, of savoring the blood of a kill and calling the Pack to dine.
    Mallory’s eyes were open now, her hair damp with sweat, her body shaking with power, but her hand was still linked to Gabriel’s, and she smiled with more contentment than I’d seen from her in months.
    A year ago, I’d assumed my relationship with Mallory would continue just as it always had—that we’d be friends who shared silly inside jokes, griped about our jobs, dreamt about our futures.
    And then I became a vampire, and she discovered she was a sorceress.
    Our lives were never going to be the same. They would never be as simple, as predictable, as they had been those years before. Instead, they’d be overlain by our responsibilities, by our strengths, and by the burdens we undertook because of them.
    For the first time, I realized that was okay.
    Our friendship wasn’t limited to habits, to circumstances, to neighborhoods. We were friends because we were connected together, because something in our souls called to each other, understood each other. That connection, that spark between us, would remain even if our lives had changed completely. I hadn’t accepted that before.
    I could accept it now.
    I searched for her in the circle so I could let her know that I finally understood, that I’d come to terms with it. But I moved so quickly, my feet dancing to keep up with the shifters beside me, that I couldn’t get my bearings, couldn’t find her in the crowd.
    Something strange flitted in my chest. A pinprick, sharp and uncomfortable. Not tangible, but a hidden note of magic. A bit of the current that wasn’t meant to soothe or celebrate but to incite.
    I tried to ignore it, thinking I was just being paranoid, that the quantity of magic was triggering some protective instinct.
    But I feared that wasn’t right. I’d felt magic before—many varieties, many flavors—even mixed into the current tonight. This was different. Panic began to bloom like dark roses.
    The hand on mine tightened, as if the shifter at my side had felt my wavering fear.
    I looked for Ethan, found him five yards away, eyes closed as he swayed in time with the shifters