Rue said, “You should drive through the park, in case they try to prevent us from reaching our warded territory. Celestine, open up and close the fence behind us. I’ll make sure none of the humans notice our little bus driving through the park field and into our backyard.”

  There was no gate, she was literally telling Celestine to tear open a portion of fence, then fix it, with her earth affinity.

  Then Rue split us into two teams that would share a joint defense. The only person on my team was Caroline and we were all offense. I could overpower one coven on my own, being one and half times as powerful as one and standing on my home ground. Caroline and I also had life magic, so we could knock them all out quickly if temporarily, her second affinity was fire. A ten-minute knockout snooze was more than long enough for us to help finish off the second coven, and for Maria to use telepathy to put them all under into a true sleep.

  Then the root around in the minds of three very ambitious witches until we’d found our target. Like discussed yesterday.

  “I have a concern.”

  Rue asked, “What?”

  “Well, we didn’t really want to face them with the equivalent of two and half covens on their home ground. It’s quite possible we could pull out a win in this fight against two covens, even without my extra power, by depending on the wards. It’s a fight that could go either way, in their minds because of their lack of knowledge.”

  Astra said, “True, so what are you thinking?”

  “That they’re invading with just enough to look serious, but not enough that we won’t run home to defend our new home and territory. What they believe as our bid in entering the New York City coven list. So as soon as we show up, I wouldn’t be surprised if a third coven comes in behind us and closes the trap. Maybe two more, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t have one more in reserve and waiting.”

  Rue cursed, “Shit, he’s right. I’ve been thinking of them like the aggressive ones in the wasteland, but they’re sneakier and more political than that. Less connected within their covens, and slightly more connected coven to coven, even if with not a lot of trust.”

  Astra said, “We can still win against three on our home ground, though it’d be a tossup and a real fight. Four… would not go well I don’t think. Still, I think engaging them verbally will deescalate the situation. I might even be able to get some of them to turn against the Dellwood coven, or at least abandon the pursuit of our deaths and quit the field.”

  “Sela?”

  Sela shook her head, “Can’t help, Glen. The flows of time reveal big things, not the life or death of a single coven. I have no idea what’s going to happen here. If pixies could do that, then we’d never face our own deaths at all.”

  Right, and she’d still have her parents around.

  Astra asked, “But the future is changed?”

  Sela nodded, then shrugged, “That could mean we last just long enough in this fight to kill the true architect, it doesn’t mean we survive. It could even mean we outright lose, and the witches back on the island form seventeen covens and come finish the job.”

  Astra sighed and nodded, “Let’s gamble they only have three at the most and get this done. If two more covens close in and battle starts, we’ll retreat to the house and basement, and then Sela can build us a portal.”

  Sela said, “It’s exhausting and leaves me vulnerable for a while, I don’t like to do it which is why we flew here, but yes. I can open a space only portal with a lot less power. If you all send me power through Glen, I can open it even faster.”

  “The park is coming up. That’ll have to do for the planning. Carline, why don’t you shift.”

  Carline started to strip and shift right in the aisle between seats.

  Rue cast a concealment spell at the last moment, just a simple one a few words long. It felt a little crazy jumping the curb and driving across the field of the city park, but the humans didn’t even bat an eye as the bus raced across the open space. Right before we hit, the upright boards of the fence ripped off and separated into two floating piles in the air, and the cross pieces ripped out next and moved just in time for me to drive between two posts onto our back lawn. The fence went together just as quickly in the rearview mirror.

  Then we all piled out and started to head around the house, to face the two covens waiting there. It was a hell of a gamble, but maybe not that bad. Three covens would be more than enough, to take out any one normal coven on their home ground, even if with a possible loss or two. It was only due to my enhanced power that it would be a relatively even fight.

  Power wasn’t everything either, but all of us were competent in a fight. My coven had grown up in the wasteland, and they’d trained me to survive there too. On top of that though was we’d have just thirteen active affinities going in the fight, while they’d have thirty-nine to start. That would skew the odds a little bit, but so would our ward defenses.

  Cassiopeia raised her nose haughtily as she glared at us, as we rounded the house. The scents coming off of them were full of confidence, so I almost had to be right. They had at least one more coven in the wings.

  Which would work for us in one way, because they’d have to stall long enough for them to get here, which would let Astra open up a dialogue.

  Cassiopeia said, “You were foolish to come here, and to choose to challenge my coven to earn your place here. Your idiocy in thinking you could gather intelligence on us without our knowledge astounds me.”

  Astra snorted, “You are the one here to challenge me and mine based on your assumptions. Or did you forget you sent your human servants to tail me and gather information on us. A coven with a vacation mansion in New York. Of course we sought information after such an insult. We have no intention of making a permanent home here, we much prefer our true home to this cesspool. It was you that started this, not us, Cassiopeia Dellwood.

  “That said, you’re not entirely wrong, we do have an enemy here, one we planned to deal with while on vacation.”

  Cassiopeia laughed, “Do you believe you can send my allies away without a fight with that drivel? Which coven do you speak of?”

  Astra smiled, “Not a coven. Just an extremely dangerous individual. I have no need to destroy your coven Cassiopeia. But the snake hiding within it that will author the doom of this world. You see, I was born in the year twenty three hundred and two, in a wasteland.”

  Cassiopeia snorted, “Time travel? I knew you were stupid, and maybe a bit of a degenerate keeping a shifter pet so boldly in public, but I had no idea you were deranged.”

  Carline’s tail lashed.

  Astra smirked, “Story time is just starting. You see, the name of the person that was to mark the beginning of the end, and made the Earth virtually uninhabitable, is Jacob Dellwood. You see, it was believed he enslaved his coven via the bond, then conquered other covens, to gather more and more power. In response, and in defense, other warlocks had no choice but to follow in the same footsteps to defend themselves. The battles were disastrous, too much magic concentrated into one person’s power all across the world.

  “Seven billion humans died, shifters and witches joined forces merely to survive in that age, and all warlocks were hunted down by the paranoid rulers of several covens worth of witches to prevent even more competition. It was a hellish world.”

  Cassiopeia laughed, “Jacob you say? My Jacob does this?”

  Astra shook her head, “Imagine our surprise when we arranged to meet him, and we discovered through our shifter ally that he’s a good man, his only ambition to love and spoil his darkly ambitious and cruel hearted wife. So, tell me Cassie, is it you? Are you the one we travelled through three hundred years of time to kill? Or is it Grace or Virginia? That’s what we were trying to determine with our research, which of the three of you herald the end of this world.”

  Astra looked slyly at the other coven, who looked speechless.

  “So, I assume you plan to enslave your allies first. It should be easier that way, to get close enough to subvert one of them. Of course, their warlock needs to die, to ensure your puppet of a husband takes the fall, if the plan fails. But that’s life, right?” she turned her head, “Carline?”

  Carline hissed at Cassiopeia.

  Astra smirked, “There you have it. I assume your emotional shock at hearing your own plan still in the planning stage parroted back at you just betrayed you, while Grace’s and Virginia’s emotional response cleared them of suspicion.”

  Carline’s massive head nodded in agreement.

  Cassiopeia waved dismissively, and said in a bored tone, “It was an entertaining story, Astra. But time travel isn’t possible.”

  Sela laughed, “For a witch. You witches go on all the time about how knowledge is power with magic. A pixie instinctively understands the flow of time. We don’t travel through time merely because we normally lack the power to pierce that veil. But three hundred years from now I arrange for two hundred enslaved witches in Chicago to empower me, which was more than enough to get the job done.”

  The allied coven was looking at Cassiopeia suspiciously, as was half her coven, while Jacob was looking at his wife in horror, which meant he believed it too.

  Cassiopeia snorted violently, “How can you be taken in by this. Her only secondary proof is the word of a pixie?” she spat, “As if anything a pixie says can be trusted, if you’re not its mate.”

  “Its?” I said coldly with the promise of death in my tone and eyes.

  She flinched back, then stepped forward looking furious.

  Astra took back control, “The matter is easily decided, allow one of your coven to look into your mind, and we’ll abide by their word on the matter. You know my coven shares emotions, body and mental states, and our location, constantly, and mind speech on demand. We’ve found it to be a blessing, over time, but in the beginning such potent coven bonds were created to defend against witches and warlocks such as you. My coven is incorruptible, and literally can’t be infiltrated or subverted into betraying me.

  “Which leads me to my point. Your coven barely even has a bond. Why is that, if not to hide your true colors and intentions for them to be puppets, matriarch? You would mentally enslave your own husband, and the witches that look to you for guidance and safety, and blame it all on another just to have a way out when or if it went bad. Blame it on the man that loves you, to save your own precious skin. I believe that’s called cowardice, though it is a little clever too, I’ll admit.

  “Well, I’m here to tell you, it has already gone bad, and we have your number.”

  Cassiopeia frowned, and said, “You’re insane, reiterating that insanity won’t make me believe it. You have a dark secret though, don’t you? This tigress isn’t the only shifter in your coven, is it?” she looked at me pointedly, “I’ve seen that look of rage before, young man. On a foolish alpha shifter’s face when his mate is given insult. You’re a hybrid, an abomination, aren’t you?”

  Shit.

  It was shocking, the effect of her accusation. The two covens who appeared halfway convinced by Astra’s story, and halfway ready to turn on their own matriarch and forcefully read her mind to verify Astra’s story, reversed almost instantly. Their deep seated beliefs in racial purity, their racist beliefs to purge all hybrids they come across, changed their scents from suspicious and unsure, to deeply disgusted and outraged in a split second, and all of that was pointed toward me.

  I’d just fucked it all up, Astra’s plan.

  Sela snorted in derision, “See what I mean. As if a hybrid existing is worse than betrayal and enslavement from their own ranks, leading to a near extinction level event. Racism makes otherwise intelligent people as dumb as a box of rocks.”

  They all glared at her instead of me, which was probably her plan. Even the witches that we’d judged as good people, were brainwashed and raised with that belief and hate, and were just as infected as the rest.

  Also, really bad timing, as we all felt the wards report two more covens coming close to our territory. I was literally seething, but also in shock and not sure what to do. My existence as a hybrid was going to get my coven killed, all because I couldn’t keep a straight face.

  Of course, they wouldn’t forget what was revealed here today, they’d remember their distrust and fear of Cassiopeia’s ambition. Which is why the future had been saved already, when Sela looked at the flows of time. Their four covens would fight together for racism, but then they’d turn on Cassiopeia and remove her as a danger as well. It just made sense, based on what was happening in that moment, that it was about to go down that way.

  Which was small comfort, as my inability to control my facial expression and outrage at her insult against my mate, had revealed what I was at the worst possible time. Cassiopeia was evil, but that didn’t mean stupid, unobservant, and not extremely perceptive. She was a witch.

  Astra said, “Plan B.”

  I got that, if we could retreat inside the house, and get a moment to breathe, we could just retreat via portal to the island. Then the three other covens present would handle the problem from there and take out Cassiopeia for us. Now that they were aware of the danger they almost had to, but they’d fight one more time at her side to take down me, the abomination and dilution of their precious bloodlines.

  We started to back away toward the front door, when Carline whined. I caught it too, the scent of humans as we got closer to the door we cut across the scent trail. If we’d gone around the other side of the house from the backyard then we’d have picked it up immediately.

  “Humans in the house,” I warned. Our old wasteland wards didn’t account for human encroachment, a gap in coverage that didn’t make a difference then, but that we clearly needed to fix in this age.

  Cassiopeia yelled, “Now!”

  Several things happened at once, as eight cars pulled up filled with the two more covens, and started to get out. The two covens there opened fire on us with their affinities, and I used telekinesis to take down all the physical attacks, allowing the other attacks to be met by the ladies.

  The last thing that happened was the house exploded. The front of it anyway. The huge pluming fire cut off our planned retreat. Sure, either Rue, Celestine, or Caroline could put it out, but it would take precious moments that we didn’t have, as the other two covens joined in on the assault, and gunfire started to rain down on us from behind and above, out of three windows on the second floor.

  The bullets didn’t do much, not against the power of our earth witches, but they were a distraction and a small drain on our magic.

  We were absolutely fucked. Outnumbered four to one in witches and by at least a coven and a half in power, and our house was burning, and humans were firing at us. It was a fucking mess, and we were purely on the defensive.

  Fuck this, not happening.

  “Clean up after me,” I sent to everyone’s mind, except Carline who’d hear me say it out loud even above the cacophony of the furious battle, gun shots, and earth and air howling around us.

  If they wanted a hybrid, I’d give them one they’d never seen the like of before.

  I shifted, and that time I didn’t hold back any power from the process. My body exploded expansively, tearing apart my clothes as I shifted and grew into a monstrous wolf the size of a city bus. Fuck the odds, I was a monster, and I was going to kill them all.

  This was no longer saving the world, this was self-defense and in defense of the coven, shifter, and pixie that I loved. There would be no quarter granted from me, no mercy given until I’d ended the fight.

  Their direct witchcraft was now meaningless against me, and the indirect magic while a danger, I was also a life affinity warlock. So I spent all twenty times my magic power on a single act, healing any wounds I took instantly. My vital organs were safely ensorcelled inside a skull a foot or more thick, and muscle and bone around my torso. I knew it would hurt, as they all turned their magic against me in horrified fear, but I was too hopped up on adrenaline and rage to give a shit, or probably even notice as the fire burned into my muzzle, only to reveal an instantly healed face and regrowing fur.

  I let loose a howl of rage, as I leapt forward, my wickedly fast and powerful paw swipe pulping half of Cassiopeia’s coven, including Jacob, in one hit. My ability to ignore witch magic made their natural shields worthless, they might as well have been defenseless and unarmored humans. The only defense a witch had against a shifter was a quick and overwhelming indirect offense, and I was simply too big, too powerful, and too fast to be quickly taken down.

  My body was briefly stunned by exploding earth, blades of air, plumes of fire, and telekinetic punches, but with my enhanced power that pain was very short-lived, and I snapped my jaws and literally bit two of them in half at the same time, then rolled over the rest of them with my multiple ton body, before lunging for the second coven, which I landed on. An angry swipe of my paw sent the downed bodies flying, and then I was leaping for the street, as the other two covens got in their cars and took off like a bat out of hell.

  I snorted, chuffed in dismissal, then sat on my hindquarters as I looked at the carnage. Surprisingly, almost half of the two covens I’d decimated were still alive, if barely.

  Sela said, “I know it’s wrong, but I’m so turned on right now I might just float away on my arousal. A warlock with a mega-coven is a menace, but you my mate are magnificent and put them to shame. Brilliant tactic, too.”

  I felt Carline’s awe too, and the rest of the coven to an extent, but they were focused on capturing and subduing the remaining twelve living witches while healing them, and the three humans with guns on the second floor. Not to mention putting the fire out.

  So I supposed there would be some mercy after all, since the battle was over.

  Astra said, “Fortunately, you didn’t kill Cassiopeia, so we can still force these others to see the truth in her mind, before we take her life. That will help, but I think we need to move quickly. We’ll have every coven in the city after us fairly soon, I’d imagine, after that display. We didn’t win any allies today perhaps, but thanks to you we’re still alive to face that problem.”