Free Corrigan Rage by Helen Harper Page A

out, reading my mind. You can’t win this one, my Lord.
    I growled in response as Mack’s fire hit the wraith yet again. I didn’t want to do anything stupid like get in her way. But I hated standing back like this.
    ‘I’m starting to wonder whether it was such a good idea to host this party,’ Aubrey drawled behind us, seemingly unconcerned at the fight to the death taking place right outside his own goddamn house. ‘There seem to be far too many uninvited guests.’
    Mack snapped. ‘Hey, this one’s all on you.’
    The wraith shrieked again. ‘I waaaaaaaant it!’
    ‘It’s after the Palladium,’ she told the vampire.
    I frowned in confusion. I wasn’t the only one. Aubrey gaped at her. ‘How do you...?’
    ‘It’s too strong,’ the Arch-Mage gasped before the vampire could finish his sentence.
    I realised in alarm that whatever spell he’d used to keep the wraith in place was falling apart. It gave us a terrifying grin as the circle of blue wavered and vanished. Then its eyes turned to Mack and I knew exactly what it was planning to do.
    I only just managed it in time, throwing myself at her and knocking her down to the ground and away from the wraith’s lethal attack. I kept my paws on either side of her body, doing whatever I could to protect her. Her eyes flicked past me, pure fury reflected out of them. There was only one thing that could make her so mad. I twisted my head round and glanced upwards. I was right. The bloody wraith had gone.

CHAPTER TEN
    It was achingly tempting to wander over to a quiet corner of the street and groom myself in satisfaction that no-one I cared about had been hurt. Yes, the wraith had gotten away and, yes, there was a dead vampire to deal with, but Mack was safe and my shifters were unhurt. We lived to fight another day and – in the end – that was all that really mattered. Rather than give in to my more primal instincts, however, I shifted back. No doubt I’d have an explosion from Mack to deal with for knocking her down and preventing her from being unceremoniously killed.
    ‘What the fuck did you do that for?’
    Sometimes my little kitten was so very predictable. I stood up, resisting the urge to flex my muscles and grinned. ‘For the same reason you told me not to attack.’
    Mack cursed. She was keeping her eyes fixedly on my face, as if she were afraid to let them drop any lower. There was something about her skittishness that appealed to me. She would be more than used to nudity after growing up with her pack in Cornwall. It was just my nudity that she struggled with. Interesting.
    She turned to the Arch-Mage and helped him up while I shot a warning look at Aubrey who seemed keen to grab Mack’s fallen dagger. No doubt he was wondering how on earth she’d gotten it past his security. Despite his blood-sucking nature, he obviously knew little about the power-sapping nature of tampons.
    ‘Are you alright?’ Mack inquired of the wizard.
    ‘I’m good,’ he gasped.
    She nodded, apparently satisfied, and looked at the vampire. When he gave her a suspicious look, pulling his eyes away from the weapon, she beamed at him, her entire face lighting up. Well, I thought grumpily, that was one way to avoid antagonising him – dazzle him with her beauty instead. I’d have to ask her to try the same strategy with me. Then I considered it some more. A fight I could handle. Mack’s smile would disarm me completely. Maybe I’d just keep my mouth shut.
    ‘I hadn’t realised that werehamsters were so aggressive,’ Aubrey drawled. ‘Or that the pack was capable of using magic.’
    That was quite enough of that. I stepped in front of Mack and confronted him. This was his goddamned street so I was going to blame him for what had happened here – I didn’t know what this Palladium thing was but I trusted Mack when she said that the vampires had it. My face twisted into a snarl. ‘Why don’t you tell us exactly what it was that thing was after?’
    Aubrey gave