Slade by Bianca D'Arc Page A

of her magical stock and trade, and she’d come to learn over recent years, that she never quite knew when she’d be called upon to work different kinds of magic.
    Kate walked around the circle, placing small, semi-precious stones at the four cardinal points hoping to contain whatever would be unleashed when she broke the perimeter of the evil circle. If the bear was more than just a bear, she didn’t want it running amok before they could stop it.
    To that end, Kate set up her own barrier of protection around the evil one, encasing it as best she could under the circumstances. She did it quickly and with as little fuss as possible, regaining her strength and centering herself as she went. She got a good look at the bleeding bear cub. It looked so innocent, but without certain knowledge of what it really was, Kate was still suspicious. Too often in her experience, evil masqueraded as something innocent.
    The bear watched her with equal suspicion from its position on the floor when she walked around that side of the circle. There was intelligence behind those soft brown eyes and Kate worried anew about what sort of creature they might be dealing with.
    T here was only one way to find out.
    Kate raised her arms as she raised the dome of protection outside the circle, enfolding it in the power of the Light of the Lady which showed in faint sparks to her mage sight. Kate knew Slade saw it too. He looked at it with approval before turning back to her.
    “Handy,” he commented with a slight grin. “Now what?”
    “One of us has to break the outer line of the circle.” She grimaced as she thought of what could happen after they took that final, irrevocable step.
    “What do you recommend?” Slade looked to her for advice, which she found both frightening and gratifying. She didn’t want to advise him—or anyone, for that matter—to take an action that might result in their injury, or even their death.
    “A bit of salt should do it,” she answered softly.
    “That’s all?” Slade looked surprised.
    “Sometimes simple is better. I always keep a little salt in my pouch. It’s more powerful than most people know.” She lifted the little bag in her hands. “This salt was consecrated in the circle of stones at the full moon, under the Lady’s guidance, but even regular table salt usually works. This stuff just has that little extra whammy.” She opened the small pouch that held the salt. It was a mix of fine and more granular crystals and it was pink.
    She realized immediately that Slade u nderstood the significance of the color.
    “That’s Himalayan .” He paused beside her, looking down at the pink crystals in her hand. “I think that means this is my task, don’t you?” He reached out to take the salt from her, but she stopped him, clasping his arm and looking up into his eyes.
    “I’m worried, Slade. That bear might be something else entirely. Once we break the barrier, I have no idea what will happen. It could be bad. Very bad.” She tried her best to caution him. Something inside—some inner sense that she would never fully understand—made her fear for him.
    She couldn’t lose him now. She had only just found him.
    “You hold the barrier. I’ll deal with whatever is inside. Don’t worry. I’ve done this kind of thing before.” He reached down to kiss her lips sweetly while taking the little pouch of salt from her trembling hands.
    And then he was gone. Moving away, toward the evil circle.
    “Just pour the salt over the line, breaking it,” she coached, all but gnashing her teeth with worry.
    And she had a right to be worried. The moment Slade poured out the pink salt from the pouch and it touched the dark line on the floor, things happened in super fast slow motion.
    The bear roared, no longer a bear as it changed and shifted into a much larger, deadlier form. It leapt for Slade, claws extended. The claws became hands, but the sharp nails remained, raking over Slade’s body, slicing through