Ties That Bind: a New Adult Fantasy Novel (The Spire Chronicles Book 2) by Ashley Meira Page B

the earth, as if the land itself was alive. We were definitely near the ley line. Very near. My heart rate sped up from its influence, and I was sure if I looked in a mirror, my pupils would be fully dilated. The feeling was indescribable. Power. Joy. Calm. If I could get Wi-Fi out here, I’d move in a second, even if it meant being near Sullivan.
    Farther ahead was magic of a different kind, its effects bolstered by its proximity to the ley line’s crux. It had to belong to one of the tribes, but I wasn’t familiar enough with either to identify which. I planned on spending a few days reading up on Garou and Protean when this was all over.
    “A warding spell, I think,” I said. “To set boundaries and warn of intruders. It may have other effects, too. Unwanted ones, if the magic user doesn’t know how to handle casting so close to a ley line. I don’t know enough about either race’s magic to say more.”
    “The ley line is here?”
    “Near here, yes.”
    Alex fished something out of his pocket – a compass – and looked at it, along with the surrounding area. “Circumference of the ward?”
    “Um, large.” I shrugged. “If I had to guess, it encompasses the entire village. I have no idea how big that is. Or which tribe it belongs to.”
    “Garou,” he said. “The Protean village is on top of the cliff near where we found Alice, remember?”
    “I can’t really see with the spell on.”
    “I forgot. Sorry. At least we know the shifters don’t have them. That means Marshall could have been lying about–” He pursed his lips. “We need to keep moving.”
    “If we breach that line, we risk pissing off an entire village of werewolves. Werewolves. Y’know, those things that take a handful of hunters to kill. One. To kill one of–”
    “I’m aware, Morgan.”
    “And you want to walk into their lair?” I asked.
    “Didn’t you want to visit them, anyway?”
    “Yeah.” I stood up. “I just want to make sure you’re good with it.” Because it would be really horrible if you snapped like you did in the prison and cause everyone in the village to attack us.
    “Wasn’t I the one who said we needed to keep moving?” he said. The lack of expression on his face wasn’t a good sign, but at least he hadn’t pulled his gun out yet.
    I followed after him, stumbling and slipping on various rocks and leaves. Seriously, there was a reason why I preferred the city; the only nature I was interested in walking through was sand, beach sand. The sun was completely gone now, a loser in its battle against the thick veil of fog. My watch said it was a little past one, so at least we wouldn’t have to worry about wandering through here at night. Hopefully. My legs started to burn with each step and all the tree formations started to look the same. It felt like we were walking in circles.
    “Alex,” I called, looking at the bloodied tree in front of me. “Look at this tree.” I ran my fingers along the rough bark, scanning the small flecks of red near the middle.
    “Leftovers from a hunt?” he asked.
    “No.” I looked at my healed hand. “It’s mine. This is the tree I cut my hand on.”
    Alex looked around with a frown. “I thought everything looked familiar, but that can happen in the woods.”
    “We’ve been walking in circles,” I said. “The boundary spell; I don’t think we can get through unless they let us. We’re just going to end up walking in circles over and over again.”
    “Can you destroy it?”
    I shook my head. “Not with so little information on the spell. Besides, shattering their wards would definitely seem like an attack against the tribe.”
    “How about going around?” he said. “We can search the area for a way through.”
    “I’m pretty sure there’s not going to be a hole–”
    “We have to try, don’t we?” He crossed his arms, his foot making rapid tap-tap-tap sounds against the dirt.
    I licked my chapped lips. “I didn’t say we shouldn’t