Page 33 of My Eternal Light
“Stop! Stop right there. I saw everything and have already reported it to the Witches Council! It’s a crime to withhold powers from the council” a thin man ranted as he hurried after them, his dark robes flapping behind him.
Kendrick and Thane moved as one to stand between the man and the women. Aiden was stood behind Kendrick looking deadly.
“I had just arrived from Storm Keep when I saw what was happening at the portal. How dare he keep his power from us?” the witch screeched, turning a very unhealthy shade of red.
Carefully Meryn rotated Zadie to face the man. When Zadie raised an eyebrow, Meryn pointed. “You said if anything else life-shattering happened you’d start pepper-spraying, start with him.”
Zadie couldn’t help but smile. She pulled her backpack forward and retrieved her pepper-spray.
“Holy shit, that’s bear deterrent,” Brie whispered.
“Ok, I know you might be freaking out, but, don’t get that near Aiden,” Meryn begged.
“What?”
Brie swallowed her laugh. “He’s a bear-shifter.”
Zadie put the pepper-spray back and pulled out her other line of defense.
Meryn stared. “Isn’t that just another pepper-spray?”
Zadie grinned. “This is pepper gel. It’s thicker so it sprays in more of a ballistic pattern and is less susceptible to blow-back. It has a range of eighteen feet versus max twelve for the spray. Plus, it’s thickness makes it harder to get off creating a type of blindfold.”
“I need this in my life,” Meryn whispered reverently.
“Fuck that, so do I,” Brie agreed.
“That’s not the best part,” Zadie said.
“What else can it do?” Cas asked.
“I demand that he return to Storm Keep immediately for testing!”
“Take it up with the Elder Council,” Aiden ordered. “Kincaid is an assigned warrior and will be for the foreseeable future.”
The self-important man faced Kincaid. “I order you back to Storm Keep.”
Kincaid’s eyes hardened. “Who are you to order me? You are no king.”
“Duuuude!” Nigel and Neil drew out the word and moved to stand behind Kincaid looking impressed.
Zadie looked over. “Is he talking about Kincaid like some damn lab rat?”
Zoe barred her teeth at the individual. “He is. The Witches Council treats us like things, tools to be used. The warriors kept Kincaid’s second power a secret, they will stop at nothing to get their hands on him now that a third power has emerged.”
“Right.” That single explanation told her everything she needed to know about the situation.
Zadie walked away from the ladies shaking the small canister.
When the man grabbed Kincaid’s shoulder, she raised her hand and sprayed the gel in a left to right motion, from ear to ear, across the man’s face.
He immediately began screaming and clawing at his face.
She turned to the group of women. “Notice how the gel is hard to remove forming that blindfold I was telling you about?” she said, falling into her teacher mode. “The last advantage of this pepper-gel is that the more your assailant rubs the gel, its potency increases.”
The men were staring at her with varying degrees of shock, pride and slight trepidation.
She continued. “This gives you the time to escape or…” she pulled her foot back and kicked him square in the nuts causing him to vomit. “Further incapacitate him to allow you more time to get away.”