“Chief Petty Officer Sam Shay-more, US Navy SEALS,” he whispered into her ear.

Warm breath feathered over Kelly’s cheek. The delicious masculine scent of leather and sage became stronger and enveloped her like a lover’s arms. She knew this scent. Knew this body…had felt it atop hers years ago.

When he’d laid her down on his bed, kissed her and then had taken her virginity.

The muscled SEAL’s heavy weight shifted, allowing her to roll over. He straddled her, sitting on her hips, his hands easily pinning her down.

Indifferent, almost cruel concentration on his face turned to shock. Those penetrating hazel eyes widened and then darkened.

“Kelly,” he said softly.

About the Author

BONNIE VANAK fell in love with romance novels during childhood. After years of newspaper reporting, Bonnie became a writer for a major international charity, which has taken her to destitute countries to write about issues affecting the poor. When the emotional strain of her job demanded a diversion, she turned to writing romance novels. Bonnie lives in Florida with her husband and two dogs, and happily writes books amid an ever-growing population of dust bunnies. She loves to hear from readers. Visit her website, www.bonnievanak.com, or email her at bonnievanak@aol.com.

Phantom Wolf
Bonnie Vanak

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For my dear sister-in-law, Sissy Fischer. Love yah!

This one’s for you, you amazing Southern spitfire!

Prologue

Kelly Denning was in love. She barely felt the cold of a Tennessee winter as she raced across the meadow and headed for the barn where Sam always waited for her.

He knew she’d never enter the secret passageway in the barn alone. If Colton Shaymore caught her, he’d be furious. Sam’s father had forbidden his Arcane Enchanter Mage servants from using the underground tunnels.

Arcane Enchanter Mages were forced to carry identification cards and worked as servants or in low-wage positions. Elemental Mages, especially blue bloods like Sam’s family, held the power and the wealth. The discrimination had happened because three hundred years ago an Arcane Enchanter had embraced evil and transformed into the most powerful Mage of all—a Dark Lord. The Dark Lord had slaughtered hundreds of Elementals and stolen their powers before being killed. Now the more powerful Elementals had burned all but their most rudimentary spell books to prevent another Dark Lord uprising.

A low growl rumbled from the corner as she entered the barn.

Kelly froze, fear curdling her blood. Opening all her Arcane senses, she inhaled the air. Smelled fresh sage, sharp leather and crisp autumn leaves.

Sam.

The black-and-white timber wolf stepped out from the corner. Kelly’s fear evaporated as she crouched down. The wolf playfully bumped into her as it rested its head upon her leg and rubbed against it.

Marking her with his scent, she thought with a secret rush of pleasure. Sam had already marked her two months ago by becoming her first lover.

The wolf sniffed the crisp night air. Baring its massive teeth in a growl, he loped over to the doorway to make sure no one had followed Kelly and then trotted over to her.

Fast as the beat of a hummingbird’s wing, the wolf shifted and became a human male—his naked body slick with sweat, his sleek, muscled flanks tensed. His sandy-brown hair was boyishly ruffled, and an impish mix of sexual promise and mischief gleamed in his hazel eyes. Samuel Jackson Shaymore was a privileged Elemental Phantom Mage who could shift into any life-form he chose to duplicate.

Kelly didn’t care if he shifted into a sea slug, as long as he turned back into her beloved Sam.

She extended her finger for him to touch. The ancient greeting among Mages was now used by Elementals to single out her people. Arcane auras sparked more crimson than the pure gold of an Elemental aura.

Sam flashed the infectious grin that had first stolen her heart, and they touched index fingers. A brilliant flare of crimson and gold colors leaped between their hands.

Breaking contact, she pointed to his muscled, bare chest. “Aren’t you going to conjure some clothing?”

“Why? You always liked the view before.”

The teasing remark made her cheeks heat. Sam laughed and waved his hands, clothing his body by using magick.

“Why did you shift into a wolf?”

“Couldn’t take any chances that my father watched me leave. It’s a good disguise.” Sam tilted his head back and gave a low, mock howl. “Besides, I love hunting through the woods as a wolf. Fires my blood.”

A shiver of anticipation snaked down her spine at the heated promise in his eyes. Sam stroked a single finger down her right cheek, just as he’d done the first time they’d kissed. Every time they met, he repeated the gesture. Once she’d asked what it meant.

“I’m reassuring myself that you’re really here,” he finally told her.

She stepped into his embrace, loving how his arms gathered her close, how he was just tall enough to make her feel sheltered but not overwhelmed. Heat smoldered in his hazel eyes as Sam looked down at her.

Taking her hand, Sam opened the trapdoor leading to the underground passageway and guided her down the stairs to his secret bunker. An enormous bed stood in the room’s middle, touched by the golden light of the lamp Sam switched on.

Kelly hesitated. “Your father is so strict about Christmas tradition. If he finds out you slipped away from the caroling to be with me…”

“The hell with him. I’d rather be with you,” he murmured, drawing her into his arms.

Sam kissed her hard and long, as if he’d die if he couldn’t have her. Kelly wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back.

“What I want to give you for Christmas can’t be wrapped in a box,” he murmured, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. Sam pulled, drawing her close. “And you can thank me with those sweet little screams I love to hear in bed.”

Kelly placed her palms on his chest. She wanted this so badly. She knew their affair was all wrong, and lately the tension had gotten worse. Sam’s father kept scowling at her, as if he suspected. And sweet, innocent Petie, Sam’s little brother, almost caught them in the barn last week.

Even her own father, a widower since her birth eighteen years ago, wouldn’t approve. Cedric Denning wanted his only child to join his secret fight for equality for Arcanes.

She and Sam were on opposite sides of a great chasm. But chasms could be breeched, and love conquered all. She didn’t want Sam’s money, or his position. Just him.

“Your father would get his shotgun if he knew. He’d rather see you with a damn Yankee than an Arcane.” Kelly rested her head against Sam’s broad shoulder.

“I’d protect you. He can’t tell me what to do.” Sam nuzzled her neck, his warm breath tickling her ear.

“Sam, he suspects something. He’s trying to set you up with Lisa. That date…”

“It was just a date, Kel. Make the old man happy and get him off my back. Nothing happened. If you want, I’ll take you next time.” He dropped tiny, hot kisses on the juncture of her shoulder blade.

Jealousy coiled in her stomach. Last week Sam’s mother had held a tea party and invited Lisa Smith, daughter of a wealthy Elemental blue-blooded family. In childhood, Kelly and Lisa were inseparable, until the day Lisa discovered her best friend was only an Arcane servant. Lisa made new friends, and they all ridiculed her each time Kelly came into town.

It had stung her pride to serve her former friend tea, but it stung even more hearing Lisa brag about dancing with Sam at a society ball.

Sam escorted privileged Elementals like Lisa to black-tie galas.

Sam escorted lowly Arcanes like Kelly to his hidden bedroom.

She pulled out of his embrace. “Your father wants you to marry a blue-blooded Elemental like Lisa. Nothing would make him happier.”

A low snort of derision. “Father can pressure all he wants. I’m crazy about you, Kel. I don’t care what anyone says.”

Feeling years older, and wiser, she sighed. “You’d care if we were out and I got caught without my ID. They’d toss me into prison.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Emotion clogged her throat. “You can’t guarantee it, Sam. My people have little rights. Yours have all the power.”

His expression lost its tender, teasing look and turned determined and ruthless. The swift change was startling, as if Colton Shaymore’s twenty-one-year-old son had shown exactly what kind of man he’d become.

“No one’s going to touch you, or I’ll show them the business side of my fists. You’re mine and what I claim, I protect. Now close your eyes.”

Something delicate and cool slipped around her neck. She opened her eyes and lifted the silver pendant with its three intertwined and intricate spirals.

“It’s not just a Christmas gift, Kel. The triskele is sacred among my people.”

“It’s lovely.”

His velvet tone turned rough. “It won’t make you invincible, but if you wear it around your neck, it’ll act like a shield and prevent all but the darkest magick from hurting you. Plus, it will amplify your own powers. Never lose it. If I’m not around…”

Putting a finger to his mouth, she shook her head. The consequences were too terrible to bear. Life without Sam?

Kelly kissed him. His mouth was warm and he tasted like brandy and mints. His scent wrapped around her like a blanket, the promise of pleasure lingering as he licked the inside of her mouth and palmed her breasts.

Tearing off their clothing, they fell into the bed.

His lovemaking was tender and slow. After, Sam held her close for a long while, as if afraid of letting her go.

The mood was too somber for the holidays. Kelly sprang out of bed, tugged at his hand. “Let’s go for a walk in the moonlight, and then you can shift into a wolf and sneak back into the house.”

Sam sat up, the sheet spilling to his lean waist. Candlelight glistened on the sweat-slicked muscles of his abdomen.

“No more sneaking out. Get dressed. I’m taking you with me to the house.”

The declaration shocked her, as if he’d decided to walk into the mansion stark naked.

“You can’t! What about your father?”

“The hell with him. He’ll adjust. I’m tired of being under his thumb. If he doesn’t like it, I can make it on my own.” Sam swung his long legs over the bed and pulled on his trousers.

They dressed quickly. Cold air slapped them as they ran out of the barn, laughing and talking. Kelly’s pulse quickened. Despite the practical worries niggling her, she couldn’t help dreaming. A home of their own, maybe the cabin he owned where they’d first made love. Far away from their families, they could make their own little world, where the Arcane and Elemental classes didn’t matter.

And only their feelings did.

The dream burst apart into a shower of sparks. Kelly halted, staring in horror at the stately Shaymore mansion with its columned portico, black shutters and marbled hallways.

Orange flames licked the windows, smoke pouring out of the house in thick, black ribbons.

Now they were running across the field. Not fast enough. Every step they took, the fire grew. Oh, gods, she thought in terror, Sam’s family was inside.

Her father, as well. He’d been charged with setting out the antique oil lamps and lighting them. A centuries-old tradition insisted upon by Annabelle Shaymore, who banned electricity for this special night.

Then a tall man burst out of the house by the front door. Laughing crazily, he rubbed his hands together like Lady Macbeth. White bolts of energy shot from his fingertips, crackling in the air. He turned, his face showing clearly in the moonlight.

Cedric Denning. Her father.

“You goddamn bastard, what did you do?” Sam screamed at him.

Her father ran down the driveway. Numb, she watched her lover race toward the smoke and flames pouring out into the night.

With shaking hands, Kelly tried channeling her own powers to help put out the flames, knowing it was too late. Knowing the fire consumed the mansion, Sam’s family dying inside.

Knowing her world would never be the same again.

Chapter 1

“Please, don’t let him take me.”

Kelly Denning’s heart twisted as his large blue eyes beseeched her. “I won’t, Billy. I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

“Promise?”

Kelly made a large X over her rapidly beating heart. Nothing was going to happen to Billy. “Cross my heart and hope to…”

Die. Not today. Not on my agenda this week.

She forced a bright smile, hoping the terrified child could see it in the dimness. “Cross my heart and hope to never lie.”

“But you’re an Arcane. My mommy says Arcanes lie all the time because your magick is weaker, not like us Elementals. Is she right?” His voice shook. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I just want to go home.”

Not wanting his mother’s prejudice to shake his faith, Kelly chose her words with care. “I promise you, I’ll do everything I can to get you back to your parents.”

“They won’t want me anymore after this,” Billy said in a small voice. “I won’t be an Elemental if they drain my powers like they keep saying they will.”

Emotion clogged her throat. Billy wouldn’t be alive, either. But she had no intention of scaring him further.

“Your powers are still inside you. No one can take away who you are, honey.”

“Not even a Dark Lord?”

Kelly sucked in a breath. Dark Lords were rare, but they were the most powerful Mages of all, created from pure evil. Only Arcanes were known to achieve this transformation through an ancient spell, which gave Elementals a natural fear of their weaker brethren.

“Especially not a Dark Lord.”

“Will anyone save us? My dad knows some navy SEALs. They rescue people.” Billy’s voice trembled.

The two fangers upstairs would drain a navy SEAL dry. Ordinary navy SEALs couldn’t save them. They needed someone higher on the food chain.

Her thoughts drifted to Sam Shaymore. He was a powerful Elemental Phantom Mage and, her sources said, a navy SEAL. Sam would rescue Billy, but Kelly doubted he’d take her along. Because, like other Elementals, Sam Shaymore blamed her father for killing his entire family.

I’m not like my father, Sam.

“Maybe,” Kelly ventured. “But if they don’t, we have to save ourselves. Just stick close to me, and do as I say.”

No matter what happened to her, Billy must live.

Kelly hugged her knees, winced. Not a good idea. Still hadn’t healed yet. Scanning the inside of the cramped, dark room, she assessed their prison’s weak points as Billy huddled close.

He was the privileged son of a powerful Elemental Phantom Mage. Someone had stolen Billy out of his bed and brought him to this island to siphon away all his ripening magick. The process would kill him.

Not as long as I’m here, Kelly thought grimly.

Kelly’s organization, Sight Finders, rescued Mage children. She’d discovered the missing Billy’s whereabouts through an anonymous email tip. But the words that chilled her the most had been these: Arcanes are conspiring to create a Dark Lord. They plan to execute all Elemental Mages.

The email warned Billy was in Florida, where he’d be transported to this tiny island in the Caribbean. She’d stolen aboard the boat in Miami and nearly succeeded in freeing him. But the fangers had caught her and imprisoned her, as well.

Kelly stood, wincing at her protesting leg muscles. She peered out the slats of a narrow window. A thin ray of sunlight speared the darkness. They’d have to make a break for it now, before the vampires awakened. She could create a diversion and…

“Someone’s coming,” Billy whispered.

Heavy footsteps. Her palms grew clammy. Kelly rubbed them against her dirty jeans. Oh, gods, she knew what was coming next. She slipped the silver pendant off her neck and put it around Billy’s neck.

“This will keep you safe. The triskele has much power.”

Billy’s eyes grew huge. “No, Kelly, what about you? You need magick protection, too!”

“I’ll be fine. Stay in the corner. They can’t hurt you if you wear the necklace.”

“Kelly.” The little boy’s voice came as a whisper. “You’re an Arcane. My mother says Arcanes are bad people. They’re different from us and can’t be trusted to be anything more than servants.”

Grief twisted her heart. She knelt by the little boy and gathered his hands into hers.

“Listen to me, Billy. Whatever you’ve been told is wrong. My people are gentle and would rather practice their craft of chanting spells. Yes, they’ve been subservient for generations to Elementals. But they would sooner die themselves than turn to darkness and kill another to gain more power.”

Billy’s eyes were solemn. “But someone among your people has.”

She squeezed his hands, unable to argue that point.

The door opened, showing a shaft of sunlight. Kelly winced as someone seized her wrist. The Arcane Mage grinned, showing a row of yellowed teeth. Her stomach roiled at the thought of a fellow Arcane hurting an innocent child. She laughed, hoping to calm Billy’s fears. “Time to play the game again, right boys? It’s a fun game.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another Arcane slap a heavy stick against his fat thigh. Her knees felt weak.

“Right,” said the voice thick with menace. “Time to play the game.”

As he swam through the clear Caribbean water, U.S. Navy SEAL Sam “Shay” Shaymore fought the instincts of his Mage shifter magick to change into an ocean-dwelling animal. With the three other SEALs using the nav boards equipped with compasses, they moved silently in swim pairs, their Dräger rebreathers showing no telltale bubbles.

He kept his breathing even, slowed his banging heart rate. Dangerous as hell executing an op in broad daylight. But their orders were clear. Attack in the daylight, soon as possible. Ensign Grant “Sully” Sullivan had done recon on the target’s mansion. Billy was being held in a first-floor room, guarded in daylight by two Arcane Mages armed with M16s and two nasty vamps at night. The heat sig from the night-vision binocs showed that he was still alive as of last night. A female, probably the nanny who’d kidnapped Billy, remained with him.

The top brass ordering this op knew nine-year-old Billy Rogers, the only son of a powerful U.S. senator, was being held captive. Keegan Byrne, the four-star admiral and Primary Elemental Mage who commanded the SEALs, knew a little more. Like the fact that Billy’s dad was also a Phantom Elemental and an Elder on the stately Council of Mages.

It was an op loaded with policy-maker land mines. The worst kind for a SEAL on the elite Phoenix Force, a secret group of navy SEALs who were all paranorms. A human media explosion would ensue afterward, followed by the paranormal uproar created by the powerful Council of Mages.

Shay didn’t care. The hell with afterward. Billy was all that mattered.

He and his teammates surfaced near the seawall. Blending in with the craggy rocks, they removed and stashed their gear.

Shay slicked back his hair with a hand, scanning the lush grounds for movement. Their point man, Lieutenant Matthew “Dakota” Parker, gave the signal for all clear. No one around. Time to move in, boys.

With a flick of his wrist, Shay cut the alarm by sending an electromagnetic current rippling into the system. The four SEALs crept up near a stand of palms, HK416 assault rifles at the ready. Silent as wraiths, they slipped away.

Shay hunkered down behind a group of palm trees, watching the other SEALs. Dakota shifted into a wolf and ran up the outside stairs. The Mages on the balcony would catch his scent and investigate, leaving the way clear for Sully and Petty Officer Third Class Ryder “Renegade” Thompson to capture the nanny and dipatch the vamps and Mages and grab Billy.

He clicked his radio twice. Answering clicks signaled as they all moved into position.

And then a woman stepped out of the house onto the patio and sank into a chaise longue by the pool.

Damn! Shay lifted his binoculars. The female daylight hugger must be the nanny. He bit back a curse and spoke into his throat mic, breaking radio silence.

“Alpha One, this is Bravo Two. I have a visual on Tango Five. Oscar Mike.”

Double clicks on the radio acknowledged the transmission.

It took seconds for him to analyze the new threat. He could take her out, but brass wanted her for questioning. Instead of stealth, he opted for shifting. His magick was powerful, but the form was nonthreatening.

Inside he smiled.

Little Miss Sunshine, you’re all mine.

Every bone in her body hurt. As part of the game, they’d beat her while she tried to stifle her screams to keep from terrifying Billy. Kelly refused to talk as they tried to get information on how she’d discovered their operation. As punishment, the Mages would dump her in the cell for a few minutes to assure Billy she was still alive and then put her into the sunshine.

Unlike other Arcanes, Kelly healed from exposure to direct sunlight. Probably a result of wearing the powerful triskele for so many years.

They’d bring her back into the darkness when she recovered. Just to hurt her all over again. Only this time, they’d beaten her a little harder. Billy had given her back the triskele to wear.

“Please, Kelly. It has good magick and will help you,” he’d whispered.

She closed her eyes, and the ache in her muscles eased as the triskele amplified the sun’s gentle strength. She heard a small, hopeful meow.

House cat. She gave a vague smile.

“Where did you come from, kitty? I thought the vamps didn’t let anything smaller than a tank hunt on their turf?” Too hurt to wonder what it was, she closed her eyes. And then she heard a scream upstairs.

Billy! She started off the chaise.

Bam! Next thing she knew she was lying flat on her stomach, a heavy male weight pressed into her back.

“Chief Petty Officer Sam Shaymore, U.S. Navy SEALs,” he whispered into her ear.

Warm breath feathered over her cheek. The delicious masculine scent of leather and sage became stronger and enveloped her like a lover’s arms. She knew this scent. Knew this body…had felt it atop hers years ago.

When he’d laid her down on his bed, kissed her and then had taken her virginity.

The muscled SEAL’s heavy weight shifted, allowing her to roll over. He straddled her, sitting on her hips, his hands easily pinning her down.

Indifferent, almost cruel concentration on his face turned to shock. Those penetrating hazel eyes widened and then darkened.

“Kelly,” he said softly.

A gleam of recognition and pure sexual awareness. She felt the jolt as if Sam had branded her with a white-hot iron. Sheer desire whipsawed through her, making her tremble as he held her down. The last time they’d been in this position, Sam had been thrusting deep inside her, as she’d clung to him and moaned.

The erotic current between them fizzled as anger flushed his handsome face. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Power hummed in the air, radiating off him in waves. Sam could generate electromagnetic current strong enough to turn a building into dust. A navy SEAL and a Phantom Mage? Forget the vampire guards. They had baby teeth compared with Sam’s T. rex magick.

Fear coated her mouth. Kelly wriggled, but he held her down easily. Disgusted with her weakness, she scowled into his face.

“Mind getting off me, Sam? We’re not lovers anymore, and this brick is awfully hard.”

Those chiseled features narrowed. He wore a black headband around his forehead, keeping his shoulder-length brown hair in place. A nasty-looking weapon hung from one broad shoulder. He was clad in some kind of green camouflage. Kelly felt a shiver snake down her spine.

“Let me go. I have to get to Billy…”

He touched an earpiece and glanced upstairs. “Billy is safe.”

“But the Mages…”

“Dead.” His gaze flattened. “Why did you take him, Kelly? This your new hobby, stealing innocents?”

“I didn’t kidnap Billy. I was trying to free him when I got caught. My organization is Sight Finders.”

Those dreamy hazel eyes widened. “Those nutjobs? The ones who steal Mage children in domestic disputes?”

“My organization rescues Mage children in trouble.”

“My organization is the U.S. Navy. You’re my prisoner.” Sam eased back and snapped plastic ties around her wrists.

Her jaw dropped. “You can’t do this!”

“Just did.”

“But I’m on your side.”

“Can’t trust that, until the situation is secured.” Then for a sheer moment, the indifferent mask dropped. Torment shadowed his face as he stroked a light finger down her cheek. His touch made her shiver, and remember.

“Sam,” she began, but he slid off and pulled her upright. Even with his incandescent rage, his touch was considerate and gentle.

Always the Southern gentleman. Even when taking prisoners, she thought dully.

She struggled against the ties but failed to break them. Sam gave her an amused look. “Don’t waste your energy. I laced them with magick. I’m an Elemental.”

“You were,” she whispered. “Now you’re just a bastard. When did you become one, Sam?”

Regret flashed in his eyes, and then the hardness returned. “The day your father escaped after killing my whole family.”

He walked her to a sturdy coconut palm. Before he secured her to it, he cupped her cheek with his palm. Despite the wet, thick gloves, she felt the warmth of his touch like a brand. He studied her solemnly. “Kel,” he murmured.

So close he seemed ready to kiss her. She closed her eyes, remembering those firm, warm lips nestled against hers.

When she opened her eyes, he’d vanished.

Kelly struggled against her bonds. Gunfire erupted amid loud explosions upstairs. A SEAL emerged from the house, carrying a terrified Billy. He was sobbing.

“Give him to me,” she cried out.

Sheer strength and her own secret store of magick shattered her bonds. Kelly rushed forward, only to feel the cold pressure of a gun barrel pressed to her temple. “Don’t move,” came Sam’s deep voice.

“I’m here to save Billy. I’m not his enemy!”

“Maybe not his,” he said in a soft, drawling voice that rubbed against her skin like warm velvet. “But, sweetheart, you are most definitely mine.”

Chapter 2

Propping his heavy boots on the table in front of him, Shay took a swig of bottled water and stared at the opposite wall of Phoenix Force’s ready room. Framed photographs of SEALs who’d died in combat stared back. Shay gave them a solemn salute with the bottle.

Kelly Denning. Even now, years after they’d parted, the memories rushed back in a cascade of searing heat. But now they said she was a scumbag, worse than a pyrokinetic demon. According to the rumors swirling around the SEAL Team 21 compound, she’d used her organization as cover to steal Elemental Phantom Mage children to drain their powers. Billy was the first. Others would follow if Kelly wasn’t stopped.

The door slammed behind them as Renegade and Dakota paced into the room. The two Draicon werewolves looked ready to take someone down.

Gods, he knew what they felt. They hated the mass of red tape caused by the senator whose son they’d saved. Everyone on the SEAL 21 compound was on edge. ST 21 was thought by humans to be “norms.” No one in the human world knew of the existence of paranorms. If they did, they’d freak.

And now the senator had brought an entourage of humans into the compound. “Are they done with her yet?” he asked his lieutenant.

Dakota shook his head. “Humans are. FBI and brass are letting her go. No evidence she was working with the kidnappers. But as soon as they’re gone, Senator Rogers wants a crack at her.”

He exchanged glances with a scowling Renegade.

“The senator wants blood. He says she’s lying, because all Arcane Mages lie.” Renegade shook his head. “Seems we’re in the middle of a damn blood feud.”

“Rogers is an Elemental Elder on the Council of Mages. He doesn’t trust Arcanes. This little incident fuels his reasons even more,” Shay explained.

And he had the power to fry Kelly with a flick of one hand. Not if I’m around.

Stretching languidly, Renegade winked. “That Kelly is hot. Heard you were childhood friends and then lovers.”

Shay stiffened and then crushed the bottle in one hand. “Not anymore.”

“Bad parting?” Dakota took a chair, swung it around and straddled it.

You might say. Shay gave his friend and lieutenant a meaningful look. The Draicon werewolf got it and shut his trap. Thank you.

But Renegade, a loudmouth and player, shook the topic like a wolf with a tasty bone. “I don’t get this crap about Elementals and Arcanes. You’re all the same race, all Mages.”

“Long history.” Shay pitched the empty bottle into a waste basket.

Renegade tapped his fingers on the desk. “I bet you got into it with her father because she’s an Arcane and you’re a powerful Elemental. You seduced her. Classic case of the maid seduced by the nobleman.”

Shay’s blood pressure rose. The desk began to vibrate beneath his clenched fists. Electromagnetic currents rippled in the air, sparks crackling with magick.

“And then…” Renegade grinned. “Her father went after you with a shotgun.”

“No. Her father killed my entire family.”

Both SEALs stared at him. Shay felt his temples begin to pound as he recognized the troublesome look in Renegade’s eyes.

“All that over a little something-something? Day-um. That Kelly she must be great in the sack. Those long legs…”

Shay’s temper snapped like dry kindling. “That’s it. You’re going down.”

He vaulted over the table, aiming for the SEAL. As Renegade shape-shifted into a wolf, Shay used his Phantom powers to shift.

Snarling, the two wolves clashed in midair, heavily muscled bodies thunking hard against each other. He raked his claws over the other’s muzzle, heard an answering call of pain. Renegade’s teeth closed over Shay’s left shoulder, biting hard. As the burning agony hit, so did logic. Tearing free, Shay spun around, his large paws digging into the linoleum.

His Kelly? Since when? The man inside the wolf howled for reason. This was Renegade, a bastard, sure, but his teammate, a fellow SEAL who would give his life for the teams. And Shay.

Dakota stormed forward, backhanded them both. “Stand down!”

The two wolves shifted back and Renegade clothed himself by using magick. He looked badly shaken. Blood dripped from three furrows on his face. The coppery scent hung in the air.

Shay shifted back, feeling deeply ashamed. He conjured on clothing and swallowed hard, looking Renegade in the eye.

“I’m sorry, man,” Shay said.

“My bad.” The other SEAL looked abashed.

A vein jumped in Dakota’s temple. “Are you insane? The senator’s human aides are in this building! We’re pooling all our efforts to make SEAL Team 21 look like just another SEAL team and hide our powers. And you two shape-shift in broad daylight?”

He turned to Renegade. “You. Fifty laps around the compound. Now. And you…”

Dakota waited until Renegade left. “Shay, dial it down. I know what it’s like to lose your head over a woman, but you’re not doing her any favors by pulling crap like that.”

“It won’t happen again.”

He meant it. Because the feral rage scared the ever-living crap out of him. Gods, he hadn’t shifted into a wolf since the day he’d nearly killed a rancher almost eleven years ago. If not for his uncle’s high standing on the council, Shay would have been executed. They didn’t kill him, because he was a privileged Elemental Mage. After, Shay joined the navy, became a SEAL. The disciplined life had saved him.

Dakota’s cell rung. The Draicon glanced at caller ID, and his scowl softened to a smile. He answered. “Hey, sweetheart.”

Sienna, the wolf’s mate. She’d taken this man of brass and turned him into mush with a simple phone call. A hollow ache settled in Shay’s chest. Glancing over his shoulder, Dakota whispered, “Go take care of yourself, Shay. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

He nodded. “Tell Sienna I said hello.”

When he returned, Lieutenant Commander Dale “Curt” Curtis, commanding officer of ST 21, sat beside Dakota in the ready room.

“Curt? What’s the deal?”

His CO snorted. “Show’s about to start. And I can’t do a damn thing about it. My hands are tied by all this red tape.”

The door burst open. Senator Robert Rogers walked in, accompanied by his well-groomed wife and a pretty, blonde woman with a tense look and wide, scared eyes. The woman carried a pad and pencil. In the senator’s wake was a parade of dark-suited aides, two Secret Service agents, Admiral Keegan Byrne and all the SEALs on the Phoenix Force except Renegade.

It’s a freaking party, Shay thought humorlessly.

Rogers gestured to the aides and agents. After some protest all the humans left, the aides casting anxious glances at their boss.

As the door closed behind them, the woman sat and flipped open her pad. Rogers escorted his wife to a chair and glared at Curt. “I assume these quarters are private so I may question the suspect as I am entitled to under Mage law?”

His CO’s expression tightened. “You’re entitled. But this is a military base. My unit. If you deviate from the rules, you leave.”

Rogers nodded at the blonde woman. “Catherine is my personal assistant. She serves as secretary for the Council of Mages and will take notes for my report to them.”

Two MPs brought Kelly in, removed her handcuffs and left. She sat on a gray folding chair near the front. As she rubbed at her wrists, her gaze caught Shay’s. She’d cut her waistlength hair. The wavy locks tumbled past her shoulders, still the color of a copper penny shimmering in the sunlight. With her heart-shaped face, pert nose and full red lips, she had an alluring combination of innocence and sensuality. Shay felt another jolt of pure sexual awareness. Just like the first time they’d noticed each other on his father’s estate.

She had a figure, yowza, that would knock the socks off a eunuch sworn to celibacy. Hourglass, all smooth curves that tempted a man into tracing every single luscious inch of her skin with his hands, and his tongue.

His cock went instantly hard. Shay gritted his teeth, his breath easing out in a harsh whistle of air. Air. Man, he needed air. He could hardly breathe.

A side door opened, and Renegade strolled in and slid into the seat next to Shay. The SEAL’s tongue nearly dropped down like one of those stupid cartoon wolves. “Day-um. Now I see why you were into her,” he muttered.

“You’re supposed to be doing laps around the compound,” Shay snapped, possessive male urges cranking from mild to overdrive.

“Dakota didn’t say anything about the outside of the compound, so I jogged around the courtyard.” The Draicon wolf’s gaze riveted to Kelly. “Besides, I needed to check if you still had a pulse. You okay?”

Shay felt a flash of gratitude. “Yup.” Renegade could be a bastard, but he was cool when it came down to it.

Shay stalked toward the room’s front and stood against the wall, folding his arms. He couldn’t get involved, but the vulnerable shadows beneath her blue eyes punched his gut.

The heels of Rogers’s polished black shoes clicked across the linoleum. In his dark gray suit, with silver edging his short hair, the senator looked urbane and handsome. But beneath the charming smile lurked something nasty, like an oil slick.

“Now, Miss Denning.” Rogers took a seat behind the desk, steepling his fingers. “You kept asserting your innocence before military authorities and the FBI. Without evidence to hold you, they released you.”

Rogers’s smile darkened. “Under human law, you are free to go. But Mage law is not so liberal. As Chief Elder on the Council of Mages, I ask you now, who gave the orders to steal my son?”

Kelly rubbed the heel of her hand against her cheek. “I’m innocent. Sight Finders helps Mage offspring. we’re the only ones protecting the children of both Elemental and Arcane Mages.”

“Don’t play the naive card with me, Denning. You were not imprisoned with Billy when the SEALs rescued him. You were lounging by the pool.”

“Billy will tell you—I was rescuing him.”

“He’s too traumatized to speak.” Rogers waved a hand. “Where is the nanny who took him? Was she working for you?”

“Dead,” Curt said, his gray gaze steely. “My men killed the vamps and both Mage guards on the island. When the Mages died, they assumed their original forms. One was the nanny.”

“So she was working for you.” Rogers turned his attention back to Kelly.

Curt and Shay exchanged glances. No words needed. Shay could read his CO’s mind. The powerful Primary Mage had little tolerance for a slick politician with a hell-bent agenda.

What an asshole.

“Your organization is a front for stealing Elemental children to drain their magick and enrich your own powers. You would have killed my son had you the chance!”

“Never! I was protecting him.”

“Where did you get the knowledge of siphoning Elemental magick? The dark spell books were all destroyed.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Now who’s naive? Knowledge isn’t contained by a book. Ever hear of our oral history?”

Shadows darkened her face. “This goes a lot deeper than you realize. The Arcanes behind Billy’s kidnapping want to kill Phantom Elementals to take over their extraordinary powers and duplicate them. They’re going to create a Dark Lord.”

A few harsh intakes of breath from all the Mages. Alarm filled Shay. Hell, she had to be wrong.

Curt gave her the penetrating look he used to interrogate tangos, but it looked more thoughtful than menacing. “There hasn’t been a Dark Lord in three hundred years.”

Rogers looked uneasy and then scoffed. “We have kept close watch over every Arcane through a regular sweep of ID cards. Until now, not one single Arcane has stolen Elemental magick.”

Shay shifted uncomfortably. Curt glanced at him. “You’re wrong, Senator. There was one twelve years ago. We have no proof, though. He vanished off the radar.”

A small, cruel smile played on the Mage’s lips. “I forgot. Your father, Denning. You’re just like him.”

“I am not my father,” Kelly said, fire flashing in her eyes. “I save children. I’m about justice, unlike you. Just because you’re Elementals doesn’t make you better than me. Are you going to listen to me, you pigheaded fool? The real threat is still out there!”

“Really, Robert. Are you going to let her talk to you like that?” Mrs. Rogers studied a manicured nail.

Kelly gazed at Rogers without fear. Shay felt a surge of admiration. Same Kelly. Always standing her ground.

Rogers raised his hands, power humming in the room. “I will tolerate no disrespect. Especially not from an Arcane. You will give me answers.”

The senator sent the energy ball sailing toward Kelly. As it struck her, she cried out and flew backward, hitting the wall.

Shay lost it. All his male protective instincts surged. Senator or not, Rogers could not treat a woman that way. You try talking without a tongue, you bastard…

As Shay lunged forward, ready to leap over the desk, Curt reached out an arm and yanked him back. Waves of calming magick pulsed from the Mage. “Steady, Shay. Take it easy,” his CO murmured. “Not here. Not now.”

Releasing Shay, Curt scowled at the senator. “I told you, interrogation by the rules. One more violation and I’ll toss you out on your ass myself.”

Shay struggled to keep a civil tone. “Since when did we allow torture? We’re better than that.”

“They’re both right. Do that again, Robert, and you’re leaving the base,” Admiral Byrne said quietly.

Rogers laughed. “You can’t do that. I’m a U.S. senator who sits on the Armed Services Committee. I’ll cut the funding to your precious team of navy SEALs.”

Byrne’s mouth twisted. “Don’t get into a pissing contest with me, son. You’ll lose. I’m fifteen hundred years old and can reduce you to ashes before you can say ‘defense budget.’”

Ignoring them both, Shay crouched down by Kelly, who rubbed her side where the energy bolt had hit. A small, charred hole showed in the yellow print fabric.

Their eyes met. A jolt went through him at the intense blueness he saw in her eyes. Shay reached out a hand, clasped hers. An internal shudder raced through him. So warm and soft.

Up close, she smelled great, her delicate floral scent cutting through the ozone stench of energy Rogers had tossed at her.

Shay cleared his throat. “You okay?”

As he helped her stand, she gave a rueful smile.

“I’m fine. That jolt works better than a shot of espresso. Maybe I can hire him to roust me out of bed in the morning.”

Still the same Kelly, putting up a brave front. Shay studied her face. A bruise shadowed one perfect cheekbone. He touched it and she winced. His temper began to rise.

Those blue eyes, once clear and sparkling as a summer sky, clouded with worry as she caught his expression.

“I’m fine. I mean it. Thanks, Sam,” she said softly.

She brushed off her jeans, nodded at the gray folding chair. “By the way, need that? Is it special? Other than for serving as the hot seat for suspects?”

“It’s just a chair,” Shay told her, puzzled.

“Okay. Let me show you something, Senator.”

Digging into her jeans pocket, Kelly retrieved a silver necklace and draped it around her neck. She closed her eyes and extended her slim arms skyward. “Earth, earth, earth, water, water, water, fire, fire, fire, air, air, air.”

Shay’s blood ran cold. The ancient chanting spell used by Arcanes to gather power from the elements. But they needed a secondary source to properly channel the power, such as an enchanted staff, a wand or an amulet, and all those had been banned… .

The three swirls on the pendant around Kelly’s neck glowed. White light suffused her body, the energy pulsing steadily. Then she opened her eyes and flung out her hands toward the chair.

KA-POW!

The chair was a mangled, crumpled mess of metal. The little secretary taking notes gasped and stared at Kelly, who calmly regarded Rogers.

“I can take care of myself. I chose not to attack you in return. You’re not dealing with a weak Arcane you can bully like you’ve bullied others.”

Rogers sputtered as his wife gasped.

“Where the hell did you get that power?” Rogers demanded. “Did you kill other Elemental children?”

“If I had, would I allow you to hold me prisoner? My powers come from another source, a source for good.”

Awareness shone in the senator’s eyes. “A triskele. No Arcane has one.” He approached Kelly and seized the pendant. It sizzled, and he jumped back with a yelp.

“I put a spell on it so the humans couldn’t find it when they searched me. Oh, and enchanted it so any Mage trying to steal it will get burned.” Kelly gave a serene smile. “Oops. Forgot to mention that little fact.”

Blood drained from Shay’s face. The triskele…Damn. She still had the pendant he’d given her. Now she’d learned to use it as a weapon.

If the council found out Shay had illegally helped an Arcane…My ass is toast, he thought grimly.

“Do you know who I am? I’m a U.S. senator and an Elder on the Council of Mages.” A vein throbbed in Rogers’s temple.

“I know who you are. You’re Billy’s father,” Kelly said quietly.

Silence draped the room.

“He’s a very brave little boy. He needs you.”

Rogers swept his gaze around the room. Looking for support, maybe? None came from the grim-faced SEALs, the four-star Admiral Byrne or the silent Curt.

His wife sighed. “Are we done yet, Robert? I have a hair appointment and we have the Society of the Arts gala tonight. This visit wasn’t on your schedule, and it’s taking far too long.”

Shay focused on Kelly and saw that her elegant, long fingers were rubbing against her torn and ragged jeans. She did that to hide hands shaking in fear.

She’d done it the first night they’d made love, until desire surfaced and then…

Damn, someone had to stand up for Kelly, and no one around here seemed willing. He faced the senator. “You have no right to hold her. Under Mage law, she’s legally free within twenty-four hours, unless you can prove she’s a direct threat to another Mage. And there is no hard evidence she hurt anyone, including your son.”

He leveled a look at the older Mage. “Until then, she walks.”

A muscle ticked in the senator’s jaw. “You’re a soldier, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore. Not a policy maker. Stay out of this.”

“I’m a Phantom Elemental Mage whose family has held a seat on the council for the past five hundred years. And still holds one.” Shay got in the man’s face. “I’m not staying out.”

Tension bristled in the air as Rogers clenched his jaw. Finally he gave a gruff nod. “We’ll call it even, Chief, because you saved my son’s life. But interfere again and I’ll be forced to use my powers against you.”

Try it, he thought grimly. The senator had no idea of the full extent of Shay’s magick. I’ll send you flying into next week. Put that on your schedule, you bastard.

Kelly flashed him a grateful smile. Even with her long hair tangled, clothing messed and dirt on her face, she was lovely.

The senator turned to Admiral Byrne. “Tag her with the new GPS security chip, the one you use for your SEALs. She’s too dangerous to release to an unsuspecting public.”

“Take her to the infirmary,” Byrne told Sully.

“No.” Rogers gave a nasty smile. “I want to see it for myself. Do it here.”

Shay’s anger rose again. But he kept silent as his teammate left and returned with the injection gun. Sully cleared his throat.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I insert this in your hip.”

Color flushed her face, but she unzipped her jeans and pulled them down her right hip. Shay couldn’t help looking at the curve of her hip, the mint-green panties she wore with tiny pink roses embroidered on the waistband. She stared straight ahead, not wincing as Sully injected the miniature device.

Then her gaze met his, and he saw the anger dancing in her eyes. Anger, not humiliation, as she zipped up her jeans.

“New security chip? This something you’re tagging all my people with, Senator, so you can watch our movements? The ID card isn’t sufficient enough?”

“Your people are like cows. Branding keeps all the strays in line.” Rogers gave her a cold, hard stare. “As Elder on the council, I order you to remain in your home. If you leave the country, you will be arrested and interned.”

When the senator, his wife and his assistant left with the admiral, Curt rubbed the back of his neck. “Miss Denning, I’ll drive you to the airport. You have a reservation on the eighto’clock flight, courtesy of our esteemed council.”

The words esteemed council were followed by a derisive snort.

Soft with longing, Kelly’s gaze centered on Shay. She stood straight and tall, a hint of pride in those slender shoulders. “It’s not necessary, but thank you, Lieutenant Commander Curtis.”

“It’s necessary,” Curt said.

Kelly turned to Shay. Her soft pink mouth parted. She blinked back moisture gathering in her clear blue eyes.

“Sam, I’m sorry…about everything.”

A wave of emotion pushed at him. If only they could turn back time and go back to how things had once been. If only her father had not killed his family…

Shay rubbed his chest, feeling his heart constrict. I don’t know who you are anymore, Kelly.

A whistle from behind caught his attention. Renegade jerked a thumb toward the door. “Yo, Shay. Bunch of us are grabbing a few beers at the Dive Bar. Ya in?”

Drinks. With his teammates, friends. Even friends who shifted into wolves and bit were safe and familiar. Comfortable and predictable. Not a woman who spun him around into emotional knots, who looked at him sadly, as if he were the center of her universe and that particular universe had shattered. Shay gave Renegade a rough nod.

When he turned around, Kelly was gone.

Chapter 3

Kelly had to find Sam. This wasn’t over.

In a dingy bathroom, she splashed water over her face to fight fatigue. Forty-eight hours without sleep and only an energy bar for food. After a support staff member had dropped her off at the airport, she’d hopped on a bus and gotten off at the nearest gas station.

She tried to clean her dirty clothing, blotting the worst of it with brown paper towels. Finally she gave up.

Not winning any beauty contests tonight, for sure. That wasn’t important. Getting Sam to listen to her, and believe her, mattered most.

Beneath the distrust and doubt in his hazel eyes, she’d seen taut sexual awareness. Old feelings were still there. Even though he believed her father responsible for the deadly fire, she knew.

Cedric Denning couldn’t shoot a bolt of current if a 220 line fell on him. Her father was innocent. She knew it.

Rubbing her palms against her jeans, she banished the past. It was too late for Sam’s little brother. Others needed her help.

Before being escorted out, she’d overheard the SEALs say they were going to the Dive Bar. Kelly counted her money and called for a taxi.

The first driver refused. He’d seen her on television tonight when the newscasters reported her arrest in conjunction with the kidnapping of Senator Rogers’s son. Two taxis later, she finally found a driver willing to give her a ride, for double the money. But he seemed confused. He didn’t know any bar named the Dive Bar. Never heard of it. Finally she had him drive up and down roads near the base.

Night settled over the coastal town before she saw the flickering sign in the distance.

“There it is!” She gestured to the sign.

The driver snorted. “That’s no bar. That’s an old bait shop. Been closed for years.”

Kelly counted the bills, gave them to him and then climbed out. Driver must be confused. Plain as day, the blue neon sign boasted the Dive Bar.

Well, at least it wasn’t a four-star gourmet restaurant. Here, with her dingy clothing, she might fit in. Noise throbbed from inside, the pulsing beat of loud music, the cacophony of conversation and laughter.

Gathering her courage, she pulled open the door. An old-fashioned jukebox warbled a country-Western tune as two men played pool at the room’s far end. Squinting in the dim light, she let the door shut behind her. And then, as she watched a customer wave a hand and a bottle floated toward him, the realization hit her.

Every single person inside was a paranorm.

No wonder the cabdriver had never heard of it. The bar must have a magick shield around it to dissuade humans.

Worn buoys hung from the ceiling next to fishnets and two large plastic sharks. Old dive masks adorned one wall. It was a seedy, run-down and funky bar, the type she usually enjoyed.

People turned to examine the new arrival. And then all conversation ground to a halt. The jukebox shut off abruptly.

Uh-oh. Not exactly a welcoming crowd.

Silence descended, thick as morning fog. Even the bartender washing beer mugs in the sudsy sink stopped his work.

She swallowed hard, wiped her palms against her jeans and then finally placed her hands on the counter. A SEAL she recognized from the compound flicked a hand, the gesture filled with contempt. A half-filled mug of beer exploded, showering her blouse in suds and shards of glass. Kelly jumped. She brushed off her shirt.

“I guess happy hour is over,” she said. “Because it looks like the drink’s on me.”

More silence, broken suddenly by a deep male laugh, the rich timbre rubbing against her like soft fur.

Sam.

As the conversation gradually resumed, and the jukebox kicked in, she stayed still, gauging her former lover.

He sat in the middle of the circular bar, flanked by the SEALs who’d been in the room as Rogers questioned her. A dark blue T-shirt stretched over his muscular chest, rode tight against his well-defined biceps. A hank of sandy-brown hair hung over his forehead. His mouth was set in a firm line.

Seeing him made her blood tingle and her heart race in anticipation. Breath caught in her throat. He was more wiry than muscular, with a deadly edge. The shadow of boyhood was gone, replaced by a virile man.

A pretty blonde in a red dress edged close. Sam gave a charming smile and began flirting. Kelly’s heart sank to her stomach. Always the womanizer, until the time they’d become lovers. Kelly silently pleaded for him to look at her. Finally he glanced over. But only cold speculation showed on his handsome face.

She rubbed her hands again, wishing for a change of clothing, a change of scenery. Anything but this cool hostility. But Sam was her only hope. She needed his help to stop the rogue Arcane Mages before they stole more children—and this time killed them.

Finally, as the woman moved off, Kelly skirted the bar and stood behind Sam. “Sam, we have to talk.”

Those broad shoulders tensed. He did not turn around. One of the SEALs glanced at her, growled a little. A Draicon werewolf. Wonderful. Sam’s friends had tried, judged and convicted her. But the muscular SEALs didn’t matter. Only Sam did.

“Please,” she said softly and placed a hand on his arm.

Sam picked up his beer and led her to a corner booth. A bowl of peanuts sat on the table. Her stomach grumbled. Kelly picked up a peanut and ate it. Suddenly ravenous, she devoured one after another. Sam looked at her, his mouth a narrow slash.

“You okay? That was a nasty bolt of energy Rogers tossed at you.”

“I’ve felt worse.” The two Mages back on the island made Rogers’s jolt of energy feel like a tickle.

His expression softened. “You’re hungry.”

Sam waved a hand. The bartender came over, his expression grim.

“I need a burger, medium rare, fries and a…” Sam cocked his head at her, his expression amused. “Still into root beer?”

“I can handle something stronger. What you’re drinking. Domestic, right?”

A ghost of a smile. “Tom, give her a Bud.”

Silence from the bartender.

Sam’s expression tightened. “Well, Tom?”

“You, I’ll serve. Not her.”

Anger flared in Sam’s eyes, the green sparking like fireworks. “I don’t like your tone.”

“I like you, Shay. But I’ve got two young daughters. They mean everything to me. I don’t serve no stinking Arcanes…” The word was spat out in disgust. “Especially Arcane bitches who steal kids just so she can suck out their powers for herself.”

Guess good news travels fast. Kelly’s appetite fled, the peanuts turning into cardboard in her stomach.

“I didn’t do it,” she protested.

Sam’s jaw worked. He drank his beer as the bartender left. Everyone was looking at her. Humiliation poured over her.

“Sam, please.” Kelly struggled to find the right words. After twelve years, she felt at a loss. What did you say to the man who once loved and now probably hated you?

He dug into his back pocket, pulled out a wallet, fished out some bills and laid them on the table. “Here’s enough money to get dinner and get a flight out of here. Go home. You’d better leave, Kel. We’re all pretty tight, and the guys can be very reactive. And they don’t like what they heard about you.”

“They heard rumors I steal children.”

“They heard what your father did to my family.”

Torment haunted his eyes as he looked up. “Don’t force me to take sides. Because this time, I can’t stand with you against my teammates.”

Her throat was suddenly dry. She tried to calm her shaky nerves. “Coming here was a bad idea. I should have known I was up for the pitchforks-and-torches routine. Now what? Do you give me a head start before sending the mob after me?”

“I would never hurt you,” he said softly.

“I didn’t kidnap Billy. Just because you believe my father killed your family doesn’t make me exactly like him.”

There. Out in the open. Sam’s jaw clenched hard as stone. Sparks leaped from his fingers. “Damn.”

Kelly stared. “Sam? What’s going on with your powers?”

“They’re a little haywire lately.”

Sparks sizzled in the air. The lights flickered as Sam’s hands glowed white. Uh-oh. She recognized the potent surge of power… .

As she glanced at the bar to see if anyone noticed, a woman stared at Sam. Her expression was both sad and hopeful.

Sam raised his hands and flicked them toward the ceiling.

The lights flickered again, and Kelly glanced at the bar and the burly man standing by one of the SEALs. She stifled a gasp and looked away. Surely that could not be…

Her gaze cut back to the man. Suddenly he was gone. Replaced by…

Evil.

As the lights went out, Kelly shrieked.

Chapter 4

Shay jumped up, the beer bottle spilling. The lights flickered back on as suds spread over the table. Blood drained from her face, Kelly stuffed a fist in her mouth, staring at the bar.

She was okay. He ran to her, his fingers curling around her slender shoulders. “What is it?”

“I saw…” She closed her eyes and then opened them, the fear gone. “A Death Mask. The skull face of a Mage who’s slaughtered another Mage to gain his powers. The first step to becoming a Dark Lord.”

Conversation around them quieted. His teammates stared at him and then at Kelly. Someone muttered a curse.

“Impossible.” Tom shook his head.

“I know what I saw. He’s here. Or was.” Kelly craned her head to peer past Sam. “He’s gone now. Left when the lights went out.”

Silence draped the bar. Shay studied Kelly’s tight expression and could tell her pulse was galloping. She was scared but resolved. Her gaze scanned the room.

Tom spoke, his voice tight with anger and fear. “You’re lying. Get out of my bar.”

Unease rippled through the room. Two burly support staff from Team 21 cracked their knuckles and got off their stools.

Whispers and more stares. Shay glanced up and saw Renegade and the other SEALs tense. It was going to get ugly fast. Fear did crazy things to people, even paranorms. The crowd would fast turn into a mob if Kelly didn’t leave now.

She turned to him.

“Sam?” A shallow breath and whisper. “You believe me, don’t you?”

A razor’s edge of silence. He studied his former lover’s face, and then her hands. Steady and resolved. He drew on all his instincts and inhaled the air.

He smelled a tinge of something familiar…and foul, as if evil brushed the air and then fled.

“I believe something nasty was here.”

Turning, he glanced at his teammates, his friends and Tom. He’d known Tom for years.

“We don’t,” Tom said flatly. “She’s lying. Get out of my bar.”

Two lines furrowed Kelly’s brow. He recognized the look. It would take force to remove her. “I know what I saw. And I’m not leaving until I search every inch of this place and see where he went.”

He turned and saw his teammates maneuver around the bar, getting ready to intercept.

“Shay,” Sully said quietly. His teammate nodded toward the door.

Right. As Kelly slid out of the booth, Shay got out and scooped her over a shoulder as if she were a sack of flour. She let out a startled “Oomph.” He ignored it as he jogged toward the door Renegade held open.

As the heavy wood door banged behind him, Shay set her on her feet. He hated her stricken look, as if he’d killed her favorite kitten. A knot of barbed wire cinched his guts.

She was dangerous and outcast. He should send her far away before he got involved. Too late, he thought dimly.

“Sam, you have to let me back in there.”

Leaning against the door, he shook his head. “Kelly, I’ve had a bitch of a day. Watching you get your head torn apart by dozens of drunken vampires, werewolves and Mages is not how I want it to end.”

“He’s in there. I have to find him. Someone’s hiding him, Sam, and you’re not standing in my way.”

Her fingers flexed. He felt the quiet hum of power in the air. Behind him, the door rattled on its hinges. Sam’s own powers surged.

“Back off,” he said quietly.

She dropped her hands, her luscious pink mouth trembling. “So that’s it. Now what? Go to a motel? No one will rent me a room. My name’s been flashed across every television screen in America as a suspect in the kidnapping of Senator Rogers’s son. There are no flights until morning. Where am I supposed to go?”

“Home with me.”

This new steely, conservative Sam Shaymore still harbored a hint of wildness. It roared with the big, shiny chrome Harley he rode.

Clinging to his back, Kelly closed her eyes as the big bike rumbled beneath her. Wind slapped at her cheeks. The ride was exhilarating and one she’d have enjoyed—if not for the tense male driving.

She hooked her arms around his muscled waist. Sam had always been fit, but the navy had turned him into granite. As her thighs nestled against his long limbs, she felt a jolt of pure sexual awareness. The sharp leather scent of his jacket and his own masculine smell sent her female hormones surging.

Bad timing.

Sam turned a corner onto a quiet street lined with trees and trim, tidy homes. He pulled into a driveway before a two-story white house with green shutters and cut the engine.

Ever the gentleman, he helped her dismount. Kelly pulled off the helmet, smoothing down her tousled hair.

Sam quietly studied her, his full, sensual mouth drawn in a flat line. Unreadable, his expression shuttered.

“You don’t live on base?”

“Team 21 has off-base privileges. This is our street. I’d tell you who all my neighbors are, but it’s classified.”

“And you’d have to kill me,” she joked.

“No, the base security officers would.” His gaze was even and unblinking. As she gulped, the ghost of a smile touched his mouth. Sam touched her nose. “Gotcha.”

The tension between them eased. Kelly breathed a sigh of relief and followed him inside.

Sam had always had taste, but the modest living room surprised her with its plain but comfortable furniture. This was more a home suited for someone like her.

She trailed him into the kitchen, a more elegant room with gleaming granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. Dumping her pack on the floor, Kelly sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. Sam needed time to download and process before she hit him with the heavy-duty artillery.

He grabbed two bottles of beer and offered her one. Kelly sipped as he hunted through the fridge, setting bread, deli turkey slices, lettuce and Swiss cheese on the countertop. He frowned and braced his hands on the counter, studying her a long minute.

“Do you have any memory of where you were two hours ago?”

Confused, she nodded. “At your base, SEAL Team 21’s compound. You’re all paranormals, aren’t you?”

“Curt didn’t take your memories right before you left the base,” Sam said softly. “I’ll be damned. Civilians aren’t allowed on our compound, and any who do have their memories erased. No one is supposed to know about our team. SOP.”

“Maybe your commanding officer has more faith in me than your standard operating procedure. He asked questions, but I didn’t answer them.”

Because I don’t trust him. I trust only you.

“Kelly, you’re in deep trouble. And these rumors about a Dark Lord aren’t helping your case.”

“I will discover the truth. I haven’t changed.”

But you have.

He cut the bread into four neat quarters. “Late-night snack?” she asked.

“It’s for you.” He slid the sandwich across the bar. “Turkey on whole wheat, lettuce, no tomato, lots of mayo and Swiss cheese.”

Emotion clogged her throat. After all these years, he’d remembered her favorite. Kelly nodded thanks as she devoured the sandwich. Sam remained standing, tipping back the bottle and drinking deeply. Muscles in his throat worked as he swallowed, and then he backhanded his mouth. Green flared in his eyes as he studied her mouth.

“You have mayo…here.”

He reached across the counter and touched the corner of her mouth with his thumb. Sam brought his thumb to his lips and licked it slowly, his intense gaze never leaving hers. Heat sizzled in the air. Her limbs felt loose and pliant, her nipples tight.

Hot, heavy need surged. She wanted him badly. Wanted to feel him naked against her hot skin, feel those hard muscles rub against her body. Fingertips ached with the need, the yearning to touch him, explore muscle and sinew.

Kelly quivered, her lips parting. The air grew heavy with expectancy, overlaid with sexual awareness.

She jerked her gaze away, staring at the counter. “I’m not here to rekindle anything, Sam. I followed you because I need your help.”

A douse of icy water on both of them. His mouth became a firm slash. He turned, jamming his hands into his faded jeans and presenting her with his rigid spine as he stared out the kitchen window. The moment had vanished.

But for an instant, she desperately wanted it back.

“Kelly, you don’t know what you’re up against. Rogers has a lot of influence and can convince the council to imprison you.”

She sighed. “I didn’t know he’d be that rigid and hateful. I’d heard he was more tolerant of Arcanes.”

“Yeah, Rogers surprised me. He never was that much of an asshole. Guess when his son got kidnapped, it sent him over the edge. So now the only fair shake you’d get is my uncle, and he’s out of the country. So if they wanted to bypass the rules and imprison you, they could.”

“Al is still on the council?”

“He’s only there because of me.” Sam turned, his jaw tightened. “He saved my ass once, and told me if anything ever happened to me, he’d resign. He’s not too fond of those stuffed shirts and their bureaucratic ways. Go home, lie low and wait for this to all die down.”

“You know I can’t do that,” she said.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Against ordinary humans, even other Mages, yes. But not if the council wants your ass.”

“You always said it was a fine ass.”

Sam closed the distance between them. He stroked the side of her cheek with a single finger, the well-remembered gesture tender. She struggled with the urge to lean against him, absorb his strength.

“And I’d hate to see anything happen to it.”

“This is bigger than me, Sam. It’s a lot deeper than anyone realizes. I did see the Death Mask. I have the ability.”

He looked at her with the same wariness his teammates had shown. She pushed away. “I hate it, but it’s part of me and I’ve learned to accept it.”

Ever since childhood, Kelly knew she was different. She sensed things more than ordinary Arcanes could. Fearful of alarming her father, Kelly had set out to learn on her own. She studied ancient texts forbidden to Arcanes, stealing away minutes in the vast Shaymore library under the pretense of dusting the shelves.

And in the library, she’d discovered that a few, very few, special Mages had the ability to discern a Mage who killed another merely to siphon his power, the first stage of transforming into a Dark Lord. These Mages could see a shimmering Death Mask, a skull with glowing yellow eyes, superimposed over a normal-looking face.

Exactly what she’d witnessed at the bar.

“But I can’t accept someone is stealing Phantom Mage children to gain their power. An Arcane, organizing other Arcanes to gain magick for a bigger purpose.”

“What?”

She dragged in a deep breath. “To gain power, and exterminate your people. All of them. A genocide.”

The stunned look on his face would have been comical if the subject wasn’t so grim.

Kelly’s fingers curled around her bottle of beer. “Now will you listen, really listen to me?”

Eyes narrowed, he leaned on the counter. “Spill it. Everything.”

“A few weeks ago, Sight Finders received an anonymous tip about the bodies of two Elemental Phantom Mages reported as missing. It had been assumed The women, who had been divorcing their husbands, were out having a wild time.”

“I remember Uncle Al telling me about it. The council made sure the bodies were taken away before human authorities were notified. They didn’t want mortals asking questions. The council investigated, concluded the women were drunk and careless,” Sam said.

“They didn’t tell you what condition the bodies were found in.”

Kelly fished out her wallet and withdrew a small photo print of two shrunken corpses. “They were sucked dry of their magick. We believe this was a first attempt at gaining power from Elementals.”

Blood drained from his face. “Where the hell did you get these?”

“The anonymous tipster sent them, along with the location of Billy Rogers.”

A muscle ticked in his hard jaw. “Even if this is true, there’s no way Arcanes would get close enough to kill us all.”

“Not unless they assumed the identity of someone who’s trusted, say the son of a U.S. senator who also sits on the Council of Mages.”

Sam drew in a sharp breath. “You think that’s why they kidnapped Billy. By killing him and assuming his Phantom powers, an Arcane could duplicate him and move freely about.”

“Yes. The Arcane can even duplicate his aura. There is no way to tell them apart. These rogue Arcanes are targeting children to imitate them and assume their places. Then they’d kill their parents and from there…”

Kelly set down the beer. “We believe they’re smuggling the kids out of the country. Billy told me he remembers his nanny coming into his room. Then he was drugged. Later, when he woke up, the nanny shifted into a man he didn’t recognize.”

“The kidnapper’s real form,” he mused.

“We suspect both Arcanes killed the Phantom women, stole their powers and then used the magick to shape-shift into other forms, one being Billy’s nanny. The real nanny is probably dead.”

“And the Arcane imitating the nanny was the one we took out on the island. Which means the other who stole the Phantom’s powers may still be out there,” he mused.

Picking up the sharp knife, Sam began to twirl it like a baton. Kelly watched this new skill with wary eyes. Seeing her expression, he set it down.

“If Arcanes are planning a mass extermination, why didn’t you alert the council?”

“And give them an excuse to round up my people like cattle?” Sam never knew the humiliation of having to show an ID card simply to enter a Mage store to buy healing herbs. Or being physically searched by Mage authorities, laughing as they shoved their hands between the legs of her jeans.

“We can’t trust them.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “You’re hiding something, Kel.”

He knew her too well. Kelly hesitated. “It’s more complicated than a single kidnapping. The rogue Arcanes have a base in Honduras and someone is leading them. A staff member in my nonprofit’s Honduran office found nine Elemental children hidden in Tegus. Shortly after, he was shot and left for dead. Fernando thinks the children were being held until the leader of the rogue Arcanes arrives. And then they will be killed, their powers drained and their magick used to imitate your people.”

She paused. “The email said they plan to create a Dark Lord to lead them in exterminating all Elementals. You’ve got to stop them.” She could see the doubt tightening his face. She had to convince him to help her.

“You have to stop this before it turns into war between our people, Sam. You’re the only Elemental I can trust. I know how much you care about children.”

His steady gaze met hers. So calm and capable, but she saw despair in his eyes. Bad of her to play the child card, reminding him of his beloved little brother, but she was desperate.

“Please believe me,” she whispered. “Not for me, Sam, but for those innocent kids. Please help me save them.”

Coiled with tension, he stared at the wall. She saw the hardened warrior unleashed, the Mage who would override everything to keep innocents safe.

“I believe you’re telling the truth, as far as you know it.”

It wasn’t enough. If she couldn’t convince Sam, how could she convince anyone else?

Trembling, she sagged onto the bar stool. So fatigued, she felt the floodgates open, her tightly held emotions finally cresting in a huge wave.

Kelly buried her head in her hands to hide their shaking. But it got worse as she rocked back and forth on the stool.

“Easy now, Kel.” Two hands on her shoulders, holding her steady. He’d always held her steady when she needed him.

“I can’t stop…”

She began to hyperventilate. Sam tipped her head up, locking his gaze to hers.

“Look at me. Look. Easy now. Breathe slowly, long, deep. That’s it,” he encouraged. “Inhale…exhale. Follow the sound of my breaths.”

She did as he commanded, matching her breathing to his calm, even inhalations and exhalations. They breathed together as one—just as they had after making love. It was naive and sweetly romantic…

After a minute, the shaking ceased. She flexed her fingers, embarrassed at the loss of composure.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

A real smile touched his mouth. He thumbed her chin. “A little shakiness is nothing to be ashamed of.”

The slow stroke of his thumb brought a different weakness. Tendrils of desire shot through her blood.

As his gaze zeroed in on her mouth, her lips instinctively parted. A seductive glint danced in his eyes. Those beautiful, sleepy hazel eyes could coax her into anything. He could lure her into his bedroom with a mere glance.

A slow exhale of breath as he stared at her mouth. The want intensified into aching need. Kelly moistened her mouth, aware of his smoldering hunger. She leaned forward, her mind clouded with erotic promise.

Lifting her chin, she parted her lips as he lowered his head toward her.

She wanted his touch badly, wanted his strong arms encircling her in a comforting embrace that promised all would be well.

“I want to kiss you again, just like before, when we made love until we were both sweaty and exhausted and spent, and then did it all over again,” he said hoarsely.

Her gaze lifted to the silky strands of his hair she’d loved to run her fingers through. Sam stroked a single finger down her right cheek. Holding her hands out like a shield, Kelly stepped back. This hurt so much. “I can’t, Sam. Please.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t do this. We have too much between us. Let me have the memories of how it was. They’re all I have left of us.”

The moment shattered. This man had the power to hurt her badly. She had none. And eventually he would hurt her, because they no longer were on the same side.

His broad shoulders stiffened as he turned away. “What the hell do you want from me, Kelly?”

“Take your teammates and find the missing children before the Arcanes kill them. Stop the slaughter before it starts. Not for me, but for the innocents who will get hurt if this goes down.”

“I’ll notify my superior. Curt’s cool. He’s Mage and I trust him.”

Not good enough. “I trust you, Sam. Not some military commander who’s bound by regulations. You have influence.”

“My life’s with the team now. It’s not just me, Kelly. It’s all of my team. I have to follow orders.” Cool, clipped words from a man who’d turned from fire into ice.

“You never did before. You were a maverick,” she whispered. “What happened?”

White bracketed the lines of his full mouth. “Your father.”

Silence draped between them. Kelly’s chest felt tight. “I can’t undo what happened, Sam. I wish I could. All I can do is go forward and try to eliminate future threats.”

Sam turned toward the window. “You have proof? The email?”

“It’s back at my office. All I have is my word. And what I know.” She touched her cheek, still warm from his touch.

“I’ll do what I can.”

The military had entrenched Sam in order and discipline. A knife twisted inside her heart. Her former lover was distant and aloof, as if they’d never known each other.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “It’s a risk for you, and I appreciate it.”

Sam stared out the kitchen window. “If this is running as deep as you say, you’re walking into a minefield. They labeled you a child snatcher and broadcast your photo. Perfect fodder to draw away attention from the real threat. It’s standard battle strategy. Your enemy finds a weak spot and strikes.”

A terrible suspicion surfaced. “Can I use your computer?”

The paneled, elegant study featured an array of complicated electronic equipment. After Sam powered up the PC, Kelly pulled up the Facebook page for Sight Finders. Her throat went dry as sand. Sam bent over to see the screen and muttered a curse.

“They didn’t waste time.”

Postings on the wall included hateful messages claiming Kelly’s nonprofit was a front for child smuggling. She turned away, sucked in a trembling breath and fumbled for her cell.

Carl, her director, was brief. “Jesus, Kelly, they’ve launched a war against us. The whole damn government is seizing our files, taking our hard drives, saying we’re child traffickers.”

He lowered his voice. “They took your laptop. They claim our office in Honduras is a front for smuggling children and selling them.”

Her mouth dry, she managed to ask, “Did you get an IP address on the anonymous email?”

“Some internet café in D.C. I locked away the hard copy of the email. But what does it matter? No one will believe us.”

Heart pounding, she spat out the emergency phrase. “The wolf’s in the barn.”

Carl would alert the others, and they’d go deep underground.

She thumbed off the phone and looked at Sam. “Got a disposal in that nice kitchen of yours? I have to get rid of this phone before they use it to track me down.”

Sam took the cell, flipped it into the fireplace and flung out his hands. A burst of white energy shattered the phone and ignited the logs.

She gave a shaky grin. “A fire. Very cozy and romantic. Wish I could stay, but I’m afraid if they find me here, it’ll ruin the mood.”

Sam followed her into the kitchen as she grabbed her pack. “I’m the target of a witch hunt.”

“No, you’re the target of a Mage hunt.” He rubbed a hand over his chin, lines of tension bracketing his mouth. “Look, Kel, lie low. Stay out of sight.”

“I promised my team I’d get those kids out of Honduras. I won’t break a promise.”

Sam touched her cheek. “I don’t break promises, either. And I made one to you, long ago. I’ll do whatever I can to keep you safe, Kelly Denning. You know what they’ll do to you.”

His jaw tensed to granite.

She knew what he meant. The gray, lonely asylum where many Arcanes had been confined…those thought to be seditious and deemed a danger to Mage society. Locked away behind bars…

Never. I’ll die first.

“Your team can save them, Sam. Talk to your commander, have him send a team of SEALs to rescue the children.”

His expression shuttered. “He’d have to go through proper channels and first determine Elemental children are missing.”

Red tape, delays. “It would take too long.”

“There are rules. We have to work within the system.” Sam lightly gripped her shoulders. “I’m more concerned about you.”

She was alone. Kelly’s throat tightened.

“I don’t need you to take care of me. I need you to convince your superiors of the truth.”

Someone banged hard on the front door. Kelly jumped. Blue and red lights flashed outside, stroking over the bushes and the house next door. He muttered a curse.

“I knew Tom wouldn’t let this go.”

Another hard pounding. “Chief Shaymore, open up,” a deep voice called out. “I’m with the security division of the Council of Mages. We need to question you about Kelly Denning.”

Sam snagged a set of keys from a peg in the kitchen. “I’ll hold them off. Take the trail in the woods out back. It leads to a side road. We have a car stashed for emergencies. Get on the interstate and don’t stop. Stay at a friend’s house and stay low until the political burn wears off.”

She took the keys, her fingers brushing his. “Thanks, Sam. But you know I can’t stay low. If you won’t help me, I’ll go it alone to Honduras. If there’s a chance they’re still alive, I’ll take it.”

He turned away, his broad shoulders a brick wall. “Don’t leave the country, Kelly. Because if they send me after you, I will be forced to do what I must.”

A man filled with resolve, his deep voice stating every word with hard conviction. Kelly drew in a breath.

“Stay safe, Sam.” The knife in her heart twisted hard. “Don’t come after me unless you plan to help. Because I will be forced to do what I must.”

As he went to the front door, she slipped out the back, heading into the cover of night. Putting distance between the man she’d once loved fiercely, and feeling the aching regret that they’d lost something precious and wonderful. She wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

Never again.

Chapter 5

Leaving the country when you were a suspected kidnapper was easy enough, if you were a Mage who could shape-shift.

Homeland Security took a look at her fake passport, glanced at the gray-haired woman with the sour face, and nodded her through. No Mages stalked her. The flight was uneventful, aside from the landing. Years of travel to Honduras had conditioned her to the wild corkscrew landings the skilled pilots executed to avoid the rugged mountains ringing Tegucigalpa.

After getting her luggage from the crowded carousel, she headed for the restroom and used magick to change back her appearance.

Kelly inserted the international SIM card she’d bought into her cell phone and made a call to the Council of Mages. A bored man answered.

“This is Kelly Denning. I’m in Honduras. Tell those stuffed shirts if they want me, they’ll have to get off their fat butts and find me.”

Envisioning his stunned look, she laughed and thumbed off the connection.

When Sam’s team arrived, she’d convince them to find the missing children. The SEALs stood as the only neutral force able to stop a full-scale war between Elementals and Arcanes.

Risking her life was worth it to save those of her people, and Sam’s.

Weighing the cell in her palm, she considered the gamble. What if they simply chose to haul her back to the States? Brought her into Mage custody, where she’d suffer an “accident?” Oops, didn’t mean to discharge enough power to fry a city block.

Sam wouldn’t allow it. Another gamble.

Nausea boiled in her throat. Once he’d been insouciant and spontaneous. Now he’d turned into a man she no longer recognized.

A blast of humid air encased her as she went outside. The warm breeze ruffled her turquoise silk shirt and teased tendrils of hair escaping her ponytail. Kelly flagged down a cab and gave precise directions in Spanish.

The black-haired driver looked at her. “Señorita? You sure you want that house, that neighborhood?”

“Positive.”

As he pulled into traffic, he glanced in the mirror, his dark gaze somber. “It is dangerous there. Even for one filled with magick.”

Kelly went still. The driver pulled down his shirt collar. His skin had been branded with a dark red circle with a slash through it.

The mark of an Arcane branded for subversion.

“You’re one of us,” the driver whispered. “I sensed it when you asked to visit that neighborhood. Many Arcanes live there.”

Not letting down her guard, she shrugged. “I know someone there. A friend.”

“You are one of us.”

At a red light, he turned. “You need not be afraid. Are you here to find refuge? Many of our people have moved here to hide.”

“I’m here to visit a friend,” she repeated.

The man’s mouth flattened. “Elementals have pushed our people into dark and dangerous corners. No place is safe from their influence. One day we will be free from their kind, and they will know the same suffering they forced upon us.”

Seditious talk, the type that landed Arcanes in prison. She hesitated.

“It’s misguided to judge an entire race by the actions of a few and ignore the ones who are kind, good and courageous.”

The driver snorted. “All Elementals are bloodsucking scum who think themselves superior. They demean us because we have no power. But they are fools, for some of us are more powerful than they realize.”

True. Kelly fingered the triskele, feeling the metal warm beneath her touch.

Buildings passed by in a blur as her heart pounded hard against her chest. Headed into heartache again. She knew what she’d find. Rubbing a spot on the window, she stared outside, seeing nothing.

The taxi jerked to a halt midway down a steep hill. Kelly started. Gray water gushed down a gutter before an aging brick building.

“I can wait for you,” the cabbie said.

“No need.” She wanted out of the cab quickly. Something about the driver raised her suspicions.

When she stepped out, rucksack slung over one shoulder, he drove off slowly. Kelly shivered in the light rain.

The hallway was long, dark and eerie. Water dripped from a leaky roof. Once the hall had been white, but now paint flaked off like confetti. A woman opened her door, peered out and slammed it shut. Kelly shouldered her pack and stepped into a square courtyard. On each side were two doors leading to apartments. Rain fell steadily onto the stained concrete courtyard. Sagging plants in cracked flowerpots were scattered about the ground in an attempt to provide color. Clothing hung on a wire strung between the two buildings, someone’s laundry forgotten in the rainstorm.

She went to the turquoise door on the left and knocked softly. Two solid raps, then a succession of three.

Hilda opened the door.

Kelly gave the small, dark-haired woman a tight hug. “How is he?”

Moisture gathered in the woman’s brown eyes. “Holding his own,” she whispered in English. “But you know what will happen…”

The home was small, with peeling yellow paint. Rain dripped in a steady patter on the tin roof and into a pot near the door as Kelly stepped inside. On a double bed crammed against one faded wall was a man hooked up to a catheter. He was thin and pale, his eyes closed as he rested on a worn pillow.

She could not heal him. No one could. The knife in her heart twisted with a vicious yank.

But when Kelly approached the bed, the man opened his eyes. Life flared there, bright and angry and resilient.

“Fernando,” she said softly, setting down her pack and sitting on the chair by the bedside. She gently took his hand. So thin, the knuckles cracked, the once-strong fingers now weakened from disuse.

“You came back. I knew you would. Everyone else has forgotten us.”

“Not forgotten. They’re in hiding. I broke free of the watchdogs.” She gave a little smile, her heart breaking at his pale face, the wasted limbs. “You and Hilda must move to a safer house, a better house.”

Hilda shook her head. “We cannot risk moving him. And this is our home. Fernando wants to stay here, he wants to…”

Bleak resignation on her face told her the rest.

“Enough talk of me.” The man tapped the piece of paper he held in his lap. “Memorize the map. The village is in the south. They mobilized and moved the children and have taken over. My contact said the rogue Arcanes are waiting to siphon the children’s powers.”

“Waiting for their leader to arrive?”

“Yes, but Something else, as well. They are planning something bigger, Kelly. Something far more sinister.”

She didn’t want to imagine the possibilities. “Where is your contact now? Can I meet with him?”

Shaking his head, he pointed to a newspaper on the bed. The headline blared news about a body found by locals near the capital. Drugs were suspected.

“They got to Carlos, too,” he said.

Fernando shifted his legs on the quilt and winced.

Eight bullets. He’d been taken down by eight bullets, pumped into him by gang members in a “war act.” But it wasn’t a turf war or drugs. The gang had operated under dark enchantment. Fernando had been shot deliberately after he’d located the children. He belonged to her team of Arcane Enchanter Mages operating out of Honduras.

Kelly squeezed his hand, took the map and committed it to memory. Using the matches Hilda provided, she burned it on the rusty stove that no longer worked. “Go, rescue the children, Kelly. I do not know how much time they have left,” Fernando said, and his voice was strong.

Tears gathered in Hilda’s eyes. “You’re the only one left who can save them, Kelly.” Hilda glanced at the silver triskele. “You have powers we lack. Make right this wrong before the Elementals judge all Arcanes as guilty and kill us.”

Hatred punctuated those words. Kelly placed a gentle hand on her friend’s arm. “There are good Elementals. Not all are so unreasonable.”

The dripping rain slowed and stopped. But a steady tapping came upon the battered roof. Fear flickered across Hilda’s face. She and Fernando glanced upward.

The sound of claws skittering across a metal roof, accompanied by a distinct, foul smell. Only one creature could emit such a nauseous stench… .

Kelly’s heart dropped to her stomach. She pointed at the ceiling. “Ilthus,” she whispered.

Blood drained from Hilda’s face.

Fingers tight around the triskele pendant, she headed for the door. Hilda grabbed her arm.

“Don’t go out there. It will kill you,” the terrified woman whispered.

“I can’t let it get to Fernando.”

The warped turquoise door creaked as she opened it. Rain dripped on the cracked concrete courtyard, where the soaked wash hung limply on the frayed clothesline. Kelly sang out a chant to gather her powers as she stepped outside.

A foul stench tainted the air, the smell of sulfur and decay. Gagging, she inched backward, trying to peer onto the roof. The skittering sound stopped.

Power hummed beneath her trembling hands. Ilthuses were clever and quick, and they could move…

A harsh screech split the air. As she looked up, a redand-blue-speckled thing launched itself off the roof.

Scrambling backward, she avoided the daggered claws swiping at her face. Instead, the creature shredded a ragged shirt on the clothesline. The ilthus shrieked again and skittered on all fours. Saliva dripped from its black slit of a mouth.

It came closer, hissing, its lizardlike pupils contracting as it fixed a stare at Kelly, seeing prey, seeing its target up close. A forked tongue shot out of its mouth.

The ilthus opened its mouth and hissed. A steady stream of gray mist sprayed out of its mouth, the rotten-egg stench making Kelly’s eyes tear, her vision blur.

Backing up, she hit a wall. No place to run. Dear gods, I’m going to die from the smell. She blinked hard and focused.

The door banged open. Hilda came outside, armed with an iron skillet. The brave, crazy woman!

“Take this, you stinking son of a bitch,” Hilda screamed in Spanish as she threw the skillet.

It missed the ilthus, but the distraction was enough. The creature stopped spraying.

“Get back,” Kelly yelled at Hilda.

Kelly breathed through her mouth and flung out her power at the creature, and then she dived behind a rusty washing machine.

With a loud shriek, the ilthus exploded, spraying green slime over the walls and the wet laundry.

Hands shaking, Kelly struggled to her feet. She stared at the mess. Hilda stepped into the courtyard, holding her nose.

Rain began falling again. Kelly gave a wry grin.

“Sorry about the laundry and the smell,” she said.

Hilda hugged her tight. “You saved us.”

“No.” She pushed at her long, tangled hair. “I brought it to you. It must have followed me from the airport.” She could expect more scouts like this. The rogue Arcanes didn’t want interference before they could hide the children in a safe place.

“But who knew you were coming, or where you went?” Hilda looked confused.

Kelly thought of the angry cabdriver. “The taxi driver who drove me here. He’s Arcane. Must have been alerted I’d left the country and waited for me at the airport.”

“You’re fortunate he did not harm you in the cab.”

“Maybe he was instructed to notice where I went. They probably want to see how much I know and where I go.” Kelly squeezed her friend’s hands. “Take Fernando, go visit your sister. Please. For your own safety. He’ll be more comfortable there.”

The rogue Arcanes were watching her, probably to see if she dared to track down the children. She needed Sam and his team of SEALs. But if they weren’t coming, she had to do this on her own. Kelly’s stomach churned. She wasn’t a courageous navy SEAL, trained to combat evil.

But neither was she a coward.

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