Phantom Wolf

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.

Chapter 6

In ST 21’s ready room, Shay looked at his CO with pure dismay.

Kelly had fled and the Council of Mages gave an official order. They were going down range into Honduras. Hellfire, he could face a squad of vampires armed with RPGs easier than this assignment.

The briefing book lay open before him on the table. In the room, Dakota, Renegade and Sully studied their copies. Using a red laser pen, Curt pointed to a map on the screen in front of the room.

“More than eighty percent of the coke entering the U.S. is shipped through Honduras. Drugs are flown into the Miskito Coast from South America and then transported to the States.

“This is an extremely covert op. Several months ago, U.S. forces joined with the Hondurans and used military outposts, established by the Hondurans, to conduct counterinsurgency against the cartels. The FOL had the Honduran Air Force rapidly deploying to intercept aircraft and boats smuggling narcotics. Brass pulled the plug after bad PR regarding a shooting incident. Now brass wants us to train the Honduran security forces on counterinsurgency and CQC techniques.”

FOL, forward operating location. CQC, close quarters combat.

SOL, no explanation needed. That was Kelly’s fate, and he was powerless to change it. He’d told Curt what Kelly suspected, but his CO needed proof.

Kelly had none.

Shay squeezed his briefing book, magick boiling in his blood. Sparks of white light began dancing on the table’s surface. Sully glanced over and motioned to tone it down.

Deep breaths. He forced his magick to calm. If Curt suspected he couldn’t control his powers, he’d order him off this op. And he needed to be there, to ensure nothing happened to Kelly.

“Your mission is nonintervention. Restricted to training the Honduran security forces in counterinsurgency and CQC.”

Their CO paused, his gaze steady and unblinking. “That’s your official mission. Your paranormal code mission is Operation Flight Bird. Find and capture Kelly Denning to face arrest by the Council of Mages on the charge of kidnapping Billy Rogers. The council is sending a special detachment to escort her back.”

So it had come to this. Shay cursed his uncle’s sabbatical on a remote island. With Al’s lone voice of reason gone, the council moved against Kelly. “So she doesn’t get a chance to defend herself?”