Phantom Wolf

Chapter 7

They headed downhill through the trees. In a clearing, Sully trained his submachine gun on a very frightened bald man in military fatigues. Not a duplicate.

The SEAL scowled. “Stupid rock can’t even shoot straight. Tried to fry me with magick but missed and hit the tree.”

“Where are the others?”

“Dead, except for Shay’s doppelgänger,” Dakota said. “Is he talking?”

“Only to cry for his mama.”

“Question him, Shay,” Dakota ordered.

Keeping his gun pointed at the prisoner, Sully and the other SEALs backed off. They knew what he was about to unleash.

Shay closed his eyes and released his magick full bore, for the first time in months. Power rippled along his forearms to his hands. Blazing white with energy, his palms pulsed with magick. Sparks sizzled from his fingertips like Fourth of July fireworks.

If he released too much, he’d trigger an uncontrollable inferno of magick. But this time, he knew he could control it. “Who are you, and who sent you?” Shay asked.

The man’s wide blue eyes filled with hatred. He lifted his hands as if to surrender.

“Elemental filth,” the prisoner muttered.

Then he began a chant of ancient Celtic words Shay remembered from summer solstice rituals. He glanced upward at the darkening clouds. Virulent hatred etched his face as the man began shouting the chant. Clouds scudding overhead turned black and threatening. Thunder boomed.

Oh, hell, not this. Shay’s Mage senses tingled.

“Sully, kneecap,” Shay ordered.

The SEAL shot the prisoner. The man screamed and yanked his hand downward. Shay’s jaw dropped as a black ribbon of pure energy from an overhead thundercloud slithered downward, directly into the Mage’s hand.

He was a SEAL. Nothing ever surprised him. But this...

“Die, you Elemental bastard,” the prisoner howled.

The man threw back his palm as if to pitch a baseball. Shay tossed out a portion of his magick. Power exploded through the air, a white ball of energy hurling toward the prisoner. In a brilliant flare of sparks, white energy collided with the black electrical charges the Mage tossed at him. Then the black energy absorbed Shay’s pure white magick, converging and forming an orb that pulsed and glowed.

Shit! Arcane magick was weak at best. This was something he’d never encountered.

Shay threw more power, only to watch the newly formed orb consume it. Sparks crackled as the glowing ball drifted toward him. His own damn magick was working against him. If the orb touched him, he was dead.

“Shay, kill the son of a bitch,” Dakota ordered.

“You need him alive.” He sidestepped, and the orb floated through the air, following him.

“I need you alive more,” his lieutenant said.

Two could play this game. Shay gathered more power, flung it outward at the orb. Like a child tapping a floating balloon, his magick pushed the orb toward the Mage. His magick then absorbed the ball, shooting ribbons of powerful energy at the prisoner, who screamed as they touched his skin.

As the Mage reached up to pull more power from the storm, Shay threw all his powers into the orb. It burst apart, covering the Mage with a finely laced net of white-and-dark energy. The net sank into his skin like a knife through butter. The ozone stench of energy twined with the slick, coppery scent of the Mage’s blood as Shay’s magick ate into his flesh.

The man screamed and thrashed on the ground. Then he turned to Shay, his eyes glazing over.

“You’ll die. All of you,” the Arcane whispered, blood bubbling from his parted lips. “We won’t stop until every drop of Elemental blood soaks into the earth.”

Shay squatted down beside him. “Who the hell sent you?”

But the Mage was dead, his open eyes staring sightlessly at the sky.

Shay turned the man’s head and saw a familiar red brand with a line slashed through it. He searched the Mage’s pockets and withdrew a cheap plastic wallet. Inside was a laminated card. Shay handed it to Dakota.

“Arcane ID card. Andrew Jones, ex-prisoner and Arcane. Jailed for sedition.”

The other SEALs stared solemnly at him.

“I thought Arcane Enchanters weren’t powerful.” Dakota looked stunned.

“They’re not. This is something new. He must have absorbed his powers by killing an Elemental.” Shay gave his teammates a meaningful look. “It’s already begun, just as Kelly said.”

Plan A had failed. Plan B wasn’t looking hot, either. But they were SEALs and knew how to improvise.

He caught Dakota’s worried gaze. “Now you know what we’re up against. Curt gave you the orders to proceed to the LZ.”

“Curt would never betray us,” Renegade protested.

“It wasn’t him,” Shay said in a clipped tone.

“I know him, it was his voice.” But Dakota gazed around the wooded hillside. “We can’t trust anyone now.”

“Except ourselves,” Sully muttered.

Sunlight dappled the thick trees as they returned to the Rover. When they arrived at the vehicle, Shay saw horror shadowing Kelly’s blue eyes. She slid out of the backseat as Greg lowered his weapon.

“I heard screams,” she said.

“I did what I had to do,” he said shortly, checking his weapon. “You were right. Rogue Arcanes are gathering forces and aim to kill all of my people.”

“Your people against mine. Sam, I saw that storm. They’re gaining powers your kind can’t fight. What if they win?”

Rage boiled through him. “Every last criminal Arcane will die before that happens.”

“Including me? You just arrested me. Are you throwing me into that group, Sam?”

Guilt filled him at her woebegone expression, those big blue eyes looking as if he’d do exactly that. Greg patted her shoulder awkwardly. “You’re safe with us,” the tiger assured her.

Shay reeled in his emotions and the surge of male protectiveness that nudged him to shove aside the tiger. He could take care of his woman....

His woman? Who the hell was he kidding? That was in the past. He had no claim on Kelly Denning.

Kelly held out her wrists, still tied with flex cuffs. “Answer me, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore. I’m Arcane. Are you going to kill me, as well?”

“Gods, you don’t think I’d do that.” Shay felt ill.

A breeze teased tendrils of her red-gold hair. Her expression was guileless, but her hands shook slightly.

“No. But now you believe the threat is real. And it’s not me.”

Silence for a moment. The men glanced at each other.

“Are you still taking me in? I get the impression there is no helicopter coming to take me to the airport.”

Her voice lowered. “The answer is simple. Help me find the missing children, and you find the nest of Arcanes organizing this. Without those kids, the Arcanes can’t fuel their powers to carry out their plan.”

Nothing about this mission was simple. It was FUBAR, fucked up beyond all repair, complicated by the woman standing before him. Trusting him to do the right thing, and storm the castle. They knew how to deal. But they’d never faced duplicity from their own commander.

Never been tasked with stopping a genocide.

“What’s your plan?” Kelly asked his lieutenant.

“For now, seeing everyone gets hydrated. Miss Denning, you, as well. Shay, see to her.”

Shay fetched a bottle of water and brought it over to Kelly.

“You look hot,” he said softly. He removed the flex cuffs and handed her the water.

She took a sip and handed it back. He drank deeply. Her gaze traveled over his body, and a flush ignited her cheeks. Sexual awareness hung in the air, current as powerful as the magick he’d tossed at the prisoner. Adrenaline pumped through his body, making him hard as a rock. Or maybe it was the woman standing before him, the faint scent of her floral perfume teasing his senses.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Sam. When I saw that storm, I worried.”

Kelly smiled, the action chasing away the shadows from her eyes and making her look damn pretty. Sheer longing stabbed him. Made him wish for a brief moment that he could turn back the clock. Go back to those innocent moments when they were lovers and thought nothing of tomorrow.

Until it came crashing down upon them.

His gaze narrowed as he watched the other SEALs grabbing water out of their packs. “I knew it. Bastard’s doing it again.”

Kelly turned and saw Renegade pull out a bottle from a pack with Shay’s name on it. “That’s yours!”

“Yup. Bastard lightens his load by taking my water when I’m not looking. Not this time. This time, I packed one bottle and left the case in the trunk. Watch.”

The shifter took a long pull and choked. Coughing, he dropped it and wheezed, his face turning red.

“What the hell is in this?” Renegade sputtered.

Shay grabbed the bottle and dumped out the contents. “Jalapeño juice. Stay out of my stuff.”

Renegade glared as the others laughed.

“Enough,” Dakota ordered, tossing his empty into the trunk. “The mission’s been compromised. Our CO is a Primary Elemental Mage. We can’t be certain Curt hasn’t been killed and his identity taken over by an Arcane.”

“What the hell are we going to do, LT?” Sully crushed his empty bottle into pulp and let the fragments drop like snowflakes.

“Follow the orders we were given. We stay here, continue the training mission as planned, but send one of us home. That person will work covertly, off base, gathering intel so I can determine a course of action.”

“I’ll go,” Greg offered.

LT shook his head. “I need a shifter, but not you. Renegade, book the next civilian flight, hook up with Stephen and have him meet you in Virginia. We’ll need outside help on this one.”

No one said anything, but the looks were enough.

“Right. I’m the FNG, so the rest of you don’t trust me.” Greg snorted, shuffling a boot in the dirt, as if his tiger pawed at the ground.

“FNG?” Kelly asked.

“Effing new guy,” Sully answered. He shook his head. “Tiger, Stephen’s former military and an eight-hundred-year-old vampire. If he doesn’t like you, he’ll eat you for breakfast and use your bones as a toothpick.”

Claws began to emerge from the hand Greg held up. “Not before I turn him into shredded wheat.”

“Cut the crap, Tiger. You’ll get a chance to prove yourself later,” Shay said.

The shifter scowled but sheathed his claws.

“The rest of you, with me back to base.” Regret filled Dakota’s eyes. “Shay, secure transport for the prisoner to return to the council.”

“Kelly,” he said suddenly, aware of her sliding away. Shay grabbed her arm and yanked her to him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“You know what will happen. They’ll toss me into prison and toss away the key. And the real threat’s still out there.” She struggled in his grip. “I can rescue the kids on my own.”

Dammit.

Holding her arms to her sides, he immobilized her. She kicked and struggled. Magick cuffs wouldn’t restrain her, and he couldn’t risk her escaping. He knew what he must do.

Chest tight, he released her but laced his fingers through hers. Kelly stared, stricken into silence as Shay grabbed her triskele and summoned his powers. White energy pulsed from his body, into the silver medallion and into a stunned-looking Kelly. Burning pain laced his palm, but he held on.

“Sam, what the hell are you doing?” she cried out.

Lifting his face to the sun, Shay chanted.

“Spirit of Air, Spirit of Fire, Spirit of Water, Spirit of Earth, I call you to send forth your powers and bind my spirit and flesh with this woman. Seal us together so none may part.”

As he continued to chant, Shay felt aching regret. The ancient bonding rite was originally intended to seal together lovers in the flesh and spirit. The custom died out when females grew more independent, resenting males who tethered them to their sides.

No one used it anymore. It was thought the words were long forgotten.

Shay had not forgotten. If she’d agreed, he’d intended to bond them together on Christmas Day as proof of his fidelity. Not even his father’s cold disdain could break the seal.

Now he uttered the words not to bond in love, but to bind in captivity.

Finally the glow died. He opened his palm and released the now-cold medal. Shay displayed his palm and the brand of the Celtic medallion his magick had burned into his skin.

“We’re tied together, Kelly. Only I can break the bond. Your life force now mingles with mine.”

Kelly wrenched free and ran. Pity filled him as she made a desperate break for freedom, dust kicking up beneath her heels. She’d hate him for this.

He did not blame her.

“You letting her go?” Dakota asked.

Shay said nothing. Minutes later, she returned. The team watched in silence.

“We’re tied together now. Separated by more than a half mile and you’re compelled to return to me,” he said quietly.

“Sam, please, break this. Don’t do this to me.”

Her whispered plea tightened the knot in his chest. “I will, when you’re returned to the States and in custody. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, Kelly.”

Backing away, she closed her eyes and chanted. Shay looked skyward. Cold sweat streamed down his spine at the gathering storm clouds. She was summoning the elements, something no Arcane could do without a conduit.

The triskele around her neck pulsed white. His teammates raised their submachine guns, their expressions grim.

“Stop it, Miss Denning,” Dakota ordered.

Suddenly a streak of lightning shot down straight into her outstretched palms.

Jesus. Kelly had the same powers the rogue Arcane possessed. White energy glowed from her bunched fists. Stretching out her hands, she looked straight at Dakota.

“Let me go, Sam, or I will hurt him.”

Sully, Renegade and Tiger inched closer, training their guns on her. Shay motioned for them to stand down.

“That’s it, Kel? You going to fry LT? Sully? All of my team? What about me? Kill me and you’ll die, as well.”

Her hands shook.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. But you’re not giving me a choice.”

“Let it go,” he said gently. “C’mon, Kel, let it go and we’ll talk.”

All the while inching closer to her, close enough to touch.

Shay grabbed her. The white energy gathered on her hands flared but did not burn. Concentrating, he inhaled it into his body. The glow faded from her hands.

The other SEALs lowered their weapons. Shay turned over her palms. Not dark energy, like the rogue Arcane. Kelly hadn’t turned to evil.

Enraged and relieved, he clasped her slender shoulders. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?”

Wide blue eyes met his. “You taught me long ago, that night in the meadow. The ancient spell to call forth the elements.”

Shit. He groaned.

A harsh sputter of laughter from Sully. Shay turned. “Shut up. LT, give us a moment.”

As the others drifted away, he squeezed her shoulders, feeling delicate bones and soft flesh. Impulsive as ever, she disregarded the rules and stormed ahead, regardless of the consequences.

“Are you crazy? My guys would have killed you. You like risking your life?”

“If this turns into war, my life is over anyway,” she whispered.

He looked at her, feeling something implode inside his chest, bright and hot and pressured. Kelly didn’t know anything about war and death. She didn’t know about suicide bombers and how a dirty bomb could shred your insides like glass. He’d seen men fall beneath the onslaught of enemy bullets. Heard the grinding trill of machine guns. Those times, a man had to turn cold and emotionless, because when all hell broke loose around you, all you had was your damn brains and your training to survive.

He never wanted her to see the brutal ugliness he’d witnessed. His stomach twisted at the thought.

Dropping his hands, he cursed softly. “I promised I would not let anything happen to you. Let me take care of this.”

“I’m no princess, Sam. I can take care of myself.”

“You don’t know what you’re tangling with. We train constantly. And we don’t storm into a sitch without knowing what could lie ahead. We’re briefed as a team, function as a team. Tell me where the children are, and I’ll find them.”

“Not without me.”

“Blackmail doesn’t suit you,” he grated out.

“Neither does a cold Elemental prison cell. I’ve already been in one, when they arrested me after the fire, and I’m not going there again. Join me, Sam, and help me find them. Forget your team. I need you more than they do.”

Challenge flared in her gaze. Take sides, she urged, the wordless plea flaring there as if shouted.

Shay knew what would happen. If he took her side, all his hard-won control would vanish. All these years of being a SEAL would wink out with a flutter of big blue eyes pleading with him.

Join with me.

He risked losing everything. Because he knew he could get lost in those baby blues...swim in their sensual depths, awash in a sea of sexual need and the communion of two people who once knew each other’s secret hopes and dreams.

Hopes and dreams were for romantic fools. He was a navy SEAL and valued duty and honor.

He’d already taken a side, and not even Kelly Denning would sway him from his commitment.

Until she spoke in a pleading whisper.

“Give me a few days, Sam. I know where they are. How many Elemental children must die before all this is over? How many must be sacrificed because of your obeying orders?”

Oh, hell, not fair. But resolve crumbled. He glanced at the road.

Renegade cupped his hands to his mouth and called out. “Yo, Shay. Stop trying to make time with the pretty lightning lady.”

“Shay, what’s the 411?” Dakota asked as they returned.

He looked his friend, and commanding officer, straight in the eye. “I’m not taking her back. Not right away.”

Gratitude shone in Kelly’s eyes. The other SEALs muttered.

“You defying an order?” Dakota asked.

“Amending it.” He dragged in a breath. Rules and orders had kept him in line for years, even though he’d pushed the boundaries several times. Now he was going to bulldoze them.

“I’m going with Kelly to find the children.”

But Dakota shook his head. “If Miss Denning isn’t returned to the Council of Mages, everything is shot to hell. They’ll know something’s up. We can’t risk it.”

“Buy me some time. Radio in that the LZ was compromised and we still don’t have the prisoner—I don’t care. You’re creative, you make the excuse. Those kids deserve the chance.”

He saw the struggle on Dakota’s face. No man ever got left behind. And Kelly Denning was still a prisoner wanted by the council.

“Tell me where they are,” Dakota told Kelly. “Shay and I will conduct the search.”

“Right. While your men return me to Mage custody. No dice. Either I go or no one finds them. If you send me, you’re not just saving lives, Lieutenant. You’re screwing with these Arcanes’ plans. They’ll have to find new, equally strong Phantom children to replace the ones we’ll free.”

If nothing else, her plan bought them much-needed time.

“It might be too late. The kids could be dead,” Dakota pointed out.

Shay shook his head. “We have to take the chance.”

A heavy sigh from Dakota. “Four days. That’s all I’m giving you, Shay. If your ass isn’t back on base by then, you force me to report you as UA and you’ll be subject to disciplinary action.”

His friend looked grim. “There’s too much at stake here, and we can’t afford a political battle with the council and Senator Rogers. Not when we may be needed to stop an all-out Mage war.”

UA, unauthorized absence. A mark on his permanent record. He could even get kicked off the team. A heavy weight compressed his chest.

The team meant everything to him.

But innocents were at stake.

The lieutenant’s gaze never wavered from Shay. “And you maintain constant radio contact. If I don’t hear from you in four days, we’re coming for you.”

The significance of that look said, “But I can’t help you.”

No one could. They were on their own.

Sam never changed his mind when he presented The Chin. Firm as granite, stubborn in his commitment.

The men formed a semicircle, talking in low voices. All five SEALs carried the biggest, baddest-looking guns she’d ever seen, using them with smooth skill. They carried themselves with confidence, knowing they were the biggest, baddest weapon against anyone crossing them.

As they broke up the group, Sam loaded his pack with water and supplies. A hank of his sandy-brown hair fell across his forehead and he automatically brushed it aside.

Kelly’s fingers tingled. The gesture was intimately familiar. Once she’d done the same, running her fingers teasingly through the silk.

Now he’d become a stranger, as intense and deadly as the gun he carried. She’d seen another side of Sam as he’d dropped to one knee, firing with fierce concentration at the shooter on the hill.

He’d help her. That was all that mattered. Kelly wished she’d never dragged Sam into this, risking his career as a SEAL. After all that he’d suffered, she did not want to cause more pain. Sam didn’t deserve this. But she had no one else.

“Thank you for believing me,” she told him as he handed her a bottle of water.

Green blazed in his hazel eyes, searing her with heat.

Wary, she took a step back, her gaze falling to the heavy pack on his shoulder. Her breath faltered.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked, his voice husky.

Kelly shook her head. “Wary, perhaps. Cautious. I’d be foolish if I weren’t, after what happened.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“It’s not your gun that I’m afraid of,” she admitted. “It’s being with you, remembering what we once shared.”

For a single moment suspended in time, everything between them evaporated. They were once again bonded, this time by mutual agreement for a cause.

“I’m not going against my principles or values, or asking you to surrender yours. All I ask is for you to set aside your past feelings so we can work together.”

Sam closed his eyes, long dark lashes feathering against those lean cheeks. When he opened his eyes, his gaze was stark. “That’s just it, Kelly. It’s tough as hell to set aside my feelings when it comes to you.”

Her heart did a crazy flip-flop. He still cared. But his look stated the blunt truth. I will, because I must.

Just as she had to do what she must.

Something inside Kelly shattered. Her throat closed. She forced a calm smile, despite the ripping feeling in her chest. “I’ll make it easy. I have no more feelings.”

Liar.

I want you, Sam. I want the man who made love to me, who laughed and held me tenderly, the man I could trust with my life.

As the others attended to the flat tire, he took his pack, checked it and then removed his shirt.

Her breath caught in her lungs.

An intricate tattoo of ancient Celtic runes swirled from the front of his right shoulder around to his back. Making a circle around him, she studied it. Beneath the blue ink was a large, puckered scar.

She pointed to it.

“Bullet,” he murmured.

“Engaging the enemy?”

“Dakota shot me.” At her incredulous look, he gave a lopsided grin. “We were in Grenada, tracking down a voodoo priestess who was using the locals in her rather nasty ceremonies. I tangled with her, and she tried sucking out my life force.”

He touched another scar on the same shoulder, this one with teeth marks. “Here. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, totally immobilized. Dakota saw what was happening, took the shot. Blew her away and blew a hole in my shoulder.”

She couldn’t fathom the dangerous assignments he undertook, putting his life on the line every time he deployed. Not only facing enemies armed with metal weapons, but some with fangs, claws and dark, evil magick.

“How did she get so close?”

Sam’s jaw tightened. “Was taking her into custody, barely got the zip ties on her when she started...coming on to me.”

He looked away. “I looked into her eyes for the barest moment and was lost. Next thing I felt was the pain from the bullet Dakota sent sailing into my body. If he hadn’t shot me, she would have killed me. And I wouldn’t have felt a damn thing except this bone-jarring pleasure.”

Horror filled her. She traced the tattoo with her gaze, shuddering at how close he’d come to death.

“Got inked as soon as I healed. The runes are protective, ancient symbols.”

“The knots are a reminder of your heritage,” she said softly.

His expression hardened as he shrugged into an olive-green T-shirt. “They’re a reminder not to lose my head over a woman. Pack up.”

That was Sam, navy SEAL. The colorful Hawaiian shirts he’d worn, the crooked smile, all gone. All replaced now with cool, calm efficiency, like that shown by the soldier who had handcuffed her.

Shouldering his pack, he tested the weight. Kelly stuffed water and rations into her pack, knowing that a subtle shift had occurred. He was now in charge. It didn’t matter that she knew this area. Sam had taken over, and he led the way.

Kelly released a deep breath. Sam was with her, her brain sang. And even though he wasn’t committed to the cause, he was trudging along the dusty road in his heavy boots, committing to the journey.

Whatever they encountered when they reached their destination, they would face together.