Phantom Wolf. Bonnie Vanak
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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