by Petra Landon
“I didn’t mean to … that is, I wasn’t …” Tasia stuttered to an embarrassed stop under the sardonic eyes of the Shifter.
Perhaps caught by the tone of Tasia’s voice, Jason LaRue turned around to glance curiously at the pair by the refrigerator.
Tasia flushed, embarrassed beyond belief by her second misstep of the night regarding the same Shifter tradition. The Alpha’s hand reached for the bottle gripped tightly in Tasia’s hand. She let go of it hurriedly. The bottle slipped out of her hand to be caught dexterously by the Shifter with the lightning quick reflexes.
“I thought you said that it got easier with each passing day or did I mishear” he asked rhetorically, his voice whisper soft as he spoke into her ear.
Why, that … that man. He’s been eavesdropping on my conversation all along.
Her embarrassment momentarily forgotten in her anger, Tasia turned wrathful and accusatory eyes on the Alpha, who met her gaze steadily from his greater height, the gold eyes lit by unholy amusement.
“There’s no such thing as a private conversation when you live with Shifters. I should hope that you’ve learnt that particular lesson well by now, witchling” he remarked softly before turning away from her to head to the table where Jason still watched them silently.
Raoul twisted the cap off his bottle to drink from it thirstily. Tasia watched him in helpless fascination, her eyes drawn irresistibly to the convulsing muscles of his throat as he drank thirstily. His gaze flashed to her before he strode to the table to hold out her chair for her, a subtle dare in his eyes. Tasia marched up to the chair to seat herself, fuming silently at the Alpha.
Jason glanced from Tasia’s mutinous face to the Alpha’s silently amused one.
“How seriously do Shifters take the traditional courtship rituals?” he asked the Alpha curiously.
“The older ones take them very seriously” Raoul answered easily. “The new generation tends to view them as somewhat old-fashioned. They believe that the humans have managed to get their romantic rituals right.”
“And where do you fall on the scale, Alpha?” an undaunted Jason inquired with a smile on his face.
“I’m not much of a traditionalist.”
Tasia studied the Alpha, taken aback by his response. Though he did not insist on adherence to archaic Shifter rituals in his Pack, he always seemed such a stickler for Pack norms and customs that his blunt answer astonished her.
“Yet you’ve managed to build a reputation as one of the foremost Alphas in the traditional sense of the word” Jason remarked.
“Regardless of my personal beliefs, Guardian, I speak the language other Shifters understand. You wizards consider us Shifters primitive and in some ways, we are, though not in the way that you believe us to be. We’ve a strong code of honor that runs through us that is based on centuries of tradition. That code will never die. It’ll change and move with the times as most things do but it will always stay rooted in tradition. No Shifter Pack will ever be led successfully by an Alpha who fails to grasp that simple concept.”
Tasia found herself observing the strong handsome face in a new light. The Alpha was certainly a puzzle - one she had attempted to understand just enough to get by in her limited dealings with him. As her interactions with him had increased, she caught glimpses, every now and then, of more facets to him. He was certainly a formidable Shifter with phenomenal control of his beast. But he was also more than that. Much more, she suspected. Here was more evidence from the horse’s mouth on another layer to his personality; a clue to the man beneath the mask he presented to the world with such self-possession and control. Tasia sensed a similar degree of respect for the Alpha from the Guardian who regarded him silently.
“You identify as a Shifter so completely. Yet you have very old wizard blood from your mother flowing through your veins” the wizard stated quietly.
“I rejected that part of my heritage a long time ago” the Alpha’s usual inscrutable expression tightened imperceptibly although he still answered the wizard readily.
“Why?” the wizard inquired baldly. “It’s not mere curiosity, Alpha” he hurried to explain. “There’s something I’d like to share with you but it would help if I understood your antipathy to wizards better.”
There was a short silence while the Alpha studied the Guardian, the unusual gold eyes searching.
“There was an incident with a wizard that made me realize that I identified more with the Shifter code of honor. It might be primitive and barbaric to you wizards but, in my book, it’s a lot better than what passes as the wizard code.”
“Would it make any difference if I point out that there are good and bad wizards, like in any other group?”
“I know that there are good wizards. I’ve met a few myself. As a group though, I find their way of life abhorrent to my beliefs. On the other hand, I can live with a Shifter’s core canons” Raoul stated baldly, not bothering to hide his animosity from the Guardian.
Jason’s face grew thoughtful at the Alpha’s brutally honest words as he ruminated silently. Tasia could well sympathize with him. In the early days of their acquaintance, she’d felt the Alpha’s wrath, sometimes unfairly in her opinion. Once she’d learnt of his feelings towards wizards in general, she suspected that a lot of it had to do with her being one. Although now that she reflected on it, Tasia had to admit that his prejudice against her kind hadn’t been that obvious in their recent encounters.
“I understand that you have no reason to trust wizards but I’d like you to know that I have no other agenda here apart from unraveling what happened with Lady Bethesda twenty-five years ago. I believe in this mission and I want to assure you of that” Jason LaRue said quietly, meeting the Alpha’s gaze head on.
The gold eyes narrowed on the wizard in calculation. “I know why I’m here. Faoladh asked me to look into this matter. What’s your interest in this? Is it because, like me, you’ve been asked to handle this by your First Wizard?”
“That is part of it, of course. As a Guardian, I’m bound to obey her wishes. And more importantly, I hold the First Wizard in the highest regard. In this particular case however, there’s another reason, a much more personal one. Haven’t you wondered why the First Wizard picked me for this mission when there are more experienced Guardians she could call upon?”
The Alpha gazed back at him steadily, the gold eyes holding a hint of curiosity as he waited patiently for the Guardian to explain.
“My parents were both Guardians. They were part of the delegation that came to Chicago to help interrogate and potentially escort Lady Bethesda back to San Diego in case she refused to co-operate.”
My God …. That’s horrible. How hard must it be for him to walk into the same Chicago Registry where his parents have died so violently!
“I’m sorry, Jason” Tasia commiserated softly. “This cannot be easy for you.”
“It’s not. But there’s a part of me that needs to find out what happened all those years ago. Through the years, I’d come to terms with the fact that it was too late; that I’d never get the answers I sought about their deaths. Until I heard the rumors of Lady Bethesda coming back from the dead. That’s why the First Wizard chose me for this mission. Like Sienna, this is very personal for me. For me, it’s never been about wizard politics or believing one faction over another. I just want to know what happened. And I believe that because you have no personal stake in this, you Shifters are our best bet to get the answers to my questions.”
Pregnant silence descended on the room as sober chocolate brown eyes held arrested gold-colored ones. Suddenly, it all made sense to Raoul. He’d assumed that the First Wizard had revealed her astuteness by picking a young Guardian as liaison for this mission - less baggage when it came to working with Shifters. The extra solicitousness towards Jason from the Registrar of the Chicago Registry had not escaped him either. The Registrar had been unfailing polite and willing to bend backwards for LaRue’s requests to be accommodated. There had been mor
e than simple respect for a Guardian in the older man’s manner.
“Since we’re being so frank, I should tell you the reason Faoladh chose me for this mission” Raoul offered. “I always get the job done.”
It was stated simply without arrogance or false conceit but with a world of self-confidence and certainty. Tasia stared at him in shock while the Guardian laughed aloud, his good humor restored by the Alpha’s statement.
“Do you now? In that case, I owe Faoladh for putting you in charge of this mission.”
The gold eyes lost a bit of their usual coldness to hold a trace of amusement.
“We have a lot of leads to follow up. Perhaps we could rope in both Sienna and Tasia to help me comb through the Registry reports tomorrow” Jason suggested.
“Will they allow us access to the archives?” Tasia inquired.
“We’ve been careful to not introduce either of you by name. The Registrar has issues with allowing any Shifters access to their records. If I vouch for you as wizards who work with me, I don’t think they’ll deny you access.”
“I can split up the work. With three of us working together on the reports, we should be able to comb through them pretty quickly” Jason added, his gaze on the Alpha.
Raoul nodded, tacitly agreeing to the plan. It made sense. The Registrar had offered LaRue access to the reports for two hours before closing time at the Registry. This way, they could get their queries answered quicker instead of being stuck in Chicago as guests of Jerome Carter until the Guardian could comb through the entire stack of the Registry investigation reports.
Chapter 18
History is made on the front lawns of the Chicago Lair
Something had happened to the witchling! He knew it with the same absolute certainty that he knew that Duncan would always have his back. Raoul stood up abruptly, his chair clattering to the floor with an almighty crash. The wizards in the room jumped nervously, caught unawares by the Alpha’s sudden move. The Registrar’s Deputy, an older woman named Martha Nichols, directed an admonishing look at the Alpha, much like a disapproving teacher to a recalcitrant student.
“I want to speak to the Registrar” Raoul demanded urgently. “Now” he barked as she hesitated. “I’m going to give you five minutes to get him in here before I take matters into my own hands. You will not like the consequences if I get impatient.” The last was said with a kind of menacing softness that made his intentions clear.
The Deputy wisely decided to take the Alpha at his word – it was certainly clear that he meant business. While she paged the Registrar, Raoul whipped out his cell to message Hawk. His gut screamed at him that there was little time to waste. He typed out a quick message asking Luis and Hawk to rendezvous with him at the Registry as quickly as possible. The two Shifters had opted to go sightseeing while the three wizards combed through the Registry archives. The Alpha, escorted to a conference room, had been invited to wait in there. He had spent the last hour on his phone catching up on emails as the Deputy and her wizards pretended to work while stealing covert glances at him. Secretly amused by their overabundance of caution when it came to him and their collective regard of him as a dangerous and unpredictable predator, Raoul had chosen to ignore his wizard chaperones.
The door to the conference room opened and the Registrar walked in. Raoul strode up to the man before his Deputy could say anything.
“I want to see the Guardian” he demanded peremptorily.
“He’s in the Archive Room” the Registrar replied, puzzled but not yet alarmed by the Alpha’s inexplicable behavior.
“I know” Raoul gritted his teeth with impatience as a slow spiral of anxiety for the witchling unfurled in him. He shoved it determinedly to the back of his mind. He trusted the Guardian to keep Tasia safe, at least inside a Wizard Registry. That was the only reason he’d allowed her to be separated from his Shifters. Jason LaRue was resourceful and smart, he reminded himself.
“Get LaRue and his two wizards in here before I decide to go look for them” he said curtly to the Registrar. “You don’t want me rampaging through your Registry, I assure you.”
The Registrar studied the two hundred and fifty pounds of tightly leashed and seething Shifter before him. The Alpha’s gold eyes flashed with cold resolve, all softness leached out of them, as he stared down the older wizard. The Registrar glanced at his Deputy, who like the other wizards in the room, watched the Alpha warily as they waited for the Registrar to make a decision.
“Page Guardian LaRue, Martha.”
Martha Nichols picked up the phone just as Raoul straightened abruptly, his senses on hyper alert. He cocked his head to one side to listen intently, the movement curiously animal-like. Whispers swept the room amongst the wizards watching the Alpha. A spate of footsteps in a hurry heralded the new arrival before the door burst open. A disheveled Jason LaRue stood at the doorway, having run all the way from the basement archives. There was a gasp as everyone collectively turned to ogle the Guardian. He panted audibly to catch his breath while his eyes searched the room. When he caught sight of the Alpha, he staggered towards him.
“You’re bleeding, Guardian LaRue” exclaimed one of the wizards as a slow dribble of blood trickled down Jason’s hairline just above his left eyebrow.
Jason swiped at the blood impatiently but ignored the wizards to zero in on the Shifter.
“They’re gone” he said urgently to Raoul. “Someone hit me on the back of my head. When I came to, they were gone.”
“Gone” the Registrar burst out. “Gone where? How can that be!”
The two men ignored the outburst to focus on each other.
“How long?” the Alpha demanded.
“I can’t be sure but I couldn’t have been out for longer than ten minutes. So, I’m guessing fifteen at the most but possibly less” Jason responded calmly. It was obvious that he’d given this matter some thought on his mad dash up to the room.
The Alpha turned to the Registrar watching them with a dumbstruck expression. “Lock down the Registry. Make sure that no one gets in or out. Search every corner of the premises – let’s make sure the wizards are not in the building.”
“Now” Jason reiterated urgently as the Registrar remained immobile, his expression a combination of shock and bewilderment. “Time is of the essence here.”
The Registrar’s response was to look numbly at his Deputy.
“I’ll take care of it, Registrar” Martha said calmly. She glanced at Jason as she picked up the phone. “I’ll have someone go through the feed from the security cameras at the entrance, Guardian LaRue. It might provide us some clues.”
“Thank you” Jason acknowledged. “The Alpha and I need to make some calls. The GCW needs to be informed about this.”
“But how’s this possible?” the Registrar stammered in confusion. “Could you have made a mistake, Guardian LaRue? Perhaps the two wizards are still in the Archive Room. It’s a big area.”
“No mistake, Registrar” Jason swiped again at the sluggish blood that continued to trickle down from the gash at the back of his head.
One of the wizards approached him with a first aid box.
“Later” he waved her away as emergency alarms sounded through the building. “First I need to call this in.”
The sound of clanging alarms seemed to wake the Registrar from his stupor. He glanced at his Deputy who was directing operations on the phone, her demeanor calm and competent. It seemed to sober him.
“Follow me” he invited the Guardian, leading the two men out of the room. Raoul directed a last glance at the room before following the Registrar. The Deputy spoke calmly into the phone while the rest of the wizards milled about uncertainly.
“One of the missing wizards is Sienna McAlister” Jason informed the older wizard as the Registrar showed them into a small office right down the hallway from the conference hall. The older wizard’s face blanched as the full implications of the disappearance sank in. Everyone at the Chicago Registry knew who Sie
nna McAlister was. McAlister was a name well-known in the larger wizard world but it held special significance for this Registry.
“I’ll try to get you some answers, Guardian LaRue. Come find me when you’re done here” he closed the door behind him to exit the room.
Jason glanced at the Alpha as he pulled out his cell urgently. “All’s not lost yet. Sienna has a locator chip embedded in her. The First Wizard insisted on full protection for her when the rumors about her mother got louder. We can use it to track her before whoever has her discovers it.”
“This is LaRue” he spoke into his phone. “Sienna McAlister has been taken from the Chicago Registry and I need the code to track her locator device.”
Raoul watched the Guardian talk into his phone while his mind churned through Jason’s words. To say that he was surprised was to put it mildly. LaRue seemed to be implying that it was Sienna who’d been the target; that Tasia had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had assumed that the target had been the witchling!
“I’ve got it. It looks like her device hasn’t been disabled yet” Jason said into the phone. “Yes, please inform them.” He glanced at the Alpha who watched him silently, his expression giving nothing away. Nevertheless, Jason sensed strong emotion under the inscrutability. The Alpha would not wait patiently while a GCW team was dispatched to rescue the wizards. And frankly, neither would he. “Continue to track her and have the team meet up with us at her location. I’m heading out with the Shifters.”
“I don’t care what they say” he was firm but adamant to the wizard dispatcher’s protests over the phone, his anger firmly in check. “The First Wizard directed me to work with the Shifters on this and that’s what I plan to do. Sienna McAlister is my responsibility and I’ll be damned if I wait by my phone while you guys search for her.”
Raoul’s phone beeped abruptly.
“News?” Jason cut the call to focus on the tracking app on his phone.
