by Bonnie Vanak
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 a
nd 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 waist-length 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?”
