Of course Max would have taken care of the 9-1-1 calls. The only emergency vehicles would be the task force, which would arrive in time to clean up. The Enforcers were in essence the paranorm police.
“Stop.” Alec’s voice rang out as he held his hands loose at his sides and the two males came to a halt and looked at him in surprise. “Return to your human form,” he told the lion, “And both of you put your hands up.” Alec didn’t expect the males to obey and they didn’t disappoint.
The lion charged and the other male flung a fireball in their direction. Petra went after the male who was using magic and raised a shield just in time for the fireball to hit it. Her shield absorbed the magic, making the shield stronger.
Alec focused on the lion. The last paranorm he had touched had been Rider, meaning he now had Rider’s shifter powers. Alec chose a tiger form as the best bet to bring down another big cat. The faster he shifted, the more it hurt, but he didn’t have time to waste. His clothing and weapons vanished as orange and white fur replaced it. When Alec finished shifting, the lion came to a stop a few feet in front of him. They slowly paced each other.
To his left, Petra was moving forward but remained behind her shield that glittered every time one of the male’s fireballs slammed into it. Nothing the male did had an impact on Petra and Alec saw growing concern on the male’s face.
The fact that he was so ineffective against Petra told Alec that they were probably dealing with humans.
The lion roared and Alec focused fully on the beast. Its fangs flashed in the glow from the streetlight. The lion telegraphed its next move by the way it bunched its muscles right before leaping at Alec. The way he was able to read the lion made him fairly certain that this, too, was a human.
He dodged the lion then whirled around and raked his claws down the lion’s shoulder. It screamed and lunged for Alec but he easily dodged the attack. He could have gone for the lion’s jugular but if this was a human different rules applied to the situation. Alec had to subdue the human and have him taken in to task force headquarters to be interrogated once his powers had left his system. Once they had answers, the human would then be reprogrammed.
The lion leapt for him again with a roar of fury. Alec twisted, feeling the brush of claws as he slipped away from the attack. He turned and seized the lion by its throat and took it down, careful not to pierce the jugular. The lion tried to claw at Alec, but his grip was firm and he used the combination of a dangerous hold and his superior tiger body weight to pin the lion down.
Slowly, Petra had backed the human torch into a corner with her shield. His exhaustion was clear and his ability to use magic was weakening.
Petra dropped her shield at the same time she extended her forefinger. A bolt of power shot from her fingertip. The power slammed into the human, throwing him up against a building and pinning him there. The human cried out with the impact and then with frustration, when he couldn’t break free. Petra brought up her other hand and using both of her hands she formed a bubble and surrounded the human with it, trapping him.
Alec caught movement near the location where Loni had been. Another human high on the drug. And this one was headed right for Loni who was backed up against a door.
The male shifted into a wolf faster than Alec would have thought possible for a human—if the male was indeed a human. It was difficult to determine until he had a chance to better study the beast.
The wolf bolted for Loni and Alec’s heart slammed in his chest. He started to bound away from the lion to go after the wolf. It would set the lion free, but Alec had to save Loni.
Before he could move, the lion took advantage of Alec’s distraction, twisted beneath him and sank his fangs into Alec’s shoulder. Pain ripped through Alec. He swiped his claws across the lion’s muzzle, trying to see Loni at the same time he was fighting the lion.
From his side vision he saw the wolf leap for Loni—but she wasn’t there anymore. She was standing on the other side of the street. The wolf went after her. A blur and then Loni was back across the street again.
Alec didn’t know what was happening but Loni seemed to be safe for the moment. He and the lion rolled over and over in the street as teeth gnashed and claws ripped into flesh. More pain seared Alec’s body and blood trickled down his fur and the lion’s, too.
He caught another glimpse of the wolf that was still trying to stalk Loni who became a blur once again and was gone.
Alec concentrated on finishing off the lion, trying to do it without killing the human. He twisted midair and slammed his body down on the lion.
“Alec.” Petra’s voice from behind him. “I’m ready.”
All yours, came out as a roar as he spun away from the lion and Petra cast a bubble of power around the beast, trapping him.
Alec turned his attention to the wolf that was still trying to get to Loni. Alec bounded toward the wolf and roared as he batted the creature across the street with one huge paw. The wolf yelped, looked at Alec the tiger, turned tail, and ran.
Almost irrational anger burned through Alec at the thought of the wolf possibly having harmed Loni. He reached the wolf, pounced on him, and drove him to the asphalt. The wolf yelped and Alec raised his great paw, ready to rake his claws across the wolf’s face.
Petra must have sensed his rage because she screamed at him. “Stop, Alec. He didn’t hurt Loni. Let me at him now.”
Alec roared, his paw still raised, claws extended.
“Don’t,” came Loni’s voice from behind him. “I’m all right.”
Alec lowered his paw and eased off the wolf, slowly backed up. The wolf didn’t get up and Alec had the feeling he’d injured the creature pretty badly. If the wolf could shift back into a human, he’d likely be okay. The paranorm healing process was accelerated during a transformation.
As Petra put a bubble around the wolf, Alec shifted back into his human form. His stinging injuries faded.
He rose and went to Loni and took her by the shoulders. He was surprised his heart was still beating fast, as if he was still afraid for her. “Are you all right?”
Sirens sounded in the vicinity as she nodded. “Just a little freaked out by everything.”
“Did you see how she moved?” Petra walked up to them. “Or rather did you not see her move when she did?”
Alec rested one hand on the hilt of his sword. “How did you do that, Loni?”
“I have no idea.” She looked entirely puzzled. “All I did was run away from the wolf and everything around me went still as if in slow motion. The moment I arrived at the place I’d been running to, everything went back to normal.”
“Selena’s right.” Petra’s lips twisted into a smile. “I think Loni is going to prove very useful.”
Chapter 10
An adrenaline high kept Loni pumped up even as she and Alec reached his place.
“I’m so wound up.” She pushed her ponytail over her shoulder once the door closed behind them. “I can’t begin to explain what it felt like as time seemed to almost stop like that.”
“You were amazing.” He smiled and took her hand and led her to the living room and came to a stop on a large rug in front of the fireplace. He gestured toward it and to her surprise, a blaze immediately started, the heat warming her bare arms.
He turned her to face him and grasped her by her shoulders with his big hands. “I was so worried about you.”
“I was worried, too.” She shook her head as she remembered the deadly look in the wolf’s eyes as he’d come after her. “I don’t think anyone was more surprised than me when everything came to a near halt like it did. It was slow, slow, slow motion.”
He rubbed up and down her bare shoulders and they both went still when their eyes met. His gaze locked with hers and she found herself staring at his mouth. He had firm lips and she wanted to feel them against hers.
Her heart beat faster as he lowered his head. His breath feathered over her lips and she caught her breath as she waited for him to kiss her.
And then his lips were against hers. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she tasted his pure masculinity. He smelled of sweat and testosterone and night air. His kiss was more powerful than last night, filled with desire and need that showed he was having a hard time reining himself in.
She didn’t want him to hold back. She moved so that there was no space between them, wanting to feel his hard body against hers. It didn’t matter that she barely knew him. Reading about him made her feel like she’d known him for years, yet there was so much more she wanted to learn about him.
He cupped her face in his hands as his mouth explored hers. The residual high from the adrenaline rush she’d felt earlier made her feel even hungrier, needier. She slid her hands into his hair, the soft strands slipping through her fingers.
Something vibrated between their bodies. Confused, Loni stepped back, then realized it was his cell phone. “Ignore it,” she said and leaned back into him.
He did just that and kissed her with even more passion. The phone’s vibrations stopped for a few moments, then started again. Alec continued to ignore it until it stopped vibrating.
His kiss was like some kind of magic building between them, zinging through her mind like colored lights and floating through her body like warm sparks. He reached up and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, letting the soft strands fall around her shoulders.
She gave a soft moan against his mouth when he moved his hands to her breasts and squeezed them through the leather top that she wore. She wasn’t wearing a bra beneath the top and the leather rubbed her sensitive nipples.
A not-so-gentle knock sounded at the door, startling her out of her lust-induced haze. He released her shoulders and took a step back.
The knock, louder this time.
“Damn.” Alec shook his head. “Gotta be Max. He was probably the one who called.”
“So fast?” Loni asked. “Whoever it was just called.”
“Unfortunately, he lives right around the corner.”
Loni waited for him in the living room, her pulse elevated from kissing Alec. She scooped up her ponytail holder from off the floor and hurried to pull her hair back and straightened her clothing while she waited for Alec.
What the hell were you thinking? Alec took a deep breath and shook his head as he walked down the hallway to answer the door. He’d probably been about to make a big mistake with Loni. Humans were taboo, damn it.
Even though it had been three years since his relationship with Marie had ended, he still couldn’t get himself to trust women. The scar ran deep and he couldn’t put himself in the position again to fall in love with anyone. Not to mention the people Selena sent to their underworld often vanished with no explanation from her or anyone else.
Alec switched his train of thought. Time to get his head back where it belonged. What’s gone down now? he wondered as he unlocked the front door and pulled it open to find Max on his doorstep as expected.
Max was a tall man with a deep southern accent and had the look of a country boy with a farmer’s tan. He liked his whiskey and his jeans always had a Skoal ring on the right back pocket. A green John Deere cap rested on straw-like blond hair.
He spit a wad of tobacco into the flowerbed beside the front door. “Why the hell didn’t you answer your phone?” the Chief Enforcer asked, his voice gruff.
“What’s going on?” Alec knew that despite Max’s easygoing manner, at this moment something important was happening.
“Those humans you took down—one of them is coherent and talking,” Max said. “I need you at task force headquarters and I need you there fifteen minutes ago.”
“Right away, Chief.” Alec felt a rush of excitement. So far they’d gotten nowhere with the few humans they’d brought in. This could be a huge break in finding out what was happening to allow some humans to have paranormal powers.
“Next time answer your damned phone instead of messing around with the human,” Max said with something between a scowl and an amused expression.
Max turned and his boots clunked down the short flight of stairs as he headed for his illegally parked Big Ass Truck or BAT as Jazz liked to call it. It was a red king-cab truck with dually wheels that should be nearly impossible to park but somehow Max always managed to find a wide enough space.
When Alec walked back into the living room and saw Loni, a sense of disappointment tempered his excitement at the news that one of the humans was giving information.
“Sorry, honey.” He went to Loni and kissed her. “We’ve got to run down to task force headquarters. Looks like we might have a break in the case.”
She smiled. “Well, let’s go then.”
Alec locked up behind them. He turned to Loni. “No matter how fast I go, you can keep up?” he asked.
“I guess so.” She frowned. “I feel pretty normal though, not like I could run and run like I did earlier.”
“Let’s give it a shot.” Alec’s bones shifted as he lowered to all fours, his clothing turning into a gleaming coat of hair as he transformed into a black Lab and stood ready at Loni’s side.
They started jogging side-by-side. He maintained a rapid pace and she kept up with him no matter how fast he went. It wasn’t long before they reached the task force HQ and came to a stop. Loni didn’t seem out of breath at all as they walked in through the back door of the building that was older than any other building in the downtown Phoenix area. Alec shifted back to his human form when they arrived.
The halls and staircases were narrow, not handicapped accessible by any means, but an elevator had been installed with a secret door on the outside and accommodations downstairs made for Dani’s wheelchair.
Loni followed Alec as he jogged down the steep staircase to the task force’s basement HQ. The detention center was in the building next door so the human in question would be in one of the interrogation rooms here.
Max was waiting in the main room that was a lot like a human police headquarters. He nodded to Alec and Loni, and Alec made introductions since Max hadn’t stayed long enough earlier to meet Loni. They fell into step beside Max as he walked down a hallway to the interrogation room where the human was being held.
When they reached a closed door numbered 100 on the frosted glass, Alec held the door open for Max and Loni and then Alec followed them into the room. Max and Loni stood at the back of the room while Alec took the seat in front of the human. The same human who had battled Petra with magic.
The human looked strung out on something that caused him to shake and act jittery. Even his legs were shaking. Magic sizzled from his elbows down his forearms to the cuffs around his wrists that were on top of the wooden table between them.
Wood was always used because it didn’t conduct magical powers the same way that metal did. Metal reacted to magic much like metal reacted to electricity. Wooden objects could still hold and transfer magic, but not with the kinds of dangerous consequences that metal often did.
The prisoner was cuffed with magically treated wristlets, but they still had to have other safeguards in place. The human had dark blond hair and a day’s worth of stubble and his blue eyes looked a little wild.
“Manny, this is Enforcer Page,” Max said as he stood behind Alec. “Enforcer Page, this is Manny Green.”
“Hello, Manny.” Alec put his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “Why don’t you tell me what are you high on?”
The human’s eyes darted around the room, from Alec to Max, to Loni, and back to Alec. “The head dude calls it Propara.” Manny’s voice came out shaky.
What the hell was Propara? Alec didn’t let any expression show on his face. “Tell me about this Propara.”
Manny licked his lips. “It’s fucking amazing, but it scared the hell out of me. After the first time I wanted it so bad I went back again. But not anymore, man. I feel like I sold my soul to the devil.” He shuddered. “The other guys want more so they’re never gonna talk. The dude told them they’d never get another hit i
f they ever talked about it. Me, I don’t want any more of the shit.”
Alec studied Manny’s eyes. “ What does the drug do?”
“Gives you these wild powers.” The human shook his head. “Or at least it feels like it does. Maybe it is LSD and you just think you can throw fireballs or turn into an animal. I’ve never shot up with LSD, but maybe it’s the same. ” Sparks sizzled along Manny’s arms and he looked down. “I’m still seeing and feeling things. Like now. It’s like electricity is running up and down my arms.”
Let the man think he’s hallucinating, Alec thought. “Who’s the ‘dude’?”
Manny’s lips thinned and for a moment, Alec wondered if the man was going to say anything without a little more convincing, but he finally spoke. “They mostly called him ‘boss’ but I did hear someone call him Dawson.”
Alec’s gut clenched. Dawson. Sonofabitch. He felt Max tense behind him.
“Did you see this Dawson?” Alec asked.
“Yeah.” Manny gave a jittery nod. “Tall, over six feet. Goatee. Scar across one cheek.”
The man had just given them the perfect description of the sorcerer. So he was the one behind the paranormal drug.
Alec questioned the man a while longer, but didn’t get much more out of him. When he finished, he left the room followed by Loni and Max.
“We should have known Dawson was behind these humans and their short term paranormal powers.” Alec sat on the corner of an empty desk in the busy main room. “We knew he was dealing, but not this Propara drug.”
“It would explain a little more why none of the humans would talk.” Max folded his arms across his chest. “The sorcerer would have cast a spell on the humans that won’t allow them to speak about it. Of course Manny wouldn’t know that.”
“Somehow Manny didn’t get a full dose of Dawson’s powers or he’s immune to them.” Alec made a frustrated sound. “This makes it all the more urgent that we get to the sorcerer and bring him in.”
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