Emerald Flame: A Paranormal Romance (The Flame Series Book 6)

by Caris Roane

  He looked down at her breasts and wasn’t surprised when she arched her back a little to give him an even better view. She wore a tank cut low enough to reveal the upper swells of her breasts. He couldn’t help that he salivated.

  You’d better knock it off with the wolf displays or I might make you take me right here, against this very firm wall. She smiled and arched a little more.

  As had happened before, her attitude stopped him in his tracks. He’d gone wolf because she’d joked about showing her breasts to a roomful of men in order to create a diversion. But the moment he’d drawn his lips back and growled, she was right with him, despite the nature of the situation. He loved it.

  He took a few deep breaths and brought himself under control. When his wolf-signs were gone, he said, We’d better just focus, but I like the idea of creating a diversion. He glanced down the hall. They’ve made a mistake. There isn’t a single security camera angled down this hall. If I shot up some of these lights, I’d bet that would get these wolves out of their seats.

  I like it. But you know we’d have to leave the spell to take action.

  Are you sure? Because I can remember being able to touch you at the Border Patrol Station.

  She frowned slightly. Though I haven’t explored it fully, there’s an occasional disconnect. Sometimes I can use my phone. Sometimes I can’t. Once I was carrying my purse and dropped it, but I couldn’t retrieve it until I left the shield. I definitely don’t want to take chances when a weapon is fired.

  He nodded. All right. But when I take the shots, we’ll have to slip right back in.

  Yup. Can you do it without yipping in pain? That fast, I mean?

  He snorted. You know I’ve got the hang of it now.

  Okay.

  He drew her farther down the hall toward the dead-end. There was another door that had the word ‘Storage’ on the outside. They were now out-of-range of the security room. No one could see them and they wouldn’t get caught in a traffic jam.

  He drew his Glock. This should do. He met and held her gaze. Be ready to cover your ears.

  Got it.

  He took a stance with his pistol aimed at a light well beyond the security room and at least twenty feet from where they stood. Take us out of the shield.

  No yipping.

  You’re going to piss me off if you keep that up. But he smiled. Though he remained alert and was prepared to fire, he let his internal senses relax.

  She placed her hand on his back and he felt the now familiar wrenching sensation as she twisted their small piece of time-and-space.

  He felt their visibility as though it was a tangible thing. He fired off three quick shots and the fluorescent light fixture exploded.

  I’m pulling us back in.

  Again, he relaxed, the twisting sensation tugged at him, then once more they were tucked into the shield. He holstered his weapon as the door slammed open and three wolves ran into the hall.

  He hurried toward the door and held it just long enough to get himself inside with Kiara right behind him. The wolves in the hall raced past the shattered glass, weapons drawn. One of them called out orders to the others.

  He grabbed her hand and while still levitating, he slid to the right and landed in the corner at the back of the room. The space had a clearing of at least ten feet to the nearest monitor.

  A large security detail arrived from an upper level and fanned out to begin a search of the entire level. The security room wolves examined the shattered glass and bullets. He could hear them asking one question after another. Their energy ramped up and one of the men started shouting.

  The diversion had worked perfectly.

  Warren turned his attention to the security center. He took his time as his gaze moved slowly around the room. He had similar equipment at Caldion.

  The far wall, which several desks faced, held three large monitors. The two left screens showed live feeds of the front and the back of the compound. There were at least twenty stations in all. Whatever Julio’s philosophies might be, he believed in electronic surveillance. At least fifteen people remained in their chairs despite the activity outside. Within a few seconds each returned to scrutinize the activity on their monitors.

  He could see that the front parking lot was still as quiet as when they’d arrived. The back area continued in a mass of dust.

  Nearest to Warren’s position, three wolves were gathered around a monitor and started cheering. A sick feeling sank his gut. He leaned in Kiara’s direction to get a better view and could see what the men were watching. Kiara could see it as well and had grown very still.

  He reached for her hand and squeezed it. Don’t watch.

  We must do something.

  We can’t. Not yet.

  She turned into him away from the sight. He slid his arms around her shoulders. This must have felt very familiar to her since a woman was chained down to a table. Only in this case, several men were taking turns, some with strap-ons designed to cause pain.

  Two other women were chained to the walls of what looked like a bedroom.

  In the security room, a wolf boosted the audio. The woman’s screams grew louder. More cheering.

  Suddenly, Julio’s face was in the camera up close. His black hair was wolf-long, and he wore it in several braids accented with light blue and silver beads. He had a thin nose and dark cruel eyes. His cheekbones were pronounced. “I understand we’ve been breached, but where the hell is my report? I want it now.”

  His authoritative tone prompted the wolves to action. From the front of the room, one of the wolves stood up. “You heard him. Those of you with feeds to the hallway, get on this. Find out who fired that weapon.”

  Another wolf near the front responded, “I’ve got my men hunting through this level. But we already confiscated all the guns, gone through every locker, every room.”

  “Do it again.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The leader then spoke quietly into his shoulder com and asked for an update.

  Warren had seen enough of the set-up. What he needed now was the location of the power source to the compound and current plans for the construction. If he could get his hands on the architectural drafts, he’d know how to deploy his troops.

  He’d held back taking action against Julio for two months. He’d wanted to take him on, but until now he’d had no way of gathering the intel he needed. The last thing he would do was put his wolves in jeopardy by going into battle unprepared.

  Kiara squeezed his hand. We need plans for this place.

  I was thinking the same thing.

  When we moved past the courtyard area, she said, I saw a table with schematics, just inside the room, in the corner. Maybe we would steal a set of the plans.

  That would draw too much attention and ruin any chance of a surprise attack. But I’ve got my phone with me. I could take photos?

  She smiled up at him. Or I could take them.

  You’d probably be quicker.

  When she turned as though to head for the door, he gave a tug on her hand and held her back. We don’t want to give away our position. We’ll need someone to open the door again.

  Right. Of course.

  The lead wolf called to one of the guards at the back. “Check on the search party and I want to know what kinds of shells those are.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  To Kiara, Warren said, Follow the guards.

  Got it. As soon as the guard turned toward the door, Kiara stayed right on his heels. Warren levitated behind her, slipping through the doorway in the wolf’s wake. Instead of turning toward the lighting debris, however, his eye was caught by one of Warren’s shells. He headed to the left which put him out of sight of the security room.

  Warren was damn tempted to take him on, but he didn’t want to jeopardize the mission.

  Before he knew what Kiara had planned, he felt the twisting of the spell. He reacted swiftly and put himself in the necessary relaxed state.

  The witch moved f
ast. She levitated and kicked hard, hitting the wolf square in the head and slamming him into the wall.

  He felt another twist and she was back inside the shield. The guard was out cold.

  He stared at her, brows lifted. What the hell?

  She smiled up at him. Seemed like the right thing to do.

  His smile was crooked. You are full of surprises.

  She chuckled. That felt good.

  Warren noticed the storage closet again. He knew in his gut what was inside. He went to the door. Kiara drew close as well. I need to make sure the juice is inside.

  He glanced up the hall, but no one was looking. He jerked the door open and there it was, the mother board. Every bit of electronics to keep the security room going

  It wasn’t even locked.

  He closed it as quickly. Lucky for us.

  With a tight grip on her hand, he glanced at her. Let’s go take some pics.

  ~ ~ ~

  As Kiara moved with Warren back up the two stairwells, she could see guards moving everywhere. Many were shouting and some hit pack wolves at random.

  They jeered, taunted, threatened.

  Worse, the wolves hardly reacted. They seemed way too familiar with the abuse.

  The whole thing sickened her.

  The good news was simple. All the activity had left the plans in a solitary state. She’d seen them when they’d first traveled down the main corridor. They were in a large space that led to what would be an outdoor gathering area once the pavers were laid. The corner was dark, but the rest of the wall was open to the air.

  The bad news, she would have to leave the cloak repeatedly to get the pictures they would need. They could open doors, but for some reason, photographs were a different animal when it came to her shield.

  At least she could move in and out quickly, while Warren remained hidden the entire time. Julio’s men raced through the space, then disappeared down the hall. This happened repeatedly.

  Shots rang out. More threats. More running as the entire compound hunted for the source of the bullets Warren had fired at the fluorescent lights.

  With her cell in hand and set for taking the photos, she waited for Warren’s command. She was skilled enough to twist in and out at will and had told Warren to give her commands for practice.

  As soon as the space was clear, he murmured ‘now’ softly in her mind. They practiced so that she got good at the quick-twist. The return command was ‘back’.

  Footsteps pounded. Men with AR-15s in hand appeared, then headed down the next hall.

  Now. She swung toward the plans and almost had a shot when he called out, Back.

  She returned to the cloak, but remained in position, phone held aimed toward the plans.

  Now. Three clicks then she pulled the top draft off the table.

  Back.

  She twisted. Waited.

  Now.

  Four clicks. Another draft off the table.

  Back.

  Just one more set of plans. She waited.

  Now. She made quick work of the final set of photos then shoved the last plan on the floor. She hoped it would look like something had knocked them off in the chaos.

  When she moved herself inside the shield, she nodded and put her phone away.

  But she found Warren in a sweat.

  Something was wrong. What is it? Her own heart rate skyrocketed.

  Glissane. He’s either in the building or on his way.

  How do you know?

  Because apparently, I’m part warlock now. Trust me. He’s here.

  As she set her witch senses on the wizard, she felt his presence.

  Warren started to move, but she held his arm. Stay very still. You’re right. Glissane is here. Now that I’m no longer focused on the plans, I can sense him as well. Movement inside the shield will draw his attention.

  She felt Warren ease into a place of almost vampire-like stillness, a frozen place of immobility resembling death. If he could do it, so could she. Modeling his pose, she dropped to the same quiet state.

  She stood next to him near the south wall. She didn’t shift her gaze around either. Instead, she used her peripheral vision. She caught glimpses of Glissane’s signature, a faint shimmery green aura. She could tell he was searching the space.

  Julio appeared from the direction of the stairwell. It seemed he could see the aura as well. “Are you sure Alpha Warren is here? He can’t go invisible. He’s a wolf.”

  Glissane didn’t respond. Instead, the shimmer of his aura continued floating around the room. She didn’t dare move or even glance his direction. He’d see it.

  The shimmer grew closer to their position.

  She could only hope he couldn’t hear the thundering of her heart.

  She forced herself to calm down.

  From Warren, she detected nothing. If anyone failed in this situation, it would be her. So, she strove to do as he’d told her more than once, to simply dial it down.

  A minute passed, then another. The entire room was still. Anytime a wolf entered the space, Julio waved him away. Maybe Glissane was communicating with him telepathically.

  A quarter hour passed.

  Kiara felt like she was playing chicken with a ghost. Yet she knew if she moved, she’d be caught. Warren seemed to sense the dire nature of the situation as well.

  She tried not to let her mind wander. She had a habit of giving her thoughts away with unconscious gestures, a shrug, a flick of her fingers.

  Somewhere outside the compound, she heard a distant exchange of gunfire. At almost the same moment, guards appeared from the direction of the stairwell.

  “What’s going on?” Julio shouted.

  “Alpha Fergus’s wolves have fired on your northeast outpost. We’ve seen it on the security footage. The wolves are wearing his amber-trimmed tanks.”

  Kiara remained as still as she could, but if anything was going to break the stalemate, it was news of an attack.

  The next split second, everything happened at once. She watched Glissane’s shimmer become more visible as he whipped away from their position. The next moment, the wizard and Julio turned and flew down the hall toward the foyer, Warren gripped her arm. Let’s get out of here.

  By now, she knew the drill. When he reached for her waist, she leaned into him so he could take them both wherever he wanted to go.

  We’ll head out through the back courtyard.

  He whipped them past the table that once held the plans, then through the open wall into the courtyard. A number of wolves had already taken to the air, so he kept them levitating low and near the brick pavers. She remained as relaxed as she could and concentrated on using her levitation to stay pressed up against him. He would have to navigate them both out of harm’s way. They might be invisible, but they could collide with anything physical.

  When he reached the building on the other side of the large patio, he ascended slowly then stuck close to the roof. Wolves suddenly appeared from the other side coming up and over the house. He dropped them both down flat to avoid getting hit.

  Kiara once again employed her levitation skills to keep from getting slammed into the roof.

  Slowly, Warren kept them creeping forward toward the roof’s apex. Once there, Kiara could see that the air was clear.

  Warren glanced behind them, then took them into the sky in a swift jolt of flight, heading away from the battle. In the distance, she could hear more bursts of gunfire.

  Warren said, I’m going to contact Fergus telepathically, let him know what’s going on.

  Okay.

  She waited as they rose another forty feet into the air. She was now looking down into the backyards of dozens of houses. Many of them were dark and looked deserted. She’d heard Julio was buying up the homes. At least four of them had been demolished.

  She’d give Julio this much. He had a plan and he appeared to be industrious. Of course, what it meant was a solidification of power and a compound underway that would easily rival either Fer
gus or Warren’s organizations.

  Warren turned north heading back in the direction of both the Caldion compound and her refuge. Fergus is pulling out as we speak. He wasn’t attacking Julio. It was for show in case a diversion would help. I told him he had no idea how right he’d been. Who knows how long Glissane would have stayed there. How did you keep from blinking?

  What do you mean?

  He was staring at you, straight at you the whole time.

  A sudden chill rolled through Kiara’s body. I never saw him. Just a faint impression of his aura.

  At that, he pulled up midair, and turned her to face him. He held both her arms. You couldn’t see him?

  No. I was just doing what you were doing, being still and quiet.

  A deep furrow cut through his brow. She’d never seen him so distressed. Wait. Are you saying you actually saw Glissane?

  He has blond hair and black eyes, like coal. He’s very thin.

  He does? I mean you saw that? You know what he looks like? What she really didn’t understand was how a wolf could see an invisible wizard when she couldn’t.

  At that, his lips curved slightly. I must be channeling your witchness.

  I’m stunned.

  As am I. He glanced around. Let’s get you back to the refuge. I want you safe behind your security spells. Then we need to bring Fergus in. Now that we have the plans, it’s time for a full-on assault.

  I agree, except for one thing.

  What’s that? He flew her in the direction of the refuge.

  How are we going to battle Julio and Glissane’s combined wave power?

  Chapter Nine

  Safe within Kiara’s security spell, Warren flew her slowly in the direction of the refuge. Fergus would meet up with them later when he’d seen his diversion force back to his Gordion compound.

  Kiara’s voice entered his mind. We need to get those women out of there, but what will we do about Julio’s wave power? Or Glissane’s? Or however the two of them are creating their takeover method?

  Warren had been thinking about little else from the time he’d seen Glissane. His battle-ready mind had started forging a strategy to break into Julio’s half-built compound, take his drugged-out force down, and rescue the women the bastard had chained up in his bedroom.