“Die, you Elemental bastard,” the prisoner howled.
The man threw back his palm as if to pitch a baseball. Shay tossed out a portion of his magick. Power exploded through the air, a white ball of energy hurling toward the prisoner. In a brilliant flare of sparks, white energy collided with the black electrical charges the Mage tossed at him. Then the black energy absorbed Shay’s pure white magick, converging and forming an orb that pulsed and glowed.
Shit! Arcane magick was weak at best. This was something he’d never encountered.
Shay threw more power, only to watch the newly formed orb consume it. Sparks crackled as the glowing ball drifted toward him. His own damn magick was working against him. If the orb touched him, he was dead.
“Shay, kill the son of a bitch,” Dakota ordered.
“You need him alive.” He sidestepped, and the orb floated through the air, following him.
“I need you alive more,” his lieutenant said.
Two could play this game. Shay gathered more power, flung it outward at the orb. Like a child tapping a floating balloon, his magick pushed the orb toward the Mage. His magick then absorbed the ball, shooting ribbons of powerful energy at the prisoner, who screamed as they touched his skin.
As the Mage reached up to pull more power from the storm, Shay threw all his powers into the orb. It burst apart, covering the Mage with a finely laced net of white-and-dark energy. The net sank into his skin like a knife through butter. The ozone stench of energy twined with the slick, coppery scent of the Mage’s blood as Shay’s magick ate into his flesh.
The man screamed and thrashed on the ground. Then he turned to Shay, his eyes glazing over.
“You’ll die. All of you,” the Arcane whispered, blood bubbling from his parted lips. “We won’t stop until every drop of Elemental blood soaks into the earth.”
Shay squatted down beside him. “Who the hell sent you?”
But the Mage was dead, his open eyes staring sightlessly at the sky.
Shay turned the man’s head and saw a familiar red brand with a line slashed through it. He searched the Mage’s pockets and withdrew a cheap plastic wallet. Inside was a laminated card. Shay handed it to Dakota.
“Arcane ID card. Andrew Jones, ex-prisoner and Arcane. Jailed for sedition.”
The other SEALs stared solemnly at him.
“I thought Arcane Enchanters weren’t powerful.” Dakota looked stunned.
“They’re not. This is something new. He must have absorbed his powers by killing an Elemental.” Shay gave his teammates a meaningful look. “It’s already begun, just as Kelly said.”
Plan A had failed. Plan B wasn’t looking hot, either. But they were SEALs and knew how to improvise.
He caught Dakota’s worried gaze. “Now you know what we’re up against. Curt gave you the orders to proceed to the LZ.”
“Curt would never betray us,” Renegade protested.
“It wasn’t him,” Shay said in a clipped tone.
“I know him, it was his voice.” But Dakota gazed around the wooded hillside. “We can’t trust anyone now.”
“Except ourselves,” Sully muttered.
Sunlight dappled the thick trees as they returned to the Rover. When they arrived at the vehicle, Shay saw horror shadowing Kelly’s blue eyes. She slid out of the backseat as Greg lowered his weapon.
“I heard screams,” she said.
“I did what I had to do,” he said shortly, checking his weapon. “You were right. Rogue Arcanes are gathering forces and aim to kill all of my people.”
“Your people against mine. Sam, I saw that storm. They’re gaining powers your kind can’t fight. What if they win?”
Rage boiled through him. “Every last criminal Arcane will die before that happens.”
“Including me? You just arrested me. Are you throwing me into that group, Sam?”
Guilt filled him at her woebegone expression, those big blue eyes looking as if he’d do exactly that. Greg patted her shoulder awkwardly. “You’re safe with us,” the tiger assured her.
Shay reeled in his emotions and the surge of male protectiveness that nudged him to shove aside the tiger. He could take care of his woman....
His woman? Who the hell was he kidding? That was in the past. He had no claim on Kelly Denning.
Kelly held out her wrists, still tied with flex cuffs. “Answer me, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore. I’m Arcane. Are you going to kill me, as well?”
“Gods, you don’t think I’d do that.” Shay felt ill.
A breeze teased tendrils of her red-gold hair. Her expression was guileless, but her hands shook slightly.
“No. But now you believe the threat is real. And it’s not me.”
Silence for a moment. The men glanced at each other.
“Are you still taking me in? I get the impression there is no helicopter coming to take me to the airport.”
Her voice lowered. “The answer is simple. Help me find the missing children, and you find the nest of Arcanes organizing this. Without those kids, the Arcanes can’t fuel their powers to carry out their plan.”
Nothing about this mission was simple. It was FUBAR, fucked up beyond all repair, complicated by the woman standing before him. Trusting him to do the right thing, and storm the castle. They knew how to deal. But they’d never faced duplicity from their own commander.
Never been tasked with stopping a genocide.
“What’s your plan?” Kelly asked his lieutenant.
“For now, seeing everyone gets hydrated. Miss Denning, you, as well. Shay, see to her.”
Shay fetched a bottle of water and brought it over to Kelly.
“You look hot,” he said softly. He removed the flex cuffs and handed her the water.
She took a sip and handed it back. He drank deeply. Her gaze traveled over his body, and a flush ignited her cheeks. Sexual awareness hung in the air, current as powerful as the magick he’d tossed at the prisoner. Adrenaline pumped through his body, making him hard as a rock. Or maybe it was the woman standing before him, the faint scent of her floral perfume teasing his senses.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Sam. When I saw that storm, I worried.”
Kelly smiled, the action chasing away the shadows from her eyes and making her look damn pretty. Sheer longing stabbed him. Made him wish for a brief moment that he could turn back the clock. Go back to those innocent moments when they were lovers and thought nothing of tomorrow.
Until it came crashing down upon them.
His gaze narrowed as he watched the other SEALs grabbing water out of their packs. “I knew it. Bastard’s doing it again.”
Kelly turned and saw Renegade pull out a bottle from a pack with Shay’s name on it. “That’s yours!”
“Yup. Bastard lightens his load by taking my water when I’m not looking. Not this time. This time, I packed one bottle and left the case in the trunk. Watch.”
The shifter took a long pull and choked. Coughing, he dropped it and wheezed, his face turning red.
“What the hell is in this?” Renegade sputtered.
Shay grabbed the bottle and dumped out the contents. “Jalapeno juice. Stay out of my stuff.”
Renegade glared as the others laughed.
“Enough,” Dakota ordered, tossing his empty into the trunk. “The mission’s been compromised. Our CO is a Primary Elemental Mage. We can’t be certain Curt hasn’t been killed and his identity taken over by an Arcane.”
“What the hell are we going to do, LT?” Sully crushed his empty bottle into pulp and let the fragments drop like snowflakes.
“Follow the orders we were given. We stay here, continue the training mission as planned, but send one of us home. That person will work covertly, off base, gathering intel so I can determine a course of action.”
“I’ll go,” Greg offered.
