already has.” Sam stood, stretching out his hands. “We can’t talk when I shift, so listen.”
He went over a series of signals used to communicate. “And if I nudge you to follow me, and you balk, I’ll give you a nip.”
Demonstrating, he took her hand and closed his teeth gently around her wrist, the pressure light. “Like this. Not hard enough to break the skin, but to get your attention.”
She nodded, her pulse beating hard.
“Stand back, Kel. And don’t get too close.”
The look in his eyes warned her.
Backing off a few feet, she watched as a golden glow surrounded him. Sam closed his eyes, drawing his magick from the earth, wind, sky and water.
The change came over him instantly. The broad-shouldered, handsome man vanished. A gray wolf, thick with muscle, its fur sleek, watched her in silence. The wolf seemed big as a tank. He bared his teeth in a low growl as he looked over the acres of pasture.
Shaken, she took a step back, her gaze never shifting away from those teeth. Fear oozed through her pores. The wolf lifted his muzzle, and she knew he scented it.
She drew the battered, well-loved teddy bear out of his pack and held it out.
“Find them, Sam.”
Instead of sniffing the toy, the wolf loped over to Kelly and sniffed her, and then he gave her hand a gentle lick. Large brown eyes swimming with intelligence regarded her.
With a hesitant stroke, she caressed the wolf’s head, rubbing between his ears. The wolf licked her hand again and then sniffed the bear. His head dropped to the ground, and then he raised his muzzle.
Then he took off, loping across the field.
Kelly sprinted, trying to keep up, lungs bellowing with each breath. Stunned, she watched him zig and zag, following the scent trail. Then the wolf bounded down a path cut through the tall grass.
A path she remembered well. Sam had cut it years ago so she could access the barn without notice. It led from their weeping willow tree, wound around the lush, jewel-toned gardens cascading down the pristine lawn...
Straight to the mansion’s formal, and locked, west wing.
The wolf ducked behind a huge magnolia tree, hiding as he gazed up at the second-story windows overlooking the fields.
Kelly joined him, squatting down, her fingers curling into his thick fur as a snarl drew his lips back.
“Easy, Sam. They’re still alive. I have to believe it, and you do, as well.”
They moved from tree to tree, the gardens’ decor and the assorted shrubs providing cover. Then the wolf snuck away, toward the same path they’d just left.
Frustrated, she tried to hold him back, but Sam kept nudging her. When she refused to move, he gently nipped her bottom.
“Hey,” she whispered, rubbing the back of her jeans.
She swore his gaze twinkled with mischief.
Keeping low, Kelly followed the wolf back down the path, until they reached the barn.
Inside, Sam shifted back. “Thanks,” she told him, rubbing her bottom.
“I warned you, disobey my commands and I bite.”
“You said a nip on the wrist.”
He grinned. “Your ass is so pretty, I changed the target zone.”
Then he shifted his attention to the trapdoor. “This is why I turned back. The passageway leads to the house, and I can access the west wing without being seen.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Sam drew out his pistol from his pack. “No, you’re not.”
“Don’t leave me behind like this. You need my help.”
“I need you safe.”
“And I’ll be fine. We’re together in this, Sam. They’re my people, remember?”
Sam went still, muscles tensed, body coiled for action. He blew out a deep breath, nodded and gave her his cell phone. “Follow me and if there’s trouble, run. Call Dallas. He’ll pick you up.”
The yawning blackness of the passageway stretched before them. Unease rippled through Kelly as they traversed the tunnel, aided by the thin pencil beam of Sam’s flashlight.
A few hundred feet ahead, the tunnel forked. Sam flipped a switch, turning on a meager bulb that barely cut the darkness. Sam flicked his light downward and spotted a small footprint.
Hope sprang to life. He moved faster.
Sensing a disturbance in the air, Kelly crept backward toward the fork and turned around.
An arm hooked around her neck, jerking her back as a palm slapped over her mouth. She struggled against the powerful grip, feeling hot breath at her ear.
“Don’t scream.”
Okay. Instead, she bit his hand. She heard a hiss of pain, and then the fingers around her throat tightened, cutting off air.
“They wanted me to kill you, but you are one of us,” the whisper came. “We are your people. Join us, Kelly Denning. Your father embraced the darkness. It is in your blood.”
Shocked grief filled her. She drew in a breath and gasped with relief as the pressure against her throat eased. “My father was not. I have no darkness inside me.”
“Liar,” the voice whispered. “You feel it growing. You hate the Elementals as we do. Kill Sam Shaymore and become one of us.”
She struggled. “Where are the children?”
Hands around her throat squeezed tighter against her windpipe. “Join us or die.”
Elbowing him hard, she dropped, rolled out of reach and reacted. Summoning her magick, she flung out her hands, directing currents of white-hot energy at her attacker. He threw his hands to block the blow and screamed. Flesh sizzled and sparks crackled, lighting the tunnel.
In the glow, she saw the man lying on the ground, skin shriveled by the heat.
Was he right? Had the darkness been inside her all along? How else could she have eliminated the Arcane with magick not her own?
Bringing her hands up before her, she staggered backward, stricken with horror.
Maybe she was the enemy, not those she hunted.
The unmistakable sound of a wolf growling echoed through the tunnel.
Sam had shifted. And he’d gone feral.
The dull glow of the single bulb cast the wolf’s face into shadow.
Then he stepped into the light, directly in front of Kelly. Glowing eyes filled with rage stared. The wolf advanced, lips pulled back into a snarl.
“It’s me, Sam. It’s me. Kelly. I know you’re in there. You won’t hurt me. You’d never hurt me.”
Crouching down to his level, Kelly spoke quietly. “Sam, I’m okay. The bad guy’s dead. He’s down. Come back to me, Sam. Come back.”
The wolf swung its massive head toward the corpse.
He attacked. Kelly shrank back against the terrible sounds of tearing flesh.
“Sam, please, come back to me.”
Her voice dropped to a painful whisper. “I’m scared. And I need you.”
The wolf lifted his head and loped over to her. Blood dripped down his muzzle, staining the sleek fur.
Kelly held out a hand in absolute trust. “You’re Samuel J. Shaymore, Mage and navy SEAL. And I know you
