“You have no right to hold her. Under Mage law, she’s legally free within twenty-four hours, unless you can prove she’s a direct threat to another Mage. And there is no hard evidence she hurt anyone, including your son.”
He leveled a look at the older Mage. “Until then, she walks.”
A muscle ticked in the senator’s jaw. “You’re a soldier, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore. Not a policy maker. Stay out of this.”
“I’m a Phantom Elemental Mage whose family has held a seat on the council for the past five hundred years. And still holds one.” Shay got in the man’s face. “I’m not staying out.”
Tension bristled in the air as Rogers clenched his jaw. Finally he gave a gruff nod. “We’ll call it even, Chief, because you saved my son’s life. But interfere again and I’ll be forced to use my powers against you.”
Kelly flashed him a grateful smile. Even with her long hair tangled, clothing messed and dirt on her face, she was lovely.
The senator turned to Admiral Byrne. “Tag her with the new GPS security chip, the one you use for your SEALs. She’s too dangerous to release to an unsuspecting public.”
“Take her to the infirmary,” Byrne told Sully.
“No.” Rogers gave a nasty smile. “I want to see it for myself. Do it here.”
Shay’s anger rose again. But he kept silent as his teammate left and returned with the injection gun. Sully cleared his throat.
“Um, I’m sorry, but I insert this in your hip.”
Color flushed her face, but she unzipped her jeans and pulled them down her right hip. Shay couldn’t help looking at the curve of her hip, the mint-green panties she wore with tiny pink roses embroidered on the waistband. She stared straight ahead, not wincing as Sully injected the miniature device.
Then her gaze met his, and he saw the anger dancing in her eyes. Anger, not humiliation, as she zipped up her jeans.
“New security chip? This something you’re tagging all my people with, Senator, so you can watch our movements? The ID card isn’t sufficient enough?”
“Your people are like cows. Branding keeps all the strays in line.” Rogers gave her a cold, hard stare. “As Elder on the council, I order you to remain in your home. If you leave the country, you will be arrested and interned.”
When the senator, his wife and his assistant left with the admiral, Curt rubbed the back of his neck. “Miss Denning, I’ll drive you to the airport. You have a reservation on the eight-o’clock flight, courtesy of our esteemed council.”
The words
Soft with longing, Kelly’s gaze centered on Shay. She stood straight and tall, a hint of pride in those slender shoulders. “It’s not necessary, but thank you, Lieutenant Commander Curtis.”
“It’s necessary,” Curt said.
Kelly turned to Shay. Her soft pink mouth parted. She blinked back moisture gathering in her clear blue eyes.
“Sam, I’m sorry...about everything.”
A wave of emotion pushed at him. If only they could turn back time and go back to how things had once been. If only her father had not killed his family...
Shay rubbed his chest, feeling his heart constrict.
A whistle from behind caught his attention. Renegade jerked a thumb toward the door. “Yo, Shay. Bunch of us are grabbing a few beers at the Dive Bar. Ya in?”
Drinks. With his teammates, friends. Even friends who shifted into wolves and bit were safe and familiar. Comfortable and predictable. Not a woman who spun him around into emotional knots, who looked at him sadly, as if he were the center of her universe and that particular universe had shattered. Shay gave Renegade a rough nod.
When he turned around, Kelly was gone.
Kelly had to find Sam. This wasn’t over.
In a dingy bathroom, she splashed water over her face to fight fatigue. Forty-eight hours without sleep and only an energy bar for food. After a support staff member had dropped her off at the airport, she’d hopped on a bus and gotten off at the nearest gas station.
She tried to clean her dirty clothing, blotting the worst of it with brown paper towels. Finally she gave up.
Not winning any beauty contests tonight, for sure. That wasn’t important. Getting Sam to listen to her, and believe her, mattered most.
Beneath the distrust and doubt in his hazel eyes, she’d seen taut sexual awareness. Old feelings were still there. Even though he believed her father responsible for the deadly fire, she knew.
Cedric Denning couldn’t shoot a bolt of current if a 220 line fell on him. Her father was innocent. She knew it.
Rubbing her palms against her jeans, she banished the past. It was too late for Sam’s little brother. Others needed her help.
Before being escorted out, she’d overheard the SEALs say they were going to the Dive Bar. Kelly counted her money and called for a taxi.
The first driver refused. He’d seen her on television tonight when the newscasters reported her arrest in conjunction with the kidnapping of Senator Rogers’s son. Two taxis later, she finally found a driver willing to give her a ride, for double the money. But he seemed confused. He didn’t know any bar named the Dive Bar. Never heard of it. Finally she had him drive up and down roads near the base.
Night settled over the coastal town before she saw the flickering sign in the distance.
“There it is!” She gestured to the sign.
The driver snorted. “That’s no bar. That’s an old bait shop. Been closed for years.”
Kelly counted the bills, gave them to him and then climbed out. Driver must be confused. Plain as day, the blue neon sign boasted the Dive Bar.
Well, at least it wasn’t a four-star gourmet restaurant. Here, with her dingy clothing, she might fit in. Noise throbbed from inside, the pulsing beat of loud music, the cacophony of conversation and laughter.
Gathering her courage, she pulled open the door. An old-fashioned jukebox warbled a country-Western tune as two men played pool at the room’s far end. Squinting in the dim light, she let the door shut behind her. And then, as she watched a customer wave a hand and a bottle floated toward him, the realization hit her.
Every single person inside was a paranorm.
No wonder the cabdriver had never heard of it. The bar must have a magick shield around it to dissuade humans.
Worn buoys hung from the ceiling next to fishnets and two large plastic sharks. Old dive masks adorned one wall. It was a seedy, run-down and funky bar, the type she usually enjoyed.
People turned to examine the new arrival. And then all conversation ground to a halt. The jukebox shut off abruptly.
Uh-oh. Not exactly a welcoming crowd.
Silence descended, thick as morning fog. Even the bartender washing beer mugs in the sudsy sink stopped his work.
She swallowed hard, wiped her palms against her jeans and then finally placed her hands on the counter. A SEAL she recognized from the compound flicked a hand, the gesture filled with contempt. A half-filled mug of beer exploded, showering her blouse in suds and shards of glass. Kelly jumped. She brushed off her shirt.
