Phantom Wolf. Bonnie Vanak

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      Kelly Denning’s heart twisted as his large blue eyes beseeched her. “I won’t, Billy. I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

      “Promise?”

      Kelly made a large X over her rapidly beating heart. Nothing was going to happen to Billy. “Cross my heart and hope to…”

      Die. Not today. Not on my agenda this week.

      She forced a bright smile, hoping the terrified child could see it in the dimness. “Cross my heart and hope to never lie.”

      “But you’re an Arcane. My mommy says Arcanes lie all the time because your magick is weaker, not like us Elementals. Is she right?” His voice shook. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I just want to go home.”

      Not wanting his mother’s prejudice to shake his faith, Kelly chose her words with care. “I promise you, I’ll do everything I can to get you back to your parents.”

      “They won’t want me anymore after this,” Billy said in a small voice. “I won’t be an Elemental if they drain my powers like they keep saying they will.”

      Emotion clogged her throat. Billy wouldn’t be alive, either. But she had no intention of scaring him further.

      “Your powers are still inside you. No one can take away who you are, honey.”

      “Not even a Dark Lord?”

      Kelly sucked in a breath. Dark Lords were rare, but they were the most powerful Mages of all, created from pure evil. Only Arcanes were known to achieve this transformation through an ancient spell, which gave Elementals a natural fear of their weaker brethren.

      “Especially not a Dark Lord.”

      “Will anyone save us? My dad knows some navy SEALs. They rescue people.” Billy’s voice trembled.

      The two fangers upstairs would drain a navy SEAL dry. Ordinary navy SEALs couldn’t save them. They needed someone higher on the food chain.

      Her thoughts drifted to Sam Shaymore. He was a powerful Elemental Phantom Mage and, her sources said, a navy SEAL. Sam would rescue Billy, but Kelly doubted he’d take her along. Because, like other Elementals, Sam Shaymore blamed her father for killing his entire family.

      I’m not like my father, Sam.

      “Maybe,” Kelly ventured. “But if they don’t, we have to save ourselves. Just stick close to me, and do as I say.”

      No matter what happened to her, Billy must live.

      Kelly hugged her knees, winced. Not a good idea. Still hadn’t healed yet. Scanning the inside of the cramped, dark room, she assessed their prison’s weak points as Billy huddled close.

      He was the privileged son of a powerful Elemental Phantom Mage. Someone had stolen Billy out of his bed and brought him to this island to siphon away all his ripening magick. The process would kill him.

      Not as long as I’m here, Kelly thought grimly.

      Kelly’s organization, Sight Finders, rescued Mage children. She’d discovered the missing Billy’s whereabouts through an anonymous email tip. But the words that chilled her the most had been these: Arcanes are conspiring to create a Dark Lord. They plan to execute all Elemental Mages.

      The email warned Billy was in Florida, where he’d be transported to this tiny island in the Caribbean. She’d stolen aboard the boat in Miami and nearly succeeded in freeing him. But the fangers had caught her and imprisoned her, as well.

      Kelly stood, wincing at her protesting leg muscles. She peered out the slats of a narrow window. A thin ray of sunlight speared the darkness. They’d have to make a break for it now, before the vampires awakened. She could create a diversion and…

      “Someone’s coming,” Billy whispered.

      Heavy footsteps. Her palms grew clammy. Kelly rubbed them against her dirty jeans. Oh, gods, she knew what was coming next. She slipped the silver pendant off her neck and put it around Billy’s neck.

      “This will keep you safe. The triskele has much power.”

      Billy’s eyes grew huge. “No, Kelly, what about you? You need magick protection, too!”

      “I’ll be fine. Stay in the corner. They can’t hurt you if you wear the necklace.”

      “Kelly.” The little boy’s voice came as a whisper. “You’re an Arcane. My mother says Arcanes are bad people. They’re different from us and can’t be trusted to be anything more than servants.”

      Grief twisted her heart. She knelt by the little boy and gathered his hands into hers.

      “Listen to me, Billy. Whatever you’ve been told is wrong. My people are gentle and would rather practice their craft of chanting spells. Yes, they’ve been subservient for generations to Elementals. But they would sooner die themselves than turn to darkness and kill another to gain more power.”

      Billy’s eyes were solemn. “But someone among your people has.”

      She squeezed his hands, unable to argue that point.

      The door opened, showing a shaft of sunlight. Kelly winced as someone seized her wrist. The Arcane Mage grinned, showing a row of yellowed teeth. Her stomach roiled at the thought of a fellow Arcane hurting an innocent child. She laughed, hoping to calm Billy’s fears. “Time to play the game again, right boys? It’s a fun game.”

      Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another Arcane slap a heavy stick against his fat thigh. Her knees felt weak.

      “Right,” said the voice thick with menace. “Time to play the game.”

      As he swam through the clear Caribbean water, U.S. Navy SEAL Sam “Shay” Shaymore fought the instincts of his Mage shifter magick to change into an ocean-dwelling animal. With the three other SEALs using the nav boards equipped with compasses, they moved silently in swim pairs, their Dräger rebreathers showing no telltale bubbles.

      He kept his breathing even, slowed his banging heart rate. Dangerous as hell executing an op in broad daylight. But their orders were clear. Attack in the daylight, soon as possible. Ensign Grant “Sully” Sullivan had done recon on the target’s mansion. Billy was being held in a first-floor room, guarded in daylight by two Arcane Mages armed with M16s and two nasty vamps at night. The heat sig from the night-vision binocs showed that he was still alive as of last night. A female, probably the nanny who’d kidnapped Billy, remained with him.

      The top brass ordering this op knew nine-year-old Billy Rogers, the only son of a powerful U.S. senator, was being held captive. Keegan Byrne, the four-star admiral and Primary Elemental Mage who commanded the SEALs, knew a little more. Like the fact that Billy’s dad was also a Phantom Elemental and an Elder on the stately Council of Mages.

      It was an op loaded with policy-maker land mines. The worst kind for a SEAL on the elite Phoenix Force, a secret group of navy SEALs who were all paranorms. A human media explosion would ensue afterward, followed by the paranormal uproar created by the powerful Council of Mages.

      Shay СКАЧАТЬ