Phantom Wolf

by Bonnie Vanak

He nodded. “Gibson, the executive secretary. Curt told them and now he’s ordered me to bring you in.”

  All good things must come to an end, she thought, hysteria rising in her throat. The tenderness of their lovemaking faded. Reality check.

  Fading sunlight dappled his sandy-brown hair. How she’d loved holding him close, wishing never to let go.

  She had to let go now. Because if Sam brought her back, the council would be there, including Senator Rogers, most likely. She was going to use all her magick to free herself.

  “Screw this,” he muttered. “You are not going back.”

  Picking up the cell, he punched in a number. Sam stood, displaying the cords of muscle on his back and across his muscled, taut ass.

  Remembering how strongly he’d pumped that ass to thrust deep inside her, Kelly squirmed on the bed. As he left the bedroom, talking on the phone, her hands fisted tighter in the sheets until her knuckles whitened.

  She remained like that until he returned.

  “I called Curt. Told him I’m going back to base. Neglected to say I’m going alone.”

  He ran his thumb along her knuckles, his touch reassuring. “You’ll stay here. I warded the land enough so even a tank filled with Mages can’t come onto the property. I’ll break the bond between us so we can separate.”

  He trusted her not to run for it. She had to trust that he’d fight for her.

  “What will you do at the base?”

  A fierce look came over him. “I’m going to find out what the hell is going on.”

  Chapter 19

  Shay grappled with the problem during the flight to Virginia. As a SEAL, he fought with courage, conviction and the sureness of knowing he did the right thing.

  Now doing the right thing was wrong in his superior’s eyes. He stood to lose everything as a SEAL.

  Curt’s voice echoed in his mind. “You’re too involved. Step back and let us handle this.” Hell, it sounded like Curt, even the clipped words. Was the man a doppelgänger?

  He needed to see the man for himself.

  At the airport, he flagged down a cab. He’d given a vague arrival time. Didn’t want to chance getting a little surprise.

  But the surprise greeted him as he walked into ST 21’s ready room. Curt stood by the desk. In the front chair, Senator Robert Rogers. Next to them...

  The entire Council of Mages, including Allen Shaymore, his dark gaze sharp as he nodded to Shay.

  “Uncle Al. No retreat this year?”

  “They cut it short.” Al scowled, tugging at the collar of his white starched shirt beneath the formal purple velvet robes of a Mage Elder. “Sent an air force jet to retrieve me so I could put on this damn monkey suit. What the hell’s the deal, son? You in trouble again?”

  An air force jet? Shay’s heart dropped to his stomach. Rogers had pulled plenty of strings to make that happen. Unless the conspiracy went a lot deeper than he’d realized.

  An expectant hush filled the air as the Mages looked at Lieutenant Commander Curtis.

  “Where is Kelly Denning, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore?”

  Curt never called him by his full title. Guess I’m in a little trouble, he thought humorlessly. Or maybe this isn’t Curt.

  He shrugged. “Looks like a welcoming party. If I’d known you’d go through all this trouble, I’d have brought the beer.”

  Al laughed, but Curt scowled. Rogers stood, his elegant frame trembling with rage. “Where the hell is Kelly Denning?”

  “Chill, Senator. Don’t want to burst a blood vessel.” Shay kept his body loose and ready for action. If that SOB came at him, he’d get a fist smashed into his surgically altered nose.

  “You’re a U.S. Navy SEAL and you were ordered...”

  “I know my orders,” Shay fired back. “Yeah, I’m a SEAL. You call us adrenaline junkies, but we’re trained professionals. And part of any op is gathering good intel before we deploy.”

  His gaze swept over the council. “I need information.”

  “You are a soldier. You follow orders. Your job is to do what you’re told.” Rogers’s mouth thinned as he flexed his manicured hands, as if itching to wrap them around Shay’s neck.

  “I’m not turning Kelly over until I know why she’s being charged, and what the formal charges are.” Shay narrowed his gaze.

  Before Rogers could retort, he pushed on. “Section five fifty-seven, Code of Honor of the Executive Council of Honored Mages. And I quote, ‘If an Arcane is suspected of breaking Mage law, and bringing harm to Elemental Mages, the council will ensure due process is served and appoint a skilled attorney fluent in Code law to serve as counsel to the defendant. No Arcane shall be imprisoned without formal charges until such counsel can be found.’”

  “You’re an arrogant son of a bitch,” the senator sputtered.

  He considered. “Yeah. But we’re discussing Kelly Denning, not me.” He flashed a cold smile. “She deserves a lawyer. Are you trying to circumvent our sacred laws?”

  “Of course not,” Rogers snapped. “We will, of course, see that she gets a fair trial. If she’s guilty, she’ll be executed.”

  But the truth was carved on the faces of each Elder, except his uncle. Kelly was a dead woman.

  “He’s right. The girl deserves representation. I’ll make sure she gets it.” Allen’s gaze was sly as he looked at his nephew, who grinned back.

  Expecting Rogers to retort, he watched Curt signal to a waiting aide.

  “We have a small surprise for you, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore. Someone who’s been missing all these years, who wanted dearly to see you again. Someone who will make you see reason.” Curt smiled.

  Right. Not a fat chance. Shay’s hand dropped to his sidearm. And he nearly dropped with cold shock as a ghost strolled into the room. A gray-haired, stately ghost with hazel eyes like his own.

  “Dad,” he whispered. Couldn’t be. The council was playing tricks on him. Or maybe this was a doppelgänger, as well...but sweet hellfire, how could they have taken his DNA if his father had been dead for twelve years?

  The room spun around like a top. Shay braced his hands on a desktop.

  “Samuel.” The ghost offered a thin smile. “You’re here. I knew you would come.”

  Only his father called him by his full name. Shay swung his gaze to his uncle, who stared at the floor and then back to the ghost. “I buried your remains...”

  “You buried a servant who lost his life in the blaze. I’m here and quite alive. Samuel, my son. How I have missed you.”

  “You’re dead.”

  “Quite alive. I’ve been in hiding all these years. Too crazed with grief, living in the shadows.” His father’s face contorted with emotion. “In a way, I have been a true phantom, a ghost.”

  The crack of a fist slamming into flesh. Shay watched in quiet satisfaction as the ghost stumbled backward.

  “Don’t feel like a ghost to me,” he said, flexing his fist.

  Colton wiped blood from his split lip. “Excuse me. I need a moment alone with my son.”

  Shay fought for control as they walked to a nearby storage closet. Nothing ever surprised a SEAL. They had to adapt swiftly to sudden change. But all the hard training never prepared him for this.

  Closing the door, Shay leaned against it.

  “I will forgive you for hitting me because I owe you an apology for not telling you sooner.”

  “Apology? You owe me a hell of a lot more,” Shay snapped. “Sooner? Twelve years ago would have been sweet! Why didn’t you tell me you were alive? Where the hell were you when the fire broke out? The day I fucking buried your body?”

  Something flickered in his father’s eyes. “I had gone out the back door to sneak a cigar. Your mother disapproved and I didn’t want to upset her. The flames s
pread quickly and were too hot. I couldn’t try entering the hallway to save them.”

  Shay had tried, and he had the scars as a result.

  “Dad, how could you leave me?” Shay whispered.

  Another flicker of emotion. Shame? Guilt? Hard to tell.

  “I’m sorry, son. I went mad with grief over losing your mother. I ran away and by the time I regained some sense, you had gone.”

  “And returned a year later, goddammit. What was your excuse then?”

  Silence draped between them. Colton tensed, white lines bracketing his mouth. “I was on a blood hunt to avenge their deaths.”

  Shay went still. “You went looking for Kelly’s father.”

  “That bastard Arcane took my beautiful Annabelle away from me. I sought revenge against all his parasitic kind.” Colton’s eyes sparkled with rage. “And now I have the means. Those goddamn Arcanes, always trying to steal what is ours. No more. I met a most remarkable Elemental Phantom who convinced me to come out of hiding and put my skills to good use.”

  “You couldn’t tell me? Enlist my help?”

  “Not after I discovered you and the parasite’s daughter were having an affair.”

  Guilt pierced Shay as his father regarded him with the look he knew well. Sheer disappointment. Even though he’d fought hand-to-hand combat with terrorists, his father still made him feel as if he was nine years old. “How did you know?”

  “I found out a few days before Christmas. One of the servants saw you and Kelly go into the underground tunnels.”

  They’d thought themselves safe, invisible to the world. And all the time, someone had known.

  “I knew you were sneaking off with someone, so I sent her to watch you.”

  Shay’s mouth twisted. “Nice touch, Dad. Spying on your own flesh and blood.”

  “You worried me, Samuel. No discipline, restless and disobedient, more headstrong than ever. If you were in trouble, I needed to know.” Colton rubbed a hand over his face, and suddenly Shay saw how much he’d aged.

  “An Arcane. Really, son. I understand the fascination. But what in the hell were you thinking?”

  “Watch it, Dad,” he softly warned. “Don’t you dare insult her.”

  “She’s a slut like her father.”

  Shay jerked the door open. “This conversation is over.”

  He wanted to scream but clamped a lid on his temper as they returned to the ready room. Sickened, he watched his CO put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Colton heads a new civilian committee to assess an Arcane threat. We’re going to work with him, Shay. All of the Phoenix Force.”

  “A committee? You mean a hate group.” Shay swung his gaze over the silent council, including his uncle, who glowered at Shay’s father. “You approve of this, all of you?”

  “It’s necessary,” Rogers said tightly. “If there is a threat against our people, we need to be prepared to destroy it. Just as you and the other SEALs do.”

  The meaning became clear. “We fight to keep our country safe, not kill innocents.”

  “Self-preservation,” Curt put in. “Protecting our people so they can thrive. Arcanes are like cockroaches...they breed incessantly and unless you wipe out their numbers, they will always be underfoot.”

  His father nodded. “Only more dangerous, ready to seize everything dear to you. You must accept the truth, Samuel. These Arcanes threaten the very fabric of our lives. Bring them Kelly Denning. She is key to uncovering their plans to destroy us.”

  Toss Kelly to the wolves. Shay felt off balance, his world splitting open beneath his booted feet. But one surety remained. “No way in hell. She’s innocent.”

  But Curt spoke up. “Since you refuse to comply, Chief Petty Officer Shaymore, you are formally charged with unauthorized absence.”

  “Curt,” he protested.

  “Bring in Kelly Denning and turn her over to the Mage Council Elder or you face court-martial. Those are your orders, soldier.” His CO glowered. “Shay, I warned you. You crossed one too many lines and left me without a choice.”

  Anguished, he felt trapped. If the navy discharged him, he’d lose everything.

  But neither could he hand Kelly over to Rogers, knowing the bastard would make her quietly “disappear.”

  Racing over possibilities, he said, “I’ll do as you ask, on one condition. Show me one scrap of evidence you have that she wants to hurt Elementals. You have nothing.”

  Put the brakes on all this. But Colton took a brown paper bag and tossed it to Shay.

  “I’m sorry, son, but here’s your proof,” he told him. “This was found among Kelly Denning’s belongings when authorities searched Sight Finders’ offices. She must have kept it as a trophy after her father set the fire.”

  “Just as serial killers often keep trophies to remind them of their victims. We believe she conspired with her father to commit arson,” Curt added.

  Colton’s jaw tensed. “Now that bitch is working with the rebel Arcanes to hurt others of our kind. She’s leading the Arcane rebellion to destroy our people.”

  Shay opened the bag.

  Shock punched the breath out of him as he fished out a partly scorched teddy bear. One eye was missing. Pete had plucked it out to use as a spare marble when he was six.

  It was his little brother’s favorite toy.

  Sawdust puffed out from a rip in the bear as he squeezed it. Shay loosened his grip, wrestling with rage and grief. He looked at Rogers and his wife, then the waiting council. Shay couldn’t bear the sorrow in his uncle’s eyes. Or bear to see his father’s expression.

  He squared his shoulders. He was a U.S. Navy SEAL, tough as Kevlar, even when his heart shattered. With extreme care, he placed the bear in the paper sack and tucked it under his arm.

  “That’s evidence. You can’t take it,” Rogers protested.

  Shay thought about telling the senator to kiss his ass. Instead he nodded at the council members.

  “You’ll hear from me.”

  For a moment, he struggled to find words for his father. But knowing he’d faked his death sent razors slicing through his heart.

  “Son.” Colton placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do the right thing. Bring her back here to face trial. Don’t lose your head over a woman and risk your career. I’m so proud of what you’ve accomplished. You’ve grown into a fine, courageous man, everything I had hoped for.”

  A lump formed in Shay’s throat. He could only nod. I still love you, Dad, he thought. But you’ve changed.

  Just like me.

  The door slammed behind him as he left.

  * * *

  When Sam returned that night, Kelly could tell that something was dreadfully wrong.

  Eyes red-rimmed, expression tight and distraught, he looked like hell as he sat down on the sofa. Kelly ached for him.

  “That bad?” she asked.

  Instead of replying, he handed her a worn paper sack. A shocked gasp escaped as she drew out the battered, scorched teddy bear.

  “This is the evidence the council has against you. They say you kept it as a trophy after your father set the fire. They’re even suggesting you helped him. It was found at Sight Finders.”

  No emotion in his flat voice. Kelly placed the bear in his lap. She had to step carefully or risk splintering the fragile trust between them.

  “That was low of them, Sam. Seeing the bear must have torn you apart.”

  Tension knotted his spine as he looked away. Instinct warned his hard-won control was ready to shatter like glass.

  “There’s nothing I can do to bring him, or your parents, back. I wish I could. I’m sorry for all the pain you’ve suffered.”

  Sam’s brow furrowed. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t set the fire, Kel. No matter what the council or anyo
ne else says, I know you didn’t do it.”

  “Maybe I didn’t strike the match, but I’m the one who insisted on you meeting me instead of spending time with your family. If I hadn’t, you’d have been there and could have saved them.” Kelly drew in a trembling breath. “All these years I’ve tried to save kids because it was my fault Pete died.”

  Anger darkened his gaze as he lightly shook her shoulder. “Stop it. It was my decision. You’re not at fault. I tried to get to them in time, but the flames were too much. I should have found a way....”

  “And you’d have died. There’s a reason you’re still here, fighting the good fight, Sam. Don’t ever forget that. They’d be so proud of you if they were here.”

  “One of them is.”

  She could only stare.

  “My father’s still alive. I saw him.”

  Words escaped her. Kelly blinked hard. “Impossible,” she managed.

  “Very possible.” Sam punched a pillow and told her what happened.

  Colton Shaymore, alive. And hating her people more than ever. Resolve began building. She’d stop it, fight for justice, fight to shut that bastard up before he hurt anyone....

  And then she glanced over and saw Sam’s face.

  Sam’s jaw locked so hard, he had to be hurting. Sam needed her, just as he had after the fire. She would not forsake him for her crusade.

  Kelly covered his hand with hers. “I’m sorry, Sam. I can’t imagine how shocked, and disappointed, you felt.”

  Silence draped between them. He heaved a sigh. “One day, maybe, I can forgive him for abandoning me.”

  “But now he’s back in your life. If you want any chance of moving forward from this, you must forgive him.”

  “He lied to me.” Sam looked shattered. “All these years I worshipped him, idolized him as a man of strength, honor and integrity. And then mourned losing him. His life has been nothing but a lie.”

  “Was it? All the qualities you idolized in him, you sought those in yourself and that’s why you became a SEAL, right?”

  At his nod, she continued. “He made a huge mistake, but he had a huge success...you. You brought those qualities to life. His life was not all a lie.”