by Jami Gray
“What’s going on between you and Cheveyo?”
A strange intensity emanated from him, leaving her on edge. She spotted her boots half hidden behind an end table and a chair. Taking a seat on the chair, she answered his question with one of her own. “You know I’m studying under Cheveyo, right?”
He gave a short nod. “Just not sure how that came about.”
She grimaced as she pulled on one boot. “Okay, let’s back up a bit. What do you know about what happened with Alexi?” Determine to keep her vow, she wasn’t risking omitting any details.
He studied her. “From what I heard, you and the little psycho demon ripped into each other pretty good. However, since you’re here and she’s not, I can guess the ending.”
Shoving the disturbing memories back into a corner, she snorted. “Considering who I faced, I utilizing what tools I could was my smartest move.” She rubbed her suddenly chilled arms. “So, I decided to embrace my inner kitty cat, as you call it. I also made sure Mulcahy would be able to track her down and finish the job, if she actually managed to kill me.”
His mouth tightened in disapproval. “What the hell did you do?”
“What I needed to.” She dropped her eyes and gave an uncomfortable shrug. “I used blood magic to leave a tracer behind.” She kept her gaze on getting her other boot on.
“That was pretty damn stupid.”
His criticism rankled, even if it was warranted. Jerking her head up, she snapped back, “Well fucking excuse me! I figured if I couldn’t stop her, I’d make sure someone else could.” Pushing to her feet, she moved to the dresser, frustration eating at her temper.
“It didn’t matter.” Heavy silence descended as she pulled in a shaky breath and picked up the blades. “Alexi had the same plan. So, by the time Xander, Ryder, and Cheveyo showed up, she was dead and I wasn’t far behind.” Catching his sharply indrawn breath, she held up her hand, putting a stop to whatever was coming out of his mouth. “Cheveyo brought me back.”
“Brought you back?” Skepticism and something that sounded suspiciously closed to jealousy colored his voice. “How exactly?”
She liked hearing that small bite. Even if he was back to being pissed at her. How warped was that? “I’m not sure, but according to him we’re tied together. He said the spell was given to him by some old medicine man years ago.”
Hands grasped her shoulders and spun her around. “Tell me what the spell does, Raine.” His voice was low and dangerously even.
Refusing to be intimidated, she lifted her chin. “It creates a doorway between two Kyn, allowing them to use each other’s magics for defense or offense.”
His eyes narrowed. “That means he can pull whatever he wants from you, whenever he wants, and vice versa?”
She shook her head. “It only works if the other gives permission. Otherwise, you’re out of luck.”
“Have you considered maybe that’s what is interfering with your magic? Not the Soul Stealer?”
“You think Cheveyo’s pulling on my magic?” He gave her a grim nod and she pondered that for a moment. “Maybe, but I’m not sure.”
He searched her face. “Would you know if Cheveyo was dead?”
She nodded. “No doubt, but he’s not. In fact, this last go around, right before I got my shields up, I swore I heard him.”
Gavin let her go and paced away, shoving his hands through his hair. “Could you use your connection to figure out where he is?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried opening that doorway, and with my magic not responding right, I’m not sure I can.”
“Fine,” he replied. “Then let’s get Tala and see if she can help us push that door open.”
Raine was shaking her head before he finished. “Oh hell no. I don’t want that witch poking around in my head.” She bent and slid her blades inside her boots.
Gavin didn’t back down. “It can’t matter what you want. Cheveyo is missing and you’re our only link. We need to use our tools.”
His words were a sharp slap, jerking her upright, but she kept her face averted so he wouldn’t see her flinch. Hearing him say that hurt. Logically, she understood. To save their magi required using whatever and whoever they could. Their job demanded they put aside their personal feelings and do what they were sworn to do.
Unfortunately, his words scraped against old resentments birthed by her uncle, Ryan Mulcahy. As the head of the Northwest Fey House and Captain of the Wraiths, he considered her a tool, simply something to be used. That well-honed anger rose.
Gavin took a step towards her, his brow furrowed. She jerked away and slid around him, staying out of reach. Without looking at him, she got to the bedroom door and yanked it open. “You’re absolutely right. What I want can’t matter.”
Chapter Nine
Early evening light flowed over wood floors, casting soft shadows as Raine stalked down the hallway, following the low murmur of voices and the subtle clinking of dishes. She stopped inside the entrance to a large kitchen where Tomás and a couple of men sat at a long, scarred wooden table. At the stove, a woman about Raine’s height stirred something in a large pan. A spicy aroma filled the air. Raine’s stomach gave an audible growl.
Conversation stopped, and Tomás looked up. “Raine.” His gaze focused over her shoulder. “Gavin. Come on in and have something to eat.”
Gavin slipped by her, his body deliberately brushing hers, leaving chills behind. He took an empty chair next to a dark haired male who seemed familiar. With no choice, Raine took the remaining seat across from Gavin.
The woman at the stove turned, holding an empty plate, while flashing a quick smile at her. “Chili and cornbread?”
“Please,” she answered.
The woman nodded, raised an eyebrow at Gavin. When he repeated Raine’s answer, she turned back and began dishing up the food. She was dressed in what Raine was coming to think of as standard western wear—faded jeans, boots, and a T-shirt. Her brown hair was pulled back in a serviceable ponytail, and her skin held a light tan sprinkled with freckles.
“My wife, Lizbeth,” Tomás said. “She’s a great cook, but if you don’t like spicy food you may want to take it easy.”
With a quiet laugh, Lizbeth set the full plates in front of Raine and Gavin, her hazel eyes open and friendly. “I kept it tame this time, no worries.”
As Gavin and Raine ate, Tomás introduced the other two men at the table. “This is Eric, my foreman.”
Judging by the gray streaking through his brown hair, Eric was older than Tomás. A crooked nose sat among the weathered lines on his smiling face as he held out a scarred, tanned hand. “Hello.”
Taking his hand, Raine noted the calluses, but no flare of electricity. Eric wasn’t a shifter, but that was the best she could determine with her erratic magic.
“And you’ve met Andrew.” Tomás indicated the younger man next to Gavin.
The dark haired wolf shot them both a nod and then went back to his food.
“Were you able to get in touch with Tala and Xander?” Gavin directed his question to Tomás.
The alpha nodded. “They’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”
Eric pushed back from the table, empty dishes in hand. “If y’all will excuse me, I need to get back out to the yard. I have a few more things to do.” He nodded to the table in general then his dishes to the sink. A few minutes later, he left.
Lizbeth took over Eric’s chair and stirred her bowl of chili. Worry clear in her furrowed brow. “Tomás explained you’re here to help catch whoever took that poor child, Daniel.”
Tomás traced a gentle finger over the back of his wife’s hand as it rested on the table. They shared a look until a sad smile broke over Lizbeth’s face.
She turned her hand over to entwine her fingers with her husband’s and turned back to Gavin and Raine. “My heart goes out to his parents. It’s so hard to lose child.”
Echoes of sorrow hung heavy in Lizbeth’s voice, and Raine knew at some poi
nt, Lizbeth, too, had lost a child.
“Were you able to pick anything up at the last site, Raine?” Andrew asked with a slight, exotic accent, drawing attention from Lizbeth’s quiet grief.
Unable to place it, Raine focused on her half-eaten chili and shrugged. “Snatches of images, nothing that made any sense.”
Tomás eyed her. “Same thing you found at the other site?”
“Same magical traces.” She recalled the images of the wolf and the bloodied face of a man. “Do you have a picture of your missing wolf?”
“Jeremiah?” Lizbeth frowned. “I think so. Let me go check.” She pushed away from the table and left the kitchen.
Andrew caught Raine’s gaze and held it, his challenge clear. Since she faced bigger and meaner things than this alpha’s second, she refused to drop her eyes. Andrew gave her a grim smile before turning to watch Lizbeth walk back into the room.
“Here you go.” She handed over a picture.
It was a group shot of five men. Raine recognized Tomás and Andrew standing behind a dark haired youth about eighteen. The kid was holding something shiny toward the camera. There was a blond man to the right of Tomás. The last male was a younger version of the one she saw with a bloodied face.
“It was taken about six years ago.” Lizbeth stood behind Raine, pointing out faces. “Tomás, Andrew.” She pointed to the blond. “That’s Carlos.” Her finger moved to the man next to him, confirming Raine’s guess. “That’s Jeremiah.”
Raine cleared her throat. “The kid in front?”
Tomás’s wife tensed before blowing out a small breath. “My son, Brett.” Her voice was shaky, but level. “He just won first place in a rodeo.” Her finger brushed over the image. “He died just after this was taken.”
Raine handed the photo back, sympathy keeping her voice soft. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
A return of that small, sad smile echoed the grief in Liza’s hazel eyes. “Me, too.”
Tomás cleared his throat regaining Raine’s attention. “Recognize anyone?”
She gave a sharp nod. “Jeremiah. I saw him bloodied, but fighting. I don’t know if he’s still alive.”
“This normal for you?” Andrew bit out.
“Which part?” she snapped back. “Getting my ass handed to me by some shadow monster? Seeing fleeting images that don’t make sense? Or playing with dark magic that seems to have a taste for me?”
“Any of it.” Andrew’s smile was a baring of teeth. “All of it.”
Rage bubbled up, comforting in its familiarity. “Lately it seems to be par for the course.” Uncaring of the trouble her mouth created, she struck back at him. “How normal is it for you, wolf boy? Besides the Stealer, what else do you have running around here that you can’t seem to hunt down?”
Andrew snarled and lunged halfway out of his chair.
Gavin’s sharp, “Raine!” was shouted over Tomás’s equally sharp reprimand to his wolf.
Tomás kept a restraining hand on Andrew’s shoulder while Raine sat back, her hands close to her blades. She appear unconcerned, but it wouldn’t take much to draw her weapons.
“Enough!” Gavin’s growl would do any shifter proud. He kicked out with one foot, pushing Raine’s chair back a few inches. “Back off, Raine.”
She shifted her focus, opening her mouth to tell him where to shove it, when phantom fingers closed around her throat in a gentle warning.
The unexpected touch left her blinking in shock. Gavin’s gaze narrowed as she fought to keep her face blank. He held her startled gaze. She gave a brief nod of acquiescence. Those ghostly fingers relaxed and gave a gentle brush before disappearing altogether.
They were definitely continuing this conversation later. Especially since it appeared he managed to acquire a few new talents.
“Y’all need to settle back down,” Tomás ground out, bringing Andrew to heel.
Raine slumped back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest.
The alpha focused on Raine and Gavin. “Someone want to explain to me how y’all figure it’s a Stealer?”
Gavin explained the lack of any spirit remnants in Daniel. “Soul Stealer is what came to mind.”
“Could be other things,” Andrew cut in, his previous anger banked.
“Like?” Gavin asked.
“Lots of legends in these parts.” Andrew picked at his food. “The People still tell stories.”
“Any in particular we should know about?” Gavin rested his arm on the table, waiting with deceptive casualness.
Andrew looked up, studying both Raine and Gavin. After a few moments, came to some sort of decision. “The Native American tribes have stories of spirits, angry and vengeful, which can be summoned and commanded to do tasks for their masters. Once the spirit is captured, the body remains an empty shell.”
“None of that explains what happened to Daniel,” Gavin said.
Raine didn’t miss the tightness around Andrew’s eyes. They were missing something. “Where do these spirits come from?”
“According to the legends, when someone dies before their time, their spirit stays behind.” Andrew’s voice was neutral as he stirred the chili on the plate in front of him. “Those spirits can be harnessed and used by a summoner.”
His demeanor set off Raine’s alarms. His movements were too casual, too controlled.
“Before their time?” she echoed. “Does the death need to be accidental or deliberate?”
The wolf’s dark eyes were shuttered. “Either.”
“So how many spirits could a summoner control?”
“Depends on the summoner.”
The more Andrew spoke, the more dread curled in the pit of her stomach. “Say the summoner loses control of these angry, vengeful spirits, do they just move on?”
Andrew’s hand whitened as it tightened on the fork. “No.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she prodded, “What do they do?”
The wolf gave her a very unfriendly look. “They can turn on the summoner, or on those who still living that they hold responsible for their deaths.”
“These spirits, who do the stories say raise them?” Gavin cut in. Nice to see he was catching the same strange undercurrents.
Tension tightened the air as Andrew shared an unreadable look with his alpha. Whatever the answer, she knew it couldn’t be good.
“Witches.” Tomás was the one who answered. “Chindis are raised by witches.”
Politics were such a bitch. It would be so nice if just once, things could be a simple case of hunt down the murdering psychopath, kill it, and live happily ever after.
A heavy silence fell over the kitchen. After a few moments, Andrew went back to his dinner, while Gavin and Raine followed suit.
Plate empty, Raine thanked Lizbeth, and walked to the sink to rinse her dishes. Through the window, she caught sight of the approaching Jeep. “Tala and Xander are here,” she informed the others. Drying her hands on the small towel, she leaned her hip against the counter, arms folded across her chest.
Gavin walked toward her, with plate in hand. He caught her look and gave her a slight nod.
Taking a deep breath she waded in. “Alpha Chavez, what do you believe is happening here?”
Tomás leaned back in his chair, his face still and serious. “To be honest, Ms. McCord, I’m not sure.” His tone matched her formality. “However, I have to give consideration to each theory.”
Each theory? “Just how many theories do you have?”
Tomás’ lips thinned. “Soul Stealer is one. Chindis are a second.” He gave a soft snort before raking a hand through his hair. “Hell, for all I know, we could have a good old fashion human serial killer with a taste for black magic.”
The water shut off behind her. “Human?” Gavin asked. “Why would a human have it out for the Kyn in your territory?”
“Land.” Strangely it was Lizbeth who answered. “Land is valuable and the prices have sky-rocketed in the last few years. Between the
Red Thunder Pack and the lands deeded to the reservations, the Kyn hold a great deal of it.”
“Wouldn’t that mean if a human developer wanted your land, they would have to know about the Kyn?” Gavin pressed.
Lizbeth nodded. “It’s not unheard of for a human with money to have enough contacts in the upper levels of government and military to have some concept of the Kyn’s existence.”
There was no arguing that. Raine continually wondered how long the Kyn were going to be able to keep their existence from the general population. The world was becoming smaller at an increasingly faster rate. If the Kyn didn’t choose to reveal themselves soon, someone else was going to do it for them.
The doorbell rang and Andrew went to answer it. Moments later, muted voices reached the kitchen. Lizbeth rose from her seat. “Go, Tomás.” She picked up her husband’s dishes and headed to the sink, passing Raine and Gavin. “Talk to Tala. See if you can figure out what’s happening.”
Raine shot Lizbeth a sharp look, but the woman’s back was to her. She wondered if she was the only one who heard the faint underlying thread of sarcasm in Lizbeth’s voice.
Chapter Ten
Raine and Gavin followed Tomás into the open living room where Tala was making herself comfortable on an overstuffed leather couch. The two Heads of House exchanged greetings as Tomás took a seat in one of two armchairs. Raine caught a glimpse of Carlos disappearing down the other side of the hall toward the bedrooms.
Andrew led Xander into the living room before taking a seat on the brick ledge of the fireplace between the seated magi and alpha. Xander claimed the empty end of Tala’s couch. Raine chose to lean against the entryway wall, where she could watch all the players.
As everyone settled in, Gavin disappeared only to return with an extra chair from the kitchen, Lizbeth trailing behind. She sank into the remaining armchair next to Tomás.
Gavin set the chair in front of Raine, turned it around, and straddled it. Folding his arms over the back, he looked between Tala and Xander. “Did you get anywhere?”