Burning Both Ends

by Ally Shields

  “Since she can’t go, we all must stay.” Robert dropped his hands in resignation but gave Ari a bitter look. “Our duty is clear. The future of our species takes precedence. That leaves Steffan’s rescue in your hands. Don’t blow it.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It was almost 4:00 a.m. by the time Lilith, two of the weretigers, and Ari reached the bridge near the enemy camp. Ari’s companions were heavily armed; she had the usual silver dagger and derringer, with her pockets full of spells and potions. Her witch blood hummed, her fingers tingled, ready for action.

  At first glimpse, the area seemed deserted, but she could feel the power of Otherworld beings. She spotted Gilbert and several wolves huddled in the shadows under the bridge structure. Some were in creature form, but Gilbert had retained his man-shape to handle the assault rifle clutched in his hands. It was equipped with a night scope. He walked over to join her.

  “Any news?” Ari kept her voice to a whisper.

  Gilbert showed her his cell phone and put it on mute. “We’re keeping an open line with the two scouts near the farm. No change there. They’ve counted at least sixteen, with more inside. Still no sight of Steffan or Fagan, but we can’t get close without risking exposure.” He pointed to his nose.

  Yeah, she got it. The wolves’ sense of smell worked for and against both sides. It made sneaking up on them an iffy proposition.

  “How far away are your people?” Jena asked.

  “About half a mile and using long-range night scopes, but even that’s risky.”

  Ari frowned. “An acceptable risk, I gather? Would they pay any attention to the scent of two lone wolves, even if they picked it up?”

  Jena and Gilbert looked at each other and shrugged. “Under normal circumstances, probably not,” he said. “But I’d guess they’re being super vigilant tonight.”

  “What if we switch them out with tigers?” Lilith broke in with the suggestion. “It would be a different scent. They’ll notice the new arrivals, but as long as the tigers move around and don’t approach the farmhouse, it may not seem suspicious. Lots of Otherworlders hunt in these woods. And the kidnappers will be looking for other wolves, won’t they?”

  “It’s a good thought,” Gilbert said, looking at Ari. “Can’t hurt, and they might fall for it.”

  “Then let’s do it.” She gave Lilith an approving nod. The lioness had a good head on her shoulders. Andreas should consider a promotion for her when this was over and Lilith returned to Toronto. Ari would miss her.

  * * *

  Time moved with an erratic tempo in the early morning hours. Either it crawled at a snail’s pace or forged ahead at blistering speeds, depending on the stage of events. The first fifteen minutes slowed to an eternity. Ari and her companions huddled under the bridge, waiting for the kidnapper’s next call or updates from the tigers watching the farmhouse. They couldn’t make a move until they’d verified Steffan was present and could approach without putting him at greater risk. The wind was cold, and everyone was strung tight. Ari shivered, stomped her feet, and pulled her jacket collar up around her ears.

  Jena, who had been leaning causally against a bridge support, jumped to attention when her phone rang. She hit speaker.

  “What’s your decision?” The caller’s voice was masculine, gruff.

  “How do we know Steffan’s still alive?” Jena countered.

  “You’ll have to take my word on it. Quit stalling.”

  Jena took a deep breath, glanced at Ari, then continued with the prearranged script known only to the two of them. “I can’t do that. We’re prepared to agree to your demands, but only if we see for ourselves that Steffan is alive. If you won’t do that, we’ll know he’s dead and any deal is off.”

  The kidnapper was silent for a moment.

  Good. They’d caught him off guard. Ari held her breath. Jena’s breathing was ragged. It was an enormous risk, but beyond the obvious need to verify Steffan’s safety, Ari wanted a look at the kidnapper. And, if she could pull enough of the wolves out of the farm house, Gilbert’s group might be able to take the rest of them down. She didn’t have time to wait or starve them out, and storming the farmhouse under current conditions would turn into a scene of carnage.

  “Unacceptable,” he said. The phone line went dead.

  “Well, shit,” Jena squeaked.

  Ari let out her breath with a whoosh. “He’ll call back. He must be deciding what to do.” She wished she was as confident as she sounded. But his hesitation made her think he was uncertain, a little rattled by their demand.

  She paced the small area under the bridge. Gilbert and his wolves were more stoic as they all waited.

  Jena kept checking her phone, as if she could make it ring by force of will.

  “Heads up,” Gilbert said. “They’re on the move.” He held the phone glued to his ear. “Four men… No, five, six…uh, nine came out of the house. They’re shifting into furry form and leaving. Headed south toward town.” Gilbert’s attention swung to Ari. “What do you want the tigers to do? Follow or let them go?”

  “Follow, but tell them to stay well behind. Send your original wolf team in to cover the farmhouse, and let your team at Steffan’s place know they may have visitors soon. And Jena, call Robert, just in case they’d headed toward the Magic Hall.”

  While Jena and Gilbert were following those instructions, Ari’s phone buzzed. Unknown caller? What the hell?

  Almost expecting to hear the kidnapper’s voice, she answered with a cautious, “Yes?”

  “Ari, this is Gabriel.”

  Aw, hell. Talk about bad timing.

  “Sorry, Gabriel, I can’t talk right now. I’ll have to call you back.”

  “No! Don’t hang up. This is important.”

  “It can’t be more important than a man’s life. I’ll call.” She put her finger over the disconnection button.

  “More important than Andreas’s life?”

  “What’s that mean? What happened to him?” Ari’s pulse went into double-time.

  “Nothing yet.”

  “Dammit, Gabriel.” Relief nearly buckled her knees. She’d been sucker-punched—maybe several times. “Then spit it out, and be quick.”

  “He needs you here. We’ve got multiple challenges. Andreas won’t ask you, but I will.”

  Holy crap! “How many is multiple? It’s happening now, tonight? Dammit, why didn’t he call me?”

  “He knows you’re tied up on this search for someone. No, it’s not tonight, but…”

  “Then it’ll have to wait.” Ari hung up, taking deep breaths and muttering curses on Gabriel, his ancestors, and the sire who’d made him a vampire so he could hang around long enough to nearly give her heart failure. He rang back within seconds, and she ignored the call. She grimaced as it stopped abruptly, imaging his reaction when he reached voice mail.

  “What’s up?” Lilith whispered.

  “More trouble.” She explained the call. “I’ll call him back and get the details later. And possibly apologize for hanging up,” she added ruefully. “First, we have to get Steffan back alive.”

  “I’ll talk to Russell.” Lilith glanced at the clock on Ari’s phone screen. “He should be up in a couple hours, and by that time the vamps will be safely asleep until tomorrow night.” She glanced at Ari’s face. “I promise I’ll stay on top of this. Keep your focus on Steffan.”

  Ari wanted to do that, but despite the relatively calm face she showed to Lilith, her head was spinning. What if Andreas was in real danger right now? What could she do from here?

  Not one damned thing.

  Her palms turned clammy, and she fought the urge to run to the nearest airport. Could she abandon Steffan? Damn, damn, damn. Before Ari could marshal her thoughts around an answer, the kidnapper called.

  She snapped into focus, waiting to hear what he’d say.

  Jena had forgotten to hit the speaker button and listened for several seconds, while Ari and the wolves hovered. “Give us a minute,
” Jena finally said. She handed the phone to Gilbert and motioned for Ari to follow her. When they were several feet away, Jena whispered, “He agreed to one of us seeing Steffan, but alone, and at a place of his choosing. It sounds like a trap. He may just snatch another hostage. What do I tell him?”

  “Tell him I’m coming, and make sure he knows I’m a Guardian. If he hoped to kidnap another wolf leader, he’ll probably object to your choice. Don’t give in. I want him to know the Magic Council’s involved. It might make him think twice about how far he carries this.” When Jena looked like she wanted to protest, Ari added, “I can handle this. Tell him, before he gets tired of waiting and hangs up.”

  Jena delivered the message. Standing next to Jena, Ari heard his loud, negative reaction. At first he flat out refused, threatening to break off contact. They argued back and forth a couple of times, but with Ari waving her hands and mouthing encouragement, Jena brushed off his threats. She reminded him this was the only way to get what he wanted.

  When he suddenly agreed, setting a time and place, a reluctant smile tugged at Ari’s lips. It had come too easily, too quickly. He must have a really good trap in mind.

  So be it. Two could play. She tapped her lips with one finger, already planning how she could get the upper hand. She was developing a grudging respect for his abilities. Despite their efforts to outsmart him, he kept adapting, staying one step ahead. Still, she’d made a couple of observations. He didn’t indulge in unnecessary violence—or hadn’t so far, and he was a control freak. He’d handled every contact himself. Either he found it impossible to delegate or he didn’t trust his followers. Whichever was the motivation, Ari could almost guarantee he would come to meet her in person. She looked forward to it, and she planned to have a surprise or two of her own.

  * * *

  Ari stopped to scan the area. She was fifteen minutes early by design. Time to get the feel of the place, filter out the normal sounds and smells. The kidnapper had chosen the east shelter in Riverdale’s Goshen Park, 5:30 a.m. Since the park didn’t open for ordinary traffic until 8 o’clock, they had plenty of time to conduct their business. The location was an odd choice for a stranger. How did he know they’d have privacy, that the area was restricted to Otherworlders at night? If Steffan had made the suggestion, it would mean her friend was not only alive but interacting with his captor. An encouraging fact. Or maybe she was grabbing at straws.

  All the way to the park Ari had struggled to make sense of this case, but she’d come up with more questions than answers. Wasn’t kidnapping a strange way to influence the vote? It seemed like a poorly conceived last minute act of desperation. Yet, their access to inside information would seem to require a certain amount of pre-planning.

  Why had no one been harmed? Despite the threats and dire warnings, nothing bad had actually happened. The kidnapper grumbled and yelled every time his demands weren’t met, but he ultimately accepted everything. That didn’t sound like any hardened criminal or terrorist type she’d heard of.

  So maybe they were normally law-abiding wolves who were trying to make a statement and had gotten overly zealous. Genuine believers in a cause. Not hired killers. Not pros. Would that make them more or less dangerous? What about a coalition could rouse that kind of passion?

  Ari sighed. Fitting the right pieces together wasn’t an easy task, and her judgment might be impaired. Her head was in two places, her loyalties divided. Andreas. Steffan. She had responsibilities to both. On the way over, Lilith had tried to convince her that Andreas wasn’t in immediate danger, but she couldn’t be sure. How could she leave him to face the challenges alone? Whatever they were to each other, she belonged at his side. If she didn’t get there in time, she would have let him down.

  Damn, she was tired. Ari massaged her temples and forced her attention back to the present scene. She needed to get this over with quickly, so she didn’t let either man down.

  She slowly turned around, releasing tendrils of magic into the surrounding woods. The only being she found was Lilith, hidden about fifty yards away. Ari had done a masking spell to cover the lioness’s scent and given her a vial of the cloaking potion. The potion was about eighty percent reliable. Not perfect, but hopefully it would be enough until Ari needed her.

  Gilbert and his pack waited at a local bar two blocks from the park. No one had heard from the two weretigers who were tracking the first splinter group of nine wolves. A man bundled in a cloak and the remaining wolves, another eight or nine, had left the farm, with Steffan—or someone covered in a blanket—nearly half an hour ago. They had piled into two vans and disappeared into a traffic snarl on the freeway.

  She tapped her watch. Still running. The kidnapper and Steffan were nine minutes late.

  She was poised to call Gilbert and discuss the situation, when her witch senses roared to life. Werewolves. Five distinct scents, and she recognized one of them. The hairs on her arms quivered. The wolves were approaching from two separate directions. Three from behind her; two in front. One of the two was Steffan.

  “Ari?” It was Lilith on the open cell Ari held to her ear. “We’ve got company. I’m behind three, headed toward you, and they’re armed with sawed off shotguns.”

  “Did both potions work?” Ari whispered.

  “Yep. They seem oblivious.”

  “Atta girl. Steffan and another wolf are approaching from the south.” Ari turned to face the direction where Steffan should appear. “You know what to do.”

  “We should be with you shortly.” Lilith disconnected.

  Less than three minutes later, a heavily cloaked figure appeared at the southern edge of the clearing. In the dim moonlight Ari saw a reddish-brown wolf with an uneven gait trotting beside him. Ari stiffened, smothering an angry protest when she saw the muzzle, collar, and leash. Rope hobbles restrained Steffan’s front paws. The kidnapper wasn’t taking any chances. Although Steffan didn’t appear to be in pain, the humiliation was infuriating to Ari. She locked down her temper, knowing losing it would give her opponent an advantage. The situation demanded a clear head.

  She strained for a glimpse of the man’s face, but the long cloak covered him from head to foot. The hood was pulled up and over, keeping his face in shadow. An effective disguise. Her witch senses and nose confirmed he was a wolf, with a significant power aura.

  “Guardian, are you satisfied?” It was the male voice from the phone.

  Actually, she was very satisfied. She’d guessed right. He hadn’t trusted anyone else to handle the meeting. She noted his earthy scent, the feel and strength of his energy. She’d recognize him if they met again.

  Ignoring his question, she spoke to Steffan. “Are you all right?” Even though he couldn’t speak to her while in wolf form, he could understand her words.

  Steffan nodded. His intelligent brown eyes were clear of pain.

  Ari finally addressed the cloaked figure. “OK, I’ll report to the others that he’s alive. Is there anything else?” When he raised his head to answer her, she caught a momentary flash of intense, steel-gray eyes before his features were once again shadowed by the hood.

  “There is something else you can do.” His voice held a smile. “Place your weapons on the ground. The knife, the gun. Then lie down on your stomach while your hands are bound.”

  Ari kept her voice expressionless. “What makes you think I’m going to do that?”

  “Look behind you,” he invited.

  She twisted enough to look over her shoulder. Approximately ten feet away, three wolves in human form pointed very business-like shotguns at her. She’d heard them arrive, but knowing Lilith was right behind them, she’d let the game play out. Ari gave a furtive glance at her watch. If Lilith had used the cloaking potion when they last talked, it should be wearing off about…now.

  Nothing happened.

  That wasn’t good. She had miscalculated. Now what? Thinking rapidly for some way to stall, she looked at the kidnapper. “I guess you got me.”

  “
Not quite.” Lilith suddenly spoke aloud. “I’ll shoot the first wolf that moves.”

  “What the hell?”

  At the gunman’s startled words, Ari turned to look. Lilith had appeared a dozen feet behind the three wolves. One of her automatics was pointed at the closest wolf’s head; her other handgun moved between the other two. The wolves froze, looking to the cowled figure for guidance.

  “Guns on the ground,” Lilith ordered.

  When their leader nodded, the wolves complied. Lilith stepped forward to kick the guns out of reach, and one of the wolves lunged at her. Lilith shot him in the head; a second bullet hit another wolf in the shoulder. Ari knocked the third wolf on his haunches with a stun as the wolf leader shouted, “Stop or I’ll kill him.”

  Ari spun to see the kidnapper holding a pistol against Steffan’s head.

  “Tell your lion to disarm.”

  “She has a touchy trigger finger,” Ari warned. “Steffan has value to you. Your men mean nothing to us, dead or alive. Your choice.”

  His grey eyes met hers. “A standoff then. I may not want to kill your friend, not yet, but I wouldn’t hesitate to shatter his spine.”

  “Shall we stop this useless game?” she snapped. “Let Steffan go. Holding him won’t help you. You’re fighting a lost cause. The negotiators will never meet your terms.”

  “Does Steffan’s life mean nothing to them? Or to you?”

  She heard his growing irritation but ignored the threat. She wasn’t going to let him make this personal for her. “You can still stop this. Right here, right now.” She pointed to the dead wolf. “There’s no help for this one, but no one else has to die.”

  The kidnapper lashed out in anger. “Talk, talk, talk. I’m sick of talk. Go back and tell them he’s alive, but his blood will be on their hands unless they abandon this unholy alliance by the five o’clock deadline. No later. I will call for their final decision on whether he lives or dies.” He raised the pistol. “We’re leaving now. My wolves are coming with me. All of them.” He moved the gun barrel toward Steffan’s rear haunches. “I can make his waiting most painful.”