“You know I can’t do that,” she said.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Against ordinary humans, even other Mages, yes. But not if the council wants your ass.”
“You always said it was a fine ass.”
Sam closed the distance between them. He stroked the side of her cheek with a single finger, the well-remembered gesture tender. She struggled with the urge to lean against him, absorb his strength.
“And I’d hate to see anything happen to it.”
“This is bigger than me, Sam. It’s a lot deeper than anyone realizes. I did see the Death Mask. I have the ability.”
He looked at her with the same wariness his teammates had shown. She pushed away. “I hate it, but it’s part of me and I’ve learned to accept it.”
Ever since childhood, Kelly knew she was different. She sensed things more than ordinary Arcanes could. Fearful of alarming her father, Kelly had set out to learn on her own. She studied ancient texts forbidden to Arcanes, stealing away minutes in the vast Shaymore library under the pretense of dusting the shelves.
And in the library, she’d discovered that a few, very few, special Mages had the ability to discern a Mage who killed another merely to siphon his power, the first stage of transforming into a Dark Lord. These Mages could see a shimmering Death Mask, a skull with glowing yellow eyes, superimposed over a normal-looking face.
Exactly what she’d witnessed at the bar.
“But I can’t accept someone is stealing Phantom Mage children to gain their power. An Arcane, organizing other Arcanes to gain magick for a bigger purpose.”
“What?”
She dragged in a deep breath. “To gain power, and exterminate your people. All of them. A genocide.”
The stunned look on his face would have been comical if the subject wasn’t so grim.
Kelly’s fingers curled around her bottle of beer. “Now will you listen, really listen to me?”
Eyes narrowed, he leaned on the counter. “Spill it. Everything.”
“A few weeks ago, Sight Finders received an anonymous tip about the bodies of two Elemental Phantom Mages reported as missing. It had been assumed The women, who had been divorcing their husbands, were out having a wild time.”
“I remember Uncle Al telling me about it. The council made sure the bodies were taken away before human authorities were notified. They didn’t want mortals asking questions. The council investigated, concluded the women were drunk and careless,” Sam said.
“They didn’t tell you what condition the bodies were found in.”
Kelly fished out her wallet and withdrew a small photo print of two shrunken corpses. “They were sucked dry of their magick. We believe this was a first attempt at gaining power from Elementals.”
Blood drained from his face. “Where the hell did you get these?”
“The anonymous tipster sent them, along with the location of Billy Rogers.”
A muscle ticked in his hard jaw. “Even if this is true, there’s no way Arcanes would get close enough to kill us all.”
“Not unless they assumed the identity of someone who’s trusted, say the son of a U.S. senator who also sits on the Council of Mages.”
Sam drew in a sharp breath. “You think that’s why they kidnapped Billy. By killing him and assuming his Phantom powers, an Arcane could duplicate him and move freely about.”
“Yes. The Arcane can even duplicate his aura. There is no way to tell them apart. These rogue Arcanes are targeting children to imitate them and assume their places. Then they’d kill their parents and from there…”
Kelly set down the beer. “We believe they’re smuggling the kids out of the country. Billy told me he remembers his nanny coming into his room. Then he was drugged. Later, when he woke up, the nanny shifted into a man he didn’t recognize.”
“The kidnapper’s real form,” he mused.
“We suspect both Arcanes killed the Phantom women, stole their powers and then used the magick to shape-shift into other forms, one being Billy’s nanny. The real nanny is probably dead.”
“And the Arcane imitating the nanny was the one we took out on the island. Which means the other who stole the Phantom’s powers may still be out there,” he mused.
Picking up the sharp knife, Sam began to twirl it like a baton. Kelly watched this new skill with wary eyes. Seeing her expression, he set it down.
“If Arcanes are planning a mass extermination, why didn’t you alert the council?”
“And give them an excuse to round up my people like cattle?” Sam never knew the humiliation of having to show an ID card simply to enter a Mage store to buy healing herbs. Or being physically searched by Mage authorities, laughing as they shoved their hands between the legs of her jeans.
“We can’t trust them.”
Sam narrowed his eyes. “You’re hiding something, Kel.”
He knew her too well. Kelly hesitated. “It’s more complicated than a single kidnapping. The rogue Arcanes have a base in Honduras and someone is leading them. A staff member in my nonprofit’s Honduran office found nine Elemental children hidden in Tegus. Shortly after, he was shot and left for dead. Fernando thinks the children were being held until the leader of the rogue Arcanes arrives. And then they will be killed, their powers drained and their magick used to imitate your people.”
She paused. “The email said they plan to create a Dark Lord to lead them in exterminating all Elementals. You’ve got to stop them.” She could see the doubt tightening his face. She had to convince him to help her.
“You have to stop this before it turns into war between our people, Sam. You’re the only Elemental I can trust. I know how much you care about children.”
His steady gaze met hers. So calm and capable, but she saw despair in his eyes. Bad of her to play the child card, reminding him of his beloved little brother, but she was desperate.
“Please believe me,” she whispered. “Not for me, Sam, but for those innocent kids. Please help me save them.”
Coiled with tension, he stared at the wall. She saw the hardened warrior unleashed, the Mage who would override everything to keep innocents safe.
“I believe you’re telling the truth, as far as you know it.”
It wasn’t enough. If she couldn’t convince Sam, how could she convince anyone else?
Trembling, she sagged onto the bar stool. So fatigued, she felt the floodgates open, her tightly held emotions finally cresting in a huge wave.
Kelly buried her head in her hands to hide their shaking. But it got worse as she rocked back and forth on the stool.
“Easy now, Kel.” Two hands on her shoulders, holding her steady. He’d always held her steady when she needed him.
“I can’t stop…”
She began to hyperventilate. Sam tipped her head up, locking his gaze to hers.
“Look at me. Look. Easy now. Breathe slowly, long, deep. That’s it,” he encouraged. “Inhale…exhale. Follow the sound of my breaths.”
She did as he commanded, matching her breathing to his calm, even inhalations and exhalations. They breathed together as one—just as they had after making love. It was naive and sweetly romantic…
After