Lord Manetu, page 14
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Dylon waited until all the Witches’ Council members had left the room, before opening the door and ushering Glenn and Sawyer in. Turning to Brady, he asked, “Your thoughts?”
“It’s obvious Zohar intends to kill Remy and Carson in a few days and doesn’t want any witnesses…other than the ones he exempted from his order,” Brady replied.
“Agree,” Dylon said, “but do you have any idea how that could happen?”
“I thought Remy’s magic is more powerful than any other magic user,” Glenn said.
“It is,” Brady said.
“Then how can Zohar kill him?” asked Logan.
“Because he isn’t going to use magic,” Kieran replied.
Brady nodded. “Remy can be killed without using magic.”
“What about Carson?” asked Logan. “He’s the Mystic Guardian…won’t his powers protect Remy?”
“Against magic, yes,” Brady said, “and Zohar knows this, so it would be a fair assumption he won’t be using it to kill either of them.”
“Any idea what he’d use?” asked Dylon.
Mystia spoke up. “Whatever his plans are, I believe Remy and Carson are not the only targets.”
Dylon gave a grim smile. “That makes sense…he already has ordered Kadin Fadington’s killing and after the scene Logan saw, Zohar intends to kill Thayer White, and probably even Gerard, too.”
“Don’t forget Niam Graves,” Mystia said.
“But he’s Zohar’s right hand man!” exclaimed Sawyer.
Dylon scoffed. “Like all clever criminals, Zohar knows it’s best not to have any witnesses to his crime…otherwise he opens himself up to blackmail in the future.”
“So we have to save them from Zohar too?” asked Sawyer.
“Their lives, yes… but not their magic,” Dylon replied. “We’ll proceed with a few modifications to the plan. Logan, shift back into your raven and find out where Kaden is. He’s our first target since we know it’s his job to move the low-level magic users tonight and we don’t want him announcing that they’ve disappeared. My guess is he’ll start as soon as the building is empty.”
“What about the Council guards?” asked Sawyer.
“Between the sleeping drug and the device we put on their doors, I don’t think they’ll be an issue,” Glenn said.
“No, they won’t…at least for now,” Dylon replied.
“Do you think they know what Zohar is planning?” asked Zane.
“Don’t know, but…” Dylon started to say.
“He plans to kill them also, according to my spirit,” Kieran interjected.
“Holy shit! That’s a lot of bodies to explain!” exclaimed Zane.
“Not if there’s nothing left to see,” Dylon growled.
“You mean…like a fire?” asked Zane, remembering the blaze Josiah ordered set after killing his family.
“The Witches’ Council building is fireproof,” Brady said.
“What about an explosion?” asked Dylon.
“An explosion? With dynamite?” asked Brady frowning. “I don’t know…but wouldn’t that cause a fire?”
“Not necessarily,” Glenn replied. “Humans use explosives to collapse buildings all the time without causing fires to break out…it’s cheaper than demolishing them slowly.”
“The question is,” posed Dylon, “if this building collapsed on any magic users, would it cause their death?”
“It could…especially if they are unconscious like the Council guards,” Brady replied.
“What about the others?” asked Zane.
“You mean Gerard, Kadin, Thayer, and Niam?” asked Dylon.
Brady thought for a moment. “If they aren’t unconscious or restrained, then they might escape by using magic. The only way Zohar can be sure they all die is if they’re unable to use it to escape.”
“If that’s the case, it means this building is hot already; it would be hard for Zohar to explain any new alterations,” Glenn said.
Looking at Brady, Dylon asked, “Could Zohar use magic to make the building explode?”
“Maybe…I am not aware of a spell for that, but it doesn’t mean Zohar hasn’t created one.”
Remy held up his hand, stopping any further discussion. “We need to act quickly. Once the Council members have left the building, Kaden along with Zohar and the others will head to the holding cells and discover the low-level magic users are gone. Once that happens, our element of surprise will be gone.”
“He’s right,” Carson said. “They have to be our first priority…everything else can wait.”
“Agree,” Dylon said. “With the guards asleep and the other magic users gone, Kaden will need the remaining four magic users to help move the low-level magic users out of here.”
“Do you still want me to shift and find Kaden?” asked Logan.
“No, Remy can find him. But I don’t want him to do anything until we’re sure all the council members are out of the building, so let’s split up into teams,” Dylon suggested. “Logan, you’re by yourself, Sawyer’s with Glenn, Zane’s with Mystia, and Cody’s with me. Kieran, you stay here with Remy, Carson, and Brady. Once you check out your area of the building, report it clear and get back here as quickly as possible.”
“See you guys soon,” Carson murmured, watching the group leave. Snaking an arm around Remy’s waist, he tugged him to him, needing the closeness to settle his nerves. Things were gonna get bad fast once Zohar discovered the low-level magic users were gone.
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Popping a large potato chip into his mouth, Riley crunched down on it, pleased with the sound it made. Doing it again, he grinned, enjoying himself during the spare minutes he had while running several search programs. At the agency he became used to the ‘hurry up and wait’ aspect of his job running through thousands of databases, some of which only he had access to. He never thought of trading his job for anything until Glenn had asked him to join the group.
Even if Riley hadn’t owed Glenn for saving his life when that strange Oracle came after him, he still would have done anything for the man. Fierce and loyal to a fault, Glenn was everything he wanted in a mate and, for a time, Riley wished they were. But as time went on, he came to the conclusion they were better off as friends so when Glenn found his mates, no one was happier for him than Riley.
Taking a sip of his raspberry lemonade, Riley licked his lips, savoring its sweet-tart taste. Then shoving a handful of chips in his mouth, he tilted his chair back, chewing while his mind wandered back to the latest information from Ghost and Smokey. His instinct was telling him there was more to the involvement of humans in their world than any of them thought, but damned if he could put a finger on it.
Wiping his hands off on his jeans, he grabbed a pad of paper and pencil. Drawing a line down the center, he began writing the facts he knew in the first column. As he’d discovered in college, lists helped him see the bigger picture, allowing him to focus on what steps were needed to solve the problem.
With everyone gone, Riley welcomed the silence in the room, allowing his mind the freedom to retrieve all the facts, starting with the appearance of humans at an auction selling shifters. He wasn’t assigned to that case but had heard about it through one of his fellow computer buddies at the agency. At the time, he’d chalked it up to a fluke. but now, staring at his list, he realized it wasn’t. The appearance of human hunters in the campground and the ones who’d stalked Kevin’s parents confirmed there was more to it than he’d first thought.
Moving over to an unused computer, Riley entered his password and search parameters into the agency’s top secret database. It was a risk; his superiors at the agency might find out what he was doing, but that didn’t stop him—if his hunch was right, they’d give him a freaking medal. Hitting the search icon, he leaned back, eager to see the results.
Even back in his office at the agency, he didn’t have this sweet a setup. As his eyes kept track of data coming up on several different monitors, he continued to crunch contentedly on more chips. Then, zeroing in on one of the screens, he jumped from his chair and grabbed its mouse, to turn the volume up on a video file. Riley’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the chatter in one of the groups he followed on the dark web. Suddenly, fear filled him. He grabbed for his phone and quickly dialed. “Ghost?…Riley here.”
Chapter 17
“Hey, what’s up?”
Breathing a sigh of relief at the sound of Ghost’s voice, Riley asked, “What did you do with the second bunch of humans?”
“They’re tied up in the back. Why?”
“Get them out,” Riley yelled. “They’re rigged with explosives!”
“I know…found ‘em when I was removing their trackers. All taken care of.”
“No, it’s not…there’s still more,” Riley cried. “You gotta get away from them…do it now!”
Hearing the panic in Riley’s voice, Ghost swerved over to the side of the road and came to a stop. Jumping out, he ran to the back and lifted the hatch. Grabbing the first human, he pulled him out, and passed him to Ivan who’d joined him. “Get him away from here.” Then he handed the next one to Hawkeye, giving him the same instructions. When his vehicle was finally emptied, he turned to Ivan. “Watch ‘em until I find out what the fuck is going on.”
Returning to the front of the vehicle, Ghost reached through the window and grabbed his phone, still connected to Riley’s. “What the fuck is going on?”
“The humans…what did you do with them?”
“They’re across the road, lashed to a tree. Now…talk,” Ghost growled.
“I found out the explosives in the trackers were decoys so once you found them, you wouldn’t look further,” Riley explained.
“Your source must be pulling your leg. I stripped-searched each of them, from their hair to their toes and all the bits in between and they came up clean.”
“It’s in their stomachs,” Riley said. “Whoever heads this group borrowed a trick from the drug cartels and had them swallow the explosives. I’m guessing each triggering device is wireless so their leader can decide when to detonate them.”
“A fucking suicide bomber.”
“Yeah…well, a newer version,” Riley added.
Glancing over at the humans, now struggling against their ropes, Ghost asked, “Can you disable the bombs?”
“From here? Maybe but there’s no way I can tell for sure it’d work…”
“Fucking hell!” Ghost spat. Running his hand through his hair, he began to pace, trying to come up with a solution that would allow him to keep the humans alive while keeping him and his men safe. “What if I removed one? Would that help?”
“Maybe…it depends on what was used as the triggering device,” Riley replied. “But…and it’s a big but…there’s no guarantee you can do it without it exploding.”
“I don’t see much of a choice,” Ghost growled. “I can’t leave them here or let ‘em go since they’ve seen too much of our world. The only other option would be to kill them…and that would be the end of any leads as to who’s behind this.”
“Gimme a minute,” Riley murmured. “Maybe there is a way to defuse the shit from here.”
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Pulling over to the side of the highway, Sgt. Elliot Farren looked in his rear view mirror to make sure no one was behind him. Seeing the coast was clear, he made a U-turn, heading to the location the dispatcher gave him. The report of an explosion on one of the mountains in his district was unusual; in fact, it was a first in the history of his department according to his supervisor. Given that, he figured it was a prank call, but that was quickly rejected when his boss forwarded the cell phone video received from the person who reported it.
Flipping on his blue lights, Elliot sped towards the dirt access road that would get him close to the GPS coordinates of the explosion. As a game warden with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, he’d run across some strange things, but after a thorough investigation, the truth was usually uncovered. He quickly went through possible explanations of what could have caused it, but just as quickly eliminated each one. The only possibility he couldn’t reject was it must be a new way of illegal hunting.
The more Elliot turned it over in his mind, the more sense it made. An explosion would stun any deer, moose, bear, or other large animal making it easy for a hunter to finish them off. Fucking hell! The thought alone made his blood boil at the image, not to mention the laws that were broken. Mentally ticking them off in his head, he began with the most obvious one—hunting season was closed, so killing any animal was guaranteed to get the hunter a thousand dollar fine. That alone was bad enough, but when it also included the loss of their hunting license for five years, well, suffice to say, in all his years as a game warden, he’d yet to write out that particular ticket.
Spying the turnoff for the dirt road, Elliot slowed down, signaling his intent to turn. At the sound of a honking horn, he glanced out his window, only to find a boy waving at him as he and his father drove past. Returning the smile and wave, he then focused on navigating the dirt road, groaning as his truck bottomed out in one of its many ruts. Slowing to a crawl, his eyes searched the forest on either side, looking for a hunter who might be responsible for the explosion.
At times like these, Elliot was grateful for his immortality; the likelihood of getting shot by a hunter who’d already broken the law was high, but as had happened a few times in the past, he’d escaped without even a scar to show for it. But it also meant making a trip home to face his father—and that was something he wanted to avoid, if possible.
Coming over a small rise in the road, Elliot spied a group of men standing next to an SUV parked on the soft shoulder of the road. If his gut was right, these were the men responsible for the explosion, but it appeared they weren’t hunting wildlife. Slowing down until his truck was just inching along, his eyes then focused on a group of men tied to a tree on the other side of the road. Frowning, he began to roll down his window. What the fuck!
“Boss, we got a visitor,” Hawkeye murmured, glancing over his shoulder.
Snapping his head around, Ghost’s eyes narrowed at the sight of a green pickup truck slowly making its way towards him. “I gotta go Riley…call you back shortly.” Slipping the phone into his pocket, he walked into the middle of the road, forcing the driver to stop. It was just his luck a fucking game warden would be patrolling this particular road today.
Shifting his truck into park, Elliot stared at the man blocking him. His eyes shifted over to the other men, examining each one before returning to Ghost, who appeared to be their leader. What the hell was a tiger along with other shifters doing in his district? Whatever they were up to, he figured it wasn’t something he was going to be happy about. Finally opening the door, he slowly got out, keeping a friendly face as he approached Ghost. “Everything okay?”
Ghost didn’t believe in coincidences; the sudden appearance of a game warden on this particular road and at this particular time rang every one of his alarm bells. Who the fuck is he? Seeking an answer to that question, he sniffed discretely, discovering the man didn’t have a scent. Not human then…but what is he? The best course of action, he decided, was to answer the game warden’s questions in order to get rid of him as quickly as possible. “Everything’s good,” Ghost said, smiling.
Elliot’s gaze slowly panned the faces of Ghost’s men, locking eyes with them while mentally recording which type of shifter each was. “Good to know. Do you have any ID?”
Slowly pulling out his wallet, Ghost removed his driver’s license, handing it over to the game warden.
“Thanks…I’ll be right back…don’t leave.” Elliot headed to his truck and climbed in. Calling his dispatcher, he gave him the name and asked if there were any violations. Not surprisingly, there weren’t any. Tapping the driver’s license against his pants, he sneaked another glance at the tiger shifter, before snapping a picture of the driver’s license with his cell phone camera. Then getting out, he returned to the group of men, handing the ID back to Ghost.
“Anything else, officer?”
Elliot’s eyes shifted over to the humans. “Yeah…what about those fellas tied up? They good, too?”
Ghost glanced over his shoulder briefly before returning his gaze to the game warden. “Yup…they’re good, too.”
Snorting, Elliot’s eyes narrowed. “They don’t look fine to me…if you don’t mind, I’ll just see for myself.” Before he could take a step, the tiger shifter blocked his path.
“I said they’re fine.”
Watching as the other shifters form a barrier behind Ghost, Elliot assessed the situation, inwardly smiling to himself. He was impressed with their loyalty, a rarity according to what he’d experienced. Even though they were no match for him, he decided on a different approach. No sense in alerting anyone to his existence on earth—at least not until he was ready to. “Can I talk to you alone?” he asked Ghost.
Studying the man’s face, Ghost was satisfied the game warden wasn’t going to challenge him. So after giving a brief nod, he followed him to the back of the pickup truck, before saying, “Talk.”
“Those are humans you got tied up.”
Ghost nodded.
“As far as I know, there isn’t a human hunting season. Care to explain why you have them trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys?”
“Is there a shifter hunting season I don’t know about?” asked Ghost.
Elliot’s eyes widened. “They were hunting shifters?”
“Caught ‘em in the act.”
Flicking his eyes over to the humans, Elliot contemplated his next move. Then, deciding it wasn’t his business since his job was to protect wildlife, he smiled. “I’ll leave them to you. Have a good day.” Heading back to the cab of his truck, he grabbed the door handle, but before opening it, said, “In case you’re wondering, they’re all safe now…I neutralized the explosive devices they have in them.” Grinning at Ghost’s perplexed look, Elliot said, “You’re welcome, by the way.” Then, pulling open the door, he slid in and, after giving one more glance at the shifters, put his truck in gear and drove off.
