Shifter Magnetism (17 page)

Leila stood beside Nic as he and Jake studied the heavy metal chain and lock keeping them off the sorcerer’s property. Behind them stood the Council’s newly formed Watch. Five witches and wizards had volunteered to form the Council’s police force. Witches and wizards practiced traditions from shamanism to alchemy. It was her understanding that they had a mix of power on the team. The goal for the Watch was to serve Stevens with a decree from the Council allowing the Watch to search the premises and apprehend him if necessary.

Movement on her right caused her to turn. Winrich Nova, a member of the Watch, stood at her side. She’d never figured out his ancestral origins. Winrich bore skin as brown as hers and vivid green eyes. His features were too neutral and his bone structure gave no real hint to his genetics. Dressed in black slacks and a black button-down, she noticed he appeared relaxed, as if they were headed to Stevens’s home for tea.

“Looks shabby but not menacing.” Winrich’s British accent always gave her pause.

Leila felt Nic’s gaze and surreptitiously put more space between herself and Winrich. It was scary how she knew what he was thinking. The pack and Council couldn’t afford a confrontation over the proper space kept between any man and the alpha female.

Winrich flashed her a smile, and the mischief in it almost made her smile back. “Scared.”

She knew he wasn’t referring to the house. “For you, maybe.” She glanced at Nic in time to see him break the chain with one tug of his partially shifted grip.

“Handy.” Amusement laced Winrich’s voice.

Leila thought so. “Does anyone in the Watch have an affinity for detecting wards?” All witches and wizards could detect wards, but some had an easier time than others. Not knowing what they would face inside the manor made it a good idea to use their energy wisely.

“I’ll ask.” Winrich sauntered over to the sedan the members of the Watch had arrived in.

She turned back to Nic to see him watching the wizard.

Nic crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m surprised any of them turned up.”

She shrugged, unwilling to admit it surprised her as well.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you. He seems too interested and way too slick.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know, every man who sees me isn’t trying to get in my pants.” She glared at Jake when he snorted. She was glad he found the conversation humorous.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Nic draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Despite herself, she melted into him.

Winrich returned with an older male dressed in a dark blue
sherwani
. The wizard immediately closed his eyes. The faintest brush of magical energy licked her skin. Nic’s arm tightened briefly, then relaxed.

The wizard’s eyes opened. “I disarmed the first ward. I detect another larger one surrounding the house itself. It will take more than one wizard to break it.”

They all went back to their vehicles. Jake climbed in the SUV with Nic and Leila. They were followed by ten shifter soldiers divided into two vans. Despite Jake’s protests, ten were all Nic felt he could spare while they had so many unknown membership petitioners on pack grounds. The carload of witches and wizards brought up the rear.

Their caravan made its way down the circular drive. There were no visible cars around, and the dark drapes in the windows didn’t shift or flutter. They filed out of the cars and met at the foot of the steps leading to the front door. The wizard with the affinity for wards, Reynalda—a witch Leila knew from the Council—and another wizard stepped forward. They spoke quietly for a moment before closing their eyes.

A sharp burst of magic swept over the area. This time its manifestation displayed color. A deep violet wave traveled up the steps and spread out even as it climbed over the brick, reaching for the roof. The violet wave spread around the house, and Leila knew it would wrap the manor in magic, counteracting the sorcerer’s ward. They waited long minutes until she heard the faint snap of the spell completely sealing over the manor.

Reynalda and the two wizards shook under the strain. Sweat lined their brows and upper lips. The purple shield pulsed and rippled. Parts of it vacillated between violet and blue, then swiftly to a deep bloodred.

Hands clenched, Leila watched in fascination. What in the hell was Stevens hiding in his house that required a ward so deadly?

One of the wizards dropped to his knees, eyes still closed, concentration evident in the lines of his face. The violet wave continued to pulse, spending less and less time shifting to red until it was once again a solid luminescent violet. It bulged, becoming distended and rotund until it popped, vanishing all at once, leaving no trace of its existence.

And that was when the smell hit her. Every shifter in their group shuffled and murmured before pulling themselves back under control. Fetid air surrounded them. Underneath was the sour putrescence of forbidden magic. Many, many people had been tortured and died inside the manor.

“We allowed this.” The face of the wizard on his knees was so white Leila feared he might pass out.

Nic murmured a command, and two soldiers broke away and disappeared behind the manor. One returned a moment later.

“One visible exit in the rear.”

Nic nodded, and the soldier rounded the building. “We leave sentries at the front and rear. Inside, no one goes off alone. Leila and I encountered a trapdoor and a hidden chamber at the last site. Just because the sorcerer hasn’t protested our presence doesn’t mean he isn’t here hiding and ready to attack.”

His face when he turned to her would have cowed her two weeks ago. She narrowed her eyes. “No.” You had to be firm with the aggressive ones.

His jaw tightened, and she was momentarily scared for his teeth. She still wasn’t going to allow him to leave her behind.

Jake cleared his throat. “Remind me to settle down with a nice submissive she-wolf.”

And grind the poor woman down to nothing.
Just as Nic would do if she allowed it. So she stood her ground and waited until he capitulated by walking up the steps without arguing further.

If Stevens was inside, there was no way he didn’t know they were there. Nic knocked anyway, right before he picked the lock. The entryway stood empty. Peeling paint adorned the walls. A grand staircase directly opposite the door led to the second floor.

Nic didn’t look impressed by his surroundings. “Split into two teams, make sure each team includes shifters and mages.”

Jake took a group and headed up the stairs. Leila followed Nic and didn’t scream in frustration from finding herself surrounded by an honor guard of shifters again. It wasn’t personal. They knew she could protect herself. As Ana had claimed, she was rare, and they just weren’t prepared to take unnecessary chances.

Peeling paint and wallpaper was the norm in Findor Stevens’s home. Each room they checked was either empty or held only one or two pieces of decrepit furniture. There were no signs anyone truly lived in the home. Yet Leila knew someone was there. It was one of the side effects of repurposing energy. She could sense it. There were beings in the house with them. And they were alive, but just barely.

The search party of shifters and mages checked both the east and west sides of the home, only returning to the entryway and the stairwell when they were sure they’d searched every corner of the first floor. Jake and his team were descending the stairs as they approached.

Winrich shook his head. “Nothing. It’s as if he doesn’t live here.”

Leila slowly turned in a circle. “Did anyone find a basement door? There has to be another floor here. I can feel live people.”

Spreading out to different rooms, they inspected the walls and floorboards. Leila ran her hand over the walls in the hallway near the kitchen, probing for bulges. She tapped, hoping to hear a hollow sound. They were running out of time, she could feel it. If they left the manor without finding the beings she could sense, they would never find them alive.

A large hand enveloped hers, and Nic’s scent surrounded her. “Be calm, mate. We’ll find them if I have to tear up every floorboard in this place.”

She allowed her body to rest against his for a moment, absorbing his warmth. She was so glad he stood with her. She wouldn’t have to face the horror alone.

She made sure her voice was a whisper in the silent room. “Do you scent him?”

“No.”

She didn’t either. “Is that normal?”

“This crazy bastard isn’t our crazy bastard. Walking through a home every day leaves a scent trail. It can fade, but the owner would need to be gone for a while.”

“A door!” She recognized the voice of Carter, one of Nic’s shifters.

Nic and Leila followed the excited voice to the small area behind the stairs. The other searchers gathered around. Everyone tried to squeeze into the tight space. There was a door. It slid sideways into a secret space in the wall. The area beyond lay dark, showing the top of a set of stairs and nothing more.

One of the wizards, Leila thought his name was Percy, said, “What if we all go in and can’t get back out?”

“I’ll remain here and guard the entrance,” Reynalda said. A shifter volunteered to wait with her.

Several of the mages cast illumination spells. Winrich went through first as he was nearest to the door. They filed down the stairs with the closest person to the door going next. Nic and the shifter soldiers made sure to keep a shifter body between her and everyone else. The stairwell wasn’t long.

The scenery for the tight space included wood steps and dust motes. She wanted to yell for the people in front of her to hurry. The wildness inside her absolutely hated the tight space. Combined with the oily feel of fatal magic she could sense just ahead, Leila’s need for speed rode her all the way down the stairs and directly into a horror pit.

The stairs led into an open room lined with shoulder-high cages. Those cages held beings. The first cage she walked to housed what was clearly a sprite, its tiny body emaciated. In the next cage, sitting propped against the back wall, was a man. She couldn’t tell his species. There was almost no life left in him. She turned in a circle. All the cages were similarly filled with bodies too weak to even acknowledge the presence of the shifters and mages or cry for help.

She started moving, pulling her phone out before she knew what she was doing. She ran to the cage holding the sprite even as she dialed.

She didn’t have time for greetings. When her mother answered, Leila said, “Mother, get healers to the Stevenses’ address. I also need transportation for at least ten patients.”

She hung up without waiting for her mother’s response. Pushing her phone back in her pocket, she reached for the lock on the sprite’s cage. She growled as someone grabbed her.

Nic whispered, “It’s silver. We’re looking for keys right now.”

Nic tried to pull her close, but she shoved him off. The sprite had opened his eyes at Nic’s voice, but it was Leila he looked at.

“We’re going to get you out.” She didn’t know if he heard her; his eyes were glassy and half-lidded.

Who would hurt a sprite? They were gentle creatures who hid in the forest near lakes and minded their own business.

Someone spoke to Nic. “No keys. He must keep them with him.”

Leila heard the sound of Nic’s phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and peered at the screen. “Someone just drove onto the estate. The vehicle matches the make and model registered to Stevens.”

Leila stood and headed for the stairs.

Nic grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to go get those keys.” Hopefully over Stevens’s dead body.

“All by yourself?” His voice was soft, as if he feared she would break.

“Fine. Then you go get them. I’ll follow.”

Keeping a hand on her arm, he turned to Winrich. “We need to take a stand before he gets inside. He’s sure to have tricks of all kinds built into his little house of horrors.”

“Agreed.”

Nic finally released her as he raced up the stairwell, shifters and mages at his heels. Reynalda fell back as they burst through the opening. Leila tossed her an explanation as she hurried past. “He’s outside.”

Leila raced toward the front door. Newly acquired shifter speed didn’t make up for having shorter legs, and her mate and his soldiers filed out before her. They went down the steps and spread out to wait for Stevens.

She hadn’t been planning to take on Findor Stevens on her own despite what her mate had thought. She wasn’t a fighter, and she had eleven shifters standing between her and one sorcerer. One sorcerer who had been glutting himself on the power of other beings.

“Don’t allow him to leave here.” The coldness in Nic’s voice satisfied something inside her.

“He’s going to be hyped up on stolen magic and whatever forbidden spells he’s performed. Don’t underestimate him. He won’t be easy to capture or kill.” She knew the shifters heard her. Their hearing was superhuman.

Stevens’s black SUV traveled slowly up the drive before stopping behind the line of cars. The door opened, and Stevens stepped from the vehicle. It was times like these when Leila wondered why evil people didn’t look evil. Maybe five-ten, with the build of a fencer, Findor Stevens’s brown eyes, blond hair, and even, pleasant features reminded her of someone playing a movie angel rather than a demon who kidnapped and tortured others.

“Gentlemen.” He glanced around at all the mages and shifters. “And ladies. What may I do for you?”

Winrich stepped forward. “Findor Stevens, we have been empowered by the Council to bring you in to face charges not limited to kidnapping, murder, imprisonment, and the use of forbidden magic.”

Stevens’s eyes narrowed for a moment. In the next instant a firebomb exploded to her right, directly in the cluster of witches and wizards standing there. Stevens slid back into his vehicle even as Nic and the pack moved. Almost as one, they shifted to half form. The SUV made a three-point turn with beastly werewolves running around it, attempting to hem it in.

Leila jerked around at the whimper behind her. She moved toward the mages. Many were up and able to walk, if singed. Some were stirring and getting to their feet, while two lay unmoving. It was to those two she went first. Their clothes were still smoking. Burns covered the side of the man’s face, and the woman’s clothes had burned away in large patches around her legs, revealing mangled skin underneath.