Phantom Wolf. Bonnie Vanak

chest, rode tight against his well-defined biceps. A hank of sandy-brown hair hung over his forehead. His mouth was set in a firm line.

      Seeing him made her blood tingle and her heart race in anticipation. Breath caught in her throat. He was more wiry than muscular, with a deadly edge. The shadow of boyhood was gone, replaced by a virile man.

      A pretty blonde in a red dress edged close. Sam gave a charming smile and began flirting. Kelly’s heart sank to her stomach. Always the womanizer, until the time they’d become lovers. Kelly silently pleaded for him to look at her. Finally he glanced over. But only cold speculation showed on his handsome face.

      She rubbed her hands again, wishing for a change of clothing, a change of scenery. Anything but this cool hostility. But Sam was her only hope. She needed his help to stop the rogue Arcane Mages before they stole more children—and this time killed them.

      Finally, as the woman moved off, Kelly skirted the bar and stood behind Sam. “Sam, we have to talk.”

      Those broad shoulders tensed. He did not turn around. One of the SEALs glanced at her, growled a little. A Draicon werewolf. Wonderful. Sam’s friends had tried, judged and convicted her. But the muscular SEALs didn’t matter. Only Sam did.

      “Please,” she said softly and placed a hand on his arm.

      Sam picked up his beer and led her to a corner booth. A bowl of peanuts sat on the table. Her stomach grumbled. Kelly picked up a peanut and ate it. Suddenly ravenous, she devoured one after another. Sam looked at her, his mouth a narrow slash.

      “You okay? That was a nasty bolt of energy Rogers tossed at you.”

      “I’ve felt worse.” The two Mages back on the island made Rogers’s jolt of energy feel like a tickle.

      His expression softened. “You’re hungry.”

      Sam waved a hand. The bartender came over, his expression grim.

      “I need a burger, medium rare, fries and a…” Sam cocked his head at her, his expression amused. “Still into root beer?”

      “I can handle something stronger. What you’re drinking. Domestic, right?”

      A ghost of a smile. “Tom, give her a Bud.”

      Silence from the bartender.

      Sam’s expression tightened. “Well, Tom?”

      “You, I’ll serve. Not her.”

      Anger flared in Sam’s eyes, the green sparking like fireworks. “I don’t like your tone.”

      “I like you, Shay. But I’ve got two young daughters. They mean everything to me. I don’t serve no stinking Arcanes…” The word was spat out in disgust. “Especially Arcane bitches who steal kids just so she can suck out their powers for herself.”

      Guess good news travels fast. Kelly’s appetite fled, the peanuts turning into cardboard in her stomach.

      “I didn’t do it,” she protested.

      Sam’s jaw worked. He drank his beer as the bartender left. Everyone was looking at her. Humiliation poured over her.

      “Sam, please.” Kelly struggled to find the right words. After twelve years, she felt at a loss. What did you say to the man who once loved and now probably hated you?

      He dug into his back pocket, pulled out a wallet, fished out some bills and laid them on the table. “Here’s enough money to get dinner and get a flight out of here. Go home. You’d better leave, Kel. We’re all pretty tight, and the guys can be very reactive. And they don’t like what they heard about you.”

      “They heard rumors I steal children.”

      “They heard what your father did to my family.”

      Torment haunted his eyes as he looked up. “Don’t force me to take sides. Because this time, I can’t stand with you against my teammates.”

      Her throat was suddenly dry. She tried to calm her shaky nerves. “Coming here was a bad idea. I should have known I was up for the pitchforks-and-torches routine. Now what? Do you give me a head start before sending the mob after me?”

      “I would never hurt you,” he said softly.

      “I didn’t kidnap Billy. Just because you believe my father killed your family doesn’t make me exactly like him.”

      There. Out in the open. Sam’s jaw clenched hard as stone. Sparks leaped from his fingers. “Damn.”

      Kelly stared. “Sam? What’s going on with your powers?”

      “They’re a little haywire lately.”

      Sparks sizzled in the air. The lights flickered as Sam’s hands glowed white. Uh-oh. She recognized the potent surge of power… .

      As she glanced at the bar to see if anyone noticed, a woman stared at Sam. Her expression was both sad and hopeful.

      Sam raised his hands and flicked them toward the ceiling.

      The lights flickered again, and Kelly glanced at the bar and the burly man standing by one of the SEALs. She stifled a gasp and looked away. Surely that could not be…

      Her gaze cut back to the man. Suddenly he was gone. Replaced by…

      Evil.

      As the lights went out, Kelly shrieked.

       Chapter 4

      Shay jumped up, the beer bottle spilling. The lights flickered back on as suds spread over the table. Blood drained from her face, Kelly stuffed a fist in her mouth, staring at the bar.

      She was okay. He ran to her, his fingers curling around her slender shoulders. “What is it?”

      “I saw…” She closed her eyes and then opened them, the fear gone. “A Death Mask. The skull face of a Mage who’s slaughtered another Mage to gain his powers. The first step to becoming a Dark Lord.”

      Conversation around them quieted. His teammates stared at him and then at Kelly. Someone muttered a curse.

      “Impossible.” Tom shook his head.

      “I know what I saw. He’s here. Or was.” Kelly craned her head to peer past Sam. “He’s gone now. Left when the lights went out.”

      Silence draped the bar. Shay studied Kelly’s tight expression and could tell her pulse was galloping. She was scared but resolved. Her gaze scanned the room.

      Tom spoke, his voice tight with anger and fear. “You’re lying. Get out of my bar.”

      Unease rippled through the room. Two burly support staff from Team 21 cracked their knuckles and got off their stools.

      Whispers and more stares. Shay glanced up and saw Renegade and the other SEALs tense. It was going to get ugly fast. Fear did crazy things to people, even paranorms. The crowd would fast turn into a mob if Kelly didn’t leave now.

      She turned to him.

      “Sam?” A shallow breath and whisper. “You believe me, don’t you?”

      A razor’s edge of silence. He studied his former lover’s face, and then her hands. Steady and resolved. He drew on all his instincts and inhaled the air.

      He smelled a tinge of something familiar…and foul, as if evil brushed the air and then fled.

      “I believe something nasty was here.”

      Turning, he glanced at his teammates, his friends and Tom. He’d known Tom for years.

      “We don’t,” Tom said flatly. “She’s lying. Get out of my bar.”

      Two lines furrowed Kelly’s brow. He recognized the look. It would take force to remove her. “I know what I saw. And I’m not leaving until I search every inch of this place and see