Phantom Wolf. Bonnie Vanak

      “Your father would get his shotgun if he knew. He’d rather see you with a damn Yankee than an Arcane.” Kelly rested her head against Sam’s broad shoulder.

      “I’d protect you. He can’t tell me what to do.” Sam nuzzled her neck, his warm breath tickling her ear.

      “Sam, he suspects something. He’s trying to set you up with Lisa. That date…”

      “It was just a date, Kel. Make the old man happy and get him off my back. Nothing happened. If you want, I’ll take you next time.” He dropped tiny, hot kisses on the juncture of her shoulder blade.

      Jealousy coiled in her stomach. Last week Sam’s mother had held a tea party and invited Lisa Smith, daughter of a wealthy Elemental blue-blooded family. In childhood, Kelly and Lisa were inseparable, until the day Lisa discovered her best friend was only an Arcane servant. Lisa made new friends, and they all ridiculed her each time Kelly came into town.

      It had stung her pride to serve her former friend tea, but it stung even more hearing Lisa brag about dancing with Sam at a society ball.

      Sam escorted privileged Elementals like Lisa to black-tie galas.

      Sam escorted lowly Arcanes like Kelly to his hidden bedroom.

      She pulled out of his embrace. “Your father wants you to marry a blue-blooded Elemental like Lisa. Nothing would make him happier.”

      A low snort of derision. “Father can pressure all he wants. I’m crazy about you, Kel. I don’t care what anyone says.”

      Feeling years older, and wiser, she sighed. “You’d care if we were out and I got caught without my ID. They’d toss me into prison.”

      “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

      Emotion clogged her throat. “You can’t guarantee it, Sam. My people have little rights. Yours have all the power.”

      His expression lost its tender, teasing look and turned determined and ruthless. The swift change was startling, as if Colton Shaymore’s twenty-one-year-old son had shown exactly what kind of man he’d become.

      “No one’s going to touch you, or I’ll show them the business side of my fists. You’re mine and what I claim, I protect. Now close your eyes.”

      Something delicate and cool slipped around her neck. She opened her eyes and lifted the silver pendant with its three intertwined and intricate spirals.

      “It’s not just a Christmas gift, Kel. The triskele is sacred among my people.”

      “It’s lovely.”

      His velvet tone turned rough. “It won’t make you invincible, but if you wear it around your neck, it’ll act like a shield and prevent all but the darkest magick from hurting you. Plus, it will amplify your own powers. Never lose it. If I’m not around…”

      Putting a finger to his mouth, she shook her head. The consequences were too terrible to bear. Life without Sam?

      Kelly kissed him. His mouth was warm and he tasted like brandy and mints. His scent wrapped around her like a blanket, the promise of pleasure lingering as he licked the inside of her mouth and palmed her breasts.

      Tearing off their clothing, they fell into the bed.

      His lovemaking was tender and slow. After, Sam held her close for a long while, as if afraid of letting her go.

      The mood was too somber for the holidays. Kelly sprang out of bed, tugged at his hand. “Let’s go for a walk in the moonlight, and then you can shift into a wolf and sneak back into the house.”

      Sam sat up, the sheet spilling to his lean waist. Candlelight glistened on the sweat-slicked muscles of his abdomen.

      “No more sneaking out. Get dressed. I’m taking you with me to the house.”

      The declaration shocked her, as if he’d decided to walk into the mansion stark naked.

      “You can’t! What about your father?”

      “The hell with him. He’ll adjust. I’m tired of being under his thumb. If he doesn’t like it, I can make it on my own.” Sam swung his long legs over the bed and pulled on his trousers.

      They dressed quickly. Cold air slapped them as they ran out of the barn, laughing and talking. Kelly’s pulse quickened. Despite the practical worries niggling her, she couldn’t help dreaming. A home of their own, maybe the cabin he owned where they’d first made love. Far away from their families, they could make their own little world, where the Arcane and Elemental classes didn’t matter.

      And only their feelings did.

      The dream burst apart into a shower of sparks. Kelly halted, staring in horror at the stately Shaymore mansion with its columned portico, black shutters and marbled hallways.

      Orange flames licked the windows, smoke pouring out of the house in thick, black ribbons.

      Now they were running across the field. Not fast enough. Every step they took, the fire grew. Oh, gods, she thought in terror, Sam’s family was inside.

      Her father, as well. He’d been charged with setting out the antique oil lamps and lighting them. A centuries-old tradition insisted upon by Annabelle Shaymore, who banned electricity for this special night.

      Then a tall man burst out of the house by the front door. Laughing crazily, he rubbed his hands together like Lady Macbeth. White bolts of energy shot from his fingertips, crackling in the air. He turned, his face showing clearly in the moonlight.

      Cedric Denning. Her father.

      “You goddamn bastard, what did you do?” Sam screamed at him.

      Her father ran down the driveway. Numb, she watched her lover race toward the smoke and flames pouring out into the night.

      With shaking hands, Kelly tried channeling her own powers to help put out the flames, knowing it was too late. Knowing the fire consumed the mansion, Sam’s family dying inside.

      Knowing her world would never be the same again.

       Chapter 1

      “Please, don’t let him take me.”

      Kelly Denning’s heart twisted as his large blue eyes beseeched her. “I won’t, Billy. I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

      “Promise?”

      Kelly made a large X over her rapidly beating heart. Nothing was going to happen to Billy. “Cross my heart and hope to…”

      Die. Not today. Not on my agenda this week.

      She forced a bright smile, hoping the terrified child could see it in the dimness. “Cross my heart and hope to never lie.”

      “But you’re an Arcane. My mommy says Arcanes lie all the time because your magick is weaker, not like us Elementals. Is she right?” His voice shook. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I just want to go home.”

      Not wanting his mother’s prejudice to shake his faith, Kelly chose her words with care. “I promise you, I’ll do everything I can to get you back to your parents.”

      “They won’t want me anymore after this,” Billy said in a small voice. “I won’t be an Elemental if they drain my powers like they keep saying they will.”

      Emotion clogged her throat. Billy wouldn’t be alive, either. But she had no intention of scaring him further.

      “Your powers are still inside you. No one can take away who you are, honey.”

      “Not even a Dark Lord?”

      Kelly sucked in a breath. Dark Lords were rare, but they were the most powerful Mages of all, created from pure evil. Only Arcanes were known to achieve this transformation through an ancient spell, which gave Elementals a