Fair Game

‘I don’t have a clue,’ Isaac said in a calm voice. ‘Look, you two, you don’t stand a chance if he loses it. You stay out here, back, out of the way – keep your guns out and watch. If he looks like he is headed your way, just shoot – and make sure your shot counts. If he’s the wolf Ithink he is, he’d rather be dead than have you become collateral damage. And if he’s far enough gone that he’s taking out civilians, he’s not going to be much help to A

‘Civilians?’ said the male FBI officer, sounding offended. Brother Wolf might have known his name, if he had cared. But his mate was missing and he cared for nothing and no one except for that.

Isaac ignored him– maybe he’d fallen for that tired, worn-looking mien, but Brother Wolf knew better. He recognized a fellow predator in the male FBI agent, even though Goldstein – the name rose up when he called for it – Goldstein was no threat to anything Charles cared about.

‘Humans are civilians here,’ said Charles. To himself he sounded calm. ‘And you might listen to Isaac, though I don’t think I’m far enough gone to hurt our allies. Isaac, I should be able to find her – but I’m not going to be able to use our link tonight.’ His throat shut down as Brother Wolf fought to the surface in a panic at Charles’s admission.

A

They had failed their mate.

Charles convinced Brother Wolf that they had a better chance of finding A

‘He can’t find her?’ Leslie asked.

‘I told you it wasn’t a sure thing,’ Isaac told her. ‘The mating bond is a very personal thing.’

Isaac was doing a good job of keeping his Alpha nature tamped down; his voice was soft and nonthreatening. Brother Wolf liked Isaac, but just now would not be a good time to interest him in proving who was more dominant. People got killed in fights like that– and Brother Wolf was craving violence just now.

‘You also said if it didn’t work, we might be in serious trouble,’ said the tough little dancer’s fae father. ‘Because there isn’t a person in this city more dangerous than a wolf whose mate is in danger. Are we in serious trouble?’

Yes, thought Charles. He needed to do something urgent– but Brother Wolf’s rage was clouding his thoughts. He needed to get to his computer and confirm—

‘I don’t want those bastards to get A

Charles narrowed his eyes at her.‘What wish?’

Beauclaire ignored him, staring at Leslie with something approaching delight.‘Clever,’ he said. ‘Oh, that is a clever way to look at it.’

‘A fae man left me a gift when I was a child,’ Leslie said to Charles, and she remembered not to look him in the eyes. ‘To make up for not being there to rescue my puppy, I think. I’ve never used it – and our expert in fae magic says that I need to be careful with it. But that sounds likea fair exchange to me.’ She looked at Beauclaire.

Gravely, he nodded.‘I think that might be right.’

She opened her purse and took out her wallet, and Charles could smell the magic from where he stood. Fae magic strong enough to make him sneeze, powerful enough to give him hope. She pulled out a little white card from her billfold.‘I’m not exactly sure how to do this.’

‘Magic follows intention,’ said Charles, and Beauclaire gave him a sharp look. ‘Tell it what you want – and tear up the card to seal the deal.’

‘Since when did the Marrok’s son become an expert in fae magic?’ asked Beauclaire – and Charles saw Goldstein look very bland. It was ‘the Marrok’s son’ that had done it. Goldstein had heard that term before and now wanted to know what it meant.

‘Since when did the fae give up information on the werewolves?’ countered Charles silkily. A

Beauclaire took a cautious step back and Isaac eased between them.‘You don’t want to do anything rash, Charles,’ he cautioned. ‘We’re all on the same team here.’

‘I wish—’ said Leslie, drawing Charles’s attention away from the fae. ‘I wish

’ She looked at Charles. ‘One lost puppy for another – but A

did something.

Charles’s phone rang before he could figure out what the magic had done. Its sudden blaring ringtone that wasn’t the song it sang when A

Everyone in the condo quit breathing– and Charles realized that his ability to speak coherently had apparently given them a false sense of safety.

‘How long until it works?’ he asked Beauclaire in a soft, soft voice.

The fae sighed.‘We don’t even know it will work, werewolf. Something happened, but it wasn’t my magic in that card. Treasach tended toward subtle magic that snuck up behind you.’

Another cell phone rang and Charles growled. Isaac pulled out his phone and started to hit the off button, but paused.‘Four-zero-six is the Montana area code, right?’

He answered the phone before Charles replied, and clear as day Charles’s father’s voice came out of the speaker of Isaac’s phone.

‘I have a feeling that my son is in a bad place,’ Bran said. ‘And I have made a habit of not ignoring my feelings – especially when neither he nor A

Isaac gave Charles a nervous glance.‘That’s right. Charles is here and A

It was a very good rundown of what was happening, Charles thought.

‘Why isn’t Charles chasing down A

Brother Wolf growled.

‘That’s not helpful, Charles,’ Bran said.

‘He says he can’t contact her.’

There was a very long pause and then his father said quietly,‘Charles. Is it the same thing that was bothering you before you went to Boston?’

Charles couldn’t answer, wasn’t human enough to answer. He turned around and stalked to the far side of the room. If he hadn’t killed them, hadn’t executed those wolves in Mi

‘Before Boston

’ said Isaac and his voice trailed off. ‘Oh, I know what you did before Boston, Charles. This could get messy,’ he said to the others, suddenly decisive. ‘I think we can work something out, but it might be better if you people, who are a little too easy to hurt, are out of the way. Would you mind waiting in the hall?’

‘You have something to talk about that you don’t want us to hear,’ said Goldstein. ‘You don’t have to lie. We’ll go wait.’

‘I never lie to the cops or the FBI,’ Isaac said. He was being truthful, Charles noted somewhat absently. ‘Things might get pretty bad before they get better and I don’t want you hurt.’

Isaac didn’t say anything to Beauclaire, but the fae said, ‘I think I’ll wait outside with the others. He’ll be easier without me here.’

There was a quiet click as his front door was shut and another as Isaac threw the dead bolt.