Storm Kissed (49 page)

Bracing himself for the close quarters and the feeling of being in the middle of a Nightkeeper-
winikin
standoff, Sven used his magic to drop a section of the ward spell that guarded the compound. “Door’s open.”

“You going to be okay?” JT asked as they drove through.

The question surprised him, as did his fleeting impulse to let off some steam in the other man’s direction. The
winikin
might be kind of a dick, but he always told it like it was, and Natalie loved him, which had to mean something. Problem was, JT was also one of the more outspoken voices among the rebel
winikin
, and Cara was trying to meld the traditionalists and rebels into a unified fighting force. The last thing she needed was a rumor linking her to the last bachelor full-blooded Nightkeeper. It wouldn’t matter that the link came through his familiar, because half the time the damn coyote echoed his emotions. There was no way he’d be able to convince the others that Mac was on his own in this one. Presto, instant rumor, and hello, political nightmare.

So Sven gave the “no biggie” shrug that used to be his trademark but now felt strange and awkward. “I’ll be fine once I’m not inhaling doggie breath up close and personal.”

JT might’ve kept going at him, but as they rolled to a stop in front of the mansion, the door opened and Natalie came pelting out. And JT was a goner. Grinning and thoroughly distracted, he swung out of the Jeep and made a beeline for her.

Mac barked but held his place until Sven waved at the open door. “Go on. Go find her, for Christ’s sake. Get your damned belly rub, and leave me the hell out of it.”

But although the coyote lunged out and hit the ground running, he didn’t take off. Instead, he made a wide circle around the Jeep, yapping like a freaking Chihuahua. And as Sven dropped down out of the Jeep, JT bit off a curse and turned back to him, face set in hard, harsh lines. “Mac was right. There’s a problem.”

Sven looked beyond him to see that Natalie’s face was pale, her eyes wide. And behind her, Anna, the compound’s only
itza’at
seer, hovered in the doorway staring at him as if he were somehow her only hope. “What happened?” he grated as Mac slithered to a stop at his heels and stood there, quivering.

It was JT who said, “Cara’s gone missing . . . and the teleporters can’t lock on to her.”

Which meant she was either belowground . . . or dead.