Guardian Witch: Burning Both Ends Part 13

"Ari?" It was Lilith on the open cell Ari held to her ear. "We've got company. I'm behind three, headed toward you, and they're armed with sawed off shotguns."

"Did both potions work?" Ari whispered.

"Yep. They seem oblivious."

"Atta girl. Steffan and another wolf are approaching from the south." Ari turned to face the direction where Steffan should appear. "You know what to do."

"We should be with you shortly." Lilith disconnected.

Less than three minutes later, a heavily cloaked figure appeared at the southern edge of the clearing. In the dim moonlight Ari saw a reddish-brown wolf with an uneven gait trotting beside him. Ari stiffened, smothering an angry protest when she saw the muzzle, collar, and leash. Rope hobbles restrained Steffan's front paws. The kidnapper wasn't taking any chances. Although Steffan didn't appear to be in pain, the humiliation was infuriating to Ari. She locked down her temper, knowing losing it would give her opponent an advantage. The situation demanded a clear head.

She strained for a glimpse of the man's face, but the long cloak covered him from head to foot. The hood was pulled up and over, keeping his face in shadow. An effective disguise. Her witch senses and nose confirmed he was a wolf, with a significant power aura.

"Guardian, are you satisfied?" It was the male voice from the phone.

Actually, she was very satisfied. She'd guessed right. He hadn't trusted anyone else to handle the meeting. She noted his earthy scent, the feel and strength of his energy. She'd recognize him if they met again.

Ignoring his question, she spoke to Steffan. "Are you all right?" Even though he couldn't speak to her while in wolf form, he could understand her words.

Steffan nodded. His intelligent brown eyes were clear of pain.

Ari finally addressed the cloaked figure. "OK, I'll report to the others that he's alive. Is there anything else?" When he raised his head to answer her, she caught a momentary flash of intense, steel-gray eyes before his features were once again shadowed by the hood.

"There is something else you can do." His voice held a smile. "Place your weapons on the ground. The knife, the gun. Then lie down on your stomach while your hands are bound."

Ari kept her voice expressionless. "What makes you think I'm going to do that?"

"Look behind you," he invited.

She twisted enough to look over her shoulder. Approximately ten feet away, three wolves in human form pointed very business-like shotguns at her. She'd heard them arrive, but knowing Lilith was right behind them, she'd let the game play out. Ari gave a furtive glance at her watch. If Lilith had used the cloaking potion when they last talked, it should be wearing off about...now.

Nothing happened.

That wasn't good. She had miscalculated. Now what? Thinking rapidly for some way to stall, she looked at the kidnapper. "I guess you got me."

"Not quite." Lilith suddenly spoke aloud. "I'll shoot the first wolf that moves."

"What the h.e.l.l?"

At the gunman's startled words, Ari turned to look. Lilith had appeared a dozen feet behind the three wolves. One of her automatics was pointed at the closest wolf's head; her other handgun moved between the other two. The wolves froze, looking to the cowled figure for guidance.

"Guns on the ground," Lilith ordered.

When their leader nodded, the wolves complied. Lilith stepped forward to kick the guns out of reach, and one of the wolves lunged at her. Lilith shot him in the head; a second bullet hit another wolf in the shoulder. Ari knocked the third wolf on his haunches with a stun as the wolf leader shouted, "Stop or I'll kill him."

Ari spun to see the kidnapper holding a pistol against Steffan's head.

"Tell your lion to disarm."

"She has a touchy trigger finger," Ari warned. "Steffan has value to you. Your men mean nothing to us, dead or alive. Your choice."

His grey eyes met hers. "A standoff then. I may not want to kill your friend, not yet, but I wouldn't hesitate to shatter his spine."

"Shall we stop this useless game?" she snapped. "Let Steffan go. Holding him won't help you. You're fighting a lost cause. The negotiators will never meet your terms."

"Does Steffan's life mean nothing to them? Or to you?"

She heard his growing irritation but ignored the threat. She wasn't going to let him make this personal for her. "You can still stop this. Right here, right now." She pointed to the dead wolf. "There's no help for this one, but no one else has to die."

The kidnapper lashed out in anger. "Talk, talk, talk. I'm sick of talk. Go back and tell them he's alive, but his blood will be on their hands unless they abandon this unholy alliance by the five o'clock deadline. No later. I will call for their final decision on whether he lives or dies." He raised the pistol. "We're leaving now. My wolves are coming with me. All of them." He moved the gun barrel toward Steffan's rear haunches. "I can make his waiting most painful."

Ari heard the truth in his voice. He might be reluctant to take a life, but that didn't mean he wouldn't carry through on this threat. She'd heard enough to know they were facing a zealot, a man with a cause. She hated dealing with fanatics.

"I'll deliver your message, but don't expect it to change anyone's mind. Lilith, let them go so they can tend to their dead and wounded. There will be another time."

The kidnapper's laugh was short, without mirth. "I almost hope you're right, Guardian. It would make an interesting match."

Chapter Twelve.

"Then we've accomplished nothing," Robert said, throwing up his hands. "You made a mess of it. Now what do you propose?" He turned an angry look on Ari.

She tried not to take his words personally. Not that she didn't want to. A punch or two in his face might have made her feel better. But they were all frustrated, and fighting among themselves wouldn't help. He was right about one thing; they needed a new plan.

"Let's just vote the way they want," Vita said. "The coalition can wait. What's the rush anyway? A few months, a few years. Maybe it really doesn't matter."

"I know I said that earlier, but I was wrong. It does matter." Jena confronted the other female leader. "The coalition matters for the future of all wolves. We've been over all of this a dozen times, and I thought we had reached an agreement. Now you're changing your mind again?"

"It's not worth Steffan's life."

"Actually, it might be," Jena said. "Don't look so shocked. I don't want anything to happen to Steffan, but this coalition is an incredible breakthrough. The humans came to us-the wolf nation-for help. Isn't this exactly what we've wanted, waited for? To be accepted? Respected?"

"Uh, I'm not so sure I agree with that a.s.sessment. Vita makes some sense," Warren said. "Maybe we've been too hasty in approving this thing. We have to think about Steffan." He looked at Robert.

"Isn't this terrific?" Jena's voice vibrated with anger. "Are we back to two weeks ago? Three against one."

Ari listened in silence. This was the first she'd heard that the coalition was in danger of failing as recently as two weeks ago. So the kidnapping had been planned since then. Interesting. Was it also useful? It proved the kidnapper had learned the details of earlier negotiations and that one of the four leaders was involved in the leak, but she'd already known that.

"Now, Jena." Robert tried to calm fraying tempers. "n.o.body said they're changing their vote. We're only asking questions. Weighing the pros and cons."

"You too?" she snapped.

"No. This whole affair has cleared up one of my major concerns. I've been impressed that the government has allowed our Otherworld authorities to handle this instead of pushing their weight around. I was afraid they'd ignore the mandates of the treaties when it suited them. Their actions speak well for future cooperation." He glanced at Ari. "I suspect you deserve the credit for that, but the point is it happened. So I'm standing pat and voting in favor of the coalition."

"Warren?" Jena asked.

"I'm not sure. I see both sides." His mouth twisted in a grimace. "It seems to me you're all being too careless with Steffan's safety. You'll get my final answer at 4:59." He turned his back on them and walked away.

Jena's shoulders slumped, as she looked at Ari. "We're split. Steffan's the deciding vote and without him there won't be a decision." She plopped into one of the chairs and drew her feet up on the seat. Her body language raised an immediate No Trespa.s.sing sign.

As much as Ari wanted to step in, this wasn't her decision to make. The coalition seemed like a good idea, especially if Steffan was for it, but she wasn't a wolf. She couldn't possibly relate to all the issues.

The door to the hallway opened and one of the weretigers stuck his head in.

"Ms. Calin, there's a human male asking for you at the front door. Says he's with the Riverdale police."

With the coalition falling apart around her, Ari wanted to scream in protest. Now what? It had to be Ryan, but what was he doing here? And how did he know she was here?

Aware of the sudden suspicious silence, she hid her own irritation. "It's OK," she said to the tiger. "I'll take care of it."

Even the Council president looked at her with disapproval.

Robert glowered. "See you do. We can't have some local cop mucking around in this." His nasty mood wasn't getting any better.

Ryan stood inside the doors of the Magic Hall, two guards nearby. His back was to Ari, as he seemed to be examining the ornate gargoyle over the front door. The bunched shoulder muscles straining his jacket and his stiff stance betrayed his discomfort with being watched so closely by two large weretigers. She dismissed the guards with a wave of her hand and eyed her friend.

"What's up, Ryan? Why are you here?" she asked as soon as the tigers were gone. He turned, giving her a cold look. His tension was obviously caused by a lot more than the weretigers.

"You know, I asked myself that same question all the way over here. Your boyfriend called and woke me early this morning. Said you might need help." Ryan's blue eyes seemed to darken like storm clouds. "And what does he tell me? Steffan has been missing for days. Imagine my surprise that my partner hadn't called to tell me. Maybe you'd like to fill me in now. Huh, Ari? What the h.e.l.l is going on?"

She hadn't seen him this upset in a long time. Annoyed, irritated, angry even, but this went beyond angry. He was hurt. She needed to tread carefully.

"It's Otherworld business, Ryan. No humans are directly involved. I'm so sorry Andreas called you when there's really nothing you can do. Don't you think I would have asked for help if I needed it?"

"I don't know what to think. I guess your boyfriend doesn't feel I'm as useless as you do."

"Dammit, that's not fair. I don't think you're useless. Far from it. But this is werewolf business and they don't want any police involvement. It's a sticky diplomatic thing."

This drew a sarcastic laugh. "And they called you? You're going to need a better story than that." He poked his chest so hard, Ari grimaced. "Even as oblivious as I am of what's going on under my nose, I'm not going to believe that. No one would call you because they needed a diplomat."

She propped one hand on her hip but tried not to be too offended. "I'm not that bad. Besides, it's negotiations, werewolf style. The kind you wouldn't understand. Which sometimes calls for leverage, Otherworld leverage. The kind you don't have." Ari was unloading now; her angry words came spilling out. "I'm trying to save Steffan's life, dammit. And people keep distracting me. Gabriel. Claris. And now you. I don't have time to stand here while you yell at me like some jealous lover. Steffan's going to die if I don't figure out how to save him in the next few hours." Her tone was nasty, and maybe she'd want to take it all back later, but she didn't have the will or the energy right now. Ryan was complicating an already complicated situation.

He flushed, indecision and anger flitting across his face. He gave her his cop stare, and Ari suspected he was on the verge of stomping out the door and ending their partnership. A part of her was stressed enough to hope he'd go. The rest of her screamed for her to repair the damage.

"Ryan, I-"

"Stop right there." He held up both hands like a concrete wall. His teeth clenched and unclenched. Finally, he expelled a loud breath. "Let's start over. If I quit yelling, will you? And explain to me whatever you can?"

Heart beating fast, Ari nodded and swallowed.

"OK. Let's sit down." He pointed to the stone bench. "Forget I'm a cop. And a human." He attempted a wry smile. "After we've talked, if you're still convinced I can't help, I'll go away, and I won't repeat anything you say to me."

Ari met his somber look. She could use a friend about now, and she could count on Ryan to keep his word. She looked at the hard, stone bench with reservations, but finally sat down on one end. She began from the beginning. From the first wolf attack, to Sebastian's death and now her search for Steffan.

When she'd been through it all, including Gabriel's last call and Claris's distress over the missing cat, Ryan was silent for a moment. "Let me guess. You want me to go find the cat."

Her eyes cut to his face to make sure he was kidding and caught his cynical grin. "Think you're up to it? But no, I'll handle Claris's problem when everything else is settled. It's just another piece of my complicated life right now." She sighed. "Don't get upset again, but why did Andreas call you?"

"Guilt, I think. He feels he should be here. Just like you want to be in Toronto. What he said was to make sure you were all right, to watch your back." He hesitated. "Frankly, I don't want to worry you any more than you are, but I got the impression things weren't quite right up there. He mentioned the O-Seven were stirring things up. Should I know that name?"

"Yes, the vampire authorities in Europe."

"That's it. Knew it seemed familiar. Anyway, he's worried his troubles could spill over onto you. He wanted me to warn you."

Ari looked surprised. "Me? Why would they come after me? I'd think they were busy enough hara.s.sing Andreas and Daron." Her face fell. "Now I wish I'd questioned Gabriel when he called." As guilt swept over her-not for the first time since she'd left Canada-she continued doggedly. "I hung up on him. I'll leave for Toronto as soon as Steffan is safe, but I can't run out on him now. It's not just that Steffan's a friend, but this is Council business, my sworn duty."

"You don't have to convince me. I'd still like to help if I can."

Ari would have kissed him if he hadn't been so attractive and so eligible. And so vulnerable. The old Ryan, her partner, was sticking with her. "I don't know. Wait, yes, I do. Someone in this leadership group is in direct contact with the kidnapper. There's no other explanation. The only possible way is through their cell phones, which means the phones have to go. I was going to demand they turn them over, but that's going to make everyone stop trusting me."

"So you need me to be play the heavy." Ryan grinned. "Sure, I can do that. But it would be nice to have a plausible excuse for such an action. Never mind legal."

The banging of a door drew their attention, as Lilith came running down the hall. Her flushed face sent Ari's fears spiking.

"Russell's on the phone," the lioness said, catching her breath. "Andreas and Gabriel left the compound together last night and haven't returned."

Ari paled, as icy chills ran across the back of her neck. "Give it to me." She s.n.a.t.c.hed the cell phone from Lilith's hand.

"Where are they?" she demanded.

"Honestly, Ari, I don't know anything more than I told Lilith." Russell's voice was strung tight, which alarmed her even more.

"Repeat it to me. Everything."

"They left without telling anyone. As near as I can figure, it was about 9:00 last night. I didn't know they were gone until this morning when the night guard mentioned they hadn't returned. He saw them leave and they seemed in a hurry, but that's all he could tell me. I don't think Andreas planned to be away all day or he would have told someone."

"Yeah, he would. I talked with both of them over night. First Andreas, and later Gabriel. They didn't mention they were away from the compound or in any kind of immediate trouble. Then Andreas called Lt. Foster about dawn, so we can a.s.sume he was fine as late as six o'clock. Whatever they're up to, they must have been caught too far from home to get back before dawn." But why hadn't he called her? Ari's voice came out smaller than she intended. "Andreas is all right. I would know if he wasn't." Brave words, but her stomach churned.

After an awkward pause, Russell promised he'd call as soon as he heard from Andreas, and they disconnected.

Willing herself not to panic, Ari sat motionless and fidgeted with a broken fingernail on her ring finger. Where was he? He knew they'd worry when he didn't return. Why hadn't he called someone? She pulled out her cell, and punched his number on speed dial. Voice mail, as expected. d.a.m.n, that was stupid. At this hour he'd be asleep, wherever he was. She needed to get a hold of herself.

"He didn't sound like he was hurt or in distress," Ryan said softly. "Only worried about you. It wasn't the kind of call you'd make if you were in a tight situation. There must be a good reason he's gone underground."

"Good thinking," she said, nodding. "I'm sure he'll call when he can." She had to stop imagining the worst. Andreas was a clever and resourceful vampire, and the indefinable magic link between them was still there. She'd learned to sense it, magic speaking to magic, even when he was sleeping. It rea.s.sured her he was alive-or the acceptable vampiric version of alive during their sleep cycle.

But it worried her that Gabriel was the only one with him. Andreas was so sure about Gabriel's loyalty, but they hadn't seen each other in a long time. Had Gabriel betrayed him? And what about Gabriel's call to her? Genuine or part of some devious plan?

"The sooner I find Steffan, the quicker I get to Toronto and figure this out," she finally said.

Ryan seemed to recognize her need to focus on the here and now. "That brings us back to a believable story for collecting the cell phones," Ryan reminded her.