THE COLD AIR cut like daggers as Eric painfully pulled in another deep breath. God, not again. Please not again. Then the howl came, riding on a magic so powerful he couldn’t resist it. He raised his muzzle to the sky and rent the air with a deep, mournful sound that caused the deer ahead to scatter into the trees.
Except there were no deer . . . and no trees.
A part of his brain remembered that he was actually in the basement of a low-slung concrete building in the desert, running on a treadmill with electrodes pasted on skin shaved bare of fur. But it seemed so real. The forest with pines sparkling in the snow as they passed, the sensation of ice under his feet, and the scent of blood and fur and fear. A pack surrounding him, huffing and panting and racing forward after the game like birds in flight.
Another howl, accompanied by raking magic from the most powerful alpha wolf to ever be born to the Sazi, and Eric felt his mouth forced open to answer. Would it never stop? His lungs burned from the cold—or maybe it was just exhaustion. How long had he been running, been howling so they could gather their data?
And how many people had died as a result?
“Have to . . . stop. Can’t . . . breathe.” His voice sounded hoarse even to his own ears and the cough that followed felt like he was expelling his lungs.
Just a few more times. You have to call the pack. They can’t find their way without you. You have to protect them, came the response in his mind, words that weren’t sounds his ears would recognize. He felt adrenaline rush into his muscles and he surged forward into the snow.
Yes. The pack. Have to protect—
Another burst of magic and this time Eric felt his chest expand, felt his throat open, and the sound that erupted reached out, and out. It sliced through the snow and the weighty canopy of trees, pushing past the pressure of the air itself to find his people. Tiny obstacles pressed back but they fell too as the howl reached farther. Another object pressed in, slicing and cutting at his howl. It felt familiar . . . too familiar.
Eric tried to focus, fought against the need . . . and his instincts, to remember, even as the knives tried to cut his howl to pieces.
Knives. Slicing. Chopping.
Chopper. The word screamed into his mind and he could sense it then. It was a small helicopter, not one of the big military ones, and it was falling. The sound wave was making it bob in the sky like a toy balloon. He could feel the turbine that drove the blades struggle against the pressure. More, he could feel the pilot and the two passengers inside begin to panic. Could smell their fear.
They promised. They swore there would be no flights out here. And they apparently didn’t know, because the magic continued to rake over him, tried to pull more sound from his chest. He pulled back the howl, but it was like trying to turn the sea. All he could think to do was stop it cold and hope the chopper could recover.
“No!” He screamed the word, or at least hoped he did, and slammed shut his muzzle. He felt his head thrash from side to side as the wave of power tried to unlock his jaws. But still he could feel the machine in the sky falter, the wave of sound beat at it as the last remnants pushed into the sky. Eric’s legs wobbled and he fell forward. The part of his brain that remembered where he was panicked as he felt the electrodes rip from his skin as his lower jaw smacked against the still-moving treadmill. His feet braced against the nearest support so he didn’t go flying backward. Yet he still saw a woodland scene in his mind, and the sensations of metal and rubber didn’t match the image of fluffy snow.
“Shut it down!” He heard a tinny voice crackle in the distance. “We’ve got a chopper in trouble! Stop him!”
The magic stopped then, cut off like a switch was thrown, so suddenly he felt like he’d slammed into a wall. Then Eric recognized the voice of Lucas Santiago, the alpha wolf who’d been supplying the magic. “I think he stopped himself. Ten-four. We’ve cut power. Talk to me, David. What’s happening out there? There aren’t supposed to be any aircraft out here tonight.”
“It looks like a life-flight chopper, probably on the way to the hospital in Cortez. I think it’s okay now. The prop seems to have stabilized and they’re moving past ground zero. But wait until you see the video I just took. The pilot hit the wave and it went straight up and then dropped . . . damn, must have been fifty feet. It’s one thing to talk about this in theory, but another to see it.”
There was a small growl from Lucas. Eric wished he could stop seeing the movie running in a loop in his brain. Even though his body had stopped, he was still seeing snow and trees and running game.
“Tatya, turn that police scanner up to full volume, just to make sure they arrive safely. We might have to help out if their prop was too damaged to finish the trip.” Lucas paused and let out a frustrated breath. Something made a chirping sound. Probably the walkie-talkie phone. “Okay, everybody, come on in or e-mail your reports. It’s been a long night. We’ll correlate what data we can. Maybe it’ll be enough for the council to make their decision.”
His vision of trees and snow was replaced by painted concrete and half-finished drywall so abruptly it made Eric’s head ache. He blinked and even that small movement was painful, as though his eyes had been wide open for too long in the wind. He had to shake his head once, then twice, before the sounds and sights around him made sense.
“Are we done?” He asked the question even though he knew the answer. No, they weren’t done. They’d never be done with him.
“For now.” Lucas was back in human form—had he ever actually shifted? Eric winced as he peeled the remaining electrode patches from his ears, face, and chest. “Quick thinking on your part, Thompson. We’d probably be picking up the pieces of that chopper if not for you. But it also means you weren’t completely in a trance. Your mind just can’t focus. We might have to put you on the Wolven obstacle course and throw the works at you to pull out a true calling howl.”
Eric sighed. “Fiona tried that. I told you—it has to be the right combination of circumstances. I have to be in charge, there has to be a threat so great that I need help, and the pack has to be in danger. There’s no way to duplicate it with a simple vision or course, because I just can’t make myself believe the threat is big enough. No, I’m not willing to risk it, Chief. Not again. It’d just be better if the council put me back where they found me and find someone else to lead this pack. I didn’t bother a soul in the Outback.” With all the electrodes finally off, he backed carefully off the treadmill and padded to where his clothes were waiting. The four other people in the room didn’t even glance his way when he shifted to naked human form. He’d always been rather private about nudity, but there was no way to remain modest as a shifter. Tatya Santiago stopped him before he could even pull on his underwear and started to perform an exam on him right there. He sighed. It would do no good to argue. “Did you get any readings that will help?”
“Another deep breath,” Lucas’s wife said as she held both a stethoscope and her flattened palm to his chest and then closed her eyes to listen and . . . well, feel was the best he could figure. Being both an M.D. and a magical healer gave her an edge in treating shifters that no one else could match.
He complied as Ivan Kruskenik spun on a padded stool across the room, took off his headphones, and spoke in his usual deep baritone. A tall, husky bald man, he was a Siberian bear in animal form, and he carried that same power to his human side. “Of course, my friend. We have been working hard while you’ve been playing in the snow.” He said it completely deadpan, and when the sharply citrus scent of humor floated across the room, it only made Eric grin.
He couldn’t help but laugh at his former partner. It was a real honor for an ordinary Wolven agent to get tapped to work a special project with the head of the Chief Justice’s guard. But working with Ivan had been a privilege of its own. Eric liked the big bear, so he found himself grinning even as he rubbed his aching throat. “Oh, yeah. Loads of fun playing today. So what did you find?” Of course, rubbing his throat brought it to Tatya’s attention and she immediately had him open his jaw so she could stare into his mouth with a light, and laid her fingers on his neck until he could feel heat and soothing magic ease the stinging.
“We confirmed what we already knew—that your howl has physical properties beyond simple sound. Some of the agents we have stationed around the area haven’t checked in yet because of the disruption of the air waves. As soon as they do, we’ll know more.” Ivan looked at the man across the room watching a graph scroll across a computer screen. “Since you arrived just before we started, you didn’t get to hear about the full array of tests we’ve been running. Tony, could you bring Eric up to speed?”
“Tony” was a Wolven agent Eric had only met a few hours ago. While his real name was Joe Giambrocco, everyone seemed to call him Tony. With his medium build and ordinary features he wasn’t particularly noticeable, nor did he seem very powerful magically. But there was something about him . . .
“Sure. It was a bitch to set up and has been confusing to correlate, but it’s really interesting.” Tony rolled his stool to the side with a quick flick of his feet, and pointed at the screen. “We had three tests running at this location—seismic activity from six points around the building, sonar buoys at two points in the river about a mile from here, and a variety of security sensors in a sealed, locked room on the other side of the building that respond to heat, motion, and noise. Raven’s been stationed at Denver International Airport in the control tower, watching for radar anomalies. Bobby is in Pueblo, which is a lot closer, watching for the same thing, and several hawk shifters are flying near NORAD in Colorado Springs, watching for any military activity out of the ordinary. We also have agents trained in meteorology watching the NEXRAD Doppler at the local TV station for echo intensity. We did our best to soundproof this room using various acoustic materials, so that—” The phone rang just then, interrupting him. Tony glanced at the display and put the call on speaker.
“Hey, Bobby. How are things looking in the friendly skies?”
There was a lot of background noise and static on the line, and Eric had to struggle to make out the words as he began pulling on his clothes. “Not so friendly. There were pilots all around the city reporting clear air turbulence.”
“Any reports of equipment malfunctions?” Eric hopped on one foot trying to get a sock on while staring at the speakerphone with the same intensity as he felt.
Bobby paused, and only the background noise let them know he was still there. “A Cessna disappeared from radar. They’re looking for it now.” He hurried to add, “But I don’t know if we can attribute it to this experiment, so don’t get too excited. It’ll depend on the time. There may have been issues with some part of the autopilot. I’ll have to find a way to take a look at some Doppler LIDAR records and compare them to your test times to know for sure. I’m going to hang around here until I know more. I’ll be in touch.”
Bile rose into Eric’s throat and the room swam enough that Tatya grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.
All he had left to put on were his shoes. He spotted an empty chair and was headed toward it when Tatya surprised him by saying, “You can put those on in the car. We’re going to be late if we don’t get moving.”
Eric’s brow furrowed. Nobody had told him he was supposed to be traveling tonight. “Where are we going?” The hint of a growl voiced his suspicions better than words could.
Tatya gestured imperiously, as if to say Don’t question your superiors, child. He felt the flesh on his back raise where his hackles would be in wolf form. He didn’t lower his gaze. If the council decided this was going to be his territory, he had every right to question a healer, no matter how powerful.
The radio on Lucas’s hip squawked again. He picked it up, turning away as Eric and Tatya continued challenging each other with their eyes.
“Go ahead.”
“This is David. I’m on my way back and found something weird. I’m bringing it in.”
From the corner of his eye, Eric saw Lucas move his eyes from his wife to the other men in the room. He let out a deep sigh that could mean a lot of things and shook his head. Eric caught the wet scent of sadness from him, which was surprising. But Lucas recovered quickly and answered David with authority. “Stay where you are. I’ll come to you.”
Ivan gave a small dip of his head which seemed to Eric to be an odd thing to do—almost as if he was giving Lucas permission. Lucas sighed and walked out of the room without a word.
Tatya was gathering her purse and clipboard in a hurried fashion and didn’t seem to notice anything odd about what was going on. Ivan leaned back against the wall and regarded her for a long moment. Finally, when it seemed she was ready to leave, he spoke.
“Vere exactly are you taking our new Alpha, Tatya?”
Eric winced inwardly. Ivan’s voice was taking on a Russian accent. That was never a good sign. If Tatya noticed, she didn’t show it. She was patting her pockets, apparently looking for something, and didn’t even bother to turn his way. She tucked her hand into her purse and extracted a cell phone. “I’ve arranged for a mobile MRI trailer in Cortez to save me the last spot on their schedule. But we have to leave now to make it before they go. It’ll take at least an hour to get there.”
It took another long silence before it finally occurred to Tatya that something was amiss. Maybe it was the growing wave of power flowing from Ivan that stung skin. Eric hadn’t seen him raise power like that in a very long time. Of course, he was always capable of it. You don’t rise through the Wolven ranks and then get to be the personal guard of the Chief Justice if you can’t fight off even the toughest opponents. But Ivan was remarkably even tempered. Normally he didn’t raise much of a fuss about anything. Now, however, Tony backed his stool a little and winced, then scratched at his bare arm, likely to relieve the same biting ants sensation Eric was experiencing.
A deep, resonant growl rumbled from the great bear’s huge chest. “And how exactly did you plan to hide the evidence this time, Tatya? You are, according to your own words, on the schedule. There will be lists and reports and data—photographs—in a computer. You vill be having human technicians looking at scans of, one would presume, a supernatural throat and chest that have stumped our best people. Ve have no idea vat they’ll find. Super capacity lungs? An abnormal voice box? Are you going to ask Wolven to clean up your mess again? Vill we have to threaten them, pay them off, or even kill them? Vat could you possibly imagine you’ll find that vould be worth that sort of trouble?”
There was a long pause, and while Tatya seemed at a loss for words, her underlying scent wasn’t confusion or fear. It was anger. “I’ve already worked out the details, Ivan. It’ll be in my report to the council, and is none of your concern.”
Ivan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Doctor Santiago, the council has given you a great deal of leniency due to its affection for you and your husband and things you’ve done in the past for the Sazi. But you’ve already proven your inability to vork out the details. You’re barely off probation for the fiasco in Boulder.” He raised one hand in a frustrated gesture that matched the scent now roiling off him. “After all of Wolven’s efforts, in conjunction with the council, the healers, and the seers, to keep the testing of Mr. Thompson a complete secret, why would you make plans, to satisfy your own personal curiosity, that could ruin everything?”
She gritted her teeth, obviously unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a manner. Her scent was strong enough to choke on, peppery and thick with anger and embarrassment. “I am not ruining anything. I simply thought of the MRI at the last minute. I have contacts with the company we used to use in Boulder. They’re discreet and allow me to handle the equipment personally while they go out to dinner. I’ve been trained and have my certifications. There’s no more danger in this situation than there was when I was the healer in Boulder and had someone’s knee scanned. As soon as I explain the situation to the council, they won’t have a problem with it.”
Ivan’s eyes narrowed even further. He had small eyes anyway, but when they narrowed, they nearly disappeared from his face. “Then pray proceed. Explain the situation.”
She stood in an odd attempt to look down on him. That was impossible, of course. Even sitting, he was taller than the tiny blonde. She raised power in a hot wash that let them know she wasn’t one to be trifled with. Yet Ivan simply stared at her until she was forced to speak. Her words dripped honey, and her scent was sweet and cloying, betraying the dark glee that lurked underneath. “If there was a council member here, I would.”
“There is, so please proceed.” Uh-oh. He’s using that voice. That’s never good. Eric moved back from what was about to become a battle zone and made several sharp jabs with his thumb so Tony could see it behind Tatya’s back. The other man casually stretched and stood, moving with Eric toward the rear of the room, near the emergency door.
Eric didn’t sit down until he was right next to the door and immediately began pulling on his shoes. He needed to be ready in case he’d be running through the cactus in a few minutes to escape the explosion.
The healer let out a small laugh, either not knowing, or uncaring of the great bear’s anger. “You’re not a council member, Ivan. I know all the council members.”
Ivan stood slowly, stepping closer to her, keeping the same level of power as he approached. She let out a little shudder, but didn’t otherwise acknowledge the magic. “Perhaps you did at one time, but you’ve been out of favor for some time now. You’re neither an Alpha, nor the wife of a councilman. I was voted the council representative of the bears at the last quarterly meeting.”
She stiffened. “Lucas didn’t tell me that.”
Ivan tightened his power around her. Tatya’s purse dropped from her shoulder and she didn’t move to pick it up. She didn’t have the ability to do anything. Ivan had frozen her in place. “Lucas was advised to keep a tighter grip on his tongue as you’ve proven you’re incapable of keeping secrets. With the addition of the Hayalet and the volatile situation in Bosnia, the council decided that a new seat was needed. I was elected unanimously.”
It must have taken a tremendous amount of will-power to speak, but somehow she managed it. The words were mumbled, making it sound like she had cotton in her cheeks. “What new member? What situation? I’ve only been out of contact for a few months. That much can’t have hap—”
Ivan increased his power just enough that she froze completely. “And yet, that much has happened. The ghost tiger, Rabi Kuric, was nominated for a full council seat as the representative of the Hayalet Kabile, in order to secure safe passage through his territory to keep watch on our enemies. With Antoine Monier as his new brother-in-law, Angelique’s raptors unrepresented until she recovers from her injuries, and the additional support of Ahmad for the snakes, Charles had little choice but to approve the nomination. As for the situation in Bosnia, that is none of your concern. It’s a Wolven matter and, as I said, I doubt Lucas will have much to say to you about it.” He raised his eyebrows and crossed his massive arms over his chest. Then he released the woman so abruptly that she stumbled and wound up on her knees. “So, explain to me your reasoning for this test.”
Ivan mentioned enemies, which was confusing. To the best of Eric’s knowledge, the Sazi had no enemies, just lawbreakers. If that had changed, he needed to know before he took over a pack that might have to be protected. It might not be a bad idea to spend some more time with Ivan . . . perhaps when Tatya was talking with the technicians.
Before the doctor could get to her feet, Eric raised his hand to catch Ivan’s attention. “You know what, Ivan? Let’s just go ahead and do it. I’ve always been kind of curious, and the scan’s already on the schedule. I know you have good aversion magic. If Healer Santiago can handle the equipment, we can be in and out of there before the technicians even know what happened. And once we get a healer posted down here, maybe we can try the tests again.”
Ivan’s sigh spoke volumes and Eric felt himself tense. “I wish we had one available, my friend. There simply aren’t that many.”
He felt his head shake even before he could think of the words to say. “I don’t like that. We’re too far from a decent hospital, particularly with the Boulder pack splitting up. I’m going to be the only Alpha, and if anyone gets seriously injured in a dominance fight or hunt, we’re in real trouble. Could we at least get a piece of one? Someone who comes around every few weeks or so on rotation?”
This time it was Tatya who shook her head. “There truly is nobody. Right now there are only five true healers in the world. Me, in Paris; Amber, who splits her time between Germany and Washington; Raven, who’s second in command of Wolven, and he already has five packs to keep track of. Betty’s in Albuquerque, but that’s too far to travel here that often—”
Eric felt a growing unease. “Patrice, the healer in the Canada pack, recently died, and they haven’t found a replacement for her either.”
“Oh!” Tatya looked stricken, turning to him abruptly. She actually smelled wet with sorrow, which threw him off guard. “I hadn’t heard about Patrice’s death. I’m so sorry. Please offer your mother my sympathy. Well then, I guess there are only four of us. There are a few with minor healing abilities, like Raven’s father, Raphael, and Duchess Olga in Chicago, but they lead their own packs. They can’t just leave to visit yours at the drop of a hat.”
Eric mentally tallied in his head once more. “What about Holly Sanchez?”
Ivan’s brows raised just as Tatya’s lowered. “Who?”
“Holly. The woman Lucas sent to Australia to deliver the council’s request for me to take over this pack. She’s out of the Boulder pack.”
Tatya let out an odd chuckle. “She’s not part of that pack anymore. She resigned, as I heard it. She’s the daughter of the pack omega and a human. If she has any healing ability at all, it won’t be enough to be any good to anyone.”
Once again, Eric felt his hackles rise. “I beg to differ. She’s actually an exceptional healer. Before I came into contact with her in the Outback, she stopped at Crocodile Annie’s place outside Tarcoola. The old woman was nearly dead after a snake bit her, and Holly healed her right up.”
Ivan blinked in surprise. “How did you come to find this out?”
Eric shrugged. “Annie’s a friend. We’d meet up nearly every Saturday at the local pub to raise a pint, and when she didn’t show, I went to go find her. She was just getting on her feet again and raved about the young doctor who’d healed her. Holly also fixed up Jake, Annie’s old dingo mix with hip displasia, who, I might add, hadn’t walked properly in nearly five years. Annie called it a miracle and insisted I stay to meet her when she got back from getting supplies in town. Good thing I did, or I might never have gotten your message.” He remembered other things about Holly, too—her bright brown eyes and sweetly scented hair and the way her laugh made his pulse race. If she wasn’t attached to a pack . . . well, why not ask her to join his?
Tony spoke up. “If she’s the same girl I met in Boulder a few months back, she was pretty damned good. A nurse got sliced up pretty bad and Holly healed her nearly as fast as I’ve seen Betty do. I remember the nurse saying that she’d been doing all their healing for a few months and everybody liked her.”
Tatya still sounded dismissive. “Well, she’d still have to be tested, and I doubt she’d pass. I’ve known Holly her whole life. She’s not terribly impressive . . . at anything.”
“So,” Ivan said with more than a hint of disdain in his voice. “When you were taken off probation six months ago, your sole assignment was to find and train new healers so we wouldn’t have such a shortage. You were to visit each and every pack and use your magic to search for the ability. Yet, in a world filled with wolves, you had a potential healer in your backyard and simply ignored it? You never even asked who was doing the healing in Boulder after you left?” The noise that rumbled from his chest was more than a growl, but less than a snarl.
“The council has lamented the fact that nobody has been presented to the healers’ circle for testing—thinking that perhaps the ability has disappeared from our people, but I’m beginning to think something very different.” He shook his head and turned toward the door. “You must have very strong shoulders, doctor. I will be waiting in the car. I will drive you to this scheduled appointment.”
Eric winced at Ivan’s words. Tatya only smelled of confusion. After the door had closed behind him, she turned. “You worked with him, Thompson. What did he mean when he said I have strong shoulders?”
He walked past her toward the door. “It means you’ve been getting plenty of exercise, doctor—digging your own grave.”