Page 88 of Magic Claimed

“Callum, I’m so sorry.”

The moment he heard my voice, he whirled around and tugged me into his arms. I could feel him shaking. Feel the fear I’d been too overwhelmed or distracted to notice while I was the fox.

“I’m not mad,” he said, his cheek pressed tightly against my hair. “You were amazing. I just wish you hadn’t needed to put yourself in danger to protect me. I’m used to being the one doing the protecting, and it’s hard to let go of those instincts. Even when I know you’ve got it covered.”

My heart… oh, my heart. He’d trusted me to have his back, just as he’d always said, and it made me fall just a little bit deeper in love with him.

“I was fine,” I promised, pulling back and reaching up to lay my hand gently against his face. “I was just so afraid of what they might do to you. Mobs can be terrifying, and that one was already primed to hate you.”

“They did seem awfully quick to recognize me,” he noted. “Suspiciously so. Average humans are aware of the courts, but only distantly, and the typical Oklahoman wouldn’t recognize me in public any more than they would recognize the King of Sweden.”

“Blake,” I muttered grimly. “I know it. And no, I don’t exactly have any evidence, but…” This was stronger than mere conjecture—it was my siren magic flaring to life, and I’d never been more certain.

“We can’t ignore your hunches,” Callum agreed, with such casual acceptance of this power he’d once despised. “It feels likehe’s escalating. Trying to turn this city into a powder keg, just waiting for a spark.”

And it was going to work, too, if we couldn’t get ahead of him. Couldn’t figure out how all the pieces fit together, and predict whatever his ultimate plan might be.

I just couldn’t shake the feeling that, even now, we were right where he wanted us to be—walking straight into the trap that he’d prepared for us.

But what? What were we missing? And how could we figure out his game when our attention was divided between so many fronts?

After a quick glance at the crowds still filling the park, we decided not to risk going back for the car. It was a fairly short walk to Bricktown, and the weather was warm for January.

For the first few blocks, I tried desperately to pretend that we were just a normal couple out for a stroll. That we could simply enjoy the day without wondering whether the city we called home was about to be destroyed by a power-hungry maniac. Without any lingering fears that a slow-acting poison might be about to tear us apart forever.

Callum, too, seemed lost in his own thoughts, and with every step our silence only deepened. We might be walking shoulder to shoulder, but it felt as if we were drifting further and further apart.

I probably would have kept spiraling down into a darker and darker mood if Callum’s phone hadn’t buzzed.

It was Ryker, and my shapeshifter hearing was keen enough to hear the entire conversation.

“Fingerprints on the kid’s windowsill came back,” hereported. “And sure enough, one of them was in the system. Name’s Greg Abernathy. He’s thirty-seven, no major crimes, but he has combat training, and he’s been arrested twice. Once for assault in connection with a doomsday cult down in Texas.”

A thrill of relief shot through me, along with a pang of foreboding. We finally had a lead, and my suspicions were officially confirmed. Jeremiah had been taken by humans masquerading as Idrians.

Which meant that if all those other teens were legitimately missing, they might also be a part of Blake’s plan.

But why? Why kidnap teens with no powerful families to threaten? What did he gain from it when he still didn’t…

Wait.

I held out my hand for the phone, and Callum didn’t hesitate. Just handed it over.

“Ryker, can you find something out for me? I need to know the current status of the contract Blake put out on Kes.”

He paused. “You know something.”

“I don’t. I have a hunch, but it’s just a me thing, not a magic one.”

“I’m on it,” he said, and hung up.

“What have you got?”

I stopped and looked up at Callum. “Two things. Maybe I’m crazy. I hope I am. But last time Shane checked—right around the time Kes was kidnapped—the payout on that contract wasenormous. Enough to tempt any bounty hunter on the planet, even considering what we did to the last people who came after her.”

Callum nodded. “With you so far.”

“But in the last week and a half, no one else has tried.”