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  As Steve scanned the crowd, he could see the way the vamps orchestrated the zone of obscurity that moved along with Trisha. It was masterfully done and he would have never known of it if the vamps hadn’t let him in on the magic. They were able to target exactly who could see the reality versus the rest of the world that saw the illusion they were creating. Only someone with very special, rare magical powers would be able to see through a vampire’s illusion. If luck was on their side, the people who were after Trisha wouldn’t have that particular skill.

  Being sensitive to magic didn’t equate with being able to see through illusions. And there were many different flavors of magic. Vampires worked on a whole different level than most human mages or most shifters, for that matter. They had a charm all their own.

  “Activity,” Mag reported quietly over his tac radio. “Billings. South-east corner.”

  Steve moved so he could see through the crowd. He was quite a distance away—they all were—but keen shifter eyesight allowed him to see clearly. Sure enough, there was the man of the hour, moving in on Trisha from across the street.

  “Stay by the rail of the lake,” her father instructed. “He coming in from the east. Jim and Rick are in the lake. They’re your ace in the hole.”

  “Dammit, Dad. You spring this on me now? I can handle this on my own, you know.”

  “Who are Jim and Rick?” Steve asked, too distracted by the fact that the admiral had apparently brought his own team—and opted not to come clean about them until now—to keep the channel clear.

  “My brothers,” Trisha replied in a huffy tone. “It’s a regular family reunion, apparently.”

  Then Steve remembered the seldom-mentioned Morrow brothers. Deke had talked about them only once that Steve could recall. They were Navy SEALs and the family wasn’t encouraged to discuss them. In fact, the one time Deke had mentioned them after a few too many beers, he’d come back the next day and asked Steve to keep that info under his hat. Steve had understood. Spec Ops had to be low key. He’d lived in the community a long time. He knew there were different levels of secrecy, and he surmised that whatever Deke’s brothers were into, it had to be way above Steve’s pay grade.

  Steve sent a communication directly to the admiral. “These are your sons, right? Same as you?”

  “Affirmative,” came the terse reply.

  It made Steve feel a lot better to know that two highly trained and highly magical men were out there in the water—which was their element, after all—ready to help Trisha if she needed it. It also irked him that the old man hadn’t seen fit to disclose this information up front, and he knew Trisha was going to be royally pissed at her dad. So the news was both welcome and irritating.

  Trisha leaned over the rail of the big manmade lake. There was a fountain show here every hour, but they were in an off-time now, which meant the usual crowd hadn’t gathered. Steve was glad. She reached over the rail as if to trail her fingers in the water and he could hear her soft words, directed at the SEALs who were completely hidden in the shallow lake.

  “I’m real happy you guys are here, but let me handle this, okay? It’s my battle, though I wouldn’t mind a little discrete backup.”

  Steve didn’t know if they answered somehow, but he got the feeling Trisha knew they could hear her. Maybe these beings who had such an affinity for water could use it somehow to help them communicate. He’d already heard the admiral’s claim that the water could provide information to him. The idea was both fascinating and a little disconcerting. Steve had never thought of water as being alive—or at least sentient in some way.

  Steve approached from the west and the bad guy was coming in from the east. From across the street, at least a half dozen men were walking with purpose in their steps, directly toward Trisha.

  “Incoming from the north,” Steve informed the group over the tac radio. The lake was to the south and Trisha was back up against it. Steve looked behind him and noticed a few people walking his direction. One of them had his hands in the air and his gaze was focused on Trisha. “Slade, what’s this guy behind me doing with his hands?”

  “Nothing good. Take him down fast and clean, if you can. I’m coming.” Slade was across the street, at least two hundred yards away. But Slade could see magic.

  Steve knew a lot of human mages had to wave their hands in the air to conjure. Or maybe it was just an affectation. Whatever it was, this guy was doing it and Slade had confirmed it was magic. He had to be taken out. Steve stopped moving and pretended to bend down to tie his shoe. The mage stepped around him and kept going, which was his mistake.

  Steve jumped him from behind, but the man didn’t go down as easily as Steve expected. No, the guy turned the magic he’d been calling on Steve, and in the blink of an eye, the tables had turned.

  Not in Steve’s favor.

  Trisha felt something happen. She didn’t have the same kind of eyesight that shifters seemed to have, but she could use the water to see. The manmade lake here extended the length of the block. She reached out to it and saw Steve on the ground, held there by something that the water found evil. Impure.

  Magic.

  “Steve?” She wanted to run to him.

  “Don’t you dare.” Her father’s stern voice in her ear stopped her from following the impulse. “He’s getting help better able to deal with this than you, little lady.”

  She hated it when he called her that.

  But even as she watched through the water, she could feel the purity of the magic that approached. She looked up to see Slade at the farthest reaches of her vision. She squinted as the mysterious shifter moved fast in Steve’s direction. The water liked him. It even—respected?—his magic. Steve would have good help. Her dad was right.

  But that didn’t stop her worry. Or her being distracted.

  “You’re a hard woman to track down.” A new voice sounded from her side, approaching fast. She turned to see a stranger approaching as if he knew her. And she realized he did. This was the man they were all trying to stop. The magic sensor—Jeffrey Billings. And he’d taken her by surprise.

  She’d been so worried about Steve, the rest of the night’s mission had left her mind almost completely. Her brothers would kick her ass if they knew. And dammit, they were all watching. They probably knew. She’d never live this down. If she survived.

  She had to salvage this somehow. Go on the offensive.

  “So, Mr. Billings, we finally meet face-to-face.” She felt satisfaction as his step faltered just the tiniest bit at the sound of his name. “That’s far enough.” She held one hand out, using the slight mist in the air generated by the fountains behind her to form a slight barrier. He seemed surprised enough to stop about four feet away from her.

  “You do have skills. I thought you were just a passive.” He frowned and his expression didn’t look quite sane to her for a moment there. Then he seemed to refocus on her. “No matter. I have enough backup this time to get you and take all your power for my own.”

  Now that didn’t sound good. She had to stall for time and try to draw more information out of him. They needed to know why he was doing this and who his friends were. Until they knew that, the threat would still exist even if they took him out.

  “Won’t your backup, as you call him, want you to share? I’m sure he’s demanding something from you for his help.”

  “That’s none of your business, tramp. I’ll have you and your power. What I do with it is my business.”

  “I’m afraid you’re wrong.” She was proud of how cool her voice sounded when she was trembling inside. It was all she could do to keep her knees from shaking visibly. She’d never had to confront anyone quite like this in her life. It was terrifying and kind of exhilarating all at the same time. “I won’t go quietly, and if you attempt to take me, I’ll have to object. Rather strongly, actually.”

  She pretended to buff her fingernails against her opposite sleeve. In reality, it was a signal they’d worked out in advance to begin
tightening the noose around their target. Every shifter on the street had been watching and waiting for that signal and they all began a slow prowl closer while the vampires held the illusion of normalcy for the sake of the human populace.

  “Your parlor tricks aren’t going to stop me. In addition to being sensitive to magic, I’m also pretty much impervious to it.” He walked right through her barrier and took hold of her wrist in a bruising grip. He smiled at her and her blood ran cold. That was an evil smile if she ever saw one. “One of my little gifts.” He quirked his head to the side and seemed to chuckle.

  Just her luck, this nutball was riding the crazy train. The look in his eyes and his actions to date told her he wasn’t quite what you would call stable.

  “So you just work for the Venifucus, then? You’re a pawn but not an actual man of power. Pity.” She used her most insulting tone and was gratified when his spine stiffened in offense. His brutal grip on her wrist tightened too, but she did her best not to grimace at the pain.

  “I don’t work for them.” His outraged whisper was even more effective than if he had shouted. “They work for me.”

  “You’re a fool if you believe that.” She held his gaze, looking for any sign of weakness—or sanity.

  “Don’t call me a fool. You’re the one who will die by my hand. After I’ve drained you of all your power.”

  “To what end? What are you going to do with all that magic? If you’re not a mage, what are you?”

  “I never said I wasn’t a mage. I am descended from one of the oldest bloodlines in Europe. I just don’t have a lot of my own power. But I’ve learned how to drain it from Others. Like I will drain yours and claim it for my own.”

  Oh yeah, he was definitely loony tunes.

  “You’ve done this before,” she concluded.

  Trying to turn someone else’s magic to your own purposes against the will of the original being was not for the faint of heart—or the weak of mind. That was something Slade had mentioned when they’d been talking about magic earlier. She still had a lot to learn about this new world, but Trisha thought she knew what had happened to the pathetic creature who had hold of her arm. He’d driven himself crazy trying to tame other people’s magic. Magic he was never meant to wield.

  “Many times,” he confirmed. “You don’t stand a chance. It’s cute of you to try and stop me, but you won’t win in the end.”

  “We’ll just have to see about that.” She could see the deadness in his eyes now. The utter loss of whatever spark of humanity had once lived there. What he’d done to others had snapped back on him until he’d lost his mind.

  “You’re coming with me, one way or another. Let’s go.”

  Trisha planted her feet even as he yanked on her arm. She used the strength of the water behind her to help her hold her position. The fine mist in the air made it almost impossible for him to pull her anywhere.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” She sent him a smile that seemed to infuriate him. He yanked harder and the mist—of which there was precious little in this desert climate—started to give way.

  Dammit. Trisha redoubled her efforts to hold herself close to the water. If he managed to pull her away from it, she’d be lost. She needed the water. It was her power. Her life. Her magic.

  He stopped pulling but didn’t let her go. He was very angry and his face was red with emotion and the effort he’d expended trying to pull her.

  “Fine. We’ll do this the messy way then.”

  He turned his head slightly and let loose and ear-splitting whistle. Trisha winced at the sound even as she noticed a number of large men emerging from the crowd around her. They were focused on Billings, which was probably why they weren’t affected by the illusion the vampires continued to maintain. Other people walking on the Strip didn’t seem to see the confrontation, but the men who’d been so focused on her would-be attacker weren’t susceptible to the subtle mental suggestion of the vampires. Or, at least, the half-dozen men who were heading straight for her didn’t seem to be affected.

  They came toward her—three on the right and three on the left. Her heart sank and she knew she couldn’t handle this alone. She sent a simple pulse of thought through the water, knowing her brothers would understand. They were ready to act—she could feel their watching presence hidden beneath the calm waters of the manmade lake. They were only holding off for the right moment.

  As Billings tugged at her again and his henchmen drew near, all hell suddenly broke loose. Water erupted out of the lake behind her, a wave on her right and one on her left. And riding those waves were her brothers, Jimmy and Rick. They used the water to propel them up and over the railing as if they were surfing, only there were no boards involved.

  When they hit the pavement, their clothing was dry and the water went neatly back into the lake…mostly. Some of it wrapped around their opponents. Or at least, it tried to. A trick she’d seen her brothers practice a million times didn’t seem to want to work. Somehow, the henchmen were warded against magic.

  But that wasn’t a problem. Her brothers didn’t have to rely on magic alone. They were well able to take on three goons each hand-to-hand. It would just take a little longer to mop the floor with them. That was all.

  Or so she hoped.

  Chapter Nine

  Slade arrived just as Steve started to feel the effects of some kind of paralyzing spell the mage had been trying to cast at Trisha. In one way, he was glad to take the brunt of it, but the dying need to get to his mate clawed at his insides. Steve didn’t have all that much protection against this kind of magic. It had a lesser effect on him than it probably would have had on a human, but he was still having real trouble with it.

  He saw the mage smile as he went down on one knee before him. Steve didn’t like it. His Alpha nature bowed to no man—especially not this evil thing that had tried to hurt Trisha. He fought against the magic, moving steadily closer and allowing his hands to shift into the battle form claws that could do so much damage.

  Given a single chance, Steve would gladly sink his claws deep into the evil man’s flesh, rending and tearing, showing no mercy. He only needed a single break in the debilitating magic that held him back.

  “Hold him there, buddy. I’m coming up from behind.” Slade’s voice sounded in Steve’s ear over the tac radio. Steve felt a moment’s triumph. A little assist was all he needed. “I’ll go high,” Slade said, and it was music to Steve’s ears. He poised to strike.

  As one of Slade’s arms snaked around the mage’s neck and the other yanked one arm back hard, breaking the spell, Steve struck at his legs, claws sinking deep. The mage’s scream satisfied the cat as he pounced with Slade, taking the mage to the ground in a bloody heap.

  “I’ve got him,” Slade said quickly. “The spell is broken and he won’t be casting any others. Go help your mate.”

  Gratified by the backup, though the cat wanted to kill, Steve turned and ran for Trisha. In the short moments he’d been incapacitated, the situation had gotten considerably worse.

  She was fighting Billing’s hold on her arm, not giving too much ground, Steve was glad to see, but those six henchmen were closing in fast. And then there was a wave—an actual wave of water—that rose from the lake behind her. It deposited two burly men in fatigues, one on each side of Trisha, and Steve knew they had to be her brothers.

  Sure enough, even as he ran toward them, the two warriors engaged with the goons. They waded in with fists and feet, taking three attackers each and doing very well, but they wouldn’t be fast enough. Billings still had hold of Trisha and was making some headway in hauling her along with him.

  He’d already pulled her several yards down the block, away from the ongoing battle and they seemed to be picking up momentum. Steve put on a burst of speed and adjusted his angle of attack.

  Leaping through the air using all of his skill and agility, he dove for Billings, coming in from the side. He knocked the man off his feet and the great momentum car
ried them both over the railing and right into the lake. The water churned around them as they fell in, disorienting Steve for a moment while he tried to figure out which end was up and where his prey had gone.

  Steve liked the water, but he’d never really had to fight in it before. It would take a moment to adjust. He just hoped he had a moment to spare.

  Trisha gasped as Billing’s hand wrenched her arm and then lost its grip. She watched in shock as Steve appeared, flying through the air from out of nowhere to tackle Billings and take him right over the rail. She ran to the rail and watched them both fall in a writhing tangle into the lake.

  Trisha didn’t think twice. She hopped up on the rail and dove in after them. She could handle just about anything in the water, but she worried for Steve. She’d only just found him. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him so soon. She loved him.

  That thought clear in her mind, Trisha waited for the bubbles to clear and nearly gasped at what she saw. Billings had somehow reversed positions and was doing his best—which was surprisingly good—to drown Steve.

  Fury took over. Fury fueled by fear for the man she loved with all her heart. Trisha called on the water as she had never done before, asking it to separate the men and sweep the evil one away, holding him far from her and Steve. Currents began to build and only a moment later—though it felt like an eternity—the water complied.

  Steve was freed from Billings’s hold and he pushed for the surface, in desperate need of air. Trisha swam over to him, staying beneath the surface for now, keeping an eye on Billings. She didn’t want him to get away.