Mate Bond(56)

Cristian studied Brigid as though examining a new species of insect.  "She is intriguing. If I decide we can trust her, she might be useful."

Brigid shot him a withering glance. "How kind. I would say, as my  daughter does, bite me, but I fear that you, wolf, actually would."

"Hmm," Cristian said seriously. "You never know what I might do."

Brigid turned a wary eye on Reid. "This one, he is . . ." She spoke a word that sounded like a lawn mower crushing metal.

"She means I'm an iron master," Reid said. He raised his hand, showing  them a straight piece of rebar he'd held by his side. "The dokk alfar  have always been able to wield iron, I more than most. And so the hoch  alfar fear us."

"It is not fear," Brigid returned, though Bowman heard the lie. "It is disgust."

"I see the Fae are at each other's throats again," Gil said, stepping out of Turner's house. "Typical . . . Ah . . . Whoops."

He started to hurriedly retreat, but Graham leapt forward and grabbed  him by the back of his neck, hauling him off the steps and around to  face them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Graham shouted into his face.  "Misty's been worried sick about you. She's driving me effing crazy."

Bowman abandoned Cristian and the Fae woman to move to Graham in sudden swiftness. "You know Gil?"

Graham stared at Bowman. "Gil?" Graham's face flushed with anger, and he  shook Gil by the back of the neck. "His name's not Gil. It's Ben. Ben  Williams. He's some kind of species-a gnome, he calls it-that got kicked  out of Faerie a thousand years ago. He's magical, he's a total  shithead, and Misty says he helped her save my life."





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX




Bowman studied Gil in great distrust. He'd known something was off about  him, even before Kenzie's discovery that he wasn't really Gil Ramirez,  police officer.                       
       
           



       

"Your name's not Ben either, is it?" Bowman asked, amazed at how steady his voice was. "Who are you?"

Gil abruptly stood taller and shook Graham's hold off with ease. His  appearance didn't change, but his nice-guy helpfulness faded, and  something old looked out of his eyes. He had a strength that had nothing  to do with physical prowess; it was the strength of a boulder that had  endured centuries of wind and rain.

"What happened to your prison tatts?" Graham growled at him. "You look the same, but not exactly the same."

"As I explained to Misty," Gil said in a firm voice, "I have learned to  alter my appearance and blend in with the human world over the  centuries. In Las Vegas, I was an ex-con. Here, I am a police officer  when I need to be, or the beloved hired hand who became the  bed-and-breakfast ghost in Fayboro."

"And what is a gnome?" Cristian asked. "I have not heard of this outside human children's stories."

"It is what my race called itself," Gil answered. "We've also been  called goblins. The Fae killed and banished us long ago, exiling us to  this world, where most of us didn't survive. We hate Fae as much as  Shifters do." His gaze went to Brigid. "I see that you caught one. What  does she know?"

Bowman leaned to him, barely containing his rage. "Don't fuck with me,  whoever you are. Kenzie was following you when she vanished, and you  were with Ryan when he went. If any of this is your fault, you're dead. I  don't care if you're a thousand years old; you won't live to see a  thousand and one."

Gil met his gaze without fear. "I swear to you, I did nothing. I tried  to stop them both being taken, but I failed. The gates won't work for  me, as I said-the Fae saw to it that they work for none of my people. I  can sense them when they appear, but not use them."

Bowman looked at Reid. "And you say the sword won't open the way again, not for me?"

Reid shook his head. "You can try, of course. I might be wrong."

The Fae woman broke in. "But Kenzie has been taken away somewhere by  this man called Turner. She is no longer in the mists. I searched for  her, and did not find her."

Cristian nodded. "She is correct, I think. Pierce has told me that  Turner has made for himself a network of people to help him-such as the  man who drove the truck with the beast, and the man who shot at us and  the unfortunate Serena. He could have taken Kenzie and Ryan away  anywhere."

"Then why didn't we see Turner come out with them here?" Bowman asked. "The Fae woman emerged in these woods."

Gil broke in. "As I explained before, the pockets have more than one  entrance, and if one knows how to manipulate them, each entrance can go  to several different pockets, which can in turn have many exits. Pockets  are sort of like an interconnected hive, with passages and rooms going  every which way. This is why Kenzie went in near Fayboro, when she was  chasing me, and yet Turner could come out here, near his house-or  wherever he likes. Someone with a talisman who has learned to navigate  the pockets can travel anywhere, though it's highly dangerous. There are  worlds out there far more deadly than Faerie or this one."

Bowman turned to his trackers and Pierce. "All right, then tell me where  he might have taken her and Ryan. You were tasked to find out all about  Turner. What do you know?"

"If they're out in this world, he'd have taken her one of four places,"  Cade said without hesitation. "His lab at the university. His apartment  in Asheville, but that's pretty public. This trailer, where he obviously  isn't." He waved a large hand toward the torn-up trailer. "And a house  in South Carolina, which used to be his mother's. His mother has passed,  but he still keeps it."

"The university," Cristian said with conviction.

"How do you know that?" Graham asked.

"Because he hasn't played his end game yet," Bowman said before Cristian  could answer. "He wants to be the foremost expert on Shifters, and he  wants his colleagues to see that he is. Kenzie is a means to that end-I  don't know how yet." His fear boiled up to mix with his anger. "I'm  going to the university."

Cristian stepped in front of him. "Do you not think that he has taken  Kenzie and Ryan in order to trap you? If you run to him, he will have  his wish. You do not think he baited this trap well?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm going in to get her and my cub. The rest of you are coming as my backup-I'm not stupid enough to go alone."                       
       
           



       

"Bowman," Cristian said sharply. "This is my niece's and your son's life  you play with. Do you not believe that a contingent of Shifters  arriving at a human university and killing a professor there will bring  the wrath of the humans down on every Shifter in Shiftertown?"

Bowman shrugged, though his heart was pounding, and the whole of him needed to find Kenzie and his son. "We'll be stealthy."

"I'll suck at the stealth part," Graham said. "But if you need to take  this guy down, you should let me do it. I'm not from around here. I can  disappear with him and do him far, far away, to keep the blowback from  you."

Logical, and probably why Eric had sent Graham in the first place. Too bad Bowman wanted to taste Turner's blood.

Graham must have sensed this, because he gave Bowman a look of  understanding. "We'll find her. And finish him." He cleared his throat  and looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah. Misty said to tell Kenzie  and Ryan she sends her love. You know females like stuff like that."

"I know," Bowman said. Kenzie was generous with her love and her friendship, not hiding her passion for life and for others.

Graham was talking again. "Misty also said . . . She said to trust in the mate bond. That the mate bond will know what to do."

Bowman stopped. Graham was watching him, and Bowman shook his head. "Misty knows Kenzie and I never . . ."

"Yeah, she does. But she doesn't agree that you don't have it."

Graham looked as though he'd say something more, then he closed his  mouth, his cheekbones reddening. If Bowman had been in any other state  of mind, he'd be amused watching the warrior Lupine grow embarrassed.

"Misty also sent a big flower arrangement for you," Graham finally said.  "You know she still has the florist shop." He growled. "You know what I  felt like holding that on my lap all the way across the country and  then riding in from the plane? Don't worry, I left it at your house.  Kenzie can enjoy it when she gets home."


* * *

The university campus was quiet this early in the morning, between  semesters. Classes didn't start again, an electronic sign at its main  entrance informed them, until mid-January.