Surge Of Magic (25 page)

“From these shots, it seems like he’s not.”

“Guess I have my work cut out for me.”

Connor nodded. “I can tell you’re still upset about your premonition, so why don’t you go back to Teagan. I know you two have a hot date tonight. I’ll follow up here.”

The word
premonition
rattled around in his brain. “I appreciate it.” Kip looked off to the side as he slowly scooted back his chair and stood.

“What is it?” Connor asked.

“I never connected the dots before. Once the two of us mated, I inherited—if that’s even the right word—some of her abilities.”

“Like what happened with Rye and Izzy?”

“Yes, only I thought it was limited to telekinesis. I don’t even want to think about having her ability to foresee the future.”

“Oh, shit, man. Do you think what you saw was a prediction of Teagan’s future? It was a red moon last night.”

Adrenaline jacked up his energy. They’d been so into each other that he hadn’t even stepped outside and looked at the sky. “Only one way to find out.”

“Let me know if you need help.”

“Will do.” Kip took off, trying not to run.

When he reached his truck, the damn key wouldn’t go into the lock. He stepped back, inhaled, and tried again. This time he succeeded. It took all of his willpower not to speed, as the last thing he needed was to wreck.

It was a little before five when he soared down Robin’s Ridge to the Cove. The moment he spotted Teagan’s car in the drive, his blood pressure dropped. She was home—and safe. Now he could see why Teagan always freaked when she received one of these visions, assuming that was what it was.

Not needing to make her anxious, he inhaled a few times and painted on a calm face. When he’d gone in front of a jury, he’d been told no one could tell his true feelings. Hopefully, he still had what it took. Kip slipped the key in the front door lock and entered.

“Hey, I’m home.” That was odd. The lights were off. “Teagan, honey. Where are you?”

Thinking she might be taking a nap, he headed to the bedroom, but when he opened the door, the bed was made, and Teagan wasn’t in sight.

Back in the living room, he searched for her purse and keys but didn’t find them. Perhaps she’d wanted to share her adventures with Missy, Izzy, or Elana, and one of the girls had picked her up. That meant a fishing expedition.

Kip paced as he dialed each number. They all told him they hadn’t even heard from Teagan all day. Now he was worried. He snapped his fingers. Randy might have stopped back over here after work for some reason. Perhaps his magic was wearing off, and he was worried. But why leave when she knew they had a date?

He dialed his brother’s office, and the secretary forwarded the call to Randy. In his haste, he’d pressed Randy’s work number.

“It’s me.” Kip told him about his premonition and how Teagan wasn’t here.

“I’ve just finished with my work. I’ll head on over and we can figure this out. I’m sure she’s okay.”

He wasn’t. “Thanks.”

While he waited, he called Connor and told him that Teagan was missing. “I called Randy, and he’s coming over.”

“What are you two going to do?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“If you need help, you know where to find me.”

Connor was a good friend. “I appreciate it.”

Needing a drink to help him think, he headed to the kitchen. Before he reached the fridge, a massive pain stabbed him in the head and his steps faltered. What the fuck? Grabbing a hold of the counter to remain upright, he closed his eyes. He saw two red glowing eyes surrounded by blackness. And then the image was gone.

Someone knocked on the front door and he jumped. Damn. He had to keep his shit together or he’d never find Teagan. Kip rushed to the door, looked through the peephole, and when he spotted his brother, he pulled it open and ushered him in.

“Thanks for coming.”

“Why wouldn’t I? We’re brothers. Besides, I can never repay you for what you did to help me.”

Kip motioned they sit at the small dining room table. “I had another vision.” He told him that he believed it was one of the rooms in the bunker.

“So you think Teagan is being held captive there? If they want her magic, why not just stab her like they did me?”

“Maybe because we took back all of the globes? Either they don’t have any more sardonyx knives, or this is more personal. They want me to pay.”

“They tried to take her before and failed.”

“Fucking Changelings. I’d like to kill every one of them.”

Randy grabbed Kip’s wrist. “Let’s put the anger aside for a moment and figure out what we can do and who we need to call.”

It was as if someone had wiped his vision clean. “You and I have to do this alone.”

“Are you crazy? It took half an army last time to steal those globes. How the hell do you think the two of us can save Teagan?”

Kip shook his head. “I don’t know. The one thing I’ve learned since working with Connor and Jackson is that shifters can always tell when other shifters are near.”

“So?”

“That’s my point. We aren’t shifters. We can sneak up on them and immobilize them with our powers without them being aware. Sam did it, so we can too.”

“Sam warped their minds.”

“True, but the fact remains, he was able to get near enough without being detected.”

Randy stabbed a hand through his neatly combed hair. “Did you forget that Teagan’s brother was a trained soldier?”

His brother had a point. “Okay, we ask for help.”

Randy leaned back in his seat. “Don’t get me wrong. I would like nothing better than to pay back those asses for robbing me of my magic.” He rubbed his arm. “If we pass this by Connor and Jackson, maybe your resident mechanical genius can send that drone thing overhead and check out that they haven’t increased security since you were there.”

“Good idea. How about you go home, change, and then meet me at the office?”

“I don’t own any face paint,” Randy said, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Funny man. It’s daytime so we don’t need any.” Though, Kip did appreciate the attempt at humor to relieve some stress.

*

When Teagan was
finally able to open her eyes, she wished she hadn’t. Her head pounded, and her mouth was as dry as sand. She tried to move her hands to rub her eyes, but they were locked behind her back. Damn! When she glanced down, the dim light from the four red glowing eyes coming from the two corners of the room, along with some gas lamps on the walls, gave enough light that she could tell she was tethered to a chair. Motherfuckers. Kip had told her in detail about his exploits into the Changeling bunker, and she had no doubt that was where she was now.

With no windows in the room, Teagan had no idea what time it was. She’d been out for a while, but had it been days or merely hours? Regardless of the answer, she had to find a way to escape. Even if she managed to get out of this room, Kip seemed to believe there was only one entrance into the place—one that was guarded. For some reason, she believed whoever was the head of the Changeling Council would have devised an escape route for himself. That’s the exit she had to locate.

Randy had picked her up, but right from the start something had been off about him. He hadn’t sounded all that concerned about his brother, which was not like the real Randy Landon. He and Kip cared deeply about one another. Given her location, she had to conclude that the person who looked liked Randy was some Changeling clone. She should have trusted her sixth sense and asked him to stop and let her out. He wouldn’t have, of course, but maybe she could have stopped the car herself by using her electrical magic.

She had no doubt they wanted her powers, but she planned to do everything she could to prevent them from succeeding. Kip would probably arrive home around six for their date. Once he found her gone, he’d start calling around, but he wouldn’t have any idea that she’d been kidnapped. Damn. If she had any chance of surviving, she’d have to figure out a way to escape all by herself. She might not be any good at hand-to-hand combat, but she had her magic. The question was would it work when she needed it?

The first order of business would be to free her hands so that she could shoot an electric pulse out of her palm at the next guard who entered the room. Even if it were possible to do it with her hands behind her back, she’d rather not have to try that.

She tugged on her restraint but the metal bit into her skin. While cuffs hurt, plastic ties might be more difficult to get off. When she and Kip first dated, he’d shown her videos on how to escape from both cuffs and plastic ties. If her hands had been in front of her, she might have been willing to put up with the pain of trying.

She was sitting on an uncomfortable chair with a rope around her waist, but at least her feet touched the ground. Because she was in the middle of a row of chairs, moving anywhere would be difficult. If she toppled over and smashed her head, it could injure her severely or render her unconscious. But her options were limited.

Think
.

Head pounding, Teagan looked around, but it wasn’t like they kept much in the room, other than a table on some platform at the front. She spotted her purse on the table, and she racked her brain trying to remember if there was anything in there that would help her escape.

Her phone!

Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she leaned forward and tried to stand. While she was able to lift all four legs off the ground, she couldn’t lift her head enough to see anything. By hook or by crook, though, she was determined to reach her purse.

‡

K
ip had called
ahead to Connor to make sure that he and Jackson would be there when he arrived, but when he entered the office, not only were his co-workers there, so were Kalan and Rye. The implication being that he would no longer be in charge in saving Teagan. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy. On the other hand, he would do anything to make sure she was safe once more.

“Where’s Randy?” Connor asked, as Kip took a seat in the conference room.

“He’ll be here.”

A video of the drone surveillance was playing on the large screen. “Seems they still only have two guards at the bunker,” Jackson said, pointing to the two heat signatures.

That was one good piece of news. “Since their globes are gone, there’s not much to guard—other than Teagan,” Kip said.

“That’s their first mistake,” Rye chimed in. “Now we know that they don’t have any more sardonyx. Otherwise, they would have stabbed Teagan and left her like they did Randy. They’re probably awaiting a shipment. By kidnapping her, they’ll have access to her quickly. They won’t have to wait to steal her powers.”

“You’re probably right,” Jackson said. “This dot is probably Teagan.”

Kip’s gut clenched just knowing she was being held captive against her will. The area was the first room Kip had entered the last time he was there—the one with the creepy red glowing eyes. He stood up and edged closer. “Hey, it looks like she’s moving—albeit slowly.”

“That is good news. It means she’s alive,” Jackson said.

Kip blew out a breath. The outside door to the office buzzed, and Connor held up his hand. “It must be Randy. I’ll let him in.”

Kip knew what was coming next. As Alpha to the Clan, Rye would insist on orchestrating the extraction. Without Sam’s help, Kip doubted it would work twice. “I have a plan,” Kip said.

“Wait until Connor returns before telling us,” Rye said.

A few seconds later, Randy strode in with Connor. His twin was dressed in black jeans and a dark green long sleeve shirt—perfect for blending in with the woods. They sat at the two remaining seats around the table. “What did I miss?” Randy asked.

“Kip is outlining his plan,” Rye said.

“Since Randy and I are the only two humans, the guards won’t be able to sense when we are near.”

Connor glared at him. “Are you kidding? You sounded like an elephant in the woods. Shit, I swear I could hear you from half a mile away. The guards with their excellent hearing will know when you’re near.”

After being with Sam, he realized he had a lot to learn in that department. “That can’t be helped. Even if you’re with us, we might still make noise.”