The Bear's Forbidden Wolf: A Hot Paranormal Fantasy Saga with Witches, Werewolves and Werebears (Weres and Witches of Silver Lake Book 4) (26 page)

So he was embarrassed that a woman saved him. Tough. “You’re rather pigheaded, you know, which is why I have to resort to those kind of tactics.”

Jackson returned to his seat. “You win, but are you sure you want to do this? I’ll bring a ton of backup and wait outside. I can’t chance anything happening to you. If you tell me you’re in trouble, we’ll charge in.”

“You better not. It would ruin everything.”

Jackson gathered her in his arms. “I can’t lose you.”

He was the sweetest man. “Nothing will happen.”

He lifted her chin. “Okay, but we do things my way.”

“Deal.” Once she was inside Ernst’s house, he’d never know if she followed his rules or not.

‡

T
hree a.m. was
too early to be out and about, but the job required that John Ernst be asleep when Ainsley snuck in. She had to admit that she was nervous about breaking in and then searching through his laptop, but Jackson had a good plan. She just hoped it worked.

As promised, he’d brought backup. Kalan and his partner, Dalton Garner, were in the car behind them, and Kip and Connor were in the backseat of Jackson’s four-seater truck.

Jackson had gone over the drill a hundred times, focusing mainly on how she needed to telepath her every move. Her biggest worry was being able to stay invisible for a long enough period of time. She hadn’t practiced in years, and she feared she might be rusty. It was the one thing she hadn’t confessed to Jackson.

He stopped about a quarter of a mile from Ernst’s house and cut his lights. “Let me know if you have any trouble, okay?”

He’d only drilled it into her a hundred times. Unless Ernst could sense her presence and then attacked, she didn’t see any reason for this to end badly. The worst thing would be if they went to all this trouble and she didn’t find anything.

“Yes, I’m ready,” she said, fingering her good luck necklace from Shamus. Surely, nothing would happen to her if she wore this. She didn’t expect to shift, so the necklace would be safe.

Ainsley slipped out of the front seat and Kip emerged from the back. His job was to use his electrical skills to disrupt power to the house. She’d suggested they merely cut the wire—assuming they had access to it—but Jackson said Ernst would know someone had sabotaged the place if they did. They didn’t need him knowing someone had broken in. He’d alter his plans for stealing the sardonyx for sure if he suspected someone was onto him.

Jackson rolled down the passenger side window and leaned across the seat. “Good luck.”

She nodded and headed off with Kip Landon. Not only could he disrupt the power using his magic, he could pick a lock. Both of those traits would come in rather handy. While the moon provided some light, as did the rather dim lamp next to the door, Ainsley was lucky she had excellent vision. Maybe that was why Kip followed closely behind her.

When they reached the front of the house, Kip motioned she step back. Having no idea what to expect, she did as he asked.

With anticipation, she watched as he raised his arm. Out of nowhere, a huge bolt of electricity shot from his palm and she jumped. Holy hell. That was the coolest thing she’d ever seen. Instantly, the door light extinguished. He did it! She held her breath, half expecting John Ernst to come running down the stairs to see what happened to his power. No electricity meant no heat. Eventually, when he became chilled, he’d investigate. Time was ticking.

Now came for the picking of the lock. She whipped out the flashlight with the red filter on it that Jackson had given her. It would hopefully allow Kip to see. He took out his lock picks and went to work. Seconds later, the tumblers clicked.

“All yours,” he said. “And good luck.”

She hoped Ernst didn’t have one of those chains across the inside of his door. While she could have had Kip bust it open, it would make way too much noise. Inhaling the cold winter air, she depressed the lever and pushed the door inward. It moved.

Yes! Step one complete.
“I’m in.”

Kip tapped her on the shoulder then motioned he was taking off. She nodded. Jackson had suggested that as soon as she was inside she become invisible in case Ernst snuck up on her. While she believed she could hear him coming, especially with his limp, she didn’t want to take any chances.
Invisibility, here I come
.

Not wasting any time, she stepped toward his office. Being invisible didn’t mean she was silent, which was why she’d worn rubber-soled shoes. The office door sat open. Darn. Not wanting Ernst to suspect something was going on in there, she would have to leave things exactly as she found them.

Even though the power was off, and the laptop was plugged in, it could still work on battery power. She lifted the lid and smiled as the screen shot to life, displaying his home screen. Thank goodness, he hadn’t shut down completely or else she would have had to get past his password.

As she sat in his chair, she was disappointed that her heart was racing. She’d always prided herself on keeping cool. Maybe the cleansing had messed with her more than she’d realized.

Calm down. I can do this.

Unfortunately, Ainsley had no idea what she was looking for, so she studied his computer, searching for anything that would clue her into what his red-dot map might mean. She was the one who suggested the map might indicate the location of sardonyx buried in the town long before the buildings had been built, so she put the word
map
in the search function.

As she waited for the computer to locate anything with that word, she glanced up at the entrance, fearing Ernst would hear her fingers hit the keys and wake up. Hell, he might wake up anyway when the heater didn’t click on, notice his clock was off, and come downstairs. His father, however, didn’t pose a threat at all.

Bingo
. Two documents with the word
map
showed up. The first one was the one she’d already copied. Crap. The second one was titled, “Silver Lake 1905.”

Not taking the time to study it, she pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture. As she closed the computer window, footsteps sounded on the stairs. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Just as she lowered the lid, her arm reappeared. What the hell? She looked down at her lap. Oh, no, she was no longer invisible.

Her heartbeat increased as she fought to stay invisible. Footsteps neared.

“He’s coming!”
she telepathed.

Ainsley had to get out of there or else hide.

“Get out of there now,”
Jackson commanded.

Ten feet away. Now five. She didn’t have time to explain why she couldn’t just walk out. Ainsley pushed back the chair and made a dash toward the closet on the far wall. The damn louvered door squeaked when she pulled it open. Crap. Just as she ducked inside and closed it, Ernst entered the office.

Flick, flick.

He tried to turn on the lights, but without electricity, nothing worked. Heavy steps moved toward the desk. “What the fuck?”

Had she left the laptop in a different position? Or hadn’t she pushed back his chair? Blood pounded in her ears. Even with her excellent vision, she couldn’t tell if she’d been able to disappear again. Why hadn’t she practiced more?

Because I’m arrogant and think I’m invincible.

It was her stupid Changeling mentality showing up again. Damn.
Think about Jackson
. His face came to mind and her blood pressure dropped. The closet door opened and her heart nearly stopped.

*

“Ainsley’s in trouble,”
Jackson said to the other men. “Her fear is attacking my body.”

“Ainsley, are you okay?”

When she didn’t answer, a piece of him died. He’d never been so upset in his life. Jackson’s own heart was beating in unison with hers, and his gut was churning wildly. It was almost as if he was in that house and Ernst was about to find
him
.

Kalan and Dalton both had their hands on their weapons. “Give us the word and we’ll go in with you.”

“Talk to me, baby.”

Kip was huddled next to them, ready to charge too. While he couldn’t shift, Kip could take down Ernst with one blast. The problem would be with the cleanup. Jackson knew first hand how hard it was to make a Changeling disappear. If Ernst was as powerful as James implied, there would be an out and out war if any harm came to him. Council members were revered.

“I’m good. I’ll be right out.”

Jackson let out a breath. “She’s coming out.” The men nodded. “In case Ernst figures out she’s there, let’s move closer.”

The four of them jumped back into their cars. Wanting to time his arrival to when Ainsley exited the front of the house, he drove slowly.
“Where are you?”

“In the living room. I can see your lights moving up the road. Okay, I’m opening the front door.”

He wouldn’t relax until she was in the car. Jackson stopped about fifty feet from Ernst’s house and cut the lights, but kept the engine running.
“I’m parked to the left of the drive.”

He strained to catch sight of some movement, but saw nothing. It was only when the passenger door opened and the overhead light clicked on that he knew Ainsley was there. A second after she slammed the door shut, she materialized.

“That was close,” she said. Trembling, she sent off mixed vibes of elation and fear. “Can we leave now, please?”

Damn. He’d been too focused on checking her out instead of taking off. “You don’t have to ask twice.”

“Wait,” Kip said. “Let me turn his lights back on. Ernst will think it’s the power company’s fault for the blackout if his service is restored. He won’t think it’s sabotage.”

“Good thinking, but hurry.”

They didn’t need Ernst to look out the window and see both of their cars, so he motioned for his brother to back up. Once out of sight of the house, Kip slipped out of the truck and rushed up the front yard. A bright light flashed a few seconds later, followed by faint rays of light skipping across the lawn. Kip came barreling around the corner and jumped in. “Go.”

With his headlights off, Jackson sped away. Not until he was out of sight did he flip them on. When he was half way down the mountain and was certain they hadn’t been followed, he glanced over at Ainsley. Her anxiety level had tapered off, but she was definitely rattled. “Are you sure Ernst didn’t see you?”

“I’m sure.”

He believed her. “Good. I know it’s late or rather still very early, but would you mind if we stopped at the office? It’ll be easier for you to debrief us when everything’s fresh in your mind. I’ve got some good coffee I can brew.”

She glanced over at him. “You sure know how to sweet talk a girl.”

Jackson chuckled, totally relieved that his mate was safe.

It was after four a.m. before everyone was seated in the conference room with coffee all around. “Tell us what happened,” Jackson said, thankful Connor didn’t seem intent on leading the discussion.

She gave them a brief rundown of what occurred at the house and then fished out her cell phone. “I took a picture of another map I think you might find interesting. I didn’t have time to study it though.” She told them how she’d started to materialize.

Jackson grabbed her hand. “What do you mean, you started to materialize?”

“Just what it sounds like. My ability to remain invisible kind of failed me.” Ainsley let her voice trail off, but he had no doubt everyone heard. “To be honest, I have never tried to remain in that state for any length of time before tonight. I’ll need to practice if I have to do something like this again.”

There wouldn’t be a next time, but they’d have that discussion in private. He knew he’d get some push back. “Go on.”

“Something must have alerted Mr. Ernst—whether it was the lack of electricity, the fact the heater had stopped working, or perhaps my tapping of the keys. Who knows? But he came downstairs. I was closing the computer top when I noticed my arm appeared visible, and then the rest of me showed up. All I could do was hide in the closet.”

Ainsley had come within seconds of being caught. He had to make sure she understood how dangerous these assignments could be. His protective nature took over, and his intention of delaying the discussion flew out the proverbial window. “This needs to be your last assignment.”