Page 21 of Beautiful Soul

“Hang on a second,” Kingsley said.

Pulling the phone from his ear, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the thread of fear that had wrapped around his heart. Lena, where did they take you from?

Across the street from my apartment, came her immediate response. Please hurry. They’ve parked and are getting out.

Kingsley raised the phone again. “She was taken from in front of her apartment about ten minutes ago. She says they’ve parked and are getting out now, so wherever they’ve taken her can’t be too far from there.”

“I’ll get the computer wonks busy with the traffic cams to see if they can find anything. Don’t worry, Mage, we will get her back for you.”

Kingsley did not answer, just hung up. Going into his closet, he opened the hidden compartment in the back and pulled out the leather gun belt hanging on the nail. After he strapped it around his waist and tied the holsters down, he loaded it not only with two heavy-duty handguns, but also with the special bullets he had created and kept on hand to battle supernaturals.

Pulling on his long, black, cloak-like coat, he left the apartment. Mystic stepped out of the café when he reached the alley. She wore a purple velvet cloak that dragged the ground, hiding whatever she might be carrying beneath it.

“Something’s happened,” the old woman declared. When Kingsley stalked past her, she turned and walked beside him.

“Lena’s been taken. Demons I think from her description.”

Mystic nodded. “Well, then we’ll just have to get her back, won’t we?”

Just before they left the alley, Kingsley threw up a bubble of invisibility to keep the blands from questioning what they might see as he and Mystic hurried past. Once they were on the sidewalk, he sent out an energetic wedge, pushing the bland crowds aside to make way for them to fly past.

He could almost see the trail of shimmering energy he associated with Lena, showing him exactly where she had passed. Across the street from her apartment building it abruptly ended.

As they stood there, a small group of wolves approached, led by Jefferson himself. “What are you doing here?”

“Tracking Lena’s energetic trail. It ends right here.”

“Okay, then this is where we start,” Jefferson said. He nodded at the two men and one woman who walked back and forth several times.

“I’ve got it,” the woman said before turning to the right and walking as fast as she could.

The other trackers Jefferson had brought talked to her about what she had picked up. A moment later, Jefferson and the other two nodded. With four wolf shifters on the scent, all Kingsley and Mystic had to do was follow.

When his cell phone rang out with the opening rifts of Elton John’s “Bad Blood,” Kingsley answered, “Yes, Livingston.”

“We found where they snatched her and followed them to a parking garage on Fourteenth Street. Where are you?”

“Tenth Street headed in that direction. Jefferson and his trackers are leading the way.

“The cameras inside show them going to the top of the garage and parking. Four demons climbed out, but there’s no sign of Lena. We’ll meet you at the entrance.”

“See you there,” Kingsley said before hanging up and pocketing the phone again.

As they approached the garage, he was not surprised to see Livingston and several of his coven, including a smaller man who stared at a computer tablet. “They’re still there, not moving, just standing and talking. It’s like they’re waiting for someone,” the small man said.

“Probably waiting for us,” Kingsley muttered as he headed past the garage’s security arm and into the garage.

“Or their leader,” Mystic said. “If they know what she is, they’ll want to use her as a sacrifice.”

“No, they won’t,” Kingsley declared flatly.

A hand on his elbow jerked him to a halt, spinning him halfway around. “Kingsley, stop. Just for a minute, stop. We need a plan before we go up there.”

Kingsley growled before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down and think. “The plan is to get Lena back. How we do that is to kill those who took her. End of discussion.”

Instead of arguing, the two male shape-shifters grabbed him and pulled him along after their alpha who turned and stalked to a secluded spot where few cars were parked. They continued to hold him as Mystic, Livingston, and Jefferson spoke quietly.

Only when Jefferson gave them a nod did they release him.

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