Page 21 of Coven

“They’ll know where they’re supposed to be. Where do you need me?” Kana asked.

“This way,” Ember said. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the side door of a closed shop. The room was dark, but enough illumination from streetlights outside filtered through the windows to light the way as Ember guided him through the back of the shop to a stairway leading to an attached upstairs apartment.

The stairs let out into a living room as empty as the shop below, but two wooden chairs were pulled up to the window overlooking the street.

“How does your pack own so many properties around here? I thought you just moved here?” Kana asked.

Ember sat in one of the chairs and let out a heavy breath. “This is our home territory. I don’t know if Octavius forgot after twenty years of being away, or whether he’s taunting us, but he decided to move us back here. The house in the country is our pack house. This building is still owned by one of our families. Back in the day, it was a successful restaurant, and they couldn’t let it go.”

Kana took the other chair. “Hopefully, the new restaurant will be even better.”

Ember snorted and leaned his head against the back of the chair. “Another reason why we need to be free. Tonight’s going to bring us just a bit closer.”

He looked out the window and smiled, so Kana turned to look as well. Despite all the people, Kana’s attention was immediately snagged by a woman innocently walking down the sidewalk. She appeared completely innocuous. Black hair, simple green shirt, and black pants, and absolutely nothing unique and remarkable about her, except Kana couldn’t look away.

“What is she?” Kana asked. He dragged his gaze back to Ember, who had his half smile firmly in place as he watched Kana watch her.

“Magic,” Ember said. “Most people think new wolves are always bitten, just like vampires, and for the most part they’re not wrong. The majority of new wolves are bitten, but there are two types of wolves that are born: really strong ones, and really, really weak ones. In the strong ones, the wolf comes out in the DNA. For the weak ones, we think it’s a defense mechanism, something to protect them, but that’s just a guess. The rest of our children are born human and can choose to be bitten when they reach adulthood. Except, in rare cases, one of our children is born like her.”

Kana glanced out the window again and saw she had crossed the street and was walking down the sidewalk adjacent to their building. Kana breathed in and out, then released just a touch of his power to brush across her. She felt like a familiar, as if she were made of the magic of the other side, but she was much more rooted in the real world than Mika and Sora. She probably couldn’t access the other side to pull more magic into her, but Kana would be willing to bet he could make a pact with her and use her magic like he did with his familiars.

But you’ve got us, Mika said, his voice stern, yet joking at the same time. He knew Kana better than to believe Kana would take advantage of her like that. However, someone unscrupulous—like the vampires—would.

Why would I take a second look at her magic when I’ve got both of you? Kana sent back to Mika and Sora. He received contented purrs in reply. He turned to Ember instead. “The vampires don’t know about her, I bet.”

Ember shook his head. “We’ve been very, very careful. Children like her won’t change to wolves no matter how many times we bite them, but you’re right that a vampire would take them in a heartbeat. She volunteered when she heard about tonight.”

Lucas wouldn’t be able to resist. More than enough time had passed since Lucas was supposed to have left to go hunting, so Kana looked out over the shopping center hoping to see a glimpse of him. The girl stopped to look in a shop window just past where Kana was hiding, and when she resumed walking, she turned to come back toward them.

A dark shape suddenly dropped down next to her and looped an arm over her shoulder. She didn’t have a chance to let out even a squeak before he yanked her into the alley, but it was a masculine scream that echoed out a second later. Ember jumped to his feet as people immediately turned to look. One or two even started moving toward the alley.

Kana quickly drew in the dust of the windowsill with his pinky, a fast circle and pentagon with two runes tucked into each side: silence and avoidance. He pushed a bit of magic into the circle, which then glowed for a second before it faded away. A second scream cut off midway, and the watchers relaxed and continued about their business as if they hadn’t heard anything. Kana blew into the dust to obscure what was left of his circle. When he looked up, Ember was staring at him.

“You’re damn fast with those things,” Ember said, a touch of awe in his voice.

Kana’s checks went hot in a blush. “Thanks,” he mumbled as he focused back down at the disturbed dust. “I figured it was important to keep anyone from noticing.”

“Definitely. We want the scene completely undisturbed when Octavius demands we locate Lucas for him tomorrow.”

Kana looked back out the window, hoping his blush would die down soon. The woman walked out into the sidewalk, turned to look up at the second-floor windows where Ember and Kana were watching, grinned, and flashed the okay sign. A second later a familiar black car pulled up next to her and she climbed inside. The car drove off, and only once it was gone from sight did Kana feel safe to look at Ember again.

Ember was texting on his phone, his lower lip pulled between his teeth as he focused on the touch screen—and now Kana was blushing for a different reason. Did Ember have any idea how sexy he looked biting his lip like that? Probably not, since Kana was pretty sure the move was completely unintentional.

“Is she okay?” Kana asked, forcing his brain to focus on the task at hand.

Ember nodded. “Just before the vamp tried to sink his teeth in, she said a giant shape jumped on him. Shoved him down the open bilco doors, just as we planned.” He looked up at Kana. While his lip was free from his teeth, his grin was back and that didn’t do anything to quiet Kana’s libido. “How are your cats doing? Any problems on their end?”

Kana concentrated down the links he shared with Mika and Sora, opening them a touch wider so he could share some of what they were doing. Sora’s glee was plainly evident as he raked his claws down one of Lucas’s arms from shoulder to elbow, then hooked his claws in to yank. Kana heard the pop as the shoulder was pulled out of the socket and hurried to check on Mika instead. Mika was having fun pouncing. He dashed across the room, leaped high, and landed hard, and ribs cracked under his weight.

Mika! Careful of the heart! Kana admonished down their link.

His heart’s just fine, Mika replied smugly. His lungs aren’t, though.

Fine, Kana sent back, before shutting the link down again. “My two cats are playing with a helpless mouse,” he told Ember. “They’re cats, so they can’t help having a little fun first, but they’ll have it done soon.”

Ember rolled his eyes, but his smile didn’t dim. “Octavius will demand to know why Lucas hasn’t returned. If he makes the request before dawn, I’ll bring him to see the scene.”

He was repeating what they had already discussed at the meeting in the safe house, but Kana appreciated hearing it again. “But you think he won’t want to see it until tomorrow?”

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