Page 5 of Hidden Magic

Chapter Three

Brant had always avoided crowds or being too close to humans. He didn’t mind blending into anonymous groups of people, but interacting with them had always been weird. So, when he followed Hunter in the small but busy police station, it amazed him how Hunter could navigate the intricacies of social interactions with such ease.

Quite a social human, Hunter waved at everyone, answered questions, asked for more details, and it all seemed so seamless, so easy. As easy as Kat. He’d watched her so many times with clients, smiling, looking at them with kind eyes. Too often he found those pleasantries not useful. As a Sentinel, his main duty was to guard, protect, and defend, and he was perfectly comfortable in that role. With his family at Sanctuary, no words were needed. It was understood that if he needed help, they would be there for him, and he would give his life for them. Since Valeria and Sera had become permanent members of their small clan, there had been more chatter, more laughter. At first, he’d thought it would irritate him, make him resent them, but, to his surprise, the opposite occurred. It tightened their bond even more, solidifying them into a true family unit. And as it happened, Brant longed even more to be with Kat. He didn’t have to talk when he was with her, in fact, he could always be himself. She was the one who talked, and laughed, irrevocably drawing him into that circle of light and warmth he hadn’t known he craved.

In his mind, Brant knew that the only possible outcome was to find her, because if she ever disappeared from his life, he didn’t know if he would survive it.

Hunter entered a small office where a female was sitting in front of what he knew to be a computer. The woman wore the uniform he knew represented the police force. Kat had explained to him that as Hunter was higher in the hierarchy, he didn’t need to wear a uniform anymore and could wear civilian clothes to work instead.

The woman seemed much older than Hunter, but it was her energy that comforted Brant.

Her eyes glued to the screen, the woman didn’t acknowledge them, unless what seemed like a low grunt counted, and continued analyzing the images on the screen. When he looked, it took a moment for him to understand them. Blurry and without color, he finally recognized the front of the bakery. Unfortunately, the angle made it impossible to see inside. A car was running on the curb, ready to drive away. Less than two seconds later, the two strangers were coming out. One of them had Kat, unconscious in his arms. A low growl rose from inside him at the sight of another man touching his Kat, but Hunter quickly elbowed him, a sign to be careful with how he reacted. His lynx would raise unnecessary suspicions.

When they’d all gotten inside the car and it started to drive away, one of the streetlights illuminated it as it passed, and the woman pressed a button, freezing the image.

Without a single word, her fingers flew on the keyboard and the image changed somehow; to a close-up of the back of the car where the plate was.

The woman was deep into her work, her entire body hunched toward the screen, her eyes scrunching as if trying to see better. It took several more minutes before the plate became readable.

“Bingo.” Hunter leaned forward too. “Please run the plates. As quick as possible. As soon as we have the information, we’re gonna inform everyone about Kat’s abduction. Time is running against us here, and we need to act now.”

As the female nodded and switched screens, Brant pulled Hunter away. “You can’t tell more humans, it will be too dangerous.”

Hunter nodded. “I know, but I need more eyes on this.Wedo. The longer we wait, the farther they’ll go, which will make it more difficult to find Kat. I’d prefer to keep it low key, and I’ll do as much as possible to do that, but until we find her, or at least find a clue to where she is, our hands are tied, Brant. Unless you have a better idea?”

Being unable to act, to fight, to go after Kat’s kidnappers and tear their throats out was killing him. Hunter was right. What could they do until they got a solid lead?

The small office was stifling, and Brant started to pace as Hunter and the female cop worked on other images on the computer as they waited. It was hard not to think about Kat, wonder where she was. Was she still alive? The thought frightened him, twisted his gut, making his beast roar in despair, slashing at him at the thought of losing her.

He’d never before considered the importance of Kat in his life. There was hope and resignation in him, living in the present moment without thinking about what would happen if she wasn’t there anymore, if he couldn’t bury his nose in her neck and find himself in the smell of her skin and of sugar. How would he be able to live without making love to her again, hear her laughter? Time passed at a snail’s pace, so much so, it was driving him insane.

“Brant, calm down.” Hunter was once more beside him, hands on his shoulders, shaking him away from his thoughts. “Your eyes are changing colors and you’re drawing attention. Stop thinking the worst. A call just came in. We have a lead and we’re going to check it out.”

“You’ve found her?”

“No, but we know who the owner of the car is and we’re doing a quick background check right now. Can you keep it together until we’re done?”

“Give me the address, now.”

“Brant...”

The animalistic sound he made drew attention, but he didn’t care. Undeterred, Hunter pushed him against the wall, careful to keep his voice low. “Listen, I won’t jeopardize our chances of finding her because you can’t keep your temper in check. Unless you have some magical way to find her by snapping your fingers, we’re doing this my way. Understood?”

“Detective?”

The female cop still hard at work had stopped ignoring them.

Brant shrugged out of the cop’s grip and followed him to the computer. He may not like Hunter’s human methods, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter, at least not for now.

“The car is owned by Lyle Merritt. Been in this town for two decades. Stand-up citizen, not even a ticket to his name.”

The female showed them a picture of the man and Brant shook his head. “Not one of the two hu ... men I saw. This one is much older.”

Hunter nodded. “Has he reported his car stolen?”

After a few clicks, she shook her head. “No. I’ll dig some more, maybe there’s something we’re missing.”

“Good, call me as soon as you find something. In the meantime, we’re going to pay him a visit.”

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