Page 32 of Sapphire Flame
Chapter Four
“We can’t find Kryder. He’s disappeared again.”
Grant heard Ryan’s words. But they didn’t register. From the time he’d finished his shift at two am, his thoughts had been fixed on Natalie. He couldn’t shake the sensation something was wrong.
Ryan sat next to him at the rowdy bar in the center of the pine forest. They were both on stools. Grant faced out, his unseeing gaze settled on the shallow sandpit where two drunk wolves stumbled around throwing wild punches that rarely landed. The crowd was laughing hard.
He barely saw any of it.
“Your shirt’s on fire.” Ryan spun on his stool, mug in his left hand, to face the pit as well.
Grant knew Ryan had said something. But his words once more grazed his ears then slid off. Grant wasn’t drinking. He wasn’t interested, which was a first. He liked tossing back a few at the end of his shift. His wolf metabolism took care of the effects of alcohol quickly. He’d always considered it one of the best parts of hisalterstatus.
Not tonight.
Instead, his thoughts were focused on something Natalie had said, that someone might have targeted her specifically to become analterfae. He believed she was right, but who had done this to her and why?
Ryan again. “You have flames shooting out of the top of your head.”
This time, Grant heard his friend and turned to him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He scowled.
Ryan put his mug to his mouth and took a big drink. He glanced at Grant. “I wondered what it would take to make you surface. You’ve been scowling, arms-crossed over your chest and your mind fixed elsewhere from the time we arrived. I need your attention.”
Grant forced himself to concentrate. “Fine. What’s going on?”
Ryan grimaced. “Kryder’s been gone again, two nights now from the pack, and you’ve been absent longer than usual as well. Our wolves are getting restless. So, what’s going on with you?”
Ryan was the perfect beta wolf. His role fit him like foam on beer. He kept the pack’s machinery running smoothly. Yet, even as he spoke, even with important info to communicate, Grant couldn’t seem to think about anything other than Natalie’s invisible stalker. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Ryan quickly drank the rest of his beer. Grant headed outside and heard the thump of Ryan’s boots as he fell in behind him.
He led Ryan out the less-used east exit by the bathrooms. The trash bins were out there forcing him to close his sensitive wolf nose.
“This is a real treat,” Ryan said.
Grant chuckled and walked faster to get away from the middle-of the-forest bar.
When all he smelled were the pine trees, he looked up and caught sight of a star or two. There wasn’t much visible given Phoenix’s light-pollution, but they were still stars. From how many continents had he and Renee looked up at the night sky? All of them, including a trip to the Antarctica Peninsula.
Ryan stood a few feet away and did a slow pivot. “We’re alone.”
“Good.” He then outlined what had happened with Natalie and the dreamglides.
Ryan didn’t say anything for a long moment. Finally, he stroked his narrow chin and smiled. “You know what this means.”
“No. I don’t.”
“Big picture, Grant. You can finally take on Kryder.”
This was the last thing he’d expected Ryan to say. “How do you figure?”
“Think about Fergus and Mary. He only learned to build dreamglides once she showed up in his life. It’s possible Natalie has done something similar for you, somehow ignited a similar ability. Fergus and Mary thwarted an entire territorial takeover because they worked together. That’s why I’m thinking you’ll be able to defeat Kryder.”
Ryan had a made a few mental leaps Grant wasn’t prepared to hear. “The point I’m trying to make is that Natalie has sensed an invisible presence. We’ve been worried about something like this for a long time, wizards selling invisibility spells and making our jobs even harder.”
“And you’ve missed my point. If you bond with Natalie, you’d probably be able to figure out who’s shadowing her and maybe even why.”
Since Ryan wouldn’t let go of this bone, Grant addressed the issue. “That’s not going to happen for Natalie and me. Ever.” Saying the words caused his chest to ache.
