a wry grin.
“Sorry about the laundry and the smell,” she said.
Hilda hugged her tight. “You saved us.”
“No.” She pushed at her long, tangled hair. “I brought it to you. It must have followed me from the airport.” She could expect more scouts like this. The rogue Arcanes didn’t want interference before they could hide the children in a safe place.
“But who knew you were coming, or where you went?” Hilda looked confused.
Kelly thought of the angry cabdriver. “The taxi driver who drove me here. He’s Arcane. Must have been alerted I’d left the country and waited for me at the airport.”
“You’re fortunate he did not harm you in the cab.”
“Maybe he was instructed to notice where I went. They probably want to see how much I know and where I go.” Kelly squeezed her friend’s hands. “Take Fernando, go visit your sister. Please. For your own safety. He’ll be more comfortable there.”
The rogue Arcanes were watching her, probably to see if she dared to track down the children. She needed Sam and his team of SEALs. But if they weren’t coming, she had to do this on her own. Kelly’s stomach churned. She wasn’t a courageous navy SEAL, trained to combat evil.
But neither was she a coward.
Chapter 6
In ST 21’s ready room, Shay looked at his CO with pure dismay.
Kelly had fled and the Council of Mages gave an official order. They were going down range into Honduras. Hellfire, he could face a squad of vampires armed with RPGs easier than this assignment.
The briefing book lay open before him on the table. In the room, Dakota, Renegade and Sully studied their copies. Using a red laser pen, Curt pointed to a map on the screen in front of the room.
“More than eighty percent of the coke entering the U.S. is shipped through Honduras. Drugs are flown into the Miskito Coast from South America and then transported to the States.
“This is an extremely covert op. Several months ago, U.S. forces joined with the Hondurans and used military outposts, established by the Hondurans, to conduct counterinsurgency against the cartels. The FOL had the Honduran Air Force rapidly deploying to intercept aircraft and boats smuggling narcotics. Brass pulled the plug after bad PR regarding a shooting incident. Now brass wants us to train the Honduran security forces on counterinsurgency and CQC techniques.”
FOL, forward operating location. CQC, close quarters combat.
SOL, no explanation needed. That was Kelly’s fate, and he was powerless to change it. He’d told Curt what Kelly suspected, but his CO needed proof.
Kelly had none.
Shay squeezed his briefing book, magick boiling in his blood. Sparks of white light began dancing on the table’s surface. Sully glanced over and motioned to tone it down.
Deep breaths. He forced his magick to calm. If Curt suspected he couldn’t control his powers, he’d order him off this op. And he needed to be there, to ensure nothing happened to Kelly.
“Your mission is nonintervention. Restricted to training the Honduran security forces in counterinsurgency and CQC.”
Their CO paused, his gaze steady and unblinking. “That’s your official mission. Your paranormal code mission is Operation Flight Bird. Find and capture Kelly Denning to face arrest by the Council of Mages on the charge of kidnapping Billy Rogers. The council is sending a special detachment to escort her back.”
So it had come to this. Shay cursed his uncle’s sabbatical on a remote island. With Al’s lone voice of reason gone, the council moved against Kelly. “So she doesn’t get a chance to defend herself?”
“The council will provide an attorney,” Curt said.
Shay snorted. “Right. One working for the lynch mob.”
Beside him, Renegade shook his head. “The woman’s guilty as hell, Shay. You can’t see it because you were involved with her.”
Flipping him the finger, Shay shook his head. “Everyone is innocent until convicted.”
He looked at his CO.
“You know what those bastards in the council will do to her, Curt.”
Sympathy flared in the older Mage’s gray gaze. “I know, Shay. We’re caught in a web of dirty Mage politics, and Senator Rogers is jerking our strings. But she will receive a fair trial, even if I have to fight tooth and nail for her. You have to trust the process.”
Trust the process. Right.
“Those are your orders.”
He was a soldier in the U.S. Navy. Order and discipline. Even if he didn’t like the orders, Shay had to follow them.
Even if the thought of taking his former lover prisoner splintered that rock he once called his heart.
Hours later, they landed at the Palmerola Air Base, where the United States had a long-standing presence. They were joined by Greg Andrews, the new SEAL on Team 21’s Phoenix Force. Andrews was a last-minute addition to the op, direct orders from the admiral himself.
Shay knew the guys slightly resented the FNG, the effing new guy, mainly because he took Adam’s place. Adam was a jag shifter, killed in Afghanistan when he and Dakota were ambushed by demons.
Shorter in stature, with mild brown eyes and a lean build, Greg studied the old, weathered “hootches” serving as their quarters.
“No running water inside,” Greg mused. “Latrines and showers are over there.”
Sully took a look at the worn-wood buildings and shrugged. “Beats sleeping in the jungle.”
“To each their own, wolf.” Greg was a tiger shifter.
They stashed their gear. They had barely finished when Dakota’s cell rang and he stepped outside to take the call. Their lieutenant returned to the barracks, his face grim. Shay stopped cleaning his sidearm. He knew that look, disbelief and frustration.
Meaning, some hotshot brass had screwed up the mission.
Dakota ran a hand through his hair.
“Orders have changed. The tracking chip indicates our target is in San Lorenzo, way south of here. We’re to capture the target and notify Curt as soon as she’s in custody. Then take her to an LZ near San Lorenzo to await a helo, where we’ll hand over the prisoner to the Mage council representative. We’re traveling as civilians. No weapons. Curt says we’ll spook the local police.”
Gooseflesh broke out on Shay’s arms. “Not even a sidearm?”
“Curt said those are our orders, direct from the admiral.” Dakota’s voice was tight.
His Mage senses were all but roaring. “What’s the deal? He’d never send us out without
