Chapter 6

Six

"Fucking hell, Fred! I thought we talked about you not teleporting into my room whenever you felt like it." Atlas pressed a hand to his thundering heart and coaxed his magic back under his skin. A shield had automatically ripped itself out of him, forming a barrier between him and the intruder in his space.

"No, no," Fred said, hands out in front of him. "You said unless it's an emergency. I know how to respect boundaries, thank you very much."

A chill rushed over Atlas like he'd plunged into a frozen lake. "What emergency?"

"Gavin left the building," Fred said with a frown. "I can't see where he's going. Actually, I didn't see anything at all, but I did catch him walking out the front door on the security cameras."

Hurt swamped Atlas in an irrational wave. Why would Gavin leave? Had he been so freaked out and afraid that he felt like sneaking out was the only option? That kiss must have been a goodbye. Atlas grimaced. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions get the best of him. He needed a cool and clear head. Because regardless of how Gavin felt about him or being a carrier, he was still in danger, and it was still Atlas's job to protect him.

"Which way did he go? Can we call the Saint cover for a locator spell?"

"Better," Fred said, pulling out his phone. "Nix is already on it."

Nix was their IT person. She'd be tracking Gavin using the city's CCTV network.

Atlas's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and pressed it to his ear without looking at the name. "Gavin?"

"Nope, just your brother with bad news." Lark took a deep breath. "Charlotte isn't here. She gave her statement and then was handed off to a uniform for a ride to the Hub. Except no one seems to know who she left with."

"Shit. They've got her."

Lark's voice turned grim. "That's what I'm thinking."

"Gavin left. He was acting strange when I left him in one of the suites. He walked out the front door not five minutes ago."

"Double shit," Lark swore. Atlas could hear movement through the phone, then a car door closing. "I'm on my way. Call Derek. The hounds are already out. Maybe they can help us find them." He hung up.

Trying to keep his breathing even, he lowered his phone enough to maneuver to Derek's contact. If they hurt Gavin, he'd bury them so deep beneath the earth no one would ever find their bodies.

"Easy, big guy," Fred said, staring at him with wide eyes.

The room was shaking. Correction, the building was shaking. Atlas took a deep breath and pulled his power back in. The shaking stopped, at least on the outside. Inside, he felt like his bones were vibrating with the need to unleash a tidal wave. The sheer force of his rage scared him a little. He had excellent control, but the thought of those HAP bastards taking Charlotte and using her to lure Gavin from the safety of the Hub made him want to pry himself open and dump enough power for the earth to open up and swallow the city whole.

"Sorry," Atlas grunted after several more deep breaths, forcing himself to put a lid on it. He needed to keep his head. A total loss of control for a mage meant death and destruction for everything around them. There was more than one reason humans hated them, and other paranormals tended to be wary.

"Nix's got him," Fred said, coming to stand beside Atlas and tilting his phone so Atlas could see the screen. On it, Gavin was stepping out of the back of a light-colored sedan and looking around. "He's at Cabot Park."

Atlas was moving before the last word left Fred's mouth. "Call Lark and Derek. Tell them to meet me there." He pulled open the door to his room to find Pike there with a hand raised to knock.

"What's going on?" Pike asked, looking past Atlas to Fred.

"Gavin's gone. They took his friend to lure him out."

Pike's gaze lingered on Fred a moment before coming back to Atlas. "Shit. Let's go."

Behind him, Fred was already talking to someone. Probably Lark. He didn't waste another moment. With Pike on his heels, Atlas ran down the hall toward the stairs.

Cool wind whipped over Gavin,raising goose bumps on his bare arms and tousling his hair. He walked along the park's paved walkway, every nerve on high alert as he scanned the open grass and groupings of trees around him. The park was beautiful during the day—green grass, young trees, and fragrant flowers spilling out of their beds. At night, lit by intermittent lampposts and the silver shine of the moon, it took on an eerie vibe.

The fountain was directly ahead of him. The path opened up to a big circular area made up of flat gray stones. Out of the middle of a wide, shallow basin, the statue of a woman in a flowing dress with fangs peeking out from her smiling lips poured water from the palms of her open hands.

Gavin walked the circle around the fountain, peering down the different pathways leading to other parts of the park, but didn't see anyone. He was alone. His phone buzzed.

Charlotte:Good. You can follow directions. Throw your phone in the fountain and take the middle path to the river overlook.

Gavin let his phone dangle at his side, fear and helplessness rising up in his chest and trying to choke him. The phone buzzed again.

Charlotte:Don't keep us waiting.

Fuck. They could see him right now. He swallowed hard, his breath speeding up until all he could hear was the thunder of his own blood rushing in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he threw the phone and all his hope into the fountain. He took off at a jog down the middle path. The river overlook was a good distance away, and if he tried just walking, he knew he'd never make it. Fear would curl him into a lifeless shell, left fetal and pathetic on the ground. He needed to be strong. Had to be strong. For Charlotte.

Fred appeared in the space right in front of him and grabbed his arms. Startled, he shrieked as they both went tumbling to the ground.

"No!" Gavin said, scrambling back to his feet. "Let me go! You can't be here!"

"Stop," Fred barked in a voice far deeper and older sounding than the man in the leopard print robe from the kitchen should have been capable of. "I can't hold this illusion for long."

"What?" Gavin was panting, sweat gathering in his hairline even though he felt cold and his arms absolutely frozen where Fred gripped him.

"I created an illusion. No one can see us right now. Not even the cameras. Anyone watching will think you tripped, and now you're just standing here catching your breath."

"Oh." Gavin's eyes went wide. He'd known the seers were powerful, but damn.

"The mages are waiting for you. They're in the river directly beneath the center of the overlook. Play along with HAP and stay alive. They'll do the rest."

Fred was gone as quickly as he'd appeared, leaving Gavin standing there doing exactly what the illusion had shown—catching his breath. The hope that exploded through him brought tears to his eyes. He squashed the smile that wanted to bloom on his face and wiped his eyes and forehead with the tail of his shirt.

He started jogging again, feet moving faster. Atlas was up ahead. He didn't have to face whatever was waiting at the river alone. Maybe that made him selfish, but it also gave him the strength to put one foot in front of the other.

As he approached the overlook, he slowed his steps. The overlook was paved with more of the same flat gray stones as around the fountain and arced out over the water in a half circle. This side of the park had a safety fence running the length of it. Past the fence, the slope down to the river wasn't insanely steep and there was another concrete barrier keeping the river from washing away the park's edge.

Gavin wasn't sure how it all worked, but the park was well-liked for its river views. During the warm months, the grassy areas surrounding the overlook were always crowded with people.

He glanced toward the railing along the overlook's edge. If a person went over the railing there, it would be a straight drop down into the water. Where were the mages hiding? Surely Fred hadn't meant they were actually in the river?

"Stop there, Gavin," a man's voice said from the shadows between two of the lampposts.

Gavin stopped, still twenty or more feet away from the overlook's edge. "Who are you? Where's Charlotte?"

"I'll be asking the questions." The man walked out of the shadows. He was of average height and build and covered head to toe in black clothing. Even his face. Gavin couldn't make out a single distinguishing characteristic. When Gavin didn't say anything else, the man gave him a single nod. "Good. You know how to listen. Question one, did you allow those mages to access your tainted blood?"

Tainted blood."Um," Gavin said, trying to parse out how the man made every single syllable drip with disdain. "I haven't allowed anyone to do anything with my blood." Movement behind him made Gavin look over his shoulder. More men in black were moving among the trees. Calmly. Slowly. Like they didn't have a care in the world and weren't each carrying a large gun. Gavin glanced to the other side and saw the same. There had to be a dozen of them.

He turned his face back to the first man. "Charlotte was never here, was she?"

There was a smile in the man's voice. "Oh, she's here. Don't let it concern you, though. You'll never see her again." He lifted his gun and aimed it at Gavin.

A loud rushing sound filled the air a second before a huge wave of water crashed over the overlook's railing, knocking the man off his feet.

Shouts and gunshots rang out from all around Gavin. He dropped to the ground, cold water coating his front as a transparent green dome formed over him. Sweeping his gaze around wildly, he finally landed on Atlas.

With a bubble of green magic around him, Atlas plowed through a line of the men, using his fists and magic to lay them out. Bullets struck the sphere around Atlas, sending splintering lines of deeper green racing over the sphere's surface. On the other side of the overlook, Pike was making similar strides, a dazzling blue vortex swirling around him like water. Their magic was beautiful.

"Demons!" Men further back in the trees screamed as another line of men started shooting at Atlas and Pike.

On instinct, Gavin slammed his eyes shut and covered his head with his arms.

"That won't save you," the first masked man's voice said from above him.

He looked up into the barrel of a gun pressing against the green shield of magic covering him. The masked man moved his finger to the trigger, but a tree branch connected with the back of his head with a crack.

"Asshole," Charlotte said, standing over the crumpled body and holding a stick thicker than her arm. "You okay, Gav?"

"Am I okay?" He scrambled up to his feet, shield moving with him, and tried to hug her only for the shield to keep them apart. "Are you okay?" She looked like she'd been roughed up—dirty, clothes torn in places, a split in her bottom lip, and her hair an absolute mess.

Lark, Atlas's brother, who Gavin had only seen in passing, chuckled. "Yeah, you'll have to get my little bro to drop that shield once he's done smashing skulls." He stood beside Charlotte with the man in black's gun in his hand.

Charlotte looked over at Atlas, then raised an eyebrow at Lark. "He's your little brother?"

"Yep," Lark said, popping the P and rocking back on his heels. "Isn't he cute?"

At that moment, Atlas let out a savage war cry and threw his arms straight out in front of him. Green lines of power shot out and down, running beneath the ground and causing a contained earthquake. All the men in the blast zone were thrown off their feet, landing hard in every direction.

Sirens screamed in the distance. A second later, red and blue lights flashed through the trees. Two police SUVs came tearing through the park toward them. The HAP men that were still conscious tried to scatter.

"Oh, that's my cue," Lark said, dropping the gun he'd been holding. He stood with his arms at his sides, face of a mask of concentration. When he lifted his arms, two walls of fire rose up out of thin air, one on either side of the clearing where HAP had been making their stand. The heat and sudden appearance of giant fire walls drove the men back.

Cops poured out of the two SUVs even as two more police vehicles approached. Behind them, two motorcycle headlights maneuvered around the cop cars and drove dangerously close to one wall of flame. They parked on the stones near where Gavin, Lark, and Charlotte were standing.

"Looks like y'all got this shit handled," one of the men said, setting his kickstand and getting off his bike.

"Ah, I'm sorry we didn't save you some, Bacchus," Lark said. He turned to the other man. "Derek, it was a man in a cop uniform that took Charlotte."

Derek. Gavin thought he looked familiar. He'd been at the coffee shop, too.

Derek got off his bike and walked to them, stopping in front of Charlotte. "Can you identify him?"

"Hell yeah, I can," Charlotte said, not missing a beat. "I'd be glad to."

"Good."

"Gavin?" Atlas was suddenly there, big arms wrapping around Gavin's waist and lifting him completely off his feet.

He wrapped his arms around Atlas's neck and held on just as tightly. "I'm okay," he whispered against the skin of Atlas's neck.

Atlas squeezed him tighter before setting him back on the ground. He looked at Charlotte. "You're okay?"

"I'm good," she said, sliding an arm through Gavin's. "Starving, but good."

Lark chuckled. "Come on, let's help the police round up the trash. Then dinner's on me."