Come on, let's see what he thinks about taking on a pack of wolves.
As a unit, they emerged from the trees and padded forward, fanning out some in an attempt to surround him. Careful not to make any abrupt moves, they made their way toward him as he studied them in return, fists clenching and unclenching as though revving up his magic to hurl at them if necessary. His expression was hard, those green eyes glittering like cold jewels, none of the warmth or caring that he'd shown with Henry in evidence.
When they were within about twenty yards, Jaxon, Zan, and Hammer in front of him, Aric and Ryon to each side, the Necromancer held up a hand. "Far enough," he ordered. "Now I think it would be wise of you all to change, shifters, and tell me what the fuck you want."
Jaxon gaped in astonishment as a ripple of shock went through them all. The kid had to have known they weren't exactly human when they came out of the trees after he acknowledged them, but to call them exactly what they were-shifters-without batting an eye?
They might be in deeper trouble than they'd thought.
Jaxon half-expected the man to at least make a crack about their state of undress, especially given his youth, but when they shifted and stood, he didn't smile. Didn't so much as blink. He simply let his gaze travel over each of them as though memorizing details that might be useful later.
Jaxon got the heart-to-heart rolling. "Kalen Black? Why did you raise Henry Ward and question him about his murder?"
"What's it to you?" he challenged, pinning Jaxon with a cool stare.
"Not a damned thing. But it'll matter to Sheriff Deveraux, since he's the one who asked us to see why you've been hanging around." Indirectly, but he didn't need to get into the particulars.
"That asshole?" The kid gave a humorless laugh. "He couldn't find his dick with both hands and a tube of K-Y."
Now that sounded more like a young dude.
"Be that as it may, we need an acceptable answer or you're going to come with us for a more private chat." He glanced at his brothers. "Might not be a bad idea anyways."
"Second the motion," said Aric. The others agreed.
"Forget it. Deveraux doesn't have any grounds to arrest me if he called in the canine squad, and what I'm doing here is nobody's business. I left everything the way I found it."
"What about the murders of four men who've been dumped around Cody in the past few months? Know anything about those?"
The kid's jaw ticced and his eyes narrowed, the first sign of his control slipping. "Don't know what you're talking about."
He's lying, Ryon projected. Get ready to take him, on three. One.
"Or perhaps those two men who killed Henry are buddies of yours and you were making sure their tracks were covered?"
Two.
"You're full of it, man." Those fists, clenching. Unclenching.
He was going to bolt.
"According to Henry, one of those men had blood on his hands, the other a shovel. If I was a betting man, I'd say that the perpetrators had just finished disposing of the newest victim of the string of murders we're looking at. That makes you a person of interest in the crimes, and that means you're coming with us."
"Fuck this."
Three!
Everybody flew into action at once. Shouting a word, the kid flung his arm at Jaxon, palm up and fingers spread, firing a blue ball of pulsing energy that would've hit him in the chest if he hadn't shifted at the same time. Instead, the orb merely singed some fur as it whizzed past, doing God knows what damage to the graves behind him as it exploded.
Black raised an arm, but before he could fling another nasty surprise, Jax leaped, hitting him square in the chest and taking him to the ground. He didn't want to hurt the guy, but that might not be an option. Black was strong as an ox for someone so lean, almost too thin under the bulk of his coat, and was fighting like a wildcat.
And that analogy turned out to be correct. The writhing body underneath them rippled, and in an instant they found themselves wrestling two hundred pounds of pissed-off . . .
Black panther.
"Goddamn!" Ryon shouted. "Hold on to his ass!"
Whether he was getting weak or was too worked up, Black couldn't maintain the shift and morphed back to human form. Still, though Jax had him pinned and Aric jumped on board, the red wolf closing his jaws around the young man's wrist to help immobilize him, it took four of them to hold him down. Hammer and Ryon stayed in human form, Hammer sitting on the kid's legs, Ryon pinning his other arm.
"Go back and get the SUV, and bring the iron restraints!" Hammer shouted at Zan, halting him in midstride before he could add to the pile.
Zan shifted and took off as fast as his four legs could carry him. Wouldn't be quick enough, though, if Black got his dominant hand free to let loose more of his impressive mojo.
Shifting back to human form, Jaxon grabbed a handful of the young man's raven hair and muttered, "Sorry, kid."
Then he slammed the back of Black's head into the ground, wincing at the soft ughnnn that burst from his lips before his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.
Hammer's brows lifted and he grinned at Jax. "That's cheating."
"Whatever works." But he didn't smile back.
Jaxon felt like a piece of goat dung for knocking out the kid. Yeah, it was dirty pool, but Black would've fried them all if he'd had the chance. Wouldn't he?
Turning in the passenger's seat, he glanced over his shoulder to where the young man was slumped between Hammer and Aric, dark lashes resting against white cheeks. His chest rose and fell steadily, so Jax wasn't worried that he'd killed the kid. He'd come around soon, and then they'd all have more questions for him.
Such as why he was practically starving, and didn't seem to weigh nearly as much as he should have when they'd picked him up to take him to the SUV. His T-shirt had ridden up as they carried him, and despite the guy's cut musculature, his ribs were prominent and his stomach concave. His face was a little too thin. He needed three squares a day and then some for about the next month to regain his health, which might be why they were able to easily get the drop on him. Jaxon shuddered to think how powerful he was when at full strength, if the supercharged display was any indication.
"A freaking Necromancer," Zan muttered from the back. "Who'da thought?"
"Ryon said he's more than that," Jaxon reminded them. "So what is he? Besides that and a panther shifter."
Ryon turned onto the main road, glanced into the rearview mirror, and blew out a breath. "He's a Sorcerer. And I think that's the basis for all his abilities, including his animal."
Stunned silence met his announcement. If their friend was right, Kalen Black might just be the most powerful being they'd ever run across. Including Nick and Sariel.
Finally, Zan spoke up. "Did you see how he shifted without even getting undressed? His clothes just vanished, then reappeared when he shifted back."
"Too cool," Hammer said. "Wish we could do that."
"Sorcerers gather power from the elements and can use it to command . . . hell, just about anything." Jaxon sighed. "Won't be so cool if he's really gone rogue and tries to use dark magic against us. Everything went down too fast and there was too much adrenaline pumping for me to get a reading on him."
After that sobering reminder, there wasn't much to say on the way back, each of them lost in their own thoughts. About ten minutes before they arrived, Black moaned and awakened gradually, eyes fluttering open. He tried to move his arms only to find his wrists were shackled behind his back, and Jaxon hoped the irons were strong enough to do their job.
Apparently they were, because the kid sat quietly, expression betraying nothing. Not fear or even anger. He just bided his time, patient, as though this was merely a side trip on the cracked and rocky road of his life.
What kinds of hardships had this young man endured?
The compound was quiet when they arrived, but then it was nearly two thirty in the morning. The only person who was awake to greet them was Nick, standing at the back entrance as though he'd expected them, which he probably had.
Jaxon took their detainee by an arm and led him inside, unprepared for the rush of darkness that swamped him from the young man-not the darkness of malice but of sorrow and desperation. Of long nights suffering from cold and hunger, the agony of abandonment, bleak despair.
But I have nowhere to go! I can't help what I am!
Huddled in a filthy alley, alone and scared. Stomach growling, in pain.
Hungry, kid? I know how you can make a few quick bucks.
Shame. Wanting out, but too afraid to make the cuts.
Has to end. Make it stop.
But if I give up, they've won. Gotta keep going.
All of these images and emotions were much more than he wanted to see, and Jax felt like a voyeur, intruding on the young man's horror when he had no right. But he hadn't done it on purpose. Normally readings like this were a painstaking process that took several minutes to find the memories, catch the threads and follow them. But the Sorcerer was like a conduit for an endless flow of energy and Jaxon had no defenses against the man's roiling emotions that poured through the connection like blood.
At least he'd gleaned one important thing-Kalen Black was no enemy of theirs. With the right cultivation, he'd make a powerful ally, perhaps even a new team member to bolster their numbers again. He hoped the others, especially their boss, got the same feeling. Their group stopped in front of him, waiting for instructions.
Nick got right down to business, addressing the younger man directly. "Mr. Black, we're going into the meeting room where we're going to have an honest discussion about why you're here. You're going to tell us what we need to know, and then we'll decide what course of action to take. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir." His gaze didn't waver, and revealed no deception.
Nick nodded in approval and they trooped down the hall and into the same room in which they'd had their briefing about the four dead men and the suspicious cemetery visitor, who was now in their custody. Black was directed to sit in a chair at the large table as the focal point of a rough circle, hands still bound behind his back. His backpack was placed on the floor next to him. He volunteered nothing, no doubt having learned the value on the streets of keeping one's mouth shut unless necessary.
Everyone sat except Nick, who remained standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He studied the kid for a long moment, no doubt seeing many of the things Jaxon had felt minutes ago. "You're a Sorcerer." A statement, not a question.
"Among other things." A slight crack in the kid's armor revealed the self-loathing behind those words.
Jaxon knew what "other things" he meant, and they had nothing to do with his magical talents.
"Shifter. Necromancer."
"Yeah. So what?"
"How long have you known?"
The question seemed to throw him a little, and he paused, thinking. "Always, I guess. Though I didn't have labels for my abilities when I was a kid. I just knew I was weird and my mom and stepdad hated me."
"Feared you is likely more accurate," Nick corrected.
"Maybe. What difference does it make? I've been on my own since they kicked my ass out at fourteen and I haven't looked back. Not once in nine years."
Fourteen. God, for what this young man had suffered, mommy dearest and the stepbastard ought to be tortured and hung.
"You're right. It doesn't make a difference except their actions made you what you are-a survivor traveling a road that will lead to either your salvation or destruction, depending on the choices you make. Starting tonight."
The Sorcerer stared at him a few seconds and then gave a short laugh. "Right. Isn't that true of everyone, Seer?"