Primal Law (Alpha Pack #1)(52)

"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.