Page 4 of Hidden Magic

“Thank you, Sera.”

“Wait, Brant. You have to wait until Asher comes back with some news. Following a trail won’t work. They probably took her in a car.”

His hands fisted, and he was tempted to not listen to Ian, although he knew his friend was right. But he couldn’t stay here, stay still, and wait. Not when Kat was in danger, not while she was in the hands of those people. Who were they? What did they want from her.

His ears pricked up when he heard a truck turning into Sanctuary’s entrance. Ian stepped forward, clearly hearing the same thing. “Asher’s truck, let’s go.”

Brant was already out the bedroom door, barely refraining himself from running to the werewolf and shaking him for information. But Asher wasn’t only the guardian of this sanctuary, he was his Alpha, and that was the only reason he waited in the kitchen with Sera and Ian, as Asher, Valeria, and Hunter came back to the house.

“Glad to see you up, Brant. When we brought you here, I was worried about you. Those may not have been silver bullets, but they could have ended your life, nonetheless.”

Brant barely acknowledged it. “Thank you for taking care of me. Any news about Kat?”

Asher shook his head, his expression glum. “Whoever they were, I couldn’t detect anything but human on them.”

“They seem to have some sort of hold over her, know her.” Brant remembered the scene too well. He wouldn’t forget any of the details. “No, I didn’t feel any magic, either.” And now that he thought about it, he found that strange. Any creature from their world could sense the power in others in one way or another. That power—or magic—wouldn’t necessarily affect them, but it would give them a clue about what they were. If Asher and Valeria hadn’t sensed any lingering powers in the bakery, what did that mean?

Sera rubbed her temples, clearly scanning through her mind for any bit of useful information. “I don’t know of anyone who can completely shield themselves, or their powers, from others. They might be able to hide for a short amount of time, but in the end, there would still be a residue, something. Anything. I need to research this more.”

Hunter crossed his arms, his cop’s eyes getting sharper by the minute. “Why would they kidnap a simple baker? Since I’ve been in Easthallows, Kat has never acted as if she was afraid or hiding from something.”

Sera and Ian looked at each other before turning to Brant. There was no going around this. “Kat is a telepath.”

Asher frowned as Valeria inhaled sharply.

Hunter only rolled his eyes. “Well now, at least I know what a telepath means. And I don’t know if the fact I’m getting more comfortable talking about that stuff is reassuring. So, if Kat is a telepath, wouldn’t Asher and Valeria have sensed her... magic... or such when we were in the bakery earlier?”

Valeria shook her head. “It’s probably quite faint and unless I stood right next to her and knew what I was searching for, I wouldn’t have detected it.”

Brant had to explain. “When she’s caught in strong emotions, her... powers are not reliable. She may slip or shut it out completely. We’ve practiced control over the last couple of months. She was getting better, but I suspect that level of stress and fear may have been too much for her to deal with.”

One look at Asher told Brant he would have a lot of explaining to do, but his alpha was clearly giving him a free pass for the moment.

“Could that be a good thing, her being able to read minds? Can’t someone just link up to her, or something?”

All eyes turned to Brant who gritted his teeth. “I thought about it, but I’ve only ever seen her trying to read minds or trying not to. There wasn’t any true communication involved.” And as he spoke, Sera’s words from earlier resurfaced. “You talked about Kat being more than a telepath. What did you mean by that?”

The delicate witch was clearly choosing her words carefully. “All living beings, including humans are ruled by the same rules of magic. Humans call it science, but the basics remain the same. That energy, or magic, is expressed differently according to each species. Humans don’t tap into the higher possibilities. They use it to live, breathe, to get their heart pumping. Shifters use it with their animal, witches to weave it, to use it as a tool. In all the different planes, we are the ones the most hands-on, so to speak. But if a human has capabilities, without knowledge or control, there is a possibility that magic may leak and take some other form, like telepathy. Take it as a side effect of having magic flowing through your body.”

“If Kat’s magic can be sensed, but not her attackers’, does that mean we are dealing with muggles?”

Brant had heard the reference before and frowned. He knew that the term ‘muggles’ meant ‘non-magical beings’. An apt term in his opinion. Hunter was waiting for any information he could use as a human cop, and magic was not one of them.

Valeria shrugged. “Normally we would say yes, but there is no guarantee. There is still much mystery in our world.”

Asher crossed his arms. “Nonetheless, if there are people threatening us, we need to know and stop them.”

Hunter’s cell phone buzzed, and one look confirmed to Brant that something was going on.

“When we were at the bakery, I noticed two cameras on adjacent buildings, one was on Mrs. Hulmes’ building. I’ve sent one of the deputies to get them and she just brought back the recordings. I’m going to check that right now.”

“I’m going with you.”

Hunter seemed to hesitate before nodding at Brant. “Okay but be quick.”

As the cop went to his truck outside, Valeria summoned a winter coat for Brant, and Asher grabbed his arm. “Be careful and call as soon as you have news. We’ll catch up with you.”

Brant nodded and took one last look at the four people surrounding him, his family, before grabbing his coat and running out, with Kat’s image haunting him.

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