James stared at the man with the odd name.

"Jones?"

The man smiled. "I don't think you came all this way to question my ancestry."

Taking a deep breath, James accepted the handshake, letting the magic flow over him as he did when Kevin came close. There was a trick to greeting wizard kind, flowing with their magical field instead of fighting it.

He got a look of appreciation at his actions.

"Not many have figured out that trick."

87.

James shrugged. He wasn't going to admit he learned it from sex with his wizard mate, not in front of this group. He could tell they would be the types to hold anything they could against you.

"Please be seated."

The wizards in the group were quiet as they sat on the long couch across from their leaders. James figured it was like meeting the supreme alpha when he'd been young, intimidating and awe-inspiring at the same time.

"We've come to the understanding that you hold us responsible for the abduction of a member of your pack, your brother's mate in fact. It isn't our policy to kidnap werekin." The man made the entire situation sound intolerable, as if James were being difficult and annoying the Senate like a misdirected puppy. "In fact, the only reason we are in town is to question the student wizard Jaynell over Dragonspawn's death. We have no interest in wolves." His little speech ended in a sneer that James would have loved to rip off with his claws. Thomas gave a low growl as if he could hear his brother's thoughts.

"You were misinformed." James crossed his legs, leaning against the couch back. "My brother witnessed wizards popping into the pack house and kidnapping his mate, but his mate isn't a werekin."

The Senate leader leaned forward. "I wasn't aware 88 *

werekin could mate outside their species."

"Actually it's quite common; almost thirty percent of werekin mate outside of the pack."

"Why would wizards be interested in your brother's mate?" The man still had an infuriating look of superiority about him that made James want to smack him.

"Maybe you've heard of him, Jaynell Marley, the man you came to interrogate? If you didn't take him, then he's in the hands of someone who wants to drain his magic.

Can you even imagine what would happen if Jay's magic got into the hands of someone that unscrupulous? Your ridiculous concerns about Dragonspawn would be nothing compared to whoever takes on Jay's magic. They've already drained two other people. If they drain Jaynell, they will have the power of five more people, not counting their own."

There was a collective mutter among the council members. "You're telling me wizards stole Jaynell and you think we're responsible?"

"Yes. Jay killed a Senate member, and you're all members of the Senate coincidentally in town when he goes missing."

"Hell, it does make us look bad," another Senate member said.

"I can't fault your logic. If it were me, I'd accuse us 89 *

too. Unfortunately, there's only one problem with that; we didn't do it."

James would've argued, but Thomas gave a long, low howl. His brother agreed they were telling the truth.

Damn. James had sort of hoped they were lying. If the Senate hadn't taken Jay then they were back to square one.

"Did Dragonspawn have some supporters who might want to pick up where he left off and take Jay's magic?"

Adalberto steepled his fingers as he thought. "It's difficult to say. He had almost as many supporters as he did detractors. He was a dynamic individual. Too bad he turned out to be corrupt."

James didn't completely believe the Senate had no idea of their co-member's activities. Dragonspawn worked with them for years. "So you believe Jaynell was justified in his killing?"

"Oh yes, we suspected he was corrupt. We just couldn't catch him at anything. When he tried to take Jaynell's life, the wizard was completely within his rights to protect himself. For form's sake, we have to do an investigation with full Senate attendance. We could've made him come to us, but we wanted him to be comfortable in his own environment, make it feel like less of an interrogation."

"You have no idea who might have taken him?"

90.

The man hesitated too long in answering. Thomas gave a low growl.

"Until we have Jaynell back where he belongs, there will be no gnomes helping anywhere."

The Senator gave a smirk. "And you think you can control all the gnomes in the city?"

"I don't have to." James met the other man's eyes to let him know how serious he was. "They've volunteered to strike until Jaynell is returned."

"But we haven't done anything."

"You harbored a corrupt wizard because none of you had the guts to take him on and left him to hunt down an innocent man. Wizards came into my pack house and took one of my members. For the pack, that is tantamount to a declaration of war. Until Jay is returned to us, no wizard will find life as comfortable as they did before.

Maybe that will get you more interested in helping. We will also keep one of you as a hostage. Edward Senn is currently in our custody."

"Oh lord, Samuel is going to have kittens,"

Adalberto muttered.

"Then his son shouldn't have been spouting off about how the Senate was going to punish Jaynell for his battle with Dragonspawn. He got that idea from his father who claimed he got it from Senate."

91.

"Punishment might have been discussed, but there were no plans to do so, and I'll certainly be talking to my assistant about discussing Senate business when he gets back tomorrow."

"You do that." James didn't care if the other man got fired. They needed Jaynell back before Thomas completely lost himself to his feral side.

James watched as Thomas sniffed each of the Senate members before returning to his side.

"They're clean."

"Since your people took one of ours we expect assistance in getting him back."

"You aren't in any position to demand anything, werekin. However, we have our own interests in Jaynell.

He's too powerful to let another wizard drain him of his magic. If you find anything out, we will assist you."

In other words, if they did all the work, the Senate would deign to help them. Bastards.

The butler entered the room in a rush. "The gnomes have left."

James gave them wide smile, flashing his fangs.

The Senators didn't look so confident now.

"How did you get them to leave?"

"They are fond of Jay. He's liberated some of them to pursue their dreams. They consider him a sort of savior 92 *

to their kind. Taking Jay is like declaring war on the gnomes."

"But we've offered our assistance," Adalberto protested.

"Let's call it a little extra insurance."

Adalberto reached into his pocket and handed over a business card. "Call me if you find anything, and we'll come help."

They left the Senate house with no more information than they had before, except the direct number to a Senator.

"That was a bust," James growled in frustration.

Thomas shifted back into human form, grabbing a set of clothes tucked away in a limo cabinet. "None of them smelled like Jay. If they have him, they haven't visited him yet. None of them even smelled corrupt." He sounded almost disappointed.

"Then we're back to knowing nothing," Kevin said, pressing his face to the window and looking outside.

93.

Chapter Seven.

The rest of the afternoon, the wizards and werekin bandied ideas about where someone could hide out if they wanted to keep a strong wizard under wraps.

"They'll have to keep him somewhere they can contain his magic and keep him from detection. Where can you go where there aren't any gnomes?" Kevin asked, scraping his mind for any ideas. Damn, he felt useless. If he could think of any place that was gnome proof, he was almost certain he would find Jaynell. After all, if any gnomes saw him, they would instantly grab the wizard and take him home.

Convinced the kidnapper had to be close to the university because of the placement of the bodies, Kevin decided to call Crag and see if he could help.

The triplets, the two werekin and a blue-haired gnome followed him to the library. Snatching up the focusing stone, he stood in the middle of the room and concentrated on his avatar. A loud thunk echoed in the room as Crag landed on the floor.

"Nice," Dean said with approval.

The others were quiet as Kevin scooped up a sugar cube out of the covered bowl Jay had left there for Kevin to practice with his gargoyle. "Here, Crag."

94.

The little gargoyle gave a chirp and thunked forward, each step sounding like granite moving, its wings fluttering ineffectively at its sides.

"He doesn't look like much," Dan said.

The gargoyle narrowed its eyes at the wizard and spat a glowing lava rock at him. Dan's instincts saved him from injury as he jumped back with inhuman speed.

"I guess he can understand you." Kevin laughed as Dan quickly extinguished the glowing rock with a spell.