Gil met his gaze without fear. “I swear to you, I did nothing. I tried to stop them both being taken, but I failed. The gates won’t work for me, as I said—the Fae saw to it that they work for none of my people. I can sense them when they appear, but not use them.”

Bowman looked at Reid. “And you say the sword won’t open the way again, not for me?”

Reid shook his head. “You can try, of course. I might be wrong.”

The Fae woman broke in. “But Kenzie has been taken away somewhere by this man called Turner. She is no longer in the mists. I searched for her, and did not find her.”

Cristian nodded. “She is correct, I think. Pierce has told me that Turner has made for himself a network of people to help him—such as the man who drove the truck with the beast, and the man who shot at us and the unfortunate Serena. He could have taken Kenzie and Ryan away anywhere.”

“Then why didn’t we see Turner come out with them here?” Bowman asked. “The Fae woman emerged in these woods.”

Gil broke in. “As I explained before, the pockets have more than one entrance, and if one knows how to manipulate them, each entrance can go to several different pockets, which can in turn have many exits. Pockets are sort of like an interconnected hive, with passages and rooms going every which way. This is why Kenzie went in near Fayboro, when she was chasing me, and yet Turner could come out here, near his house—or wherever he likes. Someone with a talisman who has learned to navigate the pockets can travel anywhere, though it’s highly dangerous. There are worlds out there far more deadly than Faerie or this one.”

Bowman turned to his trackers and Pierce. “All right, then tell me where he might have taken her and Ryan. You were tasked to find out all about Turner. What do you know?”

“If they’re out in this world, he’d have taken her one of four places,” Cade said without hesitation. “His lab at the university. His apartment in Asheville, but that’s pretty public. This trailer, where he obviously isn’t.” He waved a large hand toward the torn-up trailer. “And a house in South Carolina, which used to be his mother’s. His mother has passed, but he still keeps it.”

“The university,” Cristian said with conviction.

“How do you know that?” Graham asked.

“Because he hasn’t played his end game yet,” Bowman said before Cristian could answer. “He wants to be the foremost expert on Shifters, and he wants his colleagues to see that he is. Kenzie is a means to that end—I don’t know how yet.” His fear boiled up to mix with his anger. “I’m going to the university.”

Cristian stepped in front of him. “Do you not think that he has taken Kenzie and Ryan in order to trap you? If you run to him, he will have his wish. You do not think he baited this trap well?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m going in to get her and my cub. The rest of you are coming as my backup—I’m not stupid enough to go alone.”

“Bowman,” Cristian said sharply. “This is my niece’s and your son’s life you play with. Do you not believe that a contingent of Shifters arriving at a human university and killing a professor there will bring the wrath of the humans down on every Shifter in Shiftertown?”

Bowman shrugged, though his heart was pounding, and the whole of him needed to find Kenzie and his son. “We’ll be stealthy.”

“I’ll suck at the stealth part,” Graham said. “But if you need to take this guy down, you should let me do it. I’m not from around here. I can disappear with him and do him far, far away, to keep the blowback from you.”

Logical, and probably why Eric had sent Graham in the first place. Too bad Bowman wanted to taste Turner’s blood.

Graham must have sensed this, because he gave Bowman a look of understanding. “We’ll find her. And finish him.” He cleared his throat and looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Oh, yeah. Misty said to tell Kenzie and Ryan she sends her love. You know females like stuff like that.”

“I know,” Bowman said. Kenzie was generous with her love and her friendship, not hiding her passion for life and for others.

Graham was talking again. “Misty also said . . . She said to trust in the mate bond. That the mate bond will know what to do.”

Bowman stopped. Graham was watching him, and Bowman shook his head. “Misty knows Kenzie and I never . . .”

“Yeah, she does. But she doesn’t agree that you don’t have it.”

Graham looked as though he’d say something more, then he closed his mouth, his cheekbones reddening. If Bowman had been in any other state of mind, he’d be amused watching the warrior Lupine grow embarrassed.

“Misty also sent a big flower arrangement for you,” Graham finally said. “You know she still has the florist shop.” He growled. “You know what I felt like holding that on my lap all the way across the country and then riding in from the plane? Don’t worry, I left it at your house. Kenzie can enjoy it when she gets home.”

* * *

The university campus was quiet this early in the morning, between semesters. Classes didn’t start again, an electronic sign at its main entrance informed them, until mid-January.

Even so, there were enough people around to make Bowman’s expedition perilous. Groundskeepers and maintenance workers moved about the campus on foot and in electric carts, department secretaries hurrying in to open offices. A few students trickled into the just-opened library, and one academic walked to a brick building, a briefcase in hand, head down against the cold.

The Shifters didn’t resemble anything but Shifters, and one had a broadsword on his back.

Bowman had considered leaving Pierce behind—for about three seconds. Bowman knew he needed Pierce near, in case it became necessary for him to do his job as Guardian.

The Fae woman, Brigid, accompanied them, though she’d started to feel ill as soon as they’d left the woods. The Shifters had parked their motorcycles and trucks at the arena—the arena’s shored-up beams had iron in them, as did the waiting vehicles.

Gil had stepped forward and solved the problem. He gave Brigid a necklace with what looked like a coin hanging from it, which, he said, would protect her from the worst of the iron sickness. Brigid took the necklace distrustfully, but when she put it on, the greenish cast to her skin disappeared, and she breathed better.