Page 57 of Israel

Israel went in his own room and texted Jesse. Skype NOW. 911.

Within two minutes, he heard the Skype ringtone, and picked the call up on his laptop. Jesse was there. “She gave me the slip,” Israel said. “Left the hotel, told the guard she was going to meet me—which she wasn’t.”

“Shit,” Jesse said. “The stalker?”

Israel said, “I don’t think so. I think she called a meeting with someone from home.” He filled Jesse in briefly. “But I could be wrong, and even if I’m not, there’s nothing to say the stalker couldn’t follow her. Not to mention the danger she could be in from her not-so-loving family, if they think she’s compromised them.”

“So, no good possibilities, here,” Jesse said.

“Yeah, well. I’m hoping I can track her, but I needed everything you have on the necklace first. Please tell me you’ve got something I can use.”

“We do,” came another voice. “But it’s not good news.”

It was Rachelle.

“Fuck it all, Jesse,” Israel said. “Why did you involve her?”

“Hello to you too,” Rachelle said. “If I didn’t know you were raised by wolves, I’d be offended by your manners.”

“Sorry,” Israel mumbled. “I didn’t mean it like that. But this is the kind of situation where knowing too much can get you killed.”

“Yeah, well, been there done that,” Rachelle said. “Secret agent, remember? I already know too much, about a lot of things. I’ll just add this to the list.”

“I involved her because she’s familiar with the Agency and Gen-X databases,” Jesse said. “And you were in a hurry.” He sounded annoyed.

“I said I was sorry,” Israel said. “I’m a little stressed here. What have you got?” he asked.

“Well, we can’t be sure,” Rachelle said. “We only had descriptions and old drawings to go by—all the references predate photography.”

“So that makes it over a hundred and fifty years old,” Israel said.

“I’m afraid it’s much older than that,” Rachelle said. “Israel, if this is what we think it is, it’s a binding collar made before all the magical races departed this world. It’s at least a thousand years old.”

Oh, fuck. He’d been hoping his suspicions about Ashley’s origins were wrong, but this just helped confirm them.

“So it can bind a shifter’s animal?” he asked.

“Israel, that thing can bind anything, up to and including an angel or minor deity. Shifter, witch, warlock, ki-rin, dragon, unicorn, gryphon…”

And Rachelle was wearing it around her neck? No wonder she’d started looking ill.

“Holy fuck,” he muttered. “What happens when somebody wears it for long periods of time?”

“We don’t know,” Jesse said. “Dude, the records were spotty at best, and written in archaic languages. But it was designed primarily as a form of restraint for criminals or enemy prisoners, so I’m not sure they were too careful about the long-term effects.”

Shit. “What happens if the animal manages to bust out anyway?” he asked.

Rachelle and Jesse exchanged looks. “I don’t see how that would even be possible,” Rachelle said. “But if it happened, the backlash of the binding magic would be insane. I have no idea what would happen.”

That made Israel’s blood run cold. What if Ashley had actually shifted last night?

“Okay,” he said. “Is there any way to turn it off?”

“We’re working on that,” Rachelle said. “Not so easy for someone without innate magical power—”

“Namely you,” Jesse put in.

“But it may be possible.”

Israel scrubbed his hands through his hair. None of that had really been that helpful, and he was burning daylight.

“Okay, thanks,” he said. “Let me know if you get anything else.”

Trevor stuck his head in the door and pointed at his headset. He had something. Israel raised one finger and waved him off. He ducked out again.

“I’ve got to go,” Israel said.

He glanced back at the screen. Rachelle and Jesse were exchanging another one of those worried glances. “There is one more thing,” she said. “We’re thinking we should send you some backup.”

“Why?” Israel asked, his stomach clenching.

She said, “Binding collars, because they were primarily made for restraining criminals, were designed with the symbols of the clan or royal house in whose legal jurisdiction they were being used. This one was made for the House of Akkabi.”

“The who?”

“The Fire Draken.”