Then call the Flame. That’s definitely Alexei. I’d recognize that sing-song English accent anywhere.

“How?” I ask the air.

“You’re about to find out,” Belanger mutters, irritated. “Now keep still, or I’ll get Adams to hold you in place with his teeth on your balls.” He grabs my arse cheeks and squeezes them as though he’s testing the ripeness of fruit. I clench them so tight my hips ache.

Call on the Flame? How? The energy buzzes inside me, hot and agitated in response to my ramped-up emotions. But I’m wearing this suppressing collar.

Flame prickles from the hands exploring my butt cheeks too. Belanger must be a Channeler or one of those wolves, but I have no clue how to call on the energy to defend myself against these sick bastards.

I close my eyes and, fixing my attention on the pulsing heat at the base of my spine, direct it toward my fingers. A tingling cascade of power runs through my body and out to my limbs, but it only gets as far as my elbows.

Shit. It won’t go near the iron.

Then it seeps away and evaporates as if extinguished. That’s the effect of the collar. How am I supposed to use the Flame in iron cuffs and this collar?

Belanger grips my hips to pull me toward him. He’s not getting past my clenched muscles, but how long is that going to last.

Alexei’s tone rises, sharper. Call the Flame to you, Michael. Now.

“I tried!” I close my eyes again. Flame, I say in my mind, feeling like an idiot but determined. Come to me. I’m calling you.

“Argh,” Belanger shouts, jerking away from me. “What the fuck?”

“What’s wrong, Sarge?” Collins asks, his hand stilling on his crotch.

“He fucking nipped me. He just pulled Flame from my skin.”

Vander and Collins share a look. Vander says, “He’s a Wielder, Sarge, but he can’t do nothin’ with that collar around his neck.”

“He didn’t burn me, for fuck’s sake,” Belanger growls. “He stole Flame from my hand.”

Collins shifts his feet. “That’s impossible, Sarge. He probably just burnt you.”

Belanger slaps the back of my head. “Behave. Whatever the fuck it was you just did, don’t do it again. Adams will enjoy feasting on your balls for his dinner.”

The wolf pads forward and growls at my groin.

I ignore it, my mind still caught up by what just happened. I did feel a heated prickle of Flame sink into my hips from Belanger’s skin. Was that because I called it to me?

I don’t get time to explore.

Belanger circles my hip more firmly this time and forces a tilt in my pelvis that prevents me from gripping my cheeks. No way. No fucking way.

Michael!