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O utside the sun was rising over the alley. The storm last night had cleared the air. It promised to be a bright, cloudless day, the kind that made Jace itch to run free as his cat, far away from humans and buildings and roads.

Luc was waiting in a jeep. Luc was another lieutenant, although unlike Adric and Jace, he was a wolf, with his animal’s narrow, hard-boned face and amber eyes.

When Adric’s cougar uncle had been alpha, he’d appointed only other cats to top positions.

But Adric was too shrewd for that. If a man was good, he was good—didn’t matter what his animal was.

In fact, out of his four lieutenants, two—Luc and another man, Zuri—were wolves.

And the fourth was a female, Adric’s sister Marjani.

Jace approved. The clan was the stronger for it.

Diversity at the top meant everyone was represented when Adric met with his lieutenants.

What they lacked were older, wiser heads.

All five of them including Adric were younger than thirty-five turns of the sun, but that was because most of the elders had died during the Darktime.

Adric rode shotgun with Luc, while Jace eased himself into the backseat. He leaned against the door and stretched out his legs, trying to get comfortable. That last shift had been a bitch, and now his body, especially his injured abdomen, was protesting.

“Damn,” Adric said as Luc put the jeep in drive. “Woman’s a wildcat, isn’t she?”

“Leave it,” Jace said. “She’s part fae, remember?”

“Sure, dude.” Adric shot him a look. “She’s not for you, you know.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“All I know is there was something going on in there. Your cat was protecting her—from me.”

Jace closed his eyes. “She saved my life. I owed her. End of story.” And it wasn’t a lie—it just wasn’t the whole truth.

“What the hell happened, anyway?” Luc asked as he pulled out of the alley.

“Night fae,” Jace replied without opening his eyes. “Son of a bitch stabbed me with an iron knife.”

Luc snarled. “Tell me he’s dead.”

“He is.”

“What the fuck were you doing in Grace Harbor?” Adric asked. “I thought you were in Rising Sun, examining that new vein of quartz.”

Jace opened his eyes. It was clear the alpha wasn’t going to let him rest until he answered a few questions.

“I went to Rising Sun first.” On a normal day, Jace wouldn’t have been at the mine; he was the clan’s chief tech, not a miner. But the miners had found a new vein of high-grade quartz and he’d wanted to see it for himself. “By the way, those crystals just might work in the clan’s smartphones.”

Every fada had a Gift, and Jace’s was to work with the tiny crystals in quartz. He’d designed a quartz smartphone that had promising applications, but they were still working out the bugs.

“No shit?”

“Yeah. We’ll have to run some tests, but it looks promising. I asked the miners to send some to the Factory for testing.”

“That’s good news.” Adric permitted himself a rare smile.

Jace nodded. “Anyway, after work, I went out for a drink with a few of the guys. Some of the Rock Run men were there, too. Tiago do Rio invited us.”

That got Adric’s attention. Tiago was the youngest brother of the Rock Run alpha and a high-ranking member of the clan in his own right.

“Do Rio, hmm? Think Rock Run had anything to do with it?”

“Why the fuck would they help a night fae?”

“Because Tiago’s big brother Dion would love to stop our mining. He hates having us on his mate’s territory.” Lord Dion wasn’t just the Rock Run alpha, he was mated to Cleia, the sun fae queen.

“And he’s not happy about us mining so close to Rock Run, either,” Luc added. “They may have figured out that you’re the guy who developed the smartphone technology.”

Jace considered that, but it didn’t compute. “I don’t like him any better than you, but if Dion wanted me dead, he wouldn’t hire a fae. He’d do it himself.”

“True,” said Adric. “And we signed a contract with the Rising Sun fae. If Dion doesn’t honor it, his mate would have his balls on a platter.”

Luc snorted and Jace grinned. “She would.” Dion might be a big, dominant man but Queen Cleia was one of the most powerful fae in the world.

“Which leaves us with Lord Prick.” It was their code name for Tyrus.

“That’s my guess.”

A muscle ticked in Adric’s jaw. “God’s cat, I’d like to take him out. But the prince would wipe the floor with us if he found out we killed his only living son.”

Jace nodded. They’d discussed this before, and the answer was always the same.

It wasn’t fucking worth it. The only consolation was knowing it was a stalemate.

They couldn’t take out Tyrus, but the reverse was also true.

Prince Langdon had kept his son in check for the past six years—although Tyrus had apparently slipped the leash.

Thankfully, Merry was protected by Langdon himself. The night fae prince had woven a protection ward deep into the crystals of her quartz. If anyone—fae or not—tried to hurt her, they would die. Instantly.

“The bastard will go too far one of these days,” Luc muttered. “And then, he’s dead.”

Adric growled in agreement.

Luc took the I-95 ramp south toward Baltimore. They bumped over something in the road and Jace tensed against a jolt of pain.

“Sorry, bro.” Luc eased the car onto the interstate. “Couldn’t avoid it.”

“Hang in there,” Adric added. “We’ll have you home in less than an hour.”

Jace nodded, tight-lipped. “I need you to do something for me—call my niece. Rui and Valeria should know what happened.”

“Of course.” Adric tapped his quartz. “Merry? How are you, love?”

“Uncle Ric!”

Jace’s mouth curved at her excited response.

In the days after they’d first found Merry with the Rock Run fada, she’d been terrified of Adric, especially after he’d tried to steal her back from the couple she thought of as her parents.

But the alpha had a soft spot for cubs, and it hadn’t taken long before she adored him like all the clan’s young.

“Don’t be worried,” Adric said, “but Uncle Jace got hurt. He’s going to be okay, though.”

“Uncle Jace?” The brightness went out of her voice, which made Jace want to kill the night fae assassin all over again. “He’s okay? You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. He’s here with me right now.”

“Why didn’t he call me then?”

“Because he’s using all his energy to heal.”

“Oh. That’s good, then. Can I talk to him? Please?”

“Of course.” Adric removed his quartz and held it over the seat so Jace could speak into it.

He leaned forward. “Yo, Merry. I’m okay, like Uncle Ric said. I won’t be able to see you tomorrow, though. But I’ll come and see you in a couple of days.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay, then.” Her relief came through the quartz. “I hope you feel better soon.”

He smiled even though she couldn’t see him. “I feel better just talking to you. Now, is your dad around?”

“Yeah, we just had breakfast.”

“Tell him Uncle Ric wants to talk to him. And Merry? Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Jace sat back. His belly was throbbing, which meant he was healing, but he’d had enough talk. He leaned his head against the seat and listened as Adric told Rui do Mar about the night fae attack.

Rui was also Dion’s second-in-command. He understood immediately that Merry could be in danger. Wards could be broken. Yes, it would be suicide to kill Merry, but that didn’t mean Tyrus wouldn’t send someone after her. If the assassin died, Tyrus would chalk it up to collateral damage.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Rui told Adric. “I’ll let the alpha know. We’ll keep her safe.”

“I know. That’s the only reason she’s still with you.”

“Try and take her,” Rui retorted, “and you won’t live the week.”

Adric ignored that to say, “We’ll keep you informed.”

“You do that.”

“And do Mar?”

“What?”

“Give Rosana my love.” He tapped the phone, cutting off the other man’s growl.

Jace’s mouth twitched. Rosana was the youngest do Rio, a sultry black-haired beauty about twenty-two turns of the sun. Adric singled her out every chance he got: dancing with her at the sun fae’s big midsummer celebration each year, bringing her small gifts.

And Rosana encouraged him.

It drove the Rock Run men insane, especially Tiago and Dion. Jace didn’t know what Rosana’s game was, but Adric did it to tweak the older alpha.

Adric and Luc fell into a low-voiced conversation. Strategizing. Jace tried to listen, but his eyes closed, and all he heard was the healing hum of his quartz.

The next thing he knew, Luc said, “We’re here.”

Jace sat up. They’d arrived in Baltimore. Adric hopped out and opened Jace’s door, holding out his hand. Jace took it, because frankly, he needed the help.

The clan lived in small dens scattered around the city. Most of them lived underground, with a house on the surface as camouflage. Some of the dens were connected by underground tunnels, although not Jace’s.

After his parents died, the brick house on his lot had fallen into disrepair, but Jace had fixed it up and rented it out to a single mom and her kids.

The mom was grateful to have a landlord who kept things in good repair, and in return, she ignored the odd hours he and his den mates kept—and the big cats, wolves and bears that could be seen in the backyard from time to time.

Adric slid an arm around Jace’s waist. When Jace tried to shrug him off, he growled, “Let me help, you idiot.”

“Asshole,” Jace returned, but gratefully accepted the alpha’s strength as he limped around back to where his den entrance was concealed in a small shed protected by a look-away spell.

Suha, the clan’s head healer, was waiting in her usual colorful tunic and capris. A slender, black-haired woman whose animal was a deer, she had a doe’s soft brown eyes and calm ways, except where it came to her patients. Then the woman could out-hardass Adric.

She greeted Jace with a careful hug and a kiss on each of his cheeks, then set her hands on her hips. “Don’t you know better than to mess with a night fae?”