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“Damn it, Ric.” She jerked away to glare at him. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. It. Wasn’t. Your. Fault.”

He kept his gaze on where they were going so he wouldn’t have to meet her eyes. Heavy gray clouds had blotted out the sun, bleaching color from the Formstone rowhouses that marched up either side of the street. It was going to snow later.

“I’m alpha. I should’ve known what was going down.”

“Stop it.” Marjani punched his shoulder. Hard. “Just stop, already. They fooled me, too. I thought Shania was my friend. I agreed to meet her at that bar. I was stupid enough to get drugged.”

“You would never have been attacked if not for me. Corban targeted you because I was alpha. That’s the only reason.” He drew a breath between clenched teeth. “And I didn’t even know until the next morning.”

By then, she’d been given by Corban and his people to a den of sick river fada.

They’d smashed her quartz, leaving her hurting and defenseless, and then proceeded to gang-rape her.

She might have disappeared forever if not for Tiago do Rio, who’d been kidnapped along with her.

Somehow do Rio had resisted the drug enough to fight back.

And Adric hadn’t known until it was too late.

“It’s over.” She gave him a shake. “I need you to accept that. It’s hard, I know.

” Her throat worked. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

“But it’s over, and I’m okay. And I’m working on putting it behind me.

Because I will not let those motherfuckers ruin my life.

But I can’t if you’re still beating yourself up about it. ”

“I’m sorry.” He smoothed his palms up and down her arms. “I’ll try, okay?”

“You do that.” She opened her arms and he came into them.

And then they had their arms wrapped tight around each other, rocking back and forth. Adric’s throat ached with unshed tears. He gulped them down. For the first time in forever, he let himself take comfort from his sister instead of giving it.

When she released him, her cheeks were wet. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her hoodie. She sniffed. “They’re happy tears.”

He eyed her doubtfully. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She gave a watery chuckle. “Come to dinner tonight? Beau’s cooking.”

He managed to smile back, because that’s what she needed from him. “In that case, I’m there.” The bear shifter loved to cook, and his Louisianan mama had taught him well.

She gave him another hard hug and then they separated—her to meet up with Fane, him to inform Nash of his promotion to lieutenant.

His cousin could barely contain his excitement. Like Corban, he was tall and good-looking with close-cut black hair. But the resemblance ended there. Corban had been a tight-lipped, calculating man, while Nash had warm brown eyes and a ready smile.

“You won’t regret it. You’ll see.” Nash stepped toward Adric, arms outstretched, and then hesitated, head cocked to one side to expose his throat. His wolf demonstrating its complete loyalty and trust.

Adric pulled him into a hug and gently bit the offered throat, acknowledging and accepting that trust. “You have to pass the trial period first.”

“Don’t worry.” Nash nuzzled Adric’s cheek, marking him and being marked. “I will.”

Adric gave Nash’s head a rub, just like when they were kids and Nash was the little cousin who idolized him. “You know what? I think you will, too. Report to Jani tomorrow. She’ll bring you up to speed.”

After that, Adric crisscrossed Baltimore. Checking in with the various dens. Spreading the word about Luc and the night fae. Reassuring the cubs, who’d picked up on the adults’ tension. At least he could throw in the good news about Nash, too.

Doing what an alpha did, because his conscience wouldn’t let him leave without making sure everyone and everything was as ready as possible.

Dinner was a rowdy affair. A dozen clan members squeezed around Jace’s big plank table. They laughed and talked over one another, drank beer, passed bread and salad. Gorged themselves on Beau’s truly excellent shrimp étouffée.

Beneath the table, Tigger bumped his head against Adric’s leg. He scratched the cat behind his ears and watched approvingly as his sister devoured a good-sized helping of the shrimp étouffée.

Fane had taken the seat by Adric. He glanced over to see the other man watching Marjani, too, a smile on his narrow, good-looking face.

Fane turned his head toward Adric, and their eyes met.

Adric drew a breath. He’d accepted the other man into the clan for Jani’s sake, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it. Not only was Fane a quarter fae, he’d been one of King Sindre’s envoys, a trusted member of the ice fae court. The blond mixed-blood was as wily as they came.

But Fane was proving useful. His wayfaring Gift meant he could slip in and out of places as well as the night fae, and as an envoy, he’d been inside all of the major fae courts—sun fae, ice fae, and most importantly, the night fae.

As a sign of good faith, he’d drawn Adric maps of all three courts, with key buildings and rooms marked.

Fane leaned forward, letting his long blond hair curtain his face from Marjani. “I’ll take care of her,” he murmured. “Lady B will have to go through me to get her.”

Adric kept his expression blank. “Oh?”

“Don’t worry—Jani doesn’t know for sure. She just suspects. She is a Gifted strategist, after all.”

Fuck. “She can’t know. No one can. I want your word on that.”

“I won’t lie to her.”

“I’m not asking you to. Just keep your mouth shut.”

Fane inclined his shiny blond head. “Then you have my word.”

Adric took a gulp of beer. “Thank you. And not just for keeping your mouth shut, but for being the mate she needs.”

From the other end of the table, Marjani regarded them with narrowed eyes. Fane winked at her.

“I’m the one who’s thankful,” he murmured, and then asked Horace to pass the hot sauce.

Adric blinked. The thick stew was already spicy enough to burn a hole in a man’s stomach.

An evil grin split Horace’s broad face. “You sure?”

Fane stuck out a hand and the cougar fada placed the bottle in it.

While Fane recklessly risked his stomach lining, Adric took a thoughtful bite of shrimp.

Good thing he’d already decided that tonight was the night.

If Marjani suspected something was up, then he had even less time than he thought. Because he was going alone. His sister had a mate now, a chance at real happiness.

No way would he let her risk that.

He’d failed her once, let those river fada get ahold of her. He wasn’t going to fail her again.

Fane got up and took Marjani’s plate, filling it with another helping of étouffée before Adric could.

Something tightened in his chest. He had to admit Fane had turned out to be a good, caring mate. His sister was a lucky woman.

Their brother-sister bond would never be the same…and that was how it should be.

But it was a bittersweet feeling, knowing that it was now Fane she turned to, not him.

By the time Adric left for his den, an icy rain was falling.

Cursing under his breath, he headed across town with a ground-eating lope.

He didn’t scent Luc or Blaer—or any fae at all—but just in case, he intermittently used his quartz to cloak himself.

The energy drain was too great to use it constantly unless absolutely necessary.

He zigzagged through the concrete and granite towers of the business district, circled the Inner Harbor. As he left the harbor behind, the streets emptied, becoming an industrial wasteland of warehouses and parking lots.

To the south was the Seagirt Marine Terminal, its hulking cranes like metal giants backlit against the night. There’d been a time right after he made alpha when the clan had been so poor that some of his men had hired themselves out loading coal at the nearby CSX railyard.

Adric himself had worked for the fae. He was a Gifted tracker.

Smart, dogged and with that magical something that meant if he wanted to find you, you couldn’t run far or fast enough.

The fae were willing to pay stupid sums for his services.

He’d poured the money back into his hungry, impoverished clan, making sure everyone was fed and clothed.

The remainder had gone to developing the quartz smartphones.

He could leave for Virginia with a clear conscience, knowing the clan was in a much better place than when he’d taken over as alpha. That his sister was healing.

His only regret was Rosana. He slowed, pressed the heel of his hand to his heart, which literally hurt for her…a constant, low-level ache.

Shaking his head at himself, he shoved the hand in a pocket and picked up his pace again.

A few minutes later, he entered a neighborhood of shabby rowhomes with worn marble stoops.

A couple more turns and he was on his own street of small detached houses, half of them boarded up with the rest locked up tight for the night.

His neck itched. He rubbed it, looked around, inhaled deeply.

Nothing unusual. Still, that eerie feeling someone was watching tripped up his spine. Luc? Blaer? Or just one of Langdon’s warriors, here to harass Adric?

He peered into the shadows. But if it was a night fae, he or she remained concealed. Just in case, Adric bared his teeth at the darkest corner.

Footsteps sounded behind him. He whipped around, hand going to the switchblade in his pocket.

A wild-eyed human kid aimed a handgun at his head.

Cat’s balls. He really needed to clean up his neighborhood like Jace had.

He let go of his switchblade, raised his palms. “Easy, now.”

“Your wallet.” The kid’s throat worked. He clutched the gun in two shaking hands. “Give me your w-wallet and ph-phone, and you won’t get hurt.”

“I don’t think so.” Adric didn’t bother going clawed, just aimed a booted foot at the fool’s solar plexus.

The kid wheezed and folded in on himself, dropping the gun.

Adric snatched it from the air before it hit the sidewalk. He opened the chamber and shoved the bullets into a pocket.

The human was on the ground, sucking air like a beached fish. Adric shoved his fangs into the would-be robber’s face. The kid’s eyes went flashbulb. Terror scented the air.

“Yeah.” His mouth curved. “You messed with the wrong dude. Next time you rob someone, make sure he’s not a fada. This is my territory, asshole. I see you around here again, and you’re dead. Understand?”

The kid’s head bobbed. He tried to speak, couldn’t.

Adric nodded at the gun. “And I’ll be keeping this.”

The kid’s breath finally whooshed in. “Yes, sir.” Tears filled his eyes. “I…just needed something to eat. I—I’m hungry. P-please don’t hurt me.”

Adric hesitated. The kid didn’t smell of alcohol or drugs. He was just a skinny teenager scared out of his mind. His quilted puffer jacket was a size too large and his sneakers a size too small.

And Adric could scent the truth in his words. The kid was hungry.

He shoved the gun into the pocket of his jacket. “What’s your name?”

“Shawn.”

“Well, Shawn.” Adric picked him up by the scruff of his coat and set him on his feet. “You know Bruce’s Creole Kitchen?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell the cook that Lord Adric sent you. He’ll let you work for food. If you’re a hard worker, he might even give you a job.”

The kid’s thin face lit. Then his eyes narrowed. “You’re not shitting me?”

Adric growled.

“S-sorry, sir. Okay. I will. Thank you, sir.” The kid bobbed his head several times. Then he gulped. “ Lord Adric? Fuck. I’m really sorry. I—”

“Get going,” Adric suggested.

“Yes, sir.” Shawn scurried back the way he’d come. When he reached the corner, he shot a look at Adric over his shoulder and then broke into a run.

Adric continued down the street. He was almost to his house when his nape prickled again. He heaved a breath.

Maybe he should’ve slept at Marjani’s den after all.

Without breaking stride, he scanned the shadows. A human wouldn’t have seen the woman leaning against the side of his house, but his cat detected her just fine. She wore a baggy hoodie and a knit cap pulled low over her forehead. But he’d know that long, curvy body anywhere.