Page 21

J ace hadn’t meant to let Evie see him. He’d been there every night this week, blending into the shadows, and she’d never even suspected. But tonight, he’d known his eyes had gone night-glow in the dim light. He could’ve lowered his lids when she’d turned toward him.

Instead, he’d stared back. His heart had given a jubilant thump, his animal thrilled that she’d sensed him when she hadn’t the night before or the night before that. And before he knew it, he was crossing the alley to her.

Talking to Evie, having a beer in her homey little kitchen, was a balm to a man who’d been raised on war and bloodshed.

He’d reveled in the unaccustomed sense of peace, like lying in the grass on a summer day and watching the clouds drift by.

And kissing her was even better. He could get addicted to this woman: her spicy mouth, that sexy dimple, the taut body that was a perfect fit for his…

Then Kyler burst in and jolted Jace out of his pleasant haze. Because he’d come up here alone, and if a man from the clan was outside without his knowledge, it meant trouble anyway you looked at it.

Now he halted on the stoop, scanning the area with his night vision. Behind him, he heard Kyler shoot home the deadbolt.

Good man .

The other fada had disappeared. So he didn’t want to be seen. Jace’s skin prickled.

A scrape of gravel. He narrowed his eyes. There—across the alley, right where he’d been standing.

The shadows near the wooden fence coalesced, became a large animal. A shaggy black wolf.

No. It couldn’t be.

The wolf darted around the corner and disappeared.

Jace threw off his clothes and shifted to jaguar.

As his animal, he could run faster and his senses were more acute, but he lost precious seconds in the shift.

He shot out of the yard and around the corner in the wolf’s wake.

Tracking it in a sea of small-town scents wasn’t easy, but he caught a wild, distinctive scent to the left and turned in that direction.

Two houses down, a dog’s indignant yapping changed to a terrified whine.

Jace swerved in its direction and bounded over a chain link fence.

The dog was pressed against the back door of a small white house.

At the sight of Jace’s 250-pound jaguar, it whimpered and then peeled back its lips in a last, pitiful defense.

Jace ignored it to soar over the fence on the opposite side, hot on the wolf’s trail.

He still couldn’t quite believe it was Corban Savonett. The man was supposed to be dead. But Jace had known that scent since he was a cub.

When last heard from, Adric’s cousin had been in the Himalayas tracking a rogue ice fae female—and then he’d disappeared, his quartz winking out along with him.

But it made sense. Corban was a sly SOB. If he couldn’t beat Adric in a fair fight, it was just like him to try and take out his lieutenants.

Jace pounded after the huge black wolf. His jaguar was fast, but he hadn’t regained his full strength yet. He began to flag, but then something odd happened—Corban slowed down, too.

The fur rose on Jace’s nape. Too easy . With Corban’s head start, he should’ve been able to easily shake Jace off.

Trap!

He swerved just as another earth fada appeared beside Corban, a cougar Jace didn’t know. The two of them turned as one and charged Jace.

He went airborne, bounding sideways over a white picket fence. He was in a backyard with a wood playset. He ran up the slide and along the top bar and then launched himself onto the garage roof, hoping to confuse Corban. Wolves relied heavily on their sense of smell, especially at night.

Corban and the cougar raced into the yard, but Jace was already soaring off the other side of the garage. He hit the asphalt at a full run.

He considered his options. His main priority was Evie and Kyler, but even if he led Corban and his henchman away from their house, Corban knew where they lived. And Corban wouldn’t give a damn about collateral damage, especially two humans.

Jace would have to stand and fight.

He headed for Susquehanna River and the small park that would be empty at this time of night.

Thank the gods he knew Grace Harbor from his visits with Merry.

For the first couple of years, this had been the only place the Rock Run fada had allowed the two of them to meet.

Neutral territory, but close to the base.

Now Jace knew the perfect place to take a stand.

He reached the park and sprinted toward a stream that fed into the Susquehanna, Corban and the cougar right behind. He ran onto a footbridge that spanned the stream and whipped around to face them. The bridge was too narrow for them to both attack him. They’d have to take him on one at a time.

They skidded to a halt a few yards away. Two sets of gold eyes gazed at him. All three of them were panting hard.

He caught a good whiff of the cougar’s scent and mentally raised a brow. A female—interesting. But then, Corban never seemed to have trouble attracting women, although why any female would align herself with a prick like Adric’s cousin was a mystery to Jace.

Corban snarled a warning. Surrender—or die.

Jace curled his lip. Like the wolf would let him leave alive anyway. Go fuck yourself.

Corban gathered his muscles and leapt. Jace rose to meet him and they collided with a crash that would’ve broken the bones of any creature who wasn’t a fada.

And damn, it hurt. Jace’s breath left his lungs. Pain ripped through his almost-healed knife wounds. Suha wasn’t going to be happy.

Then he stopped thinking and went for Corban’s jugular. The wolf jerked right, but Jace got a mouthful of fur and blood.

Corban went for Jace’s throat, silent and deadly. Meanwhile, the cougar had somehow slipped past Jace and was snapping at his hind legs.

Two against one wasn’t fair, but then Corban had always fought dirty, even back when they’d been cubs and he was several years older and nearly twice Jace’s weight.

But Jace wasn’t a cub anymore—and he’d learned some dirty tricks of his own.

He slashed at the cougar’s face with a hind leg, claws extended. She yelped and jumped back. Jace dodged Corban as he lunged a second time for Jace’s throat. He slid past the wolf and then turned and sank his teeth into Corban’s hind leg.

His jaguar’s long, curved canines were powerful enough to pierce a skull. He sliced through muscle above the hock and crunched against bone.

The wolf’s furious snarl split the night. He struck wildly at Jace, biting whatever he could reach—Jace’s face, his shoulder.

Jace released Corban’s leg to go for a killing bite to the neck, only to have the cougar leap on his back. Sharp canines sliced into his nape. He ignored the pain to slam her against the bridge’s metal railing. She released his nape and fell to the wooden planks, unconscious.

Jace turned toward Corban, but the coward was racing off as fast as he could on three legs. Jace looked after him, chest heaving, itching to chase him down but knowing it wasn’t worth it. From the amount of blood he’d left behind, Corban wouldn’t try anything else tonight.

Meanwhile, Jace had Evie and Kyler to protect, and on top of that, he was bleeding from several places himself.

He hissed a cat’s version of a curse after the wolf’s retreating figure and turned to the cougar. Adric would want to question her.

Shifting back to man, he tapped his quartz. The alpha answered immediately; Evie must have gotten through to him. “On my way,” he said over the muted roar of a motorcycle.

“We’ve got a situation here.” Jace explained what had happened.

When he got to Corban, the alpha snarled. “I knew the bastard wasn’t dead—that would be too fucking simple. I want to talk to that female. I don’t care how you do it, but make sure she doesn’t leave.”

“That’s what I thought. But your cousin—what if he goes after Evie and her brother? He knows I was there.”

Jace didn’t have to spell it out. They both knew Corban wouldn’t give a damn if innocents got hurt, especially humans.

“Fuck. What the hell were you doing there, anyway? No, don’t answer that. You can explain when I get there.”

“I’ll meet you at Evie’s house. I’ll bring the cougar with me.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Adric ended the connection.

The cougar’s eyelids fluttered. Jace knelt on the bridge to check her for injuries. Other than a gash on her head, she was all right. In fact, his injuries were worse.

He wrapped his hand around her quartz; lightly, but she felt it all right. She tensed and opened her eyes, her upper lip twitching in an attempt at a snarl.

“Shift,” he ordered. “Now.”

She growled weakly.

“Maybe I’m not being clear. You don’t have a choice.” He tightened his grip on her pendant.

She jerked in pain. Deep within, he sensed its panicked vibrations, echoing its wearer’s terror. You didn’t touch anyone’s quartz without their permission, and even then, only a close relation or a lover could wrap a hand around it without causing a deep, visceral discomfort.

He was being a bastard, but he didn’t fucking care. The fada who’d kidnapped Marjani had smashed her quartz to bits. This woman might not have been part of that, but she’d attacked Jace for no reason other than Corban’s say-so. Worse, she was a threat to Evie and Kyler.

The cougar whimpered. He let up on the pressure but kept the quartz in his palm. “ Shift .”

Deep within, a single point of silver glowed to life, then another and another.

Jace added a small portion of his energy to hers.

He was the stronger, but his quartz was still being drained of energy to heal him, both from his earlier iron poisoning and now the cuts Corban and this female had inflicted during the fight.

He’d give her an energy boost, but she could drain her own damn quartz to shift.

Silver and blue and purple sparkles spread over the cougar’s fur, and then a naked woman was curled up on the bridge, chest heaving, her hair a wild tangle around her shoulders.