Page 49

A dric ignored Kane to focus on Corban. He and his oldest cousin were evenly matched, his cougar as large as Corban’s wolf. He’d beat Corban once before in a fair fight—the duel for alpha, with the clan’s lieutenants and top soldiers as witnesses.

This time, it wouldn’t be fair, and his animal was coldly pleased. Fuck the rules. Corban needed to die.

Adric crouched low, ears back, and bared his teeth. Kane circled uneasily, his gaze darting between Corban and Adric.

Adric’s tail twitched. Traitor .

Kane’s eyes cut to his brother. Corban growled, and Kane whined. Then he made up his mind and ranged himself next to Corban.

So be it . Adric would take them both on.

Corban’s muscles bunched, preparing to attack. Adric struck first, darting in and sinking his teeth into Corban’s ruff. The wolf’s blood filled his mouth, hot and salty.

Corban shook him off and snapped at Adric’s leg. Adric danced away. Kane sidled closer for a sneak attack, and Adric snapped, tearing a gash in Kane’s muzzle.

The battle started in earnest then. The two wolves came at Adric from either side, but he twisted and leapt straight up, and they crashed into each other.

He came down and ripped into the nearest nape with his teeth. It was Kane. He gripped his vertebrae and gave him a vicious shake. There was the sound of snapping bones, and the wolf grunted and went limp, his head at an odd angle.

Regret twanged through Adric. He’d grown up with Kane, the other shifter just two years older than him. But there was no time to mourn.

He released him and turned toward Corban, but the bastard had run, leaving his brother to distract Adric while he escaped. Corban was already disappearing into the trees.

Adric shot after him, but the wolf had a good head start, and Adric was bleeding from wounds he hadn’t known he had.

His cougar’s blood was up. It urged him to give chase, but the man knew it could be a trap. And even if it wasn’t, Corban was leading him out of the park and away from Evie and Jace. He slowed, but his cousin did, too. Then the air around Corban shimmered and twisted.

Adric halted and watched from a safe distance as the wolf disappeared. A fae had ’ported the bastard out.

Adric let out a furious snarl. And he scented silver, not a night fae’s unpleasant scent, which was one more layer of mysterious to this whole hellacious business.

He shifted to man and started limping back toward Kane. The wolves must have chomped on his leg, too. He had to pause a minute to pulse some healing energy into it. He couldn’t afford to be at less than full strength.

That done, he contacted Beau, bringing him up to speed with a few terse sentences. “Put out a call to the nearest soldiers,” he finished. “Corban’s gone rogue. Their orders are to kill him on sight.”

“If he’s still in Baltimore,” the bear replied. “A powerful fae could ’port him anywhere in the world.”

“I know.” Adric gripped his quartz and willed his pounding anger to subside. “Meanwhile, get a healer to Druid Hill Park ASAP. Jace is hurt and Kane is dying.”

“Evie?”

Adric expelled a breath. “I don’t know, but I’m hoping she’s with Jace.”

“I’ll tell Kyler.”

Adric gave Beau his current coordinates and returned to where Kane lay on the ground, breathing shallowly. Adric knelt beside him. “Shift.” It was his cousin’s only chance at healing.

Kane closed his eyes and changed to his man. He remained motionless, his head at that odd angle, his narrow face ashen. His lips twisted. “Can’t feel…my legs or arms.”

“Fuck.” Adric sat back on his heels, his chest tight with a mixture of pity and anger.

Kane moistened his lips. “Sorry…I—he’s my brother.”

“Fuck that. I’m alpha. You swore an oath to me.” And we were family .

Kane’s gaze slid from his. “I know.” To break an oath was a terrible thing. It must have torn his cousin up inside. Probably he hadn’t even used his full strength against Adric—his wolf wouldn’t have allowed it.

Kane’s eyes closed, his only movement the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

Adric glanced around. “Where in Hades is that healer?” But he knew it was already too late.

His cousin did too. “There’s something…you should know. Our dad…Leron…he let the night fae in. The Darktime.”

“What?”

“He knew…he couldn’t win alpha…in a fair fight. So he invited the night fae. They were happy…to feed on our misery. To make it worse.”

“God’s balls.” Adric scraped his hands over his face. But it made sense; he’d seen it himself. Too often, the night fae had been conveniently near at the clan’s worst moments, ready to feed off their anger and despair.

Blackness filled his head. The guilt of assassinating his own uncle was a weight he carried with him.

Always. But at that moment, he would’ve gladly stuck a knife into Leron’s black heart all over again.

So many men and women dead or hurt to feed that prick’s ambition…

and the young, innocents who’d never even had a chance to live.

And now he’d killed his own cousin.

Tipping back his head, he let out an anguished growl that iced the blood of every animal within hearing range.

Kane’s mouth quirked in an ironic smile. “You’re better…alpha. Leron would…have hated that.” His breath sighed out and his eyes blanked.

“Damn you,” Adric bit out. But he closed his cousin’s eyes before rising to his feet. Then he called Beau, telling him to send a couple of soldiers to remove Kane’s body from the park before some human stumbled upon him.

The chase through the park had led him close to where they’d left their clothes. He dressed and grabbed Marjani and Zuri’s clothes as well and started off at a trot to Zuri’s coordinates.

It was only then that he realized he could no longer sense Jace’s quartz.

Evie’s stomach roiled. She pressed a hand to her mouth and tried not to lose her supper on the dirt floor. She was not some girly-girl, damn it. She didn’t fall apart at the sight of blood. But she could smell Tyrus’s scorched flesh, and he was sprawled like a broken doll just ten feet away.

She wrapped her arms around herself. Jace paced toward her, his mouth stained with blood. She shrank against the wall. His stride checked and she felt his hurt.

Her heart constricted. She unpeeled her fingers from where they were digging into her upper arms. “I’m sorry.” She stretched out her hands to him. “It’s okay. I know you had to do it.” She was babbling. She clamped her mouth shut.

He remained where he was and her stomach sank. Sparkles danced over his fur and she realized he was trying to shift. The sparkles brightened, and then dimmed, and she realized he was having trouble.

“No,” she whispered, knowing he was forcing the shift for her. “Don’t…”

But then the bits of colors intensified and cascaded over his body. She squeezed her eyes shut against the brightness, and when she opened them again, he was a man and the blood was gone.

“Evie?” He opened his arms to her, eyes wary. Powerful, naked, and hers .

She stepped forward and his face lightened. They met in the middle, hugging and kissing each other. Jace framed her face in his hands. “You’re all right?” He kissed her eyes, her mouth, ran his hands over her back.

“Yes, yes. But what about you?” She pulled back to examine his throat and chest. His original wounds had closed up, but there was a bloody slice across his cheek and he had a nasty rope burn around his neck.

She touched it with her fingertips and felt all over again the icy fear that had gripped her as Jace had struggled against the magical noose. “I thought you were going to die.”

“Cat, remember?” He shrugged a big shoulder. “Nine lives, although I may be down to four or five at this point.”

She made a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob. “Oh, God.” She laid her head against his chest, and for a long moment, they just held each other, forgetting everyone and everything else. His heart thumped loudly against her cheek and she realized he was as affected as her.

“What the fuck did you do with that fae light, anyway?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to distract him.” She was shaking. He squeezed her tight.

The cellar was filling with people—Marjani, Zuri, and a couple shifters Evie didn’t know.

“A healer’s on the way,” Zuri told Jace. “Can you get to the surface?”

Jace nodded and guided Evie to the ladder. She stared at it, not sure her legs could carry her to the top. The adrenaline that had fueled her desperate attempt to save Jace had dissipated, leaving her feeling like a wrung-out dishcloth.

Jace swung her into his arms. “Hang on, angel.”

“Y-you c-can’t!” she protested through chattering teeth, but he stopped her mouth with a kiss and carried her one-handed up the ladder while she clung to his neck.

A lean blond man lifted her from Jace’s arms and set her on the ground beneath a large oak. Jace sank down beside her, his back against the oak.

“I’m Tommy,” the blond said. “A healer.”

She nodded. “Evie.”

“Good to meet you. I’ve been hearing all sorts of good things about you and Jace.” While he talked, he ran his quartz over Evie. He frowned. “You’re dangerously weak.”

“The night fae fed on her,” said Jace, “and then I took more energy to heal myself. It was the only way.”

“I’m fine,” she said between chattering teeth. “Jace is…the one…who’s hurt.”

Jace shook his head. “Evie first.”

“You’re outvoted,” Tommy told her. He gently pressed her shoulder, encouraging her to lean against the oak trunk next to Jace. “You won’t feel yourself for a few days,” he said as he set his quartz over her heart, “but I can give you an energy boost.”

She nodded and gave in, letting her eyes drift shut as her chest warmed with a healing glow that spread throughout her body. She soaked it up like rain on parched earth.

Tommy moved the quartz to her bruised left hand. She’d almost forgotten it in all the excitement, but now that the adrenaline was fading, it hurt like a bitch. But within a few minutes, the bruises disappeared.

“That should do it.” Tommy smiled at her. “But take it easy for the next few days.”

She tentatively moved her fingers, amazed to find it barely hurt. “I will,” she replied, “and thank you.”

He nodded and turned to Jace.

Evie rested her head against the trunk and watched, tired to her very toes. She was aware of people coming and going, and intense, low-voiced conversations, but it seemed to be happening far away.

Adric appeared and dragged off his own T-shirt so that she had something covering her. He’d been in a fight himself—his face and chest had been clawed—but his wounds were already closing up. He crouched next to her, bronze eyes concerned. “You okay, love?”

She nodded jerkily. “Kyler? He’s…all right?”

“Yeah. A little shook up, but he’s fine. Suha and Beau are with him, along with two soldiers.”

Relief flooded her. “Thank you,” she rasped.

He squeezed her shoulder. “No thanks necessary. I’m just sorry the two of you got caught up in this.”

“At least it’s over.”

“I hope so,” the alpha muttered.

Jace roused himself enough to ask about Corban and Kane.

Adric shook his head. “Kane’s dead. Corban took off like the rat he is—left his own brother to take the fall.”

“No surprise there,” Jace said.

“We’ll get him,” Adric returned grimly. “He’s a dead man.” He lifted a brow at Evie. “That was you who took Tyrus out with a fae ball?”

“I guess.” As if sensing their interest, the fae light wafted onto her lap and glowed a little more brightly.

She stroked it, not sure herself exactly what had happened.

“I don’t know anything about a fae ball—I just used this light.

He—the night fae—was hurting Jace. He was fighting with magic, strangling Jace with some kind of magical rope. ”

She swallowed, recalling her horror as Jace had clawed desperately at his neck, unable to stop the rope from constricting.

“I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

I thought about how night fae can be burned by the sun, and—” She spread her hands.

“I only wanted to distract him. I never thought it would set him on fire.”

Jace’s mouth curved. “She was fucking awesome.”

Adric squeezed her shoulder again. “Whatever you did, good work.” He turned to answer a question from one of his soldiers, and Tommy sat back.

“That should get you home,” he told Jace. “But both of you need rest. Go back to your den and stay in bed the rest of the day. Healer’s orders.”

Jace stood up and gave a bone-cracking stretch. “Sounds like a plan.” He bent down and before Evie knew what he was doing, swung her into his arms. To Adric he said, “She’s had enough. You have any more questions, you can ask them later.”

The alpha inclined his head.

“I can walk,” she said, but Jace fixed her with a glare.

“Let me take care of you, okay?”

Evie blinked. She couldn’t recall any man ever saying those words to her. She opened her mouth to argue—she could take care of herself, damn it. But although Jace’s expression was stern, she saw the worry way back in his eyes.

“Okay,” she said and rested her head against his shoulder. Because she was a little shaky, and if it made him happy, why not?

Jace headed into the woods with a ground-eating stride. She had the feeling he would’ve walked all the way back to his den butt-naked, but someone must have called for backup because a jeep pulled up as they emerged from the trees at the park’s south end.

A pretty black-haired woman rolled down the window. “Need a ride?”

“Dina,” said Jace. “Right on time.”

“Anything for you, boss.” She gave Evie a friendly smile and hopped out to open the back door.

Jace helped Evie into the jeep and then donned the shorts Dina tossed him. Sitting next to Evie, he pulled her onto his lap. She snuggled against his chest and heaved a sigh.

“That’s it.” He stroked her nape. “It’s over.”

She nodded against his shoulder and burrowed closer. He smelled sweaty and a little earthy, and all male. She tongued the ridge of his collarbone, tasting the salt.

His eyes creased in the smile she thought of as all her own. “What was that for?”

“Just because.” I love you.

“I like it.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Do it whenever you want.”

Jace said they were mates, but she knew from Suha it wasn’t a done deal. The woman had to accept the bond.

Her chest constricted. Because it wasn’t just her—she had Kyler to consider, too.