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“No,” he agreed. “No one will worry.” And for a moment that seemed so fucking sad. He tightened his jaw. Hell, in another minute he was going to be tearing up like a girl. “I’ll leave in the morning.” By then he should be well enough to slip away without anyone being the wiser.

“Okay, sure.” Her relief was clear, but she hurried to add, “If you feel up to it, I mean.”

“I’ll leave,” he repeated grimly.

Evie took out her phone. “You mind if I play some music?”

“Go right ahead.”

She tapped the screen and set the phone on the coffee table. Music filled the room, a soothing mix of nature sounds, flutes and drums that sounded like something he’d heard coming out of a yoga studio in downtown Baltimore.

His lids drifted shut.

“Go to sleep,” Evie said. “You’re safe. Kyler didn’t see anyone outside.”

He nodded. No sense explaining that a night fae could blend into the shadows even better than a fada. Because the night fae was gone for now—Jace’s skin would’ve been crawling if he were near. The assassins’ orders would’ve been to get in and out quickly, standard operating procedure.

Besides, the remaining night fae—because he suspected there had been three altogether—had to remove their fallen comrade before he was found by a human, or worse, by one of the local fada. The Rock Run alpha would be furious to find a night fae in his territory—dead or alive.

Evie grabbed a laptop and sat in the easy chair at the foot of the couch. She folded her legs tailor-style and frowned at the screen.

Jace studied her profile through half-open eyes. She was…fascinating.

Thin but sturdy, with clearly defined muscles on her upper arms. Her platinum hair was cut short as a man’s and she had those strong dark brows, but her cheek had a soft curve that could only belong to a woman.

She wasn’t wearing any makeup, but her earlobe was pierced by a delicate gold hoop from which dangled a silver disc.

Evie touched the screen, scrolling through a document.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Writing a paper for my biology class.” She started typing. “It’s due next week.”

“You’re in school, then.” He swallowed a touch of envy.

No one in his clan had been to a human college, but it wasn’t unheard of. As a teenager, Jace had already been studying the clan’s quartz technology, and he’d have loved to major in physics and IT at one of the local universities.

But the clan had been in the midst of the Darktime, the bloody internal war that had come to a head in his late teens. He’d been too busy surviving to even think of going to college.

“Yeah. I just started back, but I’m going to be an LPN.” She slanted him a grin. “I just thought of something—you’re my first patient. You can’t die on me. That would be too effing wrong.”

He stared, entranced, at the dimple that winked to life in her right cheek. Just as quickly, it was gone. He wanted to keep watching her, but his eyelids drooped.

Outside, rain was falling again, a soothing patter against the windows.

“I’ll do my best,” he muttered and slid into sleep.

Evie glanced at the sleeping shifter. His color looked a little better now, and he seemed to be breathing normally.

Relieved, she turned her attention back to her paper. When you worked two jobs and went to school, you learned to focus whenever you could snatch the time. In fifteen minutes, she had the first couple pages written.

Kyler returned to report that he’d washed down the whole area behind the house, even the alley as far as the hose could reach. “Of course, Mrs. Linney came outside and asked what I was doing washing the steps in the rain.” He flopped down on the floor and took a gulp from a can of soda.

Evie shut her laptop. “You didn’t tell her—”

“Yeah, right.” Kyler gave her the kind of look only a teenager could give.

“She’d broadcast it to the entire frigging block.

I told her I spilled my soda and you’d be pissed off if I left it until morning.

Ants, you know. And then it started raining harder again, so I probably didn’t need to bother. ”

Evie gave him a thumbs-up. “Quick thinking, squirt.”

“I hate it when you call me that,” he grumbled, but she could tell he was pleased at the compliment.

Jace muttered something and both their gazes shot to him. He sighed and moved his head against the pillow before curling up on his right side.

Kyler lowered his voice. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Hell if I know. He says he’ll leave in the morning.”

“Good. The dude’s trouble. I mean, what the fuck do the night fae want with him?”

“Who knows? But it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow he’ll go back to Baltimore or wherever he came from, and we can forget he was ever here.” Her heart pinched at that, which was crazy. Shifters didn’t mix with humans, except for the occasional hookup—and hookups weren’t her thing.

Kyler glanced at the curled-up fada. “Wonder what his animal is?”

“A cat.”

“He told you?”

“No.” But she’d bet a night’s worth of tips she was right. “Look at how he moves. And his body—that’s a cat’s body if I ever saw one.”

Kyler glanced at Jace’s long, powerful body and shrugged. “If you say so.” He took another slug of soda. “It’s kind of cool having a shifter in the house—especially a Baltimore shifter. I’ve never seen one up close before.”

“Me either. I wonder why he was in Grace Harbor?”

They contemplated the sleeping man for another minute, and then Kyler finished his soda and rose to his feet.

“Are you going out?”

“I was thinking about it, yeah.” He paced to the front windows and twitched aside a curtain to peer out at the dark street.

Evie took a moment to choose her words. Kyler was so easy to set off these days.

“Do you think you should? That night fae could still be out there.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Why would he care about me? But I guess I should stay here in case he comes back. I don’t want you here by yourself.”

Evie blinked. Was this the brother who just that morning had growled that Evie wasn’t his frickin’ mom and he didn’t have to answer to her if he didn’t want to? But all she said was, “Thanks.”

Kyler returned to her side of the living room. He sat down, his back against the wall, phone out.

She frowned. “You’re not going to tell anyone about Jace, are you?”

“No, Evie,” he said with exaggerated patience. “I’m just letting Ben and the other guys know what’s up.” Ben, who lived three doors down, was Kyler’s best friend.

Kyler sent a flurry of texts, and then settled down to play a game.

Evie glanced again at Jace. He looked okay, so she went back to her paper. By eleven o’clock she had a rough draft done. Shutting the laptop, she massaged her forehead.

In the kitchen, Kyler was making popcorn. He returned with two large bowls and handed her one.

“Thanks,” she said, digging in. “I only had time for a sandwich tonight.”

“Thought you might be hungry.” Her brother popped a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “I’m going upstairs,” he said, crunching his way through it. “Shout if you need me—or if you want me to sit with him.”

“I will. And Kyler?” He halted in the doorway to look over his shoulder. “Thanks, dude. For helping tonight, and for staying in with me.”

His narrow face split in a grin. “Hey, it was an adventure. Too bad I can’t tell Ben.”

She nodded. “Maybe in a few weeks, but for now, we’d better keep this quiet.”

With Kyler in his bedroom, she took a quick trip upstairs to brush her teeth and grab a sheet and pillow from the hall closet. “Don’t stay up too late,” she told Kyler.

He grunted in response.

Back downstairs, she shut off all the lights except the one in the hall and curled up again on the easy chair.

She had fallen into a light doze when something made her open her eyes. Jace was staring at her, his irises glowing that odd feral-green again. Her skin prickled. She glanced around the room for a weapon.

Then his breath sighed out and she reminded herself he couldn’t hurt anyone right now.

She rose to her feet. “You okay? Would you like some water?”

“Yeah.” He swiped his tongue over his lips. “I’m so damn thirsty. And I need to take a piss.”

“Water first.” She hurried into the kitchen and returned with a large glass, which he drained in a couple of gulps and then handed back to her.

“Can you walk?” She glanced at him doubtfully as she set the glass on the coffee table. “I can get Kyler. He’s upstairs.”

He eased his legs over the side of the couch. “I can do it.” He set his feet on the floor and used the coffee table to push himself to standing.

He only took a couple of steps before he winced and grasped his belly. “I could use some help here,” he said ruefully.

She was already moving the coffee table out of the way. “Put your arm on my shoulders,” she said as she slid an arm around his waist.

Together, they shuffled into the hall and turned right toward the bathroom. Fortunately, it was only a few steps further. Evie flipped on the light and helped him inside.

Jace gripped the sink and dragged in a breath, head down. He was flushed, his temples beaded with sweat.

She bit her lower lip. “Will you—I mean, do you need any help?”

“I’m okay,” he muttered.

“Okay, good.” She backed toward the door. “I’ll be in the hall if you need me.”

“I won’t. But thanks.”

She shut the door and walked a few feet down the hall to wait. The toilet flushed and then she heard water running, followed by a long silence.

She rapped on the bathroom door. “Everything okay in there?”

“Yeah.” The door opened and he limped out. “Just moving…slow.”

Evie’s eyes widened. He’d washed his face and taken his shirt off. Her gaze went to a hard chest covered by wiry black hair, and then she jerked it back to his face.

The look he gave her made her cheeks heat. The man might be injured, but that considering expression told her he was recovering fast. They stared at each other. A heartbeat passed, then another.

He spoke first, indicating the shirt balled in his hand. “It was bloody. Where do you want it?”