by Nova Archer
Jace glanced at Hector. "Do you know this building?"
Hector shook his head.
Spying a painted door next to one of the shops, Jace turned the doorknob. It was locked. Getting a good grip, he tried again. This time, he squeezed the handle so hard, the lock popped off and he yanked open the door. The vinegar odor became even stronger.
"Hector, are you armed?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Jace glanced at everyone. "I'm going in first. Then Hector, Lyra and Tala."
"What if he's armed?" Tala asked. "You're not bullet proof, you know."
"No, but a lead bullet isn't going to take me down. I can take several shots before I'm out of the game."
Jace kept Tala's gaze. He could see the worry in her eyes. And it made his heart swell. Grabbing her hand, Jace pulled her to him. She didn't object when he cupped her cheeks with his palms. "You'll not get rid of me that easy, woman."
"Good," she smiled.
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers. It was quick but it was enough for now.
Letting her go, Jace glanced at Lyra. "Can you throw a binding spell?"
"Oh yeah, no problem."
"Get one ready." He nodded. "Let's go."
Once Jace walked in he could see a set of stairs to his right. The tart odor wafted from down the stairs. Jace pointed his finger up, indicating the steps.
As they climbed to the second floor, a sudden wave of dread washed over Jace. Something wasn't right. It seemed much too easy finding Darryl when they did. Maybe they were lucky, being in the right place at the right time.
When they reached the second floor, Jace took a few steps down a short hall toward three doors. The vinegar smell intensified. And another odor came to him in a puff of stale air. Sulfur.
The scent was unmistakable.
Jace pointed down the hall. The others followed him close behind as he approached the first door. Setting his ear to the wood, he listened for any sounds inside. Nothing came to him except the hum of a heater.
He moved on to the next door. His eyes watered from the intense smell of vinegar and sulfur. Not the most pleasant combination. He set his ear to the door.
The sound of breaking glass sounded through the wood.
"He's there!" He yelled as he turned toward the door and kicked at it with his foot. One powerful boot to the lock, and the door burst open in a rain of wood splinters.
Jace rushed into the apartment just as Darryl ran toward the broken window.
"Lyra! Toss it!"
The witch burst into the room, hands out, murmuring under her breath.
The spell worked and Darryl froze in spot, his foot perched on top of the window ledge. Jace rushed him, grabbed his arm and tossed him backwards. Leaning out the window, Jace spied a pile of shattered glass and a dark shape fleeing down the street. The scent of sulfur followed the suspect out.
"I'm going after him." Jace pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. He looked at Tala as he undid his jeans. "Come with me."
She flinched. "What?"
"Shift and come with me. He'll never be able to outrun us both."
Her gaze flitted to Hector then back to Jace. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Tala?" Hector moved toward her, concern wrinkling his brow.
"She's a lycan, Hector," Lyra announced.
Tala swung around and glared at Lyra. "You have no right."
Jace touched her arm, gaining her gaze. "I'm going. We can bring this guy down together."
"I can't," she bit out.
Jace stepped back and went to all fours. Without another word, he forced the shift through his body. Once transformed, he glanced at Tala again. Shame and regret flashed across her face. It speared his heart. Turning, he jumped out the window.
CHAPTER THIRTY
As Jace rounded the corner of the building, the suspect was disappearing around yet another turn. The only thing that signaled the suspect's path was the screams that erupted in his wake.
When Jace curved the next corner and rushed down the promenade, he could see the tail end of his quarry. Tail end was the operative word. He was quick on his feet and Jace now knew why. He was a lycan, or at least had shifting abilities.
The suspect crashed through tables with umbrellas, mowing down everything in his path. Screaming patrons jumped out of the way. Some weren't lucky enough to move as fast and ended up in the river.
Jace followed the path of destruction. More screams erupted as he passed through. He could just imagine the news reports. Killer wolves running rampant through the River Walk.
For the next several city blocks, Jace followed the suspect's course. He ran as fast as he could, but he always seemed a little behind. Enough to still see the suspect, but not close enough to bring him down. A dangerous game of tag.
Veering off the path, the suspect jumped across the river way and headed topside. Jace bounded forward and nearly collided with a hot-dog cart. Coming to a stop, Jace turned and leaped across the water. On the other side, he lost sight of his quarry.
Still running, Jace followed his nose. The scent of sulfur still permeated the air like a noxious gas. He jumped over a clump of shrubs. When he landed, he caught sight of the suspect crossing the road and heading toward an old stone building. The Alamo.
The suspect raced across the empty park and around another building corner. Jace chased him. He wouldn't give up until he had the guy in his teeth. Literally.
Rounding the corner of the building, Jace noticed it was an alley. What he didn't notice was that it was a dead end. He realized that a little too late.
The suspect stood crouching in a small pool of lamplight waiting for him.
Jace skidding to a stop and nearly collided with a large metal garbage bin. His quarry grinned when Jace came near him. Jace's skin crawled and the hairs on his neck and back rose to attention.
In the light, Jace could see that he wasn't covered in fur, but dark mottled skin. His muzzle was shorter, his eyes bigger, and his canines much, much longer. More like a vampire's than a shifter's.
"Finally, it's just you and me, lycan," he snarled. "I've been waiting a long time for this moment."
Jace shook his head. Although muffled, the voice was familiar. The timber of it registered something in his mind. But he didn't even get a chance to grasp it before the suspect launched at him.
Leaping to the right, Jace swiped at his attacker. His talons ripped through the suspect's shoulder. Blood sprayed across Jace's flank. But it was as if Jace had never touched him. The suspect was up and around, leaping on Jace's back before Jace could even consider his next move.
Long thick claws dug into Jace's side, puncturing his skin and muscles. Pain ripped through his body and he had difficulty breathing. Had the bastard punctured a lung already with his long talons? He wouldn't let the fight be over so soon.
Shaking side to side, Jace managed to toss off the attacker. The suspect rolled across the alley and into the brick wall. Jace turned and leaped at him, intent on going for the guy's throat. But he was up and actually standing on his hind legs when Jace crashed into him.
His attacker wrapped his front legs around Jace like in a hug, squeezing him vice-tight. Jace snapped his jaws at the suspect's throat, but couldn’t get close enough to get a grip. Turning his head, the suspect opened his mouth and bit down on Jace's muzzle. His long needle-sharp fangs pierced the top of Jace's nose, and went into his lower jaw, sealing his muzzle shut.
Agony poured over Jace like an acid burn. Intense. Tearing. Burning. His eyes watered from the overwhelming intensity of it.
They rolled on the ground, locked in battle. Jace tried to yank his head away, not caring how much flesh he ripped out in the process. But the suspect had a steel grip on him. He wasn't going to get away. Not until the bastard was done with him.
Bringing up his back feet, Jace tried to push his attacker off. He tore and swiped at the guy's hind legs and lower extremities. But no matter how
much damage Jace thought he was doing, the suspect did not relinquish his hold on Jace.
As claws dug further into Jace's sides, he thought about Tala. He feared he'd never see her again. He had missed his chance to tell her how he felt. As blood ran down his flank and onto the cement, Jace wished she knew how much he was in love with her. How much he wanted her to move to Necropolis and start a family.
Finally, the suspect yanked his teeth from Jace's muzzle. But it was in vain to think that Jace could still use his jaws. They felt bruised and broken. He could barely open his mouth.
"And now it's time to die, Jace Jericho. Do you have anything you'd like to say?"
Jace wanted to scream, but instead, he reared his head back and lashed forward, smashing the guy in his face. He didn't think the move would work, but he had the satisfaction of feeling the hot spray of blood on his face and hear a grunt of pain.
"You will pay for that." Lying on top of Jace, the suspect pulled out the claws from Jace's sides and lifted them high in the air. His eyes bugged out with fury as he brought them down toward Jace, intent on spearing his internal organs.
A streak of auburn dashed out of the shadows and rammed into the attacker, taking him down to the ground. Relief spread over Jace, until he spied emerald green eyes starting at him... * * *
When Tala had scrambled around the corner and seen Jace on the ground and his attacker ready to deliver the lethal blow, she thought she'd died. Nothing could've prepared her for the pain, the horror-the rage. Instinct kicked in and she rushed the guy to stop him from killing Jace...her mate.
In that instant, she knew she loved him and she would fight the grim reaper himself for Jace's life.
As she tumbled on the ground with the misshapen attacker, Tala thought maybe that's who she was tangling with. For if he wasn't death, he was a darn close second with his dark scaly skin, strange glowing eyes and sulfurous breath.
He tried to get a hold on her, but she was too swift, too agile. She squirmed and wriggled from his grip. He roared in frustration and made another lunge toward her. When he reared up on his hind legs, Tala moved in for the kill.
She leaped, staying low to the ground. Talons out, she swiped at his belly then twisted out of the way, rolling across the cement.
Sirens blared in the background as Tala leaped to her feet and waited for another attack. But it didn't come.
The attacker was gone. Vanished. Leaving only a blood trail that led, remarkably, up the side of the brick wall of the neighboring building.
Turning, Tala rushed to Jace's side. He had shifted back to human form and was lying in a pool of blood, his face slack and his eyes closed.
She nudged him with her nose, but he didn't stir. She had been too late.
Crouching onto her stomach beside Jace's body, Tala forced the change. Pain ripped and tore through her, but she didn't falter. She had to hurry. She had to save him at any cost.
Once transformed, she gathered him in her arms and pressed her lips to his forehead. Tears dripped from her eyes and splattered on his bloodied face. "No, God, no. Please, Jace, stay with me. Please." She rocked him back and forth, unsure of what to do.
Pressing her fingers to his neck, she found his pulse. It was slow but there. She didn't want to look at his injuries knowing that they were savage and brutal, but she had to if she had any chance of helping him.
She surveyed his naked form. He was a bloody mess, but she could see where he had been ripped open. Along his ribs, there were several deep holes and tears. Blood continued to flow.
"Don't die on me, Jace," she murmured. "Not when I've just found you."
Tala looked around the alley searching for anything she could use to staunch the flow of blood. But there was nothing but garbage and rustling papers. She was without clothing, having left it back at the apartment where she had shifted, so there was nothing on her she could use.
She only had herself, her hands.
Closing her eyes, she had a flash of the time when she was trying to shift and couldn't. Jace had laid his hands on her to help her through it. She had felt the warmth and power through his palms. Did she have that power? Could she heal Jace?
After cradling his head to the ground, Tala knelt along his side. She rubbed her hands together. Did she feel a spark of something?
Taking a deep breath, she laid them on Jace's body, over the two wounds high along his ribs. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated. And prayed.
Nothing happened.
Panic thrummed through her. She could barely breathe from the pressure in her chest. Opening her eyes, she glanced at his face. It was still slack and unresponsive. She checked his pulse again. It was there but fading.
Laying her hands on him again, she clamped her eyes shut and whispered, "I love you, Jace Jericho. Please, come back to me."
Slowly, warmth spread across her palms. She opened her eyes and watched in awe as her hands started to glow with a pale yellow light. Heat flared over her skin. It burned like dipping them into boiling water. But she didn't move, she didn't flinch. Tala kept her hands pressed firmly down on Jace's flesh.
She would heal him even if it killed her.
Opening her eyes, she watched, transfixed, as the oozing blood from his wounds stopped. She could almost see the flesh knitting back together. When he groaned, Tala lifted her hands from his body and set them on his face.
His eyelids fluttered open and the corners of his beautiful mouth lifted.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she pressed her lips to his. "I thought I lost you."
"Never happen, babe," he croaked as he raised his hand and touched her cheek. "You saved me." He coughed.
"Don't talk. Help is coming." She smoothed her hand over his forehead and over his hair.
"Is he still here?"
She shook her head. "He's gone, but I hurt him."
"I knew you had it in you, babe. You're a lycan."
Somewhere inside Tala a dam burst. Cradling his head and shoulders in her lap, she hugged him close and sobbed. Emotions she didn't even know she harbored poured out of her in a rushing, soul-ripping stream.
She stayed like that, frozen in her pain, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart next to hers, until hands lifted Jace from her lap and set him on a stretcher.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The incessant beeping of the machines hooked up to his arm and chest was driving Jace mad. As were images of the previous night's violence.
He couldn't get his attacker's voice out of his head. On some level it rang eerily familiar to him, but it eluded him like a grain of salt on a beach.
All he wanted to do was rip the cords off, run out of the hospital and find Tala.
He hadn't heard from her since he'd been rushed to South Shadowwood in Necropolis. He'd been there under the doctor's all-seeing eye for the last twenty-four hours. That was long enough to be confined to a bed. Except when there were other more interesting activities planned.
The curtain around his bed rustled. A plush wolf's head poked through the separated fabric.
"Hello Jace, how are you today?" A muffled female voice sounded from behind the curtain.
His heart rate jumped and his stomach flipped over. Was Tala finally here to see him? To rescue him from this medical prison?
The curtain parted and Lyra stepped through, carrying the gray stuffed animal. "I brought you a friend to play with." She tossed him the toy.
He caught it and set it down along his side. "Thanks."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. I don't need to be here anymore." He rubbed his side where the holes in his flesh were already healed. They were still sore and achy, but definitely not life-threatening.
"Tell that to the doctor," she said.
"I have. Several times. But he's not listening."
Lyra sat on the edge of his bed and fiddled with the controls. The bed slowly rose higher, then lower. "The rest of the crew is coming. Caine just wanted to stop and talk to y
our doctor first."
"Everyone?" Jace asked, wincing at the eagerness in his voice.
Lyra glanced at him and gave him a small smile. She didn't need to say a word. It was written all over her face.
"I'm sorry, Jace."
He shook his head. "Doesn't matter."
"Maybe she's scared-,"
"I said it doesn't matter."
Although it did matter, more than he was willing to admit. The pain of her abandonment ripped through his heart and tore up his soul. Rubbing a hand over his chest, he could still feel the bond. It thumped and pulsed like a living, breathing entity. He knew it would never vanish but hoped that in time it would fade into the background.
He heard a few people enter his room. It afforded him enough time to suck in his feelings. He was acting like a sissy. He'd be dammed if he'd let anyone else see it.
He raised his chin before the curtain was dragged open to reveal Caine, Eve, and surprisingly, Hector smiling at him.
"There he is," Caine said. "Our two-hundred pound bundle of joy."
"Get me the hell out of here, Chief," Jace growled.
"The doc says you can leave in a few hours. He's just going over the last of your tests. Everything appears normal and you're healing fine."
"I could've told him that."
Everyone laughed.
Eve stepped up to his bed, leaned over and planted a kiss to his forehead. "I'm happy to see you grumbling again." She quickly moved back and wrapped her arm around Caine. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, like he always did.
The kiss and sentiment surprised Jace. Eve and he had never been too friendly. But maybe, things were starting to change. There'd been a lot of that happening lately. To the team, to him.
Glancing up at Hector and seeing his smiling face in an Otherworld hospital, proved that fact even more. He wondered how the human even got permission to enter the city, let alone come and see him.
"I wanted to thank you for all the work you did on this case. We couldn't have done it without you and your gifts."
Jace nodded. Words seemed to be having difficulty forming in his throat. Emotion clamped around him again. Damn it! He was becoming an overly sensitive nitwit.