“I. Am. Not. Your. Baby,” she said between clenched teeth and strode away, Merry trotting alongside her.
“I don’t like Senhor Petros,” she stated in a high, clear voice. “Even if he does buy you chocolate.”
Valeria squeezed her hand. “You know something, sweetheart? I don’t either. I don’t like him at all.”
They had to skirt the dance floor to reach the parking lot. Valeria risked a glance over her shoulder and got a nasty jolt when she saw that Adric and the woman had risen to their feet.
She picked up her pace. He wouldn’t try anything here, would he? The sun fae would be furious if he broke the laws of hospitality—and not even a fada alpha would deliberately anger a fae, especially a powerful one like Queen Cleia.
But she couldn’t help recalling Adric’s reputation. She had a feeling there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do if he thought he could get away with it.
And then she saw Rui standing at the exit to the dining area. Relief crashed through her. She didn’t stop to think, just headed straight for him.
* * *
“Whoa, there.” To Rui’s shock, Valeria practically threw herself into his arms. He clasped her shoulders. “What’s wrong, querida?”
He’d bided his time while she and Merry ate, grabbing a plate for himself and eating standing near the entrance. He wasn’t alone. Several warriors stopped to speak with him. Everything was very polite, but he knew that like Dion, they were determining his resolve to reclaim his old role in the clan, testing if he were still sober—checking him out in the way fada did when the pecking order shifted.
And all the while he had an eye on Valeria, assessing how best to pry her away from Okeanos. Then she came abruptly to her feet, had what looked like words with Okeanos, and grabbed Merry and headed in Rui’s direction.
He would have liked to believe that she was looking for him, but her eyes were on the exit. Still, the relief on her face when she caught sight of him was unmistakable.
“Rui,” she said now. “Thank Deus.” Her eyes were wild, her fear scenting the air. Merry whimpered and wrapped her free arm around Rui’s leg.
“What’s the matter? Did Okeanos—” He scowled and looked around for the sea fada. He’d taken a seat at a different table and was talking to another woman from Rock Run. His eyes flashed at Rui, cold and dark, then he deliberately gave him his back.
“If that bastard hurt you—”
“No, no. It’s nothing to do with him.” She took his arm, urging him forward. “Please, Rui. I don’t have time to explain, but we need to leave. Now.”
“All right.” Puzzled but willing, he scooped up Merry and reached for Valeria’s hand. “My bike’s in the parking lot.”
They headed for the cobblestone path that led to the parking lot. As they skirted the dance floor, Valeria shot a glance over her shoulder.
“Oh, no. He’s coming after us—Lord Adric.”
“The Baltimore alpha?” He glanced back. “Hell. He saw Merry, didn’t he?”
“Yes. And Rui—I think he guessed who she was.”
He smothered another curse, conscious of the little girl glancing wide-eyed between him and her mother. “This way.” He guided Valeria toward a cherry grove that he remembered from his year with the sun fae. “We can cut through here.”
They darted off the path and into the trees. The grove was an old, mature one, with thick trees raising large, fruit-laden branches that spread out to form a dense canopy. With the falling dusk, it was like plunging into a dark green tunnel. Rui’s pupils widened, adjusting to the sudden loss of light, and he knew his eyes had gone night-glow.
They were deep in the grove when he knew he’d made a mistake. Coming toward him was the unmistakable scent of an earth shifter.
“Rui.” Valeria pointed to her right.
Make that two earth shifters. A large wolf and a big black cat prowled toward them, their eyes glowing in the gloom.
Rui handed Merry to Valeria. “Take her and run,” he said without taking his gaze off the earth shifters. “Tell Dion what’s happening.”
“But—” He heard her swallow.
“Now.”
She turned to go but had taken only a few steps when she halted and hastily returned to his side. “There’s more,” she whispered. “Behind us.”
His jaw tightened as he took in the scent of two more earth shifters. They were surrounded. Taking Valeria’s arm, he drew her and Merry back with him until they had their backs against a tree and all four earth shifters were in his field of vision.
They were in a small clearing near the center of the cherry grove. Several fae lights had drifted in from the meadow, programmed to seek out party goers wherever they were. The soft illumination allowed Rui to get a good look at the man and woman who’d followed them into the grove. They were clearly relatives: they had the same lean, dark beauty married to a catlike grace. He’d bet good money their animals were cougars or another large cat.
But the man was Adric, all right. He might be pretty, but he reeked of dominance. And he’d heard Adric was young, and this man couldn’t be out of his twenties.
Rui released Valeria and straightened to his full height, hands loose at his sides, ready for a battle.
“Take it easy.” The earth alpha lifted a hand, palm out. “I don’t want a fight. I just want to ask you a few questions.”
The big black cat rumbled in agreement. Merry whimpered. When he glanced at her, she was staring, mesmerized, at the quartz hanging from the cat’s neck. It was glowing the same eerie green as its eyes.
His blood chilled. “Valeria,” he said, “stop Merry from looking at his quartz.”
Valeria looked from her to the cat and then clapped her hand over the little girl’s eyes. Merry pushed at her wrist. “But it’s pretty,” she whined. Valeria whispered something Rui couldn’t hear, but Merry nodded and Valeria released her.
“You can ask,” Rui replied. “That doesn’t mean you’re going to get answers.”
The other man cocked a dark brow. “No? There are four of us, and you have the girl to protect.”
Beside him, Valeria went taut, her fear and worry an acrid scent that made his chest tighten. Rui caught her hand and squeezed it.
“Talk,” he said.
“Do you know who I am?”
“I’m guessing you’re alpha of the Baltimore earth clan.”
“That’s right. I’m Lord Adric and these are three of my lieutenants.”
He gave a curt nod. “Rui do Mar. Lord Dion’s second.”
“Ah.”
There was a world of meaning in the single syllable. It was clear Adric knew Rui had spent the past year in an alcoholic haze. His jaw hardened. That didn’t mean he couldn’t take out a pup less than half his age.
Adric turned to Valeria. “And you are?”
She met his gaze squarely, although Rui felt the effort it cost her. The man was her dominant by several degrees. “Valeria da Costa. And this is my daughter.”
To Adric’s credit, he didn’t try to stare Valeria down. Instead he simply nodded and turned back to Rui. “We know the girl’s one of ours. What we don’t know is why you have her.”
Merry tugged on Rui’s shirt. She was staring at the black cat. Her nostrils flared. “Tio Rui,” she said, “I think he’s a jaguar like me.”
The big cat blinked with what appeared to be approval.
“Very good,” said Adric. “He is a jaguar. His coat even has some darker spots in it, although you can’t see them in this light.”
Merry gave the jaguar a tentative smile. “Hello, senhor.”
Rui placed a hand on her head. “No, sweetheart. Don’t talk to him. Don’t say anything. And whatever you do, don’t look at his crystal no matter how pretty you think it is.”
She nodded but her gaze didn’t leave the jaguar’s face.
Light cascaded over the cat’s black coat in a sparkling rain of gold, silver, copper and that eerie green. A few seconds later a m
an stood before them, naked save for the quartz crystal hanging from his neck.
Rui glanced from him to Merry. There was an obvious resemblance. The wiry body, the hazel eyes. Even his hard-boned face had something familiar about it, although he lacked the pointed chin and tip-tilted eyes that marked Merry as part fae, and his hair was a straight, shiny black where Merry’s was wavy.
Rui drew in a slow breath. Beside him Valeria was doing the same thing. She grabbed his upper arm and he knew she’d scented the same thing he had. The black-haired man was a close relative of Merry’s.
The man eyed the little girl with an obvious hunger. “Hello, sweetheart. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.” He swallowed. “And yes, I’m a jaguar. Just like you.”
Her face lit up. “I remember you! You’re Uncle Jace.”
“No,” Valeria whispered. Her fingers clenched on Rui’s.
“You remember?” The man’s eyes crinkled in pleased surprise. He took a step forward, arms out. “I’ve missed you, Christmas girl.”
“Stay away from her.” Valeria snatched Merry up.
The little girl looked from her to Jace before burying her head in Valeria’s neck.
The earth shifter’s grin faded. “You heard her,” he said, bringing his arms back to his sides. “I’m her uncle. She’s my sister’s daughter.”
“If that’s true,” Valeria replied, “what was your sister’s name?”
“Takira. Takira Jones.”
Valeria gulped. “No,” she said, but her voice held no conviction.
So the man had it right. Rui’s heart sank. Merry didn’t remember much about her mother, who’d apparently died when she was around four, but she’d been old enough to know her mother’s name.
“And I’m Jace Jones,” he continued. “Takira mated with a man who was half night fae, half human. His name was Silver. No last name—or at least none that he shared with me. I suppose my sister knew all his names.” The fae guarded their true-names closely, since in the right hands, they could be used to control them.
“You’re lying,” Valeria returned. “Merry doesn’t have any family. Just me.”
“The hell I am.” Jace’s eyes flashed. “Merry is Takira’s daughter. M-E-R-R-Y because she was born on Christmas.”
Oh, lord, thought Rui. What a fucking mess.
“If that’s true,” Valeria said, “where were you two years ago when she almost died? She and her father were being chased by night fae. She had nightmares about it for months afterward. If we hadn’t hidden her, they would’ve—” She stopped and pressed her lips together.
“You think I don’t have nightmares, too?” Jace’s hands clenched. “I was looking for her. We all were. Takira was kidnapped and—” He looked at Merry and shook his head. “After she died, her mate took Merry and ran. It took me over a year to find them. By then he was dead too, and Merry was missing. I—I was told she was dead, too.”
“The fucking night fae swore to it,” Adric inserted with a scowl. “We would’ve kept looking but the trail ended at the house she and her father had been staying in. The house burned down, and it appeared Merry had died in the fire.”
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Jace was looking at Rui. “You’re the one who killed Silver. Why else would you have been in the house that night?”
Rui glanced at Merry, praying she wouldn’t understand what Jace was saying, and then gave a short nod.
“What about my sister?” Jace was in Rui’s face, uncaring of his alpha, who laid a restraining hand on his arm. “Did you kill Takira, too?”
“No. I swear I had nothing to do with that.”
Jace inhaled suspiciously, but it was clear he detected the truth in Rui’s statement.
“Jace,” Adric said. “Back off.”
He scowled but obeyed.
“I’m sorry about your sister,” Valeria told him, “but Merry’s mine now. She calls me Mama. I couldn’t love her any more if she were my own child.”
It was Adric who answered. “She’s an earth shifter. She belongs with her own kind. You can’t officially adopt her without my permission.”
“Then give it to me. She’s my daughter.”
Merry lifted her head to glare at Adric. “Mama already ’dopted me,” she said fiercely.
“It’s not that simple.” It was the earth shifter woman. “Tell them, Ric. Tell them why Merry needs to be with us.”
He hesitated and then leveled a stare at Rui and Valeria. “As far as we’re concerned, the less outsiders know about our crystals, the better. But Marjani’s right, you need to know. First, though, I want you two to swear this won’t go any further. Not even your alpha can know.”
“I swear,” Valeria said quickly.
Rui cut her a glance. Damn it, he didn’t like being told to hide what they learned from Dion, especially when the two of them had just reached an understanding.
But Valeria was biting her lower lip. “Please?” she whispered to him.
He exhaled and turned back to Adric. “All right. As long as whatever you tell us won’t hurt Rock Run, you have my word that we won’t speak of it to anyone else. But you need to know that Merry’s one of us now, by Lord Dion’s own word. And Valeria’s her mother. Nothing you tell us can change that.”
“Listen to what I have to say first,” Adric replied. “You know that we all wear a crystal, some type of quartz.” He lifted his from beneath his shirt. It glowed in the dim light, a milky gray shot with swirls of orange and brown.
“But what you may not know,” he continued, “is that we don’t have them from the time we’re born. At first, we share the energy that emanates from our parents’ crystals. Merry, of course, had only one parent’s quartz to draw on, but that wasn’t a problem as long as her mom was alive. But when Takira died, she lost even that. Tell me something—when you found her, was she too thin, half-starved?”
It was Valeria who replied. “Yes,” she said in a small voice. “But they were on the run. They were barely surviving. Her dad was afraid to leave her with anyone so he could work. He didn’t have money for food.”
“That was part of it. But without a crystal, she’s never going to grow like she should. Look at how thin she is.” Adric shrugged. “Even we can’t really explain it. We just know that we need a quartz. Does she have trouble shifting?”
Valeria gulped. But she didn’t have to say anything; the earth alpha was shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, Miss da Costa—”
“But she’s better now,” Valeria protested. “She may be skinny, but you should have seen her two years ago. Don’t forget, she’s only half earth fada. Maybe that makes a difference.”
Adric’s face softened, and Rui had the surprising thought that he might like the man—or at least respect him—under different circumstances.
“I can see you’re a good mother,” Adric said. “You may even be giving her some of what she needs. But you can’t give her everything. I’m afraid we have to—”
“Then give her a quartz,” Valeria cried. “I’ll make sure she wears it. Only please don’t take her away from me.”
Adric exchanged a look with Marjani and she stepped forward. “We’re sorry,” she said gently, “but it doesn’t work like that. Merry will find her own quartz when the time comes, but until then she should be with Jace. As her closest living relative, she can draw the energy she needs from him.”
“No,” Valeria choked out. Tears were streaming down her face now. “No. Please. There must be something else we can do. Look at her. She’s fine. She’s not hurting or hungry or sick. She’s not.”
Merry took one look at her mother and started crying as well. “Mama, please,” she sobbed, clinging to Valeria. “Don’t make me go with them. I want to stay with you and Tio Rui.”
“Enough.” Adric jerked his head at Jace. “Take her.”
“Like hell.” Rui put himself between Valeria and Merry and the earth shifters. “She’s managed to survive for three years since
her mother died. Don’t tell me you have to take her this very minute.”
Adric ignored Rui to finger his quartz. There was a flash of orange-gold and Merry’s cries stopped mid-sob.
“Merry?” Valeria’s voice was high-pitched, panicky. Rui turned to see the little girl hanging limply in her arms, her eyes closed as Valeria frantically patted her face. She shot Adric a furious look. “What did you do, you bastard?”
Rui’s knife practically leapt into his hand. He released the blade, the snick loud in the suddenly quiet clearing. “I swear on my avó’s grave, if you hurt her, I’ll cut your fucking heart out and feed it to the sharks.”
“She’s fine.” Adric let go of the quartz. “I just put her to sleep for a few minutes. Give her to Jace.”
“The hell we will. Why was she in hiding, anyway? If you earth shifters are so good for her, why didn’t her dad come to you after her mom died? Instead he was living in a dump with barely enough food to keep the two of them alive.”
Adric’s lips tightened. “I’d like to know the answer to that myself. But I promise she’ll be safe with Jace. He lost his only sister. He won’t let anyone hurt her daughter.”
While he was speaking, his lieutenants had formed a semicircle around the three of them with Jace and Adric at the center and the wolf and Marjani at the left and right, respectively.
Jace touched his quartz. “I’d die before I let anyone hurt her,” he gritted out.
“No.” Valeria crouched behind Rui, her back against the tree, Merry in her arms. “Don’t let them take her,” she begged, fierce and pleading at the same time.
“I won’t,” he promised without taking his eyes off the four earth shifters. “They’ll have to go through me first.”
“I know,” was the quiet reply. “Thank you.”
He felt a rush of shame, that she would even think to thank him for doing what any mate would do—protect her and her daughter. Deus, he had a lot to make up to her—if he just survived the next few minutes.
“Christ.” Adric shoved a hand through his spiked-up hair. “She’s an earth shifter mixed with a human and a fae—a night fae, at that. Why the fuck do you want her so bad?”
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