Saving Jace

by Rebecca Rivard

  She’d left a pitcher of water on the table. He fumbled for it and, without bothering to pour the water into a glass, drank deeply. His cat was to the fore now. It wrinkled its nose at the chemical taste of the water. But it was cool and wet. The burning eased, but he was still too hot.

  He had to shift; he’d heal faster in his cat form. He sat up and reached for his zipper.

  The female was staring at him, eyes wide. He hesitated. He distantly recalled that he hadn’t shifted already because he didn’t want to frighten her. Humans tended to get edgy around a 250-pound black jaguar.

  His cat rubbed at his skin, frantic to get out. He could feel his eyes had gone night-glow, signaling his animal was in control.

  The woman backed up and his chest rumbled. Didn’t she know he wouldn’t hurt her?

  The hell with it. He dragged off his pants and let the shift take him—and almost didn’t make it. Energy danced over his skin, and for a few frightening seconds he thought he’d get stuck between man and cat and die, his organs unable to adjust to a half-shifted state.

  His quartz. A quick check told him it had recharged to about forty percent. He drew deep, pulling energy from the slowly vibrating crystals, and completed the shift. He lay on his side, weak and trembling. So much for his big, scary cat.

  But the woman took another step back. The cat instinctively leapt off the couch to stop her. She froze and babbled something, and he scented fear, sharp and acrid.

  No. He nudged her hand. It’s all right.

  She sucked in a breath.

  He rumbled low in his chest but held still.

  “Okay,” she said in a strangled voice. “Okay. I’m the good guy, all right? The one who’s trying to help you.”

  He huffed a breath and waited, his head against the back of her hand.

  At last she understood. Her hand turned and she stroked his head.

  Ah… He pushed back against her hand, rubbing his scent onto the skin. Then he got his head between her hand and hip and that was even better.

  He breathed in her spicy feminine aroma and rubbed his head against her hip, taking her scent on him and marking her with his. His chest was rumbling again.

  “Are you purring?” She let out a high, nervous laugh. But to his satisfaction, she relaxed.

  He pushed her hip, herding her toward the couch.

  “You want me on the couch?”

  He gave her another nudge.

  “Okay, but you must be thirsty. Why don’t we get you some more water first?”

  That seemed like a good idea, so he followed her to the kitchen and watched as she filled a large bowl with water and set it on the floor. When he lapped it up, she gave him some more.

  Then he went to the back door and waited. He needed to keep voiding the iron in his system.

  This time she guessed immediately what he wanted and unlocked the door. He paused on the small concrete landing to test the air. He could smell his own blood, but just a trace—the kid had done a thorough job. There were other scents—a dog, a nearby car engine that had only recently been turned off—but he couldn’t pick up the noxious, graveyard odor of a night fae.

  He padded down the stairs, pissed on a patch of grass next to the driveway, and then came back up to where Evie had waited in the doorway to let him in.

  Back in the living room, Evie got the sheet from the easy chair and sat on the couch. He figured she wouldn’t want him on the couch with her, so he lay down on the floor beside it. The jaguar wanted to stay close for two reasons; it liked how she smelled, and it feared the night fae would come back—or even another shifter who scented Jace’s weakness. This way, Jace would be between Evie and any danger.

  Evie curled up, her head on the pillow he’d been using. He could see her watching him in the darkness, and then she sat up and patted the cushion on the other end. “That floor’s got to be hard.”

  He didn’t need a second invitation. He heaved himself onto the couch, circled once and then settled on the cushions near her feet with a contented sigh.

  Evie lay back down. He could tell from her breath that she was awake, and he felt a twinge of guilt at waking her. Well, tomorrow he’d be gone and her life could get back to normal.

  But he’d been right to shift. The fever had broken, and even though the shift had drained more energy from his quartz, he could hear the tiny crystals humming a healing song. The quartz had recovered enough energy to aid in his healing now, although he was still shaken from the nightmare.

  Merry’s fine, he reminded himself. She’s safe at Rock Run.

  But if he died, what would happen to her? Sure, Rui and Valeria do Mar—the Rock Run couple who’d adopted Merry—had given her the family Jace couldn’t, but they were river fada, not earth fada. Someday Merry would probably want to return to the Baltimore clan, to be with her own people, and Jace wanted to be there to ease her way. Not everyone in the clan would welcome a mixed-blood with open arms.

  And only another earth fada could teach Merry the secrets of her quartz. Yes, Adric would instruct her if Jace died, but by tradition, it was Jace’s right as her only living family.

  Evie nudged him with her knee. “It’s all right,” she murmured. “Go back to sleep.”

  He edged closer and waited until her breath smoothed out and she relaxed into sleep again. Then he laid his head on her thigh. Even through the blanket and her jeans, he could smell her. Summer and lavender.

  He inhaled deeply, imprinting her scent on his mind.

  Someone was rapping on the back door. Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat.

  Evie jolted upright, because it was barely dawn, and there was no good reason for someone to be knocking on her door so early.

  Jace-the-panther was already off the couch and disappearing around the corner into the hall. She hurried after him into the kitchen to find him with his nose to the door.

  She crept up next to him. He stepped back and indicated with a twitch of his head that she should open the door. Just to be sure, she whispered, “You know who it is?”

  For answer, he nudged her hand in the direction of the doorknob.

  “Okay,” she muttered. She slid the bolt to the left and cracked open the door.

  A lean, good-looking man stared back at her. The tips of his spiked black hair were bleached blond, and he had a gold stud in one earlobe. She couldn’t see a chunk of quartz, but he had a telltale lump beneath his T-shirt. A frisson of warning tightened the back of her neck as he looked her over with cool bronze eyes.

  But his words were polite enough. “Peace to you and yours,” he said in the traditional fae/fada greeting. “Sorry to bother you this early, but I believe you have one of my men here.” His gaze flicked to Jace, who had edged the door wider so he was standing beside her.

  Evie kept a firm grip on the doorknob, her every instinct screaming not to let this stranger inside. “Peace,” she returned. “And you are?”

  “Adric. Jace’s alpha.”

  “Lord Adric.” Her fingers clenched on the doorknob. Even in the human world, the Baltimore alpha’s reputation was known. People said he’d killed his own uncle and driven his cousins out of the clan. In Baltimore, he had as much power as the mayor, and even the gangs left him alone.

  The alpha inclined his head.

  Jace leaned into her. Not pressuring her, just reminding her he was there.

  She glanced down and he rumbled in reassurance. It was clear he wanted her to let his alpha inside. Moreover, the longer she left Adric standing there, the more likely one of her neighbors was to see him, which would only complicate things.

  Besides, the alpha could’ve easily pushed his way in. The fact that he hadn’t was a good sign.

  She forced her fingers to release the doorknob. “Why don’t you come in?”

  “Thank you.” He didn’t seem to hurry, but he was past her almost before she knew it.

  She shut the door behind him, but didn’t bother bolting it—because what was the point?

 
Adric crouched next to Jace, a hand on his shoulder. “You okay, bro?”

  Jace nuzzled the alpha’s hand.

  “You’re hurt?”

  While Jace rumbled what Evie took to be a yes, she scrutinized Adric. Like Jace, he was all muscle in jeans and a camo-print T-shirt that strained over his shoulders. Average height, but with a powerful build that reminded her of the ex-Army ranger in her biology class. But what struck her was how young he was. From what she’d heard, she’d have expected the Baltimore alpha to be older, in his mid-forties at least. Sure, the fada lived much longer than humans, and so aged more slowly, but this man didn’t look much older than Evie herself.

  Adric glanced up at her with those odd metallic eyes. World-weary eyes. Eyes that had seen too much, too soon, and suddenly Evie didn’t have trouble believing the stories. This was a man who’d killed, more than once.

  But however dangerous the alpha was, his concern for his injured friend was clear. He rose to his feet. “Can you shift?” he asked Jace.

  Evie raised a brow. So the fada couldn’t always change forms? Last night, Jace had made it look easy, but then she’d never seen anyone shift before.

  Jace-the-panther twitched a soft black ear.

  Adric bent to look at Jace’s quartz. “Better not,” he agreed.

  Evie would’ve loved to know what the man could learn from the quartz, but whatever it was, he wasn’t sharing.

  Adric turned to her. “I know he’s hurt. I followed the trail to your house. I have a man cleaning it away, so no one else can follow it.”

  “There was a storm, and we hosed down what we could.”

  The Baltimore alpha nodded. “I know. But he dripped blood all the way down the block. Thank the gods the storm came when it did. If whoever was tracking him had picked up his trail—” He shook his head. “What happened, anyway?”

  “It was a night fae.”

  The alpha tensed—an almost imperceptible tightening of his neck and shoulders. “You’re sure? It wasn’t a fada?”

  “No. The night fae followed Jace here, but he didn’t seem to know which house Jace was in. Jace protected us somehow.”

  “Good. You don’t want to know what a night fae can do to you.”

  “I can guess.” Evie rubbed her arms, remembering the darkness that had slithered out of the night. “He stabbed Jace with an iron knife.”

  “Iron?” Adric shook his head. “No wonder his quartz is so drained.”

  Evie nodded. A glance at the clock above the stove told her it was a little after seven. “Look, why don’t you sit down and I’ll make some coffee. That’s if you drink coffee?”

  Jace snorted.

  The alpha’s mouth quirked. “I would fucking kill for a cup of coffee. I’ve been out most of the night tracking him. When we didn’t find a trace of him in Baltimore, we came up here.”

  He took a seat while Evie started a pot brewing. She tried to act normal, but it was unnerving having a creature who was basically a human cat seated at her kitchen table.

  Jace-the-panther had settled on the floor next to the table and was watching her as well. She filled a bowl of water and set it next to him. She and Adric watched as he greedily lapped it up.

  “We did what we could,” she told the alpha. “He wouldn’t let me call for help.”

  “We?”

  “My brother and me.”

  “Ah.” He waved a hand. “Relax, love. I’m not here to cause trouble—I just want to take him back home. All I know is one of my men was hurt and you helped him.”

  She nodded but remained near the coffeepot as the water heated and started dripping through. She did not want to sit at the table with Adric, and if worse came to worse, she could always use the hot coffee to protect herself.

  Kyler’s footsteps sounded in the hallway above.

  Evie briefly closed her eyes. She didn’t care what she’d promised last night—she didn’t want her brother involved in this. But it was too late now.

  Adric rose to his feet with a feline grace as her brother entered the kitchen, barefoot and clad only in a tank top and loose gym shorts.

  Kyler’s eyes bugged at the sight of Adric and the big black cat. “What the hell’s going on?”

  Evie inserted herself between Kyler and Adric. “This is Lord Adric,” she told him. “The Baltimore alpha.”

  Kyler’s mouth dropped open. “No shit.”

  “Good to meet you.” Adric stuck out his hand as Evie hurried to introduce them.

  “This is my brother, Kyler. He helped me with Jace last night.”

  Her brother pumped the alpha’s hand. “Wow. It’s an honor to meet you, my-my lord.”

  “Call me Adric.”

  “Okay, sure.” Kyler glanced down at Jace, who had risen to his feet again. “And that’s Jace? He’s a…panther?”

  “Yeah,” Evie said.

  “Actually, he’s a jaguar,” Adric said. “A black jaguar. You can see the spots if you look close.”

  “Wow,” Kyler said again.

  A lean, furry body brushed Evie’s hip. Jace had moved next to her. It was almost as if he were protecting her.

  Adric’s brow raised. A look passed between the two fada, but all the alpha said was, “I’d still like to hear what happened last night.”

  “Yes, of course,” she said. “Please, sit down.”

  While Adric sat back down and Kyler got himself a tall glass of milk, Evie set milk and sugar on the table and handed Adric a mug of coffee before pouring another for herself. She and Kyler took seats at the table across from Adric, while Jace lay on the floor near her feet, his gaze on his alpha.

  Adric dumped a hefty amount of milk into his coffee and then drained the cup in a couple of gulps. Evie went to refill his cup, but he rose to his feet. “I’ve got it.”

  She and Kyler exchanged a look. It was just so surreal—the notorious Baltimore alpha making himself at home in their kitchen.

  Adric sat down and leaned back in his chair, one hand wrapped around the mug, seemingly at ease. But his eyes were watchful.

  Evie cupped her own mug and tried to imitate his calm.

  “So,” he prompted, “a night fae, huh? And where do you come into it?”

  “I found him—Jace—outside. I didn’t know he was hurt until he passed out.”

  “He passed out?” Adric scowled at Jace. “How the hell did the asshole get close enough to hurt you that bad?”

  Jace’s growl was low and vicious. Evie blinked, but Adric just shook his head.

  “Go on,” he told her, and she explained what had happened after she’d found Jace on her doorstep, with occasional interjections from Kyler.

  “I don’t think the knife went in too deep,” she finished, “but he was getting worse until we cleaned the cut out with salt water. Thank God he was able to tell us what to do.”

  “You say he shifted in the middle of the night?” Adric glanced at Jace.

  His eyes were closed, his big black head resting on his paws, but his ears twitched.

  “Yes,” Evie confirmed. “I think his fever spiked. He was restless and moving around, and the next thing I knew, he’d changed to a jaguar.”

  Adric shook his head. “You should’ve had her call me,” he told Jace.

  The big cat huffed in disagreement.

  “Stubborn ass,” his alpha returned. He looked at Evie. “He hasn’t shifted since?”

  “No. But he seems better—he’s definitely moving easier this morning.”

  “Right. Okay, let’s talk about the night fae. Did he get a look at you?”

  “No,” Evie said. “He was right outside the door, but he couldn’t see us. The window blind was down.”

  “So he didn’t see you, and he doesn’t know for sure Jace was here?”

  “No on both counts.”

  “That’s good. And night fae can’t scent any better than a human, so I know he didn’t follow Jace’s trail here. He was trolling the neighborhood, seeing what he could find.”r />
  “But I could swear he could somehow feel us on the other side of the door.”

  “He could.” Adric took another gulp of coffee. “Night fae get off on dark energy—fear, anger, pain. He could sense you all right, but he couldn’t be sure one of you was Jace. And from what you said, Jace used his quartz to tamp down your energy. The only way to hide from a night fae is to sit quietly and slow your breath and heartbeat.”

  “And think happy thoughts,” Evie said.

  “Is that what Jace told you?” The corner of Adric’s mouth twitched. “I suppose it didn’t hurt—but if Jace hadn’t been here, all the happy thoughts in the world wouldn’t have helped you. He was trying to keep you from panicking.”

  Evie exchanged a glance with her brother. What if Jace hadn’t recovered enough to protect them?

  She felt another rush of last night’s dark fear. This time it was mixed with anger. That the night fae had dared mess with their minds…

  Adric’s calm, businesslike tone recalled her to the kitchen. “Sounds like you’re safe enough. We’ll make sure there’s nothing to trace Jace to you or your house.” He finished his coffee and came to his feet, and Evie and Kyler rose with him. “And now, I believe we’ll be on our way.” He came around the table and held out his hand to her. “I owe you, Evie Morningstar.”

  She stiffened. How the hell did he know her last name? In fact, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t told him her first name either.

  “No worries,” he said with a hint of amusement. “I just wanted to know what I was walking into.”

  “Of course,” Evie replied faintly as she shook his hand. His fingers were warm and strong—perfectly normal, in fact. It was easy to forget he was one of the most dangerous men in America. “You don’t owe us anything. We couldn’t let him bleed out on our doorstep, could we?”

  “Some humans would’ve.” Adric was turning toward the door when he drew a deep inhale and swung back around. “What the fuck? You’re fae?”

  Evie took a step back. Kyler put an arm out to steady her.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I smell silver.” He leaned closer and took another breath. “It’s you, not your brother.”