“I do not know.”
It might be the truth—and it might not. Because “I don’t know” could mean anything, or nothing.
He ground his teeth. “Then who?”
But she’d regained control of her mind. She closed her mouth and refused to say anything else.
The last thing he did was erase Nika’s memory of how he’d hypnotized her. She’d remember that she’d given him information, but blame herself for being weak.
Sometimes Adric was an even bigger bastard than his cousin.
Nika’s breath sighed out. Her chin fell to her chest as she slid into a deep sleep. He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling off the chair.
“Let’s get out of here,” he told Marjani.
“What about her?” She jerked her chin at the sleeping woman. “You’re not bringing her back to Baltimore, are you?”
“No fucking way.” Nika was hiding something, and he was damned if he’d bring her into their den, or anywhere near the clan, for that matter. “We’ll leave her on Rock Run territory. Let them deal with her.”
Dion wouldn’t hurt Nika for no reason, but he would keep her captive while he tried to figure out why Adric had left her on his land.
Marjani’s brows shot up. “I like it. And her quartz?”
“You hang onto it.” Adric handed the pendant to Marjani and lifted Nika in his arms. His scent would be all over her. The river fada would know he’d left her there deliberately—what they wouldn’t know was why.
They’d driven up in one of the clan’s jeeps. After he laid Nika on the back seat, his sister took the wheel while he put in a call to a high-ranking sentry, directing the woman to send some men to the Baltimore airport on the off-chance they could catch Corban.
Next he contacted Zuri and brought him up to date. “Corban still has friends in the clan,” he said. “If he’s hurt bad enough, there’s a chance he’ll go to ground in one of their dens. Start with his old den. I want someone we trust to visit every single one of the bastard’s friends. He’s gone too far this time. He knows damn well an attack on Jace is an attack on me. I want him, Zuri.”
“If he’s in Baltimore,” the lieutenant replied grimly, “I’ll find him.”
His last call was to Bryah, a tough young sentry itching to prove herself. He’d left her and another sentry searching Grace Harbor for Corban while he was occupied with Nika and Jace. “Find anything?” he asked.
“Only some traces of blood, sir. We followed his scent as far as the bay and then we lost him. We ran along the shore for half a mile in each direction but there was no trace of him. We crisscrossed the town after that. I can tell you he was up here for a day, maybe two. He could be hiding somewhere, but my guess is he left by boat.”
“Unless he was ’ported out,” Adric muttered. His fingers tightened around his quartz. He’d swear Corban had the DNA of a fucking weasel, the way he wriggled out of tight spots.
“You think he’s working with a fae?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“I didn’t pick up a fae’s scent.”
Adric nodded. That was useful intel, although not conclusive. “You did good,” he told Bryah. “Go back to Baltimore. Zuri could use you in the search down there.”
Marjani drove west along the Susquehanna River. Rock Run owned several thousand prime acres along the shore, including the mouth of Rock Run Creek. The river fada’s underground base followed the creek; its actual location was a closely kept secret. Adric had gotten inside once, but the sun fae had wiped his memory of the details, and he’d never been able to get past the wards again.
Adric felt the familiar clench of possessiveness. God’s cat, he wanted Rock Run’s territory for the clan. It had everything—forests for their cats and wolves and bears and deer to run free in. Fresh water to swim and fish in. An underground base that was perfect for a growing clan.
Once, he’d plotted to take Rock Run’s territory, but he’d set that plan aside. Rock Run had three times the people, and now that Dion had mated with the sun fae queen, it would be suicide to go up against them. Queen Cleia could literally incinerate a man where he stood. No, his clan was going to make the money they needed from selling the new quartz technology, and then they’d buy their own chunk of prime forestland.
And Jace Jones was crucial to that plan. He was the brains behind the smartphone project. Kill Jace, and the clan could kiss their plans for new territory goodbye—and Corban knew that as well as Adric.
They reached Rock Run’s border. The road narrowed to a strip of asphalt and gravel. To their left the terrain was thick with trees; to the right, the Susquehanna rushed by just yards away, the rising moon casting a shimmering gold trail on its wide black waters.
“Here?” asked Marjani.
When he nodded, she stopped the jeep. Nika was still unconscious. Adric set her in the grass beside the road.
Marjani followed with Nika’s quartz. “She’s stronger than she’s pretending,” she said as she unwrapped it. “You know we have to do it.”
“Fine.” He dragged a hand over his spiked-up hair. “Do it then.”
His sister’s eyes flashed the chilly sapphire of her cougar. She found a heavy rock, set the quartz on the road and smashed it into several jagged pieces.
Nika jerked and slipped further into unconsciousness.
The quartz shards sparkled like dim stars, still sharing energy with Nika. Scooping them up, Marjani walked onto the narrow beach and tossed them into the river. The last piece, she placed on Nika’s chest where she’d be sure to find it.
“She’ll be all right,” Marjani said, as if he were arguing. “That’s more than Corban allowed me.”
The sparkling pieces were carried rapidly downriver. One by one, they winked out of sight as they sank beneath the water.
A dolphin’s fin appeared upriver. A Rock Run sentry coming to investigate.
“Let’s get out of here,” Adric said, and they jogged back to the jeep.
But he glanced over his shoulder as the dolphin shifted—and felt the shock clear to his bones. It was Rosana do Rio, the only sister of the Rock Run alpha—and the woman he’d wanted for six long years.
“I’ll be right there.”
“Damn it, Ric,” Marjani growled, but he was already moving down the road.
Rosana strode onto the beach. It was too dark to see her clearly, but her image was emblazoned on his brain: a heart-shaped face, a cloud of wavy black hair, and eyes the rich blue of the ocean. Her irises turned a bright, night-glow silver, and their gazes locked.
His heart thundered in his ears. He stopped a yard away. “It’s been a while.” A year, in fact.
They’d danced at Tiago’s mate ball. She’d melted into him for that single dance, and he’d murmured in her ear, trying to entice her to come to him later. But when the dance ended, she’d pulled out of his arms, saying, “I can’t do this,” and walked rapidly away.
Now he hungrily took in her naked body. She was a man’s wet dream—slick from her swim, with high breasts and sleek thighs. Her hair tumbled in damp ringlets over her shoulders and beneath his heated gaze, her nipples beaded. But she kept her chin level and met him look for look, a proud and arrogant do Rio to her very toes.
But she wanted him. He gave a slow, deliberate inhale, letting her know he scented her need.
She glanced from him to Nika. “You’re on our territory.” Her voice was naturally husky. The woman could read a fucking menu and sound sexy.
“I brought you a gift.”
“A gift?” A delicate black eyebrow winged up.
He indicated Nika. “She attacked one of my men in Grace Harbor. I figured your brother might want to question her.”
“Grace Harbor isn’t our territory.”
He shrugged. “Close enough.” Which she knew as well as him.
Upstream, another dolphin was making a beeline for them. Adric stepped closer, fingered a wet black ringlet. “I have to go.”
He prided himself on his control. He’d never have made alpha without it. But then Rosana moistened her full lower lip and his control broke with an almost audible snap. With a growl, he speared his fingers into her hair and dragged her up against him.
She went stick straight—and then she gripped his shoulders and opened her mouth. Adric sank into her. There was no other word for it. He went deep and mindless. One hand tangled in her hair while the other smoothed over her firm ass, urged her up against his aching cock. His tongue sought hers and they tasted each other. One slow, sweet kiss.
His heart slammed against his rib cage. His head swam with her scent—fresh water and green grass layered over something that was all woman…a fragrance that could only be Rosana do Rio.
A furious snarl sounded from the river. A young, hard-driving tenente named Davi rose from the water, his gaze lethal.
Adric raised his head and resolutely set Rosana from him.
Behind him, Marjani had backed up the jeep. She shoved open the passenger-side door. “Get in, you ass.”
He ignored her to touch Rosana’s cheek. One last stroke of her downy skin.
Her throat worked. She captured his hand—and set it firmly against his chest. “Goodbye, Lord Adric.”
“Rosana—” He was close to begging…and he’d never begged a woman in his life.
Davi strode toward them. “What the fuck’s going on?”
“It’s all right.” Rosana slapped a palm on the tenente’s chest. “Go,” she told Adric.
His cougar gnashed its teeth at seeing her touch another man. But Marjani was right. Rosana do Rio wasn’t for him—and not just because he was alpha of an earth fada clan and she was a river fada. No, there were other, darker reasons he couldn’t allow himself to take Rosana.
With a mocking salute to Davi, he hopped into the jeep. The Rock Run man growled and started toward them, but Marjani slammed her foot on the gas pedal and they sped off in a hail of gravel.
His sister shook her head. “God’s cat, Ric. You have to get over this obsession with her.”
“I don’t want her.” It was a lie, and his stomach lurched in response. “Not for more than a fuck,” he amended.
Marjani snorted and he scowled at her. They drove in silence until she reached the main road. Then her eyes creased with amusement. “Dion’s going to go insane trying to figure out why we left Nika here.”
It wasn’t a smile, but it was the closest she’d come in a long while. Adric blew out a breath—and wrenched his mind away from the sexy Rock Run female.
“And then he’ll give up,” he said, “and have his mate ’port her back to Iceland or wherever the hell she’s from.”
“Either way, she’ll be taken care of. Smart.”
“Exactly.” Adric smirked and tapped his quartz. “Zuri? Any news?”
17
“So,” Kyler said, “are you going to sleep with him?”
“Jesus.” Evie’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “You’re my brother, not my dad.”
“You’re all I have.”
Her heart pinched. “Ditto, squirt.”
“I just want you to be careful.”
“I will. But I like him. I really like him.” She slanted him a look. “Would it be so bad?”
“Nah, he seems like an okay dude. A hardass, but not like that guy I talked to—Corban. He was cold right to the bone. That guy would slit your throat and smile the whole time.”
A chill inched up Evie’s spine. Right then and there, she decided to stay with Jace as long as necessary. She and Kyler were in over their heads. They couldn’t even go to the cops; the fada policed themselves. Yeah, there were rules—the fada weren’t supposed to mess in human affairs. There was even a human-fada treaty between the US and the American fada. But everyone knew that in reality, the fada did whatever they damned well pleased. The authorities turned a blind eye to everything but the most blatant violations of the treaty.
“Jace and Adric will get Corban,” Kyler said. “You’ll see.”
“I know.” She didn’t doubt that for a second.
“And it’s okay with me.” He waved a hand. “If you two…you know.”
She compressed her lips, trying not to laugh. “Thanks.”
“Like I said, he’s an okay dude. But that doesn’t mean you’re more to him than a piece of ass.” And with that brotherly warning, he put his ear buds in and leaned back in the car seat.
Jace pulled his bike into the shed. As he eased his injured leg over the seat, he stifled a groan. Damn thigh had stiffened up during the hour ride south. But what worried him was the way his knife wounds were burning. He slid a hand under his shirt and grimaced when he touched blood. Just a few drops, but he’d definitely ripped something open.
Behind him, Evie’s car wheezed to a stop and let out a couple of explosive pops. He made a mental note to have Sam go over her car. He was the clan’s best mechanic; the engine would be purring by the time he was through with it. It was the least they could do after dragging her into what was shaping up to be a clan war.
Besides, Jace wanted to help her. The woman carried too much weight on those tough little shoulders. As a fada, he never understood why the humans didn’t rally around their single parents—female or male, raising a cub alone was a damn hard job. Evie wouldn’t accept his money, but he figured she wouldn’t say no to Sam tuning up her car, especially after she saw that nothing made the tiger happier than to be elbow-deep in an engine.
Evie and Kyler exited their car, backpacks in hand. As they walked toward the shed, they glanced around, taking in the freshly painted house and the neat, fenced-in backyard.
“I’ll show you around in the morning,” Jace said. He was proud of his block. He’d worked hard to make it safe for his human neighbors. The rats had been chased off, and he made sure that the landlords kept the houses up to code. In return, when a house fell vacant, he helped the landlord find a responsible tenant. Adric might tolerate drug dealers on his block, but not Jace.
It had paid off. The yards were well kept and blooming with flowers, and a group of elders had started a community garden on a vacant lot. The woman who rented his house had tubs filled with tomatoes and zucchini on the front porch, and as soon as morning came, the street would ring with the shouts of children unafraid to play outside.
“I’d like that,” Evie said.
He walked toward them, intending to take her backpack, and then winced as his leg protested. Evie hurried up and slid an arm around his waist.
“You’re hurt.”
He grunted, but set an arm on her shoulders. If she wanted to plaster that sweet little body against his, he was all for it.
“Where’s your den?” Kyler asked.
“Here.” Jace touched his quartz and murmured the words that dissolved the look-away spell.
“Wowzer.” The teenager’s jaw slackened as the stairs appeared. “That’s frickin’ cool.”
“Your den is underground?” Evie peered down the two flights.
“Yeah.”
He’d never taken a human into his den. Ever.
And his cat was calmly satisfied. As far as it was concerned, everything had worked out just as it should. Except that Evie was in danger. The cat didn’t like that, but that was all the more reason to keep her close. And her brother, too, because the cub was essential to Evie’s happiness—and besides, the cat liked him.
“Sick.” That was Kyler. “Ben would never believe this.”
Evie’s scent was wary, but interested too.
“What’s the matter?” Jace asked her.
“It’s so…dark.”
Ah. He’d forgotten she didn’t have a cat’s night vision. And maybe she was a little cautious about entering a fada’s den?
He led the way down the stairs, leaving the two siblings to follow or not as they wished—and then held his breath, not sure what he’d do if Evie changed her mind. Because both man and cat wanted her here, had a deep, primal nee
d to protect her.
He glanced over his shoulder. “There are quartz lights built into the walls. Our motion will turn them on.” The lights glowed on as he spoke—tiny blue and silver crystals set into the dark gray stone in irregular patterns.
“They’re beautiful,” Evie breathed, and started down the stairs after him.
He sent her a smile. “Thanks. They were my mom’s idea.”
Evie trailed her fingers down the wall. “They’re like stars in the night sky.”
“That’s what Mom said.”
When they reached the bottom, he touched his quartz to the lock in the heavy oak door. It swung open and he ushered his two guests through the small foyer into the living room. They looked around curiously, taking in the exposed stone walls, the quartz wall sconces and the colorful pillows scattered on the floor.
Evie fingered a beautiful rose quartz that his mom had brought back from Brazil, and then peeked into the spacious kitchen. “Wow, this is a big place.”
“My dad built it.” He watched as Kyler wandered into the kitchen and then back out again. “Five bedrooms, because he and my mom were always bringing someone home.”
Her mouth curved. “They sound like nice people.”
“They were.” He felt the familiar tug of grief that his parents had died so young. Fada normally lived for hundreds of years, but his mom and dad hadn’t even reached their seventies.
Were. Her dark eyes met his in shared compassion. “But you don’t live here alone, do you?”
He shook his head. “I have four den mates, although right now Luc is out of the country. And there’s Tigger—thinks he runs the show.”
On cue, the tabby leapt off the back of the couch and strolled over to sniff Evie. Introductions over, he butted her leg, completely ignoring Kyler.
“A cat?” Evie broke into a smile and to Jace’s disgust, crouched down to coo over Tigger. The damn housecat got all the attention. But he had to admit, Tigger had his uses, because when Evie stood back up, her wariness was completely gone. It was hard to be suspicious of a guy with a fat tabby for a pet.
Saving Jace Page 14