Jace

by Sarah McCarty; Sarah McCarty

  A touch on his shoulder brought his head around. Tobias jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  He didn’t have to tug Miri; she went on her own, back the way they’d come, through the vacant lot, a slender shadow fading into the darkness after Micah.

  “She’s not taking this well,” Tobias murmured, dropping in beside him.

  “There’s no reason she should.” After a few moments, he said, “A shame about Travis.”

  Tobias’s “Yes” was noncommittal.

  “You don’t sound overly grieved.”

  “His death saved me some effort.”

  “You were going to kill him?”

  “I’m an Enforcer. Alphas who betray the pack answer to me.”

  “How did he betray the pack?”

  Tobias cut him a glare. “That’s pack business.”

  Jace eyed him carefully. No emotion colored the flat statement. The man was one cold son of a bitch. “Well, just as long as you don’t expect me to step into the breach.”

  “That’s not my call.”

  “Nor mine.”

  The corner of Tobias’s lips twitched. “That decision will likely be made for you.”

  “Ian can’t make me do anything.”

  Tobias motioned to where Miri strode ahead, head up, shoulders back, spine straight. “The pack kept Miri alive after her parents died. If you think her roots aren’t deep, you don’t know your mate.”

  He was right. Jace knew that. He’d felt the aching hole within her every time their minds touched. “The D’Nallys won’t accept me.”

  And no way in hell was he letting her go.

  “Not as you are, no.”

  “What in hell does that mean?”

  Tobias didn’t answer.

  They stepped out of the trees. The groups stood beside the cars, hugging the shadows rather than invisibility. Jace checked his brothers first. Jared had some burn holes in his coat but appeared all right. While Slade… He sucked in a hard breath when he saw his brother suspended between two weres.

  “What in hell did you do?”

  Slade’s back was a mess, flesh torn away from bone, bloody gashes gaping between the shreds of material. Even with the proof of Slade’s energy touching his, Jace couldn’t believe he was alive.

  “Had a little discussion with a bomb” came the typical Slade response, understatement covering emotion.

  “He threw himself on it when Travis and Bob tripped it.”

  “Then how’d he get his back torn up?”

  “You don’t think I’d let a Sanctuary bomb take us out, do you?”

  Quite frankly, Jace didn’t know how Slade’d intended to prevent it.

  “Damn fool threw himself over it and messed with the energy and spiraled the blast.”

  “Shit.”

  “I had something stronger to say,” Tobias said.

  “It fucking worked, didn’t it,” Slade grunted.

  “By the grace of God.”

  “By the grace of logic,” Slade countered.

  Jace shook his head. “One of these days logic is going to be the death of you.”

  Slade shrugged off the supporting weres. “Lack of logic is what’s going to do that.”

  9

  JACE entered the kitchen. Caleb and Tobias sat at the scarred table with cups of coffee in front of them. Both looked weary.

  Caleb glanced up. “How’s Miri?”

  “As good as can be expected. I made her sleep.”

  Caleb nodded. “Good idea.”

  “Made?” Tobias asked, eyebrows raised. “As in hypnotized?”

  Jace didn’t appreciate the question or the were’s interest in how he cared for his wife. His lip lifted in a snarl. “As in, encouraged her to give in to her natural need to sleep.”

  Tobias’s reaction was an uncaring slouch and a small smile that revealed his canines. Both reactions were interesting in that they were the reactions of an Alpha confident in his power, yet Tobias had no claim to Alpha status.

  “You’re a nosy son of a bitch,” Jace told him, not for the first time.

  Tobias took a sip of coffee. “It comes in handy at times.”

  Jace just bet. No one seemed to know much about Tobias, just that Ian put a stack of faith in his abilities and used him for special jobs. Jace was pretty sure those jobs had more to do with violence and not much to do with questions.

  Enforcer. It took on a whole new meaning after what he’d learned tonight. Jace glanced over at Caleb. “How’s my nephew?”

  The shadow on Caleb’s face darkened. “Better since Slade got back.”

  “Better” didn’t imply thriving. “Shit.”

  “Allie’s frantic with worry, which isn’t helping.”

  “She’s doing okay, though?”

  He threaded his finger through the handle of his coffee cup. “The bleeding’s slowing.” He took a drink.

  That would explain the pale, drawn look. Jace motioned to the cup. “That can’t be helping you.”

  Caleb loved his coffee but it didn’t agree with his vamp digestive track. Too much and he puked. Caleb took another sip. “Leave my coffee the hell out of your bad mood.”

  “Does Slade have any idea what’s wrong with Joseph?”

  “No, but he’s in the lab working on an idea.”

  Slade hadn’t even had time to recover from the battle and his wounds, and already he was back in the lab. “We can’t keep letting him do this to himself.”

  “We don’t have any choice. He’s all we’ve got.”

  “But he can’t be all there is.”

  “Shit.” Caleb dropped his forehead to his hand. “It’s not like I haven’t thought of that, but where the hell are we supposed to find brilliant vampires we can trust?”

  “It might help if you associated more with your own kind,” Tobias offered.

  “We tend to rub them the wrong way.”

  “I can see why.”

  Caleb glared at him. “What in hell does that mean?”

  “It means you think more like a wolf than a vampire.”

  “Christ, we’re not going back to those stereotypes, are we?” Jace was sick and tired of being judged by myth rather than fact.

  “They’re not stereotypes. Whether you want to believe it or not,” Tobias said, “there’s a reason most vampires fall in line with the Sanctuary, and most weres fall in line with the Renegades.”

  “Might be because the majority of Sanctuary are preying on were females.”

  Tobias took a long pull. “That could be, but it also could be because most vampires are made, not born, and suddenly becoming immortal, and more powerful than you’ve ever dreamed, has a way of corrupting people.”

  “Can’t argue with that.”

  “There’s also the fact that they lack pack cohesiveness.”

  “You mean community?” Jace asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Interesting theory,” Caleb mused.

  Jace knew that tone. “Don’t go thinking you can convert Sanctuary, Caleb.”

  The door opened and Jared came in, bringing the scent of early morning and deep satisfaction with him. His eyes were a clear hazel, something that only happened when he was at peace. He’d been with his wife. The jealousy that fact brought Jace cut like a razor.

  Don’t look at me. You want your wife to love you up, sweet-talk her.

  Mind your own fucking business.

  Jared merely smiled and grabbed a chair. “So, who’s thinking of converting Sanctuary?”

  “Caleb.”

  Caleb cocked his eyebrow. “I didn’t say a thing.”

  “You have that look.”

  “Gotta admit,” Tobias said, “there was a look about you.”

  Caleb leaned back in the chair. His shirt strained across his chest.

  “I was just thinking, like Raisa, there may be a few folks hooked up with the Sanctuary who don’t quite follow the principle, but are unsure of an alternative.”

&nb
sp; “I’ve been thinking for a while that only a vampire could have sneaked Faith out after she was born,” Jared mused.

  “And, sure enough, someone has a path to Allie’s mind,” Caleb cut in.

  “Thought you said it didn’t feel vampire.”

  “Doesn’t mean it wasn’t,” Caleb replied. “Just means that I didn’t recognize it.”

  “Raisa didn’t mention any sympathetic vampires at the Sanctuary?” Jace asked Jared.

  “Maybe she didn’t know. If they can alter their energy, it wouldn’t be a tag she’d know.” Jace turned to Jared. “Did Raisa mention running into any vampires?”

  “No, and she’s good with energy. She would have recognized one.”

  “Only if she was looking.” Miri stood in the doorway, her hands wrapped around her arms. “And we weren’t looking.”

  Jace stood. She motioned him back. He ignored her. “I thought I told you to sleep.”

  “I thought I told you to stop giving me orders.”

  She stepped into the room, her face so pale from exhaustion her scars all but disappeared. She needed to feed. She needed care. She needed her child.

  “Neither Raisa nor I had the time and energy to do much.”

  She looked around the kitchen, seemed to just notice Tobias, blinked. Jace caught her before she could step back.

  “It was different there.” She rubbed her arms, not stopping when he drew her against him, just shifting her efforts to the right side. “We weren’t strong.”

  “Doesn’t appear to me you’re all that strong now,” Tobias said before taking a long pull on his coffee.

  She licked her lips. It was beginning to dawn on Jace that the big were made her nervous. “Trust me, I’m a lot stronger now.”

  “Looks to me like a puff of wind would knock you over.”

  Tobias didn’t move but Miri’s scent spiked with fear. She leaned back, looking up at him. Shadows haunted her eyes as aggression tightened her muscles. “Why is he still here? His job is done.”

  “Ian sent him.”

  Caleb’s chair came down on four legs with a distinct tap. “Is there a reason he shouldn’t be here?”

  Miri exchanged a long look with the were. Her hand settled on the tabletop beside a sharp knife.

  “No.”

  “Before you go believing that, you might want to ask her what kind of were business this is,” Jared interjected.

  Miri’s start was palpable.

  “Jared’s very good with reading minds,” Jace murmured.

  “My ears work fine, too.”

  “So what kind of were business is Tobias here for?” Caleb asked.

  “He’s sitting right there,” Miri countered, her fingers inching the knife into her grip. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

  Jace didn’t think Miri caught the dip of Caleb’s eyes to her hand, but he did.

  “Because I have a feeling he’d lie.”

  “He’d never lie.”

  Jace believed her. The question was: what made her so sure?

  “How do you know that?”

  She licked her lips. “That’s were business.”

  Her fingers wrapped around the knife handle. Was she planning on using it on Caleb or Tobias?

  Tobias reached across the table. “I’ll get that out of your way.”

  With a very smooth move, the knife was removed from her grip. Miri’s respiration increased, and from the tilt of her head, she was watching every move the were made.

  Enforcer.

  The word screamed through his head, leaping from Miri to him, fear riding double with respect. Jace shoved Miri behind him and dropped into a crouch as Tobias palmed the knife.

  “Who in hell are you?”

  “Tobias D’Nally.” His gaze went past Jace to Miri.

  She gasped and touched his back, the trembling in her fingers vibrating up his spine. “Good grief, don’t upset him, Jace!”

  “Hell, sweet, if he doesn’t stop scaring you, in about two seconds I’m going to pop his head off his shoulders.”

  Chairs clattered as Jared and Caleb stood. “What’s going on?”

  Tobias took another drink of his coffee. Jared kept his eye on him and Jace moved Miri back.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  Miri tried to come up to his side. He pushed her back again, keeping himself firmly between her and the were. “But I think our friend here just wore out his welcome.”

  “You can’t hurt him,” Miri said.

  “Watch me.”

  Miri made a sound between the hiss of a cat and a choke. “No, I mean you can’t hurt him.”

  He didn’t take his eyes off the were. “Explain.”

  “He’s an Enforcer.”

  “The picture’s not getting any clearer.”

  Jared cleared the table in one leap, landing beside Tobias. “According to legend, in exchange for their promise to uphold the laws of their people, they were given superior strength, superior skills, and some abilities more rumor than fact, as no one’s ever seen them in action and lived to tell about it.”

  Tobias put his coffee cup down. “You’re well informed.”

  “Jared’s always been a sucker for fairy tales.”

  The corner of Tobias’s mouth lifted. “A smart man always hears the truth in the legend.”

  “Why are you here?” Caleb asked, that same deadly quiet radiating from him that radiated from the were.

  “For me,” Miri whispered.

  “Technically, no.” He pushed the cup toward Jared. “Top that off, would you?”

  Jared didn’t move.

  He sighed. “Technically, I’m here for Faith.”

  “You can’t have her.” Carefully enunciated, cold, the words flowed into the silence. Miri stepped around Jace and advanced on Tobias.

  “She’s pack,” Miri snarled.

  Jace reached for her. She evaded his grip and took another step toward the powerful were. The scent of blood mingled with the scents of coffee and rage.

  “She’s pack,” Miri repeated as she cleared the table in a blinding flash of speed, “and she’s mine.” Miri shoved her face into Tobias’s, her claws pressing into the hollow of his throat. “You try to touch one hair on her head, and I’ll make one aspect of myth a lie.”

  Jace lunged forward. Caleb grabbed his arm, holding him back when he would have yanked her back.

  Unbelievably, Tobias smiled as if blood wasn’t welling from the four points where Miri’s claws pressed. “You’re a pretty little thing.”

  “Fuck you.”

  His fingertips touched her cheek. “Whenever you want.”

  “Get your goddamn hands off her,” Jace swore as an invisible energy surrounded him, immobilizing him. He felt his brothers’ shock. The same energy that surrounded him imprisoned them.

  Tobias glanced over. “She doesn’t appear too happy with you.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “You don’t bear her mark.” He stroked his finger down the corner of Miri’s mouth. “Pretty little weres happy with their mates can’t resist marking them.”

  That was news to him.

  On a Got it from Jared, the energy around them lifted. With a snarl, Jace leapt for Miri, his brothers for Tobias.

  Jace wrapped his arm around Miri’s waist, yanking her away from the were. Tobias didn’t resist when Jared and Caleb grabbed him by the arms. “I’ve heard about you. A vampire with Enforcer powers.” The statement was directed at Jared as Tobias stood quietly in their arms.

  “So you came to check me out?”

  “Yes.”

  “And take my niece.”

  Tobias shrugged.

  “Interesting time to lose the power of speech,” Caleb noted.

  “He can’t lie,” Miri said.

  “Literally?” Jace asked, holding her tighter into his side, the horror of having been trapped while she put herself in danger too strong to allow him to release her just yet.

  “Yes.
”

  “Which would mean you’re not here just to take Faith. You’re here to make a decision about her.”

  No answer from Tobias.

  “He’s here to kill her,” Miri said too calmly.

  That hit Jace wrong. “No, he’s not.”

  Miri’s claws raked the backs of his hands. “He’s an Enforcer. He has to.”

  Jace looked at the man. Sure, he had the cold eyes of a man used to doing what needed to be done, and he had enough gall for seven men, but there was a sense of honor about him. A clear purpose that came from a clear conscience. “Killing a baby isn’t an easy thing, Miri.”

  “Everything’s easy for an Enforcer. They have no conscience.”

  Jace had met his share of conscienceless men in his day and the man studying Miri and ignoring the two vamps holding his arms wasn’t one of them. His eyes lingered on the scars on her cheeks and pity touched the edges of his gaze before disappearing behind the mask of his blank expression.

  “You get your information on Enforcers from the same place you got your information on vampires?” Jace asked.

  “Yes.” She yanked at her arms. “What are you waiting for? Kill him.”

  “I’m considering the source.”

  The flicker of a smile over Tobias’s face was another surprise. Miri’s hiss of anger was not.

  “Did Ian send you?” Caleb asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “To protect his interests.”

  Ian’s interests were pack interests, which meant Miri and Faith. Ian had sent the most powerful were he knew to protect them.

  “Are you here to kill me?” Jace asked.

  “If necessary.”

  That was honest. Over Miri’s snarl, Jace asked, “What would make it necessary?”

  “I’ll let you know when I find out.”

  “Fair enough.” Jace nodded at Caleb and Jared. “Let him go.”

  As soon as he was free, Tobias grabbed his coffee cup and strolled over to the pot as if the room wasn’t seething with tension.

  “Are you crazy?” Miri gasped, staring at Tobias.

  He was a lot of things, but not that. “No.”

  “He’ll kill Faith.”

  “Whatever rumors you’ve heard, I’m looking at a man, princess, and killing an infant isn’t something a man does easily.”