by Wood, Vivian
The men’s voices faded a bit as they got into the car and pulled out of the garage, tires screeching. Tessa couldn’t really understand what they were saying, something about someone being angry.
Tessa felt around the compartment, desperate. She needed a weapon, so that if she escaped the trunk she’d have a chance to get away.
Her hand hit a bit of cold steel. A screwdriver, of the Philip’s head variety. Good enough for Tessa.
Tessa allowed her body to relax and her eyes to close, fighting to stay awake. She took even, fast-paced breaths to give her brain more oxygen. Somehow that might help.
A garbled shout sounded in the car.
“What the fuck! Crazy ass biker!” before the car slowed with a screech. Tessa slammed against the trunk’s wall. Before the car was even still, there was a thunderous crash. Tessa was bounced from one side of the trunk to the other, which woke her brain up just a bit.
Gunshots rang out for almost a minute, then everything was silent. Slow footsteps crunched toward the trunk, and Tessa readied her screwdriver. Everything was getting fuzzy again, but if Tessa could take out the man approaching, she might be able to get somewhere safe.
Light from the street lamp streamed in as the trunk opened. Tessa tried to strike out with the screwdriver, but her arm wouldn’t cooperate. Then inky blackness wrapped around her mind and pulled her under, somewhere warm and dark.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I killed her. If she never wakes up, that means I killed her. As good as if I put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.
Jace looked over at Tessa for what had to be the millionth time, and still there was no change. Her breathing was slow and shallow, but steady. She was warm to the touch, but not fevered. He’d tried to wake her, to no avail. All he could do was pray that her lack of response wasn’t due to brain damage or internal trauma.
Jace had tried to shake her awake when he’d pulled her out of the trunk of the Mercedes, but she hadn’t so much as moved. He’d lifted her out of the trunk and hastened away from the wreckage he’d created, rebuking himself over and over for risking Tessa’s safety.
He hadn’t had much time to react, but that was no excuse. The second he got close enough to the black sedan, he’d felt the pull of Tessa’s presence. The car had started moving, soon to pass him. All Jace had known was that he couldn’t let that happen.
Jace had reacted without thought, and gunned his bike straight at the car. At the last second he’d leaned hard enough to cause the motorcycle to slide sideways toward the car, while he rolled off in the other direction.
Jace had hit the ground hard. He’d jumped up while the two men holding Tessa were still stunned, and then he’d emptied a clip into their throats and chests. It was against pack law to kill another shifter without the alpha’s consent, but it wasn’t technically a violation to shoot the shit out of them. So Jace had avoided the head shots he’d so badly wanted to mete out, and had instead opened the car’s back seat.
No Tessa in sight, but he could feel her. When he popped open the trunk, the plastic handle of a screwdriver hit him squarely in the eye. He cursed and then laughed aloud, his heart swelling with relief at the fact that she’d at least attempted to protect herself. She was brave, a fighter until the very end. Then he’d realized she wasn’t moving anymore, and his heart had dropped like a stone.
He’d watched over her for hours now. He’d gotten her back to his house, undressed her, and wrapped her in the thick quilt that adorned his bed. The quilt was one of the only surviving remnants of his parents, and tucking it in around her sleeping form gave him a measure of peace. He’d laid her down just so, pulled up a hard wooden chair alongside it, and waited.
Maybe he should call Shaw back and take him up on his offer to send a doctor. Jace had checked her over and had found nothing but a few bad bruises, but maybe she was bleeding internally. The risk of Tessa’s death outweighed the risk of calling in a human doctor, didn’t it?
Jace jumped up to grab his cell phone. He flipped it open and began dialing Shaw, his hands shaking.
Tessa chose that moment to let out a load moan. Jace hung up, dropping the phone next to his chair as he knelt on the bed beside her.
“Tess? Can you wake up?” he asked.
“Huuurnmph,” she replied.
“Open your eyes,” he commanded.
Tessa’s eyes slid open. After a moment, she focused on his face. Then she flapped a dismissive hand at him, and rolled to her other side.
Jace let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. She wasn’t a vegetable, at least.
Jace gripped Tessa’s shoulders and rolled her back to face him.
“Tess. Do you want a doctor? Talk to me!”
Her brow furrowed.
“Drugs,” she said.
“What?”
“Drugs, they gave me… I’m going to be sick,” she said, heaving. Jace snatched up the trashcan beside the bed and held it in position for her while Tessa vomited, shaking and crying all the while. Shit, Jace had never been this helpless in his entire life. At least not since…
Not the time for that. Focus on Tessa, she needs you right now.
Jace could deal with this. He would stay by her bedside, wait for the nausea to pass. He’d take drugged up over a severe concussion, any day of the week. Tessa heaved one last time, but it seemed like there wasn’t much left to come up. She flopped back on the bed and he set the trashcan aside, smoothing a hand over her forehead and crown.
“Do you need anything right now, Tess?” he asked.
She just groaned and flapped a dismissive hand, pulling a pillow over her face to block out the early morning sunlight.
“Okay. Okay. I’m going to let you sleep. But I’ll be right here if you need anything,” he said.
“Munnh huhm,” she affirmed, then rolled over again and buried her face in Jace’s comforter. Jace wanted to crawl in bed beside Tessa and hold her close, but he wasn’t quite ready for sleep.
Jace turned on the shower and pointed all the nozzles to the center, then turned the water temperature way up. The scorching water drenched over him, and he let the heat relax some of the knots and tension in his neck. It was the reason he’d installed the shower in the first place.
Jace leaned his face against the cool slate and let out a ragged breath. He’d spent the last few hours thinking that he’d killed Tessa, and that was after taking advantage of her, rejecting her, and screaming at her in front of the whole pack.
Now that he was sure she was okay, he’d merely done all the other things. Damnation.
The look on her face when he’d asked her to get off his lap flashed in his mind, and he pressed his face harder against the tile. He’d tried to apologize, but she hadn’t been interested in a private chat. Jace had been too proud to say anything in front of the other women, and he’d let Tessa traipse off with Declan.
His hands tightened into fists. Declan had better be lying low, if he knew what was good for him. Jace was going to wreck Declan’s pretty face if he so much as looked at Tessa the wrong way. Actually, if Declan so much as looked in her direction, Jace would kill him and piss on his grave. Their association was at a complete end, or Jace couldn’t be responsible for his actions thereafter.
Jace stayed in the shower until the water began to cool. Then he dried off, dressing in jersey sleep pants and a soft t-shirt. He turned off the lamp that adorned the bedside table and lay down next to Tessa.
Pulling the quilt over both of them, he maneuvered her backward into the shelter of his body.
Tessa shifted and gave a little sigh, as though content. That sound shouldn’t be so damned sexy, or so comforting.
The problem with her, simply put, was that Jace respected the hell out of her. She was sweet, but she stood up for herself if it was needed. She was as independent as Jace himself, yet she could still bond with others; she’d only been here a matter of days and already had lifelong friends. It had taken Jace five y
ears to bond with the loyal and respectable Rhett.
She was without a doubt one of the most intelligent women he’d met, but she wasn’t awkward. And she had what Jace lacked most; the ability, the capacity in her heart, to truly care about others. Jace simply didn’t have room in his life or heart for anyone but Maddie, and God knew it was hard enough to love her some days.
In many ways, it was unfortunate that he couldn’t offer Tessa more. Here was a fierce, smart, beautiful woman who seemed to genuinely like Jace as a person. As if that weren’t enough, she fit in well enough with his pack and his lifestyle. Not to mention the fact that she was smokin’ hot and kissed like a wet dream.
Jace ignored his thickening arousal, closing his eyes. He had nothing to offer her, sure. But he had to think that if he ever took a mate, it would be someone just like Tessa. It couldn’t hurt him to admit that, at least.
After a time, the rhythm of Tessa’s breathing sucked him under, and he drifted.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Fifteen year old Jace crouched to take cover beside the front porch of his family’s large ranch home. There was just a hint of a crisp chill in the air on that gorgeous Georgia night, and silence lay thick across the Den. Jace turned to his sister and put a finger to his lips. Maddie nodded, eyes wide. She had just turned eight, but she was smart enough to recognize danger when she saw it.
Snarls and startled shouts woke Jace some hours before. He’d waited in his bedroom, uncertain what he should do. Sounds surrounded him, worse than any nightmare: gunshots, breaking glass, screams. A great crack rent the air, the sound of their front door being kicked down. Jace jumped out of bed and flung open the door that adjoined his room to his sister’s. He’d shushed Maddie and pulled her out of bed, then locked them in her room. Jace put his hands over Maddie’s ears, shielding her as much as he could.
He heard his parents’ raised voices, and those of the intruders.
“Get on the floor!” boomed a strange male.
“Get behind me, Jacqueline!” Jace’s father shouted, panic thickening his Southern accent.
“No, there is a mistake! We are to be spared,” came Jace’s mother’s voice, her soft French accent unmistakable.
“Get on the damned floor and shut up!” the stranger commanded again, his voice rising with anger.
“They promised!” his mother insisted.
“Jacqui, what are you talking about? You knew this was going to happen?” Jace’s father asked, barely audible this time.
“I had to help. They said they’d save the children. I am sorry, my love,” Jacqueline replied.
“Jacqui, my heart…”
Jace’s father started to reply, but three loud shots rang out before he could finish. Jace swallowed the bile that rose when he heard his parents’ bodies fall to the floor. Silence came over the house, chilling him to the bone.
“Clear the house, make sure no one is left,” came the stranger’s voice again. Jace heard and felt the heavy stamp of boots on the living room floor.
Jace hadn’t thought much past getting into Maddie’s room. He slid Maddie’s window open as quietly as possible, ignoring the desperate sounds of pain coming from the living room. He grabbed Maddie and dumped her out the window before following her out. Sophomore year of high school had brought an immense growth spurt, so he was lacking in grace as he tumbled to the ground, sliding the window closed behind them.
Jace gestured toward the storm cellar doors, just a few feet away. Maddie pulled one of the rusting doors open and disappeared head first. There were still shouts and gunfire echoing throughout the Den. Jace jumped into the storm cellar before taking a quick look around. A lone figure stood in the flood lights of the mess hall not two hundred yards from where Jace hid.
Marcus Emberson. Jace could identify the Alpha from his height and proud stance alone. A loose ring of SWAT-suited gunmen closed in on the wolf. Their bulletproof vests proclaimed “LEGION” in bold white lettering. The moved fast, but not like Shifters. They must be humans.
One of the assailants was shouting at Marcus to get on the ground, but Marcus didn’t move. The gunmen advanced, closing their net. Jace’s heart pounded, watching the strongest Shifter he knew realize that he was going to be defeated.
A shout and a flash of light came from around the corner of Jace’s house, so he dropped low and swung the other cellar door closed. He grabbed a piece of re-bar lying next to the steps and slid it through the handles of the shed’s swinging doors.
Jace heard footsteps. He scrambled back to the corner where Maddie was sitting, slipping his arms around her as he joined her on the floor. A flashlight swept over the door of the cellar, briefly throwing slivers of light into the darkness.
Jace tucked his head down and wrapped himself around his sister. There was a shout, and the doors rattled once, and again. They were found out.
Just then there were four sharp staccato reports, and the footsteps stilled. A low howl rose for a moment, then two more reports.
Marcus. The alpha had drawn the humans’ attention away from Jace and Maddie.
The footsteps moved away, probably heading toward the fallen Shifter.
Jace and Maddie sat huddled up like that for hours, not daring to do more than breathe. Hours later, they could hear engines roaring to life and leaving the Den, but they kept waiting just to be sure.
When cracks of dim early morning light crept in through the cracks in the doors, Jace finally rose and unbolted the door.
Things were much worse in the light. Signs of violence were everywhere.
Jace had never seen the Den empty. The stillness shivered up his spine before he could push it back.
Jace could see the broken outlines of bodies here and there, left where they’d dropped. He blocked Maddie’s exit from the cellar while he took it all in, forcing himself to see his fill. He made Maddie promise not to open her eyes for anything.
Only then did he scoop his little sister up and begin to follow his favorite trail into the surrounding forest. If he could make it into the city, he could find a way to contact another pack, to find a place for them to stay, to be safe.
Jace grimaced as he held Maddie in his arms. His entire world had shattered in a single night, and he didn’t know that he’d ever feel safe again. The wind rose with the sun, warming the world around them. Jace never looked back as he carried his sister to their new life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jace woke from the dream, feeling the weight of Maddie’s small form in his arms as if he had been carrying her for miles in the wilderness. More than the smell of smoke or the cries of familiar voices, the sensation of taking his sleeping sister from the Den was still the sharpest and most painful memory from that night.
Jace turned his head and drank in the sight of Tessa, who was curled up close to his side. Her blonde hair formed a fuzzy halo over her head, and her mouth was open just a tiny bit as if she were about to say something. The rest of her body was nestled deep under the heavy quilt.
Jace reached out and brushed his hand against the pulse beating just under her jawline, but she slept on, peaceful.
It was difficult to look at her like this and reconcile the image of the day before, when she’d refused to speak to him in front of the mess hall. In sleep, all the tension and anger had faded from her features and she looked very young.
Tessa also looked very human, in the way that their females looked so fragile. As if one good blow would shatter their fine, porcelain features. Though Jace could smell the Ascendant scent on her skin, he couldn’t imagine this softer version of Tessa making the change over to Shifter. The ritual itself was intense, and the first change painful for those who still resisted their new nature. Jace had never understood how Shifters could inflict that on their Ascendant mates.
Tessa did have a resilient streak, though. She had defended herself against Jasper, fearlessly introduced herself into close-knit pack of Shifters, and damn if that mouth of hers couldn’t flay the sk
in off her opponent in an argument. Jace pulled his hand back from Tessa’s warm skin and let out a huge breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
He wanted Tessa. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, or how much, or for how long. He just knew he couldn’t live like this anymore, wanting, watching, but never taking. It had always been his way, but now he found that the loneliness in his life had a sharp edge that worked at him, cut him deep.
He might not know want he wanted, but he knew he didn’t want to be alone.
He needed guidance. He needed to talk to his lifelong best friend. The only person he ever asked for opinions, even if the advice wasn’t always the best available.
Damn it all. He was going to have to talk to Maddie.
With that thought, Jace closed his eyes and tried to let himself go back to sleep. Things were about to get a lot easier or a hell of a lot harder in the morning. He figured a good night of sleep could only help his chances in winning over his sister.
Chapter Twenty-Six
James hesitated for a long moment, gathering his nerve to knock on the door to his uncle’s office. The project with Tessa was proceeding much too slowly for the older man’s taste.James had been on the receiving end of his uncle’s displeasure with increasing frequency since they’d released the girl.
James took a deep breath and rapped on the solid oak door, waiting for permission to enter. After a full minute, he turned to leave. Only then did his uncle respond.
“You may enter, Novitiate,” came the muffled answer.
Schooling his expression, James turned back and opened the door, letting himself into the office. His uncle sat behind his roughly-hewn oak desk, reading some correspondence. Papers and books were stacked all over the desk, contrasting with the neatness of the rest of the office. Monsignor Sunderland was a busy man today.
“Well, what is it?” his uncle asked, glancing up from his reading. “You knocked on my door, remember? I assume that means you wish to speak to me.”
