Waverly studied the openings to the ten tunnels now facing them. Four led a short distance before stopping, the way obstructed by streamers of roots.
Which of the remaining six was the way out?
"Thoughts?" Jax asked.
"For the lack of a better plan, let's pick the one that leads in the direction of your family's house."
Jax nodded. "As good a reason as any, I guess." He grinned boyishly. "Of course if you're wrong, this was all your idea."
She smiled. He'd been so distracted since they'd arrived on Jimlee, that she was relieved to see him come back to her.
Choosing the left corridor, they made it only as far as the first bend before the roots blocked their way. They repeated the process twice more, each time coming to a dead end within a short distance of the cavern.
"Wouldn't it be fun if all three of the remaining tunnels do this?" she asked him.
"About as much fun as we'll have if we make it to my family dinner tonight."
"It's a good time?" They started down the fourth tunnel.
"Oh, more fun than getting your transport ripped off by Junkeaters."
"Ooh! Now that's a good time!" She tossed a grin back at him, his face glowing as he walked through a sunbeam. "Happen to you often?"
"Twice. They learned the folly of that after I caught up to them and expressed my irritation."
The tunnel twisted before her. She had a good feeling about this one, since it appeared that someone had been recently through, cutting roots. "It happened to me when I first started working for Alexander. I was bringing in a new transport, so we hadn't marked it yet, and since they didn't recognize me, they stole it when I was filling out tax forms for some idiot from the Inter-world Council. Alexander was completely pissed because it came back worse for wear. Their pilots are terrible. The landing gear had to be completely rebuilt."
They entered another large cavern. Three tunnels led out of it. After careful study, they started on the left again. The tunnels seemed unending, but they were at least going in the right direction.
"Jax," Waverly said, hesitant to bring it up, but unable to keep herself from doing so.
"Hmm?" Jax led them now. He stopped to study a hole in the ceiling. It was obviously too small for them to fit through and he walked on.
"There seems to be a strange tension in your family. What's going on below the surface that I don't know?"
Jax stayed silent for so long that Waverly wasn't sure he would answer. "Seven years ago, my father believed I illegally sold weapons to unauthorized planets, so he let them sentence me to exile." He trailed his fingers along the wall, dirt crumbling to the floor. "Babbet was in favor of my punishment almost from the start. Both she and Del made it clear that I had disgraced the family with my behavior."
"I'm struggling to understand that. Maybe because Alterian culture dictates that your family defends you at all costs."
Jax stopped abruptly and turned to her, his face tense. He grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me, Waverly. I swear I will always defend you at all costs. I will always believe in you, even when no one else does. I give you my solemn oath on this. As far as I'm concerned, you're my family now and I will treat you the way you deserve to be treated--with honor, trust, and love."
He crushed his lips to hers, his arms shaking with emotion. One hand twisted in her hair, slanting her head to deepen the kiss.
Her whole body filled with need, while her heart ached for him. To have even his own family believe him guilty must have been devastating. His oath filled her with a mix of joy and emotions she couldn't name, overwhelming her with his promise.
These were forever words.
"I'm sorry, Jax," she said, when she came up for air. She pulled his head back down so she could rest her forehead to his. "I promise you aren't alone anymore." She met his gaze. Green eyes, bright as emeralds in the strange light of the tunnel, stared down at her with longing and promise.
Waverly stepped back, looking at the man who had been a stranger only days ago. She struggled with the words, then forced herself to say them. "I love you, Jax. Heart and Soul. We'll face life together from now on."
The light shifted as a breeze tossed the trees in the forest above.
"I told Babbet that we had already performed our linking ceremony even though we hadn't yet done so. I've been waiting for you to face the fact that we are mated." Jax lowered himself to one knee before her. "I would be honored if you would accept my pledge to you."
Waverly stood still, in shock, unsure what to tell him. A linking ceremony seemed so permanent. But then, hadn't she just given him her promise that he wouldn't be alone anymore? Formality wouldn't make the words any truer than they'd been when she first said them.
She nodded. This was right. The time was now. "What are we to do?"
Jax seemed relieved by her question.
"I'll go first and make my vows to you. Then we'll switch places." He held out his hand and she automatically placed hers on his open palm. "But Waverly, if you're unsure, now is the time to speak."
"No, I'm sure," she said, surprised at the strength of her voice as it rang in the tunnel.
Jax took a deep breath. "Waverly, I pledge my life to you. You are my mate. I will be beside you in this life and the next. No other shall I take to my bed or to my heart."
Waverly trembled as the words hit home. Love flowed through her, and she tightened her hand on his. Once again, she was struck with how right it felt between them.
Jax turned her hand so the palm was face up.
"With this kiss, I seal my word."
He pressed his lips firmly into her skin. Waverly's heart stuttered. Jax held the position for several moments before standing.
His face in a shadow, he looked like a warrior, physically taking up more space than the simple size of his body warranted.
She was attaching herself to this man forever. But even as the thought scared her, she knew only he could make her truly happy.
Waverly lowered herself to one knee and held out her hand for his, hoping women were supposed to repeat the same motions for the ritual.
"Jax, I pledge my life to you. You are my mate, my heart, my soul. No other shall I take to my bed or to my heart."
She turned his hand palm up. "With this kiss, I seal my word."
Lowering her head, she pressed her lips to his skin. A strange feeling shivered from his palm through her lips, across her breasts, past her belly, along her legs, and down to her toes, making them curl into her boots.
She gasped. "What was that?"
"The link." He helped her to her feet, while Waverly struggled to grasp the fact that there was a real, as opposed to a metaphorical, link between them now. "Thank you for honoring me with our bond, Waverly." He leaned down to kiss her again.
Before his lips touched hers, they heard voices behind them. Jax jerked his head up, his eyes sharp and focused on the murky shadows beyond her shoulder.
"Quick," Jax said. "Forward down the tunnel." His hand closed hers in a vise. "Run!"
CHAPTER EIGHT THE GUN RUNNER'S HIDEOUT
Running along the tunnel, the mud muffled their footsteps. Jax was glad the dim lighting would likely cover their passing. Around a bend, up and down the rolling path, the light flickered in and out of the ceiling, making Jax slightly dizzy. It was like riding in the gun turret with Waverly at the controls of the Alphabird, he thought, with a small grin.
It was official now. They were linked.
Linking was a tricky thing since the first person experienced a few minutes alone before the link was reciprocated. There were Jimlee legends of one partner linking and the other walking away.
Once linked, a person needed contact to constantly renew the bond. It wouldn't kill them not to have it, but they would always feel as if a part of them was missing, would always ache for something they could not have.
So why link at all? Because the bond gave pleasure, made the two parties into one. Nothing worth having came free.
They were together now. Officially. He had lied to Babbet about the ceremony, which by tradition was done before witnesses. But there was no way he would sleep without Waverly by his side. He had meant to wait until he knew she was sure of him. But something had felt right, some instinct had urged him to perform the ceremony in the tunnel.
The link made him stronger. It was as if two halves of his soul had finally melded together. He could run forever, battle Del and his henchmen without breaking a sweat, and make love to Waverly for hours on end.
He smiled back at Waverly when they ran through the next sunbeam.
Rounding the corner, they spilled into a large cavern and skidded to a halt in amazement. Unlike the other sections they had been in, this cave was devoid of tree roots but still wet. A wide stream twisted through one side of the room, while stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. Some had grown together, forming large pillars after centuries of water dripping down from their tips to deposit the minerals that composed them.
No sunlight streamed in from above. Lights had been strung around the cave's perimeter. Huge boxes stacked three high stood on opposite sides, a two man-length aisle left between them.
His gut tightened as he approached the first stack. For some reason, he thought he knew what they held. Pulling the top off the closest box, he uncovered twenty new 988 Assault Blasters.
Retrieving one firearm, he examined it with a practiced eye. It was the latest model, not the usual stuff runners tended to sell to non-Inter-world Council planets. The people he dealt with on Sector 12, the Bachori, Zepherians, and WaWa's would pay top dollar for equipment the Council considered obsolete. In fact, he got most of his guns from corrupt Council officials in charge of phasing out the older models.
He cocked the energy pulse chamber with a flick of his wrist. It swung open with an ease older models just didn't have.
Very few non-IWC planets could afford to pay the markup on these weapons. Going rate was 200 percent over the actual cost of the blasters. And sometimes Jax had been forced to sell to middlemen, meaning that the final recipient had paid around 400 percent over regular price. Even at the smaller increase, it would be too steep a price to pay to equip an army.
"Jax," Waverly whispered. "I hate to disrupt your obviously fascinated exploration of that blaster, but somebody's coming."
Jax smiled at his mate. Waverly tended to use an exasperated tone with him when stressed. He flicked the pulse chamber closed, laid the gun carefully back in its place at the top of the stack, then closed the box.
Without speaking, they melted into the shadows beside the stream, crouching behind a set of stalagmites. Jax was glad they'd both dressed in black.
"They have to be dead, boss. Nobody can survive that fall. Frisco and I both saw them." The voice echoed down the tunnel into the chamber.
"But you didn't find the bodies?" Jax recognized Del's voice, and longed to drive his fist into his new-brother's nose, then question him to see why he had these two nitwits trying to kill them.
"No," Frisco answered. "The only thing I can think is that they're stuck in the trees. We might never find them."
"I don't like it. Jaxon keeps turning up alive when he's supposed to be dead." The men entered the cavern. "Maybe because I'm using the wrong people for the job." Del's voice promised that his patience was at an end.
Why did Del want him dead? It didn't make sense. It wasn't for money, since Jax would get his inheritance no matter what--the money had already come to him on his twenty-fifth birthday, but he hadn't been on Jimlee to get it. Alive or dead, Del wouldn't have access to it.
"Well boss, there is no way he survived the fall off that cliff, that's for sure."
"If you can't show me a body, he's not dead as far as I'm concerned. Mother told me he's linked to that off-world bitch he's got with him."
A crash, like someone driving a fist into the top of one of the boxes, echoed in the chamber. Waverly jumped beside him. Jax put his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to confront Del, but he couldn't do anything unwise with Waverly here. His first concern was for her safety.
"Go find their bodies. I want them located tonight, because we've got the other Mock coming in tomorrow."
Jax forced himself to take a deep breath, then let it out. He made his hands relax from the fists they had balled into. Giving himself a shake, he tried to let go of the tension in his muscles. Sector 12 had taught him self-control and he would use that lesson here. What he really wanted to do was vault over the stalagmite and wring his fucking new-brother's fucking neck. His confusion slid from his mind, to be replaced by pure anger when it hit him like a ton of bricks that Del was the real gunrunner in the family.
Think, Jax! It's all well and good to know he did it, but the question you should be asking is why? He had no answers, but he'd remedy that as soon as possible.
"We've hidden the other transport in the Summer House like you told us to, Boss. I still don't know how you managed to get two of those ships, when the Inter-world Council monitors their sale so closely."
"Genius, Frisco, pure genius." Del laughed at his own quip.
"You are a genius, boss," Frisco agreed, laughing with Del.
Del stopped laughing and barked, "Get the hell out of here and find their bodies, Frisco! I've got to go change for dinner."
CHAPTER NINE THE DINNER OF MANY COURSES
Waverly popped up as the three gun runners left. She needed to see which tunnel Jax's brother took to get out. Carefully moving forward so they didn't accidentally bump into Del, she and Jax worked down the tunnel without speaking.
Her mind whirling, Waverly made a decision. She might love Jax with her whole heart, but she wouldn't raise her child at Three Bridges. If he wanted to stay here, he would do so without her. Jax's own brother was trying to kill them, his mother was a flat-out bitch, and his father had ice in his veins. No, her child would be raised in a home filled with love.
She placed a hand on her stomach. She'd tried to ignore it, but that first night together had made a child. She was almost sure of it. Of course, she could be wrong, but the whole reason her body went into heat in the first place was to produce a baby. And this baby wasn't growing up in a place where people drank blood and hired people to kill its parents.
A fighter by nature, Waverly wasn't going to leave Jax here without trying her best to make him come with her. The thought of leaving him made her stomach roll with nausea. Shanks, she loved him. But his family would never be hers. Her heart turned over in sadness for him at the thought of growing up with Babbet across the dinner table every evening.
Waverly blinked and realized Jax had stopped to examine a large steel-bolted door at the end of the tunnel.
"Shit." Jax put his hands on his hips in frustration. "We're locked in."
Waverly shook her head. She had found with Alexander and Deek that men often forgot to do the obvious. Reaching around him, she turned the handle. The door swung silently inward on well-oiled hinges.
Jax looked back at her over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Think you're smart, don't you?"
She nodded back solemnly. "Yes."
"Hmm." he stepped through the portal. "You might be right."
At the next door, he opened it silently to peer out. "We're in the basement, right across from the back stairs that will take us almost directly to my old room." He leaned down and kissed her quickly. "For luck, and because you're so damn smart," he said with a quick wink. "Stay close."
They made it to the stairs and into Jax's old bedroom without running into anyone. Their bags sat just inside the door. Formal clothes had been laid out on the bed. A bath, the water cooling, was already drawn.
The clock showed they had thirty minutes to spare before they had to be down to dinner. Waverly stripped out of her clothes on the run.
"I really wanted to take a bath together," Jax said, his voice forlorn, as he eyed the tub.
Waverly ducked her head below the water to
wash the soap out of her hair. "We could be late to dinner," she said with a leer, enjoying the view of him in only his shirt.
"No we can't. It's not worth the trauma. Although it's tempting."
"Hey!" she cried, as he stepped into the tub, sloshing water over the sides.
She stood up so the water wouldn't overflow any more than it already had. "What exactly are you doing?"
"I can't get my shirt off. It's stuck to the blood." He looked over his shoulder. "Help me."
"Oh," Waverly whispered, leaning down to help him wet the shirt so it could be lifted from his body without ripping open the wounds again.
Slowly, she peeled off the cloth. Thirty or forty small scrapes marred his skin, none of which were very deep, but all had bled to some extent. Streaks of black, brown and green bruises ran like an evil rainbow across his back.
"You're back isn't as bad off as it could have been. I should clean it with soap to make sure it doesn't get infected."
"That sounds painful." Jax tried to look over his shoulder at the cuts.
Waverly lathered his back before he could protest more.
Jax hummed.
"Does this hurt?" she asked, feeling badly for him, although his back felt amazing under her hands as she soaped him up.
"No, but I thought it would." He grinned at her.
Waverly washed off the soap, then leaned down to give him a quick kiss. Jax tried to grab her, but she slid out of his grasp.
"Your mother wants me to dress for dinner, so I need to get to it. I haven't worn formal clothes in years." She grabbed a towel and dried off, noting Jax's glowing, hot eyes as he watched her. "This could be a catastrophe."
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