Claiming Valeria

by Rebecca Rivard

  By the time Cleia removed her hands, his swollen eyelids had receded, his cuts had scabbed over, and the ache in his ribs had subsided to a manageable level. He rubbed a palm over his rib cage in wonder.

  “Thank you,” he told her. “I feel—damn good.”

  “I’m glad.” Cleia hesitated, and then blew out a breath. “I’m sorry, Rui. For everything. If I’d known I was stealing energy from you and the clan, I’d never have taken you as my lover—any of you. Please forgive me for what I did to you and Rock Run.”

  He shrugged, conscious of Valeria just a couple of feet away. It wasn’t easy to admit he’d been weak enough to fall under the sun fae queen’s spell.

  Cleia’s large amber eyes met his, a bit regretful. He read the message there: We enjoyed each other, and it was good—but we’ve each found our true mates. Can’t we be friends?

  He nodded slowly. Sure, Cleia had worked her glamour on him, but he’d set his feet on the path to self-destruction all on his own. He’d gone to that bar to get fucked. If it hadn’t been Cleia, it would’ve been someone else.

  And it certainly wasn’t Valeria’s fault. Yes, he’d been hurt when she’d recoiled from him—her mate—but she’d merely been a mirror, showing him what he’d become: a cold-hearted assassin, a man who killed even when he knew damn well it was wrong.

  Are you a bad man?

  He hadn’t liked what he’d seen in that mirror, so he’d gone a little feral. No glamour was powerful enough to keep a man enslaved for a whole year. He’d stayed because he’d been too ashamed to return to Valeria.

  And by the time he’d returned to Rock Run, he’d been too guilt-ridden to even look at Valeria, much less claim her as his mate. So he’d hurt her, humiliated her in the worst way a man could a woman.

  “You didn’t know what you were doing,” he muttered. “And as for the rest, it was as much my fault as yours.”

  The queen inclined her head, but her eyes were dancing. He suspected she was laughing at him, but hell, he deserved it. He’d fucked up royally, and he only hoped Valeria would find it in her to forgive him—and finally accept him as her mate.

  “I’ll leave you three together, then.” Cleia squeezed his hand, dropped a kiss on Merry’s head and headed across the room to talk to Jace and the dryad.

  Rui turned back to Valeria. “Are you all right, boneca?”

  Her hair was damp. As it dried, her dark curls were springing to life. He captured one of the unruly locks in his hand, rubbing it between his thumb and index finger. It was so soft, so silky, yet full of vitality—like her.

  His stomach clenched. Goddess, he’d almost lost her.

  If Tiago hadn’t come looking for him, it might have been days until he’d found her. And Lord knew what that Greek cabrão would have done to her in the meantime.

  “Sim.” Her voice was scratchy, her pupils huge and dark as a midnight pool. “Just…edgy. You know.”

  His eyes went to the flush of arousal on her soft, full breasts. “Damn,” he said, “you’re killing me here. But—” He made a gesture that encompassed Merry and the other three.

  “Too bad.” She gave him a wicked smile, and then sobered and reached for Merry. “I can hold you now, baby.”

  Merry shifted into girl. “I’m not a baby,” she asserted as she climbed into Valeria’s lap and wrapped skinny brown arms around her neck.

  Valeria met Rui’s gaze, her smile wobbly. His eyes were stinging. He swiped a hand over them and smiled back, his own lips trembling a little.

  “No.” Valeria laid her cheek against Merry’s. “You’re not a baby, are you? You’re my big girl. And I love you so, so much.”

  Heart too full to speak, Rui wrapped his arms around them both. They were safe. He couldn’t ask for anything more.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Jace felt as if his heart were being chipped out, piece by jagged piece. It was obvious Merry loved the two river fada and thought of them as her mom and dad, just as they’d claimed. He hadn’t wanted to believe them. And even if it were true, she belonged with her own kind.

  But Rui and Valeria were whom she ran to when she was frightened. Not him, Jace.

  He wrapped his hand around his quartz and squeezed so hard the edges bit into his skin.

  The dryad crouched down next to him. “You need to know something,” she said in a low voice. “That other man who was with you, the one with wolf eyes—”

  “Hunter?” His lip curled. The other man was conspicuously absent, having apparently taken off at the first sign of trouble.

  “He tried to run away with the little one. She escaped and somehow ended up in my oak. She said he was going to give her to the bad man.”

  His whole body snapped alert. “What do you mean? What bad man?”

  “I don’t know. But she was so scared—shaking and crying. She begged me to hide her, so I took her into my tree. She said this Hunter tried to give her to the bad man once before, but her daddy saved her.”

  “He tried to give her to the bad man once before? When her dad was still alive?”

  “That’s what she said.”

  Suddenly it was all too clear. Hunter must have had something to do with Silver’s death—and maybe even Takira’s, too? Blood pounded in Jace’s ears. He didn’t realize he was growling lowly until the dryad edged away.

  And who the hell was the bad man? His heart gave a sickening thump. It had to be a night fae. They’d been in this from the start. What did they want with Merry?

  It didn’t make sense. To the fae, she was a mongrel, with her mix of shifter, human and night fae genes—and the fae looked down on mixed-bloods. They didn’t keep coming after them.

  The sun fae queen approached Jace, looming over him like a beautiful, terrible angel. “You see it too, don’t you?” she asked, not unkindly.

  He moved a shoulder.

  Valeria stood up, his niece wrapped around her like a little monkey.

  He jumped to his feet. “Merry?” He stretched out his hands to her, but she burst into tears and buried her face in Valeria’s shoulder.

  In an instant, do Mar was on his feet, his body between Jace and the two females. Cleia stepped back, signaling that this was between him and the river shifters.

  Do Mar glared at him, still juiced-up from the mate-duel. Jace knew it wouldn’t take much for the man to snap his neck as well.

  He raised a hand, palm out. “Peace. I didn’t mean to scare her. I just—”

  Do Mar stepped closer, his green eyes tinged a feral gold. “I could end this right now. Slit your throat and throw you in the bay for the fish. You’re on Rock Run territory. That makes you fair game—as your alpha damn well knows.”

  “Rui?” Valeria laid a hand on his arm. “He’s Merry’s uncle.”

  He scowled at her. “Stay out of this.” When she simply raised a brow, he growled, “Damn it, don’t you understand? If we let him go, he’ll only try to take her again.”

  She edged past him to look at Jace. “Will you?”

  He briefly closed his eyes, unable to believe he was doing this. “No. I—she belongs with you. I’ll make sure Adric understands how it is.”

  “But what about the crystal? Doesn’t she need one?”

  Jace eyed Merry. He could still win her. It wouldn’t be a lie. He just didn’t have to tell them the whole truth.

  Then she sniffled and buried her head in Valeria’s shoulder, her naked body a little too thin, and so vulnerable it chipped another piece from his already hurting heart.

  During the Darktime, the alpha—Adric’s uncle—had separated families as punishment or simply to keep them weak. Jace’s own mother had been sent on a mission to the other side of the world that had kept her away for years. While she was gone, his dad had been killed in the near-constant fighting.

  Jace was damned if he’d do that to his own niece.

  “Here,” he said, somehow pushing the word past the boulder jamming his throat. He removed his quartz from his neck. Befo
re he could do anything, do Mar raised a threatening hand, but Valeria caught his arm.

  “Let him,” she said.

  Jace met the other man’s eyes. “I’m going to break off a piece of my quartz for her. It will give her what she needs for the next couple of years, maybe longer. Eventually, she’ll have to find her own, though.”

  He waited until do Mar jerked his head in acknowledgment, then knelt down and slammed the smoky gray-and-purple crystal against the hard stone floor. A long, icicle-shaped piece broke off. He stifled a groan as pain sliced through him as well. Splitting your quartz was a little like hacking off a chunk of yourself. But for Takira’s daughter, it was worth it.

  He offered the chunk to Merry. “Here, Christmas girl. Your mama can make it into a necklace.”

  Valeria went to take it, but he closed his fingers. “No. She’s the only one who should touch her quartz, unless she gives you permission.”

  Valeria scrutinized him and then she nodded and set Merry on her feet. Merry shook her head and pressed her face against Valeria’s stomach.

  Valeria touched her shoulder. “Take it, querida.”

  Merry drew a ragged breath and then slowly turned to face him. Her grubby hand opened. He set the piece of crystal in her palm and closed her fingers over it.

  “You need to hang it on a cord and wear it around your neck like I do. Understand?”

  She nodded, her big eyes solemn.

  To Valeria he said, “It’s okay to drill a hole in the crystal so you can string a cord through it, but after that, don’t touch it any more than you need to. The quartz needs to key itself to Merry’s energy patterns. Encourage her to wear it as much as possible. If she’s like the rest of us, she’ll feel better when it’s on, anyway.”

  He turned back to his niece. “We’re going to need to get together for lessons, you and me, but for now, just close your eyes and feel the energy.”

  She screwed her eyes shut and he couldn’t help smiling at the intent look on her small face. Then he swallowed painfully. She wasn’t an exact replica of Takira—she had those fae eyes and that sharp chin—but he’d seen that very same expression on his sister’s face.

  Merry’s eyes flew open. “I feel it,” she said wonderingly. “Like when Branco touches me.”

  “Branco is our senior healer,” explained Valeria.

  “Good,” he told Merry. “That’s exactly what you should be feeling.” He glanced at Valeria. “Someday she’ll find her own quartz crystal, but for now my energy is similar enough to give her what she needs. And anyway, she and the crystal have already started the process of attunement. In a few weeks, it will be more hers than mine.”

  “Listen, Mama.” The little girl put the chunk to her ear, then held it out to Valeria. The gray was shot with a line of silver he’d never seen before. “Can you hear it?”

  Valeria placed her ear to the crystal, then shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t, sweetheart. But it’s good that you can.” Straightening up, she held out her hands to Jace. “Thank you, lieutenant. I want you to know you’ll always be welcome in my home.”

  He gripped her hands, hard. “Thank you. For taking such good care of Merry. Just—love her. Promise me that.”

  “I do,” Valeria promised. “So much.” She embraced him, pressing a kiss to each of his cheeks.

  When she stepped back, do Mar surprised him by sticking out his hand as well. “I don’t know about a Baltimore shifter in the base, but we’ll find a place for you to meet. The hell with just meeting for lessons. Merry should know her mother’s brother.”

  “Thank you.” He shook the other man’s hand.

  Merry was standing in front of him. “Would you like a hug, Uncle Jace?”

  His throat worked. “Yes,” he said. “I’d like that very much, Christmas girl.”

  She grinned and he scooped her into his arms for a hard hug. When he handed her back to Valeria, his eyes were stinging.

  “I’ll explain things to Adric,” he said to do Mar. “He’ll be in touch to set up a meeting place.”

  “That should work.”

  Lord Dion had loped back down the stairs in time to hear the last of this. “She wouldn’t be safe with your clan anyway. Someone was trying to sell her to the night fae.”

  Jace looked around for the dryad, but she was nowhere to be seen. “The dryad said something like that. I’m afraid it was the man who came with me—Hunter.”

  “Hunter?” Do Mar asked. He and his alpha exchanged a look. “He was the go-between for Tyrus, the night fae who hired us to take out Merry’s father.”

  Fuck. Another bastard selling them out to the fae. Would the Darktime never end?

  “We didn’t know,” Jace said between tight lips. “I’ll inform Adric. I promise you, Merry will never have to worry about Hunter again. That much we can do for her.”

  Queen Cleia spoke up. “And I’ll handle the night fae. Tyrus has gone too far if he thinks he can kidnap a child from my mate’s clan.”

  Jace glanced at her. She looked calm enough, but he was damn glad he wasn’t Tyrus.

  “Thanks, love.” Dion touched her cheek. “But first, can you take Valeria and Merry home? The rest of us can take boats or swim it.”

  “Of course.”

  Cleia had Valeria pick up Merry again, and then, wrapping an arm around Valeria’s shoulders, muttered a few words in ancient Greek. The air shimmered and they were gone.

  With them gone, Jace headed back upstairs with the river shifters. The dryad was already back in her the tree.

  As the last person left, the oak slid shut behind them with an audible click that seemed to say, “Good riddance.”

  More Rock Run warriors were waiting at the boats. Three of them escorted Jace to a boat, depositing him just outside Grace Harbor, which was fine with him. Adric and several soldiers were waiting nearby.

  One of the Rock Run men gave Jace a rough shove as he exited the boat, snarling, “Stay the fuck out of our territory if you know what’s good for you.”

  Jace simply walked away. The man would learn soon enough that he would be back—an invited guest. He’d let the Rock Run alpha explain.

  Meanwhile, he had his own alpha to pacify. Adric wouldn’t be happy he’d left Merry with the Rock Run fada. Jace knew that was partly because he loved all the young ones, was genuinely saddened that so many had been lost during the Darktime. But Adric had been just as concerned at the chance Merry might spill earth shifter secrets. Jace would just have to make sure she didn’t learn the crystal’s real secret until she was old enough to understand why she couldn’t share it with anyone, even Valeria.

  Meanwhile, Adric would come around. Hell, before a week passed, he’d probably be calculating the potential of an earth shifter at Rock Run.

  Adric was one of his oldest friends, but sometimes Jace almost hated him.

  He blew out a breath and looked down at his quartz. Already it was reconfiguring itself, making up for the piece he’d shared with Merry. He tapped the alpha’s icon.

  Adric responded immediately. “Jace. Where the hell are you? I expected you to check in two hours ago.”

  “We’ve got another goddamned rat,” was his grim reply.

  “Who?” It was a growl.

  “Hunter.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  With Jace gone, Dion directed the three other warriors still on the island to conduct a sweep. “Make sure there’s no one left—above or below ground—but the dryad.”

  With that handled, he headed back inland to Alesia’s tree. She’d known he was coming—dryads always seemed to know what was happening in their forests—and met him halfway.

  He offered her a formal apology, assuring her that Okeanos and the others had been acting without his knowledge. “I promise you, this will never happen again. I’ll make sure the sentries keep a closer eye on your island—and your sisters’ as well.”

  She accepted his apology gravely. “I understand, Lord Dion. And we thank you for
allowing us to live on Rock Run territory.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” he returned. “We’re honored to have you and your sisters.”

  She inclined her head and then with a quick, unreadable look at Tiago, disappeared back into her trees, although he suspected she’d keep them under close observation until they left the island.

  That left his brother.

  He turned to face Tiago. Deus, he looked terrible: at least ten pounds thinner, his hair in long, matted coils and the lower half of his face covered in black stubble. But the worst thing was the hopeless look in his eyes.

  Dion felt a stab of pity which he firmly suppressed.

  “Maybe I should go, too,” Rui murmured.

  “No,” Dion replied without taking his gaze off his brother. “I want you to stay.” He lifted a brow at Tiago. “Well? Give me one reason why I shouldn’t banish your sorry ass.”

  He hung his head. “I can’t. In fact”—his throat worked—“I deserve to be executed.”

  “Forget the fact that you betrayed your own brother. You also risked the life of everyone in the base. Once Adric and the fae were inside Rock Run, what would’ve prevented them from leaving my quarters and killing everyone they could? Half of the clan would’ve been dead before they even knew the base had been invaded.”

  “I didn’t think—”

  “Damn right,” he growled, disgusted.

  “Dion,” Rui interjected. “Remember our talk. A male in his first heat is not in full control of his animal.”

  Tiago’s head snapped up at that. “I wasn’t in heat—and she wasn’t just some woman. I loved her. I thought she was my mate. And you were hurting her. A sun fae needs the sun. She was getting weaker every day.”

  “Do you think I didn’t know that?” Dion returned. “But I had no choice. She was draining our energy. If I hadn’t stopped her, Rock Run would’ve fallen. We were getting too weak. Sooner or later we would’ve all died from disease—or been easy pickings for the Baltimore shifters. And what you don’t know is that Cleia had finally convinced me that she wasn’t doing it deliberately, and had no way to stop it. I was going to let her go, but I would’ve released her somewhere far from Rock Run, not invited an enemy alpha into the base. Your actions endangered not just me, but every single member of the clan—including the children.”