Saving Jace

by Rebecca Rivard

  Evie smiled at the memory, even as she squeezed the fada’s hand a little more tightly.

  More footsteps…but they were moving away.

  Evie expelled a breath as the ominous presence receded. She felt the night fae moving down the alley, testing other doors.

  She stiffened. There had to be blood on the back steps. Had the fae seen it, or had the rain washed it away in time?

  Happy thoughts, damn it. Don’t think about it—not now.

  Things went completely quiet—and then, whatever was shielding them abruptly failed.

  She glanced down to see the earth fada was unconscious again. The ominous feeling increased. Evie’s spine iced. The night fae was coming back.

  She and Kyler exchanged a look.

  “Don’t stop,” she mouthed. “Happy thoughts.” She set a finger on either side of her mouth and mimed a smile.

  His lips twitched. “If you could see what you look like…”

  She made a face at him, and then they both smiled. Weakly, but it worked. The ominous feeling slid past her.

  She made another face at Kyler, and he caught on and made one back. They took turns making silly faces at each other. A chuckle escaped Evie, and she froze until she realized the best thing was to make the night fae believe they didn’t know he was out there.

  Kyler made a monkey face at her, and she returned, “Yo mama.”

  He chuckled.

  And the night fae was gone.

  Evie let out a shaky breath. “Better wait another couple of minutes,” she said in a low voice.

  “Yeah.” Kyler looked down at the unconscious man. “What are we going to do with—”

  “Hell if I know. What’s he doing in Grace Harbor anyway? This is Rock Run territory.”

  The local fada were shifters who changed to water animals like dolphins or sharks. The nearest earth fada clan was thirty-five miles away in Baltimore.

  “We can’t just throw him out,” Kyler said. “The night fae could come back.”

  “I know.” Evie pinched the bridge of her nose. Their narrow rowhouse consisted of two floors, with the first floor taken up by the kitchen, living room and a tiny half bath. The upstairs consisted of two bedrooms and a full bathroom, but they couldn’t carry an unconscious man up a flight of steps to one of the bedrooms. “I guess we’d better move him onto the couch.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Kyler rose to his feet.

  It took them a few minutes to work out the best way to transport the injured man to the living room, but finally Kyler had the idea of putting him on a sheet. They each took an end, Evie at his head this time.

  “One, two, up,” her brother said.

  This time Evie was ready for his weight. She braced herself, bent her knees and lifted her end of the sheet—and she still staggered. But she gritted her teeth and said, “Got him.”

  They maneuvered him past the kitchen table, Evie walking backward. She turned into the living room and almost knocked the man’s head against the wall.

  “Almost there.” Kyler strained to take more of the weight.

  The couch was just another few feet, backed up to the wall that divided the living room from the kitchen and the hall.

  “Just lift him a little higher,” Kyler said. “He’s sagging in the middle.”

  Evie gripped the sheet and obeyed. “Good grief,” she muttered as they eased him onto the couch. “What does he have, concrete for bones?” The man had a lean, powerful build. He didn’t look like he should be so heavy.

  The man lay sprawled where he’d landed, his breath shallow and one foot dangling off the couch. Evie lifted his head and slid a small pillow beneath it while Kyler pulled off his sneakers. He wasn’t wearing any socks. Kyler arranged his legs so that his foot wasn’t dangling off the couch anymore.

  Evie folded up the hem of the fada’s T-shirt and sucked in a breath. The cuts on his stomach had turned an angry, puffy red.

  Her brother gave a low whistle. “That doesn’t look good.”

  “Can a wound get infected that fast?”

  “I have no idea,” he returned, “but their biology isn’t like ours.”

  She frowned. “I thought they healed faster than us. Plus, he did something with that crystal to heal it. He shouldn’t be getting worse.”

  The earth fada moaned.

  Evie laid a hand on his forehead. His skin felt clammy. “Shh. You’re okay.”

  A pulse at the side of his neck jumped erratically. She set two fingers on it. “It feels really fast,” she said to Kyler. “Is that normal?”

  He moved a shoulder. “Fuck if I know.”

  The earth fada’s eyes popped open. They were a bright, feverish green again. “Salt.”

  “Salt? Are you thirsty?”

  Kyler stood up. “I’ll get him some water.”

  “Yes.” The fada moistened his lips. “But…iron—poison. Need salt. Clean.” He indicated his stomach.

  “You want me to clean it out with salt?”

  He gave a short nod. “Salt. And warm water.”

  Kyler returned with a glass of water. Evie took it and lifted the fada’s head enough so that he could drink. His eyes closed but he greedily gulped the water down.

  She handed the glass back to her brother and helped the fada resettle his head on the pillow. He lay there, eyes closed, breathing shallowly. His light brown skin had an unhealthy yellowish tinge to it. Evie narrowed her eyes. Were those red streaks moving from the wounds out across his belly?

  “What was he saying about the salt?” Kyler asked.

  “He said clean it out with salt and warm water.”

  The fada’s eyes opened. “One part salt, four parts water,” he said in a clear voice. “And now. Or I…die.”

  4

  Jace could guess who was behind the attempt to kill him—Lord Tyrus. Nothing else made sense.

  Tyrus was the son and heir of the night fae prince himself—and Silver’s half-brother. When Tyrus learned that Silver had mated and had a daughter, he’d put out a contract on the entire small family to ensure his father had only one heir—himself. The assassins had gotten first Takira, then Silver, but a Rock Run fada had saved Merry.

  Prince Langdon, Tyrus’s father, didn’t want it known that he’d spawned a mixed-blood granddaughter, but after he’d learned Tyrus was hunting Merry, he’d protected her with a special ward that would kill any night fae who tried to harm her, even Tyrus.

  Thank the gods Merry was safe at the Rock Run base. She didn’t live with Jace. He’d lost track of her for several years, and when he’d finally found her again, she’d been adopted by two Rock Run fada. As far as Merry was concerned, they were her parents now. Jace hadn’t had the heart to take her away from them.

  The pretty blonde frowned down at Jace, and his mind spun away from Merry.

  The pain in his belly was a raging fire now. The small amount of healing he’d been able to do before seemed to have been reversed while he was unconscious, another sign of iron poisoning.

  “Salt and warm water?” The blonde’s low, practical voice came from down a long dark tunnel.

  All he could do was tell her what to do and hope it worked. Because if not, Jace would die, and probably the two humans as well. He’d somehow eluded Tyrus’s henchman, but the night fae lord was smart—and brutal. He’d track Jace down, and snuff these two like flies.

  Fortunately, his rescuers followed directions. The boy returned with a pitcher filled with the salt solution. The woman knelt on the floor next to the couch and then, to Jace’s surprise, touched his cheek.

  He squinted in her direction and her face swam into view, pinched with concern. “I’m Evie, by the way, and this is my brother Kyler.” She indicated the skinny dark-haired teenager.

  Her fingers were cool—or was it because he was so hot? He moistened dry lips and then croaked his name. “Jace.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jace.”

  His lips twitched despite himself. It was so human, introd
ucing herself at a time like this…but sweet.

  Her fingers brushed his forehead and he tensed, anticipating what was to come.

  “Try to relax,” the woman—Evie—murmured.

  She smelled like fresh soap; she must have washed her hands again. He could’ve told her there was no need. The iron would kill any germs, and if not, the salt solution would do the rest. That was, if the iron didn’t kill him first.

  “Relax,” Evie repeated, and to please her, he smoothed out his forehead.

  “Okay.” She wet a clean rag with the salt solution and dabbed at the wounds. “I’m going to clean this out for you.”

  “No,” he said, and she stopped and looked at him, her brow furrowed. “Pour it into the cut,” he said. “You have to…rinse it out. Poison.” He rolled onto his side and dug his fingers into the couch, knowing what was to come.

  “Okay,” she said. “Take it easy.”

  He drew a slow breath, but there was no way he could relax. “Just do it,” he said between clenched teeth.

  Her brother handed her a folded bath towel. She tucked it under Jace’s stomach to catch the overflow, and then set her fingers on either side of the lower cut and gently pulled it open. “You pour,” she told Kyler.

  “Good,” Jace said. “That’s good. Clean it out.”

  The kid tipped the pitcher and salt solution poured into the wound.

  Jace’s whole body bowed in pain. God’s cat, it was like getting stabbed all over again. He tightened his jaw and rode it out. Because screaming, especially in front of two humans, would be the final humiliation.

  And then, mercifully, he passed out.

  When he came to, Evie was stroking his forehead. “There, there,” she said in a motherly voice at odds with her edgy appearance. “It’s all over now.”

  He stared at her through slit lids. “Thanks,” he managed to say.

  She looked down at his stomach. “Did it work?”

  He frowned, checking inwardly. The fire in his blood had subsided to a simmer. “Think so.”

  “Can we do anything else?”

  “Water.”

  “Just plain water?”

  He gave a single nod.

  She removed her hand from his forehead and he grabbed for her, latching onto the hem of her shirt. “Not you. Him.” He jerked his chin at the teenager.

  Her dark brows lifted. “You want me to stay?”

  He nodded again. He knew he was being unreasonable, but both cat and man wanted her to remain close.

  “Okay.” She took his hand. “Kyler will get you the water, then.”

  His fingers folded on hers. “Thanks,” he whispered.

  When the water came, she put an arm beneath his shoulders to support him while he drank greedily. It was ice cold and wonderful.

  He finished the glass, and she laid his head back down on the cushion and pressed a wet rag to his forehead. He closed his eyes in relief at the coolness. How did she know exactly what he needed?

  The storm had slowed to a drizzle. From far away, he heard Evie tell her brother to go outside and make sure there wasn’t any blood. Smart woman.

  “The rain must have washed it away,” Kyler replied.

  “Get the hose out and wash it down anyway.”

  “’Kay.” He heard Kyler’s footsteps move into the kitchen.

  Evie touched Jace’s arm. He pried opened his eyes to see her holding another glass of water. “You need liquids—you’re burning up. Unless that’s your normal body temperature?”

  He shook his head. “Water…good.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Again, she slid an arm beneath his shoulders and held the glass to his lips.

  After drinking his fill, he rested his head against her shoulder and let his eyes close again. She’d changed into a dry T-shirt—gray with a purple star in center. She stilled and then to his satisfaction, remained where she was. She was a sturdy little thing—the arm around him had a lean strength—but the spot between her shoulder and her breast was soft and comforting. He inhaled deeply, filling his nostrils with her sweet, womanly scent.

  His breath sighed out. Tomorrow he’d be embarrassed at how weak he was acting, but right now, he didn’t fucking care. Because he needed this.

  “Do you want any more?” The glass nudged his lips.

  When he shook his head, she lowered him carefully to the pillow. His cat whined, but both of them were too weak to do anything about it.

  Evie came to her feet. He watched through slit lids as she stretched. The hem of her T-shirt rode up to reveal a tan strip of skin above her waistband.

  She glanced down and caught him looking, and her eyes flickered. She unhurriedly brought her arms down and straightened the shirt.

  “I’m going to see how Kyler’s doing. You’ll be all right for a few minutes, won’t you?”

  He nodded. His cat wasn’t happy, but the man told the cat to suck it up.

  She touched his shoulder. “Try to rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  He listened as her footsteps moved down the hall to the kitchen.

  He drew a slow breath. With Evie out of the room, the effects of the iron seemed worse. He touched his abdomen. The salt had neutralized the iron so that it wasn’t still feeding into his bloodstream, but he felt like he’d been run over by a frigging semi.

  He’d live, as his soldier mom used to say, but he was in for a rough night while his body worked to eliminate the small amount of iron that had entered his bloodstream. The best thing was to sleep, and let his body’s natural healing abilities take over. That would also give his quartz time to reenergize so he could call for help.

  He trusted that Evie and her brother would do their best to keep him safe—and trust didn’t come easily to Jace. Even so, he instinctively sized up his surroundings, noting the exits.

  The living room ran the length of this side of the narrow house. He was on the single couch, which backed up against an inside wall. The two windows behind him faced the alley, their blinds closed. An air conditioner hummed in one window, which was good, even though his animal preferred fresh air. Closed windows meant that he couldn’t be scented from the outside. Fae didn’t have any better sense of smell than a human, but they could be working with a fada.

  On the other side of the living room, two more windows looked onto a narrow front porch. If he lifted his head, he could see the front door to the left of the windows. The room itself only had a few pieces of furniture. Other than the couch, there was an easy chair, a sturdy oak coffee table, and a bookcase filled with books, DVDs and other knickknacks, and crowned with a large green fern.

  Evie returned. She sat on the edge of the couch, careful not to bump him. “Is there anyone we should call?”

  Jace considered that. He shared a den in Baltimore with a handful of other unmated men. They were friends, but they didn’t keep tabs on one another. He wouldn’t be missed until tomorrow morning at the earliest.

  Adric was alpha of the Baltimore clan now. He’d be pissed off when he found out Jace was hurt and hadn’t tried to contact him, but the night fae clearly didn’t know where Jace had gone to ground. In fact, calling for help might lead the bastards straight to this house.

  “No,” he told Evie.

  “Not even your mate?”

  “No mate,” he said firmly, and then wondered why he’d told her. As a fada, he couldn’t tell a lie without making himself violently ill, but that didn’t mean he had to answer the human’s questions.

  “That’s good.”

  He watched, fascinated, as she pinkened. His clan was mostly brown-skinned. He didn’t know anyone could blush that easily.

  “I mean,” she added, “no one will be worrying about you then.”

  “No,” he agreed. “No one will worry.” And for a moment that seemed so fucking sad. He tightened his jaw. Hell, in another minute he was going to be tearing up like a girl. “I’ll leave in the morning.” By then he should be well enough to slip away without an
yone being the wiser.

  “Okay, sure.” Her relief was clear, but she hurried to add, “If you feel up to it, I mean.”

  “I’ll leave,” he repeated grimly.

  Evie took out her phone. “You mind if I play some music?”

  “Go right ahead.”

  She tapped the screen and set the phone on the coffee table. Music filled the room, a soothing mix of nature sounds, flutes and drums that sounded like something he’d heard coming out of a yoga studio in downtown Baltimore.

  His lids drifted shut.

  “Go to sleep,” Evie said. “You’re safe. Kyler didn’t see anyone outside.”

  He nodded. No sense explaining that a night fae could blend into the shadows even better than a fada. Because the night fae was gone for now—Jace’s skin would’ve been crawling if he were near. The assassins’ orders would’ve been to get in and out quickly, standard operating procedure.

  Besides, the remaining night fae—because he suspected there had been three altogether—had to remove their fallen comrade before he was found by a human, or worse, by one of the local fada. The Rock Run alpha would be furious to find a night fae in his territory—dead or alive.

  Evie grabbed a laptop and sat in the easy chair at the foot of the couch. She folded her legs tailor-style and frowned at the screen.

  Jace studied her profile through half-open eyes. She was…fascinating. Thin but sturdy, with clearly defined muscles on her upper arms. Her platinum hair was cut short as a man’s and she had those strong dark brows, but her cheek had a soft curve that could only belong to a woman. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, but her earlobe was pierced by a delicate gold hoop from which dangled a silver disc.

  Evie touched the screen, scrolling through a document.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Writing a paper for my biology class.” She started typing. “It’s due next week.”

  “You’re in school, then.” He swallowed a touch of envy. No one in his clan had been to a human college, but it wasn’t unheard of. As a teenager, Jace had already been studying the clan’s quartz technology, and he’d have loved to major in physics and IT at one of the local universities.