“C’mon, hon.” She crossed her fingers and tried again, and this time the engine ground to life.
The half-mile drive home took less than five minutes. She drove slowly along the wet streets. The black iron lampposts cast a warm yellow glow. Grace Harbor had once been a workingman’s town, with crabbers, fishermen and a herring cannery, but these days, it had a funky, small-town vibe with mom-and-pop stores sharing space with art galleries, antique shops and upscale restaurants like the Wine Bar.
She passed a couple of her neighbors out for a stroll, umbrellas lifted. It was hard to believe that just last night a man had almost died right in her backyard.
She parked her car on the concrete pad behind the house, took a thorough look around, and then sprinted up the steps to her back door.
Kyler wasn’t home yet, but there was nothing unusual about that. His curfew on the weekends was midnight, and he usually came home the last possible second. That wouldn’t have bothered her, but the last few weeks he’d started pushing the curfew—coming home at twelve-thirty or one and daring her to object.
Tonight was one of those nights. She started texting him five minutes after midnight.
At least he replied, telling her not to worry.
Too late, she replied. I’m worried and I want you home. NOW.
She could see he’d viewed the text, but he didn’t reply. She sat on the easy chair, fuming, as she finished her paper. Because she was worried about him, especially after last night. What if that night fae came back? Her whole body went cold, just thinking about it.
It was almost one o’clock before Kyler sauntered in the front door, red-eyed and smelling of pot. He flopped on the couch and regarded her through slit eyes.
“Go ahead. Tell me what a bad boy I am.”
She clenched her jaw so hard her teeth hurt. “You’re only sixteen, Kyler. Too young to be out after midnight, and too damn young to be smoking weed.”
“Go to hell, Evie.” He rested his arm over his eyes. “You’re not my mom.”
Her stomach sucked in. For a few seconds, she was blinded by hurt and anger.
“No,” she said as calmly as she could, “but I’m responsible for you until you’re eighteen. If you get arrested, it’s on my watch.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell them it’s me, not you.”
“You think I care about that? I care about you, asshat. And I promised Mom I’d take care of you, damn it.”
He raised up on his elbows to glare at her. “Fuck your promise. If taking care of me is so hard, then forget it. Mom never should’ve asked—”
“Oh, for Chrissake.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t mean it like that. You know I didn’t.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“But I mean it, Kyler. From now on, you’d better be home at midnight, or I swear I’ll—” She halted because she didn’t have anything to threaten him with, and they both knew it.
Kyler levered himself off the couch. “Okay, okay,” he grumbled. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
She watched as he stalked out of the living room, his thin body rigid, his T-shirt a little too small. He’d grown six inches this year so that she was barely able to keep him in clothes.
She blew out a breath and rested her head on the back of the chair.
What am I going to do with him this summer?
9
Jace spent most of Saturday in bed.
Tigger kept him company. Jace wasn’t sure who’d first let the tomcat in, but within a week he had the run of the place. He’d adopted Jace, wisely zeroing in on the alpha of the small den. Jace had christened him Tigger, just to yank Sam’s chain, because Tigger was basically a mini-Sam—an orange tiger-in-miniature.
Jace did sleep for a couple of hours. When he woke up, Zuri brought him some beef broth. They talked a little, and then Zuri left to run some errands. With the coast clear, Tigger jumped on Jace’s bed and settled against his leg. A short while later he was purring.
Touched, Jace stroked the cat’s fur. Tigger didn’t usually share anyone’s bed, preferring a perch on the living room couch where he could survey both the kitchen and the front door. He was clearly offering support to an injured den mate.
The afternoon passed slowly. Jace took another short nap. When he awoke, his head was clear for the first time in twenty-four hours. He stared at the ceiling, stroking Tigger and thinking.
Frigging woman. Because he couldn’t get the tough little human out of his mind.
He knew damn well she needed help. It couldn’t be easy, raising a kid who wasn’t much younger than her.
Jace knew something about that himself. Yeah, Takira had been older than him, not younger, but only by two years. During the Darktime, the alpha—Adric’s uncle Leron—had separated families as punishment or simply to keep them from conspiring against him. Jace’s own mom had been sent on a military mission to South America that had kept her away for a year. While she was gone, his peace-loving, half Native American dad had been killed in a bloody spate of fighting.
By the time Jace was fifteen, he and Takira had been on their own save for the small pack they’d formed with Adric, Marjani, and some of the other young members of their clan. At fifteen, Jace was already bigger and stronger than his sister, so he’d been her protector as much as she was his.
And then Takira had fallen for Silver, a half-fae, half-human who turned out to be Prince Langdon’s illegitimate son. Langdon had kept Silver a secret—the night fae frowned on mating with anyone but another pureblood—but somehow Tyrus, his only other living son, had found out. Maybe even from Adric’s bastard of an uncle.
Remembering, Jace’s fingers tightened in Tigger’s fur. The cat hissed and Jace released him. Tigger shot him an outraged glare and then stalked off, stiff-legged, to the foot of the mattress before lying down again.
The Darktime. It had been like a virus attacking the clan, a killing fever that swept through the ranks, sucking in even good men and women until no one knew who to trust. Darkness and hatred had ruled.
But the day Jace had heard that Takira had been raped and murdered had been the day he’d truly understood darkness. A familiar acridness coated the back of his tongue. If only he’d known that Tyrus had targeted Takira and her small family…
Jace had been with Adric, planning a strike against Leron Savonett. That small, well-planned attack had turned the tide, eventually leading to the battle that finally took down the vicious alpha. Jace had rushed to Takira’s den with the news that she no longer had to hide Merry. But they were gone. The next he’d heard, Takira was dead, and Silver had taken his daughter and gone into hiding.
He dragged a hand over his face. What the hell made him think he could help Evie and Kyler? Better he stayed away. If Tyrus was stalking Jace, he was a danger to them.
He threw off the sheet, earning another irritated hiss from Tigger, but Jace was going to go insane if he spent any more time staring at the ceiling.
He limped into the living room and sprawled on the couch. One by one his den mates woke up from their naps and joined him, taking seats on the chairs or the large pillows strewn on the floor.
When Adric returned it was after six o’clock, and the four of them were eating Chinese take-out—soup for Jace—and watching the Orioles. When Adric entered, everyone except Jace rose to their feet. They hugged and nuzzled each other—their animals needing the touch—and then Adric took Sam’s seat on the couch next to Jace.
Sam didn’t even blink. Adric was the alpha, but more, he’d earned their loyalty a hundred times over. The man would die for them, and nearly had.
Adric looked Jace over with a professional eye. He wasn’t a healer, but like all of them, he’d done his share of field medic work. “Should you be out of bed?”
Jace growled. “Don’t start.”
“It’s your funeral,” he said, helping himself to a plate of ginger garlic chicken. He watched the last two innings of the baseball game with t
he rest of them, and then jerked his chin at the other men. “I need to talk to Jace and Zuri.”
The room cleared immediately. Adric spun a chair around so its back was facing Jace, and sat down, arms draped over the back, while Zuri took a seat on the opposite end of the couch.
Adric scrutinized Jace. “You sure you’re all right?”
His nape tightened. “Why?” He set his empty soup bowl on the coffee table. “What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking. That night fae was waiting for you, right?”
“Far as I could tell.”
“So, d’you think it was Lord Prick?”
“I didn’t see him,” Jace said, “but who else could it be? The man was right outside Evie and Kyler’s door. We could feel him out there, trying to sense where I was. I protected the three of us the best I could, and then I passed out. Somehow she held him off. Hell, maybe thinking happy thoughts worked.”
“Could be the fae in her. If I had to choose, I’d say she was sun fae, and if there’s one thing the sun fae are good at, it’s being happy.”
Jace nodded slowly. Sun fae were rich, sexy, hedonistic—the fae world’s version of a Hollywood elite. Evie might not have the wealth, but she had a sun fae’s magnetism. Hell, even with a knife wound to the gut, he’d wanted to fuck her.
“But if it was his royal prickness,” Adric continued, “then why? He targeted you for a reason.”
“Merry,” Jace said, tightlipped. “He can’t get at her because she’s too well protected. That ward of her grandfather’s keeps the night fae away from her, and Rock Run has adopted her into their clan. You’d have to be touched in the head to fuck with Rui do Mar.” The river fada who was Merry’s adopted father was also Rock Run’s most feared assassin. “No.” Jace shook his head. “The only way the night fae can strike at her is through me.”
“Merry, yeah—but why you? Sure, you’re her uncle, but it’s Silver’s line he’s worried about. And if he really wanted to hurt Merry, he’d go after Rui and Valeria.”
“True.” Jace rubbed his forehead. “But then why?”
Adric was out of his chair and pacing. He could never sit still for long.
“Think about it, Jace. You’re the key to my whole strategy for getting the clan back on its feet. You’re the one who knows the quartz technology inside out. Yeah, we’ve got others who can do some of what you do, but no one has a grasp of all the pieces like you do. If you die, the project could be set back years—and who knows what would happen in the meantime?”
“Hell.” Jace met Adric’s eyes. “You think someone’s trying to sabotage the project.”
“I do.”
Zuri’s brow creased. “But why would the night fae care?”
Adric and Jace spoke as one. “Because he’s not working alone.”
10
On Monday morning, Jace woke up feeling almost like his old self.
Suha had returned on Sunday to nag him to take it easy. He nodded and obeyed, because the healer knew her stuff—and he did need the rest. Suha’s healing combined with the energy from his own recharged quartz to speed things along.
Zuri had brought Jace’s bike home, so just after dawn, he slipped out of the den, Tigger on his heels. Somehow Suha got wind of it, though—he’d swear the woman was part Seer—and he found her waiting in the backyard.
The healer set her hands on her hips. “Where d’you think you’re going?”
Tigger perked up—he had a crush on Suha. He butted her calf, marking her with his scent.
She ignored the lovesick tabby to glare at Jace. “I haven’t cleared you to work, Jones.”
Uh-oh. She’d used his last name. Not a good sign.
He attempted a winning smile. “I’m fine. See?” He lifted his T-shirt to show her. The cuts had healed, but as she’d predicted, they’d left behind two raised red scars. Normally fada healed quickly and cleanly, but not when iron was involved. Jace would bear the night fae’s marks the rest of his life.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Suha removed her crystal and ran it over his belly. “Not bad,” she conceded. “But you nearly died, Jace. Iron poisoning is no joke, and you suffered some internal damage. I want you to take it easy this week.”
“I am taking it easy. I’m only going to the Factory to test some of the new quartz. Those new smartphones are losing their charge too quickly.”
The Factory was the name Adric had given their combination test lab and manufacturing plant. Right now, it was just a big room in a building they’d rescued from the wrecking ball, but Ric liked to think big.
Suha nodded. The clan had been informed about the basics of what they were doing—produce quartz smartphones to Jace’s design, and then sell them to the other earth fada clans.
“So?” she returned. “They can survive a few days without you.”
“But I can’t. If I stay in another day, I’ll be climbing the walls. Even Tigger is sick of me.” He nodded at the tomcat, who’d tired of trying to gain Suha’s attention and was investigating an interesting smell near the fence. “Please?”
The healer cast her gaze skyward. “Don’t blame me if you have a relapse.”
“I won’t.” Jace planted a kiss on her cheek. “Relapse, that is.”
And they both knew Suha would come running if he did.
The Factory was only about a mile away in a blighted section of West Baltimore. The building had once been a grocery store, and the sign outside still read Allen’s Stop-and-Shop because that was as good a camouflage as any. After they’d cleared out the display shelves and cash registers, they’d been left with one large room for the tables, computers, and equipment used to manufacture the smartphones, and a storage room in the back.
Jace felt a familiar pride as he entered the Factory. This was his baby; Adric had given him free rein to set up shop, directing the small crew to not just manufacture smartphones for the clan, but to refine and improve the technology. The beauty of quartz was that it produced a strong current when fed by an earth fada’s natural energy. It was also strong and waterproof.
Adric was even considering selling the phones to water fada, whose biology tended to short out regular electronic devices, although none of them were sure they wanted to put such a tool in their rivals’ hands. They’d have to work out the energy issues, too. Water fada didn’t require quartz for life energy like the earth fada did, but on the other hand, they couldn’t work with the crystals from an early age like Jace’s people could.
And after that, who knew? If Adric could work out a deal with a human communications company—and figure out a way for humans to operate the quartz—the sky was the limit. They might one day sell the phones to select humans as well. The military would love a waterproof phone that could hold a charge for several weeks. Right now, though, you had to have at least a few drops of fae blood to operate a smartphone.
But there was one big problem; the technology burned the quartz up. It wasn’t reusable like an earth fada’s own quartz, and low-grade quartz didn’t work at all. The clan desperately needed a new supply of high-grade quartz like the vein they’d located on the border of Rising Sun Fae territory.
Resolving all the issues would take years, but Jace was up for it. During the Darktime he’d used his Gift with crystals to design weapons. It was a pure joy to use his Gift in a positive way.
Now he took a deep, satisfied inhale, breathing in the familiar scents—the sandiness of ground quartz, the oil they used to reduce dust, the metallic odor of machinery. A couple of people were already at work—an engineer known as Frog for some damn reason, and a pretty, dark-haired tech named Dina. They glanced over their shoulders and did a simultaneous double take.
“Jace?” Dina came to her feet. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“Suha gave me the green light.”
Dina inhaled, testing his statement for truth, and then shrugged. “Okay, great. I have an idea as to why the energy is getting sucked out so fast.” A cougar who’d inheri
ted her mom’s Italian coloring—and brains—Dina was even more single-minded than him.
He pulled up a chair and the three of them hashed out her idea. A couple of other men came in a few hours later, and they all traded ideas before breaking off to test them.
They were eating take-out pizza at their work stations around one o’clock when Adric walked in. Jace removed his goggles and rose to his feet. “Hey, Ric. What’s up?”
“Meeting. Zuri and Luc are on their way.” Adric helped himself to a slice of pizza. “What the fuck?” He frowned at the broccoli and spinach.
“Dina thinks we need more greens,” Jace said.
“We’re cats, not cows,” Adric muttered. But he took a large bite and then smiled at Dina. “Actually, that’s not bad.” He took another bite.
Dina beamed. Like all the unmated women, she perked up around the alpha, even though everyone knew Adric wasn’t ready to take a mate. Not that the man was deprived. He had his pick of the clan’s women, who were happy to hook up with the alpha even for a night.
A minute later, first Zuri and then Luc entered, following their practice of arriving separately at meetings for security reasons. Adric gulped down his pizza and jerked his head in the direction of their underground war room.
Dina, Frog and the rest of the Factory crew looked curious, but they knew better than to ask questions. Adric shared information on a need-to-know basis, having learned the hard way that the less people knew about your business, the better. Sometimes it even saved your life.
Zuri and Luc grabbed some pizza and the four of them headed for the storage room. There, Adric opened a trap door and they all passed through a ward set to allow only Adric and his lieutenants through before climbing down a ladder.
The war room had been carved by Adric and a couple trusted stoneworkers from the bedrock beneath the Factory. Adric was a Gifted tracker—he hired himself out to the fae for outrageous sums—but what he really liked to do was work with stone. He could make a rock practically sing with joy as he used a combination of chiseling and magic to transform it into art.
Saving Jace Page 8
