And besides, running wouldn’t do her any good—Tyrus would catch her before she’d gone three steps.
He didn’t wait for her to make up her mind. He moved with that preternatural speed, grabbing her by her upper arms and dangling her over the ladder. Her heart leapt into her throat and she instinctively scrabbled for footing. As soon as her foot touched a rung, he released her, and she slipped, dropping a good yard before she grabbed the top rung and halted her fall.
“Keep going.” Tyrus set his heel on her left hand, his face alight with a vile enjoyment. “Or I’ll break your fingers. It makes no difference to me.”
That was when it hit her—he didn’t care if he hurt her as long as he could still feed on her energy. In fact, he might even prefer it.
Ice skated down her spine. “All right.” She tried to drag her hand out from under his foot, but he ground his heel into the bones before releasing it.
Pain shot through her. She half-climbed, half-fell the rest of the way down the ladder until her feet hit the dirt floor.
Above her, Tyrus slid the rock back over the opening, leaving them in the darkness. He ignored the ladder to drop to the dirt beside her, his duster billowing around him like the wings of a massive black bat.
He turned toward her, his pale face the only thing visible in the pitch-black cellar. “Afraid, ma chère?”
She nursed her throbbing hand against her stomach and glared at him without speaking.
His thin mouth quirked. “Good. Fear has its own special taste.”
30
Adric cursed and met Marjani’s eyes across the kitchen table.
She was already on her feet. “Corban attacked Jace’s den?”
“Yeah—with a night fae.”
Her face darkened. “Tyrus?”
“He didn’t say—but who else could it be? And the bastards took his quartz. I can feel it.” As alpha, he was connected to most of the clan in a magical way that was like a mate bond, although weaker. His bond to his top people like Jace was even stronger. He’d sensed the minute Jace had gone dark. There was a hollowness where his friend’s strong, steady energy had been.
“I’ll come,” his sister said.
Adric gulped the last of his coffee to give himself time to think, and she made an impatient sound.
“Stop babying me. I’m fine—and you need me.”
He gave in, because she was right; he did need her. “Two minutes.”
“I’ll be ready.”
They met at the front door. Marjani had an iron knife in a protective leather holster strapped to her upper arm, and he knew there was a switchblade in her back pocket and a shiv strapped to her thigh. His sister was a magician with knives. You’d think she had a Gift for it, except he’d never heard of such a thing.
He’d brought a switchblade himself, but if things went south, he was going in as his cougar. His teeth literally ached to sink into Corban’s carotid.
As they emerged into the early morning light, Zuri arrived on his motorcycle. He looked from Adric to Marjani. “What’s wrong?”
“Corban and a night fae attacked your den.” Adric slung a leg over his bike while Marjani hopped on behind.
Zuri’s jaw set. Without a word, he swung around and took off down the street, Adric right behind.
The outside door to Jace’s den was wide open, the look-away spell broken. Adric took the lead as they pounded down the steps. The scent of blood was strong—Jace’s mainly, but a touch of Corban’s as well.
Adric eased open the front door. The living room was intact, except for a thin trail of blood, also Jace’s. The bedrooms were dead silent. The three of them moved into the hall on catlike feet.
He inhaled, sorting through the scents: Kyler, Sam, and Horace were all still present, if injured. He set that aside to identify the three that didn’t belong. He didn’t think they were still in the den, but just in case, he kept his voice too low for anyone but Marjani and Zuri to hear. “It’s Corban and Tyrus all right…and Kane Savonett.”
The three of them exchanged a glance. Another traitor, this one living and working with the rest of them for the past six years. Even though Adric had never entirely trusted Kane, it was still a blow.
They all saw the pool of blood outside the bathroom. Jace’s blood, mixed with a fair amount of Corban’s. At least his friend had gone down fighting. But the bathroom was empty.
A faint groan came from Jace’s bedroom. Kyler.
“Go check the other rooms,” he hissed at Marjani and Zuri as he slipped in through the partially open door.
The teenager was seated on the floor, arms around his legs, rocking back and forth and moaning, the back of his head matted with blood.
Adric’s jaw tightened, but he kept his voice calm. “Kyler? It’s me—Adric.”
He started and scuttled away, wild-eyed. “No…”
“It’s okay.” Adric crouched beside him and stretched out a hand. “You’re safe now. I’m here to help. Just tell me what happened.”
The teen’s whole body shuddered.
Adric clasped his shoulder. “Kyler? Snap out of it. I need you to tell me what happened so I can help your sister.”
“Evie.” Kyler’s wide, shocked eyes focused on Adric. “They have Evie.”
“Who?”
“A night fae and a wolf and another man. You have to help her.”
“Do you know where they took her?”
The kid shook his head. “But you can track them, can’t you?”
“Yes. Now come. You can wait in the living room—put some ice on that head.” He rose to his feet and held out a hand.
Kyler looked at it for a few seconds and then took it.
“There you go.” Adric placed an arm around the kid’s bony shoulders and helped him into the hall.
Marjani stepped out of Sam’s room to report that he was injured, but that Suha was on her way over with Beau. “They tore him up pretty bad, but he was able to use his quartz to stem the bleeding.”
“Good.”
Zuri called from Horace’s room. “Ric? You’d better come here.”
Adric jerked his head at Kyler. “Take the kid,” he told Marjani. “His head got banged up, but nothing too much else that I can see. Get some ice on that head of his, will you?”
She nodded and helped Kyler down the hall as Adric strode toward Horace’s room.
“That must hurt like a bitch,” Adric heard her say.
“They’ve got my sister,” Kyler returned.
Marjani expelled a breath. “We’ll get her back. I promise.”
Horace was unconscious, his face ashen, his body covered with multiple bite wounds and scratches. But what made Adric’s stomach lurch was the wadded-up pillowcase Zuri had pressed to Horace’s inside thigh over the femoral artery.
Zuri met Adric’s eyes and shook his head.
“It’s bad?”
“He’s bleeding out.”
Adric briefly closed his eyes. Not Horace, the guy who always had a smile, even in the worst of the Darktime. He hesitated, torn. The longer he waited to go after Jace and Evie, the harder it would be to track them, but he couldn’t just leave Horace to die.
“They sliced him with a fucking iron knife,” Zuri said grimly. “I can scent it.”
A muscle jumped in Adric’s jaw. “Salt water,” he barked. “And hurry. I’ll take over here.”
He pressed the heel of his hand to the pillowcase over the wound, bearing down hard. When Zuri returned, he stopped the pressure so Zuri could thoroughly rinse the wound. The artery was spurting blood, but if they didn’t neutralize the iron, Horace was going to die anyway.
When Zuri was done, Adric sent a pulse of energy into the wound to try and stop the bleeding, but the wound was too deep for him to heal. Suha was Horace’s only hope. Thank the gods she lived close by.
Zuri was waiting with a clean pillowcase. He pressed it to Horace’s thigh above the artery.
A minute ticked past, then another. Adric washed the blood o
ff his hands and checked on Sam. When the burly redhead heard how bad Horace was injured, he tried to get out of bed.
“Stay.” Adric pressed him back to the mattress. “There’s nothing you can do, and we need you to focus on your own healing.”
Sam muttered but subsided.
Adric left him to return to Horace’s room. The cougar was still unconscious. His scent had taken on a distinctive iron scent, more like a human’s than a fada. Adric sent another pulse of healing into him, but the iron resisted his attempts to close the wound.
Zuri ground his teeth. “Where in Hades is Suha?”
“It’s only been five minutes,” Adric said. But he was beginning to wonder, too. He scraped a hand over his hair. “I’ve got to go. You and Marjani hold down the fort.”
“No fucking way. That’s just what they want. I’ll go.”
“Then I’ll have to outthink them.” Because Adric was the best tracker in the clan and they both knew it.
But as he turned to leave, he heard Suha’s low voice accompanied by Beau’s deep rumble. A moment later the healer’s light steps came rapidly down the hall, followed by Beau’s heavier tread.
“What happened?” she asked as she removed her quartz from her neck.
“Iron poisoning,” Adric replied. “The bastards made sure to hit an artery, too.” The iron would spread through Horace’s blood even faster. Even now, it might be reaching his heart and brain.
“You cleaned it out?”
“Yes, but it had at least fifteen minutes to spread through his bloodstream before we got here—maybe more.”
Suha muttered something dark and held her quartz over Horace’s thigh.
“I have to go,” Adric said. “They have Evie and Jace.”
“Okay,” she said without taking her eyes from her patient. “I’ve got this.”
Adric squeezed her shoulder. “I’m counting on you.”
She snorted. “So what’s new?” She blew out a breath. “I’ll do my best, Ric, but you know how tricky iron poisoning is.” She smoothed Horace’s dreadlocks away from his face.
Adric nodded grimly—and then sprang into action. “You stay with Suha,” he told Beau, who was staring down at Horace, jaw tight. “Zuri—you’re with me.”
In the living room, Kyler was on the couch holding an ice pack to his head, while Marjani was pacing restlessly to and fro. Her head snapped around as Adric entered.
“Tell me he’s going to be all right.”
“Suha’s doing everything she can.”
It was a non-answer and they both knew it. Marjani slapped her palm against the wall. A sudden, sharp sound that made Kyler jerk.
“What I want to know,” she ground out, “is how the fuck they got past Jace’s security?”
Kyler made a choked sound. “That was me.”
Zuri had stopped to wash the blood off his hands. He entered the living room in time to hear Kyler. All three of them gaped at the young human.
“What?” asked Marjani.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I swear I didn’t. I couldn’t stop myself. He—the night fae—made things so fucking bad.” Kyler dropped the ice pack to press his fists into his stomach. “So dark. Nightmares—and the only way to stop it was to let him in.” Shame reeked from him. “He said it would be all right if only I let him in—but it wasn’t. He took Evie, and the earth fada took Jace.”
Marjani’s glare softened. “We’ll find her. I promise.”
He shot an accusing look at Adric. “You said we’d be safe here. But we weren’t.”
His stomach twisted. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. All I can say is that I’ll get your sister back.”
Two young soldiers pounded down the stairs, Ryder and Jamila. Adric ordered them to lock the door after them. “No one else gets in without my say-so—got it? Zuri and Marjani, you’re with me.”
He squeezed Kyler’s shoulder. “I have to go find Evie. Meanwhile, you’re on duty with Ryder and Jamila. A soldier-in-training. Help them however you can. Okay?”
The kid swiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Yeah, of course.”
Adric headed up the stairs, Zuri and Marjani at his heels. Behind him, he heard Kyler asking, “Is my sister going to be all right?” The heavy front door closed, cutting off the response.
“Don’t.” Marjani elbowed Adric as they reached the surface. “This isn’t on you.”
“Like hell it isn’t. He’s right—I’m alpha, and I promised they’d be safe.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re responsible for every fuck-up in the clan. This is Corban’s fault, not yours.”
Adric rounded on her. “I’m the one who let the prick go last year—remember?”
His sister scowled back. “You did the best you could with the available evidence.”
“Tell that to Evie and Kyler.” He shook his head. “One thing I know—this time, Corban’s gone too far. I finally have the proof I need to take him down.”
Marjani’s eyes met his in cool agreement.
“Not even his supporters can argue he wasn’t behind this,” Zuri added. “His scent is all the fuck over our den.”
“Damn right.” Adric bared his teeth. “Far as I’m concerned, Corban Savonett is dead.” He strode toward his bike. “Evie first. It’s what Jace would want.”
He knew he was right, but by the gods, it wrecked him to say it—because if Corban had Jace, they had only a small window of time before his friend was dead.
31
Jace fought his way back to consciousness. He was in motion, being jolted around inside an enclosed space. He opened his eyes to find he was in the trunk of a car speeding down a pot-holed street. He braced his hands and feet against the inside of the trunk and tried to think.
His body was one big ache, but worse, there was a huge, echoing silence where his quartz should be. The bastards had taken it.
Hell. He couldn’t even shift. Even if he were completely well, the shift would be slow and laborious without his quartz to draw on. But injured as he was, there was only a small chance he’d make it through.
And Tyrus had Evie. He’d been unable to open his eyes, but he’d been aware enough to realize Tyrus had taken her. Gods, he’d been guilty of a huge miscalculation. Trusting his defenses to keep the night fae out. But he’d never thought Tyrus would go for Evie instead of him.
At least Kyler was safe. He’d heard the bargain she’d made. A mama bear didn’t have anything on Evie Morningstar. His chest clenched. I should’ve told her I love her.
He pushed that thought aside to take inventory. He had various assorted bruises and cuts from his fight with Corban, but the worst was the gash on his throat. When he touched it, his hand came away bloody.
Somewhere nearby, his quartz murmured. He also scented Kane, and to a lesser extent, Corban. So this was probably Kane’s car, and Corban had Jace’s quartz because there was no way he’d let his younger brother take charge of it.
The car stopped and he heard the brothers quarreling. “Why the hell would you sign a contract with a night fae?” Kane demanded.
“Tyrus wants Jones—and I want him gone. Adric has sunk every penny the clan has into the new smartphones. Take Jones out, and Adric’s back to the beginning. It will prove once and for all that that I’m the stronger.”
Jace shook his head. Corban would never understand that people didn’t follow Adric just because he was strong. They followed him because he was a natural leader, one who always put the clan first. Not a weak prick who would use a night fae against his own people.
Kane growled. “You’re going to get us both killed.”
Hope sparked in Jace. So Kane wasn’t a hundred percent in? But Corban snarled and the younger man said, “It’s your funeral,” and shut up.
Car doors opened and slammed. Jace tensed, preparing to fight.
The trunk popped open and Corban stared down at him, Jace’s quartz in his fist. It was the first good look Jace had had of him in over a year. He w
as leaner, his face lined with exhaustion as if the months away had been hard on him.
“Get out,” he snarled. “We’re taking you to your woman.”
“My woman?” Jace froze in the act of launching himself at Corban. They were taking him to Evie?
“That human-fae mixed-blood—your scent is all over her. Now get out.” Corban squeezed Jace’s quartz, and pain slammed through him as if Corban had reached into his chest to grab his heart.
Jace set his teeth and obeyed. There was no sense in resisting if it would get him to Evie, but he was weak from loss of blood. He only made it a few steps before he stumbled and dropped to one knee. His body wanted to stay folded in on itself, but he forced himself back upright. They were in a parking lot in Druid Hill Park. To the south he could see downtown Baltimore, the skyscrapers hazy in the simmering heat, the humidity already on the rise. On a nearby path, an early morning runner loped past, earbuds in place, oblivious to their tense little tableau—or pretending to be.
Evie was nowhere in sight. “Where is she?” Jace demanded.
“That way.” Corban motioned at Kane, who started down the path after the runner.
Jace nodded and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Corban fell in beside him.
Jace shot him a look. “Tell the night fae to let her go—she has nothing to do with this. You know what perverted bastards they are.”
The wolf shrugged. “I have a contract.”
“On me, yes. But what did she ever do to you?”
“Nothing, but Tyrus wants her. And he wants you gone because you’re one more thing standing between him and Merry.” Corban’s lip curled. “And because he’s a night fae, and if he can’t get at Merry, he wants to make her suffer.”
Jace stared at him, chilled despite the heat. It made sense. Tyrus couldn’t kill Merry because of the ward, but he was a night fae. He’d enjoy making her suffer, and what better way than to kill off the people she loved? Which could mean that Valeria and the babies were in danger, too. He didn’t count Rui—it would take a hell of a lot to take down the shark assassin.
Jace had to contact Rui, warn him his family might be a target. He raised a hand to his quartz before he recalled that Corban had it. His fingers curled into his palm.
Saving Jace Page 24
