Page 129 of Primal Bonds

“Tyrus. I—”

He squeezed her waist. “You’re safe, angel. I promise.”

“I know, but—that was my first dead body. Well, except for my mom, and that was different.”

“He needed to die.”

“I know.”

He stroked her abdomen. “Is it what he did before? When I was passed out?”

“That’s part of it.” She swallowed over the rock lodged in her throat. “I felt so violated. Why the fuck does it bother me that I helped kill him?”

Jace blew out a breath and said, “Because you’re a good person. Nobody but a psychopath finds killing easy. Even when you have no choice, it haunts you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They were silent then, but his hand continued to move over her abdomen in slow, easy caresses. The constriction in her chest eased.

And this time, when her eyes drifted shut, she saw nothing.

Chapter 40

Evie pulled her car onto the concrete pad. The lavender had bloomed; several fat bees were buzzing around the fuzzy purple spikes. Other than that, the house was unchanged, its gray Formstone exterior practically indestructible. Was it only Tuesday? It felt like they’d been gone a month.

She nudged Kyler, who was hunched over his phone playing a game. “We’re home.”

He pocketed the phone. “Looks like everything’s still in one piece.”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t help but smile; it was what their mom had always said.

Jace pulled his motorcycle to a stop behind them. Adric was sure Corban had left the country, but Jace wasn’t letting Evie out of his sight. “There’s still the night fae,” he’d said. “We don’t know what Tyrus told his lair.”

If Jace wanted to stay close, that was fine with Evie—she wasn’t an idiot. Besides, why would she want to be separated from her mate?

She watched in the rearview mirror as he removed his helmet and glanced around, a badass fada in sunglasses and a worn leather jacket. Her womb clenched. She still couldn’t believe he was hers.

She jerked her chin at the mirror. “You sure you’re okay with this?” she asked Kyler. “Me and Jace?”

“Sure. I mean, how many guys have a shifter as a brother-in-law?”

“There is that.” They exchanged a grin. “But seriously—we may have to move to Baltimore. I haven’t talked to Jace, but I don’t think he wants to live up here.”

“I can adapt.” Kyler reached into the backseat for their backpacks. “Don’t forget, I’m not always going to be living with you. This way, I don’t have to worry about you.”

“Worry about me?” she repeated faintly.

“Yeah,” he said as they got out of the car. “It goes both ways, you know.”

She met his eyes over the car roof. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess it does.”

Mrs. Linney was on her stoop, heart-shaped sunglasses perched on her nose and a pink visor on her steel-gray curls. She waved her cigarette in their direction. “Hey, Evie. Kyler.”

They waved back. “Morning, Mrs. Linney.”

Jace set a hand on the small of Evie’s back. She smiled up at him and turned to Mrs. Linney. “I want you to meet my friend—”

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