Page 24 of Primal Bonds

Evie exchanged a glance with her brother. What if Jace hadn’t recovered enough to protect them?

She felt another rush of last night’s dark fear. This time it was mixed with anger. That the night fae had dared mess with their minds…

Adric’s calm, businesslike tone recalled her to the kitchen. “Sounds like you’re safe enough. We’ll make sure there’s nothing to trace Jace to you or your house.” He finished his coffee and came to his feet, and Evie and Kyler rose with him. “And now, I believe we’ll be on our way.” He came around the table and held out his hand to her. “I owe you, Evie Morningstar.”

She stiffened. How did he know her last name? In fact, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t told him her first name either.

“No worries,” he said with a hint of amusement. “I just wanted to know what I was walking into.”

“Of course,” Evie replied faintly as she shook his hand. His fingers were warm and strong—perfectly normal, in fact. It was easy to forget he was one of the most dangerous men in America. “You don’t owe us anything. We couldn’t let him bleed out on our doorstep, could we?”

“Some humans would’ve.” Adric was turning toward the door when he drew a deep inhale and swung back around. “What the fuck? You’re fae?”

Evie took a step back. Kyler put an arm out to steady her.

“What are you talking about?”

“I smell silver.” He leaned closer and took another breath. “It’s you, not your brother.”

Jace had gotten off the floor and was growling lowly. One side of his mouth peeled back to reveal a sharp white canine.

“You’re a fae,” Adric said. “It’s faint, so maybe you’re a mixed-blood, but I know a goddamn fae when I smell one. What clan? And I want the truth, woman.”

Chapter 7

Fae.

Jace snarled, low and savage. He was operating at a primal level, his animal close to the surface while he was healing.

To his jaguar, the fae were the enemy. They’d tried to kill him last night. They’d been behind Takira’s death, and they’d almost killed his only niece.

His lip peeled back. Now he could taste as well as smell Evie’s scent, allowing him to separate the different notes. She definitely had some fae in her: he detected a hint of silver. The only reason he hadn’t noticed before was that his own body had been emitting a metallic odor as it rid itself of the iron in his system.

Evie paled but held her ground.

That gave his animal pause. The cat shook its head, confused.

“What clan?” Adric asked again. His voice was softer now. Menacing.

“Look,” she said, “I’m not fae, okay? D’you think if I were a fae I’d be living like this?” Her gesture encompassed her shabby surroundings. “And why does it matter anyway?”

“It matters,” Adric returned grimly.

Neither Jace nor his cat liked the alpha’s tone. He had to shift. The energy drain on his quartz was still considerable, but he needed to be able to speak.

He focused inward, drawing on the tiny crystals. Normally, he had the strength to change forms with ease, and he enjoyed the buzz of energy it brought. But today, the energy was weak—more a prickle than a buzz. It increased and he almost had it, and then it faded.

“Jace,” Adric said, “are you sure—”

Jace barely heard him. He sucked in a breath and tried harder.

And then his friend was beside him, adding his quartz’s energy to Jace’s, and the prickle strengthened to something close to normal. Through sheer force of will, he wrenched himself back to man and immediately doubled over, gulping oxygen.

Evie’s eyes narrowed. “Get out of my house,” she said, low and mean. “Both of you.”

“As soon as I get some answers,” Adric replied.

Jace came upright. The man was in charge again, and things didn’t add up. “Leave it, Ric.”

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