Page 40 of Primal Bonds

Chapter 13

Monday evening found Jace on his way up to Grace Harbor. Suha would bitch that he was doing too much, but Merry was worried about him, and if Jace could ease that by visiting her, then he would.

He reached the Grace Harbor exit and tried not to think about Evie. But his jaguar was more basic. It perked up, flexing its claws and vibrated its throat in an instinctive mating vocalization. A picture of Evie formed in his mind—shiny blond cap of hair, big dark eyes and that tight muscle tee cupping small but perfect breasts.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jace muttered. “But we’re here to see Merry, remember?”

The cat settled. The cub came first. But after…

Jace headed west until he reached the narrow dirt road that led to Rock Run. Two minutes after he crossed the line into Rock Run’s territory, two large men on motorcycles appeared on the next hill. They zoomed down the incline toward him, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

Jace stopped his bike at the top of the hill. He was in a lush old-growth forest, the Susquehanna River visible over the treetops to the north. The big river undulated in the late afternoon sun, a wide ribbon of bronze and gold. To his left, Rock Run Creek snaked through the greenery on its way to the Susquehanna.

The Rock Run men skidded to a stop a few yards way: Tiago do Rio and Chico Nobrega. The alpha had sent his own brother, and Nobrega was Tiago’s best friend and a Rock Run sentry.

“Peace to you and yours.” Jace raised a hand in greeting. “I came to see my niece.”

“Peace,” Tiago returned. “But this isn’t your scheduled day.” Both men were dark, good-looking Latinos, but Tiago was a younger copy of his brother Dion—big, broad and arrogant with a mane of black hair tied back with a leather thong and blue eyes so light they appeared almost silver.

“Do Mar knows why I couldn’t come on Saturday,” Jace returned.

And if Rui do Mar knew, then Dion knew, which meant Tiago was giving him a hard time for the hell of it. Jace’s jaw tightened, but he kept his posture relaxed, nonthreatening. He’d put up with worse to see Merry.

Tiago’s gaze raked over Jace. “I hear you ran into some trouble the other night.”

“I did. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”

It was Tiago’s turn to tighten his jaw. “Is that what you think?”

Jace shook his head, because this wasn’t worth a pissing contest. And if Rui was correct, an earth fada was to blame, possibly one from Jace’s own clan. He was still reeling over that piece of information.

He gave Tiago the same response he’d given Adric. “If you wanted to take me out, you’d do it yourself, not hire a fae.”

Nobrega’s eyes creased with amusement. “He’s got a point, Ti.”

Tiago’s tension eased. His mouth quirked. “If you think I’d dare harm a hair on that pretty head of yours, you don’t know your niece. She’d have my effing balls. Come on, then.” He turned his bike and roared off toward the base.

“Pretty head?” Jace muttered. But he followed at a matching pace.

Nobrega fell in behind, hemming Jace between the two of them. A not-so veiled threat.

They were deep in the forest now, passing through huge old oaks, beeches, sycamores and maples. The path narrowed until they were nearly brushing the vegetation on either side: lush fiddlehead ferns, tiny pawpaw trees, a stand of mountain laurel. Jace had never seen the inside of the Rock Run base—Dion had drawn the line at that. Instead, he met Merry in the woods at the edge of the river fada’s territory. It suited them both. Sometimes they ran as their jaguars; sometimes they walked as humans.

Tiago stopped near an ancient tulip poplar with a double trunk that twisted its way through the leafy green canopy, one trunk mirroring the other in a slow, ponderous dance. Jace pulled up next to him. “Thanks for the escort,” he drawled as he set his bike’s kickstand.

Tiago gave him a thumbs-up. “Anytime.”

Merry was waiting in a clearing with Rui do Mar. She was thirteen-and-a-half now, all arms and legs in shorts and a tank top in her new favorite color—lipstick red. It was obvious she was a quarter fae; she had the sharp chin and pointed ears. But she had Takira’s hazel eyes and crinkly black curls, and sometimes she did something that was so like her mom that it took Jace’s breath away.

Merry spotted Jace and her face lit up. She sprang across the clearing, graceful as a leggy young deer, while her adoptive father followed at a slower pace.

Jace enfolded her in his arms. “Hey, baby.”

“I was so worried about you, Uncle Jace.” She hugged him back and pressed her face into his chest.

He ran his hand over her head. Her cheeks were wet when she lifted her face.

“Yo, none of that.” He looked helplessly at her dad.

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