Page 95 of Primal Bonds

Corban glanced after Tyrus, who had disappeared in the woods. “I have a night fae with me. Lord T.”

“So it’s true. You’re working with the fae.” Kane’s tone was gruff with disapproval.

“For now.” Sometimes you had to deal with the devil if you wanted to win. “You in?”

Kane bit out a curse. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Chapter 28

Jace curled his body around Evie’s and played with her breasts. Two nights with the woman, and already he couldn’t imagine waking up without her.

She mumbled something in her sleep. Good, she wasn’t awake.

He angled his head so he could bite her nape. A light, teasing cat-bite.

Her breath sighed out. He slid his hand down the curve of her rib cage, stroked her stomach. His fingers were inching lower when his quartz buzzed. He swore under his breath but rolled onto his side and answered in a sub-vocal voice so as not to wake her.

The news from Adric chilled him. Luc had reported in from France that he’d finally found Tyrus’s lair, but Tyrus had left for Paris soon after.

“And he didn’t take a car,” Adric said. “He was running. The man’s a fucking wayfarer.”

“No.” Jace’s stomach dropped. “But it makes sense—the way he pops out of nowhere…”

Wayfaring was a Gift only the most powerful fae had. Some—like Queen Cleia of the sun fae—could ’port from place to place. Others could shadow your footsteps so that you never knew you were being followed, and still others could move freakishly fast. Dressed in his customary black, Tyrus would blend into the shadows. If he was a wayfarer, you’d never seen him rushing by. You’d just feel the chill as he passed.

“Luc and Nash are on their way home.”

Jace nodded. “You think he’s coming to Baltimore?”

“Yep. But why—what the fuck does he want?”

Jace raked a hand over his head. He didn’t like this, not at all. “He hasn’t tried anything for six years—and Merry’s still protected by her father’s ward. So what changed? Why go after me now?”

“Hell if I know. But be on guard. Don’t let anyone in the den until we know more.”

“Got it.”

Adric cut the connection and Jace rolled onto his back. His cat was growling lowly, its tail twitching in agitation. Bloodthirsty visions rolled through Jace’s mind, the jaguar’s way of communication: Kill. Protect. Mine.

The cat wanted to stalk and kill Tyrus—but the night fae lord was Prince Langdon’s only surviving son. If Jace killed him, Langdon would descend on the clan like a nuclear holocaust. It would be the Darktime all over again.

No, Jace told the cat, and it snarled but retreated further into his mind.

But that wasn’t all. Just as he was turning back to Evie, his phone buzzed again. This time it was Merry. Evie was stirring so he slipped out of the room to take the call.

“What’s up, babe?”

“Papa Rui wants to talk to you,” Merry said.

“Okay, sure.” Something was up—Rui almost never asked to speak to him, letting Valeria do most of the communicating.

Do Mar went straight to the point. “You know that female your alpha left on our territory—Nika? She’s gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?”

“That’s what’s fucking strange. Dion and I questioned her, but we couldn’t get much out of her other than that she’s from a Russian clan and that she came with Corban Savonett to Grace Harbor—which I’m sure you already know. Dion told her we’d better never find her making trouble in Rock Run territory again, and then Cleia was going to ’port her back to Russia. But when the guard checked on her an hour ago, she was gone.”

Jace scraped his fingers over his hair. “How is that possible? Your wards—” Queen Cleia herself had made sure that Rock Run’s wards were practically impregnable.

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