Page 37 of Twice Bitten
That seemed too fucking good to be true. It couldn’t be, not after almost twelve years, not when he’d lived for nearly a thousand years before that and used every moment of that to build up his power, his wealth, his imperviousness to death and damage. I’d never met anyone more paranoiac about his own safety and well-being.
But the bond had vanished.
When my phone beeped, I jumped so hard Rodney startled and ran away with a yowl, skittering into the kitchen, his claws clicking on the tile.
I reached out for it with my hand still shaking, picking it up from the coffee table and peering down at the screen, terrified of what I might find. Louis might have done something to the bond. He could have found me. He could be the one sending me a message. Or some associate of his…the moment I’d started to think I ought to try to accept my circumstances and live my life anyway, it could all come crashing down.
But the message was from Jack. My eyes blurred and I nearly dropped my phone, scrabbling at the screen with numb fingers.
Will you see me, if I come to see you? Please give me five minutes of your time.
Before I could rethink it and stop myself, I typed back a simple,Yes.
Thirty seconds later, I heard footsteps on my front walkway, and then on the porch.
And then someone knocked on the door.
Chapter 12
One Life or One Death
Without taking even a moment to do anything sensible, like peek out the window to see who was there, or glance in a mirror to make sure my hair looked okay, I leapt up and went to the door, flinging it open without hesitation.
And as I’d hoped, Jack stood there, hands in his pockets, shoulders held tensely under his leather jacket.
This time the jacket made me smile.
Hemade me smile, helplessly, from his short black hair to those icy blue eyes—not so icy right now, since they shone with hope and something that could have been longing—to his well-shaped lips, and then down, all of the strength and solidity and wonderfulness that was Jack.
We stared at each other for an endless, breathless moment.
“Hi,” I managed, and then swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat.
“Hi,” Jack said. And in his low voice, that one syllable sounded a lot likePlease kiss me, Angelo, I’ve missed you so much.
Of course, that could’ve been my imagination.
“What are you doing here?” I winced a little. Of all the stupid clichés…
But Jack smiled, teeth gleaming. No fangs, but his eyes had started to glow, and his chest rose and fell a little faster. Like he’d have been happy with anything I said, with any stupid thing that fell out of my mouth.
Like he felt the same way I did: that his body and mind and soul were coming alive again after a month apart.
Jack pulled his right hand out of his pocket and opened it, showing me what he held: his family’s priceless artifact.
It looked different, and it took me a moment to figure it out. The silver had dulled to a bronzy color, hard to see in the low light but clear once I noticed.
I looked back up at him, confused, to find him gazing at me like my face held all the secrets of the universe.
“Why does it—” And then it twigged. “You used it. To save your brother? That’s why it looks different?”
Jack smiled again, that little quirk to his mouth that I knew meant he thought he’d pulled one over on someone.
“No,” he said. “I mean, yes. I used it. But not for Jake. A few conference calls with Nate and Arik, and some help from a local shaman in Idaho I’d consulted already, and we figured out what Brent had done. He bought spell bags from a shady practitioner a few towns over. The shaman hadn’t been able to do anything about it because he didn’t know the source of the spell. And also, I think he’s not as good as Arik, honestly. But I didn’t say that. I just paid his fee, which was kind of high for—shit,” he said, with a shaky little laugh. “I’m sorry. I’m babbling.”
He had been babbling, and I found it utterly adorable. Fuck, I’d really fallen, hadn’t I?
“Then Jake’s okay? He’s—gods, Jack, he’s all right?”
