Jace (27 page)

“Marc, stand down,” Ian snapped.

“Go to hell, Ian,” the man snapped right back.

Ian went right, Jace went left, and Creed brought up the middle.

“Nice to see you’ve got your pack under control, Ian.”

“He’s not mine, he’s yours.”

The man was bulky with muscle, enough to make Tobias look small, and he radiated a desperate aggression. And he was a Tragallion? “Figures.”

“Neither of you are helping,” Miri snapped.

“I’m working on it, princess.” Jace moved in another foot, angling himself to the best position to attack if necessary. “I want you to pick up Peanut now and very carefully walk toward me.”

She lifted her lip but didn’t move.

“Nice to know you’ve got your mate under control, Johnson,” Ian commented, inching steadily up on the right.

Jace flipped him the bird.

“I want my daughter,” Marc growled.

Shit! “And who are you to be wanting anything?”

“Marc Tragallion.” He motioned to Penny. “And that’s my daughter.”

Not good. Not good at all. A wolf would fight to the death for family.

“Assuming she is—” Jace began.

“She’s not,” Miri snarled.

Not taking his eyes off Marc, Jace tried again. “Assuming she is, why in hell would I give her back to a man who couldn’t protect her?”

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t.”

“Seems to me, for someone in no position to do anything, you’re making a whole lot of threats.”

The man took another step forward. Jace went with him. Miri turned and grabbed Penny, pulling her in to her chest with enough force to set her screaming harder. The sudden move had the wolf jerking. His scent came to Jace along with Miri’s and Penny’s. There was no doubt the wolf was related to Penny; their scents were very similar. Something Miri had to recognize.

Jace looked over at Ian. “I’m betting were law’s got something to cover this.”

And as were law was pretty archaic, based on might making right, Jace was betting the old “finders keepers” rule applied.

Ian nodded, his eyes never leaving Marc. “All lost children belong to the finder if they claim them.”

“She was claimed in front of the McClaren council,” Miri said quickly.

Jace looked at her sharply. She’d thrown that out quick and fast like she’d been expecting this moment and had prepared for it.

Marc’s “She’s mine” rumbled low and deadly from his chest.

Jace had heard that line often enough from enough weres to know they were in one sticky situation. Marc’s hands flexed, flashing claws long enough to slice Miri in half with one swipe. And he was within arm’s reach and hanging on to control by a thread. Not good.

“You heard the lady.”

“I challenge you for her.”

“Good enough.”

Creed came up to them, wiping the blood from his cheek. “This kind of challenge is to the death, vamp.”

Jace’s fangs strained and his face began to morph. “No problem.”

Miri clutched Penny to her chest and backed up until she leaned against the counter, holding the were’s attention. “You failed her once. I won’t give her back so you can fail her again.”

That was his Miri, going for the jugular. Marc stiffened. “I didn’t fail her.”

“Do you know how we found her? What they were doing to her? How they deprived her?”

There was only one description for the twisting of the man’s features—anguish; pure, unadulterated anguish. “No.”

Tears spilled over onto Miri’s cheeks. Her face began to morph. Jace had never seen her inner wolf so close to the surface. Marc turned toward him. Jace had also never seen so much torment in a man’s eyes, nor so much determination. He slid his mind along the were’s, testing his emotions. Pain. Endless pain, guilt, and love. The love of a father for his child. So much, he wasn’t sure how the man kept from screaming. Ah, shit, why were these things never easy?

“You killed them, vampire?”

Jace smiled. “Gutted them while they could still enjoy the experience.”

Marc stared at him, face expressionless, and then he nodded. “Thank you.”

“You should know that I missed one.”

Marc’s head snapped up. “He’s mine.”

“Only if you can get to him first.”

“Were law—”

The rage Jace had been holding back flared. He took a step toward Marc. “I don’t give a shit about were law. I was there; I felt her terror at a touch while everything inside her craved it. I had to pick her up out of the filth she lay in, in that glorified grave, had to hold her while Slade pulled the IVs from her heart. I held her energy and her terror and there isn’t a goddamned law in this fucking land that’ll keep me from making them pay.”

Marc lunged at him and grabbed him by the shirt, the power of the move hurtling them both up against the cabinets. Jace let him, wanting the fight away from Miri. Wood splintered; dishes rattled. Over Marc’s shoulder Jace could see Ian grab Miri as she lunged after him.

“Make a picture for me, vamp,” Marc ordered in a guttural snarl. “In my head, show me what you found.”

Jace was tempted. Very tempted. The man’s anguish came at him again. Pity tempered his impulse. He shook his head. “You don’t want to go there. Trust me.”

Marc shook him, making the dishes rattle again. He stared at little Penny as she screamed in terror while Miri fought with Ian. Jace could have killed him right then. It would have been kinder than what the man was insisting he do. He didn’t. Marc’s energy coiled to a lethal tension, his snarl hoarsened as he turned back and met Jace’s gaze. “If it happened to my daughter, it should happen to me, so make me a picture, vamp.”

Jace did, sending the images so fast they were a blur. Marc’s grip shifted to his neck. “Slowly.”

Shit.

“They hurt her because you cared more about your image than you cared about your daughter,” Miri called from behind, lashing the man with guilt as Jace fed memories into his mind.

Marc let Jace go as the last memory landed. He staggered back, face pale, hands shaking.

Ian released Miri. She raced to Jace’s side. He pulled her in, accepting the snap of her energy as she turned on Marc. “They hurt her because you didn’t care, you bastard!”

The one thing Jace knew absolutely was that this man cared.

“Miri—mine.”

She spun in his arms, pressing Penny’s face to her throat. “Don’t even say it, Jace. They tortured her, and he let them.”

Ian and Creed flanked Jace, their warning snarls joining his when Marc reached out toward his little girl. Miri twisted away, her desperate need to hold on to Penny nearly as strong as Marc’s to simply hold her.

Jace only knew one thing. No way had this man left his little girl anywhere.

Marc glanced up. “I don’t want to hurt your mate, but I’m taking my daughter home with me.” He reached out.

Fast as lightning Miri slashed his arm open. The scent of blood filled the room as drops splashed to the floor. “Don’t touch her.”

Strangely, Miri’s attack didn’t anger the were. Instead, it seemed to center him. He took a breath, his gaze on Miri and the protective way she held his daughter, and a little of the aggression left the set of his shoulders.

“My mate’s pack followed the old ways. I left her to get food. She went into labor before I got home, and when the baby was born imperfect, she returned her to nature. When I returned, I made her tell me where she’d left the baby, but she lied, and by the time I figured that out, my daughter wasn’t there anymore.”

“Penny,” Miri growled. “Her name is Penny.”

Marc went on as if she hadn’t interrupted. “I’ve been following sign for two months, looking for her.”

Marc caught Miri’s eyes. “I’ve heard you know the pain of knowing your child is somewhere out in the world needing you, hearing her cry at night in your dreams, but having no way, in the waking hours, to reach her.”

Miri gasped and the agony, never far from the surface, flared. Jace pulled her in to his side.

“Another low blow like that and I’ll gut you.”

“Hell, I’ll do it for you, right now,” Creed snapped.

Marc lifted his chin. “There’s nothing that will keep me from my child.”

“You’re a guest in my home, Marc, but you’re beginning to wear out your welcome,” Ian said.

Marc looked at Ian. “Then I’ll take my daughter and leave.”

“No.” Miri’s response wasn’t as vehement now. Jace notched his mind to hers. Anguish, anguish, and more anguish. She couldn’t let go of Penny, couldn’t lose another child. Couldn’t take a man’s child from him. She was desperate for a solution to an impossible situation.

Jace glanced over her head at Marc. “You’re a Tragallion were?”

He nodded.

“How much do you want your daughter? Badly enough to bargain for her?”

His eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

“What about your wife?”

“My mate is no longer in the picture.”

“Did you kill her?”

“No.”

A vague impression came to him. But someone had. Jace couldn’t make himself give a crap.

Miri turned her cheek in to his chest.
Don’t do this to me.

Awkward and clumsy, the mental plea broke into his mind.
I’m not doing anything, baby.

Aloud he said, “My wife can’t lose another baby.”

“I can’t lose my daughter.”

“She’ll need protection. The Sanctuary will hunt for her.”

“The pack will help.”

“Your pack doesn’t have a leader.”

“Travis is dead?”

There was absolutely no inflection in the question. “He died fighting Sanctuary.”

There was a flicker of relief in Marc’s eyes. “A good death.”

For a not-so-good man? Jace wondered.

Miri’s hand opened on his chest.
Don’t, Jace.

You can’t keep a man from his daughter, baby. Not unless you’re willing to lose your daughter the same way.

I know.
Her tears soaked through his shirt.
But I can’t say the words that will let her go.

Neither could he. Not completely. He met Marc’s gaze.

“Could you support a vampire for a leader?”

Miri jerked, disturbing Penny, who’d been about to fall asleep. She rubbed her back.

Marc also seemed to stop breathing. His gaze grew more wary. “Would you be that vampire?”

Jace couldn’t blame him. Ian’s solution was a radical one. “Yup. Ian seems to think I’d be good at the job.”

Marc turned to Ian. “You support this.”

“The Tragallions need a strong leader. The Johnsons are strong and Jace is mated to the Alpha female of your line.”

“Appointing a vampire will tear them apart.”

“Or bring them together,” Ian countered.

Marc jerked his chin toward Jace. “Over his dead body.”

Miri gasped. “No.”

“Shh.” Jace stroked his hand down her back, calming her.

Ian shrugged. “He’s willing to chance it.”

Marc’s glance encompassed the way Miri was tucked against Jace, his hand stroking down her back. Understanding softened his frown. He motioned at Miri. “For her?”

The question was obviously directed at Jace. He didn’t see any sense in hiding the truth. “Yes.”

He’d do a lot of things to make Miri happy. Wading through a few head knockings to give her the pack she wanted was the least of it.

“Then I will not protest the appointment.”

Which wasn’t the same as supporting it. “You might want to hold off until you hear my condition.”

“Spit it out.”

“You declare Miri and Ian Penny’s guardians by right of claim.”

He was proposing a permanent alliance between the Alpha D’Nally and Marc’s immediate family. It was a huge honor for any family and rarely given, as it meant the Alpha and his pack could be summoned to aid and they couldn’t refuse.

Marc didn’t take his eyes off Miri. “Will your mate be living with you at the Tragallion compound?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I have no female relatives. My daughter needs a mother.”

Jesus Christ! Was another were going to try to steal his mate?

Miri’s hand on his arm cut off the possessive rage. “He doesn’t mean what you think, Jace. Substitute mothers are common among weres and children often have more than one home.”

Marc looked surprised and then amused as he realized Jace’s concern. “I have no desire for your mate.”

Before Jace could answer, Miri cut in, “And to answer your question—yes, I’ll be traveling with my mate.”

“I hadn’t decided that yet, Miri.”

She smiled sweetly at him. “I saved you the trouble.”

Marc smiled. Ian and Creed chuckled.

The woman was hell on his image. “That was thoughtful of you.”

“So, Marc,” Ian asked, “what’s it going to be?”

“I accept the bargain.” Marc held out his hands. “May I hold my daughter now?”

Jace steadied Miri mentally as she eased Penny away from her body. “She doesn’t always go easily to strangers…”

“I am not a stranger, I’m her father.” His hands slid under hers.

“I just don’t want—”

Miri never finished the sentence. With a look of wonder on her face, Penny went quietly into her father’s arms.

And in Jace’s arms, Miri’s heart just as quietly broke.

T
HE
Tragallion pack wasn’t exactly welcoming them with open arms. Jace stood with Miri on the edge of the Tragallion compound and surveyed the array of weres fanning out in the traditional gauntlet of welcome. Most of the stares were downright hostile. Some curious. Some cautious. But no one was smiling. All in all they were an angry, weary-looking group. Jace tucked Miri a little closer in to his side. “Remind me to deck Ian next time I set eyes on him.”

She glanced up. “If you hold him, I’ll do it for you.”

He laughed and dropped a kiss on her head, feeling the ripple of unease spread through the crowd as he did. “Nah, I want to do some damage.”

Marc looked over his shoulder. “There’s no need to put on a show. I can pretty much guarantee that the only thing anyone believes about you being here is that you’re here for the power.”

“I’m here for Miri.”

“Well, that part will take some convincing.”

One male were stepped away from the crowd. He carried himself with the confidence of a seasoned warrior. His hair was long and brown, his eyes golden. A D’Nally Alpha. But apparently, not next in line to lead. Jace let him get within ten feet before holding up his hand. “That’s close enough.”

The man’s eyebrows rose, but he stopped.

Jace looked down at Miri. “Stay here.”

“I have just as much right as—”

He cut her off. “Until I know it’s safe, you’re not getting within grabbing distance.”

“The Tragallion weres are honorable,” the unknown D’Nally said, a frown on his face.

“You’ll pardon me if I don’t take your word for it where my mate is concerned.”

The man nodded. Vamp or were, the need to protect a mate above all else was a universal instinct.

Marc stepped up and made the introductions. “Jace Tragallion-D’Nally, this is Brac Tragallion. Second in command to the Alpha.”

Jace eyed the man and did a quick check of his energy. It was calm, which might mean he had nothing to hide, but then again he’d been second in command to Travis, whom Ian clearly hadn’t trusted. That calm could just mean he was very good at masking his duplicity, but Jace doubted it. There was strength in this man. The kind of strength that came from a strong moral code. “I’m sorry about Travis.”

Brac nodded. “Thank you.”

Yet another implication, through silence, that Travis hadn’t been a good man.

Miri smothered a yawn. Jace frowned. She was tiring more easily than he’d expected. “Is there a place we can clean up?”

“The leader’s house has been readied.” Brac motioned his hand toward a house in the center of the compound. Large, with a well-cared-for exterior, it had a prosperity lacking in the other homes. “Follow me.”

“Follow me” meant taking Miri through a line of weres that stretched for a good fifty feet on either side of the road. A prickle of unease went down Jace’s spine. Miri came up beside him and slipped her hand into his.

“If we’re going to do this,” she whispered, “then we really do need to start as we mean to go on.”

He eyed the motley collection of weres. “Hell of a time to be throwing my words back in my face.”

She shrugged. “We have to trust someone, sometime. They’re who we have.”

She had a point. They’d come this far, and coming this far meant they were solidly in D’Nally territory. If the plan was to kill him and assign a new mate for Miri, they were way past the point of no return. “If they kill us, it’s on your shoulders.”

Her smile was shaky, but game. “Good thing my shoulders are broad.”

He touched the shoulders in question. Feminine and delicate, inspiring the obvious retort, but the confidence in her smile stifled it. It’d been a long time since he’d seen that surety in Miri. Too long. Another sign she was finding her feet again. Agreeing to take over the Tragallion pack had been the right thing to do. In reality, up until the moment he’d made the announcement that he would take the position of Tragallion Alpha, and felt the joy surge through her, he’d never appreciated how much being pack meant to Miri. Pack to her was a lot like being a Johnson was to him. It was part of the definition of who she was. And returning to the culture she knew, even under these circumstances, had put the bounce back in her step.

Marc grunted and handed Penny to Miri to carry. “Your shoulders couldn’t carry a gnat.”

He took up a position on the other side of her and unslung his rifle from his shoulder.

Jace cocked an eyebrow at him. “For someone who’s not expecting any trouble, you look damn prepared to meet some.”

“I made a promise. It’ll be kept.”

Even if he had to kill someone to do it. Jace shook his head. In some ways, dealing with the Tragallions was like stepping back in time to his mortal days, when a man lived by the strength of his arm and his word. Which might explain why he found himself liking them so much despite their irritable ways. Something Tobias had hinted at before he’d headed off a few miles back to “take care of something.”

Miri patted Marc’s arm. The were, as always, frowned at the familiarity. Miri, as always, ignored his displeasure. “Thank you, Marc, but the gun’s not going to be necessary.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Miri, if you don’t stop touching the man, I’m going to have to seriously start considering him a rival.”

“Fiddlesticks.”

“Fiddlesticks? What in hell kind of word is that?”

Marc’s lips might have twitched. Hard to tell. He went out of his way not to smile. Especially around Miri, who went out of her way to try to get him to. She said it was important for Penny. Jace had a feeling it was because she thought it was important for Marc.

Miri tugged the quilt away from the baby’s face. “A perfectly good one, according to Raisa.”

“That woman has a grudge against a good swearword,” Jace groused, nodding to the patiently waiting Brac that they were ready.

“She’s old-fashioned.”

“She can be anything she wants as long as she keeps Jared smiling the way she does.”

“He is smitten with her, isn’t he?”

“No need to mince words. The man’s a goner and everyone knows it.”

She frowned. “Does it still bother you?”

He eased in front of her as they approached the crowd. “Because she was the one who turned Caleb?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

As they started up the road, moving through the sea of unfriendly faces, waves of displeasure came at him, blowing harder than the wind charging up the valley. Underneath, in a softer whisper, like a hint of spring, was a desperate sense of hope. He looked around again. The Tragallions had to be pretty damn desperate to pin their hopes for deliverance on a vampire.

Jace touched his mind to Miri’s. It took a second for her to respond, but not as long as it used to. She was getting better at the mental communication.

I’m thinking Travis wasn’t much of a leader.

MIRI
thought Jace was right. There were certain things that spoke of prosperity and these people didn’t have them. Yards and houses were barren of ornamentation. Clothing was of a uniform color and style, as if it had been purchased in bulk. Children’s pants were too short, the knees patched. The compound itself had a general atmosphere of neglect, as if the very air was weighed down by sadness, with none of the laughter that came from the security of a well-run pack.

No wonder there wasn’t a smile of welcome. If Travis’s style of leadership was to keep all the best for himself, then the people were probably asking themselves how much more a vampire would take. Miri smiled at the woman to her right. The woman didn’t smile back.

You’re right. They don’t look prosperous.

Movement flashed in the periphery of her vision. Even as she acknowledged it, Jace pulled her behind him. One look at the threat revealed it to be a little girl, maybe all of five years old. Her deep brown hair, pulled to either side of her head in neat pigtails, was the same deep brown of her eyes. Eyes that went wide in shock at the big vampire suddenly standing in front of her. In the same blink of an eye, Tragallion weres surged forward, Brac at the lead. Miri put her hand in the center of his chest, stopping him in his tracks. The shock of the contact reverberated up her arm. “Wait.”

Brac looked at her hand and then back at her face, the arrogance not lost on her. She didn’t care. They were starting as they meant to go on, and she did not mean to go on as a squashed Alpha female, run over by the prejudices and fears of others. Marc came up beside her, adding his muscle to her stance. His warning growl rumbled in his throat.

A gasp drew her attention to the little girl, whose hands were clasped in front of her, something clearly in their grasp. She looked at Jace and her face crumpled, her eyes filled with tears as terror replaced the determination with which she’d stepped out of the crowd. Jace squatted down. Brac shifted. Miri didn’t remove her hand from his chest. “Jace would die before he’d hurt a child.”

Brac didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push her aside. Which was good, because if he had they probably would have had a whole new issue to deal with. Jace wouldn’t have stood for that.

The violent aura around Jace softened. “Hello.”

The little girl’s lip quivered. Miri could imagine how that affected Jace. All Peanut had to do was think about crying and he was mush.

“Is your mother here?”

The child nodded and motioned to a pretty young woman pushing through the crowd. The woman caught sight of Jace kneeling in front of her daughter and cried out, “Brenda Lynn!”

The little girl’s eye rounded more. “Uh-oh.”

From where she stood, Miri could see Jace’s amusement and the twitch at the corner of his mouth. He raised his hand. The woman stopped. Her fingers curled into fists. Miri gave her an encouraging smile. It was ignored.

“I guess you weren’t supposed to say hi to me, huh?” Jace asked in that deep, warm drawl that invited trust. Brenda Lynn wasn’t any more immune to it than any other female. Her lip paused in mid-quiver, and her expression relaxed.

“I didn’t want to say hi to you. You’re a vampire.”

“Brenda Lynn!” her mother gasped.

“It’s all right,” Jace told the mother. Miri could hear the laughter in his voice, though she doubted it was evident to anyone else. He turned back to Brenda Lynn. “Who were you looking to say hi to?”

She stared at him, the wobble in her chin firming before she glanced at Miri and pointed with her cupped hands. “Her.”

“Why?”

Brenda Lynn opened her hands and carefully parted her fingers to reveal her treasure—a very tiny frog. “I’ve brought it for her.”

“That’s a mighty nice frog.”

“She’s special.”

“I see.”

Her lips circled into a pout and she frowned. “I want her to kiss it.”

It was a sickly looking frog, with lots of bumps. Miri grimaced. There were limits to what Miri would do for a child. Beside her, Marc coughed. Or laughed.

“Do you think it’s a prince?” Jace asked, maintaining a straight face with obvious difficulty.

Brenda Lynn gave him a look that clearly questioned his intelligence. “It’s sick.”

“And you think Miri’s kiss can fix it?”

The little girl nodded so hard her pigtails bounced.

“What makes you think that?”

“My mommy said so.”

Brenda Lynn’s mother groaned.

“She did?”

No doubt the woman had said something not meant to be overheard and probably not too flattering. Definitely something she didn’t want repeated, to judge from the worry in her expression.

“What did she say?”

“She said the female Alpha is either a saint or a devil…”

Miri could hear the punch line coming in the carefully recited quote.

“Because if she thinks she can make a no-good vampire into an Alpha, she has to be backed by either heaven or hell.”

There was suddenly a flurry of coughing and face rubbing in those near enough to hear, which, with the acuity of wolf hearing, involved quite a few.

“Your momma is right. It takes someone special to do that.”

I am not kissing a toad.

It’s actually a frog, so you’re good.

Frog, toad, she wasn’t kissing it, and it was time to step in before Jace promised she would. Miri dropped her hand from Brac’s chest. She handed Penny to Marc, who took her awkwardly, juggling the gun and the infant before he had to accept the inevitable and toss the gun to Brac.

Jace’s energy reached out to her as she approached, circling her as she braced her hand between his shoulders. The thickness of his coat prevented her from feeling the shift of his muscles as he looked back at her. Nothing could prevent her from feeling his hug of comfort and his amusement. “This is Brenda Lynn. She has a problem.”

“So I heard. Hello, Brenda Lynn.”

All she got back was a determined look.

Leaning over, she studied the sad little amphibian. “I don’t think he needs a kiss,” she told the little girl, who reeked of lilac perfume. “I think he’s just very thirsty.”

The little girl didn’t look convinced but she brought the frog up to nose level and stared it in the eyes and asked, “Are you thirsty?”

The frog didn’t move, but Brenda Lynn’s eyes crossed. She was beyond precious, and Miri couldn’t help wondering if Faith would be that precocious at her age. And whether she’d get to see it. She took a slow breath to balance the agony before answering, “I don’t think I can cure him with a kiss, but would you like me to take him up to the house and see if I can make him better?”

Brenda Lynn frowned. “It’s a she. Her name is Wilhelmina.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Pretty enough to kiss,” Jace offered.

Miri slapped his back. “Hush.”

Brenda Lynn went absolutely white, staring at Jace in horror. She didn’t even blink as she stepped back. Around them, growls rose. Men moved in. Brenda Lynn’s mother pulled her back. No one was looking at Miri. Everyone was looking at Jace.

In the same easy way he did everything else, Jace reached up, caught Miri’s hand—the one that had slapped him—and brought it over his shoulder. The kiss he placed on her palm was neither discreet nor innocent. Flames licked up her arm, seared her chest, and suspended her breathing. By the time he was done, her knees were weak and her cheeks red.