Jared (13 page)

Jared carefully lifted her against his chest, not
wanting to disturb the calm he’d forced on her body the same way he’d forced
the agony in the first place—by thinking he knew better than she did as to what
she needed. Because he’d convinced himself she’d been refusing to feed out of a
weird sense of scruples. “Yes.”

He couldn’t get any more out, wrestling as he was to
draw the agony out of her body into his. He’d never felt the like before, it
was a howling wild beast that gouged holes in his innards. Sweat beaded on his
brow and dripped down his face in red trails of guilt. He couldn’t forget the
one word her mind had projected at the first taste of Ian’s blood. Wrong.

“Is it bad?” Ian asked.

Jared nodded. “I don’t know how in hell she’s survived
it.”

She was so small and delicate. An old-fashioned woman
from his time, who, if she hadn’t been turned, would have spent her life under
a man’s protection. She was the type of woman a man sheltered, cosseted,
spoiled. Protected. Except he was her protector and he’d failed her.

Ian picked up Rai’s hand. He balanced her palm in his
and touched his thumb to the fan of delicate bones beneath her skin a second
before saying, “I don’t think she is surviving.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

Ian placed her palm on her abdomen. “She’s dying,
Jared. Just doing it the hard way.”

Through slow starvation. Everything in Jared rebelled
at the thought. “No.”

“I’m not any more in favor of it than you are, but
there’s no changing the reality.”

“She won’t die.” He wouldn’t let her die. “I’ll get
her help.”

“Think Slade might have an idea what’s going on with
her?”

Jared clenched his jaw against the next wave of pain,
grateful it wasn’t as bad as the first. “He’s got ideas about everything else.
This won’t be any different.”

Jared wouldn’t allow it to be.

“How the hell do you think she’s survived this long?”

Jared relaxed the muscles in his jaw, took a slow,
deep breath, and wiped at the bloody sweat dripping in his eye. “Through sheer
force of will.”

“She’s got that.”

“Yeah. The pain’s passing now. I’m going to put her to
bed.”

With a provoking arch of a brow Ian asked, “Need any
help?”

Jared resisted the urge to kick the too-handsome were
in the teeth. “No.”

It should have been awkward getting to his feet with a
woman in his arms, but it wasn’t, mainly because her weight was nothing. She
was too thin, too sweet, too close to death.

Wrong. Again the word played in his head. If something
was wrong, then something, someone, somewhere must be right. The conviction
grew as Jared carried Raisa into the bedroom and brought her to the big sleigh
bed. Ian’s bed. Again, everything in him rebelled. And again, the sense of
possessiveness welled, primitive and all encompassing. She didn’t belong there.
She didn’t belong with Ian. He didn’t know much about her, but he knew that.

Hot on the heels of that though came the thought of
his sister-in-law. Allie was only compatible with her mate.

It’s not going to make a difference.

Over and over, Rai had made that statement, a certain
hopeless-ness coloring the phrase, which could only mean one thing. She knew
she was dying. But how? Did she already have a mate and had lost him? Again,
that violent negative reaction inside him that he had to suppress. He untied
her robe and rolled her out of it with calm efficiency, before tucking her
under the sheets. She’d be horrified if she knew he was doing this, and he was
old-fashioned enough to appreciate that modesty in her, to understand where it
came from. They’d grown up in the same time, shared the same sense of right and
wrong. Tucking her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingered there in silent
promise before pulling the sheet over her shoulder. She could trust him to take
care of that part of her.

She shivered, and he dragged the extra blanket from
the foot of the bed and pulled it over her, too. He touched the soft wool. It
was strange for a were to have so many blankets. Their bodies naturally adapted
to temperature. Not as well as a vamp, but well enough. Only humans required so
many blankets. Or immortals with a bad metabolism. Did Ian, along with the
ability to read minds, have pre-cognitive abilities? A human lover? Jared shook
his head. Of the two, the latter was more likely.

If he did have a human lover, it was a risky prospect
at any time, but especially in these troubled times. The Sanctuary would target
any female of interest to any were or vamp. Only mated women could get
pregnant, therefore, the Sanctuary had their radar focused on those women and
their mates. And the unknown hormone interaction that so rarely resulted in offspring.

Jared stroked Raisa’s hair. All the rich yellows and
ambers trapped in the curls glowed in a fluctuating pattern against the white
sheets. She looked like an angel. Pure, white, and fragile. An angel very much
in need of protection. And according to were custom, he’d offered her
his—offered his muscle, his skill as a fighter, his guidance in exchange for
the right to keep her safe. In some ways were society was pretty primitive,
with might making right. Whenever a man took on the role of protector, he
volunteered to put himself between the woman and all comers, maintaining the
right of protection only through his defeat of all challengers. If a woman’s
protector lost a challenge, the winner of the fight would become her new
protector. A protector didn’t have the same rights as a mate, but being a
protector gave a man the ability to keep others away from the woman in his
care. A real advantage in were society. The next caress ended at the corner of
that seductive mouth. Jared smiled. And right now the advantage was his.

IAN was on him as soon as he entered the room, two
glasses in his hands. “Is she better?”

“She’s not in pain, if you want to call that better.”

Ian handed him one of the glasses. He nodded his
thanks as the scent of good whiskey stung his nose.

“At this point I’m calling it a hell of an
improvement.”

So was Jared. He ran his hand through his hair. “Me,
too.”

“Where’d you find her?”

“About halfway up the mountain. A couple of Sanctuary
vamps had her cornered.”

Ian’s lip lifted in a snarl, his heritage very evident
in that moment. “I’ll have the heads of the sentries who allowed them access.”

Jared dropped into a chair and took a sip of his
drink. The alcohol burned all the way to his stomach. “I’m not sure you can
blame the sentries.”

“Why?”

“Because they’ve got a new device. Something that
masks their energy.”

“Shit. Combine that with the scent-masking spray and
they’ve got a real advantage.”

“Yeah.”

“I’d like to know who they’ve hired to be able to come
up with these very clever gadgets.”

“So would Slade.”

“I bet it’ll burn his ass that he’s trailing on this
one.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you get to keep the device?”

“I had to dump it. Rai sensed a tracking device in
it.”

“Raisa sensed it?”

“She might not have control of her energy, but she has
an affinity for all energy.”

“Better than you?”

“Apparently so.”

Ian whistled. “You didn’t sense it?”

“Not one bit.” Jared took another sip and savored the
burn. It blended nicely with his frustration. “No matter how hard I concentrated.”

Ian tossed back the rest of his glass. “That’s not
good.”

“No. It isn’t, but there might be a chance the device
is still on the mountain. We attached it to a doe and sent it northwest.” He
mentally fed Ian the energy imprint of the deer for tracking.

Ian finished up his drink. “I’ll send some men up the
mountain to look for it.”

“Good. And until Slade finds a way to defeat it, I’d
suggest relying on more traditional methods of rat control and using more men
to patrol.”

“Agreed.” Ian rolled to his feet and went over to the
decanter. He poured another glass and then held the decanter up in a silent
question. Jared shook his head. He could process one glass, expel it through
his pores as he would any poison; two would have him puking, and his vicarious
experience of Rai’s recent bout was too close for him to go there, even for the
best sipping whiskey he’d tasted in a hundred years. “No, thank you.”

Ian resumed his seat. “One upside of having more men
out on patrol is that there will be less here to challenge you for the right of
protector over Raisa.”

“I’m not afraid of a challenge.” He’d actually welcome
the opportunity to take the edge off his temper.

“I’m sure you’re not, but I don’t think you understand
just how appealing her scent is to a were. I don’t think many of the challenges
will be token ones.”

Token challenges referred to the pseudo-challenges
made by male weres to boost a woman’s self-esteem.

“Shit.”

“Uh-huh.” Ian lifted his glass in a toast. “And
speaking of shit, how compromised is your mission now?”

Jared wasn’t surprised Ian knew the reason he was on
the mountain. Among the Renegades, the chain of command was Caleb, Jared, and
then Ian. The cohesion they’d achieved was the only edge they had against the
Sanctuary’s much larger numbers. Not to mention the Sanctuary’s larger bank
account, which allowed them to manufacture all sorts of interesting devices to
complicate the Renegades’ lives. Devices like the energy masker.

“On hold unless I can come up with something to do
with Rai.”

“If the information’s correct, this will be the first
time the Sanctuary leaders will be together.”

“I know.” It could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to end the civil war for good. “I signaled Caleb to send someone else.”

“I hate to point out the obvious, but you could leave
her here and still go.”

“I could, but if I did, I’d no doubt come back and
find Rai married against her will.”

“And that would worry you?”

“She’s under my protection.”

That irritating smile curved Ian’s lips. “That’s the
only reason?”

“It’s the only reason you need to focus on.”

Ian shook his head. “You keep telling yourself that,
and while you do, my men will keep Raisa busy.”

Jared just bet they would. “You really wouldn’t object
to a marriage between a vampire woman and a were?”

“Honestly? I wouldn’t be adverse to one of my men
finding happiness with her. There have been so few matings this last century,
any possibility brings a wild hope. And, as she’s not from here, there would be
no power struggles.”

“You think a were would give up family and pack
position to marry Rai?”

“I can think of twenty of my men who would be grateful
for the opportunity.”

Great. Just what he wanted to hear. “I won’t let her
be railroaded.”

Ian shrugged his shoulders unconcernedly. “Then you’d
best care for her.”

Which would mean either leaving her here or staying
with her. “Hell of a choice.”

Ian rolled to his feet. His glass settled on the
tabletop with a decisive click. “But at least you have the pleasure of making
it.”

Jared stood, too. “Very true. Where are you staying?”

Ian headed for the door. “With a friend.”

A lady friend, Jared had no doubt. “I appreciate you
giving up your home for our visit.”

“The D’Nallys only extend the best hospitality to
potential mates.”

“She’s not here to seek a mate.”

Ian put his hand on the knob. “But she could be.”

“No, she couldn’t.”

Opening the door, letting a rush of cold air and
blustery snowflakes fly in, Ian looked over his shoulder and smiled that damn
cocky smile of his. “As I said, that decision is not yours to make.”

LIKE hell it wasn’t. Jared slammed his glass down on
the table so hard it rattled. He steadied the piece of furniture while anger
rolled through him. Rai was his responsibility, and no damn were was going to
twist the rules to trick her into a forever she didn’t want. He went to the
windows and drew the curtains. As he got to the last one in the living room, he
looked out. The D’Nally compound was compact, neat, with small log structures
set out in squares with streets between. Most of the homes were dark now. Most
weres, with the exception of the full moon, tended to be daylight dwellers.
Night runs were fun, but not a way of life.

Jared looked around, appreciating high walls that
stood like stark sentinels against the night sky, shielding the inhabitants of
the village. The first D’Nally had picked well when he’d chosen this hidden
valley. Plenty of land and wildlife, with fresh water and high walls on all
sides, it was hard to detect and there was little danger of an attack.
Especially now that Slade had manufactured a few devices to continue to protect
the weres’ privacy.