Page 21 of Where A Goddess Belongs

Chapter Nine

Jacoby drew in a deep breath and swore he could taste the tension in the car.

Before they’d left the den, he and Den had considered tying her to the bed and leaving her there until they returned.

Of course, they’d nixed that fast because she would’ve snapped her fingers and made their balls disappear.

Instead, she sat in the seat behind them, staring out the window. She didn’t look worried. She looked ready.

Jacoby checked on Den, who had his head turned toward the side window and his hands clenched into fists on his thighs.

In the rearview, he saw the two cars carrying the lucani behind them. They’d been on the road for two hours and had nearly reached their target. The closer they got, the more he wanted to stop and beg, plead, order, force her to stay behind.

His father would’ve pulled in every resource to protect Emelia. The bastard had never paid any attention to her until someone farther up the Mal food chain had noticed something unusual in her aura. Jacoby still wasn’t sure how they’d finally determined who Emelia was meant to be. She’d never told him. He only knew she believed it and he believed in her.

That’s when they’d started planning to get out. And when Jacoby had been assigned to guard Kari, he and Den had agreed it was time to put their plan into motion. To get them the hell out of the Mal’s hands.

And here they were, possibly putting Kari back into those hands. The thought made him physically ill. In the past three months, she’d become more than a beautiful woman worthy of worship.

She’d become the central point in a triangle he hadn’t realized he’d wanted to be a part of. And now, he couldn’t think of life without it.

“Kari. You have the panic button, yes?”

She’d refused to carry a weapon of any kind. He and Den had argued with her for at least fifteen minutes about carrying a knife, at the very least. She’d lifted an eyebrow at them and reminded them that she was a goddess of health. She didn’t take lives. She healed hearts and souls.

How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?

They’d realized you didn’t. You moved on to fight another battle. To get her to stay at the car. They’d lost that one, too.

He would make sure it didn’t come to that.

“Yes.” She held up her hand and shook the bracelet around her wrist. Lady Amity had given it to her then shown her the matching one around her own wrist. “At the first sign of trouble, I’ll be sure to press the button and have you running back to my side to save me.”

Okay, yeah, that sounded a little sexist. A lot sexist.

Vaffanculo, just put him in a wifebeater and give him a case of Budweiser.

“Kari—”

Den poked his arm, out of Kari’s sight, and Jacoby shut the fuck up.

“Yes, we’re Neanderthals,” Den said. “And we’ll apologize for that as many times as you want...as soon as we’re back at the den with Emelia. I will worship you with my mouth and make you come as many times as you want. And Jacoby will let you do whatever you like with his body for as long as you want. As soon as we’re back at the den.”

Now she was smiling, and Jacoby knew they’d dodged a bullet.

“You certainly do know the way to a girl’s heart.” Scooting forward on the bench seat in the back of the white Toyota sedan Cole had assigned them for the trip, she put her hands on both of their shoulders. “But the panic button goes both ways. If either of you is in trouble, I expect you to ask for help.” Her touch made Jacoby want to promise her anything she asked for. Except for this. If he had the chance, he’d make sure they never came after Emelia again. And if that meant showing his father exactly what he could do with his power, then he had no problem with making them hurt. “Jacoby? What’s going on?” Shit. Her worried tone made him realize she must’ve picked up on his thoughts. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.” “Please don’t lie to—” “We’re here.” She fell silent as Jacoby made the turn into the unmarked lane about a mile from his father’s Jersey estate. He and Kyle, the lucani’s head sicari, had decided this was the best place to stage before they made their way on foot to the estate. This land belonged to another Mal family but they’d abandoned the house years ago and the last Jacoby knew, it’d begun to deteriorate and no one had been here in years. The rutted lane and encroaching forest helped that theory, and when they finally pulled up to the house, Jacoby knew he was right. No one had been here in decades. “Wow, how beautiful this must have been years ago.” “As long as I’ve known about this place, no one has taken care of it or visited.” “Such a shame.” “Not really, considering the Mal who lived here kept lucani as guard dogs. They enslaved their minds and turned them into beasts.” Kari’s hand tightened on his shoulder for a second. “They have a lot to answer for, but let’s not forget...our main goal is to get your sister and get back to the den safely.” He knew that. He also knew the second he saw his father, he was going to want to hurt him. Badly. “I know.” He turned to see Den watching him with narrowed eyes. His friend obviously knew him too well. But Den didn’t say anything. When Den nodded at him, he dipped his head in acknowledgment and got out of the car.

Den knew Jacoby had a lot of pent-up hatred for his father. It’s what had first bonded them. But where Den had simply wanted to save his mother, Jacoby was determined to hurt his father where it would truly count. In his standing in the Mal. And that meant showing just how powerful Jacoby was and how much his father was losing when Jacoby took his sister away from him. Which meant Den needed to be by Jacoby’s side the entire time to watch his back. Because Jacoby was going to do something stupid. He just knew it. Combined with the fact that Kari had refused to stay with her sister at the lucani den... Yeah. He already felt his temples tightening with a headache he couldn’t afford now. They had to be razor-sharp if this was going to work. He had no doubt the lucani were up to the task. He’d spoken to Kyle and Kaisie and they both had way more experience at this than either Den or Jacoby. They’d always been grunts, never truly part of the upper structure, even though their fathers had been born Mal. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the female sicarishedding her clothes and deliberately turned his back to her. And kept it that way. Instinctively, he knew it’d be rude to watch unless she’d given him permission, which she hadn’t. He noticed Jacoby had done the same, giving his gun another once-over. “Hey.” He leaned over so only Jacoby could hear him. “Maybe you should stay back here with Kari.” Jacoby gave him a look he couldn’t mistake and didn’t bother to respond. Yeah, he’d known that wasn’t going to go over well.

“Okay then, just don’t do anything stupid.”

“Define stupid.”

“Jack.”

Jacoby paused for a second before he looked up. “I’ll be fine. I’m not going to do anything stupid. But if something happens to me, make sure you get Emelia out.”

Den nodded but didn’t have time to add anything because Kyle walked over with Kaisie, three huge wolves at his sides. Damn, they were amazingly beautiful animals. With human eyes.

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