Page 25 of Primal Bonds

The alpha stiffened, but Jace was a lieutenant, directly below Adric in the hierarchy. More than that, he was an old friend. Adric was wrong, and he needed to hear it.

“She had nothing to do with this,” Jace said. “It was pure chance I ended up at her house. And when the night fae came, she and the boy could’ve told him I was in here with them. Instead, they were nearly caught. There’s no way she was working with him.”

He turned to Evie. She had an angry flush on her cheeks, but that was better than seeing her pale with fear.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “As you can see, we don’t like the fae.”

“Don’t fucking trust them, either,” Adric muttered.

She blew out a breath. “I am not fae, damn it.”

“No?”

But her scent held the freshness of truth. Whatever she was, she believed what she was saying. Adric scented it too, because he relaxed.

And at least she wasn’t night fae—she didn’t have that graveyard stench. So she was sun fae or ice fae. Still an enemy, but not the dark hunters the night fae were.

Adric gave her a small smile. “If you would just get Jace’s clothes, we’ll be on our way.”

Evie’s gaze flicked at Jace. “Fine,” she said coldly, and jerked her head at her brother. “Kyler—”

“No—you go. I’ll stay here with the two of them.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then glanced at the teenager’s tight jaw and nodded her head.

While Evie went into the living room, Jace and Adric stood quietly, hands open and relaxed to show Kyler they meant no harm. It was funny, really. Like the kid had a prayer of a chance against two shifters. But Jace respected that Kyler had stepped up to protect his sister, and he knew Adric did,

His alpha examined the lanky teen. “How old are you, anyway?”

Kyler balled his fists. “Sixteen. Why?”

“No reason.”

Jace slid Adric a look. What was he up to? But his friend just stood there, his gaze moving around the kitchen, noting the scuffed and peeling vinyl floor, the cheap plastic blinds on the window and the fact that the table and chairs were clearly secondhand.

Like Evie had said, if she were a fae, would she live like this? Even the most down-on-their-luck fae usually had something to sell—a ward or a spell, or a Gift that was valued in the human world. Her fae blood really must be just a trace, probably less than most fada.

Evie reentered the kitchen and thrust Jace’s pants and shoes at him. “Here.”

He took the pants and pulled them on, leaving the top button undone in deference to his still-healing wounds. To put on the running shoes, he had to sit on a chair, because there was no way he could bend over to lace them, and he was damned if he’d ask anyone for help. He shoved his feet into the unlaced shoes and stood back up.

Evie shot a glance at his bare chest and then met his eyes. She pinked up and pressed her lips together.

So he hadn’t imagined her interest last night. He’d been too hurt to do anything about it, but he’d planned to return when he felt better. For this woman, he would’ve made an exception to his rule about human females.

Now that was blown to hell. She just wanted him and Adric out of here, and frankly, he’d think twice—make that three times—before getting involved with a mixed-blood, especially one who didn’t even know what strain of fae ran in her veins.

But as he looked at her set face, regret twanged through him, a single harsh note. Just once, he would’ve liked to touch those soft cheeks of hers, smooth a finger over those strong dark brows. Taste her pretty lips.

Adric had his wallet out. “Here’s something for your trouble.” He held out a handful of bills to Evie.

Jace tensed. “No,” he started to say, but it was too late.

Evie’s eyes flashed. “Get out—now. Both of you.” She pointed to the back door.

“Okay, okay,” Adric said. “Just trying to show our appreciation.”

“I don’t need your appreciation,” she gritted. “I did it because I’m a fucking nice person, got it?”

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