Page 28 of Primal Bonds

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay, then.” Her relief came through the quartz. “I hope you feel better soon.”

He smiled even though she couldn’t see him. “I feel better just talking to you. Now, is your dad around?”

“Yeah, we just had breakfast.”

“Tell him Uncle Ric wants to talk to him. And Merry? Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Jace sat back. His belly was throbbing, which meant he was healing, but he’d had enough talk. He leaned his head against the seat and listened as Adric told Rui do Mar about the night fae attack.

Rui was also Dion’s second-in-command. He understood immediately that Merry could be in danger. Wards could be broken. Yes, it would be suicide to kill Merry, but that didn’t mean Tyrus wouldn’t send someone after her. If the assassin died, Tyrus would chalk it up to collateral damage.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Rui told Adric. “I’ll let the alpha know. We’ll keep her safe.”

“I know. That’s the only reason she’s still with you.”

“Try and take her,” Rui retorted, “and you won’t live the week.”

Adric ignored that to say, “We’ll keep you informed.”

“You do that.”

“And do Mar?”

“What?”

“Give Rosana my love.” He tapped the phone, cutting off the other man’s growl.

Jace’s mouth twitched. Rosana was the youngest do Rio, a sultry black-haired beauty about twenty-two turns of the sun. Adric singled her out every chance he got: dancing with her at the sun fae’s big midsummer celebration each year, bringing her small gifts.

And Rosana encouraged him.

It drove the Rock Run men insane, especially Tiago and Dion. Jace didn’t know what Rosana’s game was, but Adric did it to tweak the older alpha.

Adric and Luc fell into a low-voiced conversation. Strategizing. Jace tried to listen, but his eyes closed, and all he heard was the healing hum of his quartz.

The next thing he knew, Luc said, “We’re here.”

Jace sat up. They’d arrived in Baltimore. Adric hopped out and opened Jace’s door, holding out his hand. Jace took it, because frankly, he needed the help.

The clan lived in small dens scattered around the city. Most of them lived underground, with a house on the surface as camouflage. Some of the dens were connected by underground tunnels, although not Jace’s.

After his parents died, the brick house on his lot had fallen into disrepair, but Jace had fixed it up and rented it out to a single mom and her kids. The mom was grateful to have a landlord who kept things in good repair, and in return, she ignored the odd hours he and his den mates kept—and the big cats, wolves and bears that could be seen in the backyard from time to time.

Adric slid an arm around Jace’s waist. When Jace tried to shrug him off, he growled, “Let me help, you idiot.”

“Asshole,” Jace returned, but gratefully accepted the alpha’s strength as he limped around back to where his den entrance was concealed in a small shed protected by a look-away spell.

Suha, the clan’s head healer, was waiting in her usual colorful tunic and capris. A slender, black-haired woman whose animal was a deer, she had a doe’s soft brown eyes and calm ways, except where it came to her patients. Then the woman could out-hardass Adric.

She greeted Jace with a careful hug and a kiss on each of his cheeks, then set her hands on her hips. “Don’t you know better than to mess with a night fae?”

“He messed with me, babe. And I’m the one who’s still walking around.”

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