Page 61 of Fae Devoted
“He stared at my blood dripping from his claws as though his hand were attached to someone else’s arm. Then he stripped me of my beta status and ordered me out of his sight.”
You are no longer fit to serve as my second. I won’t have someone at my back, brother or no, whom I can’t trust.
Jo crawled up his torso, her bare breasts sliding over his heated skin. She raised to both elbows, lifting her head enough for him to watch her hazel eyes go soft and earnest. “Jacob, there’s no way you could have known about his relationship with the Fae.”
“But I knew these weren’t the actions of the male I’d known since I took my first breath. Yet instead of staying close enough to figure out what the hell was going on…I left. I was afraid when the pack found out I was no longer their beta—”
“They might choose you to be Alpha over your brother?”
“Our dominance levels are equal, and Jeremiah wasn’t…himself. But I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t divide the pack or face him in a battle I had no desire to win.”
“He’s your twin, and you love him.” She kissed his chin, then snuggled underneath it. “I think we’re close to finding him. Maybe King Alexander can help us?”
“We’re not sure Remington can be trusted yet. He might be working for the Fae.” He wouldn’t be the first of the Nine to yield to Daimhín’s bidding.
“Then we’ll find Jeremiah together.” She yawned, slender arms and long legs wrapping around him like a spider monkey. “We’ve gotten this far by ourselves, haven’t we?”
Freckled skin, auburn hair, and blood. So much blood.
“My brother might still be under the Sídhe Lord’s compulsion.” Tucker’s stomach pitched, and his chest went ice cold, the thought of Jo confronting a corrupted Jeremiah freezing the blood in his veins.
Claw marks on her cheek. Teeth marks on her neck.
“We’ll figure it out once we catch up to him,” she mumbled, half-asleep, shivering as if she felt the chill seeping into his limbs. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
Agonizing screams.
“Sleep, baby,” he forced through a throat as dry as dust. He pulled up the blanket and tucked it around her shoulders. “No one will harm you as long as I live, I swear it.”
Chapter 18
Closing the latcheson her roller case, Johnnie placed it next to the bedroom door; they’d be leaving to meet Samuel soon. Jacob wanted to arrive at the private airport before sundown, taking Lord Daimhín’s rogues out of the picture if the Athair was monitoring the interstate. Next, she stuffed her makeup bag and computer tablet into her daisy-printed tote bag, then set the large purse on the freshly made bed. Despite the ongoing challenges ahead, there was a huge grin on her face. Her instincts—her she-wolf—hadn’t made a mistake. Jacob was her truemate, and she couldn’t stop smiling.
Sensing the anxiety in her future Ca’anam through the heightened bond a moment before the front door slammed, she grabbed her luggage and darted into the hallway. Jacob’s and Dylan’s wolves hadn’t caught a whiff of either brother’s trail after combing the woods yesterday, and it didn’t look as if their luck had changed. “What happened? Did you find something?”
“No,” Jacob said, his body stiff, spine straight as a board.
“Then what—”
“Can I talk to you a minute, Johnnie?” Dylan interrupted. “In private.”
“I…” She glanced at Jacob, expecting a reflexive response of “not a chance in hell”before his conscious reasoning kicked in. Despite the second bite confirming compatibility, the Dance would continue to be a pain in the ass until the final Mark was placed over her heart. But Jacob only nodded, then headed to the guest bedroom.
“Walk with me?” Dylan pulled her attention from the empty hallway.
“Yeah, okay,” she agreed, even though her intuition told her to go after Jacob. Her instincts screamed that something was very, very wrong.
Leaving her suitcase in the middle of the living room and her tote on the kitchen table, she followed Dylan outside. He led them into the woodlands, then veered off the well-worn path toward a gurgling brook. Trailing a few paces behind, her mind drifted to the last time the two of them were together.
Johnnie stepped outside, the cold smacking her in the face. The heavy club door closed behind her seconds later, shutting out the music and chatter from inside the bar. Her skin was flushed and hot in spite of the chill, and she gulped in the brisk night air before turning to confront Dylan. “What’s going on?”
“We’re too young to be in the Dance,” he said with a firmness that stated his mind was made up. “It’s better if we end this before someone gets hurt.”
“End this?” She stumbled as if pushed. “But you’re my—”
“We can’t know that for sure,” Dylan cut her off. “And we won’t for years if we’re smart.”
“I know it’s hard to wait, but—”
