Page 12 of Choosing Jenny
“I can understand that,” Jac said sympathetically. “But her impatience doesn’t make the planning go faster.”
Tiger nodded in agreement. “How are things with you?”
“Good. Sorellamore is coming along nicely,” Jac said, relaxing a bit. “Sarah’s still a little weak, but okay. It’s been hell trying to keep her from doing everything. You know how she is. But Ode is staying with us in the manor to monitor her and thebaby at all times, so being under constant doctor supervision has not improved Sarah’s mood.”
“And you?” Tiger asked. “I know this has to be rough for you and Deacon, as well.”
“It’s been a challenge,” Jac admitted.
Tiger winced. “That bad?”
“Have you ever tried to tell Jenny ‘no’ about anything?” Jac gave him a wry smile.
My boyfriend laughed. “I don’t think so, but I’m not looking forward to that day.” Tiger grew serious once more. “I’ll let you know if we’re going to need your help. Take care, Jac.”
“You too,” Jac replied, right before the monitor went black.
Tiger turned to me sitting beside him, his gaze filled with concern. “You okay? You seemed like you weren’t even here for most of that conversation.”
“I’m distracted,” I murmured. “Sorry.”
He watched me for a few seconds. “Do you want to tell me—”
“Do you think Mal killed those people?” I blurted, voicing the question that had been haunting me. Afterwards, I wanted to retch.
Tiger’s lips thinned into a grim line. “I don’twantto believe that he did.”
I swallowed hard. “But?”
He hesitated a moment before responding. “I don’t think that he did, but that might be because I love him. Mal…he’s not like you and me in that regard, Jenny. He says he has a bloodlust, and I’m not sure what, exactly, that entails.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “He told me about that, too.”
“Maybe the caretakers attackedthem,” Tiger said, trying to explain things. “Or maybe he was defending Credo from them…there are all kinds of things that could have happened. We won’t know until he comes home tonight and tells us everything himself.”
My fingers ached, and it was then I realized I’d been gripping the armrests. I flexed my hands, trying to shake the tension loose. “Didn’t realize I was hanging on so tight.”
“Here,” he said gently. “Let me.”
He took my left hand in his and massaged it. His hands were larger than my own and much warmer. All Ladrians ran hotter than humans, it seemed. When he was done with that one, he took my other hand and in long sweeping strokes, he loosened the muscles until I was far more relaxed.
“Better?” he asked, smiling at me.
“Much. How do you know to do that?”
“Elder Gammon from my clan,” he said with a shrug. “She had terrible arthritis. I was smaller than the other boys my age, so my fingers were smaller, too. I was able to get them between the bones in her hands and work the muscles so they would stop hurting her. She paid me in cookies.”
I managed a smile. “That’s adorable.”
Tiger kept my hand in his and looked into my eyes. “Jenny, I’m worried for him, too.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“I think that’s why the flirting made me so jealous.”
I hesitated, unsure how to frame the question forming in my throat. “You don’t think he wants that man to join our relationship, do you?”
Tiger sighed. “I don’t know what to think, other than we know Mal is alive and not in trouble, or else he wouldn’t have been given a bone knife. He would have been in manacles. Speculating won’t make us feel any better—”
