Page 10 of Before the Bond Breaks
She sighed and relaxed against my chest, tucking her head under my chin. “I’ve missed you too.”
The words were soft, and I wasn’t sure if she meant for me to hear her. I didn’t comment. I just held her and kissed the top of her head.
The rest of the flight passed in silence. Maze dozed off for about twenty minutes, then moved back to her seat. For the first time since becoming a shifter, I felt at ease. It had a lot to do with Maze agreeing to my terms about this mating. As much as I wished we had months to date like I’d seen humans do over the centuries. We didn’t have months because Balder had to bestopped. Maze was right about having both our clans stronger; our mating was only the first step.
When we landed, a black SUV waited on the tarmac. Within minutes, we were cutting through Manhattan’s traffic. After parking in a nearby garage, we made our way to Jessica’s apartment on the sixth floor.
Jessica’s apartment door had a protective ward. Magic pulsed around the edges and covered the surface as a warning. Humans wouldn’t understand why they had to stay away. Maze brushed her hand over the surface, and the wards shimmered faintly.
Stretching out my senses, I scented the air for the scent ofeitrthat Balder’s monsters left behind. There was only one scent that wasn’t of the humans that lived in the building. So the eitrborn freaks hadn’t been there. “I don’t smell anyone but Jessica.”
The nonhuman scent was that of a Valkyrie, so there was no doubt in my mind that it was Jessica’s.
Maze gave a sharp nod, and I studied her face as she ran her ran around the door frame, not touching the wood but feeling the magic. Her features were emotionless, like she’d slipped on her warrior mask.
“I’m thinking Balder wanted her magic and blood more than any information she’d gathered. The bastard is a little too sure of himself to think that she could get information back to us.” Maze pressed her hand flat against the door, pushing her magic into the ward.
Seconds later, the magical barrier fell. Then, the lock on the door clicked and opened.
Maze didn’t move.
She stood in the doorway, staring at the shadows inside. Her body had gone rigid, every muscle drawn tight.
My wolf pushed forward, demanding I reach out and touch. Offer her comfort. For once, I didn’t fight him. I stepped up behind her, close enough that my chest brushed her back. My free hand rested on her hip, steadying, grounding. Heat shot between us the instant I touched her.
She exhaled, too softly for anyone else to hear, and leaned back into me. Just for a moment, her tension eased. The Valkyrie High Matron allowed herself to rest against me, her walls lowered a fraction of an inch.
It was enough to undo me. My wolf was dancing for joy that our mate still trusted us. I’d never doubted that she did. Her grief and the two-centuries-long hunt Balder has made her forget how to lean on others. To trust her family.
Then, like flipping a switch, she straightened. Pulled herself back into that impossible composure, leaving me with nothing but the ghost of her warmth on my skin.
6
MAZE
Grief twistedin my gut as I stepped over the threshold of Jessica’s apartment. My sister’s scent lingered faintly in the air, woven throughout the spacious studio along with magic residue from the ward on the door. Two weeks had passed since she’d gone missing, but her presence was still there. A trace of her perfume, the salt-sweet tang of Valkyrie magic, and the smallest hint of her favorite coffee grounds still clung to the air.
My throat tightened. Jess’d been here right before she’d been taken. Maybe even on the same day.
I ran my fingers along the wall as I pushed forward, steadying myself as the ache of grief pressed deep.Please let this place tell me what her last hours before she was taken looked like. Let me anchor the pieces.
The studio was neat. Then again, she had few belongings here, and Jess had always been a clean freak. There was one king-size bed against the far wall to my left, a small kitchen area was on the opposite wall with a small dining table, and a single sofa sat in the center of the room. A few feet from the bed was a bathroom.
Talon followed me in, his presence making the space feel smaller than it was. He scanned the apartment with a warrior’s precision, but his eyes found mine when I stopped near the bed.
“Only one bed,” I said flatly, trying to keep my voice clinical. My hip still tingled from his touch, and damn if I didn’t want his hand back on me. Along with his other hand and mouth. “I’ll take it.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “We’re mates, Maze. We can sleep in the same bed.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks before I could stop it. Ridiculous. Two centuries of waiting, and I was acting like a green recruit dodging a sparring partner’s gaze. Of course, Talon would want more than distance. He’d told me as much—he wantedall of me, not just the duty of mating.
Still, my walls rose on instinct. I didn’t know how to be the woman he needed me to be. Lowering my mental shields, I sighed. “I don’t know how to do this.”
Talon closed the space between us and drew me into his arms before I could step back. His warmth hit me like sunlight through dark clouds after weeks of storms. His wolf was close enough to the surface I could feel his growl under Talon’s skin.
“Neither do I, but we’ll figure it out.” He paused and stared into my eyes for a long moment. “Are you scared because Balder betrayed your mother?”
My chest constricted, but I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My mother trusted Balder. Hell, I trusted the bastard. Then he betrayed us all and stole from the Prime. Our clan.
