Page 55 of Jace

“I’m going to walk the perimeter of the clearing,” he told her. “Tonight, I’ll stand guard outside.”

He stalked to the door, wondering if she would stop him.

She didn’t.

21

Susannah

A few hours later, Susannah paced the house with sleepy Zeke on her shoulder.

She had changed him, fed him, bathed him, and even sung to him, but he just wanted to be held tonight, and he cried every time she tried to put him down.

It was as if he could sense her unhappiness at the argument with Jace.

But honestly, what was she supposed to do?

It was easy to say there was no such thing as a curse. But she had seen the blood and the pain. She had seen the fear of death in the eyes of those three young men. She had no wish to see it in a fourth.

And besides, they were from two different worlds. That had been brought home to her as they interacted with Bard. Susannah had acted from a place of good manners and forthrightness. And Jace had been like a suspicious soldier, questioning everything, and not wanting to show weakness of any kind.

“It’s for the best,” she whispered to herself uncertainly.

But she already felt a pull in her chest, as if her heart were being stretched taut at the distance from Jace.

The darkening clouds they had seen earlier had finally released their full burden. What had begun as a tip-tap on the roof, like cats’ feet, was now a full-blown deluge. The heavens unleashed, and rain cut through the night, splashing up on the cabin’s windows and gurgling in the spouts.

And Jace was out there, alone, in his usual state of mostly-undressed.

Her mind was swirling with its own storm of worry.

Was he cold? If something dangerous crept out of those woods now, would he be able to see it?

Susannah pushed the curtain on the front window to the side and gazed out into the darkness. She could just make out the felled trees on the lawn and the living ones around the perimeter.

Lightning illuminated the scene for an instant and she swore she saw a flash of red fur again, just inside the woods.

Fear gripped her heart as she thought of Jace out there alone. She ran to another window, hoping to be able to spot him.

When she reached one of the kitchen windows, she finally spotted the shape of him against the trees.

As quickly as she could, she grabbed Zeke’s sling and wrapped it around him and herself, securing him to her chest, then she snatched a cloak from the bedroom closet and pulled it on, hoping it would be enough to keep them both relatively dry.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door and walked out onto the porch.

Though she was under roof, she could already feel the rain on her face. It was blowing hard, slashing down at an angle as if it wanted to reach her.

She scurried out into the lawn and ran around the back of the house to catch up to Jace.

The grass was slick with rain and her hair was dripping in front of her eyes, forcing her to move more slowly than she wanted as she struggled to see the uneven ground.

Finally, Jace came into view. In her excitement, she picked up speed, but when she tried to slow down, her feet slid on the slick grass.

She let out a squeal of surprise and barely righted herself before falling.

Then Jace spun to face her, and she nearly fell again, this time from pure surprise.

His eyes were glowing in the dark, their blue color as bright as the neon sights on a blaster. And his posture was looming, shoulders so wide and sloped, knees slightly bent.

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