Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)(17)

Grigori had stolen everything from him: his values, his leg, and his  freedom to shift. He was fucking defenseless, at a time when he needed  to be the strongest he'd ever been.

"Come on!" Abby tugged at him. "We need to get inside. Something's wrong!"

He knew he had no choice. He'd been pushed to the limit physically. If  there was any chance of being healed, he had to take it. If he didn't,  he was a liability, and he would not be able to keep her safe, rescue  the kid, or somehow fix the hell he'd brought down upon them. "Let's  go." He put his hand on her back, urging her forward as he followed her,  keeping one eye on Drake, who had the female pinned to the earth, using  his teeth and his massive bodyweight to hold her still.

She was snarling, her ears pinned flat, waiting for a chance to take  him. Jace could feel the energy rippling through her, building like a  volcano preparing to erupt. "Careful with her, Drake."

Drake growled and tightened his grip on her neck, every muscle taut.  Jace knew that Drake sensed exactly how dangerous she was, and he was  ready.

"Hold her," Jace commanded, just as Abby spun away from him, yanked open  the door to the cabin and ducked inside. "Hey. Wait!" He hopped after  her, gritting his teeth as she disappeared out of sight into the  darkened building.

He grabbed his gun out of his waistband and cocked it, holding it ready  as he eased inside the shadowed cabin. A silver bullet could never be  dispensed without great necessity and forethought due to how deadly it  was, and Jace had never actually fired a silver bullet into anything,  but right now, he was as close to that edge as he'd ever been.

He crossed the threshold. The door swung shut behind him, plunging him into darkness.





Chapter 10





He went still, his back up against the door as he waited for his eyes to  adjust. "Abby," he said softly. "Tell me where you are. I don't want to  shoot you."

"To your right."

At the sound of her voice, he immediately honed in on her location. He  leapt across the room, landing beside her, keeping all his weight on his  strong leg. She jumped, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her against  him. "Where's the light?"

"It's out. There's a door at the back. We need to go there."

He moved first, hopping across the floor. He reached the door and then  readied his weapon. Outside, the sounds of the scuffle had stopped, and  the inside of the cabin was eerily silent. He was aware of Abby right  behind him, and then he slowly tested the doorknob.

It turned easily, and he shoved at the door. It creaked open, and he went still, ready, his senses on alert for any movement.

There was nothing, but he caught the strong scent of male wolf, pungent  and thick. He leapt into the room, landing on one foot, ready.

Stretched out on a narrow bed was a man, heavily bandaged, breathing  shallowly. He was wearing only jeans, his bare torso wrapped tightly,  though blood was still leaking through the bandages. It was a wolf, a  shifter who'd been brutally attacked. The wolf needed protection, and  suddenly he understood the ferocity of the female's attack outside.  "Kiernan?" he asked Abby.                       
       
           



       

"No." She looked around the room, searching just as he was.

There were no other beds. No other occupants. Just the one man on the edge of death.

Jace pointed the gun toward the closet. "Open it and step back."

Abby hurried over to the door. She grabbed the doorknob and leapt back  as she pulled it open. Nothing leapt out, and an assortment of men's  clothing was hanging in haphazard fashion from the rack. Jace eased over  to it, opening all his senses. He could smell wolf, but it wasn't the  same scent as the man in the bed. "Kiernan's things, I assume." He  nudged the clothes aside, but there was no trap door to another room,  and no healer hiding among the garments. "Not here."

He turned around and faced the room again. There were no other doors,  and the windows looked out into the woods. There were no more rooms in  the cabin. That was it. "He's not here." Disappointment flooded him,  and, belatedly, he realized that he'd been holding out hope that this  healer could work his magic on him, and somehow fix his shattered leg.

Abby met his gaze, and fear flickered across her face. Her fingers  brushed against the wound on her neck, and he swore, all too aware that  his injuries weren't the only ones at risk. "Would Kiernan have been  able to decrease the amount of wolf protein in your blood from the  bite?"

She nodded. "That's what he did last time. I think that's why it didn't turn me."

Jace ground his jaw, looking around the small room. "So, what do we do now?"

"There's another room."

Jace glanced sharply at Abby. "What?"

"I was here for months being healed, but I wasn't in either of these  rooms." She walked along the wall, trailing her hands over the plaster,  her brow furrowed. "I was unconscious when I was brought here. In  addition, on the day I went home, I woke up in this room in the morning,  but when I was healing, I wasn't in these rooms." She looked at him.  "There's somewhere else he does his work."

Jace ran his hand through his hair. "That could be anywhere-"

"No, it couldn't." She looked up at the ceiling. "There were times I  could hear him talking to other people. I could hear what was going on  in here. It's somewhere close."

Jace frowned and looked around again. He'd seen the outside of the cabin  and he knew the perimeter was accounted for, and it was clear there was  no second story. "There's only one option. It has to be underneath." He  grabbed a bandage from a stash by the bed and wrapped it around his  arm, using his teeth to secure it. As he wrapped it, he studied the  floor carefully, inspecting each of the boards. Abby did the same,  carefully testing each one, in the closet and in the main area.

After they'd both checked the entire floor, she looked at him. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

The shifter in the bed groaned, and Jace glanced over at him. He was  surprised to see his eyes open and watching them. His mouth moved, as if  he was trying to say something, fighting for consciousness.

The same instincts that had turned him into an alpha willing to protect  his wolves made him go to the injured wolf and crouch next to him. "What  is it?"

The shifter's eyes were bloodshot. "My sister," he croaked. "Help her."

"Your sister?"

"That must be the black wolf Drake has," Abby gasped. "Oh, God, she was  trying to keep her brother safe, not attack us offensively. I need to go  get her-"

Jace locked his fingers around her wrist, keeping her close. There was  no chance he was sending her out there until he had more information.  "What happened to you?" As he asked, he scanned the shifter, cataloguing  his injuries. Most of the damage appeared to have been centered on his  abdomen...much like Abby's. "Lucius?"

The shifter closed his eyes and nodded. Abby tensed, her fingers digging  into Jace's shoulder. "Lucius did this?" she whispered. "It's the same  as what he did to me." She looked over her shoulder at the window. "We  need to get out of here."

Jace put his hand on the shifter's forehead. His skin was cold, too  cold. Shifters always ran hot, even when they weren't about to shift.  The man was in dangerous condition, which was probably why his sister  had brought him to Kiernan...only Kiernan couldn't be found. He leaned  forward, sensing what the shifter needed from him. "I'll make sure your  sister is safe from him."

The shifter nodded once, almost imperceptibly, but the tension slipped from his body, as if he were finally letting go.

"Oh, no." Abby fell to her knees beside him. "No, don't give up. We'll find Kiernan. He'll save you."

The shifter didn't respond. His only movement was the very shallow movement of his chest as he breathed.                       
       
           



       

"No! Don't give up!" Abby grabbed his hand, pressing it between her  palms, tears pooling in her eyes. "Come on! Don't let him win."

Jace set his hand on her back, rubbing gently, even though he knew he  couldn't take away the pain of her memories, and the moment. "We need to  get his sister, so she can say goodbye."

Abby looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "Lucius has killed so many," she whispered. "I can't do this anymore."

"You can. Seth needs us." Jace grabbed the edge of the bed and hauled himself up. "We need to get this guy's sister-"

Abby leapt up. "I'll do it. She won't trust you or Drake. You stay here with him."