Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)(30)

Abby tensed. Leave without Jace? It would be suicide. There was no way for her to defend herself against Lucius.

Jace tightened his arm around her. "I'm going."

"No." Kiernan shook his head. "The silver is still in your body. It will  take several more treatments to cleanse it fully. If you were to get  hit again, it would kill you. Your ankle is fragile as well. Another  injury could create too much damage for me to heal."

"I don't give a shit. If Abby's leaving, so am I."

Kiernan growled low, and he turned away, bracing his hands on the wall.  He took several deep breaths, his massive shoulders straining. Abby felt  the strain on his control, and she realized that his wolf was reacting  to Jace's show of dominance. Kiernan was definitely alpha, and yet he  didn't have a pack or any social connections. He was a loner who spent  his days and nights healing anyone who managed to find him.

For some reason he'd never explained to her, he resisted healing, as  evidenced by the fact he hadn't gone upstairs to help them when they'd  first arrived. But, if a person in need found him, he never, ever turned  them away, no matter what the cost to himself. Just as Jace's mission  in life was to protect the innocent, Kiernan's was to heal anyone who  asked for help, regardless of whether they were innocent or the worst  harbingers of evil, which was why he'd worked for Grigori's pack for so  long. He was literally unable to turn away a request for healing.  Grigori and Lucius had victimized so many that there had been no  shortage of healing opportunities, until one night, several years before  Abby had been attacked, Kiernan had disappeared in the dark of night.  No one had heard from him again, until Abby's grandmother had tracked  him down to save Abby.

She'd never revealed how she'd located him, and Kiernan had never spoken  of his time with Grigori's pack, or the circumstances under which he'd  finally left. He was an enigma she couldn't decipher, even after all the  time she'd lived under his roof with his healing energy pouring into  her.

"Leave under the light of the moon," he finally said, his voice rough. "It's the only time that exit is accessible."

Jace glanced at his watch. "Twelve hours."

Abby closed her eyes. Twelve hours until they had to leave the safety of  Kiernan's lair. Twelve hours until there would be nothing between her  and Lucius except distance that would be closing quickly. Thirty-six  hours until there would be no turning back for Seth. Twelve hours was  too soon to face Lucius and Grigori, but it wasn't soon enough to go  after Seth.

But they had no choice. The clock would continue to tick, and in twelve hours, they had to be ready. "Okay."

Jace squeezed her shoulder, then turned away and walked back to the  couch. "We're leaving tonight," he announced. "Drake, build a psychic  connection with Savannah to see if she can show you the way in her  mind."                       
       
           



       

Savannah glanced at Drake, stiffening. "I don't want to be psychically  connected with anyone. No offense, but Lucius did that to me, and I  can't do that again."

Drake crouched in front of her, his hands resting lightly on the couch on either side of her knees. "I won't betray you."

His promise was simple, his words brief, but he didn't look away from  her. His gaze was steady, his body strong, but non-threatening. Roarke's  eyes opened slightly, and he met Drake's gaze. After a moment, Roarke  nodded. "I trust him." He closed his eyes again. "He's okay."

Savannah's face was pale, and Abby's heart bled for her. She knew the  fear that haunted Savannah, because she lived it too. "Drake, don't make  her-"

But to her surprise, Savannah nodded. "Okay. But we do it here with everyone around."

Drake nodded. "Of course."

He held out his hand, and after a long moment, Savannah slipped her hand  into his. Her blue eyes were wide as she watched Drake, but there was  hope in them, hope that there really was a man worth trusting in this  world full of men like Lucius.

Jace leaned over Abby's shoulder. "That's how you look at me," he whispered to her. "It's a gift no man ever forgets."

She turned to face him. "You make me feel treasured."

"You are." He hesitated, as if he were going to say something else, then  he shook his head. "We need to practice the song, Abby." His voice was  suddenly tense. "It's the only weapon they have that can defeat me. I  need to have it under my control by the time we go out there. Is twelve  hours enough?"

Her heart softened. "Jace, one minute is enough. You won't hurt me."

He pressed a kiss to her knuckle. "Don't be blind, Abby. Your love can't accomplish the impossible."

She stiffened at his words, as if the feelings were completely  one-sided, as if she were some naïve schoolgirl who thought that love  could change the world. "No," she said. "But yours can."

He went still. "Mine?" he echoed.

"Yes." Hurt echoed through her at the denial on his face.

Jace released her hand. "Abby," he said quietly. "Don't lie to yourself  about what I am. I'm an alpha, and my duty is to my pack. I have to do  whatever it takes to protect them. I've had to kill my own pack members  before to protect the others. I can't do that if I cross that line and  allow myself to care. My attachment has to remain distant." Regret  flickered in his eyes. "Not even for you."

"Stop it." She held up her hand. "You're such a fool, Jace. Don't you  understand that your ability to love is what makes you different from  Grigori and Lucius? That's what makes you strong enough to fight that  song. You love your pack, Drake, and even me."

"No." He caught her wrist and dragged her over to him, feral anger in  his eyes. "Don't ever trust me. Do you understand?" His fingers  tightened on her wrist. "Do you understand?" His eyes shifted to wolf,  and heat poured off his body. She froze, alarmed by the sudden change in  him.

"Jace-"

"Look at me, Abby. Look at me. I'm the man who murdered your sister. I  could not stop myself. Do not trust me. How many men has that song  turned into killers who murdered their own loved ones?"

"That's diff-"

"How many?"

She swallowed. "Hundreds." So many men who'd killed the ones they'd loved.

"I'm not different, except for the fact I'm trained to kill. I'm better at it than anyone else, and don't ever forget it."

His voice was so cold that chills raced down her spine. Where was the  man who'd been so tender with her when they had been making love? Now,  he was dominant alpha male, a deadly shifter who was pushing her away.  His gaze was unflinching, so hard and cold that she stepped back. She  could see the killer in him now, the dominant male who would never stand  down in the face of a threat.

He nodded with satisfaction, then turned back to Kiernan, who had  stopped pacing to watch the exchange. "What do you do when they pipe in  the music?"

"I have a cage, and I also developed headphones that distort the song enough."

"The cage it is. I'll go in there when Abby sings to me. Where is it?"

Abby's heart sank. Jace wanted to lock himself up like a wild animal,  instead of the honorable man he was? But when she saw the fierce, cold  look in his eyes, she knew that's exactly what he intended.





Chapter 18





Jace forced his body to stay relaxed as Kiernan's living room wall slid  back to reveal a steel cage with bars so close together that even a  small wolf could not get through. The steel bars were shiny, glittering  at him as if they were taunting him for his weakness.                       
       
           



       

Every instinct inside him howled in protest at the idea of locking  himself up. Doing so would render him unable to protect anyone. He would  be useless, completely disempowered, which violated everything that  defined him.

Kiernan handed out headphones to Drake, Roarke, and Savannah, even  though no one had any evidence that Abby's song affected female shifters  the same way as it did males. They didn't want to take the chance.

What if the headphones didn't work? What if Abby sang and the other  shifters in the room came after her? The thought made fear grip him so  strongly that for a moment, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't even  conceive of being trapped in that cage, helplessly watching as the  others turned on her. Jesus. No way. No way could he take that risk.

"Ready?" Kiernan said.

"No." Jace turned away. "Abby goes in the cage."

She blanched. "Me?"

"It's the only way to protect her from everyone." He swept his hand  across the room. "Every one of us is a danger to her once she starts  singing. What if the headphones don't work? What if they fall off? She  needs to be protected from all of us."