He leapt to his feet and lunged at Lucius just as the shifter was baring his teeth to sink them into Abby's torso. Jace slammed into him, crushed his throat with one well-timed bite, hurled him aside, and then spun around toward Grigori.
"Get Seth," Abby shouted. "He's already shifting! He's going to kill my grandmother!"
Drake regained consciousness and surged to his feet. He lunged at Grigori, and the alpha wolf spun to meet him. Within a split second, the two wolves were in full battle, but Drake was bigger, and he was the best fighter Jace had ever met. You got it?
Got it. Get the kid.
Without hesitation, Jace whirled around and sprinted across the room toward the boy. The youth's eyes snapped open, filled with fear as the song jerked him from his sleep and awakened the wolf inside him.
Jace tackled him, pinning him to the couch with his paws, meeting the boy's frightened gaze. He opened a telepathic bridge with him, pouring serenity into his mind, just as he'd done with so many young wolves so many times. Not taking time for words, he filled the boy's mind with images of wolves and shifters, educating him at lightning speed, empowering the youth to own his wolf even before the shift.
Abby stopped singing, but the youth was already shifting. His shift was quick, fueled by the song, but the moment he shifted, Jace gripped the back of Seth's neck, pinning him to the couch, holding him down as the wolf tried to take over. He held the young wolf still, keeping him from attacking Abby's grandmother, while he poured his own power into the boy to help him control his wolf.
Minutes ticked by, more and more, as Jace patiently held him still, waiting for the danger to pass. Eventually, finally, Jace felt the shudder of relief in the young wolf, the moment that the human took control back.
Jace immediately released him and crouched down, nose to nose with the youth. The young wolf was pure white with blue eyes, rare indeed. His eyes were wide as he looked at Jace, but his eyes had human intelligence and understanding. He licked Jace's muzzle, and Jace growled with satisfaction, knowing that the first stage had been successfully handled.
He cuffed the youth lightly, then turned away. Lucius lay on the floor where Jace had tossed him. Grigori and Drake were gone, but he could hear the sounds of battle from outside. He swore, racing back across the room to Abby, shifting as he ran. He caught her in his arms, lifting her wrists off the hook. She threw her still bound wrists over his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "I'm sorry I was late."
She shook her head. "He didn't do much. He hadn't gotten started." She pulled back, her eyes glistening. "You made me sing to you."
He grinned. "I realized you're the source of my power, and it's up to me to control how I react to it." He framed her face with his hands. "I love you, Abby. That's where my power comes from. Love."
She smiled, beaming at him. "I knew you loved me."
"You were right." He slid his hand through her hair and kissed her, the first kiss of his life when he wasn't holding back. He poured everything into the kiss, everything that mattered, everything he was, and it made the kiss become more than it ever had been. "You're mine now. I'm never letting you go, sweetheart."
She pulled back, her smile fading. "I'm Seth's guardian. I'm a mom now."
"I'm in." He didn't hesitate. "I love kids."
She smiled. "You love to mold young shifters into being good, moral people, you mean."
"That, too." He rested his hands on her hips, basking in the sensation of her kiss, her commitment, her everything. "I'm yours for as long as you'll have me, Abby."
"Forever?"
He grinned. "Forever." A loud crash sounded from the hall, and he swore. "Stay here. I'll be right back." He kissed her again, and then raced for the door, shifting back to wolf form. He exploded out the door and followed the sounds of battle down the hall. Drake! I'm on my way.
Drake didn't answer, but Cash appeared in the doorway. "Drake's gone."
Chapter 22
Two days later, Drake was still missing.
Abby perched on the arm of the worn leather couch, her hand on Jace's shoulder. Jace was beside her, once again revived after Kiernan had stripped the silver from him. Roarke was in an armchair, heavily bandaged, his face still pale. His breathing was shallow, rattling in his chest, and his cheeks were even more sunken than before. He looked weaker, as if death was tightening its grip on him, despite Kiernan's healing, but he'd insisted on being part of the discussion.
Cash and his mate, Bryn McKenzie, were sitting on the opposite couch, and Savannah was pacing restlessly. Nana had taken Seth to Jace's house, the most secure facility available, while the others had gathered at Kiernan's new location, another underground bunker he'd clearly already had in place. Jace's pack had been hunting for Drake, and no one had found even a trace of him.
Fear was pressing down upon all of them, and they were becoming increasingly afraid that Grigori had somehow taken him … except that Cash had seen Grigori and Drake fighting when he'd arrived. But by the time he'd stopped the truck and raced over to join the fight, Drake was nowhere in sight, and Grigori was on the run, disappearing into the shadows of the alleys before Cash could reach him. Cash had returned to hunt for Drake, but his scent had literally vanished outside the apartment, the trail ending so suddenly it was as if he'd ceased to exist.
"We've looked everywhere," Cash said, leaning forward and bracing his arms on his quads. His fingers were tangled with Bryn's, just as Jace was doing with Abby. "Drake's gone."
"He can't be gone." Abby focused on Jace tracing circles on the palm of her hand. "Grigori must have done something. He has lairs everywhere. It's just a matter of finding him."
Cash stood up. "He's my best friend. I can't sit here and wait. We have to find him."
Jace watched him steadily, his strong frame relaxed, conveying the message that he had this situation under control. Abby could feel his tension, however, in the rapid lines he was drawing on her palm. He presented complete control and confidence, but the deeply emotional and compassionate man who'd been ready to die to protect others from himself was beneath the surface, hidden from everyone except her. Jace bled silently, inside, and never showed it. But she knew, because he'd let her see it. "Abby has agreed to map out all known locations of Grigori and his pack," he said, rubbing his knuckles over the back of her hand. "We'll check them systematically. I've recalled my pack. They'll arrive tomorrow and we'll divvy up the locations. Abby and I will take some, Cash and Bryn will take a set, and-"
"I'll take a set." Savannah stopped pacing.
Roarke leveled a hard gaze at her. "You can't go in after him, Savannah-"
"I can." She walked over to her brother. "Lucius kidnapped me, but he's dead. I can handle Grigori."
"Grigori's more dangerous," Jace said quietly. "He's extremely intelligent, connected, and ruthless."
She turned toward Jace. "Which is why I'm going to help. How long do you think Drake can survive him? We all know what he's like." She looked at her brother. "Lucius caught me unaware," she said softly. "I didn't know that kind of world existed, and I wasn't prepared for it. I'm ready now. I'm not the same innocent he took. That girl doesn't exist anymore."
Anguish filled Roarke's face. "Damn it, Savannah."
"It's okay, Roarke." She walked over to him and knelt beside him, taking his hand in hers. "If you hadn't saved me, I'd be dead now. You're amazing, but now I have to pay that forward and help Drake."
Abby felt her own heart tighten. She knew what Savannah was saying. She'd also changed forever because of Grigori, seeing things she'd never be able to strip from her mind, and like Savannah, she couldn't stand back and let Grigori hurt anyone else, not if she could stop it. "We don't even know if Grigori has Drake."
"Someone has him," Cash said. "He'd be back with us if he could. If it's not Grigori, it's someone else. I'd know if he were dead. He's not."
"I agree," Jace said. "I'd know if he were dead. He's alive, but somehow, cut off from us."
"That's why I'm helping," Savannah said. "He built a psychic bridge between us. I might be able to sense him."