He pressed his lips together, and something passed across his face, an evasiveness that told her that she was wrong. "Partially."
She stiffened. He'd been selected for another reason, a reason he wasn't planning to share. "What haven't you told me, Jace?"
He grimaced. "I was orphaned as a young boy when my parents were killed in a car crash. I was thrown from the car and left to die, but Grigori's father found me and brought me into the pack."
Abby stared at him, shocked by his revelation. "You were in their pack?"
"For six months. The first day I was recovered enough to leave my bed, I was in the woods, testing my leg, when I came across his father training some of the wolves in his pack."
Abby's stomach turned. She'd seen that training. Most wolves didn't survive it. "What happened?"
"I tried to stop him." Jace shrugged. "Grigori's dad kicked my ass, and turned me over to Grigori to kill."
It didn't surprise her at all that Jace had tried to interfere, even when he was a young boy and hopelessly outmatched. "But you're alive." Understanding dawned. "You defeated him, didn't you? And he hates you for it?"
He nodded. "I'd heard the pack had been exterminated, but apparently, I was wrong."
"So, isn't he hunting you, now? You got out of jail. He didn't win." She knew how Grigori worked. The fact that Jace was suffering inside would be worthless to him. He wouldn't stop until Jace was destroyed.
"I've tried to find him, but I can't. I think he's gone underground to develop a new plan." Jace narrowed his eyes. "I'll be ready this time. So will my pack." His eyes darkened. "That day defined who I was. I made it my mission to protect wolves from bastards like Grigori's father. I resolved never to allow my wolf to be like them, and I never have. Until your sister."
She understood now. "That's why he used the song on you, isn't it? He wanted you to become that which you've crusaded against."
"He wanted me to become him." Jace narrowed his eyes. "I won't let him win. No matter what, I will never become like the monster I saw that day."
She knew he spoke the truth. His honor was stamped in every line of his body, in every word he spoke, in the way his fingers curved protectively around hers, offering her all he was to keep her safe. The fear that had been suffocating her dissolved, replaced by a feeling of security. Jace was unlike any other male she'd ever known, and she was safe as long as she was with him. "You're incredible," she said softly.
He grinned. "I used to think so, but I'm a little more realistic now." His smile faded and he brushed his knuckles across her jaw. "It gives me hope that you see me that way. I need that."
She tilted her head into his touch. "Me, too."
For a moment, neither of them said anything. It was just a silent, powerful connection between two people who had seen hell and found their way out, half-broken, but somehow still breathing. In his presence, her fear of Grigori faded, replaced by something new and stronger. They'd both survived so much of Grigori's hell. Why couldn't they win one more time?
Something flashed in Jace's eyes. Pain? Guilt? Empathy? "Did you ever live with him?" he asked quietly, his gaze searching hers. "With Grigori?"
She shrugged with the nonchalance that had become her escape from the bitterness of her past. "Until I was seventeen."
"Seventeen." Jace repeated her answer, his eyes glittering. Anger surged in his face, and for a split second, his eyes shifted to the gray-green of his wolf. She sucked in her breath, but he'd regained control before she could even be sure she'd seen it.
He took her hands, his fingers closing on hers. "I won't let him take you again," he said, his voice like steel. "I swear it."
Tears filled her eyes at his fierce words. She wasn't used to someone standing by her side, offering his protection to her. She was so used to being on her own, learning how to fight, to protect herself for the day when Grigori decided to turn his depravity onto her. "It's not about me," she said. "It's about Seth. If you have to choose between us, get him free, not me. I promised my sister."
Jace slipped his hand through her hair, tangling his fingers in the locks that hung over her shoulder, his gaze searching hers. "So brave. Willing to sacrifice yourself to protect another," he whispered, his voice almost reverent. "Such honor in you."
She shook her head. "No, I'm just doing what's right. Seth is still innocent. He deserves a chance to live."
"You're not just anything," he interrupted, his voice steely with anger. "Don't let anyone tell you that you are. You're selfless, honorable, and brave, even when you're terrified." His fingers tightened in her hair, and suddenly her breath caught, and she froze. "You're a hell of a woman, Abby."
His gaze went to her mouth, and anticipation raced through her. Was he going to kiss her?
"Jace?" she whispered, swallowing as his gaze darkened. Her heart started to hammer. Why was he looking at her like that?
He lifted his gaze to hers, his eyes stark with desperate longing. She saw in them the depth of suffering in his soul, the gaping chasm that was sucking him down, the absolute self-hate for what he'd done to her sister. He was a drowning man, sucked into a miasma of hell and damnation that Grigori had plunged him into. She'd seen suffering in her life, plenty of it, but never had she felt the depths of pain that was tormenting him.
"Jace." She grasped the front of his jacket, as if she could hold his head above water and keep him from sinking into the quagmire forever. She wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to do whatever it took to save him from his own hell, one that he'd been plunged into because of her song, and her voice.
His fingers tightened in her hair, a grasp that was almost desperate. "There's so little honor left in this world," he whispered, his voice raw and hoarse. "So little beauty. So little to believe in. Until you."
Her heart seemed to stutter in her chest. No one had ever looked at her with such intensity. No one had ever spoken words like that, words so rich with emotion that they seemed to fill the air between them. "Jace-"
A thump from the apartment made them both jump, breaking the moment. Jace spun away from her, shoving her behind him as he faced the door.
There was another thud, and he leapt toward the door, moving with such speed and agility that she thought he'd actually partially shifted as he moved. He reached the door, kicked it open and charged inside, not even hesitating for a split second.
There was a loud crash, a violent snarl, and then silence.
Abby pulled her gun free and pointed it at the door, her heart thundering. She'd lied to Jace when she'd bragged about her gun skills. She was a sharpshooter when it came to inanimate targets, but never once had she managed to put a bullet into a living creature, not even to save her own mother's life. The gun was for show, a facade that would be exposed the moment someone called her on it. "Jace?" she whispered, her voice quivery.
There were no sounds from the room.
Should she call the police? Go into the room? Damn it.
She couldn't risk calling the police. What if something had happened? Neither of them could afford to be tied down by police bureaucracy, especially Jace, who'd just gotten exonerated from murder charges, a result that most of the people in the city didn't agree with.
Slowly, her heart thundering so loudly she could barely hear above the pounding, she edged down the hallway, her shoulder pressed against the wall. "Jace?" she whispered again, knowing that the shifter could hear her easily.
No response.
Crud. What had happened in there?
She reached the doorway, but just pressed herself against the wall, unable to make herself leap into the doorway as Jace had done. She took a deep breath, then peeked around the doorframe into the apartment.
China fragments were shattered on the floor, tinged with blood, but there was no sign of Jace. She gripped the gun more tightly, scanning the one-room apartment. The window above the fire escape was open, just like it had been the day her sister had died, and suddenly her heart seemed to congeal. What had happened to Jace? How could he just disappear like that?
Was this a set up? Had Grigori been waiting for her to come back? Had it all been-
The skin on the back of her neck prickled suddenly, but before she could turn, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she was pulled up against a hard body. "Welcome back, Abigail."