Jace (River Pack Wolves 2)(24)

Noah had been the first to discover her body.

“Oh my God, Piper, I’m so sorry.” Olivia’s voice resonated through the vision like a sonic boom and wiped it away.

Piper’s body was rigid—bound up from the vision—but with Olivia’s words, everything drained from her. The room spun, still blurry at the edges, and she almost went down.

Suddenly, Jace was holding her up, his dark, concerned eyes peering down at her and his strong arms keeping her upright. She allowed herself to sag into him—it was either that or end up on the floor—and as her head thumped against his chest, she said, “Please tell me that worked. I don’t think I can do it again.”

His arms were tight around her, holding her up, but he twisted toward Olivia.

“I’ve got him!” she said triumphantly.





Jace held Piper close—she still seemed woozy from the seeking spell Olivia cast to find her brother, but that wasn’t the only reason he was holding her. She needed him. He felt it deep in his core, and there was no way he was letting go of that… or her. But once Olivia’s claim of having magically found Noah seemed to register, Piper gently pushed him away. She wobbled a little, but managed to stay upright on her own.

“What did you see?” Piper asked Olivia.

Olivia reached for Piper’s hand and squeezed it, but she quickly pulled back and crossed her arms tightly across her chest. She was locking herself in again, walling herself off from anyone and everyone who tried to help her.

“I saw your brother in a hospital,” Olivia said. “It looked more like a military hospital, with guys in fatigues with guns. Noah was lying on a thin cot. There were others too.”

“How many?” Jace asked.

Piper frowned at his question, but he couldn’t figure out why.

“About a dozen I think,” Olivia answered. “It was hard to tell. The windows around the edges of the long ward were dark, and the overhead lights were dim.”

“It was dark outside?” Piper asked. The afternoon light shone brightly out the window of the kitchen. “Are you saying this was a vision of the future? I thought this was a seeking spell.”

Olivia frowned. “I’m not exactly sure what I saw. Maybe the past?” She bit her lip. “But I can tell you exactly where it was.”

“You can?” Jace asked, skeptically. “How does that work?”

Olivia shrugged. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s like a witchy GPS. All I know is, if you give me a map, I can point to the exact location of my vision. I’m sorry, I’m still new at this.”

“It’s better than any lead I’ve had so far.” Piper leaned forward to squeeze Olivia’s hand, then quickly retreated again.

“I’ll pull up a map,” Jaxson said, grabbing a tablet from a nearby kitchen counter and tapping it open. “Jared, gather up a few of our pack and get them ready to head out.”

Jace lifted his chin to catch Jared’s attention. “We won’t know the situation until we get there, but we shouldn’t need more than five or six total. Keep it small.”

Jared nodded his agreement and hustled out of the room.

Jace looked back to Piper. Her pretty face was still pale and grim. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

She didn’t look okay, but his words seem to lift her a little. He didn’t know what happened in the seeking spell, but it shook her. Badly. Whatever it was just reinforced that sense he had that she was fragile right now, whether she wanted to acknowledge that or not. And that she needed his support.

The trick would be getting her to let him.

He smiled at her, putting all the reassurance into it that he could. It seemed to affect her: she ducked her head and braced herself against the table, making it look casual, but he could see the unsteadiness behind it. He didn’t know what it would take to break down those walls—the ones that kept everyone out—but he was surprised by his own determination to find out.

Jerod quickly returned with three pack members in tow, and they all piled into the safehouse van. Daniel came along as well, and of course, Piper insisted on coming. That got a few frowns from the rest of the pack, but he glared them down. Asking her to stay home from the mission would just drive her away—he knew that much. And he suspected she had as much, if not more, experience with this sort of thing than they did. Olivia stayed behind; she’d already helped enough, and Jaxson wouldn’t risk her on a mission, even if they could use her help.

Piper rode in silence, one giant ball of tension. Daniel had a permanent scowl on his face. Jace didn’t know what his take on this was, but he seemed willing to go along and see if they could actually find his brother. When they were nearly there, Daniel checked his phone—his scowl grew even deeper.