Jace (River Pack Wolves 2)(42)
“I was just wondering,” she said, with a forced lightness, “if you’d had any more luck in finding Agent Smith?”
He shook his head, frowning. “No, but I’ve been thinking about what you said last night, about the Senator and his plans to register shifters. That’s something that can’t happen.”
“It absolutely can happen,” Jace said from the stovetop, where he was almost finished with the eggs. “Politicians are sick bunch—they will happily put people at risk, destroy lives, and ruin businesses, all for a few more votes. And to hold onto their power.”
Piper just stared at Jared because even though Jace misunderstood, she knew exactly what Jared was saying. That it couldn’t happen—meaning that Jared wouldn’t let it happen. She didn’t know what that meant to him, but she could see the cold determination in his eyes.
“Maybe,” she said, carefully, “if we can find the missing shifters, and my brother, Noah, we’ll find something on the Senator as well. Something that will shut him down.”
Jared nodded, still holding her in an intense gaze. “That’s our top priority. Rescuing your brother and the others. We’ll do that first.” Then he turned and strode from the room.
Piper shivered a little in the cold wake he left behind.
Jace didn’t seem to notice, just plated up their eggs and grabbed some juice from the refrigerator. They sat down to eat, and silence fell over them as they scarfed down the food. She was ravenous—strong night of sex tend to do that to her, and doubly so with the emotional tornado she had spun through.
Just as they were finishing up, Jaxson and Olivia flew through the front door, their shoes pounding on the polished wooden floor on their way to the kitchen.
“Oh good, you’re up!” Jaxson gushed. “We’ve got a line on your brother, Piper.”
She jerked up from the table. “You do?”
“My aunt Gwen is so much a better witch than I am,” Olivia said with a grimace. “It’s kind of ridiculous that I even think I can do magic compared to what she does.”
Piper didn’t care about any of that. “Where is he?”
“There’s an abandoned airfield on the outskirts of Seattle.” Jaxson turned to Jace. “Lots of empty hangars. Sound familiar?”
Jace nodded. “Easy access, in and out. No reason for anyone to stop by. Perfect for conducting experiments that no one will ever see. Sounds like the kind of place Agent Smith would hang out.”
“The only problem is the place is huge.” Jaxson shook his head. “We know exactly which hangar they’re in, assuming the coven’s magic is good and has pinpointed the right coordinates, but it’s wide open.”
Jace grimaced. “If I were Agent Smith, I’d have security all around the perimeter. Lots of warning, so no one can get close. Especially since we’ve already crashed his party once.”
“Exactly.” Jaxson hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll go round up some of the pack and get ready to roll. We need to move fast.”
Piper agreed emphatically, she didn’t understand the source of their urgency. “Why?”
Jaxson frowned. “It already took us an hour to get here from downtown. It’ll take at least another hour to reach the airfield. I don’t want them slipping away again.”
Piper nodded quickly, and Jaxson and Olivia hurried out of the room.
Jace turned to her. “You want to go, don’t you?”
Pepper snorted. “Besides the fact that you guys could use my tactical knowledge, I’d like to see you try to stop me.”
Jace grinned and slid his hands up along her shoulders, to her neck, and all the way up to hold her cheeks with just his fingertips. He kissed her lightly. “You know, you turn me on when you talk like that.”
She smirked. “And I wasn’t even trying.”
He kissed her softly again. “I know. That’s the best part.” He pulled back, and a frown settled on his face. “But I actually don’t like the idea of you coming along. I don’t want to see you in any kind of danger. Ever.”
“You’re not going all overprotective alpha on me, are you?” She looked up into his eyes with a saucy stare that dared him to even think about trying to use an alpha command on her.
“Yeah,” he said, softly. “I think maybe I am.”
The look he was giving her was the kind that reached inside her—past all the walls she had carefully built over her entire life to keep everyone out—and stirred the deepest parts of her. She dropped her voice, and said softly in return, “I’ll be careful. I always am.”