Jace’s expression crashed through confusion to absolute rage in a fraction of a second. “Motherfucker!”
I stopped pacing and closed my eyes. “We have to go back in.”
“What? In where?”
“Back in, Jace.” I opened my eyes to see him watching me in conflicting dread and anticipation. “We have to convince Lance Pierce to testify.”
“Wait, you think Lance is just going to give himself up? You think he’ll tell the thunderbirds the truth out of the goodness of his heart?”
I shrugged and resumed pacing. “He might—when he hears they’re gonna kill Kaci. What kind of enforcer would let a thirteen-year-old tabby die for something he did?”
Jace pulled a chair out from the table and sank into it. “The kind who would let thunderbirds decimate an entire Pride for the same reason. A coward.”
Okay, I couldn’t argue with that. “So we’ll make him testify. What other choice do we have?”
“Faythe.” He blinked at me, as if I weren’t making sense. “The birds’ll kill him.”
“I know.” My pacing picked up speed. “I haven’t figured that part out yet. Maybe we can renegotiate. His testimony, in exchange for immunity.”
“Yeah.” Jace rolled his eyes as I stalked past him. “They’ll go for that. You know, since they’re so cooperative and forgiving.” I turned at the wall to cross the room again, but Jace caught the fingers of my right hand and tugged me gently toward him. “Faythe, you don’t want to do this.” He pulled me between his knees and held me with both hands at my waist as I cradled my gored arm. “This isn’t self-defense, and you’re not a killer.”
“This is Kaci-defense. They’re either going to kill Lance or Kaci. Are you really willing to let her die to save the tom who started this whole mess?”
“Of course not.” He ran his hands slowly over my upper arms through my sleeves, careful of my many deep bruises. “But there has to be another way.”
I shook my head and ground my teeth, my squeamish conscience at war with the cold, logical part of me, which understood exactly what had to be done. “There’s no other way. If we don’t come up with proof the thunderbirds can understand and get it back to the nest in the next thirty-four hours, they’re going to kill Kaci. Then they’re going to come after the rest of us.”
I took a deep breath, then stared straight down into his eyes. “The rest of you. They’ll hand me over to Malone, who’ll whore me out to one of your brothers.” His hands fell from my arms and he leaned back in his chair, anger curling his lips at the very thought. “And you know I won’t let that happen. I’ll have to kill every bastard who lays a hand on me, then they’ll have to kill me. So…it’s Lance or us. And keep in mind that he’s guilty, and we haven’t done anything wrong.” To the thunderbirds, anyway.
Jace sighed and opened his mouth, but I went on before he could speak.
“Besides, we don’t know for sure that they’ll kill him. We have another day and a half to figure a way out of that. But regardless, we need Lance.”He crossed his arms over his chest. “And how do you expect us to get him?”
I shrugged. “We go in after him. Tonight. After dark.”
“Faythe, that’s suicide.”
I know. “Only if we get caught.”
He shook his head, unconvinced. “There are only three of us, and even when we get you sewn up, you can’t fight with one arm shredded and the other in a cast.”
“I know.” Unless… Excitement tingled in my fingers and toes—I was suddenly high on possibility. “I think I need a bath. A long, hot bath.”
Jace’s grin was back, and his gaze strayed south of my face. “Now you’re talkin’…”
I hurried into the bathroom and started to unbutton my shirt—until the first movement of my left arm sent fresh pain lancing through it. “Hey, can you give me a hand with my clothes?” Damn it, that didn’t come out right!
Too late… He was in the doorway before I could think of a way to take it back gracefully.
“Jace, I know this is weird, but…”
“It’s not weird, Faythe.” He sat on the side of the tub in front of me and his grin was gone, replaced by a heat in his eyes so intense I caught my breath, smoldering on the inside.
I swallowed and forced the right words out. “I mean…I’m not trying to get your pants off.”
“You don’t have to try.…” His hands rose slowly toward the buttons on my blouse, and his next inhalation was ragged. His gaze followed his fingers as they worked their way down the front of my shirt. His hand brushed my bare stomach, and I held my breath. He eased my shirt off my shoulders and over my cast, then ripped the left sleeve and let the material fall away from my latest injury.
Then he reached for the front clasp of my bra. In spite of my constant pain, my pulse spiked, and his answered.
This isn’t going to work.
“Jace.” I lifted his chin with my casted right hand until his gaze burned into mine and his hands fell away. “It hurts to move my arm and my fingers aren’t working very well. I just need help. That’s it. Okay?”
“Yeah. No problem.” But he shifted uncomfortably, and I glanced down to find a prominent bulge in the front of his jeans.
Uh-oh. “You sure?”
“Okay, maybe a small problem.” He grinned. “But not that small…”
I stifled a frustrated groan. This was neither the time nor the place, no matter how good his hands felt on me. “Jace…”
“I can’t help it.” He shrugged, not the least bit embarrassed, though I could easily have sunk through a hole in the floor. “You’re half-naked.”
“You’ve seen me naked a million times.” My voice went hoarse. Damn it.
“It’s not the same anymore.”
And suddenly I was glad he wasn’t the one getting undressed. Because he was right.
“Okay. Never mind. I can do this myself. I’m sorry.” My cheeks flamed, and I turned, then winced as I reached for the button on my jeans.
“No, wait.” He took a deep breath and pulled me gently toward him by my right elbow, just above my cast. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?” I asked again, and this time he nodded confidently. I had my doubts, but I could pretend if he could. “Okay. Let’s just get this over with.”
“Not what I usually like to hear while I undress a woman…” But he was grinning again, and I exhaled in relief. I could handle a joking Jace.
He unbuttoned my pants with perfunctory speed, and I bit my lip to hold back a groan as he pushed them slowly over my hips, touching me as little as possible. His attempt at chaste assistance was more like a criminal tease.
My jeans pooled at my feet and I stepped out of them, and Jace leaned back with one hand on the faucet. “How hot do you want it?”
I rolled my eyes and indulged a smile, trying to break the tension. “Does nothing you say sound innocent?”
He returned my grin. “Not if I can help it.”
“I need it pretty warm.”
He turned on the water, tested it with one hand, then adjusted the temperature and plugged the drain. “So…what exactly are we doing? I know you’re covered in blood, but I’m assuming this is about more than hygiene?”
“Yeah.” I held up my cast. “We’re soaking this bitch, so we can cut it off.”
“Faythe…”
But I interrupted, wishing it wouldn’t hurt to cross my arms beneath my bra. “I’ll have to Shift to heal this one, anyway.” I held up my throbbing, stinging left arm. “So it only makes sense to heal them both at once, right?” He started to talk again, and again I rushed to cut him off. “And don’t tell me I shouldn’t Shift at all. I’m not staying behind, and you guys need to know I can take care of myself when we go after Lance. Otherwise I’ll be a distraction and a hindrance. I’m doing this, no matter what you say.”
His grin was back. “I was just going to tell you you’re brilliant.”
“I—” I blinked. “You were?”
“Yeah. If I knew how to get the damned thing off, I’d have suggested it before you climbed up the deer stand and nearly got yourself killed.”
“Oh.” Well, that was a pleasant surprise.
“But, you know you’re going to have to Shift several times, right? Like, a dozen or more. And it’ll hurt like hell, assuming it even works on a broken bone.”
He spoke from experience. But if he could handle the pain, so could I. “I know. Let’s get this over with. And hey…you know Marc’s gonna be mad, right?”
Jace shrugged. “He stays pissed at me.”
I laughed. “Yeah, me, too. Help me out.” I turned my back to him and released the front clasp of my bra with my right hand, then let him slide it carefully over both arms. Then I used that same hand to push down first one side, then the other of my black boy shorts until they fell to the floor.
The tub was only a few inches full, but I stepped in, anyway, because that was better than standing there naked while he tried—and failed—not to stare at me.
The hot water felt great on my legs, but I had to scooch down to submerge my cast as the water ran. I set my left arm carefully on the edge of the tub and glanced at Jace as he settled onto the closed toilet seat with one ankle crossed over the opposite knee, guy-style.“How long has Marc been gone?” I swished my cast in the water and wiggled my toes in the flow from the faucet.