A Final Touch: The Complete Series, page 16
He plucked up my hand carefully like a broken bird’s wing and turned it around, his assessing gaze darting over my injuries. Lightly, he pressed the skin, and when I winced, he snarled, “Why haven’t you dressed this?”
The question wasn’t for me, but my shoulders hitched up. “I didn’t have time. We landed, I threw up, I saw Lisa’s apartment trashed, and….” I was missing a lot of details. My other fingers were still squeezed around the drug. I opened them, frowning.
The second I revealed them, Jace stiffened from his head to his feet.
Reaching out without a request, he took them from me.
I watched him, sucking my bottom lip in between my teeth and squeezing them tightly. Jace relied on the exact same senses as me. He smelled the drug, then jerked it away from his face. “What is this?”
“Some synthetic drug,” Velos replied.
Jace’s nostrils squeezed in and out. “With a tinge of something else. It’s got blood in it.”
The Engelos had missed that?
I stood there, blinking, still close to Velos, squeezed into this tiny bathroom between both men. Then my gaze turned back to the bathtub.
Jace noticed too. “Where did the magic come from?”
Shrugging, I said, “The woman who owns this apartment works for my sister. They’re good friends. Her name’s Lisa. And—”
“She must come from a long line of water witches.” Jace turned from me, reluctantly dropping my wrist. Walking over to the bath, he knelt and plunged his arm into it. He went to empty it.
Velos grabbed the Alpha’s shoulder with quick fingers.
For one moment, the air became charged as if both men would fight.
They had a great relationship, though.
Jace quickly calmed down, turned his head up to Velos, and said, “You can’t have this much magic sitting around in a standard vessel. It’ll start to eat through the enamel.”
“True. We need to figure out what’s going on here, though,” Velos said.
“It seems quite clear. This Lisa is a powerful practitioner. She has successfully hidden herself from the Magical Registry Board.”
I shook my head. “No. She barely has any magic.”
“This entire apartment reeks of magic. From the clothes to the food to the cupboards to the couch.”
I shook my head again. “I’ve known Lisa my whole life. She wasn’t hiding her magic. She barely had any.”
A hard gaze settled on me as Jace’s bottom lip twitched into a line. “Do you know anyone else who hid their magic their entire life? Your sister. It seems a habit for employees of that firm.”
My cheeks tingled at the allegation…. Was it that much of an allegation? Jace already knew me and my sister had hidden powers. But Lisa…?
Velos didn’t fight Jace again. Soon the bathtub water gurgled out. It revealed the glistening enamel. Crap. It shone too brightly. That minimal contact between the water and the enamel had started to strip it.
“Thank you for your assistance, Engelos. I’ll take things from here,” Jace said. He meant that quite literally. He grabbed the drugs, pulled me around, and pushed me through the door.
“Do you really need to drag me around like a dog?” I grunted, fatigue catching up to me again. And plain anger.
I hadn’t done anything wrong. Jace was treating me like I’d broken our deal.
… Though we hadn’t signed that contract yet. Maybe the Alpha would drag me back to the compound and force me to sign it now.
I doubted that. From experience, he’d bundle me up into his car, race to the closest clinic, and fix up my wrist.
Then he’d get that drug tested.
“And what is wrong with being treated like a dog?” he asked like that was a genuine question.
“You pull me around, tugging me everywhere like I’m on a leash.”
“I keep you by my side to keep you safe. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but today has had a certain pattern. Every time you leave my side for more than a second, Serena, you wind up in the trouble of your life.”
Chapter 14
I was back at the compound, though my mind spun. Technically I was lying in bed, spread-eagled, the soft covers tucked up underneath my chin. Sleep should come. It was the furthest thing from my mind. Instead my thoughts spun through everything I’d learned. Everything I’d failed to do.
Slapping a hand on my forehead, I sighed. “Lisa, you better be okay. You weren’t… actually hiding your magic, were you?”
That changed things. Maybe my sister’s attackers hadn’t gone after Lisa because of Karen’s secret.
But in that case, how did they find out about Lisa’s powers?
“Stop thinking about this. Fall asleep. Otherwise tomorrow will be miserable,” I sighed.
Soon enough I groaned, thrusting the covers up and getting out of bed. Yanking on a dressing gown and pushing my feet into comfy slippers, I walked into the main room.
My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten anything since throwing up. With another rumble, I decided this was unacceptable.
“Okay,” I said, slapping a hand on my stomach. But I frowned over at the kitchenette. The fridge was still empty. Jace had muttered something about me picking food and someone delivering it. But with nothing here yet, I frowned and looked over at the main door.
I’m sure Jace wouldn’t like me walking around at night. But I needed to eat.
Sighing and feeling like a criminal, I strode over quietly, inched the door open, and walked into the corridor. Which room belonged to Jace? His office was right at the end of the corridor. But where did he sleep?
“Stop thinking about that,” I mouthed to myself, knowing the thought might dovetail into what the big werewolf slept on, in, and with.
“You know the last answer,” I mouthed again.
Before I’d rolled over and tried to sleep, I stupidly looked up the Virginia on my phone. She was hotter than I remembered, every inch of her perfect. That made her perfect for the Alpha, right?
Who knew? If I’d learned one thing today other than my glaring incompetency, it was that Jace was way more complex than he seemed.
I inched downstairs. It was pretty quiet, but I imagined there were guards outside.
Liking the fact everything was dead quiet and still, I walked into the kitchen. I only flicked on one light and strode straight to the fridge. Quickly, I grabbed some eggs, cheese, milk, and other ingredients for an omelet.
I could’ve left it at that, but I wanted a tangy vinegary salad, too. With every possible ingredient on standby, I soon filled my arms.
Dumping everything on the stainless-steel bench beside the cooker, I found a knife and started making myself my first square meal of the day. Or early morning. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 2 AM. Not a great time for a feast. But whatever. When your life is going to hell, get your kicks when you can.
It was just when I finished plating up that a creak echoed behind me. I snatched up a heavy-based cast iron pan I was washing and spun, water flicking everywhere.
Jace stood behind me, shirtless, a bottle of water in hand, a towel slung over one shoulder.
He’d been working out.
My jaw dropped open as my gaze darted down his perfect figure.
No. Not perfect. He had a bulge above his right hip. It was a knot of thick scar tissue, suggesting he’d once received a serious injury there. Other scars covered his chest, including a big one close to his heart.
I stared at them for way too long.
“It’s a map,” he muttered.
“A map? I thought it was just washboard abs—”
Nope. I was too tired and hungry to speak normally. Sucking my lips in, I muttered, “Sorry. I know it’s wrong to sneak into the kitchen like this, but I was so hungry. I’ve done nothing but throw up all day.”
He pointed at the clock. “It’s a new day.”
… So it was.
My shoulders sank, but not as far as they could. A delicious meal awaited me.
Jace sat on one of the stools. He watched me in that way that simultaneously made my skin all hot and tacky with sweat, but that somehow felt natural.
Blame it on my sleep-starved brain.
At least I’d do something about my rumbling stomach presently.
I went to pull the omelet toward me. Made with three eggs, it was big enough to bulge off the plate. The cheesy goodness in the middle had melted all the way through, mixing with the caramelized onions and fresh chives and basil.
I almost took a bite, only to see that the hungry werewolf’s eyes were on me.
This wasn’t the kind of look he’d shoot Virginia.
Squeezing my bottom lip between my teeth, I pushed the plate toward him. “Have some.”
“Just a bite.” He picked up my own fork, cut off a bit on the corner, and quickly placed it in his mouth.
With wide eyes, I watched him intently. It felt like he was a restaurant reviewer and my entire life would come down to his single opinion.
But the damn werewolf was so unreadable.
He put the fork down silently.
And just like that, he popped my ego. Here I was thinking I was a good chef.
Uncapping his water, he downed it. “Are you gonna eat all of that?”
I had to swallow a grin. “Wait, you’re hungry?”
“Constantly.”
He shifted, and his eyes darted down to my robe. I glimpsed it, too, to see my pajama top was unbuttoned beneath. It showed a remarkable amount of cleavage, something only possible when you’re as plump as me.
All this talk of constant hunger and that sharp gaze made me go bright pink. Then I immediately slipped off my stool. “How about you eat that one and I make my own?”
He didn’t fight me. Immediately he pulled over the omelet and started to devour it, the salad too.
With my back to him, I got to hide the enormous grin that seized my lips. An Alpha – one of the most powerful in the country – liked my food. Yippee.
… I could of course do nothing with that. It couldn’t save my sister. But at least it felt weirdly good at 2 AM in the morning.
Quickly, I doubled the recipe, knowing the Alpha was still ravenous.
When I set my plate down, I gave him half.
He polished it off so quickly, he was appropriately like a wolf to a carcass. But at least he enjoyed his food when he ate. I could see it in his jaw and focused eyes.
Unusually for me, I ate like a bird, even bothering to hold my fork and knife properly. “Sorry, I think there’s too much vinegar in the salad.”
“It’s perfect,” he grunted, not wanting to waste his mouth on conversation when it should be chewing the delectable dish.
We dropped into an easy silence. One I’d never imagined possible with freaking Jace.
If only my sister could see me now….
I got halfway through the omelet, and things caught up to me again.
Even before my shoulders sagged, Jace straightened. “Don’t worry. The drug will be analyzed by the morning. I think it’s an important clue.”
“You do?”
“That secretary was seriously powerful.”
“I never had any inkling she was magical.”
“Do you think your sister hid her?”
That question floored me.
When I sat there just blinking, he quickly concluded that was a no. “Your sister had success in hiding you and herself. And you would’ve been a hard one to keep from people. That means Karen was good at her job.”
I didn’t know if I should be defensive. This was the rules-obsessed Alpha, but his tone didn’t suggest he was attacking Karen.
I shrugged. “There’s no one as meticulous as my sister. She knows all the laws. She works widely with a lot of different people, too. And she was constantly coming up with different ways to perfect my seals. And if anything ever happened, she’d always deal with it.”
“What if she offered those services to others?”
My jaw practically slid off my face. “Services….”
“Think about it. Someone with skills like that could easily keep other practitioners hidden.”
“I guess you’re right… but—”
“I’m not accusing her of anything,” he said.
Not yet. There was a strong familial reason for Karen to keep me safe. But if she’d done the same thing for others, the government would most definitely go after her.
… That’s if they got her back alive.
“She hasn’t technically committed much of a crime yet,” he tried.
“Something tells me you wouldn’t have said it in those terms this morning.”
“Sorry?”
Dammit, blame it on the fatigue, but I’d said that with a harsh tone. It sounded like an accusation.
Sinking a little on my stool, I crossed my arms and leaned against the bench, not really thinking about the angle. My tired muscles were struggling to prop me up, and I needed the hard edge of the bench to help me. Half closing my eyes, I watched Jace’s gaze slide right down to my cleavage once more. Fair. I was practically serving it up like more supper.
I resisted the urge to clear my throat properly and straighten. Instead, I flopped backward, kind of shimmying my robe around until it closed off properly. Then I immediately snapped back to the most important point. “Say for a second, my sister was protecting other practitioners. That would’ve made her the perfect target, right?”
I’d already told Jace all about what happened on the roof. He hadn’t fought me on it this time. That vampire had told me I’d been sold. Which meant out there, some crooked practitioner had bought my powers.
I was incredibly unique. But Karen was seriously useful as a magical mediator. And if Lisa was a hidden, strong water elemental, she’d be just as valuable.
“Tomorrow, we start investigating your sister’s old firm. Every employee,” he said.
I winced. “They’re all as good as gold, I swear.”
“People act for different reasons.”
“Kind of an opaque statement.”
“Someone can be your friend one day, only for something to happen.” It sounded like a life lesson.
But did I really need it? In a city as big and apparently twisted as this one, folks could change their minds all the time. Someone could be your best buddy only to fall on hard times and start working with criminals.
“There’s something you need to understand,” he began.
The tone got to me, reminding me of those two witches from the function. “Are you about to pull the wool from my eyes and warn me that Mythos isn’t as good as it seems? Are you going to tell me that this city is run on magic, power, and money? Will you say that everyone who ever pretended to be my friend was likely trying to find out my secret?”
“Part of that equation is right. While there are still good people in the city, there is a lot of money. And there is a lot of magic. For whatever reason, many ancestral families choose to live here, too. They all protect their own.”
I could of course level this at him. There was nobody quite as loyal as a shifter pack. Instead I held his gaze and sighed. Shoving my fingers through my hair, he watched me as I stood up and made it fall in front of my eyes. It was hardly the most attractive thing. Sometimes it helped me think.
It also made it easier to watch him out from behind my crinkled fringe. “Jace, do you honestly think I’m going to survive this mess?” The 2 AM blues slipped through, and I muttered that in a moment of weakness.
The wolf took it as a challenge and slid right off his stool. “Yes. Come with me.”
“Huh? I was kind of hoping to roll into bed. I have,” I looked at the clock, “less than two hours to get some sleep before you wake up at four. Speaking of which, why are you working out at 2 AM in the morning?”
“To prove something.”
“Are you going after some kind of streak or something?”
“I failed today. I can’t fail like that again. I must prove I’m still strong.”
It was so direct. And it had its own internal logic. But a sad one.
I slipped into step behind him, but this time I looked at that incredible chiseled back differently. The scars sat so prominently, I almost couldn’t see the perfectly crafted muscles beneath. Because each one of them cost Jace something. He wasn’t doing this to look good. He couldn’t fail.
We walked right through the building into a wing I hadn’t visited yet.
Sweat filled the air, wolf pheromones thick like tar, none more so than Jace’s. My nostrils flared, and I thought I hid it, but he turned on his foot. He walked backward several steps, looking me up and down.
I should’ve shrunk back from the direct attention, but instead my knees pressed together slightly, and I met his gaze. “You caught me sniffing you, didn’t you? Kinda gross. I’m sorry. I don’t really know what’s happening with me. The first thing I did in Lisa’s house was start sniffing her things.”
“What can you tell about the smell?”
“You were the last person to exercise here. You must’ve gone hard, because your scent is everywhere.”
“Which room?” he challenged.
Dragging my bottom lip lightly through my teeth, I turned.
It took a few seconds. Then I pointed to the room two doors behind him.
A quick grin flicked across his lips. “You’re good.”
That was the longest smile he’d ever given. I almost wanted to bottle it.
I’d have to be quick. Because Jace wanted to train.
Stomach knotting, I realized he was serious as he opened the same door I’d pointed at. Creaking hinges led to a wide, well-equipped training area. Blue crash mats covered the floor, and along the walls were an array of different weapons. Though they weren’t nearly as lethal as those in the armory, there were plenty of things to train with, including katana swords. One lay on the crash mat, presumably after Jace’s previous training session.
Walking over and kicking off his shoes, he placed it back on the wall. Then he turned swiftly. I suppose that’s when he realized I was wearing nothing but a dressing gown and pajamas. The top of which had become completely unbuttoned.
Entirely self-conscious, I tucked my ties tighter around my hips, then sucked my bottom lip in. “Ah… I don’t suppose you’ve got any sports clothes down here?”
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