Adamant Spirits, page 195
Her gaze locks on mine, and she smiles. A wave of calm washes over me as I return the gesture.
“Hey, where’d you go?”
Jack’s words pull me back to the present, and I look up at him. “I was looking at—” I start to describe the woman to him, but when I look back at the space she’d occupied only seconds ago, she’s gone.
“You okay?” Jack’s brows draw together in a tight line.
“I’m fine. Promise.”
He spins me before pulling me back against him. “Good.”
It feels like only seconds pass before the music begins to fade. Jack grips my hand once more and pulls me over toward the back of the crowd gathering. A firebird explodes above us in a synchronized show of impressive color, and my heart beats against my ribs as the seconds tick by.
This is it. This is the finale.
“Now’s the time, Willa,” he whispers in my ear. “Give me a name.”
We step up next to a petite blonde who glances up to me with bright blue eyes. Her purple gown is mesmerizing, and I wish like hell I’d had a say in mine. Because I promise you it would not have been this red and black pack wedding dress.
“Did you enjoy your evening?” I ask when her gaze meets mine.
“It wasn’t a disaster,” she replies with a grin. “I’d ask if you enjoyed yours, but judging by the man-candy standing next to you, I’d say I have my answer.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, and I nod. “I’m Willa. This is Jack.”
“Liv. Nice to meet you guys.”
The woman refocuses on the crowd as if she’s searching for someone, so I turn my gaze up to Jack as the siren from the band announces, “We hope you’ve all found love even if only for a little while. If you haven’t yet come up to the roof, please do so now for the grand finale.”
“I need a name, Willa, or a location, something,” Jack pleads.
“Phillip Draco,” I tell him. “I’m being held on the Draco estate.”
Jack grips my hand as the band begins to play a haunting melody. He buries the fingers of his free hand in my hair, pulling me toward him and taking my mouth in a fiery kiss that breathes life into me and makes me believe—if only for a minute—that he will find and rescue me.
That maybe, just maybe, there’s a happily ever after waiting for me.
More fireworks explode around us as Jack kisses me, and soon, he’s all I can feel, taste, hear.
The thundering of my heart surpasses all other noise, and when I open my eyes, I gasp, jumping back from him.
“What is it? Willa—” Jack’s blue eyes widen as he turns in a circle, studying the alleyway we’re currently standing in.
“How did we get here?” I mimic his movement. “And where is here?”
When I turn back to Jack, he’s grinning wildly. “We’re home. My home. Willa, you’re here. You’re here!” He closes the distance between us, wrapping his arms around me and spinning us both.
“I didn’t—I’m not—I don’t have to go back?” I almost can’t believe it. Like it’s some sort of dream or trick my brain is playing on me. Perhaps I’m so traumatized at the idea of being forced back to the Dracos that I’ve created some sort of illusion for myself.
Even as I think it, I dismiss it. This feels real. Jack feels real. And what I feel for him? That’s as real as it gets.
“No, you don’t ever have to go back.” Jack sets me down and cups my cheek, kissing me deeply.
I bury my hands in his hair and kiss him right back. Excitement at my freedom is so potent, my legs feel like jelly.
“Uh-hum.” The sound of someone clearing their throat has me pulling back, and I turn to face a handsome man with dark skin, wearing an amused grin in the early dawn.
“Hey, Tyrone,” Jack greets.
“Jack. I see you put that suit to good use.”
Jack grins down at me. “Willa, this is my best friend and the man who owns this bar.” He gestures to the building beside us. “Tyrone, this is Willa.”
“Willa.” Tyrone reaches out to shake my hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
He releases my hand. “Need me to reopen for ya? I’m happy to get you two a drink.”
“Nah,” Jack says, threading his fingers through mine. “I have other plans.”
Tyrone laughs. “Well, in that case, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. See you later. Or in a few days.”
“See you.” Jack pulls me down the alley toward a silver sedan parked on the street. After hitting the button on his keypad, he unlocks the passenger side and opens the door for me. When I’m safely hidden from his view, I pinch the skin of my arm just to be sure I’m not dreaming.
“I’m assuming I can take you back to my place?” he asks as soon as he’s behind the wheel.
I answer without hesitation, “Yes, please do.”
The drive passes quickly, and soon Jack is opening my door again and tugging me toward concrete stairs. We climb up two floors and stop in front of the first door near the stairs. He opens it and pulls me inside.
It’s small but organized with maps pinned to one wall. Some are decorated with red flags, and others have white ones. He’s tracking something or someone, which, I suppose, makes sense since he’s a Hunter. “What are all these?”
“I’ve been looking for answers.” His presence is warm as he steps beside me.
“To what?”
“Someone killed a friend of mine two years ago,” he says. “I was in love with her.” His admission has me looking up at him, but he’s staring at the map. Reaching down, I thread my fingers through his.
“How did she die?”
“Shifters.”
Jaw tight, I nod. “Was she another Hunter?”
“Yes. One of the last in this area.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s one of the reasons I went tonight,” he tells me. “To try to find answers.”
“I’ll help you if I can.”
“You would do that?” he asks, and I nod, meeting his gaze.
“I will. If I can help bring you closure, it’s not even a question for me.”
“But they’re your kind.”
“I told you, Jack. I want a normal life. I’ve never taken a human life nor do I condone those who do.”
“But she wasn’t a shifter.”
“No, but she mattered to you, and you matter to me.”
I turn to face him. He’s watching me with complete intensity that should terrify me, given his heritage and my own. After all, we’re natural-born enemies. Our ancestors have been fighting and slaughtering each other since the beginning of time. But I’m not afraid of what he could do to me.
No, what terrifies me is what could happen to him now that we’re together.
“The Dracos won’t stop looking for me,” I blurt out. “And they have people everywhere, Jack. They could kill you.”
He shrugs and steps away to strip off his jacket, tossing it onto the back of his couch. “Other Shifters have tried for decades to take me out. No one has succeeded yet.” He removes his cufflinks next, setting them on the kitchen island.
“Jack, this is serious. If anyone spots us together—” I trail off, my throat constricting with fear and emotion.
He moves toward me and runs both hands up over my arms. “Let them come, Willa. I’ll fight until my last breath to keep you. I swear it.”
Jack leans down, resting his forehead against mine.
“So will I,” I choke out. “No matter what comes our way.”
“No matter what comes our way,” he repeats. “Now, what do you want to do first?”
“Find my father, and then figure out how to get this shift block removed.”
“Then, we’ll start with both those things. First thing tomorrow.”
“First thing tomorrow,” I repeat as I reach up and cup his cheek. Jack’s impossibly blue eyes close as he leans into my touch. “I’ll never let go, Jack,” I whisper, a smile on my face as he opens his eyes and grins down at me.
“Don’t think I’m ever living that one down.”
“Not a damn chance.”
Willa
“Willa, get up.”
I wake to Jack’s voice as he gently shakes me awake.
“What is it?” I ask as I sit up. My eyes take just a moment to adjust to the dark, but soon I’m able to see him completely. The concern written plainly on his face erases my exhaustion. “What time is it?”
“Nearly midnight.”
“We slept all day?”
He nods. “We have company,” he whispers and gets off the bed, holding a silver short sword in one hand as he walks to the bedroom door. “They’re still outside for now,” he says.
My blood ices as I get out of bed and shrug into Jack’s t-shirt still lying on the end of the bed. I inhale. Shifter.
“Based on the conversation, they know you’re here.”
“It’s the Dracos,” I reply angrily. “How did they find me?”
Jack crosses the room and runs a hand over my arm. “I won’t let them have you, Willa. I promise.”
I don’t say anything because the only words I have are negative. If the Dracos want me, I doubt there’s a damn thing Jack can do to stop them, and trying to will only get him killed.
“Do you know how to use a gun?” I nod, and he reaches into the drawer of his nightstand, withdrawing a pistol and handing it to me. “It’s loaded, and there’s a round chambered.”
“Got it.”
As soon as the words leave my lips, the door splinters open, and footsteps echo in the small one-bedroom apartment. My heart thunders, slamming into my ribs with such force I’m sure it’s going to break free.
Jack touches my shoulder, guiding me further into his bedroom before releasing me and rushing to the other side of the door. He’s shirtless, so I can see his chest rise and fall in the dim moonlight shining through the window.
Blade in hand, he waits, and soon, the bedroom door splinters.
Jack swings.
A head rolls to the side, and I bite back a scream when someone tackles Jack, slamming him into the wall. He grunts, and I turn, gun aimed, ready for the next person who runs in. Unfortunately for me, it’s neither Human nor Shifter.
“Willa.” Madame Lana clicks her tongue, hand raised.
The gun in my hand begins to shake, and I try to pull the trigger, but my finger is frozen in place as is the rest of my body.
Behind me, Jack grunts again, and someone growls.
Two more Shifter’s run in and pass by me just before Phillip walks in. “This is a shame, Willa.”
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I demand, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“You can’t be serious,” he says. “You belong to me. Do I need to remind you of that yet again?”
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
He looks behind me and growls. “That’s true now that you’ve been soiled by a Hunter.”
“That’s harsh.” Jack steps up beside me, his hand on my lower back.
“Tell me, how did you get out?” Phillip asks, head tilted to the side.
“How did you find me?” I counter.
“I have my ways.”
The gun begins to shake. “I can’t control it,” I warn Jack. “She’s trying to make me turn it.”
“Let her go.”
“No.” Madame Lana waves her hand, and the gun begins to turn. I fight against it, muscles burning as I try to strain against her spell. She groans and stumbles just as the spell breaks and I’m able to drop my hand.
The witch bitch falls to her knees, a dagger sticking out of her eye socket.
Phillip roars and lunges.
Jack shoves me to the side. I fall into the wall, my head impacting with the sheetrock. Pain explodes behind my eyes, and I stumble back to my feet just in time to watch Phillip half-change, his nails extending down to long claws.
He lashes out, and Jack jumps back, but not far enough. The claws dig into the flesh of his abdomen, and I’m sprayed with warm blood.
I growl. My bones begin to pop and move, the animal inside me racing to the surface.
Jack rushes forward, swinging his blade and catching Phillip’s arm with the sharp edge. He roars, an inhuman sound that fills the room with his rage. He lunges for Jack, and I spring forward as my Wolf, slamming him to the ground and pinning him with paws on his shoulders.
“Look at you.” Phillip grins up at me. “Still want her now, Hunter? It’s only a matter of time before she devours you. And if she doesn’t, the Council will.”
“I’m not all that worried,” Jack replies.
Phillip’s eyes begin to glow, and soon, his voice fills my head. “They will hunt you until you’re both dead.”
“Let them come. I’ve had enough of people telling me what I can and can’t do.”
He begins to shift beneath me—the change evidenced by the bones of his face popping out of place and elongating. But before he can fully shift, Jack brings his blade up and slices down.
It slashes through Phillip’s neck, and his head rolls to the side.
I glare down at him, rethinking all the threats, the scare tactics. The way I was trapped for so long, unable to be who I really am. “I only wish I’d killed you sooner,” I think and step away from him.
Jack is staring at me, but the moment I turn toward him, he drops his blade. “I’m not afraid of you, Willa,” he says.
I move toward him, and he doesn’t back away. Instead, he kneels slowly and reaches out to press his palm against my forehead. I shift back, and soon, we’re kneeling in front of each other, both smeared with blood.
Jack reaches for me, wrapping both arms around me as he holds me against his chest. “I’d say your shift block has been removed.”
Glancing over at where Madame Lana lies in a pool of her own blood, I nod. “It broke when you killed her.”
“Then I’d say that’s one thing off our to-do list. Two things really if you count my own personal one which included beheading your ex. Look at us, ahead of schedule.”
I chuckle and lean back. “I can’t believe they’re dead.”
“This mean no one will look for you?”
“Not necessarily. They may still come. Especially if word gets out that we’re—”
“Involved,” he finishes, and I nod.
“They won’t like that.”
“No, they won’t. Guess it’s a good thing I’ve never been one for the rules.”
I beam up at him. “Neither have I. But what are we going to do about this?”
“Home invasion.” He pulls out his phone. “I know someone I can call.”
I glance around the room, my gaze falling on the death surrounding Jack and me. As much as I wish this was the last of it, I know that’s not the truth. He’s a Hunter. Taking down supernaturals who break the Accords is what he does.
And besides that, we’ve only made ourselves targets by being together.
“Hey, Rainey,” Jack says into the phone. “I need your help. Please give me a call when you can.” He levels his gaze on me and reaches forward, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me against him.
“No answer?” I ask when he ends the call.
“Nope.”
“Plan B?”
Someone bangs on the door, and Jack moves me behind him. “Who is it?”
“Henry Draco.”
I stiffen, the blood in my veins turning to ice.
“You can move the hell along, Draco. Unless you plan on meeting the same end as the last assholes who thought they were going to come to take Willa.”
The man clears his throat. “I am not here for Willa,” he says. “But if you’d rather not have to explain the dead in your apartment to the human’s, I suggest you let me in.”
Jack glances back at me. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “He’ll come in anyway, Jack. If he wants in here, a door won’t stop him.”
“She’s not wrong, hunter.”
With a deep breath, Jack steps forward and opens the door.
Henry Draco is a handsome man, distinguished, his salt and pepper hair giving him the look of the elegant millionaire he is. Though as with most shifters, he wears a threat on his sleeve. His grey eyes meet mine, and he steps into the room.
“Willa,” he greets.
“Mr. Draco.”
“I think we’re well past Mr. Draco.” He turns to Jack. “Hunter, where is my son?”
“Bedroom.”
Henry glances into the hall, and Jack shields me, moving me back behind him and putting a good yard between us and the Draco Patriarch.
Men move into the room, wearing solid black and carrying black body bags.
“You’re here to clean-up?” Jack asks. “Why?”
“I’m afraid my son went up against a Hunter, and therefore he chose his own fate. I do not wish to spark a war between us. If Willa chooses to bed one of your kind, that’s her business.”
“I don’t understand. My not wanting to be with Phillip didn’t stop you before.”
He sighs. “No, it didn’t. And don’t mistake my present actions for kindness, Willa. Had you not chosen the side of our enemy, I would have forced you to marry my son. We need our legacy to continue, and now it will not. At least, not until my youngest is of an age he can find a mate.”
The men leave the apartment, each with a body bag slung over their shoulders, and I’m left stunned by the actions of one of the deadliest shifter’s I’ve ever encountered.
As soon as the apartment is empty once again, Henry turns to Jack. “Hunter, I understand you lost someone.”
Jack stiffens. “How do you know that?”
“I prefer to understand my enemies, Mr. Keller.” His tone low, he steps forward and hands Jack a small card. “If you still seek answers to your questions, this is where you need to go.” He turns to me. “You know what you choosing a Hunter will mean for you, Willa. My pack can’t risk losing any more so we will not come for you. But don’t expect the same kindness from anyone else. Hunter or shifter alike.”
And with that, he turns and leaves the apartment, shutting the door softly behind him. “Are you ready for this?” I ask him. “For what all this means?”
