Claiming Valeria (27 page)

Valeria’s breath sighed out. To his immense relief, the trembling
gradually lessened. She closed her eyes and withdrew into herself. He sensed the
healing energy start to work and he pushed whatever he could through their fragile
mate bond, even as a part of him exulted. The bond was
there
. Connecting
the two of them.

He vowed it would never again shut down from his side.

When Cleia removed her hands, Valeria exhaled audibly and opened
her eyes. Rui sent up a prayer of thanks. Her pupils were still dilated, but the
trembling had ceased and he could sense that she was through the worst of it.

He gently squeezed her hand. “How do you feel?”

“Better.”

Cleia sat back on her heels. “I wish I could do more, but I suspect
you’ll feel the effects for several more hours.”

“Ah, well. At least I’m free of those
cabrãos
. Thank you,
my lady.” Valeria released his hand to wrap her arms around her bent legs and rested
her head on her knees. Her breath rasped in, then out. In and out.

Rui made a move toward her, but Cleia raised a hand, stopping
him. “Let her be. She’s healing in her own way. Besides, you need healing as well.”

He drew in a breath to object and winced as his bruised ribs
made themselves felt. Still, he was a fada male. “I’m fine.”

Valeria laughed weakly. “Oh, Rui. You look like you’ve been run
over by a truck. Let her help. Please.”

“If you insist—” Right now if Valeria had asked him to stand
on his head, he’d have cheerfully upended himself—especially if it meant hearing
her laugh.

“I do.”

Rui turned to Cleia. “You heard the lady. If it wouldn’t be too
much trouble—”

“Of course not.” The queen set her hands on his chest. “All you
need is another boost of life-energy. Your body will do the rest. You fada are as
tough as old boots.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly and braced himself for a jolt.

It never came. Instead he let out an involuntary sigh as he
was filled with a soothing heat. It was like sunbathing by the river on a perfect
day: golden sunlight, a balmy breeze whispering over his skin, his entire body infused
with a sense of well-being. Time was suspended as he floated for several minutes
in the peaceful, healing warmth, similar to what Branco had done for him after his
last fight, but ten times more powerful.

By the time Cleia removed her hands, his swollen eyelids had
receded, his cuts had scabbed over, and the ache in his ribs had subsided to a manageable
level. He rubbed a palm over his rib cage in wonder.

“Thank you,” he told her. “I feel—damn good.”

“I’m glad.” Cleia hesitated, and then blew out a breath. “I’m
sorry, Rui. For everything. If I’d known I was stealing energy from you and the
clan, I’d never have taken you as my lover—any of you. Please forgive me for what
I did to you and Rock Run.”

He shrugged, conscious of Valeria just a couple of feet away.
It wasn’t easy to admit he’d been weak enough to fall under the sun fae queen’s
spell.

Cleia’s large amber eyes met his, a bit regretful. He read the
message there:
We enjoyed each other, and it was good—but we’ve each found our
true mates. Can’t we be friends?

He nodded slowly. Sure, Cleia had worked her glamour on him,
but he’d set his feet on the path to self-destruction all on his own. He’d gone
to that bar to get fucked. If it hadn’t been Cleia, it would’ve been someone else.

And it certainly wasn’t Valeria’s fault. Yes, he’d been hurt
when she’d recoiled from him—her mate—but she’d merely been a mirror, showing him
what he’d become: a cold-hearted assassin, a man who killed even when he knew damn
well it was wrong.

Are you a bad man?

He hadn’t liked what he’d seen in that mirror, so he’d gone a
little feral. No glamour was powerful enough to keep a man enslaved for a whole
year. He’d stayed because he’d been too ashamed to return to Valeria.

And by the time he’d returned to Rock Run, he’d been too guilt-ridden
to even look at Valeria, much less claim her as his mate. So he’d hurt her, humiliated
her in the worst way a man could a woman.

“You didn’t know what you were doing,” he muttered. “And as for
the rest, it was as much my fault as yours.”

The queen inclined her head, but her eyes were dancing. He suspected
she was laughing at him, but hell, he deserved it. He’d fucked up royally, and he
only hoped Valeria would find it in her to forgive him—and finally accept him as
her mate.

“I’ll leave you three together, then.” Cleia squeezed his hand,
dropped a kiss on Merry’s head and headed across the room to talk to Jace and the
dryad.

Rui turned back to Valeria. “
Are
you all right,
boneca
?”

Her hair was damp. As it dried, her dark curls were springing
to life. He captured one of the unruly locks in his hand, rubbing it between his
thumb and index finger. It was so soft, so silky, yet full of vitality—like her.

His stomach clenched.
Goddess, he’d almost lost her.

If Tiago hadn’t come looking for him, it might have been days
until he’d found her. And Lord knew what that Greek
cabrão
would have done
to her in the meantime.

“
Sim
.” Her voice was scratchy, her pupils huge and dark
as a midnight pool. “Just…edgy. You know.”

His eyes went to the flush of arousal on her soft, full breasts.
“Damn,” he said, “you’re killing me here. But—” He made a gesture that encompassed
Merry and the other three.

“Too bad.” She gave him a wicked smile, and then sobered and
reached for Merry. “I can hold you now, baby.”

Merry shifted into girl. “I’m
not
a baby,” she asserted
as she climbed into Valeria’s lap and wrapped skinny brown arms around her neck.

Valeria met Rui’s gaze, her smile wobbly. His eyes were stinging.
He swiped a hand over them and smiled back, his own lips trembling a little.

“No.” Valeria laid her cheek against Merry’s. “You’re not a baby,
are you? You’re my big girl. And I love you so, so much.”

Heart too full to speak, Rui wrapped his arms around them both.
They were safe. He couldn’t ask for anything more.

Jace felt as if his heart were being chipped out, piece
by jagged piece. It was obvious Merry loved the two river fada and thought of them
as her mom and dad, just as they’d claimed. He hadn’t wanted to believe them. And
even if it were true, she belonged with her own kind.

But Rui and Valeria were whom she ran to when she was frightened.
Not him, Jace.

He wrapped his hand around his quartz and squeezed so hard the
edges bit into his skin.

The dryad crouched down next to him. “You need to know something,”
she said in a low voice. “That other man who was with you, the one with wolf eyes—”

“Hunter?” His lip curled. The other man was conspicuously absent,
having apparently taken off at the first sign of trouble.

“He tried to run away with the little one. She escaped and somehow
ended up in my oak. She said he was going to give her to the bad man.”

His whole body snapped alert. “What do you mean? What bad man?”

“I don’t know. But she was so scared—shaking and crying. She
begged me to hide her, so I took her into my tree. She said this Hunter tried to
give her to the bad man once before, but her daddy saved her.”

“He tried to give her to the bad man once before? When her dad
was still alive?”

“That’s what she said.”

Suddenly it was all too clear. Hunter must have had something
to do with Silver’s death—and maybe even Takira’s, too? Blood pounded in Jace’s
ears. He didn’t realize he was growling lowly until the dryad edged away.

And who the hell was the bad man?
His heart gave a sickening
thump. It had to be a night fae. They’d been in this from the start. What did they
want with Merry?

It didn’t make sense. To the fae, she was a mongrel, with her
mix of shifter, human and night fae genes—and the fae looked down on mixed-bloods.
They didn’t keep coming after them.

The sun fae queen approached Jace, looming over him like a beautiful,
terrible angel. “You see it too, don’t you?” she asked, not unkindly.

He moved a shoulder.

Valeria stood up, his niece wrapped around her like a little
monkey.

He jumped to his feet. “Merry?” He stretched out his hands to
her, but she burst into tears and buried her face in Valeria’s shoulder.

In an instant, do Mar was on his feet, his body between Jace
and the two females. Cleia stepped back, signaling that this was between him and
the river shifters.

Do Mar glared at him, still juiced-up from the mate-duel. Jace
knew it wouldn’t take much for the man to snap his neck as well.

He raised a hand, palm out. “Peace. I didn’t mean to scare her.
I just—”

Do Mar stepped closer, his green eyes tinged a feral gold. “I
could end this right now. Slit your throat and throw you in the bay for the fish.
You’re on Rock Run territory. That makes you fair game—as your alpha damn well knows.”

“Rui?” Valeria laid a hand on his arm. “He’s Merry’s uncle.”

He scowled at her. “Stay out of this.” When she simply raised
a brow, he growled, “Damn it, don’t you understand? If we let him go, he’ll only
try to take her again.”

She edged past him to look at Jace. “Will you?”

He briefly closed his eyes, unable to believe he was doing this.
“No. I—she belongs with you. I’ll make sure Adric understands how it is.”

“But what about the crystal? Doesn’t she need one?”

Jace eyed Merry. He could still win her. It wouldn’t be a lie.
He just didn’t have to tell them the whole truth.

Then she sniffled and buried her head in Valeria’s shoulder,
her naked body a little too thin, and so vulnerable it chipped another piece from
his already hurting heart.

During the Darktime, the alpha—Adric’s uncle—had separated families
as punishment or simply to keep them weak. Jace’s own mother had been sent on a
mission to the other side of the world that had kept her away for years. While she
was gone, his dad had been killed in the near-constant fighting.

Jace was damned if he’d do that to his own niece.

“Here,” he said, somehow pushing the word past the boulder jamming
his throat. He removed his quartz from his neck. Before he could do anything, do
Mar raised a threatening hand, but Valeria caught his arm.

“Let him,” she said.

Jace met the other man’s eyes. “I’m going to break off a piece
of my quartz for her. It will give her what she needs for the next couple of years,
maybe longer. Eventually, she’ll have to find her own, though.”

He waited until do Mar jerked his head in acknowledgment, then
knelt down and slammed the smoky gray-and-purple crystal against the hard stone
floor. A long, icicle-shaped piece broke off. He stifled a groan as pain sliced
through him as well. Splitting your quartz was a little like hacking off a chunk
of yourself. But for Takira’s daughter, it was worth it.

He offered the chunk to Merry. “Here, Christmas girl. Your mama
can make it into a necklace.”

Valeria went to take it, but he closed his fingers. “No. She’s
the only one who should touch her quartz, unless she gives you permission.”

Valeria scrutinized him and then she nodded and set Merry on
her feet. Merry shook her head and pressed her face against Valeria’s stomach.

Valeria touched her shoulder. “Take it,
querida
.”

Merry drew a ragged breath and then slowly turned to face him.
Her grubby hand opened. He set the piece of crystal in her palm and closed her fingers
over it.

“You need to hang it on a cord and wear it around your neck like
I do. Understand?”

She nodded, her big eyes solemn.

To Valeria he said, “It’s okay to drill a hole in the crystal
so you can string a cord through it, but after that, don’t touch it any more than
you need to. The quartz needs to key itself to Merry’s energy patterns. Encourage
her to wear it as much as possible. If she’s like the rest of us, she’ll feel better
when it’s on, anyway.”

He turned back to his niece. “We’re going to need to get together
for lessons, you and me, but for now, just close your eyes and feel the energy.”

She screwed her eyes shut and he couldn’t help smiling at the
intent look on her small face. Then he swallowed painfully. She wasn’t an exact
replica of Takira—she had those fae eyes and that sharp chin—but he’d seen that
very same expression on his sister’s face.

Merry’s eyes flew open. “I feel it,” she said wonderingly. “Like
when Branco touches me.”

“Branco is our senior healer,” explained Valeria.

“Good,” he told Merry. “That’s exactly what you should be feeling.”
He glanced at Valeria. “Someday she’ll find her own quartz crystal, but for now
my energy is similar enough to give her what she needs. And anyway, she and the
crystal have already started the process of attunement. In a few weeks, it will
be more hers than mine.”

“Listen, Mama.” The little girl put the chunk to her ear, then
held it out to Valeria. The gray was shot with a line of silver he’d never seen
before. “Can you hear it?”

Valeria placed her ear to the crystal, then shook her head.
“I’m afraid I can’t, sweetheart. But it’s good that you can.” Straightening up,
she held out her hands to Jace. “Thank you, lieutenant. I want you to know you’ll
always be welcome in my home.”

He gripped her hands, hard. “Thank
you
. For taking such
good care of Merry. Just—love her. Promise me that.”

“I do,” Valeria promised. “So much.” She embraced him, pressing
a kiss to each of his cheeks.

When she stepped back, do Mar surprised him by sticking out his
hand as well. “I don’t know about a Baltimore shifter in the base, but we’ll find
a place for you to meet. The hell with just meeting for lessons. Merry should know
her mother’s brother.”

“Thank you.” He shook the other man’s hand.

Merry was standing in front of him. “Would you like a hug, Uncle
Jace?”

His throat worked. “Yes,” he said. “I’d like that very much,
Christmas girl.”

She grinned and he scooped her into his arms for a hard hug.
When he handed her back to Valeria, his eyes were stinging.

“I’ll explain things to Adric,” he said to do Mar. “He’ll be
in touch to set up a meeting place.”

“That should work.”

Lord Dion had loped back down the stairs in time to hear the
last of this. “She wouldn’t be safe with your clan anyway. Someone was trying to
sell her to the night fae.”

Jace looked around for the dryad, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“The dryad said something like that. I’m afraid it was the man who came with me—Hunter.”

“Hunter?” Do Mar asked. He and his alpha exchanged a look. “He
was the go-between for Tyrus, the night fae who hired us to take out Merry’s father.”

Fuck. Another bastard selling them out to the fae
.
Would the Darktime never end?

“We didn’t know,” Jace said between tight lips. “I’ll inform
Adric. I promise you, Merry will never have to worry about Hunter again. That much
we can do for her.”

Queen Cleia spoke up. “And I’ll handle the night fae. Tyrus has
gone too far if he thinks he can kidnap a child from my mate’s clan.”

Jace glanced at her. She looked calm enough, but he was damn
glad he wasn’t Tyrus.

“Thanks, love.” Dion touched her cheek. “But first, can you take
Valeria and Merry home? The rest of us can take boats or swim it.”

“Of course.”

Cleia had Valeria pick up Merry again, and then, wrapping an
arm around Valeria’s shoulders, muttered a few words in ancient Greek. The air shimmered
and they were gone.

With them gone, Jace headed back upstairs with the river shifters.
The dryad was already back in her the tree.

As the last person left, the oak slid shut behind them with an
audible click that seemed to say, “Good riddance.”

More Rock Run warriors were waiting at the boats. Three of them
escorted Jace to a boat, depositing him just outside Grace Harbor, which was fine
with him. Adric and several soldiers were waiting nearby.

One of the Rock Run men gave Jace a rough shove as he exited
the boat, snarling, “Stay the fuck out of our territory if you know what’s good
for you.”

Jace simply walked away. The man would learn soon enough that
he
would
be back—an invited guest. He’d let the Rock Run alpha explain.

Meanwhile, he had his own alpha to pacify. Adric wouldn’t be
happy he’d left Merry with the Rock Run fada. Jace knew that was partly because
he loved all the young ones, was genuinely saddened that so many had been lost during
the Darktime. But Adric had been just as concerned at the chance Merry might spill
earth shifter secrets. Jace would just have to make sure she didn’t learn the crystal’s
real secret until she was old enough to understand why she couldn’t share it with
anyone, even Valeria.

Meanwhile, Adric would come around. Hell, before a week passed,
he’d probably be calculating the potential of an earth shifter at Rock Run.

Adric was one of his oldest friends, but sometimes Jace almost
hated him.

He blew out a breath and looked down at his quartz. Already it
was reconfiguring itself, making up for the piece he’d shared with Merry. He tapped
the alpha’s icon.

Adric responded immediately. “Jace. Where the hell are you? I
expected you to check in two hours ago.”

“We’ve got another goddamned rat,” was his grim reply.

“Who?” It was a growl.

“Hunter.”