“Do both courts have magic?”
“From what I’ve been able to gather, only the kings of these courts and their direct lines can wield magic.”
“So, it had to be one of them, right?”
Rocky shrugged. “I’m just guessing here, but that’s what I think, although why the Fey would be interested in Sam and Sarah, I have no clue.”
“Sam is special, you know that.” Jesse couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want Sam.
“Jesse, the courts are at war right now, so it could have been either one of them.”
“Why are they at war?”
“I haven’t been able to figure that part out. But I’m pretty sure the Lycan are involved somehow. It’s the only reason I can think of that they might take Sam and Sarah.”
Jesse thought about that for a moment and then shook his head. “No, Sam isn’t Lycan, and only the people here on the ranch know that Sarah is. It has to be something else.”
“Your father knows about Sarah, and Desmond Kent knows about Sam.”
“But they are not Fey.”
Rocky spread his hands wide in front of him. “And I can’t explain that. I just think it’s too much of a coincidence that Sam and Sarah were both taken by someone that might be Fey and that the only two people besides us that knew about them are both trying to kill Sam.”
A cold knot formed in Jesse’s stomach. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Jesse was at a loss. He didn’t have a clue what to do. His breath seemed to solidify in his throat as he realized he might never get Sam back. He was fighting something he had no idea how to fight.
Jesse went to rub his hands over his face until he felt cold metal touch his face. He opened his palm and stared down at the golden looped earring. Having only one earring out of a set suddenly seemed poignant, like two pieces of the same whole separated, like him and Sam.
“What is that?”
“Huh?” Jesse ripped his eyes away from the small earring and stared up at Rocky.
“What is that?” Rocky pointed to the earring Jesse was holding.
Jesse held out his hand, showing Rocky the earring. “This is what my father was looking for. It was hidden in a small black box in my mother’s room. I took it from him while we were fighting the night Sam got taken.”
“It was your mother’s?”
Jesse shrugged. “I guess. It was in her room.”
“May I see it?”
Jesse stared at the earring for a moment then at the hand Rocky held out. His hand shook a little as he reluctantly handed the earring over. For some odd reason, the single earring had become something more than just a piece of curved gold to him and Jesse could barely stand to part with it. Maybe he was becoming as obsessed with it as his father.
“This is very unusual gold, Jesse,” Rocky said as he held the earring up to the light. “Do you know where your mother got it?”
“No.”
“It seems to be twenty-four-karat gold but it’s stronger than that. Normal twenty-four-karat gold is pretty malleable. This isn’t. It’s strong.”
“Is that significant?”
“I don’t know.”
Jesse snatched the little gold piece back the moment Rocky held it out to him. He struggled to hide his confusion at the instant relief he felt the moment the cold metal touched his skin. He was hesitant to share his obsession with Rocky, but he was afraid of what would happen to him if he didn’t. He didn’t want to end up like his father.
“Rocky, there’s something about this earring”—Jesse licked his suddenly dry lips—“something dangerous.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father was obsessed with finding this earring, and I’m afraid I’m becoming just like him. It’s almost painful to be separated from it.”
Rocky’s eyebrows shot up. “Painful how?”
“I’d rather rip your throat out than let you have it.”
Rocky whistled low under his breath. “That is painful.”
“I’m afraid of what it is doing to me, Rocky.”
“What exactly is it doing to you?”
“I can’t let go of it.”
Rocky stared intently for a moment then shrugged. “So don’t.”
“What?”
“If it means that much to you, don’t let go of it. Hell, put the damn thing in your ear if it means that much to you.”
“Rocky—”
“Look.” Rocky planted his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “It’s not affecting your judgment, Jesse. You haven’t made any decisions that you wouldn’t normally make. If anything, it seems to be making you clearer.”
Jesse frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been pretty much single-minded in your pursuit to find Sam.”
“He’s my mate,” Jesse snapped.
Rocky quickly held up his hand. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, Jesse. You’ve made some changes around the ranch that were a long time in coming, good changes. You may have made those changes for Sam, but you still made them and they will benefit us all.”
Jesse was confused as hell. “What are you talking about, Rocky?”
“This pack was too isolated, Jesse. We both know it. And while isolation does have its good points, it’s kept us from knowing anything about the outside world. Hell, until yesterday, I didn’t even know Fey existed. If we had been less isolated, we might have been able to prevent this attack.”
“I’m still trying to figure out what all of this has to do with my obsession with the damn earring, Rocky.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do. You’re one of my pack.” Jesse wouldn’t allow anyone in his pack that he didn’t trust. And while Rocky might not be one of his brothers, he still trusted the man just as much as he would if the man had been born into the McCaffrey family.
“Then put the damn earring in your ear.”
Jesse blinked, totally unprepared for Rocky’s words.
Rocky turned and started pacing, rubbing his hands down his face before turning to face Jesse. He planted his hands on his hips and drew in a deep breath. “Look, this is going to sound totally insane, Jesse, but I think the reason you’re so obsessed with that earring is because it’s a link to Sam.”
Jesse’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious?”
“I’m perfectly serious, Jesse. Your father had quite the extensive collection in the library. I’ve spent a lot of time in there over the last two months doing research, trying to find out what happened to Sam and Sarah. In one of the books I found, I read something about how the Fey jump from place to place using items that have been sealed in magic.”
Jesse curled his fingers around the hard metal and leaned forward in his chair. His heart was thundering in his chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. “Like this earring?”
Rocky’s hand was a little unsteady as he pointed to the earring Jesse still held. “I’m not saying that earring is one of the items that I read about, but if it is, it might be a way for you to find Sam.”
“How?”
“Like I said, put the damn thing in your ear. If what I read is right, it needs the blood of a Fey for it to be able to work.”
“But I’m not Fey,” Jesse insisted.
“Are you positive?” Rocky pulled the chair in front of Jesse’s desk back enough for him to sit down and then scooted it forward until he could rest his elbows on the desk top. “I’ve been trying to figure out why your father was so obsessed with that earring, and I think it has something to do with your mother.”
Jesse felt his eyebrows move up his forehead so fast he was surprised they didn’t slide right off his head. “My mother?”
Rocky started going through the small pile of books and papers he had brought into the office with him. He pulled out an old, faded red, leather-bound book and opened it up on the desk. After flipping through several pages, he turned the book and pointed to one of the pages.
“I found this book hidden behind several others on the very top shelf in the library. I think it was written by your mother. It talks about tensions between the courts. Your mother was a pawn. She was chosen by her father, the king, to be the mate to the heir of the Light Court. It was supposed to bring the two courts together.”
“But she mated my father.”
“Just like Lycan, the Fey do not have chosen mates. They are able to mate whoever they choose, but once they are mated, it is for life. I believe that your mother didn’t want to be a pawn, and she ran away, finding your father and mating with him instead.”
Jesse set the earring down and pulled the book closer and then started to read the words someone had written in what was obviously a journal of some sort. He didn’t recognize the handwriting but that wasn’t unusual. He had no idea what his mother’s handwriting would look like. But what he read both intrigued him and scared the daylights out of him.
“If you’re correct, and this is my mother’s journal, then she was Fey.”
“Dark Court Fey.”
“My mother was a vampire?” Jesse just couldn’t wrap his mind around that. Granted, he had been pretty young when his mother died, but he remembered her as one of the sweetest people he had ever met. She wasn’t a bloodthirsty vampire. “You have to be wrong, Rocky. There has to be some other explanation. My mother was not a vampire.”
Rocky stood up and leaned over the desk, reaching for the book. He swung it around and started flipping through the pages, moving back toward the beginning of the journal. “Here, read this. I think it explains more about your mother and why she ran away from the Dark Court.”
Jesse frowned and turned the book back around. Tears prickled his eyes as he read…
“Mother told me to run. She’s provided me with enough money that I should be able to hide in the human world for quite some time. It’s the only way. If Father has his way, I’ll turn into what he is once I am mated. I’d rather die.”
“Fuck,” Jesse whispered. He rubbed at his eyes for a moment then looked at Rocky. “How much of this have you read?”
“I was trying to find out as much as I could, so I just kind of skimmed through it.”
“I never knew about any of this,” Jesse said as he bent his head to read some more.
“Today is the day. I’m leaving. Mother has arranged for someone to meet me just beyond our borders. I just have to make it that far. I don’t know when I’ll be back or even if I will. Father has been relentless in his quest for vengeance against the Light Court. He won’t forgive them for Girge’s death even though it happened in battle. I can’t take it anymore. He’s going to destroy us all and I can’t, I won’t, be a part of it.”
Jesse didn’t know what to think about what he was reading as he glanced up at Rocky. “How do you think she met my father?”
Rocky shrugged. “I haven’t read that part yet.”
“So, what does all of this have to do with the earring?”
“If this really is your mother’s journal and she was Fey, you can use the earring to find Sam. All it needs is a drop of Fey blood, and you can wish yourself anywhere.”
Jesse picked up the earring and twisted it around between his fingers. He was almost afraid to believe that it might work, and he was terrified that it wouldn’t. “Call the others,” Jesse said. “Whoever took Sam and Sarah had four armed men with him. I’m hoping that means I can take people with me. If this works, I’m going to need backup.”
Rocky nodded and jumped to his feet, running to the door to call the others. Jesse curled his fingers around the earring and hoped with everything in him that this wasn’t some fantasy someone cooked up in a book.
“What’s up?” Nate asked as he walked into the office with Gabe, and Jake. They all looked confused, and just a bit alarmed.
“We think we may have found a way to locate Sam and Sarah,” Jesse said. “But it’s going to take a huge leap of faith from all of you.”
“Whatever you need, Jesse. You know that.”
Gabe and Jake nodded their concurrence. If Jesse had been the mushy type, he would have hugged his brothers. He held up the earring and gave his brothers the quick rendition of what he and Rocky had been discussing. They could delve into their mother’s past later.
“If this works like I’m hoping it will,” Jesse said, “it should take us right to wherever Sam is being held.”
“I think we all need to be touching or something,” Rocky added as he met the gaze of each of the brothers. “And we don’t know what we’re headed into so be prepared for anything.”
“Does this mean we’re part Dark Fey also?” Jake asked.
“It’s looking that way, little brother.”
“Will we need to drink blood?” Jake looked a little green around the edges at that thought. Jesse couldn’t blame him. The notion of having to drink blood for the rest of his life made his stomach a little queasy, too.
“I don’t know, Jake,” Jesse said. “I’ve been mated to Sam for two months now, and I haven’t felt the need to drink blood once. Maybe our Lycan genes counteract it.”
“And maybe it’s all of the rare meat you eat,” Rocky said.
Jesse cocked his head to one side. “What do you mean?”
“Face it, every damn last one of you eats your meat so rare it practically moos. Maybe because you are only half Fey, you get enough blood that way.” Rocky shrugged. “It’s just a thought.”