“Thank you, child,” Eric said, his voice rumbling into her ear. “Welcome to the family.”
He stood Deni back and studied her, a satisfied look in his eyes. Iona slid past Eric and hugged Deni herself.
“Congratulations, you two.” Iona winked at Deni as she stepped away from her. “Jace is a sweetheart. A keeper.”
Deni smiled her agreement. “I think so.”
“And now Collar-free,” Eric said. “Thank the Goddess.”
Deni understood Eric was thanking the Goddess for more than Jace’s Collar being off. A shudder went through Eric, which Deni recognized as a father’s relief that his cub was safe and whole.
“Jace has a theory about that,” Liam said from where he lounged on a window seat in the living room. He held his black-haired daughter in the curve of his arm, little Katriona watching the adults with interest. “Carry on, lad.”
Jace held up his hand, which bore a red streak. Last night, when they’d returned to the Austin Shiftertown and after Sean and Dylan had gotten Marlo to a hospital—the resilient man was on the mend—Sean and Jace had painfully dug the remnants of the gold chain from Jace’s hand. Andrea had quickly done a healing on him, then Deni had completed the healing in the privacy of the Rowe family’s secret basement.
“Fionn saw the bracelet last night when he was visiting Andrea,” Jace said. “Andrea told me this morning that Fionn told her that this bracelet is made of Fae gold. Passed down through the female line of many generations of Deni’s mother’s family. Shifters used to live in Faerie—why couldn’t one of them have had access to Fae gold?” Jace slid his arm around Deni. “I was holding the bracelet, which Deni gave me as a keepsake, when the plane went down. I went through hell, nearly burned alive. The heat must have melted it into me, where it entered my nervous system or bloodstream, or skin cells, or something. I haven’t figured that part out. But somehow, my Collar loosened and fell away, without hurting me. Though maybe I didn’t notice the pain while my fur was being fried off.”
“The third element,” Sean said. He dangled a Collar from his hand, Jace’s Collar, which Sean had found in the wreckage. “Silver and human technology, fused together by Fae gold. Whether the gold is already in the Collar or only put into it when the Collar goes on the Shifter’s neck, we don’t know yet.”
“Or how to use that knowledge to get the Collars off,” Jace said.
Sean studied Jace’s Collar, which looked remarkably intact for its time in the crucible the plane had become. “Maybe a syringe of the liquid gold carefully injected into the Shifter will loosen it? Or simply rubbed on the skin? Will be tricky, this, since Fae gold’s pretty hard to find, according to Fionn. Fionn says he’ll help us, but even he says it’s very rare.”
“He claims he has it in the walls in his house,” Jace said. “Tell him to dig it out for us.”
“He explained that to me,” Sean said, without smiling. “He said when it was all chipped away it would only be an ounce or so. But we’ll work on finding a source. And start trying out techniques. It might still be very painful.”
Jace touched the fake Collar around his neck, put there courtesy of Liam and Dylan this morning. “Well, you can try it on someone not me. I’m done messing with Collars.”
Sean nodded in understanding. “You’ve got it, lad. Volunteers only. But I’m thinking some will put up with a little hot gold on their skin to be free of these bloody devices.”
“Me,” Deni said. “You can try it first on me. Use whatever is left in the bracelet. I’m sure my mother would be fine with me using it to free myself and my mate.”
Jace’s hold on her tightened. “No. Not until they know what they’re doing.”
“Sean will figure it out.” Deni leaned into Jace, feeling warm and protected. “I want this damned Collar off. I want to heal all the way. With you, and without the Collar.”
Jace growled, but she saw sympathy in his eyes. “All right, but I’m with you every step of the way. Every second. And if Sean hurts you more than necessary, he answers to me.”
“Oh, good,” Sean said. “No pressure. Don’t worry, lass. I’ll be trying these ideas on meself as well. I have a mate who can make us all better if I screw up.”
“I hope I can,” Andrea said. She held her son close, his gray eyes so much like his mother’s.
“I’m just feeling better about this all the time,” Sean said.
“We can do volunteers from our Shiftertown too,” Eric said. “Those who would most benefit. If there proves to be so little Fae gold, the weaker Shifters should be released first, those whose Collars hurt them the most. Those of us who can control the Collars’ effects—we’ll suck it up for a while.”
“Speaking of your Shiftertown,” Deni said, and Eric focused on her.
“Don’t worry—I’ll make sure Jace can move here officially,” Eric said. “And have leave to visit me and bring you with him as often as possible.” Eric swallowed, the light in his eyes dimming. “I’ll miss him, but I know what a mate bond is like.” His hand drifted to Iona’s, and his mate rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.
Another thing Jace was doing for her, Deni reflected. Traditionally, Shifter women moved into the homes of their mates, leaving their own families behind. But it would be difficult to obtain permission to move Deni and her two cubs to the Las Vegas Shiftertown, and it would also mean leaving Ellison. To prevent Deni having to leave her sons behind, Jace had volunteered to move here instead. A break with tradition, but a kind one.
“Well,” Liam said, pushing himself from the window seat and handing Katriona to Kim. “I’m looking forward to conducting yet another mating ceremony. Unless Eric fights me for the honor. But we have other business at hand. Tiger.”
Tiger unfolded his big arms and moved to the basement door—the door to the true basement, not the Morrisseys’ secret space. The Shifters at this meeting were Liam and family and Liam’s trackers, plus Eric and Iona. Liam had asked for Eric’s advice on the sticky problem Deni had uncovered at the Shifter bar.
Tiger unlocked and opened the door to reveal the young woman Deni had caught with the phone that showed she’d made many calls to the police. She’d washed off the Shifter groupie makeup but stared around at the Shifters with defiance in her eyes. Broderick, who’d insisted on guarding her, brought her up the last of the stairs with his hand lightly on her shoulder. Broderick’s gray eyes swept the trackers, and he looked almost as defiant as the young woman.
“This is Joanne Greene,” Liam said. “She’s been following Shifters around and reporting things to the police—the fight club, what Shifters do at the bar—and asking the cops to talk to Shifters and watch them . . .”
Deni had wondered what Liam would do with the young woman. Dylan now went to her, and the woman’s defiance dissolved into terror. Dylan stopped a foot in front of her, in her personal space. “Tell my son what you told me,” Dylan said.
Her chin came up. “Why should I?”
She was young, even for a human. In her midtwenties, Deni guessed, if that. Connor, who was only a little younger than Joanne, shook his head. “I’d tell him. If you think Grandda’s scary, wait ’til you face Uncle Liam.”
Broderick squeezed her shoulder. “Best get it over with.” He sounded sympathetic, interestingly enough.
Joanne took a deep breath. “Because you took my sister,” she said.
Liam blinked in surprise, and so did most of the Shifters present. “Your sister?”
“My sister, Nancy,” Joanne said. “She’s the true Shifter groupie. Loves to chase Shifters. She was here, in Shiftertown. Then she disappeared. What did you do with her?”
Liam gave her a blank look. “We didn’t do anything with her, lass. Where was she last? With what Shifter?”
“I don’t know.” Joanne’s eyes flashed anger. “Does it matter what Shifter? She was at your bar, then she went to your fight club. That was a few weeks ago. She hasn’t come home since.”
“And the h
uman police agree with you that a Shifter must have taken her?” Deni couldn’t help asking.
Joanne looked even angrier. “They say they have no evidence of harm. They think she ran off on her own.”
Dylan didn’t move any closer to Joanne, but his look of menace was hard. “And so you stir up trouble for all Shifters, endangering us, our mates, our cubs, without coming to us and asking about her first?”
Joanne stepped back in fear, bumping into Broderick, but she spoke in a clear voice. “Come to you? Why should I come to you?”
Dylan started to answer, but Broderick took a step sideways, putting himself in a position where he could defend Joanne against the others if need be. “Go easy on her,” he said to Dylan. “She’s afraid for her sister. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing if you lost track of someone you loved inside another Shiftertown.”
Dylan’s expression hardened. “No, what I would do is find the right culprit and shake him until he coughed up what he knew. And then decide whether to let him live.”
“She’s been telling me about it,” Broderick said, as Joanne gazed at Dylan in fear. “I don’t think a Shifter took her sister, but it looks like something happened around a Shifter event. You and Liam have all kinds of resources. Help her.”
Liam gave Broderick a thoughtful look. “Maybe we will. Dad.”
Dylan looked over Broderick and Joanne, then he turned away. Without a word, he walked out of the living room and then out the front door with an even stride. The bang of the door in his wake was loud, and for a moment, no one said anything. Dylan often did such things—keeping his own council and walking away to solve problems on his own. He was older than most Shifters in Shiftertown, and had experience and wisdom no one else had. The Shifters had learned to tolerate his abruptness.
Liam cleared his throat. “Since you like her so much, Broderick, you’re in charge of her,” he said. “I don’t want her talking to the police, or going anywhere or doing anything without me knowing. Got it?”
“Sure,” Broderick said. “Lighten up, Liam.”
Liam blinked again. Deni saw Liam deliberately let Broderick’s admonition go before he gave Joanne a slow nod. “We’re going to help you find out what happened to your sister. But you behave—understand?”
Joanne was bewildered—she must have thought the Shifters would kill her, or at least imprison her and do terrible things to her—but she nodded. Broderick stayed protectively in front of her, and Liam ended the meeting.
“I think he’s smitten,” Deni said to Jace as they walked back to her house across the street. “Broderick, I mean.”
They mounted the porch steps of Deni’s house, and Jace pushed Deni against a porch post. “So am I. Smitten is a good word for it.”
His kiss stirred fires that hadn’t gone out. Deni wound her arms around his neck and enjoyed him for a moment.
“I meant what I said,” she murmured as their mouths drew apart. “About the Collar. I’ll let Sean do what he needs to. I want it off.”
“I do too.” Jace touched the chain on her neck. “I’ll be with you, Den. And when you’re free, we’ll do some celebrating.”
“Why wait?” Deni smiled into his face, and Jace’s serious look dissolved into a wicked grin.
“Wild woman,” Jace said.
“Always.”
Jace led her into the empty house and to the basement, the two of them laughing as they stumbled down the stairs. Jace kicked the door closed at the bottom as he kissed her again. They waltzed their way into the bedroom they’d been using, hands stripping off each other’s clothes while their mouths locked into long, hot kisses.
“I love you, Jace Warden,” Deni said as they went down onto the bed.
“I love you too, Deni Rowe. So much.” Jace drew her up to him, stoking the fires inside her. “Thank you for finding me.”
“You found me,” Deni said. “Healed me too.”
“Mmm.” Jace closed his eyes as he slid inside her. His voice went low. “You healed me. We healed each other.” He put his hand on hers, the streak where the bracelet had burned him already closed to a red scar. Their fingers touched, spread. “You and me. One.”
Jace laced his fingers through hers, and Deni closed their hands together. “One,” she said, then she let out a cry as Jace thrust into her with a firmer stroke. “Always.”
“Always,” Jace said, and then there was nothing but the sounds of lovemaking, and happiness.
Sorrow fled, and Deni proved to herself what a beautiful thing it was losing control in the arms of the Shifter she loved.
Epilogue
Deni and Jace were mated in the full-sun ceremony the next day, bringing down the blessings of the Father God on the union. The full-moon ceremony, the final sealing of the mates, happened a few nights later, after Deni had had her Collar removed, at her insistence.
It was severely painful, and how Sean got the remaining gold from the bracelet to blend with the Collar and loosen it, Deni wasn’t quite sure. She only knew that the Collar had come off, link by slow link. It had hurt, yes, but Deni knew her release had come with nowhere near the agony that had suffused Jace when they’d tried to take his Collar off him. She’d also not felt the need to shift to her beast to give in to her feral instincts, as Jace had. The Fae gold made the difference.
Jace had been there, right next to her, snarling at a nervous Sean every minute. When Sean had lifted the Collar free and Deni took a long breath, Jace had pulled her hard into his arms, his eyes wet.
Deni, now fitted with a fake silver Collar, stood with Jace in the grove behind the houses under the moonlight, with Eric and Liam in front of them. Both had decided they’d jointly perform the full-moon ceremony—Liam because it was his Shiftertown and he was fond of Deni; Eric because Jace was his son.
Shifters gathered in circles, the chanting already beginning. So was the drinking and partying. Ellison stood next to Deni, proud and grinning, Maria on his arm smiling her sweet smile. Behind Deni were Jackson and Will, deliriously happy for their mother, but plenty willing to tease both her and Jace.
Iona had come, standing next to Eric, with Eric’s sister, Cassidy, and her mate, a human named Diego, next to her. Marlo, recovered from his bang-up but lamenting about the loss of his beloved plane, had also come.
So had the young woman called Joanne, who was being looked after by Broderick and his brothers. She’d relaxed a bit around Shifters, at least around Broderick’s gruff family. She was still worried about her sister, but Dylan already had things in motion. They’d find her.
As the moon rose, its cool light flooding the clearing, Liam held up his hands for silence. He and Eric stepped forward, Eric smiling in his warm way.
“By the light of the Mother Goddess,” Liam began.
“I acknowledge this mating,” Eric finished. “The blessings of the Goddess go with you, Son.” He put his arms around Jace. “And Daughter.” Eric turned and embraced Deni, Jace’s hand on Deni’s back as she hugged Eric in return.
And then there was laughter, many more hugs, with Deni almost squashed by the enthusiastic ones her sons gave her. Ronan’s giant bear hug competed with Will’s and Jackson’s for force. Tiger even hugged her, then gave her a nod, as though satisfied she’d finally wised up and done the right thing, bringing Jace home.
Shifters whooped, howled, screamed. The mating ceremony was a fertility feast, and Shiftertown would be fertile tonight.
Deni hadn’t felt the dizziness or beginnings of nausea that had triggered her episodes of near-madness since Jace had been brought home safely to Shiftertown. She’d made a breakthrough, she thought, out in the wild, choosing to give in to her instincts, which had helped her find her mate. The fact that she’d been able to pull herself out of the instinctive state once she’d found Jace, and hadn’t gone insane, had restored some of her confidence. The mate bond also helped erase her fear, and so had the removal of the Collar. Deni didn’t know exactly when she’d been healed, but she
knew the process had begun when she’d met Jace that night at the fight club.
Music poured into the night. Deni danced with her sons, then Ellison, Liam, and Eric, with a circle of girls—Andrea, Kim, Iona, Glory, Elizabeth, Myka, Carly. The cubs ran around, undisciplined, shouting and screaming in their own games.
Finally, Deni ended up with Jace again. He tugged her close, his eyes going pale green with barely contained mating frenzy.
“Remember how this started?” he asked.
“You getting your ass kicked?” Deni answered, laughing.
“Me saving your ass,” Jace said. “And then having it.”
“Don’t you wish.”
“I do.” Jace leaned close. “I wanted you again and again, Deni. I went through a lot to keep you by my side, didn’t I?”
Deni nodded. “I’m glad you did.”
Jace kissed her again, his smiles gone. “It’s dark out here tonight. No one would miss us.”
She gave him a teasing smile. “Maybe we should be more civilized about it, now that we’re mated.”
“Screw that.” Jace’s hold tightened, his hand warming the small of her back. “I like being wild with you, Den. My heart.”
“Mmm.” Deni kissed him, then wrenched herself out of his arms. “Let’s be wild, then.” She took the garland from her head and threw it, spinning, away from her. Shifter women shouted laughter and scrambled after it.
“Catch me if you can, Feline,” Deni said to Jace, and she swung away, dashing into the night.
She heard a growl of frustrated wildcat, then another one of determination. Deni ran, but she knew she’d never outdistance a leopard who’d do anything to bring down his prey. She did try, though, so Jace would have a challenge.
But when his strong arms came around her in the darkness beyond the bonfires, Jace’s kisses frantically falling on her flesh, Deni knew she’d never been so happy to be caught.
Read on for a special preview of the next Shifters Unbound novel from Jennifer Ashley