Chapter Fourteen – Jack

Jack woke the next morning. He hadn’t slept too well. Maybe it was because of the mission today: restless nights were part of his preparation every time his squad was going out on a predetermined mission. It’s why he preferred the sudden, drop-everything-there’s-a-degetty-on-the-loose type of call-outs.

However, there was another reason he might not have slept so well, and she was lying in his arms, resting her head on his chest. He lay still, not wanting to wake her, while he listened to the sound of her breathing and imprinted it on his brain. He didn’t ever want to forget that sound, and hoped to wake up to it every day for the rest of his life.

Jack looked toward the window, trying to figure out the time. The sun was up, but not so high in the sky to break through the trees surrounding the house. He had some time before he needed to wake Eva. She needed the rest.

Stroking her shoulder gently, he went over what the squad needed to do before Eva made the phone call to tell the guy she called Crosshead she had the real Dragon’s Tear. Damn, he hoped Helena had got it, and Gareth hadn’t realized what she was up to and fed her to that degetty of his.

“You grind your jaw when you worry,” Eva said, lifting her head and looking at him. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, her hair messed up, and she had a crease from his shirt imprinted on her check. Jack had never seen anything more beautiful.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you with my worrying.”

She cracked a smile, which turned into a yawn, which she tried to stifle. “Sorry, morning breath.” She dragged her hand through her hair. “Morning hair, too. Didn’t you get a prize when fate decided I was your mate? I’d ask for a redraw.”

“Not a chance in hell. You are the one, the right one. I wish you could feel it the same way I do. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.” He kissed the top of her head, and then pulled away from her. “I’m going to shower and get dressed. If Helena isn’t here by the time I’ve had my first cup of coffee, I’ll take a walk over to the Hollingsworth residence and loiter with intent.”

“Sexy and menacing. I like it.” Eva propped herself up on the pillow and watched him. Jack was not a self-conscious man, he was secure in his own body, but with her eyes on him, he felt the need to be better, to look better. Maybe it was because she didn’t feel the same pull toward him. If he woke up all bleary-eyed and disheveled, Eva was not programmed to think he was cute.

Damn. Did he actually want his woman to think he was cute?

Lovelorn fool was what he was. Bollocks. He needed to get a grip. Today was not the day to let his emotions control him. Right. The thought of her being in the hands of those men who had kidnapped her mom was almost too much to bear. He wanted to go in all guns blazing. OK, so all bears blazing. With Helena’s magic giving them a boost, they should be able to win this fight. If this Crosshead didn’t have his own personal army waiting in the wings.

He’d discussed it with his brothers last night while Eva got ready for bed. They all knew the risk. They were going on the briefest of intel provided by Eva. But by her own admission she had only been in the warehouse, or whatever building it was, for a total of ten minutes tops. Crosshead could have shown her only what he wanted her to see. Her mom. And kept his backup plan, an army of shifter killers, under wraps.

Jack mulled all this over while he showered. Then he set it aside. It would do no good worrying; all it would do was distract him. They were going in, no matter what.

Towel-drying himself, he pulled on a clean T-shirt, black, along with black combat pants. His clothes made him center his concentration. These were his battle fatigues, and they were about to enter a war he could not afford to lose. So much was at stake here: his brothers, his friends, and his mate.

And the Dragon’s Tear.

Taking someone alive for interrogation would be sensible. He made a mental note to brief his brothers about not tearing the heads off everyone in the place when they attacked. Not always easy when you are in the heat of battle.

Deep in thought, he pulled open the bathroom door and found his bed empty. His heart raced in panic. Where was Eva? Had she run? Had she gone after the Dragon’s Tear? What if she thought she could take on Helena alone? Eva had no idea how powerful the witch was.

These thoughts flew through his head so fast, it was only after he processed them that he opened up his senses. She was in the kitchen talking to Helena.

He grabbed his watch and cell phone off the nightstand, the squad had all invested in these new portable phones as soon as they stopped being the size of a brick, and shoved them in his pocket, making his way to the kitchen, where he found his brothers, Eva, and a smug-looking Helena. “I don’t need to ask if you got the Dragon’s Tear.”

“You don’t. But I would like it if you did,” she purred. If she had whiskers, she would be preening them right now.

He kissed her on the cheek, noticing the way Eva pressed her lips together, and frowned. He’d love to know what words she was keeping to herself. It made him happy in a perverse kind of way that she might be jealous. Although he’d told her enough times his heart beat for her alone now and forever.

“Can I see it?” Jack asked. “Have you touched it, Eva? Does it feel the same as the one you took from the gully?”

“Yes. It does,” Eva answered, looking nervous.

He left Helena and went to stand next to his mate, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it. “All we need you to do is lead us there. We can take out the driver, and then go in and rescue your mom.”

“No. Helena has risked herself to go and get the stone off Gareth. Now it’s my turn. I’m going in, and if they let me out, I can update you on numbers.” She nodded, but looked pale. At least she had a realistic idea that she and her mom might not be walking out of there.

“OK. Let’s go over the plan one last time.”

Jack walked them through it, as if this was any other mission. The squad was not exactly kept busy with Council business; there were often weeks between call-outs. That was why the Council didn’t pay them. Or so they said. The work was too infrequent. The only perk his squad had was free lodgings in the enclave, and the freedom of the forest to roam as bears.

Although a retainer sure would be nice, Jack thought when they were loading up the Land Rover with their gear.

Once this was over he wanted to start a family with Eva. He would have to approach the Council about a house of their own—he was not sharing with his brothers, no matter how much he loved them, once he and Eva were married. Last night had shown just how much of a passion-killer living with family was.

Damn, he hoped when she was reunited with her mom, Eva wasn’t going to ask her to live with them. Brothers were one thing, a mother-in-law another.

“Hey. You need to get your head in the game,” Helena warned.

“I’m in the game. Although this feels nothing like a game.”

“That’s what I mean. You have to think of this as just another job. Otherwise you are going to make mistakes.” She placed her hand on his arm. “And we rely on you to never make mistakes.”

“I’ll be OK. Once we’re in the wind, I’ll be fine. It’s the waiting that kills me.”

“All set,” Kurt said, stowing the last of the bags in the back. “Has Eva made the call?”

“Not yet.” He left Helena, but her words stuck in his head. She always made sense and always picked up on what the squad was thinking or feeling. He would be a fool to ignore her advice.

“This is it,” Eva said, and before he could speak, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. What a kiss it was. Not exactly the thing to get his mind back on the mission, but it sure did chase away the worries in his head. Come to think of it, it chased away all the thoughts in his head. All except the ones centered around his mate, who was pressing her body against his, while he drank in her taste and her scent.

“OK. Shall we go and have coffee while you two say your long goodbye?” Liam said, slamming the door of the Land Rover shut.

“Sorry,” Eva said, pulling away from Jack, and looking down at the ground, but then she flicked her eyes up to Jack and gave him a soft smile.

“We’ll have your back,” Jack promised.

“I know.” She took the cell phone out of her pocket and dialed. “I have it.” She listened and then said, “I know it.” Then the call ended and she tucked her cell phone back in her purse. “Bolderwood.”

“Bolderwood. It’ll be busy this time of day. But I won’t lose you,” Jack reassured.

“We need to make sure of that,” Helena said. “Give me something personal that belongs to you. I can use it to track you.”

“You can do that?” Eva asked.

“There is a lot I can do. And this is one of the simpler things.” She smiled at Jack. “I could of course hold onto your man instead.” She gave him her siren look, and Eva quickly dug in her purse and pulled out a store card. “Here.”

“A store card?”

“Yes, don’t worry, it’s expired. I should have destroyed it…” Eva glanced at Helena. Seeing her expression, she asked, “What? You asked for something personal.”

“I meant a ring, or a pendant. Item of clothing… Never mind.” Helena took the card.

“I travel light, what can I say.” Eva sounded offended. “Next time I get kidnapped and blackmailed, I’ll ask them to wait while I pack. All I have is my purse and keys. What can I say, I travel light. Sorry I’m not the kind of girl who carries her life around in her purse.” Helena had hit a nerve.

“The store card will do fine,” Helena said and took it, retreating to the Land Rover.

“Sorry,” Eva said, to Jack. “Want me to go and apologize?”

“No, she’s a big girl, she can take it. She knows you are under a lot of pressure. There are times when we’re traveling to a rendezvous point when we all get a little snarky.”

“Snarky,” Eva smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called that.” She brushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I should go.”

“I could hide in the back of the car, if that makes you feel safer,” he said, picking up on her worry.

“No. They might see you, and anyway, I don’t know if they’ll take my car like last time, or if I’ll get bundled into the back of a van.” She shrugged. “I guess I’ll soon find out.”

He bent down and kissed her on the cheek, whispering, “I won’t lose you. No matter what. Helena can get us in the general vicinity of wherever you are, and then the mating bond will take over. Wherever you are, I will find you. I will always know where you are.”

“Good to know it has its uses. Other than making you look at me with big puppy-dog eyes.”

“I don’t. Do I?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you when I see you next.” She slipped away from him and he stood helplessly as she got in her car and, with a toot of the horn, drove away from him, taking his heart with her. But that was a good thing, because he was going to need it back.

“OK. Let’s get moving. I don’t want to lose Eva.”

“We’re ready,” Kurt said, and he got into the driver’s seat, Helena slid in next to him, while Liam and Jack got in the back.

They were just about to pull away, when there was a bang on the side of the Land Rover and Lucas’s voice called, “Got room for one more?”

“What the hell is he up to?” Helena muttered.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, we could use all the help we can get. We don’t know what is waiting for us.”

Helena huffed, but opened the door. “Get in.”

Lucas jumped in, put his seatbelt on, and then they were driving, Kurt taking the quickest route to Bolderwood. Jack tried to cover his nervousness, but he couldn’t hide it from Liam.

“She’ll be OK,” his brother assured him.

“I know.” Jack nodded, he just hoped they would all be OK. Not just Eva, but the whole squad, even the druid Lucas.