Chapter Seven – Evaine

His house was warm and inviting, the smell of food made her stomach growl. Why had he told her not to eat? Was he playing with her, just as he had played with her earlier?

“I know, it smells good,” he said with a lopsided grin. “You want to go for it, I’m not stopping you, I’m just trying to save you from finding out the hard way.”

She smiled, and shook her head. “My stomach says you are making it up and I should take a chance.”

“But your head is saying he promised to protect me, and watch my back.” He raised his eyebrows in question. “Which is going to win?”

“Hey, you out there talking to yourself?” Kurt asked, entering the hallway, plate of food in his hand. “Oh, hell. This is her?”

“Yep.” Jack nodded. “This is Eva. Eva, this is my brother Kurt.”

“Eva, good to meet you.” He looked guilty as he glanced down at the plate in his hand. “Jack warned you about the food, right?”

“He did.”

“Good, so you know what you are about to see didn’t happen.” He opened the front door, and went outside. When he returned a few minutes later, his plate was empty. “There. All gone.”

“That bad?” she asked with a frown.

“Oh yeah,” the two men said in unison.

“But we love him, and so we eat it, or get rid of the evidence,” Kurt said. “There’s a lot of it. Some kind of casserole. Had these big fat dumplings on the top. Nearly choked on it. I don’t know how you are going to get out of it, man.”

“I am going to insist that the only person who is cooking for my woman, is me,” Jack said assertively.

Evaine had never been anyone’s woman before; she’d never been anyone’s anything. The thought made her warm and tingly. Not what she needed. She had to be cold, and hard, focused on what she needed to do to help her mom. Yet it was impossible not to get swept along by Jack’s easygoing manner. He spoke to her as if he had known her since forever, as old friends, who were easy in each other’s company.

It would be so easy to let go, and fall into the trap of letting her guard down. Eva was tired of keeping it up, of keeping a barrier between herself and the outside world. She had been self-reliant all her life, and now there were other people who were claiming parts of her. First her mom, and now Jack.

“OK, here we go,” Jack said, and took her hand, leading her into the sitting room.

She tried to hang back, getting thrust into the middle of a family was alien to her, but Jack was not letting her go. Eva glanced around, taking in the wooden furniture, handmade, if she wasn’t mistaken, not the cheap, assembly required, stuff she had bought for her latest apartment, but then she never bought anything to last.

When she moved on, Eva found it easier to leave her furniture behind and buy new. She told herself it was cheaper than paying for it to be moved, but deep down she knew it was a reflection of her whole life. Don’t get attached, you never knew when your stuff was going to get chucked into a trash bag. That was the life of an orphan who never caught a break. You just start thinking you had a home, and then you got thrown out with the trash, moved to the next foster home, and the next.

“Hey. You look beat. Sit down, I’ll bring you some coffee.” He studied her critically. “We should get something to put on that cut too.”

She put her hand up to her forehead, and touched the dried blood there. Eva took a moment to remember where she had gotten it. The degetty. Had that happened today? The room crowded in on her, the air sucked from her lungs, and she sat down heavily in a chair, her hands curling around the intricately carved armrest.

“Eva?” His voice was filled with concern, but he seemed so far away. Eva was being pulled backwards into darkness. She didn’t want to go, she wanted to stay here with Jack. His hand touched hers, and she jerked upright. “Eva, you OK?”

“Yeah.” She touched the cut on her head again. “Just a little woozy.”

“Kurt!” He turned, yelling for his brother. “Kurt, can you bring Eva some coffee? Maybe put something stronger in it.”

Kurt appeared behind Jack. “Here. Are you OK, Eva?” He passed her a mug of coffee.

“Thanks,” she said, her teeth chattering.

“OK, honey, I think you are going into shock.” Jack was kneeling down beside her. “Kurt…”

“I’m on it.” Kurt crossed the room, picked up the phone and dialed. “Hey, Helena, we could use your help. Something for shock. No. Not one of us.” He looked at Jack, who nodded. “It’s the woman from the gully. The one who Gareth set his degetty on. Bump to the head. No, not too bad. OK, thanks.”

Too many people knew she was here. Too many tongues to tell on her. “I’m OK,” she said, taking a sip of the coffee in a bid to look normal. The caffeine hit her hard, her head buzzed, and she felt nauseous. “I just need something to eat.”

“I’ll get you something, Sit tight,” Jack said, and disappeared out of the room, leaving Kurt looking at her, his expression telling her how bad she looked.

He took Jack’s place, kneeling on the floor. “Not the best way to be introduced to us,” he said, with a wry smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Jack will make Gareth pay for what he did to you.”

“I don’t need him to fight my battles,” she answered, not that she was in any condition to fight any battles right now.

“But you’re his mate, so he’ll want to.” Kurt lowered his voice and said, “Jack likes to protect people. It’s an innate quality he inherited from our mom. He’s a good man.”

“I get that,” she said, taking another sip of coffee. “Which is why I don’t think I’m the best person for him. It would be easier if I just took back the Dragon’s Tear and left him alone to find another mate.”

Kurt laughed. “If only it was that simple. You and Jack are fated mates; he is your one true love.” He grinned as she grimaced. “Yeah, you might not be feeling it right now, but you will.”

“Are you so sure?” she asked.

“Listen, fate never gets it wrong. And unless you think you are so unique that you can prove fate wrong, then yes, I believe you will love him one day.” Kurt shrugged. “Think of it as having a head start on most people. You know he’s the one for you, so you have to make it work.”

“Wow, are you a shrink or something?” Eva put her hand to her head, pressing her fingers against her temples.

Jack came back into the room; she felt his presence before she saw him. Kurt might be right, they did share a connection. But that didn’t mean they had to stay connected, Jack would be better off without her. However, the thought of leaving, of being on her own again, hit her in the solar plexus, a sense of longing covering her like a warm blanket.

The way Kurt and Jack interacted, the way they spoke to each other, and how they would most likely eat their brother’s cooking rather than offend him, made her wish to be a part of this. But they were opposites: she was a Night Hunter, whatever that was. They were the thing she was supposed to hunt. Yet as Jack placed a plate on her lap, on which sat a sandwich made with thick fresh bread and filled with chicken salad, she felt a lump in her throat.

He cared for her. Already she was being enveloped into his protective embrace. But she had a job to do, a task to complete. She had to get her mom back, if not because they were of the same blood, then because her mom could tell her who she was.

“Thank you,” Eva said, and took a bite, while Jack and Kurt watched. She wiped her mouth self-consciously. “It’s good.”

“I can make you some more.”

“No, this is great, thanks,” she answered.

“Helena is coming,” Kurt said, getting up and going the door.

“How did he know?” Eva asked. There had been no knock, no ringing of a door bell.

“Our senses are more acute. It’s to do with our other selves,” Jack explained. “Everyone walks differently, it’s almost like a fingerprint. And so we can tell who is approaching. If it’s someone we know well, or if it’s a stranger.”

“I see. Handy.” She finished her sandwich and wished she’d asked for more, but she hated feeling as if she owed Jack anything.”

“Helena is a witch,” Jack said, watching her reaction. “I want her to look at you. She will be able to give you something to restore your strength, and to help you sleep. Tomorrow, we can decide what we are going to do.”

Eva looked toward the door as a woman, dressed in a long purple dress embroidered with delicate purple flowers, came into the room. She eyed Eva with suspicion. Eva found it strangely comforting that Helena was not going to give her a free pass. This witch was as protective of the men in this house, as Jack was of Eva and his brothers.

“You are the Night Hunter?” Helena asked.

“Yes, but she is also my mate,” Jack said, a hint of warning in his voice.

Helena dismissed this and said, “That does not make her trustworthy. Yet.”

“Helena, I’m asking you to see if you can help her. She was set upon by the degetty…”

“Kurt told me.” Helena crouched down before Eva and touched her head, her fingers probing Eva’s skull. “She seems all in one piece. The degetty has not poisoned her, as far as I can tell. A good night’s sleep and you should feel better. A little stiff, but human, at least.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. Helena’s words were an insult, or at least a reminder to Jack that Eva was not one of them.

“Here. Drink this, you will sleep.” Helena handed Eva a small vial of red liquid.

“I’ll be fine.” The mention of poison put Eva on her guard.

Helena laughed. “I am sworn to protect the squad, of which Jack is the leader. If I harmed you, that would harm him. You are safe, from me at least. And while you are under Jack’s roof, you are his guest, and so no one will harm you… Unless in self-defense.”

“Helena is right.” Jack nodded. “Take the sleeping draft. I will watch over you tonight.”

Helena let out a short snort. “You might be the one needing protection.”

“Not now, Helena,” Jack said. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

“Indeed. There is much to talk about.” She stood and then looked down at Eva, her eyes narrowing. “I can see no easy way out of this.”

“Out of what?” Eva asked.

“Through the ages, your kind have hunted ours. To your people, you will become an abomination. The mate of a shifter…”

“Helena, not now,” Jack warned.

Eva stood too, thrusting her chin forward defiantly. “I do not have people.”

“Oh, my child, we all have people. Some we know, some we don’t. But we all have blood, and blood connects blood.”

“I have been disconnected from my blood, since I was dumped as a baby. I don’t think they will come looking for me now,” Eva said.

“Someone came looking for you,” Helena said. “Didn’t they?”

“No one with my blood.” Eva was digging herself into a hole. Of course, this all had to do with her blood, with whom she was. It was like a rumor being spread around, one that involved her, and she was the last to know.

“Not with your blood, but because of your blood.” Helena stepped back and let her body language soften. “I am not your enemy, Evaine.”

Eva looked at her quickly. How did the witch know her full name? Kurt had called her Eva over the phone. Damn, she was paranoid. “I’m not your enemy either, Helena. Thank you for the sleeping draft.”

“You are welcome.” Helena turned to Jack. “We should all get some rest. I’ll come over tomorrow, and we can decide what to do.”

“There is only one thing to do,” Eva said. “I need the Dragon’s Tear so that I can exchange it for my mom.”

“I know what you want, Evaine. But that does not mean it is the right path.” Helena held up her hand. “Enough. Sleep. We talk in the morning.”

The witch left the room. Eva simmered quietly, her hand gripping the vial tightly. This was going to be harder than she thought. Jack might have agreed to help her rescue her mom; however, Eva suspected, stealing the Dragon’s Tear back and giving it to the men who held her mom was not the plan his people would want to follow.

Fair enough. She would see what happened in the morning, and if they didn’t agree, she would take the stone back herself. Mate or no mate, she owed these people nothing. They’d stolen the Dragon’s Tear from her in the first place; it had been hers. It had shown itself to her.

Maybe it belonged to her blood, and that was why she was the only one who could retrieve it. In which case, she had every right to take all necessary action to regain her spoils.