Justus

I flushed the toilet before I came out of the bathroom, but Vic did not look fooled. Based on the determination in his jaw line, I gathered that Marc had told him to stay between me and Kaci. Physically, if necessary. Marc might have no plans to separate us, but he wasn’t—evidently—going to let us eliminate the legal possibility of an annulment by consummating the marriage.

But Vic was too much of a gentleman to ask what we’d been up to. Not that he’d need to, after Kaci cursed him through the door.

I nodded at the cast encasing his left arm and hand, except for his fingers and thumb. “Sorry about that. I assume you didn’t go to the ER for the cast?”

“Of course not. One of Blackwell’s grandsons is a medical intern. He took care of it.”

“Can you shift like that?” I’d never really thought about what happened to a shifter with a broken bone. And suddenly I felt even guiltier.

“Not for a month or so.” He turned to Kaci, effectively dismissing the entire subject. “Okay, let’s take a look at you.” With his good hand, he tilted Kaci’s chin up and carefully pushed hair back from her forehead to examine the wound on her temple. A growl of warning built in my throat the moment he touched her, but I swallowed it and settled for clenching my fists instead.

Marc wasn’t kidding. Something had changed.

Kaci was mine. Not to own, but to…love. To protect. I knew damn well that Vic meant her no harm, but deep down, some part of me no longer trusted him, despite the fact that he was bigger and stronger than I was and had far more experience.

Deep down, I knew that no one else in the world could give Kaci what she needed better than I could, be that physical protection or…pleasure. And I didn’t want anyone else to try.

I didn’t even want anyone else near her.

But before that thought had even fully played out in my head, I recognized the danger inherent in it.

While Vic assessed Kaci’s injuries and I stood stiffly to the side, Chris started the coffee pot set up next to the second sink, just outside of the bathroom.

Because motels suck.

“This one’s scabbed over nicely, and you look pretty alert.” Vic let Kaci’s hair go, and it tumbled over her forehead.

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Seriously, did you guys check in yet? Because there are plenty of rooms available. You can totally go get your own. Like, now.”

Vic snorted with a glance at me. “We’re not staying.”

I tried not to sound gleeful. “That’s too bad. Do you want something to eat before you go? We could order a pizza…”

Another snort, this one from Chris, as he clicked the coffee carafe into place beneath the drip. “None of us are staying. We’re hitting the road as soon as Kaci’s taken care of. Thus, the coffee. If this even qualifies,” he added with a skeptical glance at the packet the grounds had come from.

“Okay. Well, I’m hungry, so why don’t you guys go get some food and give us, like, half an hour?” Kaci glanced at me with raised brows, and I couldn’t resist a grin. “Or forty-five minutes? To finish getting ready to go. We’ll meet you in the parking lot in, like, an hour. Tops.”

“Sit.” Vic looked almost amused as he pulled out a chair at the table for her, evidently well aware that he’d interrupted us just in time. “Let’s look at your arm.”

“I already cleaned it,” I said as I started gathering up our things from around the room.

Kaci sank into the chair, her jaw clenched. “I’m fine,” she said again.

I stuffed her dirty clothes into one of the empty plastic bags from the pharmacy, then squatted next to her chair, one hand on her knee. “Please let him look. And try to relax.” I stood, then leaned in to kiss her cheek and whispered into her ear. “We were stalled, not stopped. It will happen. Some place much nicer than this. When we have plenty of time to get it right.”

She looked doubtful. But she laid her arm on the table in front of Vic.

He gave me an almost respectful nod, then carefully unwound her bandage using only his good hand. “Yup, that’s a bad one.” He aimed the light from his phone at it. “The muscle looks like it’s already starting to heal, though.”

“You can see that?” I leaned in for a closer look, and Kaci rolled her eyes at us both.

“If you know what you’re looking for. Have you shifted since this happened?” he asked her.

“Twice.”

“That was wise.”

“Yeah, and she’d probably be much better off now if she hadn’t climbed a tree right after one of those shifts and ripped it open again.”

Kaci kicked me under the table. “Tattletale.”

“Okay, well, it needs stitches on the surface,” Vic said.

I nodded. “That’s one of the reasons we’re going back to the ranch.”

“No need to wait.” Chris set a green canvas zip-up pouch on the table, then he started removing cellophane from four disposable coffee cups.

“What’s that?” I asked as Vic opened the pouch and began pulling out sealed packets of sterile wipes, gloves, and a couple of instruments that looked like scissors without blades.

“It’s a field medicine suture kit.”

“You’re going to stitch her up now?” I demanded. “Are you qualified?”

“He is,” Kaci said. Though she didn’t look pleased.

“Qualified, yes. Able?” Vic stood and held his broken arm up for emphasis. “Not at the moment. Chris?”

Chris took the chair next to Kaci’s and sterilized his hands with one of the alcohol wipes. Then he pulled on a pair of sterile gloves that were latex-free, according to the package.

I scowled as he opened a packet containing a thin, curved piece of metal that seemed designed to cause pain.

“It’s a suture needle,” Kaci explained, and I made a mental note never to cut myself around these guys.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have anything for the pain. I probably shouldn’t do this, but…” Chris glanced up at Vic, who nodded and set an unopened fifth of whiskey on the table in front of Kaci. “If it was good enough for civil war soldiers…”

“Amputation and gangrene were good enough for civil war soldiers!” I snapped. “She needs a local. An injection.”

Vic exhaled slowly. “This is more like a field medic’s tent than a doctor’s office, Justus. If you’d kept a better watch on her—”

“This isn’t his fault,” Kaci insisted. “It’s mine.”

“No, he’s right.” I peeled plastic from the cap of the whiskey bottle. “I shouldn’t have let you go out there alone.”

“Fuck you both!” Kaci snapped. “I got taken because I wasn’t paying attention. That could have happened to either one of you. And I got myself out of it, thank you very much.”

“And right into this.” Vic lifted her arm into her own line of sight. “But that’s nothing that hasn’t happened to all of us.” He pushed up his short sleeve to show off a jagged scar winding around his left bicep.

Chris lifted his shirt to reveal a thin white line zagging across a stomach that gave me an inferiority complex about abs I’d been pretty proud of half an hour ago.

I unscrewed the lid of the bottle and pushed it toward Kaci.

She shook her head. “No way.”

Chris shrugged. “That’s your call. But don’t say we didn’t offer.” He laid her arm across the rag I’d used earlier, then began to dribble alcohol over the wound.

The alcohol bubbled and Kaci hissed. “Why does that hurt worse now than it did before?”

“Because now you’re focused on the pain. Before, you were busy being pissed at me.”

Vic snorted. “Why don’t you piss her off again?”

“While that does seem inevitable,” Kaci snapped. “I’d love for this to be a little less entertaining for the three of you.” She grabbed the whiskey bottle with her free hand and scowled at it while Chris threaded his sterile needle. “This is what you and the guys do?”

Vic nodded. “A time-honored tradition. Take several gulps, and we’ll wait a few minutes for it to kick in. Not too long, though, because we tend to process alcohol pretty fast.”

“She has no tolerance,” I told him. “So we need to be careful.”

“Do I want to know how you know that?”

“Probably not.”

“Just…throw it back?” Kaci asked, drawing Vic’s attention before he could decide to press the issue.

“Wait. You’ll want a chaser.” I turned to look for the sodas I’d bought at the pharmacy, and Vic slapped an unopened can into my grip. “Thanks.” I popped the top and set the can in front of her.

“Slow, right?” She lifted the bottle toward her mouth.

“No, this time the point is to get a little drunk. You want the alcohol to hit all at once, make you happy for a few minutes, then just sort of fade away.”

“So, take a couple of big drinks in a row.” Vic pulled the carafe from the coffee maker and started awkwardly filling paper cups, one-handed. “Then just sit back and wait.”

Kaci nodded. Then she gulped from the whiskey bottle, and made a terrible, adorable face. Then she gulped some more. “That is awful,” she gasped as she set the bottle down.

Vic laughed. “Good.”

I handed her the soda, and she drank half of it at once.

Vic set a cup of coffee in front of Chris, then one in front of me. Both black. Then he sank onto the edge of the bed and aimed an unreadable stare at me over the top of his own cup. “While we’re waiting, why don’t you tell us what the hell possessed you to steal Chris’s car and take off for Vegas.”

“Technically, I stole your car,” Kaci told him Chris. “And considering my recent history, I think you should be kind of grateful that it’s still in one piece.”

I screwed the lid back on the whiskey bottle. “I feel like I should make sure you guys aren’t going to hold anything she says while she’s drunk against her.”

“She’s not drunk yet,” Chris pointed out.

“I know. I’m just covering all the bases.”

“Or trying to deflect whatever she’s about to say about you?” he challenged.

“Nope. This whole thing is my fault. Not hers. But she’ll probably say something different in a few minutes.”

“I can hear you,” Kaci said.

“I overheard Vic talking about the enforcer grapevine. I knew I wasn’t going to get a fair trial, so I was going to try to make enough cash in Las Vegas to get out of the country.” Vic rolled his eyes, and I bristled. “It’s not as crazy as it sounds. I know what I’m doing. I was up to two hundred thousand before I lost it.”

“Wow.” Chris whistled. “I’m not sure if that makes you a really good poker player or a really bad one.”

“Sometimes there’s not a lot of difference between the two,” I admitted. “How you feeling, Kaci?”

“Fine. Normal.” She shrugged, and the motion looked just a bit unsteady. “You should go,” she said.

“What?”

“I mean, we should have an hour or so alone together. But then you should go. They won’t chase you. Faythe said so. So you and I should… And then you should just get on a plane.”

“What’s she talking about?” Vic asked.

I shrugged. “I think she’s drunk.”

“But why does she want you to get on a plane?”

“I can still hear you. And I’m not drunk. I mean maybe a little, but seriously, I think this stuff is just some kind of truth serum.” She picked up the whiskey bottle and contemplated it seriously for a moment. Then she set it down again without drinking. “Justus needs to get on a plane and get out of the country, so they can’t execute him. “If you assholes will get out of here for a few minutes and let us consummate this sham of a marriage, he can go, and you can drag me home, and everyone will be happy. I mean, except me. And the council. But everyone will still be alive and intact.”

“This isn’t a sham, Kaci.” I took her good hand.

“I know. But it needs to be. You’ll be alive and gone, and you’ll find someone else. And Faythe’s right. Eventually one of those asshole enforcers will learn to live with the idea of marrying a freak, and I’ll—”

“No,” I growled, squeezing her hand. “I’ll kill anyone who even tries—”

“Maybe we should do the stitches now,” Chris suggested as he carefully guided Kaci’s arm back onto the towel. “While she’s clearly feeling…despondent.”

Vic sipped his coffee. “Was she like this the last time she drank?”

“No. Last time she was happy, then she vomited, then suddenly she was asleep.”

“You know what would be great?” Kaci asked, and I turned to find her staring at the wicked-looking suture needle. “If I could forget this, after it’s over. Like a memory exchange. I wish I could remember marrying you, and forget about this entirely.”

“You can’t remember your wedding?” Chris picked up the needle, and I watched, half fascinated, half horrified, as he began stitching her arm back together.

Kaci hissed in pain and turned to me. “Whiskey is not a painkiller.”

“No,” Vic admitted. “But it calms you down and helps you care less.”

I took her free hand again. “Just look at me. Think about us. Tell me something. Just keep talking and it’ll be over in a minute.” I glanced at her arm again. “Chris looks like he’s pretty good at this.”

“He’s not as good as Vic. Vic’s been the top enforcer since Faythe and Marc took over the territory, when I was a kid.” She flinched again. “But someone put our best suturer out of commission.”

Chris frowned, but seemed too focused on his task to take serious offense.

“So, what happened?” Vic asked. “Why did Jared take you?”

“He said I was being apprehended on charges of trespassing.”

“Which you’re guilty of,” Chris mumbled as he tugged the needle through Kaci’s flesh again, and she flinched. “But why? What good does it do Blackwell to actually charge you? I can’t think of a tabby ever being charged with trespassing.”

“I believe Faythe was charged with trespassing once,” Vic supplied.

“Okay, but that was different. That was trespassing with a side of murder. But it’s not like Blackwell thinks Kaci was staging a coup against him or anything. And why would they take her, but not Justus?”

“Because they didn’t have to take him.” Vic frowned over his coffee cup. “Jared saw them together. He knew Justus would follow Kaci.”

“He used me as bait.” Kaci scowled. “That bastard! How insulting.”

“But what do they want with me?” I asked. “To hold me in custody to make sure I show up for my trial? Faythe said they wouldn’t chase me if I left the country, because they don’t care whether I’m dead or gone. That they just want me out of the way.”

“So then why lure him into the territory, if they would be just as happy to see him flee the country?” Kaci asked.

Vic shrugged, “There has to be more to this. Something we’re not seeing.”

“I feel like that all the time,” I told him.

“Okay, I think we’re done here.” Chris tugged gently on the tiny knot he’d tied in the thread coming out of Kaci’s arm. “Let me just…” He took a little pair of scissors and clipped the thread as close to the knot as possible. Then he tossed me a tube of antibiotic cream. “Wash your hands and apply that, then re-bandage her. We’ll pack up the car.”

“Where are you supposed to drop the rental?” Vic asked as he stood with his coffee.

“Denver,” I told him. “That’s where I was going to catch my flight.”

“Well, I’m afraid you’re on the hook for whatever penalty comes from dropping it off somewhere else.” Vic caught my eye in the bathroom mirror while I washed my hands. “Good thing you’re rich.”

“Not yet, he’s not.” Kaci giggled as I dried my hands, then sat next to her at the table. “Though he would have been, if you’d been a few minutes later.”

Vic’s brow rose. “I assume that made sense to you?”

“I don’t actually have access to my money yet. Hold still,” I admonished as I spread cream on Kaci’s fresh stitches with a clean cotton swab.

“But he will be if we have sex.” She giggled again. “And seriously, we were so close.”

Chris looked surprised. “You haven’t…?” Evidently Marc hadn’t quite filled them in.

“Not the point,” Vic growled. “I’m actually not sure what the point is. Why would sleeping with your own wife make you rich?”

“Because then we’ll really be married.” Kaci took another drink from her soda can. “Consummated. Then he can inherit.”

“You’re a trust fund brat,” Chris said, and I nodded.

Vic tossed Kaci’s bag to Chris, then threw my duffle over his shoulder with his good hand. “Someone fill me in.”

“There was this guy in my high school who had a trust fund,” Chris said. “He had something like three million dollars coming to him. But not until he turned twenty—or got married. I swear, that stupid fucker proposed to half the girls in the school, trying to get his hands on his money early…”

They both turned to me, as the realization sank in. Vic growled. His eyes began to…churn with color. Which is when I realized they were shifting. As were his teeth. “You married her to get your money?”

“No!” I stood and backed away as they came at me. I would defend myself if I had to, but I’d rather they understand the truth. “Well, yes, but it wasn’t like that. I didn’t just do it for me. I did it for us. We were both going to go. Together.”

“Forever on an island,” Kaci muttered, staring at the table, her gaze unfocused. She looked sleepy. Which meant her buzz was wearing off.

“You worthless bastard.” Vic advanced on me, his broken arm still strapped to his chest, evidently ready to beat me to a pulp with the other one. “She’s barely eighteen years old, and she’s had it rougher than you can imagine. For some rich, pretty-boy predator like you to—”

“Stop.” Kaci stood, wobbling on her feet. “It’s not like it sounds. This isn’t his fault.”

“It’s okay.” I reached for her, but Chris stepped between us and steadied her by the shoulders.

“Don’t touch her,” he snapped.

“Take her to the car,” Vic ordered. “Justus and I are going to have a chat.

“Leave him alone.” Tears stood in Kaci’s eyes. She shoved Chris with her injured arm, then hissed at the pain. Blood leaked through her bandage.

“Let her go,” I growled, struggling against a protective instinct that felt extreme, yet somehow also entirely warranted. “If you try to take her out of this room without me, I will break every bone in your body.”

“Okay, everybody calm down.” Vic held one hand up, palm out, moving slowly and carefully. His gaze narrowed on me, and I realized he recognized the same hormonal mayhem in me that Marc had heard in my voice over the phone. “We’re going to get in the car and head straight back to Texas. Justus will sit up front with Chris, and I’ll sit in the back with Kaci.”

“No…” she mumbled.

“Put her in the car.” Vic’s voice was low and calm.

Chris led Kaci toward the hotel door, and she turned to me, eyes full of tears. She looked confused and afraid, and seeing her like that—

I burst into motion. My arm slid around her waist and I spun her carefully away from Chris as I kicked him in the chest. He went flying. Kaci clung to me with her good arm.

Vic stared at us both in astonishment.

“I said no,” she growled at him. “I’m staying with Justus.”

“I believe the lady has spoken,” I said through clenched teeth, struggling to control my racing pulse, as well as the urge to pull his arms off and beat him with them. She wanted me. She was mine. And I would shred anyone who came between us. If they couldn’t see that, they could damn well learn the hard way.

“Fine.” Vic glared at me. “But whatever you’ve done to her—however you convinced her that this was real—you should be ashamed. Marc will skin you alive when he finds out.”

“Just shut up,” Kaci snapped at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her grip on me tightened, and she turned a defiant, if slightly unsteady gaze on Vic. “I love him. That’s why I married him. Because while the rest of you fuckers were whispering about me behind my back, he actually had my back. He made me feel beautiful, and wanted, and normal. So I—”

Kaci gasped and clasped one hand over her mouth. “It was my idea. I suggested we get married. I proposed to you! In front of that fountain at the hotel!”

My pulse began to slow and I smiled as I squeezed her tighter. “You remembered.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” She looked horrified. “I was so mean to you the next morning, and the whole thing was my idea!”

I shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d believe me, if you couldn’t remember it.”

“Okay. That’s beautiful, and all, but we have to get on the road.” Vic’s phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket to read the incoming text. “Oh, damn.”

“What?” Chris leaned over his shoulder to look at the phone. He frowned. “Paul Blackwell just died.”

“We need to get home.” Vic headed for the door. “Right now.”