Midnight Reckoning

He opened his mouth to give her a smart reply, but nothing came. Instead, he had to settle for a chagrined, “Well, but—”



“Ah, there you are. I was looking for both of you.”



Jaden took one look at Ty MacGillivray’s long, rangy form striding in the door and had to bite back a groan. Instead of solitude, he now had a party. If he decided to stick around Tipton for much longer… and that was still a big if in his mind… he was really going to have to get his own place.



Naturally, Ty didn’t seem bothered at all by the extra company. Being with Lily had changed him from the solitary, humorless man he’d been for so long, consumed only with survival and staying indispensible to the Ptolemy queen. His natural intensity had remained, but Lily had softened him and brought out a good humor and playfulness that still amazed Jaden.



“Not interrupting an illicit tryst or anything, am I?” he asked.



Lily’s smile was slow and warm as she looked at her husband. “Pretty much.” She strolled over and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Go away, you’re killing the mood.”



Jaden watched the two of them, the way they fit together. He’d never had that. Nothing even close after two hundred years of living. Some of it was being a Cait Sith, of course… female vampires weren’t exactly clamoring to hook up with Ptolemy slaves… but some of it was just him. He’d never had a woman he was so hungry for, never met one he couldn’t walk away from.



Until that night at Rogan’s. But that couldn’t possibly be the same thing—



“Hell, you’re brooding,” Ty remarked when he finally turned his attention to Jaden, his musical Scottish burr rolling out the last word and making Jaden seriously consider walking out of the room and leaving Ty and Lily to make love on the ugly furniture or whatever they did when they were alone.



Actually, he was pretty positive about what they did when they were alone, and that didn’t make him feel any better right this second.



Jaden started to say something snide, but Lily cut him off.



“We’ve been through that already. Jaden isn’t brooding. He’s thinking. And since I already told him I’d leave him to it, I’ve got to go make a few phone calls. If we’re going to petition the Council for our own territory any time in the near future, we’ve got to get a little more organized.” She wrinkled her nose. “If it weren’t for the Dracul, I’d have to ask the Shades for help. That’d look good… not that it probably matters at this point.”



“Damien could probably set that up for you,” Jaden said with a smile, referring to his blood brother who had eschewed slavery to the Ptolemy in favor of a career as a thief and assassin with the notorious House of Shadows. “He’s in good with the Shade Master. And they know all sorts of things about the highbloods you could use.”



“All the wrong things,” Lily replied. “I’m not into blackmail. And I’d hate to have to start checking our blood supply for poison. Anyway, duty calls. Later.” She gave Ty a quick kiss, waved at Jaden, and headed to her office downstairs.



Ty watched her go, his heart in his silver eyes.



“She’s tired,” he said quietly. “Damn Arsinöe. Lily saving her life wasn’t enough. She’s still got to prove hers is the only dynasty that matters.”



“It’ll get taken care of,” Jaden replied. “One way or another. We both know it.”



Ty gave a short nod, then turned back to look at Jaden. Jaden saw immediately that Lily wasn’t the only one who looked a little tired, and for a vampire, that was a feat. He shouldn’t be here causing them more worry, Jaden thought. Out of sight, out of mind. Or further from their minds, at least. They had enough to deal with, and everyone expected he was high up on Arsinöe’s hit list.



Maybe it would be best to skip town for a while.



“So whose ass do we need to kick?” Ty asked, relaxing a little as he sauntered further into the room.



Jaden looked at the ceiling and chuckled.



“No one’s. Though you and your wife are so ready for it, I ought to just make something up so you can run off and fight for my honor.”



Jaden was slightly more comfortable talking with Ty about this, only because the man was as good as a real brother to him. Ty had taken Jaden under his wing early on in Jaden’s days with the Ptolemy. He would understand the difficulties inherent in the situation, where Lily, still so new to their world, would not. There were such deep divisions between night races. He was almost sorry Lily would have to learn them and then try to navigate the minefield they presented. She had enough minefields right now. Maybe it was better she not learn the truth of the necklace’s origins. The truth would only bring her trouble, and trouble was the last thing Jaden wanted for her.



She and Ty were family to him, Jaden realized. He’d forgotten what a blessing and a curse having such a thing could be.



Jaden looked back at Ty, at his earnest concern, and began to relent. “If I tell you, will you leave me be?”



Ty’s answer was succinct. “Not bloody likely.”



Jaden didn’t bother to hide his smile, though he was certain it looked as weary as he felt these past two nights. “At least you’re honest about it. Fine, then. When I was out last night I ran into a woman who was being given a… bit of a rough time by a man she didn’t want anything to do with. I took care of the problem for her, and she was, let’s say, less than appreciative. She left in a huff and forgot the stupid bastard had thrown her necklace on the ground. So now I have it.”



Ty held out his hand. “Hmm. Let’s have a look at it.”



Reluctantly, he handed over the disc and chain, wondering whether Ty might recognize it. His friend studied it, turning it over in his hands.



“It’s quite old. Older than I am, at any rate, and probably valuable. Not the kind of thing you’d see someone wearing every day. And you already know all of this, of course.” He lifted his eyes to meet Jaden’s, and Jaden could see the question in them. “Moonstone, I see.”



“Yes, and with good reason.”



Jaden was relieved to find that his fears about revealing what sort of woman the necklace had come from had been unfounded. Ty might be a dangerous man, but he wasn’t judgmental, even in this. Mainly, he looked puzzled.



“You took it upon yourself to help a werewolf?”



Jaden nodded. “For some ungodly reason.”



“No wonder she didn’t appreciate it. Brutish lot, even the women. I’m surprised she hadn’t ripped the male’s throat out herself. I’m not going to bother asking what you were thinking, but what the hell was she doing here? There isn’t a wolf pack that I’m aware of for miles.”



Ty handed the necklace back, and Jaden was ashamed at the rush of relief he felt to have it in his hands again. The metal warmed against his palm quickly. The fact that the pendant had rested against Lyra’s skin, probably many times, fascinated him. Holding on to it was as close as he might ever get to touching her again. She was so warm… and he was so cold…



“As you might imagine, she wasn’t in the mood for conversation. I think she was a little embarrassed that she hadn’t managed to deal with her admirer herself, actually.” He paused, wondering whether to reveal the rest of the story. At this point, it could hardly hurt, and Ty would keep it to himself. “I recognized her,” Jaden continued. “From Rogan’s, when you and I were there with Lily.”



Ty’s dark brows winged up, and he sank down to perch on the arm of the couch.



“That pretty she-wolf? The one you hated on sight?” To Jaden’s surprise, Ty started laughing. “No wonder she was angry. That would have been adding insult to injury. You’ve got a sick sense of humor, brother. Now I understand why you helped her. Though there has to be a better way of entertaining yourself around here.”



Jaden forced a chuckle, unsure whether he was glad to have kept the heart of his secret. He wished he could have spoken to someone with a similar experience, but one didn’t just wander around asking random vampires whether they’d ever been possessed by the desire to get naked with a werewolf.



He’d had his ass kicked a time or two for lesser offenses. That one would find his head and his body residing in different parts of the country.



“I wonder why she was here, though. It’s possible her pack doesn’t know that the Lilim are set up here, at least for now. Then again, she could still just be running from… whatever it was that had her at Rogan’s, I suppose.”



Jaden nodded. “It definitely looked like she was here on her own. Whatever problems had her holed up at a vampire safe house last October seem to have followed her right along. Annoying her was an amusing side benefit, but trust me, I wouldn’t have jumped in if Lyra hadn’t been in serious danger of losing more than her pride.”



“Lyra,” Ty murmured. “That’s right, I remember Rogan mentioning her name at some point. And he was pissed off about you giving her a hard time too. I think he said she was an Alpha’s daughter or something like that. Mentioned she was a probable pack leader too, though I don’t see how. The wolves aren’t much on female Alphas. Or female anything.” He looked in the direction Lily had gone. “They’re missing out. Not that they’d know it, bunch of hairy savages that they are. It should scare everyone that there are places in this country where they blend in so well, since those attitudes don’t change in their human skin.”



“They’ve always found refuges,” Jaden replied with a shrug. “Just as we have. And I agree, I’m not keen on running into a wolf pack. From what I saw with Lyra, things are just as backward among them as they ever were. Still, I don’t feel right hanging on to this. I do think she’s an Alpha’s daughter. Actually, that seemed to be the attraction where the other furry bastard was concerned. But this is something important to her family. She didn’t lose it on purpose, and considering that she might get in serious trouble over it, it just seems like…” He trailed off, frowning at the necklace in his hand. “I don’t know. Maybe I can mail it to her.”