“Is he dead?” Anna asked, just as Jacque felt the ground beneath her feet once again. She released Nissa and looked in the direction Anna was pointing.
“Oh man,” Stella breathed out. “Please tell me he’s not dead.”
“Is who dead?” Heather asked.
“The human brain can go three to six minutes without oxygen before permanent damage begins,” Jewel said. “Maybe werewolf brains can go even longer. We could still have time to help him.”
“I know it’s annoying for me to constantly point this out, but I am seeing impaired. So who the heck is dead?” Heather asked as she and her mate stepped up beside Jacque.
“Nick.” Jacque stared at the bloody mess of a man lying in the center of a circle of wolves. “I’m pretty sure he’s not dead. Fane wouldn’t allow it.”
“‘Pretty sure’ is not the same as ‘sure,’” Anna pointed out.
Jacque didn’t acknowledge the healer. Instead she kept her eyes on Kara’s mate.“What happened?”Jacque asked Fane through their bond. She saw her mate, in his wolf form, sitting on his haunches across from her on the farthest side of the circle.
“He’s feral,”Fane answered.
She could feel his anguish over what they’d had to do in order to subdue Nick, but she also felt his conviction that it was necessary.“Is he alive?”The words sounded as if she was begging him for the answer she wanted rather than asking a question. For the moment, they knew Kara lived. If they got her back and Kara returned to find out her mate had been killed, well, Jacque didn’t know if that could be considered an actual rescue. The other half of her soul would be gone forever. That was a condemnation to a half-life or torment, not a rescue.
“He lives, but only just,”Fane answered.
“Why is he in his human form? Didn’t his wolf take over?”
“His wolf is out of control. I forced him to phase back to his human form in hopes that, perhaps, the soul of the man might think instead of simply acting on instinct,”he explained.
Jacque continued to stare at Nick, attempting to see if his back rose and fell with life.“By the looks of it, I’m guessing it didn’t work.”
Fane chuckled.“As always, Luna, you have a penchant for pointing out the obvious.”
Finally, she saw the prone man take a breath. It seemed to shake his entire body.“Peri has new information about Kara,”she told Fane and turned to look for the high fae.“We need Thalion’s help.”She opened her mind to Fane so he could see the memory of everything Peri and Tenia had shared.“And Skender is here. Tenia is hismate and Torion is her son, which Skender is claiming as his own.”
Jacque felt Fane’s weariness and dread at having to deal with that particular mess—afterthey’d gotten themselves out of the current one, of course.
“That will have to wait until after Kara is returned to her mate’s side where she belongs,”he told her. Then he phased, clothes covering him the second his human form took shape. It was good to have fae friends, Jacque thought as the rest of the wolves followed Fane’s lead. “Drayden,” Fane said, looking at the Canadian alpha, “Jacque informs me that Peri has news of Nick’s mate. Let’s get him cleaned up. And if you agree, we will allow the fae to subdue him if need be, so he may listen to what Peri has to say.”
“Agreed,” Drayden answered. He moved to Nick’s battered form. Decebel joined him and helped Drayden lift the injured beta. Apparently the man wasn’t as subdued as everyone thought. With lightning quickness, Nick’s head snapped up. He turned, lunging with human teeth at his alpha. A bolt of energy hit Nick in the chest, and his body went limp. His head drooped, and if Decebel hadn’t been holding him, the beta would have fallen back to the ground.
Jacque turned to see where the magic had emanated from. Adam lowered his hand, then looked around at everyone staring at him. He shrugged. “What? You all have beat the crap out of him for the better part of three hours. I’m just doing my part.”
“Well done, Adam.” Jen gave him a slow clap.
Adam glanced at Jacque’s blonde BFF and grinned. “Psycho or not, Jen, at leastyoualways appreciate my contribution.”
“Is that seriously where you try to find your approval?” Peri asked the male fae. “Because I thought I taught you to set your standards higher.”
Adam’s smile vanished, and he looked at the high fae. He rarely frowned, but he did now. Jacque could see the weariness and hurt in his eyes as he looked at his longtime leader. “Are you okay? We thought the cold fire—”
“Killed me?” Peri finished for him. With Lucian at her side, Peri approached her comrade and stopped a foot away. “There is no apology adequate for my behavior. But that is all I can offer. And time to hopefully heal the pain I caused.”
Jacque bit her lip. She felt Adam and Peri’s hurt flowing from both of them through the pack bond. But she could also feel the deep love they shared for one another, the same way she loved Jen and Sally. It was rooted in years and years of shared experience, standing together through thick and thin. Unfortunately, the downside of having that kind of bond meant the pain caused by a friend hurt much worse than that of an enemy.
Adam held out his hand. Peri looked at it and then back to Adam’s eyes. Finally, she reached out and clasped his forearm. “We are far too long-lived to hold grudges,” the younger fae said. “Not to mention, I’m sure over the centuries I’ve driven you crazy enough that you owed me a little grief.” Then he pulled her to him and wrapped her in a hug.
“While I totally agree that Peri needs to make amends to many of us, we don’t have the luxury of the time that will take,” Anna spoke up. “Kara needs us.”
“I agree.” Heather raised her hand. “We can all kick Peri in the shin later. Now, we rescue Kara.”
Peri pulled away from Adam and marched toward the mansion’s entrance. “You’ll have to find my shins first, Helen,” she called out to the blind healer.
