“I didn’t want to distract you,” she said calmly.

  Nishia’s eyes shifted back and forth between us, and I could feel her tension. “I’m fine now. Really.”

  Crouching down beside her, I took her hand and kissed beside the IV site. The feel of her skin beneath my fingers helped quiet the noise in my head, the chaos bubbling in my veins. Pressing my lips against her knuckles, I closed my eyes and let the peace of her presence push back the darkness, fighting the evil that wanted to be unleashed on whoever had made the mistake…

  My head snapped up, and I looked past Mom to meet my aunt’s green gaze. “It was Amy, wasn’t it?”

  One blond brow lifted. “What made you think it was her?”

  “I have my reasons.” I let her see the truth in my eyes before I schooled my features.

  “Then it’s a good thing she’s no longer working here,” Mom said as she walked around the bed to smile down at Nishia. “How about a protein shake, sweetheart?”

  Nishia grimaced. “It doesn’t sound appealing, but it’s better than nothing. My stomach feels empty.”

  “Raven and I will get your meal replacement, give you a moment alone with Jack.” She brushed Nishia’s dark hair back from her face. “I told you everything would be fine, didn’t I? He’s back where he belongs now.”

  Pink filled Nishia’s cheeks. “I’m sure everyone will be relieved he’s back.”

  Mom fought a grin, and I glared at her for embarrassing my little fairy, which seemed to make it harder for her to keep the smile from lifting her lips. “Are you hungry, honey? Marcy made a chicken casserole.”

  “I’ll eat later. We can talk then.” A glance at my aunt earned me a nod from her. “With everyone.”

  “Bash, Spider, and your dad are all here,” Aunt Raven assured me. “I’m sure Max will come for Delaney sooner than later. Meet us in your mom’s office in an hour.”

  “No, we’ll meet downstairs,” I told her. “I want the office searched before business is discussed there.”

  “Sounds like your trip was more productive than planned.”

  I shifted my gaze back to the IV in Nishia’s hand. “Obviously, the information didn’t come soon enough. When did she get sick?”

  “It happened yesterday,” Mom supplied, and I pressed my lips together. “We were alerted when Marcy couldn’t get Nishia to respond to her knock, and then when she came in to check on her, Nishia was disoriented. Things were a bit crazy after that. Your dad wanted to call you, but I thought it would be too distracting. Worrying you was the last thing any of us wanted, including Nishia.”

  I hadn’t gotten Amy’s name out of Fanuco until the early hours of the morning. The bastard had been hard to crack, but once I did, he’d been exceptionally forthcoming. Max and I had decided to wait to tell our dads about what we’d learned until we got back.

  Fuck, I should have just killed Julio and focused on Fanuco the entire time. Instead, I’d made Julio pay, not only for his own crimes against Nishia, but Nestor’s as well.

  My need to make the other man scream and bleed had put her in more danger, and I hadn’t even known it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  nishia

  There wasn’t much I remembered from the previous night. The fear, the ache to have Jack beside me, all of that still felt raw, but actual memories were nothing but a haze, so that I couldn’t figure out was reality or just something my drug-fogged mind made up.

  Gracie didn’t leave me the entire time except for one or two short moments, and each time she did, there was always someone else there. The woman who was introduced to me as Raven Reid, Jack’s aunt, or the sheriff’s wife, Lexa, were usually the ones who stayed with me when Gracie had to take care of something. I didn’t know either woman, yet I felt oddly at ease knowing they were there.

  It was an unusual sensation, feeling safe with a complete stranger, yet I could sense that Raven and her daughter were there to protect me, not harm me. It wasn’t the same nurturing feeling I got from Gracie, but I liked it just as much. None of them made me feel as comfortable as Jack, but in my moment of weakness, it was enough to calm me so I didn’t panic.

  Other than that, I didn’t remember much else after Marcy had come to check on me the previous evening. Gracie brushing her fingers through my hair as she sat beside me while people talked in hushed voices that I couldn’t understand. Raven and Lexa there to assist her in watching over me, filling me with a sense of safety. Missing Jack…

  I didn’t start to understand anything until late morning, and even then, I couldn’t really comprehend what had happened. Deborah had given me my shot the day before and then left. From what little Gracie explained, Deborah had administered the syringe Amy had filled with what was supposed to be my anti-inflammatory. I knew that was a huge no-no, and I wasn’t even in the medical field. But she’d trusted Amy, which was reasonable.

  Now Amy was gone, fired, and Deborah was on suspension. Gracie hadn’t kept the results of my tox screen from me when I was able to comprehend what she was saying. The shot I’d been given the day before hadn’t been my medication, but something much, much stronger and twice the dose than what any doctor would have even risked prescribing for me.

  I’d nearly overdosed, and it was thanks to Marcy breaking protocol to check on me that I hadn’t vomited in my sleep and choked to death.

  Once things calmed down, I was able to analyze it a little better, but some things weren’t adding up for me. I’d come to the conclusion that I hadn’t actually been afraid of Amy. My jealous, territorial instincts to keep her away from Jack had confused me. I hadn’t wanted her near me because I didn’t want her near Jack. He might not have been there, but that didn’t matter. If she was near me, then there was the potential for her being near him, because I knew he would be near me if he were home.

  Other than her obsession with Jack, I hadn’t sensed any true animosity toward me from her, but what the fuck did I know?

  I’d only just met the woman; it wasn’t like I knew her.

  Maybe my fight-or-flight reaction really had been because I subconsciously sensed something off in her.

  Yet I couldn’t help questioning it.

  Not that I told Gracie or anyone else about it. Amy had already lost her job, and Deborah was in trouble for administering the injection. I didn’t want to cause more trouble than I already had by throwing out hypotheticals that seemed ridiculous if I really took the time to analyze them, moment by moment. The guilt I felt was stupid, especially since I didn’t even know why I felt guilty.

  Feeling Jack’s lips on my hand, I nearly sighed in contentment.

  He was back.

  I wanted to pull him down onto the bed beside me and just curl around him. I wanted to hear his heartbeat under my ear, feel his chest rise and fall as he breathed, have his heat push away the chill that had invaded my body the moment he’d left the day before.

  There was no use in pretending that what I felt for him was anything but what it was. Obsession. Maybe it was hero worship, or maybe I was just sick in the head because of all the shit that had happened to me, but my mind, heart, and even my body were stuck on him and only him.

  When he started to pull back, I touched the dark-blond scruff on his chin. My eyes ate up the sight of him, and it was impossible to miss how tired he appeared. “You need sleep.”

  “I need to reassure myself that you’re okay,” he countered. “Tell me how you’re really feeling, little fairy.”

  “I missed you,” I answered, knowing it wasn’t what he was really asking, but it was all I could voice right then. “Will you have to leave again?”

  His green eyes glittered at me. “Fuck, I missed you too.” He bent his head over my hand, kissing my fingertips this time.

  I felt the caress of his lips all the way up my arm, causing goose bumps to rise along my entire body and heat to settle low in my tummy. It was a new sensation for me, and given what the shadows had done to me, I’d imagined I would never feel anything close to it. But I should have known better. Where Jack was concerned, not even those fucking shadows could ruin what I felt for him.

  “And I don’t know yet,” he murmured, answering my question. “I don’t want to make a promise that I won’t have to, then something comes up out of the blue that requires my attention. But I can promise I won’t leave you again unless it’s absolutely necessary. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “I need a shower, a shave, and fresh clothes,” he said but didn’t straighten. If anything, his fingers tightened around mine more. “My dad and I need to talk, and my mom is going to make me eat.”

  “Okay.” When he still didn’t move, I turned my hand over in his, and he was careful to avoid touching the IV. “Go. You look like you could use the food. Didn’t you eat while you were gone?”

  “I was more concerned about getting the job done and getting back to you.” He kissed my palm, causing my fingers to flex. Without realizing it, I stroked them through his scruff, enjoying the stubble against my skin. He leaned into my touch, his surprisingly long lashes lowering to half-mast. “Mm,” he sighed. “Feels good.”

  His gaze caught mine, and I felt my heart begin to beat faster. My lips ached for me to lick them—or for him to kiss me.

  I’d never been kissed before. I’d had no time for boys between school and work, but even if I had, I wouldn’t have trusted any of them. They thought of my mom as the crack whore on the corner, and that opinion rolled over to include me. If they had any interest in me, it was because they thought I was easy, so I avoided anything to do with the opposite sex. Or anyone else.

  It had been just me and only me for so long.

  All the things Jack caused me to feel were new territory for me, but I wasn’t afraid. I wanted his touch. His kiss. Maybe even more. But there was no way he could—

  Could he?

  His groan was low, bordering on agonized, as his gaze dropped to my lips. “If I kissed you right now, little fairy, with how hungry I am, it would cause you pain. When that jaw is unwired, I’ll give you what we both ache for. And if you’re not ready, I’ll wait. Forever if I have to. But one day, I hope I get to taste you.”

  Unconsciously, I touched his mouth with my thumb. He kissed it, and I pressed the padded flesh to my lips. I wished I could lick it, taste him fully, but I had to make do with licking the backs of my teeth in search of even a little. His eyes began to glitter with a new kind of fire, and his nostrils flared. That warmth low in my tummy bloomed, spreading outward to the rest of my body.

  “Nishia,” he growled, and the heat only spiked higher. “Give it back.”

  Confused, I didn’t move, so he grasped my wrist and pulled my hand back to his lips. Sucking my thumb into his mouth, he closed his eyes. “Shit,” he rasped. “I’m already addicted.”

  “Same,” I breathed.

  A tap on the apartment door had him carefully placing my hand back on the bed and standing. “Yeah?” he called out in a hard tone.

  Someone I didn’t recognize stepped inside, holding a glass with a straw. “Hey, Jack,” she greeted as she crossed into my room. My eyes drifted over the newcomer. Her long, dark hair was pulled into a low ponytail, and I noticed white disks on either side of her head. She was without makeup, dressed in faded jeans and an overly large T-shirt, but she was so pretty, it was hard to look away from her.

  “Delaney,” he said with a nod. “I’m sure Max will be over soon.”

  “Oh, he’s already here,” she said with a smile before turning her attention to me. “Hi. I’m Delaney. Raven and Gracie are busy, so I offered to bring your shake.” She winked. “Mostly because I was curious about Jack’s fairy and haven’t had a good enough excuse to invade your privacy until now.”

  “Max needs to spank you more often,” Jack muttered, taking the glass from her. “Nishia, Delaney is Raven’s daughter-in-law. She’s a brat who has only gotten worse since getting the cochlear implants and restoring her hearing.”

  “Brat?” she repeated with a glare, and I watched her hands move, but I could only assume she was signing the word.

  “Yes,” he repeated. “Brat. The worst.”

  She stuck out her tongue at him but grinned again. Looking at me, she laughed. “He’s lucky I like him, or I’d tell my husband, who would kill him.”

  Jack snorted but didn’t correct her. Setting the glass on the side table, he helped me sit up so I was comfortable and then sat on the edge of the bed, holding the protein shake for me as I sipped from the straw.

  I liked the way the two of them teased each other. It wasn’t flirting, but as if they were siblings bickering. It made my lips tilt up between sips.

  “If you can pull yourself away from the fairy, I’ll keep her company while you meet with Bash and the others,” Delaney offered, still signing the words. I wondered if it was just a habit since she was able to hear with the implants.

  Jack sighed heavily and skimmed his thumb over the corner of my mouth, wiping away a drop of chocolate shake. “You okay with that, baby?”

  I didn’t want him to go, but he needed to eat and shower, plus there was whatever he needed to discuss with his dad and the others about his work trip. “Go. Delaney and I will become friends.”

  “Absolutely,” the other woman agreed, nudging Jack. “Come on, come on. The fairy is safe with me. I’ve been trained to kick anyone in the balls if they become a threat. When Nishia can stand on her own, we’ll teach her too. Now go, have your ‘chat.’” She made quotation marks with her fingers and rolled her eyes at me, which surprised a giggle from me. “Let us delicate women sit here and talk shit about our men.”

  He stood but looked down at me. “You sure?”

  “You won’t be long, right?”

  “I won’t be gone longer than absolutely necessary.”

  I grasped his hand, squeezing his fingers reassuringly. “I’ll be right here waiting.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  jack

  Mom pressed her thumbs into her temples and heaved a frustrated sigh. “There isn’t a Morgan alive who hasn’t been a pain in my ass. Why I expected anything different from that idiot family, I’ll never know.” Dropping her hands to her sides, she balled them into fists and started pacing. “They can’t give me any peace, and now one of them is putting everything we’ve worked our asses off to build at risk? No. I won’t allow it to happen. They’ll have to kill me before I let anyone tear down Sanctuary.”

  “Don’t say shit like that,” Dad groused. “No one is going to get close enough to hurt you or this place. We’ll deal with it, Gracie. Just give us a chance to sort everything out.”

  “Sort it out? It’s been fucking sorted. Raven dealt with Amy last night, and now I’m going to handle Clint Morgan.”

  “Gracie—”

  “Don’t ‘Gracie’ me in that tone, Hawk Hannigan. I’ve sat back and let you take everything else on, but this is too personal. That bastard used that sweet girl in an attempt to…” She threw up her hands. “Fuck, I don’t even know what he was trying to do. Who sells their kid to convicts, let alone the other bullshit that went on? Nishia was put through hell—for what purpose?”

  I leaned back against the door to my apartment, watching my parents after Max and I had explained what we’d learned on our trip to Arizona. Mostly Max had done the talking, while I stood there listening and watching the others’ reactions. My mother very rarely cursed, but when she did, it was a hell of a show. She was a sweet, tiny woman, but once her temper was engaged, she was a firecracker.

  Meanwhile, my aunt Raven stood between her husband and son, listening intently, her analytical mind already working. She wasn’t even close to a firecracker. The woman scared the fuck out of the majority of the residents in Creswell Springs, because when her temper was lit, she was a fucking nuclear bomb. Everyone who had even heard the name Raven Reid had seen her angry far too many times not to know that for a fact.

  “We need more information on Morgan,” Uncle Bash spoke up. “Who can we put on it?”

  “Nova,” Max and I said at the same time.

  “No.” He shook his dark head.

  “Dad, come on,” Max argued with his father. “You act like she’s still a little kid. Nova could kill us all with her pinkie finger and not even break a sweat.”

  “She’s just a baby—”

  “A baby who can take out an entire cartel,” Max cut in, making his dad glare at him. He shrugged. “Am I lying? Go on, I’ll wait. What was that? I don’t hear you arguing. Get pissed all you want, but tell me I’m overselling her abilities. All we expect is her to tail the motherfucker, not kidnap him and take him to one of Vituccis’ warehouses to torture for days. I mean, she could if she wanted to, but we’re not gonna ask her to do that, okay? There’s minimal risk.”

  Uncle Bash rubbed a hand down his face, but he didn’t argue. We’d all shed tears when we thought we’d lost Nova, but when we found out she was alive and had been staying in fucking Colombia of all places—having taken out one of the Vituccis’ enemies all on her own—we’d all been in shock for the most part. But we should have guessed. Anya Vitucci wouldn’t have allowed her then-future daughter-in-law to come into their world without the skills to protect herself, despite giving my little cousin a security detail that followed her twenty-four seven.

  “Jack, talk to the IT person. Get them to check for any virtual connection between Morgan and Amy,” Aunt Raven instructed, putting her own thoughts into actions. “We need to know why she turned her back on Sanctuary to help him with whatever plot the bastard had planned.”

  Mom’s eyes lifted in confusion. “You’ve been acting weird about her since you came back last night. Don’t tell me you’re going soft. I was ready to kill her myself when we got the tox screen back.”

  My aunt grimaced. “I worked that girl for hours, Gracie. I threw everything I had at her, and she didn’t crack once. Not even for a second. She should have broken before I finished her, but she didn’t. She’s no longer a threat, but it’s not sitting right with me.”