Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(34)

Maybe long enough for her life to have a little more purpose. The pull of self-preservation was strong in all creatures, no less in her, but her father hadn't sacrificed everything for her to save herself. He'd given her a chance to make a difference.

Whether or not that had truly been his intent didn't matter. It was the way she'd always seen it. It was the only way she could accept that he'd let her live at his own peril, the only way she could live with it.

She'd never truly been able to use her gift to any great advantage simply because she'd always had to hide it.

With Jag, she didn't.

The realization hit her, filling her with a strange and profound relief. After so many years, she was no longer alone with her secret.

Jag released her arm, pulled out his cell phone, and snapped it open. "It's me," he said a moment later.

Olivia tensed.

"Found us a Daemon," he continued. "Did you know those bastards have venom in their claws?" He was silent a moment. "Olivia took a hit. It slowed her down, but didn't seem to do anything more. We also found us a nice little Mage pit complete with sorcerers, sentinels, and some of the biggest power orbs I've ever seen."

He was silent a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had turned warrior hard.

"Shit, yeah. They're definitely up to something. There's only one reason I can think of they'd want Daemon power." A pause. "You got it, Frosted Flakes. This is another attempt to free the Daemons."

Jag continued to hold the phone to his ear though he didn't say anything for a while.

Olivia could hear Tighe's voice through the receiver, but not clearly enough to make out what he was saying.

"Aye, aye," Jag drawled at last. "Call when you hit town." He snapped the phone closed and tossed it onto the dash. "The gang's coming for a visit."

Olivia eyed him. "All of them?"

"Tighe's team and Kougar's. They've been tracking two different Daemons, and both trails seem to be leading this way."

"As if the Mage are calling them."

"That's what I think, Red. And what I also think is the Mage are trying to use them to free Satanan. Tighe agrees that our mission just changed. Stopping whatever the Mage are up to takes priority over the Daemons. If we can take down both at once, all the better."

He turned into the parking lot of the motel. "The plan is for everyone to meet here at two this afternoon."

"We'll attack in broad daylight?"

Jag pulled into a parking spot, turned off the ignition, and turned to study her, his mouth kicking up on one side. "Well now, Sugar, you're the only one, other than us Ferals, who doesn't have to worry about the draden. With three Therians on the team, the logical choice is daylight."

He was back in full Jag persona. The man who'd quietly and gently asked her if she was all right had slipped back beneath the mask.

Jag opened his door and climbed out, and Olivia did the same. They grabbed their duffels out of the back of the Hummer, and she followed him up the outside stairs to their second-story room - a simple, but clean one, with two double beds.

Olivia set down her duffel beside the bed closest to the door, pulled back the bedspread, then shucked her boots and crawled beneath the covers. She was spent, physically, mentally, and emotionally, but as she closed her eyes, a thought had her jerking upright.

Her gaze shot to Jag as he pulled off his boots with less haste than she had. "I don't usually feed in my sleep, but I'm so tired, I may tonight. It won't hurt you. I sleep near others all the time, and they've never even been tired come morning, but you may feel it."

He paused in what he was doing, meeting her gaze, his thoughts impossible to read.

Then he pulled off his pants and T-shirt and lay down on the other bed on his side, propping his head on one hand. "When you feed hard, it's like needles. When you feed low, it's just a pleasant hum in my body. It shouldn't bother me."

She nodded. "That's good."

He continued to watch her, as if studying her. "I've been wondering about something, Olivia. Why didn't you let me die out there tonight? As you said, it would have been so easy. And a simple matter of self-preservation. Your secret would have been safe."

There were so many answers to that question, more than she had the energy to sort through at the moment, so she gave him the first one that came to mind.

Pamela Palmer Rapture Untamed

"I want no more deaths on my conscience."

His mouth quirked up on one side, in a surprisingly self-deprecating smile. "Not even mine?"

"Especially not yours." She wasn't sure what made her say the last.

Jag stared at her, his gaze turning thick and intense, pulling her in. Then he scowled and flipped over onto his back and closed his eyes.

"Sleep, Red." His voice held a gruffness, not reflected in his words. "You won't hurt me without my knowing. We're both safe for now."

She watched him a moment more, then lay down and pulled the covers up to her chin.

Safe. An odd choice of words since she'd never felt less safe in her life. Yet she fell asleep without trouble, a certainty deep inside that if Jag said she was safe, he would let no harm come to her.

For now.

Jag blinked at the sight of the village square, his heart plummeting. A thousand times he'd watched Cordelia die, a million times he'd wished he could change what had happened that day. He didn't want to see it again!