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Arel.
A glimmer of a smile caught Arel s lips for a moment and skirted away. I d expect nothing less.
And with that he was gone.
Max picked her up and she didn t complain as he marched to his car. His car that had appeared at
the park, already running, her seat heater was even on. Galen assisted Mary while Gibson helped
Rosemary load into their car. Renee would see to it that their aunt was taken care of, so Kendra let
go of that particular worry.
Have someone drive their aunt and Mary home, Gibson. Make sure they have what they need. And
I want a guard on each of them.
Gibson rubbed his face along her jaw and the scent of her cats soothed her belly. You did great out
here tonight. I ll get guards on them right away. Akio has assigned some of Jack s wolves too. Don t
worry about them, they ll be safe. Now you go home and get yourself better. I m going to check on
you first thing.
Max hugged his brother briefly before relaying more instructions. Finally he slid into the seat be-
side her and without another word, shot off toward home.
Max winced as the sounds of his wife throwing up, yet again, reached him. He paced, forcing him-
self to not go to her. She d warned him the last time that she d kill him if he didn t leave her the hell
alone while she vomited. From the look in her eyes, he believed that threat.
His cat was agitated. The scent of the wrong magic she d drawn into herself hung in the air, acrid
and stale.
She stumbled from the bathroom and back into bed where he d tucked her after a hot shower.
I think I m done. She burrowed down beneath her blankets and he settled in behind her, his arms
around her body, giving her warmth and, he hoped, comfort. God knew he needed some of his own
after the day they d had.
His brother was a traitor and a group of witches had tried to kill his wife. He d been there when
bloody strips were torn into her skin. Had been there when magic had sent her to her knees.
He d killed that night. It wasn t the first time, but it was close. Killing was rare for their people. He
didn t feel guilty. In fact, he wished he d killed them all for daring to harm Kendra.
Yes, tooth and claw had worked just fine, though he did concede Kendra s point about it really be-
ing a magickal war. This was not a good sign, and he didn t think they d seen the last of this mage
situation. He d just have to be ready when they came back at his family.
He wished her father had at least faked being sorry. If for no other reason than to spare Kendra and
Renee any more pain. Barring that, he was very sorry he hadn t killed Andrew and his bitch of a
wife. He hated that she had gotten away. Felt as if he d failed his woman on that.
You should have taken more energy from me tonight. He kissed her shoulder and she snuggled
back into him. I hate that you re so sick. And I m sorry Susan got away. I m sorry your father is
what he is.
Max, I love you so much. Her words were drowsy, but the love pouring through their bond was
clear and let him know she was on the mend. Earlier, the sickness she d had to rid herself of had
done something to their bond, had narrowed the stream of information and emotion back and forth.
That had alarmed him nearly as much as the bloody welts.
I needed to do it my way. I know how hard it was for you to allow that and I thank you for it. She
got away because her people came to her rescue. He s not important and so they abandoned him.
She hit me in the back of my head, and before this is over, I m going to get some of my own back
for that and what she did to my sister and my mother. Using the jamboree and you to get energy to
kill without it having been self-defense would have tainted my magick. I did draw from you, from
the cats, from the air, the grass, the water, all the people around. But it was me siphoning off their
magic that weakened them the most. I need to talk with Mary about it, about how easily their magic
came to me. I think it s because it wasn t theirs to start with. It made me hella sick, but it weakened
them and made me stronger. This is good to know for next time.
Next time? Oh, hell no. Kendra. He broke off into a streak of curse-laced Spanish at how danger-
ous his wife s life might be if she hared off on some freaking warpath with these mages. No next
time. You re mine and I do not give you permission to throw your pretty ass in harm s way again.
He caught sight of her quick grin. Her eyes were closed and she lay totally relaxed against him.
God you undo me. You know that? Here I am with a bunch of shape shifters, some witches and my
asshole father and two bad-guy witches are in some clan high-security prison of some sort, probably
being interrogated at this very moment. It reads like a play, doesn t it? Or maybe a Tim Burton
movie. I won t do anything that would endanger my cats. And they re my cats, Max. On top of that
scene in the park, we took on your jamboree. It s my responsibility to protect them. My duty. And I
will. I d never forgive myself if I did something to purposely harm the cats. Even Beth is mine to
protect.
He smiled against her hair. And you re mine to protect too.
I know. Thank you for that. I m sorry you had to kill. I d never want that for you.
Don t be sorry. It s one less threat to you and he deserved it. It was self-defense and I d do it
again.
I don t think it s a coincidence that my ex-in-laws called my uncle looking for me on the same
night that we find my father.
Max s stomach churned. I spoke briefly with Gibson about this while you were in the shower and
refusing to let me help. He paused.
Carlos?
Gibson has had Carlos s call log from his phone forwarded to his own. There were three quick
calls to cell phones. One with an 857 area code, one with 617 and a last with 408.
Are you kidding me? What is he doing calling Gilroy?
Gibson is on it. He sighed heavily. If his brother was involved in this, it would be considered trea-
son, and there was only one sentence for treason in jamboree law.
Gibson is paying Carlos a visit tonight to see what we can find out. Gibson has been in contact
with the Hunter and his people from the clan too. They re getting answers already. Those hunters
are hardcore. I like that.
Better than putting our heads in the sand and pretending everything is just fine. They re organized,
or they seem so. Powerful without a doubt, which is comforting. I didn t sense any lies from them.
But my senses were messed up from the magic I d taken in.
Arel was telling the truth. Cleanly. I didn t sense even the tiniest bit of evasion from him at all.
He s strong. My cat was impressed. I don t like that you might get dragged into something because
of them though.
She turned to face him. I m sorry. She kissed his chest over his heart. I m sorry about Carlos.
But you know I can t ignore this. And you don t want me to. Not really. I promise to leave the ex-
pert stuff to the experts, but this is about the survival of my people. Both of them now. I expect my
fears about the mages knowing the power of the shifters is moot because of the involvement of your
brother. If he s involved, I should say.
He sighed. Carlos is involved. I can feel it to my bones.
He has exposed us all. Not just witches, but damn it, if these mages truly understand shifter mag-
icks, they will want to steal it.
He groaned. I knew you d been trying to protect me without me knowing it. Damn it, Kendra. You
can t do this.
She made that little pffft sound at him, and he found himself caught between annoyance and amuse-
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