Feral Heat

“Shit,” he said out loud. This wasn’t mating frenzy. Or maybe it partly was. But Jace recognized his symptoms from seeing them in an unfortunate few. Rabid hunger. Intense need for sex. Quick to anger, ready to kill, especially to protect what was his.

Only two links of his Collar had been pulled away, not even that, but it had triggered the feral in him.

Shouldn’t surprise him, he reflected. Liam had said taking off the Collars made the instincts suppressed by years of wearing them burst out in a volcanic flare. The trick would be figuring out how to negate the effect.

For now, Jace had to control himself. Somehow. The police upstairs were interrogating the woman he wanted . . . but he couldn’t think about that. If he did, he’d rush up there and destroy them all.

Keep it together.

Funny, it had been easy to tell Deni to keep herself calm. Difficult to convince himself to do so now.

Jace yanked open the door of the cabinet—he stopped himself from simply smashing the glass and putting his hand through it. He took out the photo of Deni by herself, smiling cheerfully out at him.

He touched her face with his fingers, drawing a deep breath. Looking at Deni kept him cool, but barely.

Jace had to know what was happening upstairs. Were they taking away Deni in a patrol car, arresting her for whatever reason?

He clutched the picture to his chest, trying to still his need to run up the stairs and drag Deni to safety. He had to think.

Jace was smart—he’d designed most of the underground space and its gadgets in the house he shared with his dad and family in the Vegas Shiftertown. He’d been recruited to design the spaces in the new houses being built out there as well. What had he done to make sure they wouldn’t get trapped in their own hiding places, without knowing what was going on in the outside world?

He moved to the TV, made sure the sound was all the way down, and clicked it on. A little button pushing on the remote . . . yes, they’d done it too. Or maybe they’d followed Jace’s design, which Eric liked to brag about.

One of the TV channels monitored the upstairs. Ellison must have put cameras in the big living room and one on the front porch. They focused now, showing Deni standing next to Ellison, both she and her brother upright but easy, without defiance.

Four cops barred their way out of the room, the female one with the tranq rifle talking to them. Ellison and Deni answered, standing casually, trying not to betray nervousness through body language. Humans were not as good at reading nonverbal signals as Shifters, but some could be good at it, especially the police sent to deal with Shifters.

Jace inched up the volume, but the sound was too muffled for him to make out what they were saying. No one was lunging to put Ellison or Deni in cuffs, fortunately. Just cops talking to citizens, citizens who happened to be Shifters.

Jace sat down on the couch, unwilling to look away. He hugged Deni’s picture to him almost without realizing it. He was still hugging it when the cops finally left the house and Deni came downstairs to find him.

* * *

Jace was off the couch and at the bottom of the stairs as soon as Deni stepped off them. Deni found herself caught in a hard hug, Jace lifting her from her feet.

“It’s all right, Jace,” she said quickly. “I’m all right.”

Jace growled and buried his face in her neck. Deni held him, the solidness of his body against hers slowing her racing heart.

“You touched stuff,” Ellison said, half joking. He went past Jace, snatched the remote off the couch, and clicked off the television. He started to close the cabinet door and stopped. “You touched more stuff.”

Deni took the framed photo of herself from Jace’s hand. She had to tug at it before he blinked and let it go, as though he’d forgotten he was clutching it so tightly. Deni handed it to Ellison, who restored it to the cabinet, not before giving Jace a sharp look.

“Did you hear what they said?” Deni asked.

“Not well.” Jace released her from the hug and took a firm hold of her hand. “I only saw they didn’t arrest you, thank the Goddess. What happened?”

“They’re interested in what Shifters have been up to lately,” Ellison said. “Very interested. Looking at identification, asking where we’re working, what we’re doing when we’re not.”

“Have to wonder why they’re asking all the sudden,” Jace said. “Right after I arrived. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“Neither do I.” Ellison and Jace shared a grim look. “I hate to say this, but you’d better stay down here awhile. They’re roving Shiftertown, and probably won’t be leaving soon.”

Deni saw the flash in Jace’s eyes, the wild look she saw in herself sometimes. Trapped.

She touched his arm. “I’ll stay here with you.”

Jace’s look changed in an instant to something hungry and raw, his eyes going very light green. “You shouldn’t.”

“You’re hurting.” Deni put her fingers to the red marks around his Collar but she didn’t touch them. “Because of this?”

“I don’t know.” Jace’s hand was sweating, slick against hers. “I think so.”

“I knew Liam was crazy,” Ellison said. “Going on about releasing us from Collars. I’m going to go get Dylan, have him look in on you.”

“Be careful,” Deni said.

Ellison tipped an imaginary cowboy hat. “I’m always careful, ma’am,” he drawled, then went past them and up the stairs.