“But it knocked you out on your boat.”
Amusement entered his dark eyes. “Not so much. It was the only way to get over to this ship and commandeer it.”
“You faked it?” Rae’s anger surged to mix with her relief. “Why didn’t you tell me? Here I was all worried about you.”
“Were you?” Zander shot her a grin. “Aw, that’s sweet. See, we need to get to the mainland and my boat doesn’t have enough fuel or stamina to make it.” He patted a beam above him. “But this one does.”
“Hey, I can’t just let you take over the boat,” Miles said.
Zander studied him. “True. You could fight me. You’d lose, but you can try. Then I can either lock you into one of the cages below or let you stay up here and help me sail this tank.”
Miles sized him up, calculating his odds. “Where are you heading?”
“The lower forty-eight, though we can dock in Canada if we have to. I know people in Vancouver.”
“Of course you do,” Rae muttered.
Zander heard her, and his lips twitched. “How about it . . . whatever you are. Follow me? Or hunker in a cage trying to keep yourself from screaming every time you touch Fae metal? You’re only part Shifter so it might not affect you as much, but I bet it will sting.”
“Who are you off to kill?” Miles asked, his eyes hard.
Zander looked surprised. “No one. I’m a healer, not a killer. Right now, I need to heal a sword.”
Miles’s suspicion deepened. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Sword of the Guardian. Haven’t you heard of them? Rae, show him.”
Rae wasn’t certain she should drag out the broken sword and display it to a Shifter who hunted other Shifters but she went to the locker where Carson had put it. A sift through his keys let her find the right one after a few false tries, and she opened the cupboard. She removed the broken top piece of the sword and held it up.
The blade flashed in the dim light but Rae heard no hum, saw no impish glitter of the runes. Dead.
Miles’s gaze went to it, his face screwing up as though he tried to remember something.
“My mom used to tell me stories when I was little,” he said. “Something about a magic sword that healed Shifters.”
“Doesn’t heal us,” Rae answered. She thought about Ezra’s father, drifting down into dust. “The sword frees our souls. I suppose that’s healing, in a way. Sends us out of pain into the afterlife.”
“I thought they were just stories,” Miles said. “My mom also talked about mists and passages to other worlds. I figured she had a wild imagination.”
“Didn’t she tell you about the Fae?” Rae asked him.
“Not really. I didn’t grow up Shifter. My dad was human. He was a good guy. I tried to be like him. My mom didn’t expect me to be like other Shifters, so we didn’t talk about it much. I don’t even know what Fae means.”
“Must be nice,” Zander said. “Lesson one: Fae are evil shits. Lesson two . . .” He stopped. “Nope. That’s about it, really.”
Rae slid the blade into the sheath inside her coat, where the bottom half already rested. “I need to have it fixed. That means we don’t have time to let someone like this Carson guy capture us.”
“Come with us?” Zander asked Miles again.
Miles’s dark eyes held anger and uncertainty. “Go with you to what—find a bunch of Shifters? They’re killers.”
“Not all of them,” Zander said. “Some are annoying as hell, but they’re not deadly. Well . . . not usually.”
Rae sent him a glare. “Not helping.”
Zander ignored her. “The thing is, Miles—you gotta take Shifters as they are. Humans are just as deadly to each other, more so, in my opinion. Shifters fight for territory or their cubs and mates, maybe even for revenge, but not so much nowadays.”
“I’ve seen them battle,” Miles said, scowling. “I’ve seen them slaughter. So don’t be telling me Shifters are touchy-feely, warm-fuzzy do-gooders.”
Miles had obviously had a bad experience, but he couldn’t have from any Shifters Rae had known. Shifters did get into fighting frenzy, needing to work off steam, but that’s why they had the fight clubs.
Zander turned his head and sent Rae a meaningful look. “So what do you think, Rae? Someone needs a hug?”
Rae did. She was aching for Zander’s touch to soothe her and stop the shivering inside her. If he put his arms around her and pulled her against his strong body, she knew everything would be all right.
He wasn’t talking about her though. “Yeah, I agree,” she said. “But I don’t think Miles is going to let you near him.”
“Why not?” Zander’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong with me? Okay, I probably smell a little right now but that’s his fault for letting Carson lock me up in a cage.”
Miles looked back and forth between them. “What are you guys talking about? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Come on.” Zander opened his arms wide. “You’ll feel better and you know it.”
“Zander,” Rae said as Miles backed away. “He might be more friendly if you weren’t standing there with your junk out.”
“Yeah?” Zander kept his eyes on Miles. “I don’t think that’s the problem. You really are afraid of Shifters, aren’t you?”
“After what I’ve seen them do? You bet.” Miles backed away faster, nearly tripping over Carson’s inert body.
Zander drove Miles backward, heading him directly for Rae. Rae understood what Zander wanted her to do. She caught Miles when he found himself pinned and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Miles reached for his pistol but Rae was in the way.
Zander gathered Miles into a crushing bear hug. His arms took in Rae as well, squashing all three of them together.
Miles did fight. Rae sensed the terrible fear in him, which went beyond reason. Zander didn’t overpower him; he simply stood in place, the bulk of him impossible to move.
Rae felt the tingle of Goddess magic in Zander, the incredible power that let him heal. He was healing Miles, she realized. Digging into whatever horror Miles had witnessed, easing his memory of it, helping him release it.