“I know this is going to sound crazy but we’re pretty sure Arin just had a conversation with a bear.”
Race’s hand tightened around hers and she realized she was clenching his so tight her knuckles were white. Arin had started to babble, jumping up and down in the pack, as if he understood what they were saying.
Which he couldn’t. He was a baby. Her baby.
Cole’s eyebrows lifted but he didn’t show any other sign of shock. As if people told him babies communicated with wild animals all the time. “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”
Mara was starting to think the beginning went back a lot further than her arrival here at the den.
Race felt the change in Mara as soon as the last word left Cole’s lips.
She tensed, as if he’d said something shocking. Or he’d threatened to kick her and Arin out.
Cole wouldn’t do it. But, of course, Mara didn’t know that. She hadn’t been here long enough to know Cole had a heart. Unlike every other man she’d ever known.
Instead of answering Cole, he turned so he could look directly at Mara. “Hey. We’ll figure it out. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Mara’s mouth pursed and he waited for her to shake her head, to deny him. Instead she signed, “Let me have Arin.”
Cole and Dorian waited silently while he undid the pack so Mara could lift the baby off his back. But once she had Arin out of his snowsuit, Cole stepped into the room and held out his arms. “May I?”
Race wondered if Mara would balk at handing over the baby but she gave Cole a small smile and a nod before holding out a smiling Arin.
“Hello, little man.” Cole took the baby as if he were an old pro. Race wasn’t surprised. Sometimes he didn’t think there wasn’t anything Cole couldn’t handle. “Sounds like you had a busy day.”
Arin gurgled and smiled and made all the noises Race was used to hearing the baby make. Which made him look to Mara. Today was the first time she’d heard the sound of her son’s voice. The wonderstruck look on her face made him bound and determined to make sure no one ever took another thing from her.
“Race.” Cole’s voice held a note of amusement. “Anything else you can tell me?”
He shook his head, not in answer but to clear his thoughts. Then he forced himself to think. But Mara beat him to an answer. She tapped her hands together to get Cole’s attention then began to sign until Cole made an apologetic face.
“I’m sorry, Mara. My signing just isn’t good enough.”
In the next second, Dorian held out a whiteboard and marker with an eraser attached by a string.
Race shook his head. Was there nothing Dorian didn’t think of?
He made a mental note to ask her where she’d gotten that then read what Mara had written.
There were squirrels at his window the other day. Five of them staring at him. I thought it was strange but I lived in the city all my life. Maybe country squirrels are different.
Cole nodded, still smiling at Arin as the baby put his chubby little hands on Cole’s cheeks and patted them, smiling the whole time. “Actually, the squirrels around here aren’t too keen on getting close to us. The whole predator-prey thing tends to keep them scarce.”
Great. So that meant another episode with Arin as a damn Doctor Doolittle…
Or not a doctor at all.
Shit.
Cole met his gaze. Obviously the king had already come to the same conclusion.
Mara touched his arm and he grabbed her hand before she could move away.
She signed “What?” with one hand.
Vaffanculo
, he did
not
want to have this conversation here and now. But the look in Cole’s eyes meant he was going to be overruled on this one. He looked back at Mara, the slightest hint of fear starting to creep into those wide eyes. Would he ever see her without that fear?
His jaw locked. He shot Cole another look, one that warned him to be careful. One that should have put his back up. The king gave him a wry grin.
“Mara, what do you know about Arin’s father?”
Cole should’ve just taken a knife and stuck it in Race’s stomach. Mara looked sucker-punched and the blood drained from her face.
No one, not even Grace, had brought up Arin’s father since she’d been here. When Arin had been born without the intact cowl marking him
Malandante
, everyone had breathed a sigh of relief.
Mara’s baby would not be drawn to the dark side of magic. But beyond that, no one had thought to ask if there was anything else they should know about his biological father.
Race reacted without thought. He turned her toward the couch and guided her down onto the cushions. He sat beside her, not about to move while they had this conversation.
To his surprise, she didn’t move away from him. And when she laced her fingers through his, he clasped her hand tight and felt her return the squeeze.
Cole watched everything with a sharp eye but his expression showed nothing.
She only held on for a few seconds then released him to write again.
What do you want to know? As far as I know, he was
Mal
. Nothing more. And not very strong. But then everything he told me may be a lie.
“Did you notice anything different about him?”
She sighed.
Yes. He treated me well.
If Race ever came face-to-face with the bastard who made her look like this just by thinking about him, he was going to tear him apart with his teeth. Slowly.
Dorian appeared to be thinking the very same thing. The
praetorian
’s scowl promised retribution.
Cole walked to the chair opposite the couch and sat with Arin on his lap, alternately clapping his hands and grabbing at Cole’s hands, which the king obligingly held out for the baby to play with. “I understand that this entire situation sucks. If we find him, you have my promise that he’ll pay. But right now, anything at all could help us figure out what’s going on with Arin.”
Another sigh then Mara shook her head.
There’s nothing. He was an average guy with minimal power even though he’d been born
Mal
. He was never going to be anything other than Ettore’s pawn. He had a minor affinity for earth but the man couldn’t manage a workable spell.
Cole nodded. “Okay. And there’s nothing in your family, like a
fauni
ancestor, who could account for it?”
Another denial from Mara.
“Then I’d like to send you to see someone who may be able to tell you what’s going on.”
“And you think there is something going on?” Race asked.
Cole’s steady gaze met his and Race bit back a profane curse at the certainty he saw on the other man’s face.
He felt Mara shift beside him and he turned. “I’m going with you.”
The fear was back in her eyes and he’d do anything to wipe that away forever. He’d defy Cole for that. Might as well just hand his pelt over to her right now. Knowing full well she probably wouldn’t take it.
Why would she? They didn’t know each other well enough.
But then the fear retreated from her eyes and she smiled up at him for several long seconds. When she finally looked away, he felt as if he’d been smashed on the head with a two-by-four.
Vaguely he realized she’d picked up the whiteboard.
Where do we have to go?
Arin was down for the night and Mara had just closed the door behind Kaisie and Grace, who had stopped by to make sure everything was okay.
Mara had smiled and said of course, they were fine. Race had held up a corner of the living room, arms crossed over his chest. He hadn’t said much but he hadn’t made Grace or Kaisie suspicious.
The story of her son’s encounter with the bear hadn’t left Cole’s house. She had asked Cole to keep it secret until they knew what was going on and he’d agreed. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or even more worried about his agreement.
Arin had fallen asleep after a short feeding and a little rocking, not at all out of sorts. As if nothing momentous had taken place today.
And maybe nothing had. Maybe they were making a mountain out of a molehill.
Sure. Bears always sat and had conversations with babies. And totally ignored the adults.
It made no sense and she couldn’t believe she’d managed to convince Grace that everything was fine. Maybe she hadn’t. Maybe Grace had simply decided to cut her some slack.
She needed a little slack. A little breathing room.
But not too much.
Where’s Race?
She realized it was a thought she had several times a day. She’d grown so used to his presence that when she couldn’t find him, she felt…lonely.
Now he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
A sharp pain struck her dead center in her chest. Had he left? Without saying anything?
No, he wouldn’t do that.
Would he?
She didn’t know him all that well. What she did know was that she felt safe with him.
And when he kissed her…
She definitely shouldn’t be thinking about that kiss. She had too many other things going on in her life. She should be thinking about what she was going to do with her life when she left the den. She’d have to get a job. She had no money. She owned absolutely nothing, not even the clothes on her back. They’d been bought by Grace.
She had a high school education only because Ettore had employed a tutor for her and Lia who helped her get her GED. She had no head for numbers, but she wasn’t stupid.
Still, she wouldn’t be able to survive without help. And that made her furious. And terrified. And embarrassed.
“Mara. What’s wrong?”
She turned with a gasp, her hand going to her chest.
Race stood in the open front door, wearing a frown, a pair of jeans and not much else. He held a shirt in his hands but she had the almost overwhelming urge to grab it and stuff it in the disposal in the sink and grind it to tiny bits.
Blessed Mother Goddess, the man had a body sculpted by the deities. She’d never felt this way about a guy. Not even the father of her son. That man—she refused to even think his name—had been the first man to show her simple affection. She’d been attracted to him, had soaked up his apparent kindness. She’d given him her virginity and never realized he’d been playing her the entire time.
All because Ettore had wanted her to be a breeding machine.
She lifted her hands. “Where were you?”
His eyes narrowed as he watched her hands before he nodded and lifted his gaze back to hers. “Out for a run. I wanted to check the forest, make sure everything’s okay.”
Then he pulled his shirt over his head and she nearly asked him to take it off again.
“Something happen?”
He strode across the room to her, stopping only inches away and again she was struck by his size. He made her feel tiny. And as if nothing could get at her if he stood by her side. Or in front of her.
Looking up into those dark, dark eyes, she wondered if he knew how she felt about him. If he knew she wanted him to kiss her again. To take her out of herself for just a little while.
Was that so awful? Arin was safe and sound asleep in the little bedroom next to hers. Arin had outgrown the bassinet, and the queen-size bed in her room didn’t leave room for the crib.
She wasn’t sure Race would fit in her bed. And if he did, he’d take up most of it.
And that would be okay.
A muscle began to jump in his jaw and she reached out to run a finger along the rough stubble on his cheeks. He had perpetual five o’clock shadow. It added to the air of danger surrounding him.
With any other man, it would’ve turned her off, made her run the other way.
With Race…it drew her closer.
She took a step forward until only inches separated them. She wanted him to kiss her again but he seemed dead set against it. He held stock-still, his only movements that still-twitching muscle in his jaw and the increasingly labored rise and fall of his chest.
Was he as affected by her as she was by him? He’d kissed her last night then pushed her away. What would happen if she kissed him right now?
She wanted to ask him but she knew he wouldn’t be able to understand all of it and she didn’t want him to misunderstand her in any way.
So how did she show him what she wanted?
Should she rise onto her tiptoes and press her lips against his? Last night he’d kissed her. Maybe she needed to show him just how much she wanted him.
“Are you sure?”
His voice startled her and her gaze flew from his lips to his eyes.
“Just nod or shake your head. I don’t want any misunderstandings. If you don’t want to kiss me, shake your head. If you do, nod—”