Twilight Hunter (The Execution Underground) (25 page)

“She’s okay, J. I was right there next to her. She’s probably just helping someone in the pack.”

The air filled with groaning as the members of the pack transitioned into their human form. Shredded clothes covered the floor, destroyed during the transformation.

David grabbed Jace’s face with both his hands and forced him to meet his eyes. “Jace, look at me. We need to get you out of here.”

David’s words melted together as the blood drained from Jace’s face and he passed out again.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I
T
TOOK
EVERY
ounce of strength Jace had in order to crack open his eyes and stare at the ceiling above him. Someone had taken every drop of energy in his body and sucked it out. What the hell had happened to him? He fought to keep his eyes open while he searched his brain.

The blue haze. The wolf. The shadow man. The Berserkers.

Holy shit. He tried to get up but quickly fell back onto the couch where he’d been lying. Damn it. He pushed against the cushions with his elbows. He had to get up.

Where was he? His eyes darted around the room. David’s apartment?

Someone touched his shoulder and urged him to stay down. Shane’s face swam into view, looming over him. “Don’t try getting up. You need to save your strength if you’re going to channel your Skinwalker abilities again.”

Jace gaped. “How in the hell do you know about—”

“I did some research based on what David told me about what happened to you and the symbol up on your back,” Shane interrupted. “We know what you are, and we know that when you tried to shift, you entered the spirit world instead.”

The room spun. Jace covered his face with his hands and tried to steady his breathing. Out of this world. The whole situation was out of this world.

David’s voice carried from the other side of the room. “Hang on, J, and I’ll help you sit up.”

Jace frowned and started trying to get up again.

David limped to Jace’s side and supported him. “Don’t push it. You need to conserve your energy. You have to enter the spirit world again.”

Jace shoved against him. “The hell I do.”

David gripped him by the shoulders and held him firmly in place. “Jace, you have to. It’s our only chance to beat Robert. To save Allsún.” He dug his fingers into Jace’s shoulder blades, his frustration clear on his face. He over-enunciated each word. “I will
not
let you fuck this up. If you don’t do
everything
in your power to find Allsún, I will personally take a hatchet to your head.”

If it were anyone else saying those words, Jace would have punched him to a bloody pulp. Well, if he could have moved without feeling like he was about to topple over, anyway. He examined David’s face, and he knew that underneath the anger, his friend was dying to get back the woman he loved. Damn it. He couldn’t mess this up. “How will going back to the spirit world help me beat Robert?”

Shane raised his hand as if he were answering a question one of his professors had posed. “I did some research once David described what happened to you, and I found all this information about Norse mythology and Berserkers. Most people believe the Berserkers were an elite class of warriors, but the older beliefs are more relevant here. According to this...” He picked up a large book off the floor.

The aged gold lettering glimmered in the light, spelling something out in a language Jace didn’t recognize. Shane flipped through the pages. “Here it is. According to the writer, a Skinwalker must go on a journey with his spirit guide before he can reach his full potential. Then a select few of those Skinwalkers can become Berserker warriors. Is that what happened to you?”

Jace’s jaw clenched. He nodded.

Shane began to pace the room, the large book cradled in his arms. “The only problem is, it doesn’t describe how you become a Berserker and gain the powers of the gods. That’s why you need to go back to the spirit world. You have to find out.”

Jace straightened and brushed David away. “I already know what has to be done.”

Shane stopped pacing and stared at him with eager eyes, and David leaned forward eagerly.

Jace cleared his throat. “There needs to be a blood sacrifice of another Skinwalker. I need to kill a male member of my family.”

A brief moment of silence passed while Shane and David glanced at each other.

Shane let out a long breath. “Shit. We can’t possibly ask you to kill a member of your family.”

David scoffed. He pointed a large finger straight at Shane. “Oh, yes we can.” Turning toward Jace, his eyes filled with determination; he was ready for a fight. “J, you need to track down that deadbeat father of yours and pay him back for all those years of abuse.”

Jace stood slowly and walked across the room. Aside from Frankie, who knew only the bare bones, David was the only one who was aware of his history with his old man. Jace swallowed his anger. “David, I don’t know where he is. I don’t even know if he’s alive. I haven’t seen him since I was a kid.”

Shane slammed the book down on the table. “I’ll get right on that.” He hurried from the room, presumably heading off to find his ever-present laptop.

Silence hung in the air. Jace leaned against the wall, too weak to hold himself up, while David buried his face in his hands.

“I can’t lose her again, J, especially not like this,” David finally said. “I would fight for her myself, if I could. But injured like this...all I’d do is get both of us killed because of my damn pride.” He glanced up at Jace, a look of pure desperation on his face. “You can do this, can’t you?”

“Kill my father?” Jace stared at the wall. The memories of his father beating his mother until she lay sobbing on the kitchen floor invaded his mind.

His father turned his head, directing his anger toward Jace, his eyes glowing gold.

“If I knew where he was, I would’ve done it already.” Jace shook his head. This whole situation was so messed up. “Where’s Frankie? Is she okay?”

“She was fine the last time I saw her. A little shaken up from the whole ordeal, but okay. I think she’s holed up in her apartment. She bolted as soon as you started to come to.”

Pain squeezed Jace’s chest. She hadn’t even bothered to come see him? To make sure he was all right?

I love you, Jace.

Her words had played in his head on a constant loop ever since she’d said them. But now, with her in hiding instead of by his side, doubt crept in.

A deep feeling tugged at Jace’s gut, and he knew he needed to be by her side. Something was wrong. She loved him—didn’t she? Shouldn’t she be here with him? A low growl escaped his throat. What was wrong with him? Why did he care so much?

“I need to see her,” he said.

David straightened. “Jace, you can’t. You need to stay focused right now.”

Without, hesitating, Jace said, “She’s joining me in tracking this sicko. I need to see her. We need to go after him
now
.” He needed to tell her the truth. He’d never said the words back, and he should have.

He shoved himself away from the wall, using all the energy his body had left to get himself out of there. Groaning, he stood up straight and stumbled toward the door.

“J!” David followed behind him as fast as he could. “J, you don’t want to go over there, man. Listen to me.”

Jace left and headed straight for his woman’s apartment.

* * *

F
RANKIE
SAT
WITH
her legs crossed on the edge of her bed. She stared down at the picture in her hands, the faces of her parents blacked out and ruined, and sighed.

Jace is a Skinwalker. A Berserker.

A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of the symbol glowing between Jace’s shoulder blades. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t reconcile the two images, the two feelings couldn’t coexist in her mind. Jace was rough, his temper astronomical and his drinking...insane, but was he really capable of cold-blooded murder? The image of his gun trained on her the first night they met flashed in her mind. Even though he hunted her kind, he hadn’t killed her. So he couldn’t be completely evil...right?

She cursed under her breath. Even if Jace was related to her parents’ killer in some way, she needed his help to rescue Allsún. Damn it. She couldn’t fail her friend, but how could she ally herself with a Skinwalker?

The man she loved and the killer she hated more than anything, members of the same species. She shook her head. Her mother always told her life wasn’t fair, but she’d never said that it could be downright cruel. Frankie had learned that for herself—the hard way.

Running her thumb over the photograph, she tried to remember what her mother’s hair felt like, the feel of her father’s touch, but she couldn’t. Only three years since they’d passed, and already her memories of them were fading. She didn’t know which was worse: the pain of remembering their deaths or the realization that the man she loved might somehow be involved.

She set down the picture. The look of confusion in Jace’s eyes when he’d come out of his trance hadn’t been enough to convince her of his innocence. She’d bolted as fast as she could from the club back to her apartment. Since then, her thoughts had been racing nonstop, and she’d been unable to collect them so she could make any sense of how she felt.

The man I love
.

She cursed herself. She was an idiot, a total fool. How had she missed the connection? His name carved in the girls’ forearms, her apartment being targeted just after she met him, the killer knowing his name, and now the symbol. And what did she get as a result? A man who didn’t love her, the possible murderer of both her family and her people. He hunted her kind. How could she ever love such a man? And yet she did.

A loud knock interrupted her jumbled thoughts. With mechanical movements, she wandered to the door and stared through the peephole. Her heart jumped in her chest.

Jace.

Shit. What was he doing here? Why couldn’t he leave her alone? Obviously she didn’t want to see him or she would have been by his side. She cursed herself.

You told him you loved him last night. How could he possibly know that’s changed?

Another knock, harder this time, and the door rattled in its frame. “Frankie, I know you’re in there. We need to talk.” His voice came loud and clear through the wood, his tone tinged with frustration.

You said, “I love you,” but he never said it back. He
never
said it
.
What does he care if that’s how you feel?

“Frankie, please open the door.” His voice softened, as if his energy had suddenly run out.

She inhaled deeply, slid off the chain lock and opened the door.

Jace was standing in the hallway, leaning against her door frame. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and he looked drained of all energy, but damn him, he was still gorgeous—still perfect in every way. And how could she possibly think that, knowing he might be connected to her parents’ murder?

She turned away and retreated into the apartment.

Following her, Jace stepped inside and shut the door. “We need to talk,” he said.

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the wall. “You already said that when you were out in the hall. But I don’t feel like there’s anything to talk about.”
Unless we count the crazy coincidences or the mounting pile of problems with our names on it.

“Did I do something? You’re angry.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to make her face him.

She pulled away and walked deeper into the apartment. She couldn’t look at him.

He followed behind her, close on her heels. “You didn’t check if I was hurt. I became practically possessed in front of your entire pack, and David said you just ran off afterward.”

Frankie scoffed. He was good, acting like he had absolutely no clue. Complete bullshit, and she knew it. “You’ve made it clear you can get along just fine without me. You don’t need help.”

Jace stepped closer, so close that she could feel the heat of him against her back. He snaked his hand around her waist and gently pulled her against him. “I
can
get along without you, but did I ever say I
wanted
to?”

She pushed his arm off her. What kind of sick person was he, touching her when he knew how she felt? He was the ultimate temptation. Every inch of her wanted to believe him. “Don’t act like that. Not now.”

“Don’t act like what?”

She spun around to face him. “Don’t act like you care, because you don’t.”

He gaped at her. His expression changed from confusion to frustration. “
I don’t care?
How have I not shown that I care? I don’t know what else you can ask of me. I’ve suspended all my beliefs for you.”

Frankie frowned. “Suspended all your beliefs? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He stepped toward her, his volume rising to match her own. “It means that even though I’m a hunter, I’ve worked with you. I’ve learned to shift. I even made love to you.”

She laughed. Made love? He had to be kidding. “Is that what you’re calling it now? Making love? Seemed at the time like you thought of it as just a quick fuck.”

He let out a low growl. “I
never
said that.”

“You didn’t have to.” She shoved against his chest, but he didn’t budge.

He grabbed hold of her wrists, hard enough to hold her still but gentle enough that he didn’t hurt her. She didn’t know why he was keeping on with his ridiculous act. “Can you please tell me what I’ve done, so I can make it right?” Sadness filled his eyes. “What about last night?”

She looked away as she fought to escape his grasp. “How about when you lied to me?”

“Huh? Lied to you? When did I—”

She ripped her hands away from him and stumbled back. “You told me you were half-werewolf, but you’re way more than that. You’re a Skinwalker. Did you think it was amusing to pretend you were a werewolf so you could take advantage of me during my mating cycle?” Her stomach lurched. Damn, it made her sick just to look at him.

“What?” he roared. “You think I would have slept with you if I hadn’t been compelled to do it?”

Frankie’s breath caught, and her stomach felt as if he’d just kicked her in it. Her head spun. A sharp pain stabbed her chest, and the weight of his words hit her like a massive, destructive tidal wave. She backed away from him. Tears rolled down her face, staining her cheeks.

Jace’s eyes widened, as if he’d just realized what he’d said. “Shit. I didn’t mean that. Not like that. Frankie, I—”