Chapter 21

Shay

It relieved me I felt no pain when Jayce’s thick pointer finger entered. I was more nervous about that at first than about sharing such an intimate moment with him.

After Jayce licked my pussy juices from his finger, I nearly begged him to bury his face in her.

Knowing we still have fourteen weeks gives me the strength to resist. We need to take this slowly.

I’ve never prayed to any god, but tonight I said a prayer to Helios that his mate’s clock won’t tick in the next fourteen weeks.

If I’m going to love and lose, I need the memory of perfect love making with Jayce.

Once I lose him to her, I’ll spend the rest of my days traveling and writing, hoping to forget him.

“Are you hungry? I made you a sandwich,” Jayce says, interrupting my daydreaming.

“I actually am.” I crawl out of my new bed and slip into a pair of shorts.

My phone rings before I can take a bite. Priscilla bursts through the door at the same time with a panic-stricken look across her face.

I answer the phone because I don’t want to leave whoever’s on the other end hanging.

“Ms. Martin?”

“This is she.”

“This is Lieutenant Jenkins with the Saint Tammany Sherriff’s Department. Your apartment was broken into last night. We’ve been searching for you and your roommate to verify you weren’t hurt or missing.”

Cill paces while I listen to the officer.

“I’m staying with some friends across the lake. I’m definitely safe.”

“Do you have any idea who might have done this?”

I glance at Jayce. He shakes his head in warning to keep my mouth shut. I say nothing.

“Wasn’t your roommate recently kidnapped?”

“Yes, yes, she was.” My heart climbs back up into my chest a little at that reminder. Maybe it’s that loon and not the goons, claiming our father promised we’d mate with one of them.

“Nathan Dander is our primary suspect, but we’re looking into all possibilities.”

“Thank you. Thank you for checking on us, but we’re fine. With him still at large, we’ve been staying with friends.”

“That’s wise, ma’am. We will keep you updated on the case.”

Once I end the call, Cill rushes into my arms.

“I’ve already called Frank and Peter. They’re going to go by the apartment in the morning with a moving company,” Anjal tells us.

“Why can’t I go? I want to see what they did. Whoever it was?” My plea comes out in a whine.

Jayce shakes his head. “It could be a trap. That herd has your scent—all our scents. They will smell you in your apartment or on our vehicles when they are outside of the labyrinth. It’s too risky.”

“Won’t hiring a moving company they can bribe to find us be just as dangerous?” My writer’s brain is thinking of all angles.

Anjal picks up his phone without a word. I’m assuming to cancel the moving truck.

An image of my parents’ mangled bodies pops into my head. “What about our parents?”

“Frank and Peter have been watching them since the eclipse,” Jayce informs me.

I could kill him for not telling me, but instead I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips to his.

“Tell Peter and Frank to leave the furniture. Except my writing desk. Everything else came with the apartment.”