Moira Rogers - Crux

“I don’t have any answers.” He lifted one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “If Charles could start over at this point, I think he would. But he’d have to find new parents, cast the necessary spells during pregnancy, and then wait for those children to grow up like us. He just doesn’t have time.”

She shivered. “I think you should go to New York. Go check on Eddie. Talk to the Conclave, tell them what you know. And…let us deal with the rest of it.” Let us kill the only man who’s ever been a father to you. It was the only way they’d be safe. She had no sympathy in her for Charles and his insanity, not after what he’d done to her parents, to Marcus’s parents, to Steven —

“If they’d allow me to speak, I’d like to.”

“We’ll find a way. When it’s all over, maybe you could help me learn how to deal with this stuff. How to understand what I’m feeling.”

“I can try.” He smiled again, and there was less pain in the expression. “It’s not like I have a lot of other things on my plate right now.”

“Sure you do. You get to decide what you want to do with your life. All those things you didn’t get to think about when you were responsible for the legacy of an entire race.”

“Funny,” he murmured, his eyes drifting shut. “This way seems a lot scarier.”

She stroked his cheek lightly and brushed a strand of dark hair away from his forehead, protective tenderness rising in her. “Yeah, I’m familiar with that feeling. But my friends are good people, Marcus. They’ll understand.” At least, she hoped they would. “They’ll help us both. We may be weirdly orphaned, big shapeshifting cats, but we’re not alone.”

He opened his eyes again, but didn’t look at her. “You’re not, anyway.”

Mackenzie considered saying something sympathetic. She considered trying to reassure him.

Instead she frowned and dug her elbow into his side. “Hey, I said you had me, and I meant it. If I can forgive you for chasing me through five cities and pretty much destroying my life, you can man up and forgive yourself. So stop whining and get ready to get your ass to New York so you can get your…friend back.” Or whatever the hell Eddie is to you.

He grunted. “Okay.” After a second, he rubbed his side. “That hurt.”

She choked on a laugh. “I guess I’m super strong now. It’s your fault for not teaching me how to avoid hurting people with it.”

“We can work on that too.”

“Mmm.” She closed her eyes to keep from checking the clock again. “Later. Go back to sleep, Marcus. I’m sure we’re not going to have a lot of time to sleep once they get here.”

She must have dozed off. She remembered staring at the wall and fighting the urge to check the clock a dozen times, but at some point she fell asleep, because she jerked awake when she heard the quiet knock at the door.

Marcus woke a second later, but she’d already tumbled off the bed, her attention focused on the door, on the familiar scent outside it and the soft sound of Nick’s voice as she mumbled something.

“Mackenzie—”

She ignored Marcus’s warning and bolted to the door, her hands shaking as she tore at the chain lock. “It’s them, I can hear them, I can smell them—” Oh God, and that might be the most disturbing thing ever .

But it didn’t matter. She clawed at the lock and yanked open the door. Jackson stood there, looking bone-weary but relieved to see her. She ignored everyone else and flung herself at him, winding her arms around him as she nuzzled her face against his neck.

“Kenzie.” His arms locked around her, and he lifted her off her feet. “Are you okay?” He spoke quietly but urgently. “Are you really okay?”

“I am now.” She whispered the words against his jaw and dragged her head back so she could stare at him. “Are you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” He looked past her and his face hardened. “Marcus Foster, I guess.”

“That’s him,” Nick confirmed. “We met several years ago.”

Marcus straightened his shirt and took a deep breath. “I remember. Hello.”

“Jackson.” She tightened her fingers in his hair and forced his gaze back to her. “Don’t. He had no idea what was going on. When he found out, he risked his life to get me out.”

Nick stepped past them both and favored Marcus with a small smile and an outstretched hand. “Call me Nick. Want to go downstairs for a drink with me and Alec?”

Marcus cleared his throat. “Mackenzie?”

She turned her head and met his eyes, recognizing the nervousness and indecision, and underneath the slightest bit of protective concern. “Nick will take care of you.” Her cheeks heated, but it didn’t stop her. “Did you guys get a room? Jackson and I need to talk, I think.”

Nick coughed. “We will be on an entirely different floor. Trust me on that.”

Oh, yeah. She was blushing now. A different heat curled through her, spurred on by the proximity of Jackson’s body and sheer, giddy relief at having him safe in her arms. “Okay. Yeah, you can go with them, Marcus. I’ll be okay.” I’ll be wonderful. I’ll be perfect .

Marcus nodded and grabbed his shoes. “I’ll be at the bar or—or wherever.” He hurried to follow Nick and slammed the door behind him.

Mackenzie drew in a breath and turned back to meet Jackson’s eyes again. “I think they think I’m going to—”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his forehead and sighed. “We need to talk about what’s happened, I guess.”

“God, Jackson.” She stepped forward and curled her arms around him, soothed instinctively by the warmth of his body and the steady beat of his heart. Holding him felt different now, probably because of the senses she couldn’t control yet. The jumble of scents was hard to sort through, but the sharp, metallic smell of blood was unmistakable, and it made her tense. “Promise me you’re okay, first.”

“What? Oh. It’s not my blood.” His fingers wove into her hair, and his eyes darkened. “I can’t talk about it right now. If I start thinking about it…”

“Shh.” She kissed the pulse beating too fast in his neck. “We’re here. We’re safe. We can talk later. We have a later now—”

His mouth cut off the rest of her words, and he lifted her again. When he lowered her this time, she felt the softness of the bed against her back. His lips stayed on hers, coaxing and caressing. His tongue traced the corner of her mouth and dove inside to stroke over her teeth and tongue.

He kissed her with an expertise that set her heart to racing and shot heat through her. There was nothing slow or tentative about his kiss, nothing of the shy, cautious gentleman who’d taken such pains not to cross any lines before. His tongue teased at hers until she moaned in pleasure, and he responded by easing one thigh between hers and rocking against her.

Finally, he raised his head. “I’ve been wanting to do that for days.”

Mackenzie panted for breath as she slid her hands into his hair. “Only days?”

Jackson kissed the inside of her wrist and chuckled. “Since the last time I saw you. I’m pretty sure I had already told you how much I wanted to kiss you before that.”

“The last time you saw me, I was half naked and getting the hell kissed out of me.” She rocked her hips, rubbing against his thigh with a soft moan. “God damn it, Jackson, if you tell me you’re not going to violate me in about ten different ways, I’m going to use my newly discovered superstrength to kick your ass .”

“You were mostly naked,” he corrected. His hand eased under her shirt, and a crooked smile curved his lips. “I remember it pretty damn clearly.”