Jessica … static … can you hear me…
I jumped out of Rourke’s grasp like I’d been stuck with a cattle prod. My hands flew to my head and I turned in a circle. Dad? Is that you? Hope ran through me. I can barely hear you.
I’m coming … buzzing … I’m injured … in the lead … rogue wolves … right behind us…
Are you in New Orleans? I held my breath.
Yes … soon…
Then the signal went dead.
Dad! Dad, can you hear me? I shouted in my mind.
No response.
We’ll be ready for you!
Emotion welled in my throat. I hadn’t seen my father since before I’d left to find Rourke. He’d clearly been running in his wolf form. He was alive, but he was injured.
Rourke’s face was grim. “Your father?”
“Yes,” I said. “He’s injured and the fracture pack is close behind. If he’s hurt, there must’ve been a battle already. He also said he’s in the lead, ahead of his Pack. That means they think he’s weak. If he stops running, one of them could challenge him for status. He’s leading everyone here. If Nick was able to reach James, that could be the reason why. If either of them shifted, they may have been able to get him the message.”
“Did he say how close he was?”
“No, but he said soon. The signal was buzzing and cracking. Do you understand how internal communication works? It’s a mystery to me.”
Rourke shook his head. “It’s been a long time since I could talk to another internally,” he said, switching to my mind. But if I had to guess, your brain is connected to your Pack, or mate, as we’ve just found, and it sends out waves of some kind. It makes sense that when you’re fighting or hurt or distracted, those waves get interrupted. We’ll have to prove it sometime. He smiled. See if we can talk while we … get distracted.
He’d come close and I leaned my forehead against his chest. “He just has to be okay.”
Rourke’s hand slid around to the back of my neck and his fingers caressed me lightly. “He’s one of the strongest Alphas on the planet. He’s alive and that’s the most important thing. You did the right thing by blowing up the barrier. He’ll get here, and when he does, he will have access to finding us. Access he wouldn’t of had otherwise.”
What Rourke said was true, but it didn’t lessen my angst. “We need to move. It’s time to go find Ray,” I said. As I stepped back and turned, Rourke caught my arm.
“Wait for a second,” he said, his voice earnest. “Jessica, you have to know you’re not alone in this. I’m not going anywhere. Ever. I’ll stand by your side and we’ll take care of this threat together, just like the last one—and just like the next one. We’re stronger than the opposition.” A low growl escaped his throat. “What you did to Valdov was nothing short of spectacular. You’re incredibly strong and capable, and as a team, we can be invincible. The demons and sorcerers don’t have a real chance against us.”
I wanted to believe him, but I still had the habit of thinking like a human. Rourke sensed my trepidation and brought his arms up and flexed, his T-shirt bunching ridiculously over his well-defined muscles. The flowing lines of his tattoos wound their way up to his biceps like beautiful vines.
“Very funny,” I said, pushing at his chest. “No need to grandstand. I know you’re strong.”
“No, I’m serious. I want you to feel them.” He leaned into me and I acquiesced. The pads of my fingers prodded the muscle. They were like steel. No give. I let the palm of my hand flow over his smooth skin and I tried not to sigh.
“It feels like armor,” I contended. “Very strong.”
“Exactly. This is to show you not all supernaturals are created equal. If we were, it would be chaos all the time.” He put his arms down and wound his warm hands around my middle, pulling me toward him one last time. “Equality would mean constant status fights against every Sect. We have hierarchies in place for a reason. The most dangerous supernaturals are those who try to advance their station. Selene, who wanted ultimate immortality. Valdov, who wanted to be the Vampire King. Those are the supes who will fight to the death. But Tally, who is arguably one of the strongest witches in the world, is not a threat to us unless we attack. Why do you think that is?”
That was a good question. “I don’t know. Why?” Rourke let go of me and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the room.
“Because power respects power. For eons supernaturals have coexisted in this world together. If there was truly only one who was the strongest of them all, we would have a King or a Queen of all supernaturals. But we don’t.”
“But isn’t that exactly why everyone is so upset about me? They think I could finally be that Queen. The supernatural who is finally strong enough to rule everyone.”