Mika gasped, her hand tightening around his.
“I was shocked, I couldn’t move. Remy starts ranting about how this guy swindled him out of money. One of those investment scams or some shit, I don’t even remember what it was. We were leavin’ when we hear this cry down the hallway.”
The room was still and silent, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. “We walk over and there was this nursery. The baby was wailin’, and Remy hands me the gun and tells me to take care of it while he waited in the car.” He closed his eyes, not wanting to see Mika’s face. “I walked up to this infant and I pointed the gun, but I couldn’t do it.” The anguish at what he’d nearly done ate at him. “I’d already killed her parents—”
“You didn’t, Marc.” His eyes flew open and he could see the fury and determination on her face. “Remy pulled the trigger, not you.”
“But if it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have gotten in.”
“What happened?” Jacob asked.
“I took the baby and ran,” he said. “Took it as far away as I could. Ended up in the next parish.” It was the farthest he’d ever traveled in the shadows. “I left it at the nearest hospital, then I called Nick Vrost to get me out of there.”
“The favor,” Mika finished. “For saving Xavier’s life.”
He nodded. “But I had to get to New York first. I hitchhiked east with nothin’ but the clothes on my back, eating food from dumpsters. I was just outside New Jersey when I found a way to call Vrost, and he picked me up.”
“So, Remy wants you back?” Wyatt asked.
“Or dead?” Jacob added.
“They sent the shooter that night, but today, Alphonse said I would be coming with them,” Delacroix said.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Mika said. “Why try to kill you and then nab you later?”
“Perhaps they changed their minds,” Daric offered. “It’s obvious they’ve been watching you, Delacroix. They knew to follow you to the carnival and take Lizzie to make you obey.”
“What do we do now?” Cliff asked.
“We’ll report them to the Lycan High Council,” Wyatt said, his nostrils flaring. “They’ll mete out the proper punishment for the Lycans that hurt Lizzie, and then Remy will have to submit to their investigation.”
“That will have to wait until morning.” Mika stood up. “For now, let’s all go home and rest up. Marc?” Her eyes narrowed at him. “Everything all right?”
“It’s fine, cher,” he said. “Everything’s fine.”
But he knew it wasn’t fine. Remy was after him for some reason, and he knew his former Alpha wasn’t going to stop until he had what he wanted. The Lycan High Council had never stopped him before, and it wasn’t going to now. He would send his people after him, as many as it took to take Delacroix in.
If he only had himself to worry about, then it wouldn’t have mattered, but now he had Mika to think about, and if he hadn’t yet, Remy would eventually figure out who she was to him. She couldn’t be killed, but there were worst things than death, especially for females as he’d seen with Lizzie tonight. No, he couldn’t let anything bad happen to her; he’d die first.
She’s going to hate me, he thought, as a plan formed in his head. But he could apologize later. If he managed to get back to her alive.
Chapter Fifteen
Mika knew the moment her eyes opened that something was wrong. It was still dark, but her entire body was fully alert. Her wolf, it seemed, had woken her up, urging her to get out of bed. The space beside her was empty, but Delacroix’s scent still lingered there, faint, as if he’d been up for a while. When her ears picked up the sound of the front doorknob turning, she got up as quick as her body would allow and dashed out to the living room.
“You’re leaving.”
Delacroix’s body froze as he stood by the door, which was already halfway open. “It’s not what you think, cher.”
“Oh, yeah?” She marched over to him and poked his back with her finger. “You’re all dressed up, you have a bag packed, and it’s the middle of the fucking night!” Grabbing his shoulder, she forced him to face her. “So, tell me what the hell I’m thinking.”
“I have to go.”
“Go where? And without telling me?”
“I was going to call you …”
“When? When you were halfway to Louisiana?” The look in his eyes told her she guessed his destination right.
He raked his palm down his face. “Mika, you don’t know Remy. The council won’t stop him. Nothing will, not until he gets what he wants.”
“And so, you’re going to serve yourself up to him? Just like that?” Her voice shook with anger. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“Because I can’t let him get to you!” His hands gripped her upper arms. “You don’t know what he’ll do. He didn’t even care about that child. He would have had me kill an innocent baby … who knows what he’ll do to you when he finds out what you are to me?”
“What am I to you?” she spat back. “Because I don’t feel like I matter at all, not if you’re sneaking out in the middle of night, abandoning me—”
“Mon Dieu, Mika, I can’t let anything happen to you. I love you too Goddamn much. I’m not as strong as you. If I lose you and the pup …” He choked. “I wouldn’t be able to go on.”
“Marc.” Oh God, he loved her. And she … “Marc, nothing will happen to me, you know that.” She reached up to cup her
