“Well, thank you.” Cassidy grabbed the scruff of Jace’s neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You made your auntie happy. And probably saved her life.”
Jace looked surprised, then concerned. “Yeah? What exactly happened?”
Cassidy spent the rest of the cookout filling Jace in on events. He looked sorry he missed them and muttered that it was the last time he ran boring errands for his father. Cassidy tried to mollify him by telling him he’d been key in getting Reid’s people in position in time to save Diego and Cassidy.
Before Cassidy packed her overnight bag and got ready to ride back to Diego’s mother’s house for the night, Reid arrived.
“I owe you a debt,” he said to Cassidy as she went out to the backyard to greet him. “I can never repay it. I will never make up for what I’ve done to you.”
Reid looked more confident now, less beaten down, but shame still rested in his eyes.
“You rescued Diego and me from the Fae,” Cassidy said. “And did that neat trick with the crowbar. What was that?”
Reid shrugged, as though he’d not done anything spectacular. “I’m an iron master.”
“And that means…?”
“I can manipulate iron, make it do anything I want. Only in Faerie. I can’t seem to do the same here. Maybe that’s why I can teleport in the human world-perhaps my skill is manifesting in a different direction.”
“You can make iron do anything you want?” Cassidy asked. “What a great skill to have against people who hate iron. I have the feeling that’s one reason the
Reid nodded. “That and they wanted my territory. I was the biggest obstacle in their way, so they destroyed my family and exiled me. And made certain I’d never make it back.”
Even if Reid had figured out how to open the gate on the ley line, the Fae had tried to make sure he’d die in the attempt to return home. But Diego had sprung the trap instead.
“So, why are you still here?” Cassidy asked. “You made it back to Faerie. You used your iron trick and scared away the Fae. You were home free.”
Reid looked sad again. “I found that my family there is dead and gone, my friends too. The Fae killed them all. I spoke with the new leader for a time and I realized-there’s nothing left there for me. I’ve been gone too long.”
The door to Nell’s house slammed open, and Reid looked next door. His face changed, softening, the arrogance and anger fading.
Cassidy followed his gaze and saw Peigi emerging from the house, her head high, her long-legged stride taking her toward the cookout and party.
“I see,” Cassidy said. “Well, what do you know?”
Reid kept watching Peigi. “I can’t explain it. I don’t care. She needs me.”
“She does.” Cassidy put her hand on Reid’s shoulder. “And you need her.” For the first time, she put her arms around her enemy and drew him close. “Goddess go with you, Stuart Reid.” She stepped back and smiled at him. “Now, go get her.”
The most beautiful sight in the world was Cassidy’s ass bent over the engine of Diego’s car in his mother’s driveway, her shorts baring her long legs as she stretched to tighten something.
Xavier turned from watching what she was doing and looked up at Diego. “You look terrible,” he said. “Should you be out of bed?”
Diego resisted the urge to scratch his arm in its sling, and he was suddenly aware of every abrasion on his body. The deep claw marks he liked, though, because they represented Cassidy trying to free him.
Cassidy looked over her shoulder at Diego. Grease on a nose had never looked so sexy before.
“I heard your engine ticking when I drove your car back here last night,” she said. “I thought I’d give you a tune-up.”
“She’s amazing.” Xavier gazed at Cassidy with great respect. “She’s working on my truck next.”
“Shifters have learned to be good with cars,” Cassidy said, bending over the engine again. Diego could watch her all day.
Xavier looked from Diego to Cassidy and back again. He wiped off his good hand and tossed down the rag. “Just remembered, I need to go help Mamita with… that thing. You know… that thing… Right.” He turned away and faded into the house.
“He’s transparent,” Cassidy said. She gave whatever bolt she was turning one last twist and straightened. “Want to start it up?”
Diego slid into the driver’s seat, found his keys already in the ignition, and cranked on the engine. The T-Bird purred.
Cassidy gave him a thumbs-up, then slammed the hood closed and snatched up the rag Xavier had dropped. Diego listened to the engine a few more seconds, then shut it off and climbed painfully out of the car.
“You have grease on your nose,” Diego said.
“Oh.” Cassidy swiped at it.
“You’re making it worse. Let me.”
Diego took a handkerchief out of his pocket and put it, plus what was wrapped in it, into Cassidy’s hand. Cassidy started when she felt the weight on her palm and looked at him in surprise.
“Open it,” he said.
Cassidy peeled back the handkerchief, stared at the little velvet box resting in her hand, and then opened it.
The diamonds inside caught on the intense sunshine, throwing little spangles onto Cassidy’s fingers. Her eyes widened. “What is this?”
Diego plucked the ring from the box as she held it and started to slide the ring onto her finger.
Cassidy jerked away. “My hands are dirty.”
“You won’t hurt it.” Diego gently took her hand again. “This is the human way, Cass. Instead of mate-claims, mating frenzy, and mate bonds, we say,
“Marry.” She looked up at him in near panic. “But Shifters can’t marry…”
Diego slid the ring firmly onto her finger. “I don’t give a damn about human rules. We’ll do this the Shifter way if we have to. You said you wanted to reject my mate-claim, right? Well, I talked to Eric this morning, and he told me that even if a female rejects a mate-claim, the male can make it again. So I’m making it. I’ll keep on making it until you tell me yes.”
Cassidy’s breath caught. “Diego, I told you why I said no. To protect you. So you won’t have to give up your career…”
Diego took her hand and held it. “Listen to me. I talked for a long time with your brother, and then with Mamita and Xav. I can still do my job. If my captain gets bent out of shape because I’m with a Shifter and fires me, Eric has offered to let me become one of his trackers. I can help him out when he has to deal with humans. To be honest, I’ve lost faith in the human system that lets good Shifters be killed and violent drug runners escape without pursuit. Maybe I can do what I’m meant to do, but on the Shifter side instead.”
“But there’s the age difference,” Cassidy said. “I worked the underground in World War Two. Your mom wasn’t even born then.”
“And I want to hear all those great stories. Jace told me this Fionn Cillian he met can do spells or whatever that lengthen a human life to match a Shifter. Maybe I don’t have as many
Cassidy’s look was stunned, as though someone had smacked her between the eyes, and she didn’t yet know how to react.
Diego slid his good arm around her shoulders. “This is something you might understand better. Cassidy Warden, second of Shiftertown, I claim you as mate.”
Her lips parted, as though to deny him again, and Diego kissed her. “Say yes,” he said. “Don’t push me away, Cassidy. I’ll keep coming back until you give me the answer I want.”
