Shadowed (Dark Protectors) Read Free Page A

closer. “That’s sweet.”
    Yeah. It was. She sat on the rug and gave each injured kid some time. Even wounded, even scarred, they somehow glowed under her attention. An uncomfortable yearning filled his chest. What he wouldn’t give to feel that warmth. “Brenna has always been sweet,” Jase murmured.
    “I know.” Kane fidgeted.
    Kane never fidgeted.
    “What?” Jase asked, steeling his shoulders.
    “This isn’t a good idea.” Kane buttoned his leather jacket. “And you know it.”
    “There’s no alternative.” Jase left his jacket open because he rarely felt the cold. In fact, he rarely felt anything. “If she doesn’t mate, she’ll die.”
    Kane shook his head. “Chances are she’s going to die anyway. The last doctor report showed it might be too late to reverse the effects of the planekite.”
    A chill that had nothing to do with the Dublin winter slithered down Jase’s spine. “Then why not give mating a shot?”
    The snort from his older brother echoed around them. “Why you?” Kane asked. “We could’ve sent any soldier, even one of our cousins from Iceland, to mate with her. To give her a chance to live. If you mate her, and she dies—”
    “She won’t die.” In that moment, Jase Kayrs knew two things with absolute certainty. One, Brenna would live. Two, he’d gain her skills and take out the demons. All of them.
    Kane exhaled slowly, an old tell that showed he was trying to choose his words carefully.
    Jase growled low. “Stop fucking handling me. If I mate her, and if she still dies, I’ll deal with it.” He ducked his chin for a better view as Brenna scooped a toddler, his face a blistered mess, onto her lap for a cuddle.
    Kane pivoted to face him. “Right. Because you’re so good at dealing.”
    “I’m dealing,” Jase said. There was a time his brother would’ve slammed him against a tree to fight it out. Now none of his brothers came near him—it was almost comical how much they held themselves back from hitting him. They’d never see him as whole again. “I’m fine.”
    “Fine?” Kane’s eyes swirled from a dangerous purple to black. “You disappeared until Talen tracked you down in the Andes.”
    Everything in Jase wanted to turn away and watch Brenna bring joy to the damaged. So he kept his focus on his brother. “The king needed me, and I came home to help. I’m helping .”
    “No. Dage wanted you home as a brother, and not as a soldier. As the king, he spends too much time worrying about you as it is. You volunteered for this duty. Volunteered to mate a witch you barely know.” Kane slid to the side and blocked Jase’s view of the room. On purpose, probably. “Why?”
    “Why not?” Jase’s shoulder lifted as he smoothed out his expression. “I’m not looking for a mate or kids, so why not save Moira’s baby sister?”
    “Why else?” Kane wasn’t the smartest guy on the planet for nothing.
    “I want her skills.” Jase’s feet itched with the need to move. “She’s a witch, and if I can control molecules, maybe I can get my gifts back. But you already knew that.”
    Kane nodded, tucking his hands in his pockets. “There’s more.”
    Jase gave up the fight and pivoted to the north so he could see. Brenna colored in a book next to a little girl with bandages down the right side of her body. The toddler smiled, so much happiness in the little girl’s eyes that Jase’s gut hurt. The girl handed her drawing to Brenna, who gasped and said something. The toddler nodded, her eyes lighting up. Then she lay down, her head on Brenna’s knee, and Bren smoothed back the girl’s blond curls.
    “Jase?” Kane asked. “Why else?”
    He couldn’t look away. Didn’t want to. The world was cold and shitty. Brenna was warm and kind. “She saved me,” he said. “At my darkest point, Brenna Dunne saved my life.”
    “How?”
    If Jase couldn’t understand it, no way would he share it. “Doesn’t matter. The fact is that she saved me, and I owe her.