Saving Grace (8 page)

“Now are you ready to come out of there, or
do I have to come in after you?”

She smiled her invitation, and he pushed the
curtain aside in one quick motion. He stepped into the shower,
jeans and all, though they weren’t on him for very long. He closed
the curtain again, enveloping them in the intimate, steamy
atmosphere as he took her into his arms.

What followed was a sexy, water-slick
exploration. A coming home. A reunion of hearts—she hoped—and
bodies that had become very well acquainted last night. But they
wanted more. Body and mind, she wanted much more of this man. So
much, it might take a lifetime to get her fill.

Shower sex was awesome as far as Jack was
concerned. Then again, any sex with Grace was awesome. Like, truly
epic.

After they were both dry and dressed—at least
partially—again, he served breakfast in the kitchen. There were
some things he really needed to know about his little mermaid, and
he hoped to get some answers.

Over eggs and bacon, he started asking
questions.

“What is mating all about for your people?”
He knew the question wasn’t very subtle, but she didn’t seem to
mind. She smiled at him and answered between bites of
breakfast.

“When a mer finds a true mate, they share
their magic. It’s a partnership on the magical level that can never
be severed.” Her voice had grown serious as she spoke.

“True matings on land are like that too,
except for the magic thing. I mean, I assume there’s some kind of
magical bond as well, but since most land-based shifters don’t have
conscious control over their magic, it’s more an instinctual thing
for us.” He chewed for a moment before asking more questions. “How
do mates integrate their magic? Do you have mage-craft under the
sea?”

“There are some who weave spells underwater,
but not many. Mates retreat to one of Neptune’s holy places deep in
the ocean, and something magical happens there that joins them
forever. Nobody really knows exactly what happens, except for the
couples who’ve been through it, and they don’t ever give any
details. It’s all a big mystery, but then, we have many of those in
the ocean.”

“Hmm.” Jack was thinking through the
difficulties. “Obviously, I can’t go deep into the ocean without
special gear, so that won’t work for us.” He heard her breath
catch, and he had to smile.

“You mean…?” She looked so hopeful, something
in his heart lifted.

“You’re my mate, Grace. If you feel the same,
I’d like to figure out a way that we can be together forever. What
do you say?”

She jumped out of her chair and landed in his
lap, hugging him around the shoulders as she pressed kisses to his
face. Now that was the kind of response he’d been hoping for.

“Oh, Jack,” she whispered between kisses.
“You’re my mate.”

Those words made him growl in pleasure.

He would have taken things farther, but she
sat up, a worried frown on her face.

“What’s wrong?” His low words brought her
attention back to him.

“What if the leviathan lures me away again?”
Her whisper was full of fear. He stroked her back, trying to soothe
her, but he could feel the tension—the terror—in her quivering
muscles.

“It won’t.” He tried to reassure her.

“But last night…” Her eyes filled with tears.
“If you hadn’t been there to hold me back, I don’t know what would
have happened. I still feel the pull of it. Only your presence
stops me from answering.”

“That bad?” Things were worse than he’d
realized.

He’d thought after that initial problem last
night, when he’d brought her back from the beach, it had been over.
Or at least, more manageable. He didn’t like thinking that the call
was still so strong.

She nodded, and one tear tracked its way down
her cheek. He kissed it away, feeling a tenderness come over him
that he’d never felt before.

“I love you, Grace.”

His quiet words astounded him. Her, too, it
appeared, from the way she was blinking at him, her eyes wide with
surprise.

“I…I…” She seemed to stumble over her own
tongue for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat. Was she going to
deny him? Repulse his feelings? He held his breath as she finally
seemed able to speak. “I love you too.”

Jack could breathe again. She loved him. She
loved
him!

“Thank the Goddess for that,” he whispered,
sealing his words with a deep, lingering kiss that spoke of joy and
of love.

When he finally let her up for air, she
rested her forehead against his.

“What are we going to do? I’m so afraid I’ll
leave you. I don’t ever want to leave you, but I can’t be with you
every single moment of the day. What if, in some unguarded moment,
the call becomes too strong?”

Jack could see the very real fear in her
eyes, the worry in her words. He had to fix this for her. For them.
They needed to do something that would make her feel safer—that
would keep her safer. There had to be a way.

“This is a magical problem, and although I’m
more magical than most shifters, I’m no expert on this kind of
thing, but…” He looked deep into her eyes. “I do have a friend who
knows about this stuff. He’s a special kind of bear, and he’s a
trained shaman. He lives just down the coast a short distance. He’s
part of our group, but he also serves the Native American community
to the south. He lives with one foot in both worlds and is the most
magical, spiritual person I know. If anyone can help us, I believe
he can.”

Hope dawned in her eyes for the first time.
“Do you think he’ll help us?”

“Honey, that’s what he does. Ol’ Gus was the
unofficial chaplain in our old unit. Since then, he’s become a
counselor to troubled youth on the Indian reservation. He’s a good
guy. He’ll help if he can.”

“When can we see him?” Her eagerness both
delighted and concerned him. Was the call of the evil that
strong?

“I’ll give him a call.” She slipped off his
lap, and he unclipped his cell phone from his hip, punching in the
number. “Luckily, he’s back from his trip to the east coast. He
went for some extra training or something, but he’s back now.”

Gustav van Wilde was a mystical man, Grace
thought. He had an otherworldliness about him that both enchanted
and set her at ease. Such was the way of the shaman, or so she’d
been told. His gray-blue eyes were spooky, almost see-through, and
it felt like they looked beyond the surface, right into her
soul.

He’d come right out to Jack’s house after
he’d called for help, which meant Gus was a good friend to her
mate. She could feel the concern coming from Gus as Jack filled him
in on their problem. Gus asked a few questions, then sat back and
seemed to think the problem through. She liked that. He was very
deliberate and didn’t rush into things that could impact the rest
of their lives.

“I can help you merge your magics,” Gus said
after a good long think. “You have to be certain though, because
once done, this cannot be undone. Are you both absolutely sure
you’re true mates?”

Grace nodded and saw Jack do the same. She
knew he was her one and only. She would never love another the way
her heart yearned for him. It was common for her people to fall in
love quickly with their true mate. Such was the way of things in
her world. She was glad to learn it was the same for the land-based
shifters.

After Jack had confirmed that little fact,
she hadn’t doubted his commitment. They were the same in so many
ways. And now, their hearts were aligned too. The ways they
differed didn’t matter so much in light of that. They’d figure it
out.

That left only their magic…

“Will it stop me from answering the call?”
She had to ask. “Or will it make us both susceptible? I don’t want
to put Jack in danger.”

Jack covered her hand with his. They were
seated side by side on the couch while Gus sat in the easy chair
across from them.

“If this goes as I think it will, it should
do both. Jack might feel the call to some extent, but with your
combined magic, you should both be strong enough to deny it. By
sharing in Jack’s magic, you’ll feel more connected to the land,
and he might be more attracted to the water because of you, but
you’ll both be stronger together than either of you are alone.” He
shrugged. “You would have discovered this truth on your own, given
enough time together. Mating is a merging, and it happens over
time. What I propose to do is speed up the process.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jack said, squeezing her
hand reassuringly. “When can we do it?”

*

Gus took them up near his place to perform
the ceremony. He’d built his home on a rocky stretch of land near
the southern tip of the cove. He had a large spread that bordered
the shifter lands on the north and the Native reservation to the
south.

There was a small stone circle up on a bluff
that faced the ocean, which was why the shaman had wanted this
particular piece of land. Such formations were sacred to the
Goddess, and Jack knew they were natural places of power. Jack
counted it as a blessing to know this place was here, so close to
their new town and his own property.

“Has the energy settled down any more?” he
asked Gus as they approached the stone circle. It was a low-profile
formation, but it was definitely a power place. Jack could feel the
magic and the welcoming feeling of the energy.

Gus shrugged as they kept walking. “Big John
told me all about how the altar came to be. I’m working with his
new mate to try to tame the power a bit more. It’s still pretty
wild, but when I get a better grip on it, and my role in our new
community, I hope to make this a gathering place for our people. A
ceremonial place. But I need a little time to figure it all out.
Right now, the power here is still somewhat untamed. It’s very new.
The magic is strong, and in its formative stages here. It’s like
starting from scratch.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to do this here?”
Jack halted, forcing the other two to stop and look at him. Grace
was at his side, her hand in his. Gus was in front, turning back to
look at them both.

“Yes,” he stated calmly. “I’m certain it’ll
be okay for this. There’s only three of us, and the process is
relatively simple. I’m just nudging something along that is already
in progress. It can’t hurt you. I’m just not sure how the wild
magic of this place will respond to a large gathering of bears.
We’re very magical in our own right, and if the place isn’t
prepared for the influx of power, the results could be a little
unpredictable. I want to be sure I’ve got the circle used to our
brand of magic before I invite the whole town up here.”

Jack was still skeptical.

“Look, I promise you’ll be safe. When have I
ever steered you wrong?”

Jack had to admit Gus had always been true
blue. He’d never done anything that would make Jack doubt him, but
this time, it wasn’t just Jack’s neck on the line. He turned to
Grace.

“What do you think?” Part of being mated was
having a partner, and Jack intended to start as he meant to go on,
asking Grace for her input on the important decisions that affected
them both.

“I can feel the goodness of the place,” she
said, looking toward the stone circle. “It repels the evil in the
ocean. Already, the call is diminished to almost nothing.”

“It’ll be gone the minute you step into the
circle,” Gus promised.

“I can’t believe anything could harm us
there,” Grace said. “We have places like this on the ocean floor.
Places sacred to Neptune and his servants. If that’s what this is,
then I think we should go ahead. It’ll work out as fate
demands.”

“Interesting perspective,” Gus mused. “When
this is all over, I’d love to talk to you about your people’s
beliefs, if you’re willing.”

Grace looked surprised, but pleased by Gus’s
interest. But that wasn’t getting them anywhere. They had a
decision to make.

“Look,” Gus said, seeing Jack’s obvious
reluctance. “Come into the circle. Get a feel for it and see what
you think.” Without waiting for an answer, Gus started walking
again, heading directly for the nearest standing stone.

“Are you really okay with this?” Jack asked
Grace once more before making any sort of move.

“Yeah, I think it’ll be okay. I’m getting a
good feeling from the place. You’ll see.” She reached up and cupped
his cheek. “And just for the record, I love it that you’re so
careful of my safety.” She kissed him briefly, then turned and
started walking, tugging him by the hand after her. She was headed
for the stone circle.

Sure enough, Jack felt at peace the moment he
stepped inside. Gus, as usual, had been right. Nothing evil could
get to them here.

The power of the place tasted almost feral
though. Strong and untamed. But benevolent in its own way. It had
matured a bit since the last time Jack had been up here with John
and his new mate, when she’d set the last of the permanent magical
wards that now protected the cove.

“Can you feel it?” Grace turned to him,
wonder in her eyes.

He rumbled a reply while Gus went around to
the four compass points, chanting something under his breath. Jack
wasn’t too concerned. He’d seen his friend do that sort of thing
many times, in many places. Gus was the guy all the shifters in
their unit went to when they had spiritual or magical problems,
which were often one and the same.

Since they’d come to Grizzly Cove, though,
Gus had been out of sight much of the time. He hadn’t really been
involved with the creation of the town, preferring to build ties
with the Native peoples just to the south. And then, he’d gone back
east, to Long Island, seeking counsel from a Native medicine woman.
Big John had sanctioned both moves. It was only smart to have
someone interface with the closest group of humans, and Gus was the
logical choice because of his spiritual leanings, and all knowledge
was useful. Getting extra training was something John always
supported in anyone under his command.