"To get my notes."

"You said they were here," Slade countered "And if you remember back to the first night, I told you they weren't in my home."

"Then why are we here?"

Opening the door, she looked over her shoulder. "Because it's my home."

And she'd needed to see what they'd done to it.

A hand grabbed hers and yanked her out. Derek. The man's face was as dark as any thunderstorm beneath the short cropped blond of his hair. The inflection of his voice never changed. It was always on the edge of rage. Slade said he could tell a mean joke. She couldn't see it.

"Squabble later. I don't have much time."

"You have some place better to be?" she snapped, tugging her hand free. The man had scared the bejeezus out of her.

Without preamble he retorted, "Yes."

"We won't keep you from your mate any longer than necessary," Slade said.

The flicker in Derek's energy, which could only be described as agony, surprised her. "Good."

There was so much here she didn't understand, beginning with this newly acquired sensitivity to energy. She'd always been the figurative island before, apart from everyone, her life neatly compartmentalized. Now, she was buffeted from all angles by emotion and thought.

"You vampires are rubbing off on me."

Slade tensed. "How so?"

She shook her head. There was no way to explain what she didn't understand. Immediately, men fell in around her like perversions of her shadows. The men kept a respectful distance. Only Slade was in her s.p.a.ce. He was always in her s.p.a.ce. She should mind.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked. The growl in the question raked over her nerves.

"I'm about to change the world. Pardon me if I take a moment to contemplate the ramifications."

"It'll be okay, honey."

Maybe. She eyed Tobias and Derek. But what if they didn't need her after she gave up this information? Would they be her killers?

It was Slade who answered the unspoken fear. "No. And, Jane, I'll always need you."

Great. Needing her would just get him killed. The fresh air felt good on her cheeks. She hadn't realized how stressed she was until that moment. She'd painted the small deck off the back door a cheery white and yellow with a daisy pattern on the floor because she'd wanted nothing but happiness in this house. In the dark the pattern was invisible, taking on a sinister cast as shadows blended with the darker paint distorting them. Perception. She realized. It was everything.

Slade caught up to her easily, his long legs eating up the distance between them. "Where are we going?"

"To the happiest place on Earth."

"I read that on your laptop notes."

When he'd been hacking her system. "And you didn't think it sounded out of place?"

"I figured it was a clue."

But he hadn't been able to figure it out. Apparently, his ability to read her mind wasn't as complete as he would have her believe. It was rea.s.suring.

"What's that little smile about?" he asked.

"Oh nothing."

"Sure."

She stopped at the base of a small tree at the edge of the yard. It stood just within the light thrown from the spotlight above the deck.

He looked at the tree. "This is it?"

She touched the side of the bluebird house precisely six feet off the ground, just as the article she'd read said was important. Before she'd done anything else after she'd moved in, she'd put up the birdhouse. It symbolized everything she'd hoped for her future. Everything she'd wanted her research to accomplish.

Slade shook his head. "The bluebird of happiness."

"Yes."

"The flash drive's in the birdhouse?"

"Yes."

When he would have taken the box off the tree, she grabbed his wrist. "No. There's a bird on the nest."

"We'll only disturb her for a minute."

"We have to get it without disturbing her, otherwise she'll abandon the eggs and the babies will die."

"She'll build another nest. Lay more eggs."

Surprisingly, it was Tobias said, "But those lives won't replace these."

"No," she agreed. "They won't."

Derek stepped forward. "I'll take care of it."

She wasn't about to let him wreck this little home any more than she was about to let Slade. "Get back."

He brushed her aside as if she were nothing. The strength of these men was all the more irritating for the way they combined it with gentleness.

A strangely focused energy came off him. Peaceful even. Inside the box, the mother's restless chirps calmed.

"When I tell you to, slowly and gently reach in with those tongs that you brought and get that flash drive."

"You're putting them to sleep?"

"Her to sleep," Derek corrected. "It's a female."

The box was quiet. Keeping his hand on the top of the box, fingers spread, Derek stepped to the side. "Do what you need to."

It was awkward getting the tongs in the hole, but she'd placed the bag on the bottom right side just in case this scenario occurred. Plastic rustled as she caught the edge. Very gently she pulled. It was hard to tell whether she had it. Flash drives weren't that heavy.

The bag came out without incident. As she clutched it in her hand, energy bombarded her. All male. All eager. They wanted the flash drive.

Was it her imagination or had Slade, Tobias, and Derek moved closer? "It wouldn't do you any good even if you did take it from me," she informed any would-be thief, her nerves screaming a warning. She fully expected to feel claws in her back at any moment. "It's encrypted."

A twig snapped. Slade was definitely closer. So close her nerve endings started tingling for a whole other reason. He turned her around. Her breath lodged in her chest as his fingers stroked down her cheek. His eyes glowed with that strange light. She couldn't look away. "No one is going to take it from you."

Calming pulses of his energy surrounded hers. She shook her head and backed away, coming up against the tree.

"I won't be hypnotized, either."

"Too bad," Tobias drawled. "That would make things easier."

The energy stopped. "You're not helping, Tobias," Slade barked over his shoulder.

"I wasn't aware I was trying to."

A chuckle rippled among the men. The tension in Jane eased. Slade backed up. She stepped away from the tree.

Not taking his eyes from hers, Slade ordered, "Make sure it's also clear around the car."

All of the men except Slade and one of the "pups" left. The energy coming off the younger man was intense and when Jane focused on it, it struck out like a blow. Controlling her flinch with effort, she asked, "Can I help you?"

Before he could answer, Slade stepped in front of her, pushing her back with a mental shove. Only stopping when her back was once again against the tree. "What do you want, Broderick?"

"They'll be coming for her now."

"We know."

"You're going to need help."

"If we need more guards, Jace and the D'Nally will see to it."

"They don't trust me."

Jane blinked at that honesty.

"With reason," Slade retorted.

"We had no pack. No purpose. It's different now."

"Miri or Jace give you that excuse?"

Broderick went still.

Slade growled in his throat.

Good G.o.d, were they going to fight here? Now? "Cut it out," Jane snapped, the fragile flash drive suddenly heavy in her hand. "We don't have time for your testosterone moments."

With another mental push, Slade pinned her against the tree as he squared off against Broderick. "That's all this will take, a moment."

She rolled her eyes, a gesture totally wasted on Slade considering he had his back to her. "Not hardly. If you kill him it's going to take forever to find out what he wants."

"Who cares."

For some reason, she did. "I do."

Muscles bunched in Slade's jaw. He was probably gritting his teeth. Derek stepped into the small circle of light with a low growl. Slade nodded and motioned to Broderick. "Have your say."

Derek growled again. If a "make it quick" could be squeezed into a rolling snarl, she'd just heard it.

Broderick looked her straight in her eyes. The impression of youth on fire flowed over her. "They're going to come after you hard now."

"Lovely."

"Shut up."

Broderick ignored Slade. "You don't need pet wolves to protect you."

"True."

"You're going to need wolves willing to sacrifice all."

"Are you saying you're willing to die for me?"

"Not you, what you can do."

That was honest.

"She doesn't need you, pup," Slade snapped.

"You're useless to her in daylight," Broderick snapped back.

That was brutal but true.

Slade took a step toward Broderick. Jane leapt into the small s.p.a.ce between the two men, placing her hands on Slade's chest. Fire rushed up her palms. Over her shoulder she asked Broderick, "He'd die for me. What are you offering?"

"My life and the life of my pack."

That was quite an offer. "Why?"

"You can't trust him, Jane," Slade interrupted. "Up until two months ago he was packless."

That might explain the edge to Broderick's energy. Anyone new to a group tended to have a need to prove themselves. "Who is your leader?" Jane asked.

He didn't hesitate. "Jace."