Sarah McCarty by Slade Page B

conversion, but Slade and his brothers had taken the decision from his hands the night Caleb had almost been killed by a rogue D’Nally were. Allie was their brother’s anchor to this world, and they’d used her to keep him here. He’d just barely worked up to forgiving them.
    Allie cocked her head to the side, studying Slade with those big blue eyes. She was such a strange mix of optimism, determination, and new age openness that he could never tell what she was thinking. “Jane is a scientist. Which means she deals in hard facts and proof and only finds questions interesting as long as they remain unanswered. Why don’t you appeal to that?”
    “Because I ran out of time.”
    “Another man?”
    Allie had always been astute, and today was no different. She’d felt his interest.
    “Lots of them.”
    She let out a huff of air. Caleb stepped in and let him off the hook.
    “We’re not sure how innocent she is. She worked for a Sanctuary company.”
    Allie brushed that aside with a wave of a hand. “If there was a taint of Sanctuary about her, she wouldn’t be here, but that doesn’t absolve you.” Pointing her finger at Slade, she said, “You promised me you’d find a cure for Joseph and I’m holding you to it. But not at her expense. We’re not Sanctuary. You need to get her cooperation the right way.”
    “I’ll get it.”
    “Without lies.”
    “I can’t promise that.”
    “You have to.”
    He settled his hat over his brow. “No, I don’t.”
    Joseph was his nephew and he’d fight with everything he had, but unlike Allie, he didn’t have a qualm about kidnapping a scientist who might have the answer Joseph needed. He’d never been that good-natured.
    “But speaking of the devil, where is my nephew?”
    “He’s sleeping.”
    “He go down late?”
    “No.”
    It was four a.m. Joseph usually went down at one a.m. and got up at two thirty a.m. Three hours was a long time for Joseph to nap. His constant need for food functioned better than any alarm clock. “Did he seem lethargic when you put him down?”
    Worry flashed across Allie’s expression. “No. Why?”
    Slade hated being the one to add to her worry. “It’s a long time for him to be without food.”
    Panic flared across Allie’s expressive face, draining what little color exhaustion had left in her cheeks. “I was just happy he was resting.”
    The worry immediately echoed in Caleb’s energy, the way it would with any mated pair. What one felt, the other did, too. Only in Caleb’s case the pain of worry was amplified by the agony of his guilt. Caleb blamed himself for his son’s illness. It didn’t matter what Slade said to the contrary. Caleb was stuck on the fact that Allie had not been fully converted when Joseph had been conceived. Never mind the suspicion that he never would have been conceived if those unique circumstances hadn’t existed. Caleb knew what he knew. “I’m sure he’s fine, Allie girl.”
    Slade closed his eyes and touched his energy to Joseph’s, something he could do only when close, and only because he’d taken his blood. “He’s fine.”
    Allie’s soft mouth twisted with the truth she couldn’t change. “All things considered, right?”
    A straight “yes” would have been cruel. “Don’t worry, Allie. I promised you I’d fix this, and I will.”
    Even if it killed him. He ran his fingers through his hair. He just wished he had a clue where to start. He checked Jane’s energy again, finding a curious blankness instead of the warmth he sought. The light in the cabin came on. The door opened. Jane stumbled through the opening, fingers rubbing at her forehead.
    “Thought you said you put her out.” Suspicion edged Caleb’s tone.
    “I did.” And she should still be out. Jane groggily walked to the edge of the porch, gripping the rail, bare feet planted firmly in a pool of moonlight. Light from the interior shone through her borrowed, rumpled nightgown, highlighting the full curves of her