The warning was too authentic to have come from a human throat. Startled, I glanced at Jace and realized that his eyes and canines—and evidently some part of his throat—had Shifted.

Oh, shit. I could practically taste his bloodlust, likely triggered by both Marc’s violence and Jace’s own overwhelming need to protect me. Until we calmed him down, he would be looking for a reason to attack Marc.

“Stand down, Jace,” Marc ordered. He kept his voice even and his hands within sight. With Jace so close to losing control—and with his teeth already Shifted—he held an obvious and dangerous advantage. If he attacked, Marc would defend himself, and there would be blood on both sides.

“Jace…” I said softly, and his cat-eyed gaze flicked my way. “Rein it in. He’s just going to help me up. I need help.”

“If his hand so much as twitches around your arm,” Jace growled, “I’ll kill him.”

Fuck. The first lick of true panic made every hair on my body stand on end.

Marc’s eyes went wide even as his brows dipped in confusion. He turned slowly to look at me—because sudden movements were a very bad idea. “Faythe…?”

But I couldn’t look away from Jace. Not until I’d talked him down. “No. Jace, you have to pull it back. I know you’re trying to protect me, but that’s not what I need right now. What I need is help getting out of the tub. Please. Pull it in. Shift now.”

Jace glanced from me to Marc, and his focus stuck there, though he still spoke to me. “Not until he moves away.”

Damn it! “Jace, listen to me. Marc’s not going to hurt me. He’s going to help me stand. I want you to reverse your Shift. Now.”

Uncertainty flickered across Jace’s expression. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I nodded to punctuate my certainty. He took a deep breath, then closed his eyes—a huge show of trust on his part. Marc and I didn’t move. A minute later, Jace opened his eyes, and they were human again, as were his teeth. “Thank you.” I was proud of how calm I sounded.

The toms eyed each other warily. In the past three minutes, everything had changed between them. Jace had never stood against Marc before. Marc had never considered him a serious threat before. All that was different now, and I understood in some deep, dark part of me that there was no going back from this point. We were changed for good, the three of us.

“I’m going to help her up,” Marc said, explaining himself to Jace as he would never have done before.

Jace made no reply, nor any move to stand down, but his gaze flicked to mine, his brows raised in question. I nodded and he scowled, but stepped back.

Marc exhaled slowly, obviously trying not to look too relieved. He bent to lift me, careful of the talon-shaped bruises on my arms. His eyes were full of questions, but I could only blink in reply. I had no idea what to say.