Healing Minds (The Shifter Chronicles 5)

by M. D. Grimm

  That was when Xavier noticed he no longer heard the evil voice, even faintly. His inner wolf perked his ears, but as Xavier searched for the voice, it wasn’t to be found. His wolf was calm and satisfied, no longer the savage beast the voice had turned him into. Xavier deepened his kiss and knew it was because of Josh that it happened. That it was possible. Josh had cured him. His mate pulled away a moment later, and Xavier slipped his mouth down to his neck. Josh giggled, but then stopped so abruptly that Xavier looked up, seeing Josh blush darker.

  Xavier smiled. “You have a lot of freckles.”

  “Can’t help it,” Josh murmured, not looking at him.

  “I like them.”

  Josh smiled. He leaned forward and rested his head on Xavier’s shoulders. Josh wrapped his arms around Xavier’s shoulders and sighed.

  Xavier held him back, tightly. “I don’t hear the voice anymore.”

  Josh stiffened. He pulled back and stared, wide-eyed, into Xavier’s eyes. “Say again?”

  He shrugged. “It’s gone. I don’t hear it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Xavier chuckled. “Considering I’ve been hearing it for too damn long now, I know when I don’t. Even my wolf doesn’t hear it. Before, when you’d talk, it used to hide in the back of my mind. I felt it like a… a strange pressure. But I don’t even feel that anymore.”

  Josh cupped his face. “My God,” he whispered. “Could this be happening? Could you be, I don’t know, cured?”

  “If I am, it’s because of you.” Xavier cupped the back of Josh’s head and kissed him again, deeply, slowly. “I love you, Josh. I’m yours. Forever.”

  Josh sniffed. He pressed his forehead against Xavier’s.

  “I love you,” Josh whispered.

  Xavier closed his eyes, and they sat like that, together, in the moment. But it wasn’t long before Josh began to shiver.

  “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  Josh nodded, his blue eyes shining with love under the moon’s light. It made Xavier feel like the king of the world.

  Chapter Twelve

  Josh woke up warm and happy. A small stream of light managed to peek between the curtains and land on his eyes. He blinked and moved his head just enough to not be blinded. Once they’d managed to stumble back to their room, Josh had been too exhausted to do anything but fall to the bed and sleep. Xavier didn’t seem disappointed. In fact, he’d looked downright smug and proud. He was also currently spooned behind Josh, his arm over Josh’s stomach, his heavy breath fluttering Josh’s curls.

  Josh took a deep breath. This wasn’t a dream. All of it was real. He had a mate, a new life. His purpose was still the same―to help shifters. Now the biggest problem lay with leaving the Agency.

  Josh bit his lip. He shouldn’t be too afraid. The Agency wasn’t run by a bunch of sadists. He’d be booted out for sure, and yet because he wasn’t an agent and since he still wanted to help shifters, maybe they wouldn’t cut him off completely. Maybe they would even help? Agent Poe might back him… well, if the agent could get past the fact that Josh had ended up with the shifter he, himself had imprisoned.

  Josh turned his head and looked at Xavier’s face. The voice was gone. The voice was gone! What an amazing discovery! Of course, they should both be cautious about it. They should expose Xavier slowly to other shifters, to see if the voice acted up again. But this was a great and hopeful revelation.

  Xavier stirred behind him. Josh turned around fully to face his mate. He grinned. Mate. Their bodies bumped, and he realized they were both still naked. He liked it that way. Wrapping his arm around Xavier’s waist, he kissed the shifter’s chin. Xavier’s wonderful eyes fluttered open, and he gave Josh an easy smile.

  “Sleep well?” His voice was raspy.

  “Great. You?” Josh let his hand wander. There was a certain amazing freedom he felt in doing so.

  Xavier made a sound of pleasure and kissed the tip of Josh’s nose. “Of course I did. I have you to wrap around.”

  Josh grinned. Their lips met again. But before it could get too heated, Josh pushed away.

  “Hey―” Xavier protested.

  “Sorry, bathroom.” Josh stood and walked quickly to the toilet. Xavier whistled after him. Josh covered his face and swallowed a humiliating giggle. He shut the door, and his stomach felt like giddy frogs were jumping around in it.

  He was washing his hands when Xavier knocked on the door.

  “Hey, there’s a small café just across the street. Want me to see if I can get a heap of waffles and eggs to go?”

  Josh was practically drooling. “Oh, hell yes!”

  Xavier chuckled. “Good, then we can eat them in bed. After that I can finish eating you.”

  Josh’s mouth dropped open. “Xavier!”

  The damn shifter laughed heartily. A moment later Josh heard the front door shut. Allowing himself to chuckle now that the shifter was gone, Josh stepped into the shower. He took his time scrubbing and rinsing. He made sure to pay particular attention to his butt. He really, really, wanted to know what Xavier would feel like inside him. Now that he’d given himself permission to indulge, he wanted to do it all the way. He wanted to just stay in bed with the sexy shifter for the rest of the month they had allotted to them.

  Josh paused in rinsing his hair. Should he keep to that part of the deal? He wanted to begin counseling shifters as soon as he could. He wanted to move forward in his new life direction immediately. But Xavier might need time. They still needed to find out for certain if the voice was really gone, or whether it was simply hiding.

  He needed to discuss it with Xavier first. A small smile lifted the corners of Josh’s mouth. It felt… oddly nice to know that the decisions in his life no longer just affected him. It affected them. Perhaps he should feel scared about sharing a life with another, and yet he didn’t. Not at all. It was a whole new adventure and challenge. He would prove that he could do it.

  Turning off the water, Josh grabbed the towel to dry himself. Then a cold shiver of fear trailed down his spin. He didn’t know where it came from, but he couldn’t ignore it. His gut told him it was deadly important. Drying quickly, he approached the door and slowly, silently, opened it a crack. The room was empty. He couldn’t sense anyone in there with him. So why was his gut screaming at him?

  Josh crept forward, making sure to keep away from the windows and front door. He found his clothes and hurriedly dressed before approaching the window. Breathing steadily, his insides trembling, Josh moved to a corner of the window. With just one eye, he peeked out. At first he didn’t see anything that would cause alarm. He could see several cars parked in the lot along with their truck. It was still early morning, and most of the occupants weren’t yet awake. He could just make out a portion of the café Xavier had mentioned.

  Oh God. Xavier. Had something happened to him?

  Josh fought the urge to run out immediately and find his mate. He needed to be smart. He needed to use his training. Think!

  He heard movement by the front door. It wasn’t Xavier. Josh backed away slowly, cautious where he put his feet so they didn’t make a noise. He crept backward, trying to reach the back window. He could escape, skirt around the motel, and then find Xavier. He reached the middle of the room.

  Something crashed through the front window. A canister of some sort. It immediately began spewing out a cloud of green smoke. Josh coughed and hacked. He couldn’t breathe. He stumbled toward the back window. Figures dressed in black appeared, and he turned away. But others were coming through the front door. Tears blinded his vision. He fell to the floor, suffocating.

  “Make sure he doesn’t die,” a voice said. It sounded modulated somehow. Like the person wore a voice scrambler. Or a gas mask. “The boss wants him alive.”

  Knights.

  Josh fell to the floor. Run away, Xavier. Run away.

  Xavier watched the black-clothed figures run into the room from across the street. He ducked behind a car, dropping the food in his
hands. A growl bubbled in his throat. Knights. They must be. They were going to lay in wait and use Josh as bait. That alone made his skin ripple, wanting to shift. His wolf howled. His blood burned, and his fingers curled into fists. He was going to get revenge.

  He scanned the area quickly. No one was about, and the people in the café were few, most seated at the counter, their backs to the window. His wolf wanted him to shift. Not yet. He needed to use what was available to him before he did that. He still had the stolen Agency guns in the truck. If he could get to those, he could shoot the hell out of those bastards. His wolf wanted to rip their throats out. Those bastards deserved what they got for threatening what was his.

  Xavier agreed with his wolf. He crept in the shadows offered by the rising sun and tried to stay out of sight from the windows. He couldn’t see any Knights outside the room. They expected him to just walk up to the front door, none the wiser. Idiots.

  He took the long way: walking to the other side of the motel, near the reception area, and creeping along the wall. He hadn’t parked the truck right in front of their room, for just his reason. He crouched and darted to the far side of his truck. Breathing steadily, keeping his mind away from images of Josh in pain, Xavier opened the driver’s door. After slowly moving the seat back, he unzipped one of the duffel bags and pulled out one rifle after the other. He stuffed a handgun in the back of his pants. Slipping one rifle strap over his shoulder, he held the other, making sure it was loaded. He tied his hair back.

  It was go-time.

  He needed to be quick and decisive. He couldn’t give them a chance to shoot back or to shoot Josh. He moved to the rear of the truck and took one final, steadying breath. Then he charged.

  He ran full speed at the door and kicked it open. He counted four knights total. The one by the door was knocked to the wall by Xavier’s kick. Another stood near the window, kneeling. Another was tying an unconscious Josh to a chair. The last was by the back window, swinging around at the noise. All this he took in within a second.

  Xavier took out the kneeling-front-window guy first. He was more of a danger. He shot him square in the forehead. The helmet the man wore didn’t stand a chance against the high-powered rifle in Xavier’s hands. It roared like a beast. Xavier rolled behind the bed, right over the body. The guy by the back window raised his gun to shoot, and the one Xavier knocked to the wall was just gaining his feet. Xavier shot the guy near the wall in the leg. He screamed. Wait, that was a feminine sound. She, then. Not that it mattered. They would all be corpses soon. Xavier followed up that shot with a stomach one. She must have armor on because she didn’t crumple the way he’d expected. Xavier shot her arm. She dropped her gun. He turned his attention to the back-window guy. Xavier aimed quickly and sent the shot through his neck. The man dropped like a stone.

  “Stop! Or he dies.”

  Xavier narrowed his eyes and looked at the man holding Josh. He had a handgun barrel pressed against Josh’s temple. Xavier growled. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the female knight limp toward the guy remaining. He returned his focus to the man with the gun.

  Only to see Josh’s eyes flash open. They were red-rimmed and teary as they focused on him. Xavier swallowed hard.

  “Give it up!” the man said. “You can’t win.”

  Josh’s eyes narrowed. Then his eyes moved past Xavier to the lamp on the nightstand. Xavier’s smile was cut from glass. He noticed the concentrated focus in Josh’s eyes, and then the lamp flew through the air. Before the man behind Josh could react, the lamp smashed into his face. He crashed to the floor. Josh rocked his chair forward, falling to the floor, out of the range of fire.

  Xavier stood. The female knight screamed and reached for a handgun at her side. Xavier dropped her like he had the others. He calmly walked over to the remaining knight. The man stirred, the lamp only stunning him. Xavier watched him with cold eyes. As the male’s hand crawled for his gun, Xavier lifted his foot and stepped on the knight’s hand. The man hissed.

  Xavier lifted the rifle an inch. It hovered right above the knight’s face. The man stopped moving.

  “How did you find us?” He made sure his voice was clear and authoritative. He even added a small growl to it. His wolf crouched inside him, willing to take over should guns fail.

  “Go to hell!” the knight spat.

  Xavier raised an eyebrow. “How did you find us?” he said, slower this time.

  He suddenly heard a voice speaking. Xavier turned and looked down at Josh on the floor, his face pressed against a phone receiver.

  He tilted his head slightly. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting help.”

  Xavier scanned the three downed knights and then at the one under his boot. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

  “There might be others, Xavier. They found you, which means they’re still operating. Look at the gear on these guys! That could only mean―”

  “Arcas,” Xavier growled.

  “You won’t get away from him!” the knight said, seething. “He’s everywhere. He knows everything. You will be his pet once more.”

  Xavier glowered and pulled the trigger. Turning away from the mess, he knelt beside Josh. His mate stared at him, wide-eyed, still speaking into the phone.

  “Yes, Mackenzie, you heard me right. It’s Josh. I’m fine. Get agents over here, now! The Knights know where Xavier is. The wolf shifter. From the Santa Fe substation? The one Agent Poe caught?”

  Xavier could clearly hear the exasperation in his voice.

  “No, he’s not a danger to anyone. Not anymore.” Josh eyed the knight Xavier just shot point-blank only a moment before. He gulped. “Well, not dangerous like he was before, anyway. Just get some agents over here.”

  Xavier untied Josh as he finished the phone call. Josh sat up, and Xavier gripped his shoulder. “We don’t need the Agency, Josh. They’ll just lock me up again.”

  Josh gripped his hand. “No, they won’t. I swear, Xavier. If there are more knights in Las Vegas, the Agency needs to know. They’re still looking for you, even after they’ve been disbanded. That means Arcas is still giving orders. He’s still massing his troops.”

  Xavier growled. “We should leave before the cops come. The manager will have heard the shots.”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  Xavier’s head pounded. The pressure in the back of his head rose to encompass his entire skull. The voice. But this time, it wasn’t in his head. He was hearing it through his ears. Shaking, Xavier lifted his eyes and swept them toward the front door. Standing there, garbed in an elegant gray suit, was a face he’d seen before and yet hadn’t remembered until now.

  He had glossy black hair, was tall and lean. His face was symmetrical, and his eyes were cold. A scar marred his face, shattering the illusion of perfection. Xavier recognized him. Flashes of a lab, of a table, whirled before his eyes. He growled deeply in his chest.

  A serpentine smile curved the man’s lips. “Oh yes,” he murmured. “You remember your master, don’t you?”

  Xavier trembled. His wolf whimpered in fear.

  “The manager works for us. The cops won’t come,” the man said. “Now, come here, beast. Come to your master.”

  Xavier’s wolf shuddered, crouching in obedience. He trembled, struggling to fight it.

  “Xavier,” Josh whispered, gripping his arm.

  Yes. Josh was here. He must protect Josh.

  “Come, wolf!” the voice commanded.

  Xavier couldn’t tear his eyes away from that awful, beautiful face.

  “Xavier, don’t listen to him!” Josh shook him. Then he flung his arms around Xavier’s neck. “Don’t listen to him. Listen to me! I’m your mate!”

  Shaking violently, his skin rippling, Xavier gripped Josh’s body. Josh’s voice was soothing, countering the commands of the voice.

  “Wolf!”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Josh said urgently.

  “Shut up!” the man barked, and
Josh flinched. Xavier growled louder and wondered how he would get both of them out of this alive.

  “You will come to your master when you are called,” the man said fiercely. “You will come. Abomination.”

  Conscious thought fizzled, and Xavier howled, the monstrous beast taking control.

  Josh was horrified by the transformation of his lover. Xavier’s muscles jumped when the man spoke that word. His eyes were no longer the lively green and gold; they’d become dark and ugly, bloodlust evident inside them. He’d seen Xavier look similar to this before, but those times paled in comparison to the monster glowing out of those once-beloved eyes.

  Xavier shoved Josh away from him and then he shifted. The air shimmered, pulsed, and then he shook violently to get the clothes off.

  “Good boy,” the man said, pleased. “Now, come here.”

  Like a well-trained dog, Xavier trotted over. Josh sat up and turned around. Xavier sat next to the man speaking.

  Josh gaped. “Xavier?”

  The wolf shifter didn’t appear to hear him. Josh then looked at the man, who smiled charmingly at him. There were three others behind the man. One was slightly shorter, stocky. He wore a suit as well with impeccably brushed brown hair. His eyes were silver but cold. The other, also in a dark suit, had blunt features and looked like a bruiser. The last was a woman. She had long golden hair, wore a royal blue pants suit, and was looking at him with disgust.

  Josh returned to the the man in front. He realized the man’s identity in that instant.

  “Arcas.”

  That smile turned into a grin. “Well, aren’t you a smart little ginger?”

  Josh flushed but wouldn’t back down. He must to fight. How long would it take the agents to get here? Too long.

  The four knights stepped fully into the motel room. The woman shut the door.

  “Get the boy,” Arcas said.

  The bruiser surged forward, walked around the bed, and grabbed Josh’s arms. He yanked him to his feet. Josh struggled but knew it was useless. The man was too strong.