Jaxson's Justice

by Dawn Sullivan

  Like she was a fucking angel, Jinx thought, his eyes never leaving the General’s. He was so tired of this life. The fighting, the killing, looking over your shoulder constantly to make sure someone wasn’t about to shove a knife in your back. Unfortunately, it was the life he’d been born into, and he wouldn’t be leaving it anytime soon.

  “Back to the traitor,” the General said, shifting slightly on the bed and reaching for a glass of water on the table next to him. Taking a deep drink, he set the glass back down carefully before going on, “I have my eye on four people. Two I want watched. The other two have to go.”

  Jinx knew what that meant. No one ever just left the General’s employment. It looked like he was about to get some sword action. “Who am I taking out?”

  “The new guard at the facility in Sacramento.”

  “The kid?” Damn, the guy couldn’t be more than nineteen. Jinx hated two kinds of killings: innocents and children. To him, this guy was both.

  “He’s been asking too many questions. I want him gone.”

  “The other one?”

  “Decker Delmer.” When Jinx’s brow furrowed in confusion, the General grunted, “He is infatuated with one of the prisoners, and it’s gotten worse. I don’t trust him not to try to free her, and she’s too valuable to me. He needs to be eliminated before he does something stupid.”

  “Done,” Jinx said with a shrug. “Never liked the guy anyway.”

  “Ebony, I want you to watch the other two. One is in the D.C. facility and the other is in Virginia right now. You are going to have to go back and forth between the two.”

  “Who?” she asked coldly, resting a hand on the hilt of a knife sticking out of her cargo pants.

  “I said watch, not kill.”

  “Damn,” she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why does Jinx get to have all the fun this time?”

  “Because I need you here with me.”

  He didn’t need her there, he wanted her there. There was a reason he was getting rid of him, sending him all the way on the other side of the states. Jinx just didn’t know why, and it was too dangerous to try to slip inside the bastard’s head right now to find out.

  “Who am I watching,” Ebony asked, as if she were agreeing when she and Jinx both knew she didn’t have anymore of a choice in the matter than Jinx did. The General pulled her strings, just like he did Jinx’s. The only difference was, she didn’t seem to care.

  “Vixen out of Virginia. She’s had too many unexcused late check-ins in the past six months. She’s up to something, I just haven’t figured out what.”

  “Vixen?” A slow grin covered her lips. Vixen was a female assassin of the General’s. She was lethal, deadly in her own right. “This could be fun. And the other?”

  The General paused, before he ground out, “Your sister.”

  “Which one?”

  “The only one here in the D.C. office at this time,” he snapped.

  “Amber.”

  Shit.

  “Just keep an eye on her. Don’t let her know that you are, and don’t lay a hand on her.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Leaning his head back against the pillow, the General motioned toward the door. “You have your orders.”

  Jinx straightened, ignoring Ebony as he turned and walked out of the room. Keeping his thoughts locked down tight, he moved quickly through the corridor, trying to put as much distance between them as he could. It didn’t work.

  “Jinx.” He kept walking. “Dammit, Jinx, stop.” Fuck. He paused, but didn’t look back at her. “Any idea why he wants me to keep an eye on my own sister?” she drawled, sidling up close to him. He stiffened when she touched his arm, but didn’t respond. “Do you think he knows what she did?”

  Looking down at her, Jinx growled, “Get your paws off me.”

  “Awe, Jinx,” she purred, leaning in, her breasts brushing against his arm as she breathed in his ear. “We could be so good together. I don’t know why you fight it. Fight me.”

  When she moved her hand slowly down his chest, he grabbed it and slammed her up against the wall next to him, his hand going around her throat. “I told you to get your fucking paws off of me, Ebony.”

  Ebony threw her head back and laughed. “I do like it rough.” Her eyes narrowing on him, she licked her lips. “Come on, Jinx. One night. One fuck. That’s all. Then we go our separate ways.”

  Jinx let go of her, stepping back and shaking his head in disgust. “I don’t think my dick could withstand your kind of evil.”

  Turning, he stalked down the hall away from her, ignoring her laughter. He had more important things to worry about right now, like how he was going to get word to Amber that her father was on to her. Or how he was going to save the innocent kid he was supposed to kill without the General finding out. And then there was the fact that he’d promised a fire-breathing dragon that he would look for his sister, and now that he’d found her, he had to figure out how to save her without getting himself killed. Taking the stairs two at a time, he grinned. This shit was normal for him. All in a day’s work.

  6

  “So, the blue pins show all of the General’s facilities you’ve been able to find so far, correct?” Rubi asked from where she stood in front of a huge map dotted with three different color pins.

  “Right,” Angel told her, pointing to the board. “The yellow are possibilities. We haven’t had time to delve into them further to verify.”

  “And the red?”

  “Those are the ones we’ve already been to.”

  “What did you do there?”

  “What we do best,” Phoenix said, a devious grin crossing his face. When she looked at him blankly, he told her, “We went, we saved the innocent people inside, dispensed with the rest, and blew the fuckers sky high.”

  “Phoenix is our explosives expert. He’s pretty proud of it,” Flame said dryly, shaking her head even though there was a hint of humor in her eyes.

  “Hell yeah, I am!” Walking over to pull out a chair at the table and sit down next to her, he said, “One of these days, maybe I’ll take ya under my wing, show you how it’s done, Red. Then, you can be as cool as me. Maybe.”

  Jaxson heard them all, was tuned to everything that was going on in the room, but he couldn’t concentrate. He paced back and forth, his hands clenched tightly into fists, his fangs peeking out over his lips, a low growl consistently in chest. His mate, the other half of his soul, was hurting. She was suffering at the hands of a mad man, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find her. It didn’t matter that he was one of the best fucking hackers out there, that he could do things with a computer that others couldn’t, his mate’s whereabouts were elusive to him. She could be at any of those blue or yellow pins on the wall, and there were several. Hell, she could be anywhere. He was sure there were more places the General had hidden. He hadn’t found them all. His mate. Raven. Where the hell was she? He had to find her.

  From what Dax and Rubi had told him, Raven’s parents sold her to Trace’s father, Philip Perez. Perez sold her to the General. That son of a bitch Perez was lucky he was already dead, that they had taken him out months ago, or Jaxson would be stringing him up by his balls right now. Raven had been with the General for the past year. Who knew what the bastard had done to her? He needed to find her, fast.

  “Jaxson, you have to calm down. You are no help to your mate this way.”

  He heard his alpha, but he couldn’t stop. He was so angry, so…scared. He couldn’t lose Raven. He’d lost everything, everyone he cared about in the past. His family, his friends, his pack. He’d held himself apart from the rest of the world after that, until he joined RARE. His team was his family now, and he had a new pack with them and the White River Wolves. Raven should be there with him, a part of all of it. Instead, she was being tortured by that fucker.

  The growl in his chest grew louder, and he knew his eyes had gone wolf. He wan
ted to go hunting. He was going to tear the man apart, piece-by-piece. Sink his claws deep, tear out every organ.

  “Jaxson, look at me!” his alpha demanded, stepping in front of him and forcing him to stop his pacing.

  When he growled at her in warning, Chase stepped up. “I’m going to give you that one for free, pup. The next time you growl at my mate, you answer to me.”

  Jaxson bared his fangs, moving away from Angel’s touch. The only hands he wanted on him were Raven’s, and she wasn’t there. Pain like no other tore through him, and he threw back his head and howled. They didn’t know, didn’t understand. He’d been with her, felt what she felt. His sweet mate.

  “Get back,” he heard Chase order, but didn’t know who he was talking to. He was beyond reasoning, stuck in that moment when they hurt his mate.

  “Those bastards were hurting her,” he choked out, another howl coming from him. “Tearing into her flesh. Sticking huge needles in her. She was in so much fucking pain. I’ve never felt anything like it. The agony. Her fear. I’m going to kill them all! Rip their skin from their bones the way they did hers and see how they like it!”

  “No!” Rubi cried out on a sob. “My sister!”

  A loud roar split the air, and then moments later, two strong arms wrapped around him. Jaxson fought, but was unable to move. His body shook with emotion, his mind clouded with misery. All he could think about was the pain his sweet mate was in.

  “It’s okay, my brother. We are going to get her back, and then, together, we will get our revenge.”

  “She’s in constant pain,” Jaxson rasped, sagging against Dax. “I can’t stand it. I would take it all from her, if I could.”

  “We all would,” Angel said quietly. “You are family to us, Jaxson. Which makes your mate ours to protect. Not only is she yours, but her sister and brother are now a part of our pack. I promise you, we will find her and free her. We will bring her home.”

  Jaxson felt his fangs slowly recede and he nodded, resolve filling him. “Yes, we need to bring her home.”

  “Maybe I can help with that.”

  “Jinx!” Angel gasped in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  Jinx’s gaze went from Jaxson to Dax, and then settled on Sable. “I always follow through with my promises,” he said simply.

  “Raven,” Sable breathed, taking a step toward him. “You found her?”

  Jinx nodded, his eyes going back to Jaxson and Dax. Jaxson slowly pulled away from Dax and stood tall, his shoulders back, as he returned the man’s gaze. “You have news of my mate?”

  “She’s in D.C.,” Jinx told them, walking into the room and going to take a seat at the table. “Amber is the reason I found her, actually.” Sighing, Jinx slid a hand through his hair before going on. “She wanted me to help her rescue another woman, but there was a catch. This woman was being held in the General’s special cells. The ones he keeps hidden way below his D.C. facility, deep in the earth. A place even I didn’t know existed.” Glancing at Dax, he admitted, “When Sable asked me to help find your sister, I knew I remembered the name Raven from somewhere. It took me a while to figure it out. Back when Storm was taken, there was a guard watching her. Decker.”

  “Oh my God!” Storm said, her eyes widening. “I remember. He was fixated on a woman he wanted the General to give him. That was Raven?” When Jinx nodded, she whispered, “I had no idea.”

  “I didn’t know anything about her,” Jinx admitted. “I walked in on Decker and the General and heard her name mentioned, but my focus was on how I was going to get Storm out of there. I didn’t press it when the General told me she was none of my concern. I was already becoming suspicious to him, so I let it go. I shouldn’t have.”

  “Not your fault, man,” Phoenix said gruffly. “You got a lot on your plate, trying to save the world and all.”

  Everything in him wanted to protest, but Jaxson knew Phoenix was right. The young pup in front of him had lived in hell all of his life. He didn’t know any different, which was wrong. He was raised to kill, instead of with love, but had become a savior to man instead of the devil like his boss.

  “He’s right,” Jaxson grunted, dropping down into a seat next to him. “You do what you can, Jinx. We all see it.”

  Jinx stared at him as if he wanted to argue, but averted his gaze instead. “When Amber took me to Raven, I was hesitant to help her,” he admitted. “Not because I didn’t want to, but because I know if she goes missing, the General is going to know it was someone close to him that freed her. Hell, like I said, even I didn’t know about these cells. Amber found them a couple of years ago, she said. When he brought Raven to them, Amber couldn’t stay away. That woman has such a kind soul, but it’s going to get her killed someday. The General has Ebony watching her now.”

  “Crap,” Angel snarled, slamming her fist into the table. “I knew we should have brought her with us when we rescued Chase.”

  “She wouldn’t have come.” Jinx sighed, sitting back in his chair and rubbing a hand over his face. “The minute I heard Raven’s name, I knew my plans had changed. We need to get her out of there now. She won’t last much longer.”

  “She will,” Jaxson growled, his eyes flashing wolf again. “My mate is strong.”

  “Yes,” Jinx agreed quietly, “but you don’t understand everything she’s been through, wolf. She’s tired. Ready to enter the next world.”

  “I do understand. I know what she’s going through, how she feels. Things are different now, though. She won’t want to leave,” Jaxson insisted, his claws digging into the table. “She knows I’m coming for her. Knows Dax is. She will fight.”

  Jinx looked at him, his brow furrowing in concern before vowing, “I promise you, I will do everything in my power to help you get to your mate.”

  “But the General will know that you helped my sister,” Rubi said quietly. “And he will come after you.”

  Jinx’s gaze went to the woman, and he seemed to freeze for a moment before nodding slowly, “Probably. Like I said before, he will know it was someone close to him, and he already suspects both myself and Amber, believing we are helping the enemy.”

  “What will you do?” Rubi whispered, her bottom lip trembling slightly.

  “The only thing I can do,” he told her, before rising to his feet. “I will help save your sister, even if it means giving my own life for her.”

  Rubi’s eyes misted with tears and she took a step toward him. “We can’t ask that of you.”

  “You didn’t ask anything of me.” Sliding Jaxson’s laptop toward him, Jinx’s fingers flew across the keyboard, and soon a map appeared with coordinates. “This is where you will find Raven. I have two stops to make, so I may not make it back in time to help you free her.”

  “Where are you going?” Angel asked, pushing her chair back.

  “I have my orders.” His gaze went back to Rubi. Cocking his head to the side, a small grin kicked up on the corner of his mouth. “She looks like you.”

  “She’s my twin,” was the soft response. “My best friend.”

  He was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I understand.”

  “You do?”

  “Jinx is my twin,” Jade said softly from where she sat next to Trace.

  Rubi’s eyes swung to hers, and she took a deep breath before looking back at Jinx. “You really do understand,” she whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks.

  “I do.” He seemed to hesitate before glancing around the room. “It will be at least two days before I get back to D.C.. My first stop is a bit more complicated than the second.”

  “We aren’t waiting,” Jaxson growled, closing the laptop and sticking it in his bag. “We leave now.”

  “Taking down the D.C. facility is going to be a lot harder than any of the others,” Jinx said, turning toward the door. “Take your time, do your recon. I will send you all of the information I can.”

  “How,” Jaxson demanded.

  Jinx glanced back and cocked a
n eyebrow. “How do you think?”

  “Send it to someone else,” Jaxson told him. “I’m going to be taking a nap.”

  “My sister is in trouble, and you are going to be taking a fucking nap?” Dax snarled.

  “I hope so,” Jaxson told him. “It’s the only way I can connect with her. She comes to me in my dreams.”

  Rubi’s brow furrowed in confusion. “How? Raven doesn’t have any psychic abilities. I would know if she did.”

  “I don’t know,” Jaxson admitted, slipping his laptop bag over his shoulder. “It’s been happening for a while now, but all I could feel was pain and suffering. I never actually knew what it was. I thought it was just a dream until she started talking to me. Then, last night, she heard me when I spoke back.”

  “You’re a dream walker.” Jaxson’s gaze swung to Jinx. “It’s the only explanation. You aren’t a strong enough telepath to connect with someone that has no psychic abilities this far away from them. Has this happened before?”

  “Yeah, but not to this extent.”

  “It’s a latent ability for you,” Jinx explained. “One that is just now coming into effect, probably because your mate is in danger. Learn to use it, to hone it, and it will be a very valuable one for your team. You will be able to slip in and out of dreams, and you can learn a lot in them.”

  “Well, right now I’m learning my mate is suffering,” Jaxson growled, “and all I care about is getting to her. Everything else can wait.”

  “I agree,” Jinx said, with one last look in Rubi’s direction before leaving the room without another word.

  “Grab your go bags,” Angel ordered, moving to follow her son. “Be out front in ten minutes. I want to be wheels up within the hour.”

  “Whose all going, boss?” Phoenix asked, pushing away from the wall he was leaning against. “Cause my happy ass is not staying behind on this one.”

  “Me neither,” Nico growled. “We are going to get Jaxson’s mate.”

  “I’ll fucking fly myself if I have to,” Dax snarled. “Rubi and I are going.”