Ah, hell. The truth was he wasn’t much use out there, anyway. All he could think about was Adri, even in the field. The further her pregnancy advanced, the stronger his protective instinct grew. He knew that was par for the course, but the panic he felt when he was away from her was getting more and more intense. Having a pregnant mate was always a challenge for a male shifter, but dealing with a pregnancy as a New Breed was uncharted territory. He had no idea what to expect. He couldn’t concentrate for shit, which caused his combat skills to slip. What if he was too distracted and it compromised him during a fight? That was his worst fear—a brother lying dead in the street because of him. No, it wouldn’t be long before he’d have to talk to Reyn about it. Now there was a tête-à-tête he was really looking forward to. Christ.
Out of nowhere, a lamp clicked on in the bedroom. Shit. Richard removed a second knife from the holster and three others hidden in various places. Then he removed the belt that housed his handgun and placed it in the cabinet. He closed the closet and walked over to the side of the bed. He placed his hand on Adri’s ever-expanding belly and kissed her forehead. “Hey, female, can’t sleep again?”
“Nope.”
He swept a dark curl from her face. Jesus. Even after all this time her big brown eyes just swallowed him whole. “Did you try a bath?”
“Bath. Reading. Everything short of whacking myself over the head with the lamp.” She gave him the once over. “You don’t look like you’ve seen much action.”
“Not a damn thing.”
“You know, Richard, I’ve been thinking. Does SE seem different to you?”
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on what you mean by different.”
Adriana shook her head. “I don’t mean physically. He just seems so intense…almost angry. I mean, he cut his hair. He’s never had short hair, ever. And every time I try to find him, Dimitri says he’s working out. He told me SE actually broke a treadmill last night. Just ran it so hard he burned the damned thing out.”
“He’s dealing with a lot right now. He’ll work through it.”
“Maybe…”
Richard looked into Adriana’s eyes and felt his muscles tense. “Oh, no, I’m not going to read his mind. Not without his permission. It’s bad enough when it happens unintentionally.”
Adriana raised a brow. “Listen, my male, you’ve been gifted by the Goddess for a reason. Maybe you can use your gift to help SE open up to us again.”
“It just, I don’t know…it feels like a violation to me.”
She touched his cheek. “Promise me you’ll at least think about it?”
“Okay, I’ll think about it. I promise. Let me take a quick shower and grab something from the kitchen. Can I interest you in some warm milk?”
“Yes, please.”
He planted a kiss on top of her head. “I won’t be long.”
As the hot water from the showerhead beat down the back of his neck, Richard closed his eyes. Telepathy wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Pax phased into human forms, for fuck’s sake. A nifty power in theory, but also incredibly painful. Just the same, he was beginning to miss the good old days when everyone kept their thoughts to themselves.
When he was dressed again, he headed out of the bedroom. Walking down the main staircase, he caught a glimpse of SE heading through the foyer in workout gear. He paused and watched him turn in the rec room.
Diesel and Pax walked by, holding roast beef sandwiches the size of their heads.
“Dude totally blew out my favorite treadmill.” Diesel nodded in SE’s direction.
Richard sighed. “Any more of that roast beef left or did you two smartasses take it all?”
“There’s some left,” Pax called as he followed Diesel into the billiard room.
Just then, Reyn came out of the study that currently functioned as his office. Jesus, the male looked tired. Deep shadows framed his intense blue eyes. Telling him that he would have to stop fighting until Adri gave birth sure as hell wasn’t going to help matters, but Richard knew his head wasn’t in it and his instincts hadn’t been right since the get-go. Getting himself or another brother killed on duty just wasn’t an option.
Reyn looked up. “Hey, Richard, I was just going to look for you. Can I see you for a minute?”
“Of course.”
The two sat down on opposite sides of the large antique partners desk. Richard couldn’t help but notice all the paperwork spread out on it. He rubbed his forehead and waited. Reyn wasn’t the kind of male to mince words, so he didn’t have to wait long.
“Look, I know how hard it is for you to be in the field with Adriana pregnant. I also know you and SE have a past. I’m not a hundred percent on what went on, but I get the gist. Listen, I’d like to get SE out in the field right away. Do you think he and Dimitri would play nice? That way, I can continue to take duties only when it’s necessary and you can go on leave. There’s so much panic among the civilians right now. We’re getting twenty calls a day that are total false alarms. Shifters think they’re being targeted at the grocery store, for Chrissakes.”
“Are you fielding a lot of complaints?”
Reyn sighed. “I don’t think they’ll be putting out our action figures any time soon. There’s no way I can up my time out there, but we need to locate those dens.”
“I think SE and Dimitri will be okay. D’s already worked with him some.” Richard measured his next words carefully. Reyn was about as reluctant a leader as you could get, and Richard was the oldest New Breed, not counting SE. The last thing he wanted was for the brother to mistake his offer of help as a lack of confidence in his abilities. “Listen, Reyn, let me work with you on some of this official stuff. I’m going to have way too much time on my hands around here. I’d feel better if I were still contributing.”
“Are you sure? I know this is an important time for you and Adriana.”
“I’m positive.”
Reyn crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “You know, I think I’ll take you up on that. If we can keep it more efficient on this end, I’ll be able to spend more time in the field and we can work on locating and destroying those dens. I’ll let Dimitri know about your change in status. Oh, and ah, I think we should get SE out into the field ASAP. Before he breaks something else."
Richard smiled and shook his head. “I can’t argue with you there. Most of his old training has come back to him. We’ll get him out tomorrow night and see how it goes.”
Ana sat in the main conference room at Toltec headquarters and watched the morning sun play on the far wall. She could feel the tension in the room rising, even among the highest-ranking shifters. The k’ul she sensed told her that her psychotic bitch of a mother was coming down the hallway. She had just been named Director of Operations for the entire mutant program. What a load of crap. And wasn’t she just perfect for the role, because as far as Ana could tell, Mommie Dearest was barely human herself. As Victrixa pushed open the door to the tech lab, Ana watched the other shifters squirm uncomfortably in their seats around the conference table.
Ah, the irony. Ana had joined this particular faction of Toltec to get away from her mother. Victrixa hated getting her hands dirty, much less bloody, so being out in the field seemed perfect. Shortly after that, bio-mom dropped off Toltec’s radar for a few weeks and no one was sure if she was alive or dead. Ana figured gone was good; dead seemed too much to hope for. Then one day, Trixa walked into the Boston headquarters like nothing ever happened. The front of her raven hair had a shock of white cascading down the left side, and a hideous jagged scar ran down the left side of her face from temple to chin. She was the walking, talking embodiment of pure, unadulterated terror.
As Victrixa moved to the head of the table, Ana noticed that instead of sitting, she remained standing at her full height—six feet of I’ll get you, my pretty. Ana looked down at the table and wished she could just gleam the fuck out of there. Why the hell was she asked to a meeting with a bunch of science geeks anyway?
; Victrixa finally spoke. “Where are we with the serum?”
Roman, Toltec’s head scientist, raised his hand like it was the third grade. “Ah, the potency is stable. None of the shifters with mutated DNA will ever need more serum after the first injection. They will continue to be bigger, faster, and far stronger than the typical shifter.”
Victrixa glared down at him with the same greenish-yellow eyes that always reminded Ana of a cat. Or Satan. “Please refer to them by their proper name.”
The white coat cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Victrixa. Hellions.”
“So the mutation is definitely permanent. And what about the side effects?”
“They still suffer from decreased libido, aggression, and an almost total absence of k’ul,” another lab guy answered.
Her mother moved her lips slightly. Ana couldn’t help but think it might be the nerves in her face remembering how to smile. Nah.
Her mother turned back to Roman. “Are they still attacking civilian shifters to take their k’ul?”
He nodded. “Oh, yes. It seems to present as an almost addictive behavior.”
“Perfect. Let’s keep them addicted and aggressive. The Order is far outnumbered and irreplaceable, while we can create mutants at will. It won’t take long for us to far outpace them. Still, let’s work on that libido issue. They all seem to practice denning. Let’s see if we can’t get them to breed. Nothing would make me happier than to make all of you obsolete.”
Roman paused only briefly. “Ah, yes. Of course, Victrixa.”
“That will be all. You are dismissed.”
Everyone in the room flew out of there faster than a flock of avian shifters. Ana was right on their heels when—
“Ana, I need to speak with you.”
So close.
“Yes, Victrixa?”
“You’ve been doing a lot of fighting along with the hellions lately, correct?”
Ana fidgeted. “Some.”
“As you’ve just heard, we’ve discovered that the hellions have almost nonexistent levels of k’ul. Through some combination of instinct and need, they have discovered that they can live off the k’ul of other shifters. However, unless given the opportunity, they never seem to take more than they need. I want you and the rest of the warriors to give them more opportunities.”
“I…you want us to help them drain shifters of all their k’ul? But won’t that—”
“Take their souls? Yes.”
Bile rose in Ana’s throat, burning her vocal chords.
“Have I made myself clear, Ana?”
“I understand,” Ana managed.
“Good. You’re dismissed.”
Ana turned and left the room. Once outside, she leaned back against the door, her heart pounding, her chest tight. After taking a breath, she turned the first corner in the hallway and grabbed a cup from the water cooler. She downed three little cone cups of cold water before she could get her head together. Had she just been told—no, ordered by—her psychotic mother to help the hellions keep the shifters souls’ from moving on during battle? Victrixa wanted to glean their souls? This was so not good. She knew the bitch was deranged, but this was just…suddenly, she felt the protective instinct flare in her gut. Oh, God. She had to find SE. But how?
“Wow, check you out, SE. You look like one badass motherfucker.” Pax grinned. “Diesel will hook you up with the best steel every time. Ain’t that right, X?”
X poured himself a glass of vodka at the bar. “Fucking A right.”
Diesel sipped his drink. “Aw, come on now. You boys’re making me blush.”
“Nervous? Need one of these?” X swirled the alcohol in his glass. “Dimitri turned me on to this shit. Good stuff, man. Expensive as hell though.”
“Why? Do I look it?” SE asked. The truth was he didn’t really feel nervous. He was just plain pissed, which was about the same mood he’d been in pretty much since he got there. A nice fight should at least get rid of the headache he’d had all day. Jesus. It was like a damn vice. Maybe some action was just what the doctor ordered.
Pax handed him the glass of vodka. “Actually, you don’t, but you’d be a goddamn idiot not to be.”
X looked up from his laptop. “Just remember, the knives are the most important. You can shoot a hellion, but that’s only going to slow it down. Your daggers are your main weapons. The only thing that’ll kill Frankenshifters is taking off their noggins. It also sends them home to the Goddess. No messy clean-up.”
“Got it.”
Diesel went to the bar for a refill. “Yeah. And don’t get ganked.”
SE drained his glass. “Sound advice. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Don’t get me ganked.”
SE nodded and started for the elevator to meet Dimitri and Richard. “Thanks for the steel, Diesel,” he called back.
“No problem, dude.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Soaring Eagle walked into the foyer where Dimitri was waiting for him. The change in the brother was astounding. He’d swapped his usual designer clothing for steel-toed boots, old jeans, and a black leather duster. SE could only imagine the weapons that full-length coat hid.
Dimitri gave him a nod. “We’ve got a lead on a possible mutant den in an abandoned triple-decker in Dorchester,” he said. “You and I are meeting Pax and Diesel there in a few minutes. Just remember, whatever you do, don’t let them bring you down. Gleam out if you have to. If they’re jonesin’ for k’ul, you’ll sense it. They’ll be almost empty, registering even less than humans do, so if they get to you, they’ll suck it right out of you, and you’ll feel like shit for a couple of days. We can’t afford to lose you right now.”
SE nodded. “Got it.”
“You ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
Dimitri gleamed out and SE followed, materializing on the roof of a building in Dorchester. SE gave the boarded-up triple decker across the street a gander. A minute later, Diesel and Pax materialized in an alley next to the place, but didn’t try to enter.
SE looked at Dimitri. “Are they using themselves as bait?”
“Pretty much. It’s better to draw them out. Fighting them outside means more maneuverability. We also have no way of knowing how many of those bastards are in there. They’ll sense the brothers any second, so keep your eye out in case it’s time to party.”
SE nodded. Shit couldn’t happen fast enough, as far as he was concerned. He was so fucking tight he thought his head was going to explode. Which wasn’t such a bad idea if he could take a few mutants with him on the way out.
A split-second later SE thought he caught a slight movement in the darkness. And then he sensed it, a being so devoid of k’ul he wasn’t sure the thing was actually alive. A chill did the Macarena down his spine. The huge shadow poked its head out of the second floor window and then dropped down behind Pax and Diesel.
“Steady,” Dimitri mumbled.
Too late.
SE gleamed out and materialized between the mutant and the brothers. The scumbag was bigger than he’d imagined, but nothing he couldn’t take. He fell into a sprint, charging the bastard head on. As the wind blew past his ears like the roar of a locomotive, he barely felt his feet hit the concrete. At the last moment, he sprung at the mutant, catching it around the shoulders, his hands and forearms twisting and tearing into its neck until its head left its body and fell to the ground at SE’s feet. In an instant, body and head were no more than a small pillar of sand.
“I’d say he’s ready,” Diesel said.
“Christ, what are you, in heat?” Pax asked.
Diesel unsheathed his daggers. “Here comes the welcome wagon.”
“Let’s dance,” Pax drawled.
Three more mutants passed through the window one at a time and leapt to the ground. SE reached for his knives as one of them closed in and backed him against the wall of the neighboring building. The hellion led with its switchblade, the edge splitting SE’s upper lip as he tried to get out o
f the way. He swept the enemy’s legs out from under it and sliced through its neck. A second hellion jumped him from the right. Caught off guard, SE lost his balance and it knocked him to the ground. The mutant grabbed the sides of SE’s head and leaned in, trying to get close to his eyes. Fuck that. He pressed both hands against the thing’s chest and shoved. At the same time, a blade cut through enemy’s torso.
“You trying to be a mutant Happy Meal?” Dimitri growled. “What the fuck did I say about not letting them get close to you?”
As Dimitri dispatched the douchebag home to the Goddess, SE turned around just in time to see two Toltec shifters turn into the alley. He flew at the one on the right, all two hundred and fifty pounds of him slamming the enemy into the side of the vacant house. The shifter shoved him off and reached around SE’s throat with a knife. He elbowed the scumbag in the stomach, then whirled around and punched him in the jaw. The blow sent him reeling across the alley.
SE smelled her before he saw her.
Ana’s jasmine scent came to him on the cold November wind. He looked up, and there she was. At first, he froze stone cold, totally intoxicated as Ana engaged with her twin crescents. God, she was beautiful when she fought. Her long, elegant limbs moved with such precision, as the wind whipped through her dark hair. Everything seemed to go on without him, but then SE noticed a flash of steel that brought him back to earth as Pax started to pull his Beretta from its holster.
The protective instinct hit SE like a punch in the gut, leaving him senseless. Before he could think, he gleamed to Pax’s side and knocked the pistol clear out of his hand. He looked into Ana’s eyes, and his second soul cried out from deep inside of him. With a curse, he looked away and gleamed his sorry ass back to the mansion. Covered in blood and sweat, SE leaned back against the ornate wall of the drawing room, the hard-on under his clothes throbbing. Goddamn. His second soul was screaming at him. As his pulse raced, he fought to get his breathing under control.
Suddenly, Pax was in front of him, his eyes glowing bright amber in his fury. He grabbed SE by his jacket and shoved him back against the wall, slamming his already pounding head into a brass sconce.
Forbidden Call (New Breed Novels, Book 1) Page 5