Mating Call

by Martha Bourke

  He straightened, held out his right hand, and commanded the k’ul in the room to keep him from being heard.

  “Tz’in,” he mumbled the ancient Mayan. The air appeared to shimmer slightly. When he was satisfied his voice was concealed, he called to the Goddess.

  He waited.

  Nothing.

  Normally, he would get at least a verbal response. He kicked the small refrigerator with his foot. “Now you’re not answering?”

  He sat down on the edge of the bed. Who the hell was he kidding? She wasn’t even remotely within earshot and hadn’t been for days. Or maybe she was and someone was keeping her from answering. A low growl rumbled through his chest at the thought. He reluctantly released the k’ul with a swipe of his hand. He’d try again later. Jesus, he felt so goddamn helpless.

  There was a knock on the door. That would be Adriana and Richard. He didn’t need telepathy to tell him that.

  “Come on in.” He went into the sunken sitting area and lit the fireplace. “Anyone up for a beer?”

  Adriana curled up in the side chair. “Please.”

  Richard laughed. “Count me in.”

  They were quiet for a few minutes, just watching the fire.

  Finally Reyn spoke. “Aren’t we missing New Breed .1?”

  “She’s having some girl time with Auntie Helen and Mommy’s having some girl time with a microbrew.”

  Richard kissed her forehead and sat down on the couch. “Can you two believe this?”

  “I…no,” Adriana answered with a grin.

  “Leave it to Troy to mate with a human,” Richard said.

  Reyn chuckled. “And on top of that she becomes the Seer? What the fuck?”

  They all burst out laughing.

  There was another knock.

  Richard smiled. “There’s the rest of the crew.”

  Ana and SE followed Reyn in and sat down on the couch.

  “So, how’s the power-free life treating you, SE?” Adriana asked.

  The male let his head fall against the back of the couch. “Oh, my God.”

  Ana grinned. “Relieved much, my male?”

  SE grabbed her legs and pulled her into his lap. “Listen, you.”

  As Reyn watched the brother tickle his mate and Ana collapse against him in a fit of giggles, his mind went back to Akina. He’d officially left worried and moved on to all-out panic. It was so unlike her not to answer his call and it had been days. Something was very wrong. In his mind, there were only two possibilities. She’d run into trouble with her old buddies the gods or with the immortal she had mentioned a handful of times. For whatever reason, getting her to talk about that last one was damn near impossible.

  Ana sipped her beer. “Do you think Evy will need special instruction with you, Richard?”

  “On using her powers? It’s hard to be sure. It’s true that others have needed it, but she’s on a whole new level. She’s no goddess, but she’s not human or a New Breed either. My guess is her powers will teach her, and very quickly.”

  Adriana nodded. “I couldn’t believe the power I felt in that room.”

  Reyn nodded. “It’s exactly the same k’ul I felt yesterday, but it measured about a nine on the Richter scale today.”

  “I’ll check in on her. She could probably use some support from someone her own age. What do you think the chances are others felt it?” Ana asked.

  Reyn opened another beer. “You mean Toltec? Too good for my liking. The last thing we want to do is alert the other side. Troy’s new mate may be just what we need to turn this thing around.”

  Seth followed Batiste up a stairway and down a short hallway.

  “This part of the building is my offices. Most of our business is conducted off the premises.”

  They walked into a room with no windows. Didn’t take a genius to figure that one out. Head of a medium sized crime organization? You pass on the nice view.

  Batiste sat behind his desk and put his feet up. “Take a seat.”

  Seth nodded. “Thanks.”

  “So, these boys you see out there, they are my runners. They are my guards, they make deliveries, pick up cash, and so on. Your friends will start there. Everyone starts there. But not you. I want you to lead one of my divisions. You will take orders only directly from me or my second. You will have your own runners under you to, let us say, do your dirty work. I have never chosen a division leader in this manner before. But I have a special mission for you. Interested?”

  Jesus, he hoped it wasn’t dog catcher of the month. “Yes.”

  “Fabulous. You may have noticed that after you found your six or seven boys who are like you, the well dried up.”

  “Yeah, I did, actually.”

  “That is because I got to them all first. I have an insider who feeds them directly to me.”

  Fucking brilliant.

  “My insider works in the lab. He tests your kind to find them before they are sent to a den. I pay him and he sends them to me. I want you to take over. See that he is properly paid. Check the quality of the merchandise. I would also like to know if there is any other way he can be of assistance to our organization.”

  “I can handle that.”

  “Good. And, Seth, I am sure you’ve heard of the Omerta?”

  “Sure. That’s like the Mafia’s code of silence.”

  “Exactly. No one is to know about my insider except the runners who you will hand pick yourself. Not even other division leaders.”

  “No problem, boss.”

  An insider in Toltec working for Batiste. He had a feeling things were about to get real interesting.

  Troy sat his mate on the bathroom counter and handed her a mirror. She lifted her hair and looked at her mark, big brown eyes as round as he’d ever seen them.

  “It’s incredible, Ev. I’ve never seen another mark like it. You can almost see the stars really shine.”

  “It is beautiful.”

  He turned around so she could get on his back, took her into the bedroom, and dumped her on the bed. “How do you feel?”

  She giggled. “Okay. Just a little whacked. You know, the way you do when you thought you were one person your whole life and all of a sudden find out you’re another.”

  Troy sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sure it’s a lot like what most shifters deal with after they first phase.”

  “Yeah. That’s true. I can’t believe you’ve had to do this twice.”

  He brushed her hair back. “Not in the same week as being kidnapped, mating, and turning twenty.”

  “Good point. I’ll just go back to freaking out now.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just…I mean, what if I’m not what she expects? What if I royally fuck things up?”

  “You’ll be fine, Ev. Honest. The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. If she thought you were special enough to be chosen as the Seer, then you are.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “That’s my female.”

  She smiled. “Female. I love that. It’s so amazing to me that you’re all here, living in the world right alongside humanity, and you have this incredible culture all your own that no one knows about.”

  He grinned. “Looks like there’s a bunch of it we don’t even know about. What d’ya say to having dinner with the fam for the first time?”

  She made a face that reminded him of someone eating a lemon.

  “Too much to handle all in one day? We can always eat up here.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not that. We’re having meatloaf. I hate meatloaf.”

  “Did you just have a premonition?”

  “I guess. I don’t know. I just sort of knew what we were having.”

  Whoa. He’d bet the mansion that it was barely even a vision. You couldn’t even tell she was havin’ one. And it came to her so automatically. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, the person who makes the meatloaf also makes the waffles.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

&n
bsp; With a half hour still before dinner, Ana thought she’d check in on Mommy Dearest. She was definitely spending less time in her old office at Toltec headquarters, but the reason for that was obvious. They could hardly keep the labs in the building the Order had penetrated. Victrixa always had two offices, one at headquarters and one at the laboratory, also known as the “dog pound.” It made sense to assume she had one in the new building by now. What Ana couldn’t put a finger on was why she’d be spending so much more time there. Her psychotic bitch of a mother couldn’t give a flying fuck about the serum, as long as it continued to give her what she wanted.

  Hmm. She was at the main headquarters tonight though. Aw, shit. She was practicing Yaman again. The first time Ana had seen her try to work the Maya spell to control a nagual, it was very clear she was a mere novice. This was just a rerun. No matter how many times or how forcefully Victrixa gave the command, the stolen nagual wouldn’t budge. Her mother’s mutilated face became contorted with rage.

  “No!” Ana lurched forward and touched her laptop screen. The bitch lifted her fist and crushed the glass vial that held the tiny soul. She helplessly watched her mother strut from the room. She stared at the screen. Wait. Something was moving. The little hummingbird nagual was freeing itself from the broken glass. Of course! It was just spirit.

  Ana’s power was rusty. She didn’t use it much. She preferred the mano-a-mano shit out in the field. She focused on the screen for a moment, closed her eyes, and imagined her mother’s office. She pictured the nagual and it appeared in her open hand. It was a beautiful iridescent blue and green surrounded by a soft glow of light. “Hi, little ts’unu’un. You’re safe now.”

  She held up her hand to let it go, but the soul wouldn’t fly. Was it hurt? Could a nagual even be injured?

  The door to the room opened and SE walked in. “Almost ready for— is that what I think it is?”

  “Yeah. I was watching Mommy Dearest practice Yaman again. It didn’t go any better than last time. She smashed the vial and this little guy was trying to get out. But now he doesn’t seem to want to go on to the Otherworld. I think maybe he’s hurt.” She looked up at him. “Maybe I shouldn’t have called for it. Do you think I hurt it? I didn’t mean to. I was afraid she’d come back.”

  Jesus, she had the biggest heart. He touched the side of her face. “No, ihkweea. You’re not capable of that, not even by mistake.”

  “But he needs to go home. Can you understand me, ts’unu’un?”

  The spirit seemed to get all excited, fluttering wildly whenever she used the Mayan word for hummingbird.

  SE shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I suppose he’ll go when he’s ready.”

  She nodded. “Maybe when the Goddess comes she can take him back if he’s still here.”

  SE watched the little transparent hummingbird as it fluttered and hopped from one of her hands to the other. He couldn’t believe she was able to gleam a nagual. A person or object was one thing, but a spirit was pure energy. She probably didn’t even realize it, but her power was still growing and fast. The only question was why.

  Holy crap. Evy had never been so nervous in her whole freaking life. “Do I look okay?”

  Troy walked up behind her and looked at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. “Don’t even ask me that or we aren’t gonna make it to dinner.”

  “I just have jeans and a couple of sweaters Helen leant me.”

  He ran his lips gently along her temple. “It’s not black tie, Ev. Mary will pick up some things for you tomorrow.” He took her brush from her hand. “You’re gonna be a bald Seer if you keep brushing like that.”

  He intertwined his fingers with hers and led her out to the hallway.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just so nervous.”

  “They’ll be nervous, too. Five minutes and it’ll feel like you’ve always been there.”

  “Ya think?”

  “I know.”

  They walked down the main stairway and stopped just outside the drawing room.

  She looked up in to his eyes. “Oh, man. You don’t think they’ll bow again? I almost peed my pants.”

  He chuckled and put his arm around her. “Nah.”

  Everyone started to stand as they came in. Troy motioned quickly for them all to sit down. He walked to the far side of the long table near Richard and Adriana. He pulled out a chair for her next to Ana who was holding Baby Maya.

  “Hi,” Ana said. “Do you wanna hold her? She’s very good.”

  Evy smiled. “I’d love it.”

  “Welcome, Evy,” Adriana practically sang.

  “Thank you. Wow, she is a good baby.”

  X passed the meat platter. “Congrats, my brother.”

  “Thanks.” Jesus Christ. They were having meatloaf. Hello? You’re. Mated. To. The. Seer. Did they make a Hallmark Card for that shit? He turned and looked at her. No, he wasn’t. He was mated to Evy. He still could hardly believe it.

  Viktor looked over at Evy from across the table. “So, Evy, right?”

  “Yes. And you’re?”

  “Viktor. I’m Dimitri’s brother.” He pointed him out.

  His brother sighed. “A fact I try to forget every day, Evy.”

  “You can read the future, right? Which am I about to pick up next, the meatloaf or a slice of bread?”

  Evy rolled her eyes. “Bread.”

  “Wow. She’s good.”

  She shook her head. “No, you just asked X for the butter.”

  “Oh, right, right.”

  As everyone laughed, Troy couldn’t help but smile. Make that four minutes.

  At the end of the meal, Geoffrey and Mary brought in a huge birthday cake.

  Evy covered her mouth and turned to him. “Oh, no. You guys didn’t have to. Did you know about this?”

  He grinned. “Possibly.”

  “Thank you, everyone.”

  Adriana smiled. “It was our pleasure, Evy. Oh! Your candles!”

  She leaned over and blew out first the two, then the zero. She smiled as everyone started to clap and whistle.

  By the time they were done with cake and coffee, it was after ten. The brothers on duty had left almost an hour ago and baby Maya was sound asleep at her father’s shoulder. Evy stood and started to help stack the dessert plates.

  Mary swept into the room like magic. “Oh, you don’t need to do that.”

  “I don’t mind. I used to do it at home all—”

  Suddenly the plate in her hand fell to the table. Evy gasped and closed her eyes.

  Troy headed right for her.

  “Troy, wait,” Richard said. “I think she’s having a vision. Interrupting it might be dangerous.”

  A wind came up around her, blowing her long waves. She stretched her arm out in front of her, as if trying to touch something. Ten seconds later it ended just as abruptly as it had begun.

  Troy gently took his mate by the shoulders and sat her down. She was trembling. “Ev, are you okay?”

  She slowly nodded her head. “I think so. Wait. When did the brothers leave for duty?”

  Reyn looked at his watch. “Almost an hour ago.”

  “The one with dark wavy hair? What’s his name?”

  “Pax?” James asked.

  “Yes. He’s going to be hurt.”

  “I thought he was on last night,” Reyn said.

  Richard started to pace back and forth. “Dammit. He was, but he offered to take my duty tonight.”

  James cursed and dematerialized.

  One thing James had never really excelled at was sensing someone while gleaming. But he knew Pax’s energy as well as his own and it didn’t take him long to find him. He landed on the rooftop of an apartment building in Back Bay. He looked down below him and found Pax and SE running down the alley after two hellions. Where the fuck were their shifters? He turned to the left and from his vantage point, he could see the two Toltec soldiers waiting up ahead to ambush the brothers.

  He gleamed two roofs over and lean
ed over the edge. “It’s a trap! Pax!”

  Too late. As soon as he heard gunfire, James gleamed behind Pax and forced him to the ground.

  One minute Pax was running full out after two mutants, the next he was tonguing the fucking asphalt. He heard two shots and then SE was standing over him.

  “You alright?”

  Pax shook his head and stood up. “Yeah, I’m good. James, what the fuck was all that about? James?”

  He turned. James was lying face down in the winter slush. Pax rolled the male on his side. “Oh, my God. He’s been hit.”

  SE pulled out his cell. “I’ll get X and secure the perimeter.”

  Pax wrapped the male in his jacket and held him in his lap while they waited for X. He probably materialized on the scene within two or three minutes, but it felt like forever. “Stay with me, James. Don’t you die. Don’t you leave me here.”

  X threw down his pack. “Where’s he hit?”

  He looked up at the brother. He was sure his eyes were glowing, but he couldn’t give a shit. “In the chest. It looks bad.”

  “Okay. Dimitri and Ana are on their way with the truck. Let me have a look.”

  For some reason Pax’s arms and legs wouldn’t take orders from his brain.

  “Pax, you need to move for me now.”

  A low growl came from Pax’s chest.

  Finally, X just pulled him off.

  Once they got James back to the compound, he immediately went into surgery. Everyone was crammed into the hallway waiting for some kind of word. Pax stared at the hallway tile. He felt numb. All he could think about was that stupid fight he’d had with James. What a coward. The truth of it was that the male was right. When Pax shoved him against the wall it was because he’d intended to kiss him. He’d stopped himself, but that didn’t change anything. And he wasn’t the only one who knew it. James did, too. Is that why he’d done this? Oh, God.