Mating Call

by Martha Bourke

  Evy poked her head in. “I’ll get it.”

  He walked out into the bedroom just in time to see his female holding X by the front of his leather coat. Big old X was completely stunned; he just stood there and let her.

  “You let anything happen to him and I will end you,” she said fiercely.

  The brothers watched as she stomped into the bathroom and closed the door.

  Troy smirked and followed his partner into the hallway.

  Xavier exhaled. “What the fuck was that?”

  Troy put a hand on the male’s shoulder. “Just a little Southie. You okay there, Big X? Not afraid of a female a quarter of your size, are ya?”

  “Jesus Christ.”

  Troy chuckled and followed X’s lead as they gleamed out.

  They materialized in a tiny alley just off Joy Street.

  Troy lit a cig and they started down the hill. “Why the fuck are we on Beacon Hill? Reyn hoping we can find Paul Revere and draft him or some shit?”

  “Nah. It just hasn’t been checked in a while. Quick walk then we head for Dorchester, dig?”

  “Lemme guess. Blue Hill Ave.”

  “That’d be the place.”

  “Shit. Every fuckin’ time I hit that street I’m this close to endin’ up in some kinda bust. I’m like a friggin’ beacon.” He put up his hands. “Arrest me, officer, please. I ain’t got nuttin’ betta to do, honest.”

  X chuckled. “Hold up. You see those two just come out onto Joy?”

  “Yeah, it’s definitely a couple.”

  “I’ll take the big one.”

  Troy threw up his hand. “Why do you always get the bigger ones?”

  “I’m your camzah, dig?”

  “Come on. Rock, scissors, paper.”

  X sighed and held out his fist as his partner did the same.

  Troy gave a nod. “On three.”

  Two seconds later Troy’s paper had won over X’s rock. He rolled his eyes. “You and your rock, X. Seriously. Time for a new strategy, bro.”

  “Rock is the strongest. Besides, I’m taking the big one anyway.”

  Troy ran ahead. “The fuck you will!”

  “Game on!”

  Obviously, the shifter up ahead didn’t know the area very well. They were goin’ in frickin’ circles. Troy picked up speed, unsheathed his knife, and threw himself into the big mutant tackle style. He took a hook to the liver before taking off the frankenfucker’s head. He kicked through the leftover mutant sand and walked toward his partner. X was already letting the nagual out of the shifter soldier’s glass vial.

  “Heads up,” Troy whispered.

  Two more pairs were coming around the corner. What, was this prom night? Troy gleamed out and materialized behind them. Then he waited. A moment later he registered X’s energy next to him. He had the dead shifter’s body over his huge shoulder. Troy watched while he quietly dragged it around the corner. “This makes no sense. A den on Beacon Hill?”

  “Can’t be. Not enough real estate, dig? Gotta be something else going on.”

  Boom. There it was. Lights went on all over the place and shifter civilians came pourin’ out onto the narrow street in droves. It was some kind of event. The Toltec shifters had gotten wind of it somehow. Party central. Perfect. Beacon Hill was a maze of narrow streets and alleys. It was hard to see even with New Breed vision. “I can’t see shite.”

  X glanced up at the rooftop. “Let’s get vertical.”

  They materialized on the rooftop above and watched as the crowd headed off in different directions.

  “There’s no way they planned this,” X mumbled.

  “Nah. They must’ve come across it by accident. Hey, check your right side.”

  “I’m on it. See you on the flip side.”

  Troy looked down at the street below. Fog had started to creep in makin’ Beacon Hill look like it was outta some kinda vampire movie. Because there weren’t enough o’ those.

  “Fuck.” Two civilian females had broken off from the rest and were headed back toward Joy. He gleamed to the next roof top. There had to be shifter soldiers around there somewhere. That’s the way it worked. Bingo. A soldier and his mutant headed right for ‘em from the top of the street.

  He drew his pistol and gleamed behind them. He fired and took out the shifter, but the hellion was a whole other matter. It seized him in a choke hold from behind. Troy slammed the mutant’s foot with his boot, pivoted, and nailed its jaw with his elbow. For some reason, the thing didn’t want to go down. He finally pistol-whipped the frankenfucker with the grip of his gun. It fell at his feet and he Express Mailed it to the Goddess. He wiped his forehead and felt for X. He was a block away walking toward him.

  Suddenly, his New Breed vision caught someone standing by the entrance to a nearby alley. He focused through the fog.

  Evy?

  Jesus Christ. For a split second he thought he was on the holodeck. Then a shitload of k’ul invaded his senses. All at once every terrifying thing about the night at the club when Evy was taken came back to him, only this time the protective instinct was a thousand times more powerful. Troy’s body was in motion before he even had time to get his feet under him. He went from dead run to gleam. His mate was standing in her bare feet in the snow wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts. He threw his arms around her and gleamed out, materializing in their bathroom at the mansion. His female shook in his arms. Jesus, she was frozen.

  “You’re okay.” He held her steady with one arm while he turned on the shower and adjusted the temp with the other.

  Troy pulled the wet shirt over her head and slid her panties off. “How long were you out there?”

  “I’m not sure. A few minutes,” she said through chattering teeth.

  He picked her up and stepped under the spray of the shower, shit kickers and all. She tucked her face into his chest as he alternated the spray between her arms and legs, to her hands and feet, then back again. After what he figured was about ten minutes, he cut off the water and sat her down on the vanity, drying her off as best he could with a towel. He walked her into the bedroom and tucked her into the duvet.

  “Feel any pins and needles?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. Your circulation’s comin’ back. No blisters or swelling. It’s probably just a little frostnip.”

  He walked into the closet, pulled off his wet clothes, and changed into dry ones. As he sat down on the bed, tears welled up in Evy’s eyes.

  He pulled her in close. “Come here.”

  As soon as his arms were around her, she let go. He rocked her and let her cry until it sounded like she was slowin’ down.

  He reached over and got her a Kleenex. “Scared the shit outta yourself, huh.”

  She nodded. “I’d just changed for bed and I was thinking about you.”

  “Worryin’ about me.”

  She nodded. “I knew what I’d done because I’d gleamed with you before. So I knew what it felt like. But I had no idea how to get back.”

  He dabbed her tears and smiled. “There you were, standin’ in your underwear on Beacon Hill. I swear, I thought you were a mirage.”

  The two of them started to chuckle and a moment later they were laughing so hard it gave even his New Breed abs a workout.

  He planted a kiss on her forehead. “I gotta head back out. Are you gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so. I’m exhausted. I’m sure I’ll pass right out. Just be careful.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Always.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Damn it.” Helen put her head down on the lab table. There was a reason why no one ever tried to break down something this complicated in reverse. At this rate, she’d use up all her shifter years and then some.

  X popped his head in the door. “Hey. You okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m just quietly losing my mind.”

  “Well, can that wait a sec? Dies wanted your opinion on a couple of things for the new suite.”

 
“Sure. I can postpone psychosis for a few more minutes. Couldn’t do any harm, right?”

  He leaned against the door jamb. “Listen, you know you’re going to get this.”

  “Please don’t tell me it’s my destiny.”

  The male scrunched up his brows.

  Oh. Right. This was X.

  “I know you’ll get it because of your intelligence. Look at all those notebooks over there.”

  “They’re just paper with endless scribbling.”

  “They’re your process, Helen. In fact, I was going to suggest you start locking them up at night, along with the samples of the serum and Professor Delaney’s work.”

  “You’re kidding.” No change in facial expression. The male was dead serious. “Where?”

  “I was thinking about the safe that Dimitri’s father had installed down here in the compound. Unfortunately, it’s crammed with shit just like everything else around here. So I ordered a new one.”

  “You did?”

  “Should be here next week. I left the product information for you right there on the table.”

  She reached for it. “Oh, I must’ve missed it. Holy shit. This is it? The thing with all the zeroes before the decimal point?”

  “Can’t be too careful. Let’s head down to the suite. Dies is deadly with those crutches of his, dig?”

  They walked down the hall and X stopped at the door. “I got some work to do. I’ll see you at dinner. Or breakfast.”

  What the hell did he mean by that?

  She opened the door and walked in. “Dies, did you need me to…”

  There in the middle of a completely finished suite stood her male. The crutches were gone and he was wearing his favorite pair of jeans. It took a second for it all to compute. She started to walk to him, but he put up his hand.

  “Let me come to you, Doc.”

  Before she could protest, he was walking toward her. Her heart skipped a beat. Hot tears came to her eyes as she watched his body move with a grace she’d thought would be weeks away. And then he was standing over her.

  “I don’t understand. How are you…you were just fitted?”

  “X and I had the exact same reaction. So did the prosthetist when I walked across the room and gave him a little Diesel squeeze.” He chuckled.

  “Oh, Dies, you didn’t.”

  “Afraid so. Poor son of a bitch. We beat it outta there pretty quick.”

  “It must have something to do with being a New Breed.”

  He nodded. “That’s what X figures. Fast healing. Better balance. Strong build. So, how ‘bout I give you a tour of the place?”

  “How about you kiss me first?”

  “Christen now, tour later. You’re the boss, slugger.”

  Victrixa swept the remains of another glass vial into the trash just as there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” she snapped.

  A shifter soldier walked in. His skin was a very unattractive shade. They all looked that way as soon as they came through the door.

  “Yes? Is there a reason you’re standing in my office wasting my time?”

  “I have some information for you, Director.”

  She peered at him through narrowed eyes. “Wait. Do I know you? You’re Roman’s driver. Fine. Close the door.”

  “Yes, ma’am. The information I have is about the head scientist.”

  She stood up and leaned against her desk. Oh, for Chrissake. She was taller than the male, even if she took off her high heeled boots. What was their army coming to these days?

  He took a deep breath. “It’s just…there’s something going on with him.”

  “So I gathered.”

  “He’s…”

  Victrixa tapped her nails on the desk.

  “He’s selling the rogues to some local drug dealer.”

  Her fingers stopped moving and she felt the usual pull of her scar whenever she squinted. “I’m sorry?”

  “Roman is—”

  “I heard you!” She took a moment to compose herself. The new lab building had paper thin walls. “Just how certain of this are you?”

  “I’ve been driving him when they meet up. Now he wants me to meet with a rogue and handle the payment myself.”

  “You wouldn’t by any chance know the name of this dealer.”

  “Yeah, it’s Baptist or—”

  She rolled her eyes. “Batiste?”

  “That’s it.”

  What she would have given to ring that little dwarf’s neck right then and there. But she had to be smart about this. Batiste. She knew the name. He worked for Toltec as a dog catcher. “What’s your name?”

  “Paul.”

  “Well, Paul, I want you to do exactly what he asks until you hear from me. Understood?”

  “Ma’am?”

  Oh, for… “Just do it!”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And shut the door behind you.”

  That little human bastard. The serum had to be perfected before she could move to Phase II. There was no way Roman was working on refining the serum at an acceptable pace if he was profiting from the rejects. Never mind the possible risks of Batiste creating some rogue faction.

  Still. She needed him. No one else could do what he could. She would simply have to employ her most persuasive weapon. Roman’s double cross may be making him some cash, but in the long run it would be meaningless if he’d lost his freedom.

  She walked behind her desk and dialed her cell. “Cerberus. I want that human locked in the lab with nothing but a cot until he figures out how to fix the damn serum!”

  There was a knock at the door. Evy sat up and laid her book down on the nightstand. “It’s open.”

  “Hi,” Pax said. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure.”

  He walked over and leaned on the armchair. It groaned under his weight. “Evy, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night. It’s inexcusable.”

  “You don’t have to do that. You weren’t angry with me. You were afraid for him. I get that.”

  He looked down at his hands. “Still, I…I’ve never yelled at a female in my life. I just wanted you to know that. That it’s not me. It’s not who I am.”

  From what Troy had told her, Pax was the proper one. Raised in a strict Catholic household. And that Catholic conscience was not something easily lost either. She could definitely relate. “Apology accepted, Pax. No worries, okay?”

  He raised his head. “Thank you.”

  She smiled. “Of course.”

  For a split second she wanted to say something about James. About the warning within her. But she couldn’t. She’d already changed their future once by opening her big mouth. She wasn’t even sure what she was meant to be doing. She ached for her Goddess.

  “I don’t want to take up any more of your time. I’ll see you at dinner then?”

  “Oh, yeah. We’re having Mexican. Ana and SE are cooking.”

  He mumbled another thank you and left. Damn it. She was doing it again. She had no idea how she knew what they were having for dinner or who was cooking it for that matter. There was another knock. Pax must have forgotten something. She got up and opened the door.

  “Reyn?” She looked straight up into his swollen blue eyes, gaunt face, and shadows that reached down all the way to his high cheekbones.

  “I need your help.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Evy found herself taking the arm of the Order’s leader. “Come in.”

  “I’m so sorry to intrude like this. I—”

  “It’s no intrusion. Please, sit down.” She figured it was either that or he was going to fall down.

  The male started to sit, then popped right up again. My God. Something was terribly wrong. “What is it, Reyn? What’s going on?”

  “I just need you to find out if the Goddess is okay. I mean, you can sense her, right?”

  “I can, at times. I don’t really know how to control it exactly.”

  �
��I’ve been afraid something was wrong for days now. She’s in danger, Evy. I think she’s trying to cross over into our realm and then retreating.”

  “Danger?”

  “From the gods that destroyed her in the first place. Do you think you could try and sense her?”

  “I can try.” What the hell was she saying? She had never even tried to sense the Goddess on purpose and it only seemed to happen at night anyway. But she had to at least give it a go. She sat down on the chaise, crisscrossed her legs, and focused. After a moment she felt a warmth inside her and she realized that was the key. She concentrated on it. Heat hit the back of her eyes and a bright light came into view. She recognized it immediately as the energy of her Goddess. Her whole being was filled with peace when suddenly she felt an ice cold sensation and an impenetrable darkness separated them.

  Evelyn, no! Go back!

  The light became so bright she almost had to turn away. For a moment, it blocked out the shadow completely. Out of nowhere she flew backward off the lounge and hit the floor. “Ow!”

  “Evy!” A strong hand helped her to her feet. “Are you alright?”

  She let her eyes return to normal and her room came into view. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  “What happened? Were you attacked?”

  “No, I don’t think so. It was the Goddess who pushed me away. I think she did it to protect me. She told me to go back. There’s definitely something else out there with her—a presence. The same kind of being as she is, only dark. Evil. ”

  The male’s face fell.

  “That’s what you were afraid of, isn’t it.”

  He nodded.

  “I think she’s still trying to get here. She must think she’ll be able to do it safely at some point. Why else would she try?”

  Reyn ran his hand through his hair. He wasn’t telling her everything. She wasn’t sure how much she could help with only part of the story.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. She would have gone back by now otherwise. Thanks for your help, Evy.”

  And just like that he made a beeline for the door. He practically ran over Troy on his way out.