Mating Call

by Martha Bourke

  He shrugged. “If you think it’ll help. Where is he?”

  “In his room.”

  She walked over and laid her hand on his cheek. He sucked in his breath as the vision she’d had on the stairs entered his mind in fifth gear.

  This was new. When they faded, he shook his head and exhaled.

  “I’m sure someday I’ll get used to that.” He stood up and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back. Don’t lose my page, female, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

  His eyes glowed faintly and she did her best to look coy. “That’s not much incentive, my male.”

  He put his Sox cap on backwards and gave her a cocky smile. “Wasn’t meant to be. I’ll see ya in a bit.”

  Troy stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked down the hall. He could feel Dimitri’s emotions before the male even opened the door.

  “Oh, hey, my brother.”

  “Hey. You mind if I come in for a sec, D?”

  “Sure.”

  Whoa. As Troy followed him in, he was hit by a big old wall of negativity—a whole smorgasbord of guilt, anger, sadness, worry. The struggle. Jesus. It was all way too familiar.

  “Listen, Evy shared with me what happened with Viktor. I hope that’s okay.”

  Dimitri sat down on the arm of a wing chair and looked out the window. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

  “The thing is I lost my younger brother a while ago.”

  Dimitri turned and looked at him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay. It was a couple years back. The thing is, even though we were placed in different foster homes, I still feel like I shoulda done more, ya know?”

  “Jesus. You’ve really been there, bro.”

  “Been there, got the t-shirt, the bumper sticker, the mug–the works.”

  Dimitri smiled a little.

  Troy could feel him relax a bit. “I gather from what I know of the sitch, you’re gonna wanna find him and bring him back.”

  The brother nodded. “Yeah. I was going to ask for leave, but we can’t spare it. I’ll have to look for him on my off days. Not like I’ve got a fucking clue where to start.”

  Troy stood and put his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help you all I can, and so will Evy. We’ll find him, D.”

  Dimitri’s eyes welled up and Troy took that as a signal to head out.

  “Hey, Troy?”

  He turned for a moment. “Yeah?”

  “Thank you both.”

  “You got it.”

  Seth watched as Pete, or Paul, or whatever the fuck the guy’s name was, stuffed the envelope full of cash into his coat pocket. Now came the fun part. He had to go into the warehouse and make sure the merch was in working order. Only the shit was hardly a ton of John Deere crap. The place was full of rogues just like him. If it was anything like the first time, they would be barely able to stand long enough so he could check them out and a few would probably still be yacking their brains out. Good times.

  Seth couldn’t do a thing about his situation until he had enough cash saved up. And he needed to be sure how far Batiste’s reach went. No use deserting just to be hunted down. Sure he was stronger and faster than humans and shifters, but he was hardly bulletproof. Besides, the boss had a shitload of rogues at his disposal. Nah, the best he could figure, he’d be ready to go in about a year. Which was nothing in rogue time. So for now, it was on with the putrid show.

  “I don’t suppose you’d like to come in, er, Pete?”

  “It’s Paul.”

  “Right.”

  He got out of the SUV and walked to the warehouse door. He nodded to the rogues on either side and went in. An acrid smell hit his senses hard. He flipped the light switch. Jesus. There were rogues littered all over the place. All he needed was some fake blood and a few missing body parts, and he could have his own HBO series.

  He gritted his teeth. “Alright, everybody up! Unless you want me to leave you here. And trust me, you don’t want me to.”

  The rogue mutants managed to get to their feet and he walked up and down the rows. He stopped short in front of a female. WTF? There weren’t supposed to be any females sent to Batiste. Well, back she went. Until he looked into her big, pleading blue eyes. He shook his head. Damn it.

  “How the hell did you get in here?”

  “I don’t know. I just woke up here.” She coughed. “Please don’t send me back there.”

  Aw, Christ. “Look. I can’t take you. They’ll kill you on the spot.”

  “Maybe not. If you leave me here I’m dead for sure.”

  He checked her over. Now there was a good idea. She had beautiful blond hair and about five foot eight worth of legs. He turned away from her and shook his head.

  “What’s your name?”

  He whirled around. “What?”

  Derrr…

  She smiled and his entire body practically turned to melted wax on the spot.

  “Your name?”

  “Seth.”

  She coughed again. “I’m Grace.”

  Nice to meet you, Grace. How would you prefer to die? By Toltec or a drug lord? Man, his life was like some kinda soap opera. He walked to the door and gave Toltec’s boys the all clear before he went back to the female. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Look,” he said under his breath, “after we let everyone off the van, you and I are staying on it.”

  “What?”

  “If you wanna live, just do what the hell I tell you, alright?”

  She nodded.

  And before he went outside to wait for the van and have a smoke, he already knew what he was going to do.

  Reyn walked into his room and immediately knew something was off. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. Something wasn’t right. The smell of fear hit his nostrils.

  The Goddess Akina appeared by the bed. She was shaking and her white gown was torn. Reyn gleamed to her instantly. He gently took her arm as she corporealized under his touch.

  “My God, what happened? Are you alright?”

  She placed her hand on his cheek. “I am so sorry, Reyn. Forgive me. I knew another day was too long, but I dared not cross until now.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

  “You are in pain. I can feel it as if we were of the same body.”

  “Shhh. It’ll ease now that you’re here.” He guided her to the bed. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I was waiting to cross the Otherworld, but the gods were too close. I dared not try until now.”

  He touched the ripped part of her dress. A low growl worked its way up from his chest. “Did they hurt you?”

  She was near tears. “No, I did that myself in my hurry. I do not think they saw me.”

  Reyn pulled her to him and slowly he felt her body relax as he stroked her long, raven hair. “You shouldn’t have tried at all. It’s too dangerous.”

  “But I must. You need me to be here.”

  Whatever. His fucking brain could implode for all he cared. Nothing was more important than her safety. His second soul could kiss his ass. “I’ve told you before, I’ll be okay.”

  “I need to be here.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

  How many times had he promised himself she wasn’t going to win any more arguments this way? Ten? Twenty? Yeah, ah, right now he couldn’t count any higher. His whole body shuddered when she opened her mouth to him and deepened the kiss. As he laid her down on the bed, he tried to forget that although she was a thousand years old in god time; she’d been a spirit for all but eighteen of them. That basically made her a teenager. Details.

  With SE out on duty, Ana began her usual routine. She gathered her research, turned on her laptop, and plunked down on the bed. Deep down she knew Adriana probably had some very good reasons for asking her not to research Bane any further. But what if she was really on to something, like important Intel that could help them win the war? She was suddenly startled out of her thoughts when a certain nagual passed through the door.
r />   “Ajtil pakanach ‘ek’ih?”

  Too bad he couldn’t actually answer her question and tell her where he’d been. She raised an eyebrow and he landed weightlessly on her shoulder. Once she had logged in and brought up the mini cam, she started to go through her notes. Out of nowhere little ts’unu’un hopped to her keyboard and went nuts.

  “Now what’s your problem, I wonder?” She looked at the screen for a moment. Hmm. She brought the memory back a bit and watched as Victrixa worked on her laptop. Then, all of a sudden she vanished into nowhere.

  “What the hell?”

  She watched it again. Was it just a blip in the memory? She doubted it. Bastian had used only the best of everything. She wondered if her psychotic bitch of a mother had advanced her spell work somehow. What else could it possibly be? Only New Breeds could gleam. She dropped her pen. Fuck. Just when she felt like she was starting to get a handle on some of this shit, that ratchet shifter pulled another fast one. I will get her, Bastian. If for nothing else, I’ll get that bitch for what she did to you.

  Reyn pulled the duvet up around Akina’s shoulders. “Are you warm enough?”

  She nodded then brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Your eyes are such a bright blue. I have never seen eyes like yours. Why do you hide them under all this dark hair?”

  He smiled mischievously. “Tell you what. If you add more time in between visits, I’ll let you shave it.”

  Her sea green eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip. “All of it?”

  “Not bald, but pretty close.”

  She grinned. “That would be beautiful. You have such an amazing widow’s peak.”

  “Only if you put more time between visits though.” Her eyes looked so sad he was immediately sorry he’d said it. “What is it?”

  “I cannot put more time between visits. I…”

  He ran his hand down her long neck. “Kina, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

  “It is just…have I ever told you that I can only recreate my body while in your presence?”

  A tear fell from her cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb. “No. I didn’t know that.”

  “It is partly because of the strength I have when I’m with you. The strength your love gives to me. But there is something else.”

  She was trembling slightly. Whatever it was, it frightened her. He wanted to say something to reassure her. Man, he sucked at this and it was sure as hell too late to call Dr. Phil for advice. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. You can tell me anything. You know that.”

  She looked up into his face and he could see the reflection from his glowing eyes on her perfect skin.

  “I…I love you.”

  “What?” Smooth, dude. Real smooth.

  “I am in love with you. I know I should have told you. It was very unfair of me, knowing that you were mated to me. I was just so…afraid.”

  He brushed her cheek. “Why?”

  “It is just more for you to undertake. More worry. When we were first together, you were this adventurous, carefree male. That was partly why I was so drawn to you. But now, I check in on you and you are so tired and worried all the time. I cannot help feeling that I caused this. I am the one who forced you to change who you were.”

  “Aw, come on now. You know how long I’d been dreaming of having a desk job.”

  She smiled a little.

  “That’s my girl. Look, this may have forced me to grow up a little, but it’s also given me a lot.”

  “Has it?”

  “You, for one. And my brothers. You know, I never would have thought, but fighting for something I believe in has really changed the way I look at things. I used to be such a loner, you know? But now I look at all the amazing shifters around me and I feel like I’m really lucky. I’m privileged to be part of this.”

  “Truthfully?”

  “Come here.” He pulled her tight against his chest and she sighed. He’d been mated to her for months now. God knew being her first lover had been a lot of fun. Her first kiss—her first everything. But he had never expected her to return his love for her. She was a goddess, for Chrissakes, even if she was the Goddess of Love. But she had. Somehow in the crazy miracle that had brought her into his life, she had fallen in love with him, too. He suddenly felt tears come to his eyes, which was about as out of character for him as it got.

  “You’re not angry with me?”

  He held her tighter. “Of course not.”

  She kissed his shoulder. “I love you, Reyn.”

  He flipped them over and she laughed. As he let himself get lost in her sea green eyes, he let everything leave his head. The Order. The war. For the few precious hours they had together, he wanted to hold her as much as possible before leaving their destiny once again in the hands of fate.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Diesel unpaused Rosemary’s Baby when he heard his mate come back into their suite with more popcorn.

  “You know, what we could really use in here is a microwave, Dies.”

  The perfect female. “Legit.”

  She popped a few kernels into that sexy, full mouth of hers. “Can I ask you something? You’ve seemed preoccupied the past few days. Are you stressed about going back on duty?”

  “Nah. Not at all, actually. It’s Pax. He’s really struggling. He’s just such an amazing male, you know? But he just judges himself so harshly. No mercy. This thing with James has him out of his mind and he’s convinced he’s going to ruin another male. Can you imagine him saying that?"

  She shook her head. “No, I can’t.”

  “He knows exactly what James is going through. He was the perfect choice to be James’s camzah. Hell, he was thrown out of his own house twice. Once for being gay and then for being a shifter.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  He lightly stroked her jaw with his thumb. “Yeah.”

  “He’s in love with him, isn’t he? With James?”

  “Probably, but he won’t admit it to himself. I just can’t see how a male like that could see himself as being dirty. I know some of it’s cultural shit, but I think the only thing that’s truly going to help is finding out if he’s HIV positive or not.”

  She raised an eyebrow the way she always did when she was deep in thought. “And he won’t take the test?”

  “No. Of course not. That would mean finding out for sure. I think he’s afraid of it either way, you know? If he’s positive, his fear that he killed Luis will be realized. If not, he has to let him go. I dunno which freaks him out more.”

  “Maybe there’s a way we can help him, Dies.”

  “Ya think?”

  She settled back against the pillows. “Let me think about it awhile.”

  He smiled and kissed her temple. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, my male.”

  “So I bet you’ve been sitting here watching Mia Farrow and wondering if I noticed that new satin nightgown of yours.”

  “Maybe.”

  Diesel put the popcorn on the night table. Then he took her by the hips and slid her to him. “Oh, I noticed. But that’s not what makes you sexy. Now come here, Doc, and let me give you some proper love.”

  Victrixa walked down the hallway and the high heels of her boots clacked on the linoleum. She took the long way around, choosing to skip the tour of cells filled with teenage shifters transforming into hellions. There was no reason she should be forced to breathe their stench. She ran her hand along her cheek until it found the hideous scar that was now as familiar to her as the rest of her features. She would have her revenge for that, and for much more, before she was through. She smiled as much as she could manage at the thought. After all, Toltec thought she was playing their game while they were really playing hers. Now if she could just get that pathetic human scientist to finish the job he was hired for, she could move forward with her plan.

  She shoved the key to the laboratory into the lock and opened the door, letting it slam behind her. “Ah, Cerberus. I see you’re already her
e for once.”

  She looked over at her head scientist who appeared to be working at a faster pace for a change. Well, didn’t that just prove her theory? She’d been far too lax with the little parasite.

  She opened the door. “Do you mind if I have a word with you in the hall?”

  He followed her out and closed the door. “What is it? I was just about to teach the human that it’s possible to write with only two fingers.”

  She pointed her own finger not more than an inch from his face. “If you harm one hair on that scientist before I get what I want, I’ll turn you into demon briquettes.”

  He chortled. “I’d like to see you try.”

  “I’d like to get a little message to our mutual friend.”

  “I may be under orders to work with you here, but not to be your messenger boy. That is not what I am paid to do.”

  “It most certainly is, you miserable, pathetic little dwarf. Now, you listen to me. Tell him that when he tried to summon me I was in my office—the one with the hidden camera. As it stands, he is not yet powerful enough to complete the summoning. In the meantime, I suggest he be more careful. If our relationship is discovered, we stand to lose everything.”

  “Fine. Any new orders in regard to the trained monkey in there?”

  “Yes. Make sure he has adequate food and water. Without that, he won’t be able to solve a crossword puzzle.”

  The creep stared at her vacantly. He’d obviously never read the New York Times. There was a surprise. “Just do it.”

  Troy was reading with Evy curled up against him, manning the TV remote. She slid her hand under his shirt and lightly ran her fingertips along his bare skin. He closed his eyes so he could feel every sensation. When it tickled a bit he smiled. Hard to believe just a few days ago he would’ve broken someone’s hand for doin’ this. Well, he pretty much still would. But Evy…her hands belonged there.

  “Crap, Troy. The Walking Dead isn’t on.”

  He looked up. “Is the DVR set to record?”