SE turned and opened a bin with Adriana’s name on it. “Is there anything else missing?”
“I’m not sure, but I think there’s one last herb and I’m in charge of supplies. Yay, me.”
She crossed her eyes and he laughed.
“Well, how about I find the candle and you go check the list. If I can’t find a black one, we can always substitute a blue.”
“That’s what I said and Adriana told me she doesn’t want any substitutions.” She made little air quotes with her fingers.
“Ah. That’s why you’re peeved. Okay, she obviously wants the best we can provide to help strengthen the circle. I’ll look for the candle and you find the herb. Deal?”
She stood up and worked the tension out of her neck before kissing him. “I’m sorry. She’s just been driving me nuts. Thank you for helping me, my male.”
He slipped his arms around her and kissed her long and slow, feeling her muscles relax for all of about ten seconds. She dematerialized and he looked at all the bins surrounding him that bore Adriana’s label. Holy fuck. He was so screwed. He opened the first box and picked up a framed photo. It was a picture of himself, his first mate Gabriela, their son Cesar, Richard, Adriana, and Ana at the old compound in Mexico. It must have been taken just before Gabi’s accident. Ana and Cesar couldn’t have been much more than ten. No one knew at the time that Ana was Victrixa’s daughter. She was just a little Maya girl from a nearby town that the housekeeper, Alma, had adopted with Gabi’s help. He studied Ana’s face. Everyone was smiling, except his Ihkweea. He knew that look. Like she was secretly carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She had it even then. Trixa had made sure she’d had next to no childhood. He sighed. That look had just recently returned after the whole nagual incident. The shame. The self-doubt. It was killing his souls to watch it. Both of them.
Death was too good for that bitch. Trixa was number one on the Order’s kill list because of whatever plans she had for humanity. That didn’t stop him from wanting to kill her in the slowest, most painful way possible. For what she had done to Ana. For everything she had taken from her. It wouldn’t heal his female’s pain, but it would sure as hell make him feel better.
SE shook his head. As much as he’d like that pleasure, he knew that kill belonged to Ana alone. She had every right to it and although she’d never said it, he knew that was the way it had to be. He had a feeling Ana was hoping to keep that info under wraps for as long as possible. She didn’t want him to worry about her and that was okay for the time being. The last thing he wanted to do was add to her stress. But when the moment arrived to take out her insane bitch of a mother, he would be at Ana’s side to protect her. He sighed. For now, as far as his Ihkweea was concerned, he was totally in the dark.
Batiste sat down at his desk and took the letter opener from the only drawer he left unlocked. The results must have been encouraging. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have arrived so fast. No one from even the upper echelon of his organization would dare hand him something subpar so quickly. He slit a whole in the top of the manila envelope and slipped his hand inside. He pulled out a smaller envelope and unfastened the tab. Well, now. The picture was grainy, but that was to be expected. It was clear they were looking for a white male of tremendous size. At least six-five, possibly taller. He was a New Breed for sure. Both Toltec and the Order were intensely secretive. As a human, he only knew of the New Breeds’ existence because he supplied so-called dog catchers for Toltec.
He took a magnifying glass from the drawer and inspected the photo more closely. There were details in this kind of work that he could not afford to miss. The male was dark haired and held his pistol in his left hand. He smiled and walked to one of the support columns near the end of the room. He slid a key into a well-placed crevice and a shallow drawer popped out. He took out a small envelope. There were less than ten New Breed warriors in existence and his men had been armed with cameras as well as guns for some time now. He also employed two of the best PIs in the city. He had photos of exactly four males he believed to be members. It had taken close to a year for him to amass this treasure. No one knew he possessed them and no one ever would, especially not Victrixa Mata. Not unless their interests were very closely aligned. So far, there was little evidence of that.
Only one photo was quite recent, which made it difficult to tell how long that New Breed had been with the Order. The other three were clearly of earlier members. He laid the contents out on the desk one at a time. Ah, yes. The male with the long blond hair. He wouldn’t be easy to miss, but he was not the right man. The next was the most recent photo of a New Breed with longer facial hair. He put it aside and looked carefully at the last two. Both white males, both with dark hair, but only one was holding his pistol in his left hand. This was the one responsible for penetrating his organization and killing his men. It was time to call his PIs and see what new photos they had taken. There was always a minute chance he was wrong, of course, but taking down an enemy was never a waste of time. And for this heinous crime against him, he was going to dismantle the shifter piece by piece. He would kill him eventually, but not until he’d lost everything so dear to him that he begged for death.
CHAPTER TEN
Diesel swung his Ford F450 pick-up into the mansion’s bi-level garage. He pulled into the second row and parked next to SE’s Mercedes SUV.
Pax handed him the smaller Taco Bell bag. “Thanks for your help with this, Dies. The logistics ended up being a little more complicated than I thought.”
“No prob. Your BMW’s awesome, but occasionally you need a back seat.”
“That’s for sure. How do you like the nifty new paved drive to the guest house? Nice, eh?”
Diesel barked a laugh. “I swear, Dimitri’s not happy unless he has a project. I think he wanted to do more to it and Mary and the G-man said no way.”
Pax shook his head. “I don’t blame them. They put up with our crap all day and half the night. They don’t need it at home, too. I keep waiting for D to pull down the mansion and just start over.”
“Sounds about right.”
“So, you’re all set with what to do tonight, Dies?”
“Yeah. Seriously, don’t worry about a thing, dude. I’ll take care of things until Geoffrey and Mary call it quits for the night. Then they’ll take over. Smooth as cream, bro.”
They walked into the gym and Pax lowered his voice. You could never be too careful with all the New Breed hearing at the compound. “Dies, do you think what’s happening with James might be similar to PTSD? Should I talk to Helen?”
Diesel paused by the doorway to the back hall. “Huh. Well, it was definitely a trauma. Hey, what about Evy? Maybe she can help.”
“Evy? You think?”
“Well, she can see the past in certain cases, right? Course, the douchebag stabbed her. I don’t know if Evy could help or not.”
“What am I helping with?”
Holyyy shit. The Seer had just materialized at the gym end of the back hallway. Pax nearly stroked out.
Evy grimaced. “Sorry, guys. What’s going on?”
Pax took a deep breath and exhaled. “It’s James. He’s really having a hard time after what happened with Seth. I thought maybe you’d be able to help. And then I remembered you’d met Seth in person. I shouldn’t even be asking.”
She shook her head. “The Seth thing isn’t really a problem. I’m the same person I was when it happened, but I’m not the same being.” She paused. “It’s hard to explain. I’m not sure exactly how I could work this. Who else was there when it happened?”
“Just me,” Pax said.
“Which James doesn’t know,” Diesel added, giving Pax a glare.
“Okay. Give me a little time. I need to let it marinate a bit. I really want to try and help him if I can. This whole thing with Seth—I feel like it’s tied us together somehow.”
Pax nodded. “Thank you. Both of you. I’m so worried about him.”
His partner ga
ve him a bro hug. “Go see your male. Oh, and large bills only. No tens or twenties,” Diesel called after him.
Pax shook his head and flipped his boy the bird over his shoulder as he started down the hallway. When he entered the ward, James was sitting on the end of the bed watching the Sox game.
Pax smiled the second he saw him. It was like going from black and white to full color whenever he was with him. “God, you’re a sight for sore eyes. You wanna eat this while you watch the game?”
James leaned up for a kiss. “Mm. No. I really just want to go if we can. What did you get?”
He handed him the bag. “I think the list of foods I didn’t get is probably shorter.”
“Your kickass quotient is insane this week.”
“I know. Diesel already informed me. Why don’t you two start a fan club? Just don’t eat my gorditas.” He ran his hand over the male’s newly buzzed hair. “Let me just ask Helen if we need to do anything for your wrist between now and tomorrow morning.”
He walked to her office and poked his head in. Helen was writing furiously on a piece of scrap paper at her desk. He waited a moment before tapping the door jam. “Hi, Helen. Is James all set?”
“Oh, Pax, I’m sorry. Yes, he’s all set. He’s down to just a lightweight bandage on his wrist at this point. He can shower in the morning. If it doesn’t come off then, I’ll do it when you come by. ”
“Okay, great. Thanks so much. I know it’s part of your job, but thanks for keeping it on the DL. He doesn’t need that right now.”
“You’re welcome, hon. It’s not something that merits reporting. If he decides he wants to pursue this medically, you know where to find me.”
As Pax walked James down the hall, he wondered which path made more sense. The bathroom scene from the night before came back to him and he realized he may only have time for one decision. Which meant it would have to be the right one. No pressure. As he settled James on the bed and they looked through the food he’d brought back, Pax’s appetite suddenly went AWOL on him. What the hell was he going to do?
Ana walked out into the yard and passed the gazebo on her way to the patio. The little hummingbird nagual was ballistic with excitement on her shoulder. Well, at least someone was pumped. Dealing with even more unknown shit just seemed like kind of a bad idea to her. She looked around and noticed that everything had already been cleared away to make room for the ritual. SE was placing the red, white, black, and yellow pillar candles on tall holders at their cardinal points. Somehow he’d managed to find that damn candle.
He shook his head and gave her one of his patented SE smiles. “Don’t ask.”
She grinned and kissed his cheek. She looked around, taking in the scene. Adriana was pulling the petals off of fresh flowers and sprinkling them along the slate floor while Reyn worked on the fire in the stone pit.
“SE, don’t forget that east is according to the sunrise, not a compass. Then set the other three according to that one,” Richard said.
“I’m on it.”
Troy walked over from the back of the property, carrying a stack of firewood. “I think we should be set, Reyn.”
“Thanks, my brother. Let’s pile it right next to the pit. The fire has to stay hot.”
Evy materialized next to the gazebo. “Adriana, Rose was happy to take Maya for the evening.”
“Perfect,” she answered. “Thank you, Evy.”
The Seer turned to Ana. “Hey, I wondered where you were.”
“The last thing in the scavenger hunt took the longest.” Ana pulled three bundles of the herb out of her bag and laid them by the fire. She and Evy watched as it began to smoke. “Damn ruda. Took me forever to find.”
“Ruda?” Richard whirled around. Had he heard her right? He rushed to the fire pit and looked down at the herb. My Goddess. “Troy, get Evy out of here. Go!”
Troy quickly took Evy’s arm and dematerialized them.
Ana watched in shock as Richard threw the herb into the fire. “Wha—”
“Ruda affects the blood and can cause miscarriage. It could be very dangerous to Evy right now.” He looked over at Adri.
His mate was stepping backward, shaking her head in disbelief. “My Goddess, what was I thinking. She could have…”
Her voice trailed off when her back touched the gazebo and she covered her eyes with her hands.
Richard crossed the patio in no more than three steps. He gently brought her into the confines of his body, cradling her between his chest and the lattice work behind her. “You’ve been under a lot of stress, Adri. We all have. It was an innocent mistake.”
“How could I have been so careless? Oh, God, Richard. If anything had happened to the baby…”
“I know, but it didn’t. Nothing happened.” The rest of the words he sent directly to her mind, knowing she could see the meaning in his eyes as though he were speaking them aloud. We’ve got to keep going and I can’t do it without you.
Adri drew his face in close and his mouth found hers. He wasn’t big on public displays, but wanted his lips on hers and didn’t give a shit who could see them. He let himself get lost in their contact as he felt it strengthen him. Then he put his arm around her shoulders and they walked back to the fire.
“What about if we do a smudging with sage? I have some upstairs that will be dry enough to bind into a bundle for a wand,” SE suggested.
“Yes, that would work.” Adriana smiled at their old friend. “Thank you.”
“I’ll go find Evy.” Ana gleamed out.
By the time the sun began to set, they were almost ready to start. Richard lit the copal incense and placed it on the edge of the pit. “We’ll be standing in a circle between the pillars and the fire. Adri to my right, followed by Ana, and then SE. Reyn stand across the fire from me, then Troy, followed by Evy to my left. Everything must be done counter-clockwise. We light the candles, starting with me and the red candle in the east. Evy, you’ll take the white candle at the north. Reyn, you’ll be third with the black candle to the west. SE, you light the yellow candle at the south. As you call on your element, light the candle. Once the last candle is lit, we’ll all take hands and pool our power. It’s imperative that once we begin, we do not drop hands.”
He flashed a meaningful look at Reyn, who shook his head in annoyance. SE moved the smoldering sage wand around each of their bodies, its purifying smoke expelling any negative energy before each shifter could step into the circle.
Once they were all in, Richard lit a long match from the fire and turned to the red candle behind him. “Fire, you represent heat and the light of wisdom. Give us the gift of knowledge to guide our path.”
Evy lit the white candle facing north. “Air, you are the breath of life. Keep us safe.”
Richard nodded to Reyn. His match burst to life and he turned and lit the black candle to the west. “Earth, as the middle plane, you are stability. Give us strength.”
SE dipped the tip of his match into the dancing flames. “Water, you cleanse and purify. Sanctify our thoughts and actions this night.”
Richard watched Evy as her eyes took on their pearlescent glow, and focused all of his mental energy on her. Jesus, she was powerful. He’d never felt anything like it. Her ring came to life and a fierce wind whipped up out of nowhere. Almost immediately, he could actually see the Otherworld in her thoughts. It came into view as though they were flying over it, a sensation that was very familiar to an avian shifter. The landscape was so rich with color. It made him think of how Earth might have looked before humankind corrupted it. Before long, time seemed to get away from him. How long had they been gone? Suddenly, he felt his mind careening backward. He opened his eyes and looked over at Evy. She was panting. Troy was about to put his arm around her.
“No!” Evy warned her mate. “Don’t break the circle, my male. I’m okay. Richard, I’m sorry. It’s just too far. Their city is almost all the way to the other side of the Otherworld. Either I’m not powerful enough or I’m not skille
d enough yet. I think we’re going to have to go with Plan B and call her to us.”
Richard looked over at his female and she nodded. “I will say the invocation once and then you all repeat it with me. Close your eyes and focus as much on the Goddess as you possibly can.”
He gave Adri’s hand a squeeze for luck and she gave him a hopeful smile.
Adriana bowed her head and closed her eyes. “Beloved Spirit of the Goddess Akina, we ask that you commune with us and move among us.”
As they all joined in, their voices became louder and louder in unison. On and on they chanted, but nothing was happening.
Ana knew that she wasn’t supposed to open her eyes. Why was it when someone told you not to do something, you immediately turned ten years old again? She continued to chant with the others, but opened her eyes and stared down at her feet. Without warning, the chant died off in the same moment she realized her feet were…transparent? Panicking, she looked up at the others. They had all stopped chanting and were staring at her. When she felt Adriana drop her hand she knew something was very wrong.
She looked down at her body. It was just like her feet. SE realized that his hand was now empty and moved toward her.
“No, SE! Don’t touch her!” Richard started for him, but Adriana held him back.
Ana watched in horror as her mate put his hand out and tried to feel her, only to find that there was nothing solid to touch.
Suddenly, Ana noticed the little nagual spirit twittering around their circle before it flew straight at her. Oh, no, no, no. Not again. It began to glow brighter and brighter as it drew closer.
“No! Ts’unu’un!” She screamed.
But it was too late. The little nagual had vanished inside her not there body. She could feel its warmth in her chest for a brief moment, just like she had that first night. And then it was gone. She collapsed onto her knees and sobbed.
Desperate Call (New Breed Novels Book 5) Page 7