“Yeah.”
They traded plates and he took a bite of Ev’s chocolate chip.
She popped a berry into her mouth. “So, I was thinking about names for the baby and I wondered what you thought about Patrick Aidan for your brother and my dad?”
Troy swallowed back the wave of emotion immediately lodging itself in his throat. “Are you sure, babe? I mean, what about your dad?”
“I thought about it. And, well, it doesn’t mean that much if he’ll never know. And this way, when we use your brother’s name, it’ll be like he’s here with us.”
He touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “God, I love you.”
“I–”
Evy was up and running. What the…? A moment later he was removing the offending food from the room before his mate came out of the bathroom. He hoped to hell it was the strawberries and not Mary’s waffles or he was going to have one pissed off mate on his hands.
“Ugh.” Evy made her way to the bed, plunked down, and put her head down in his lap.
Troy stroked her long, dark hair. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m the freaking See-r. And I couldn’t see that coming?”
Troy chuckled as he leaned toward the nightstand and grabbed the saltines. It was one thing to drop weight in the first couple of months, but Evy was petite and she didn’t have much to lose. “Do you see Helen tomorrow?”
“Yep. We’re meeting for lunch. I hope she likes saltines.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Reyn sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He felt like ass. He looked over at the clock on the nightstand. Noon? Shit. He never slept this late. Hell, he never slept more than four hours in a row, period. Then it all came crashing back to him. X had slipped him one mother load of a mickey after clocking him one. Oh fuck. Akina. She was going to worry about him for sure now. Goddammit. All he needed to do was keep it together until she was gone and he hadn’t even managed that much. Far from it.
He picked up his phone and checked for texts. Hmm. Apparently Troy needed a partner. That worked. He wasn’t going to mind taking out his mood on a few dozen Toltec scumbags. He sent a quick response and headed for the shower. He was only under the hot spray for a few moments before his head started to swim. His mate’s scent was everywhere. It was a constant reminder that she was out there somewhere, alone, with no one on her side and a whole slew of divine dicks just loving the hell out of the whole fucking thing. And here he was. A New Breed. A warrior. He existed to protect and his inability to watch over his mate was suffocating him.
There was a knock at the door. “Just a sec.”
He pulled on some pants and threw on a sweatshirt. He was just about to open the door when he looked down and realized he was barefoot. Nah, he wasn’t losing it. Much. He slipped into some running shoes and went out into the study.
“Hey, if it isn’t the Ivanov boys. What can I do for you, my brothers?”
“Hey, boss. Viktor and I have been talking and, well, we need your take on something.”
Somehow he had a feeling this was going be good. “Shoot.”
Viktor cleared his throat. “Long story short, I mated into the wrong family and now there’s an assassin on my ass.”
Reyn looked from one to the other. “I’m sorry, what?”
“They think I had a hand in killing their daughter, Elena, my mate. Either that or they just think I know too much.”
He ran his hand through his hair by force of habit. “So, who’s this assassin?”
“A shifter named Ekaterina Spanov,” Dimitri answered.
“She good at her profession, Viktor?”
“Yeah, but I’m more worried about what she could discover while trailing me. She could potentially find out the Order’s location or other Intel. I know you need the manpower, but if she sees me out fighting with the brothers, what’s to keep her from selling that to the other side?”
Reyn looked over at Dimitri. “What do you think?”
“I think he’s right. Spanov probably knows I’m his brother. She could recognize me as well. But I don’t think we can afford to lose two in the field just to firewall this shit.”
He nodded. “Agreed. Viktor, would you mind giving us a sec?”
“Not at all. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Reyn sighed. “Look, I know he’s your brother and I don’t want to get in the way of that, but if this Spanov female gets a lead on you and follows your trail back to the Order, the sitch could get bad for us.”
“All parties seem to feel the same way. Viktor’s asked me to stay out of it and I will. For now.”
“Okay. And, if for any reason you see a change of status in your future, you’ll let me know ASAP.”
“Will do, boss.”
Rose looked across the kitchen table at her mate. She smiled as she watched him try to roll the cucumber, crab, and avocado into his California roll. His hands were so big. She couldn’t figure out how he was managing it. A piece of avocado popped out of one end.
He tried to pop it back in. “Whoops. Okay, we’ve got an issue.”
She laughed. “You’re just using a little too much pressure.”
She finished slicing her Philly roll and stepped in front of the male. “Here, follow with your fingers while I roll it.” Goddess, his hands felt good. They were surprisingly soft. “See? Nothing to it.”
He kissed the top of her ear and picked up the Quintarelli wine, along with the glasses. “I think I’ll let you carry it.”
He followed her up the stairs to the bedroom and they settled onto the bed. The day should have been perfect. They had spent the afternoon watching a Homeland marathon and they still had several episodes left. Unfortunately, all she could think about was what would happen when he found out about her. After all, they were mated. This wasn’t some casual thing. He would find out, one way or another. Her stomach clenched at the thought. Oh, God. What the hell was she thinking? She couldn’t run away from it. This was wrong. She had to tell him.
Rose watched as he poured them each some wine and put the bottle on the bedside table. She was impressed when her mate ignored the chopsticks and used his fingers to dip the sushi into the soy sauce fish side down.
“Oh, my God. That’s amazing. Here.” He held up a piece of the Philly roll, but she didn’t open for him.
“I’d like to try yours first, please.”
X barked a laugh. “You’re kidding. Alright, the choice is yours.” He picked up a piece of his handiwork, dipped it, and held it out for his female. As that mouth of hers came around his fingers and took the food from his hand, her lips looked just like a ripe strawberry. Without even thinking about it, he brought his fingertips to his mouth and sucked them gently so he could taste her. He closed his eyes, savoring her for a moment. “Mmm. That’s nice.”
At this rate, they weren’t even going to make it through dinner. When he opened his eyes, Rose was waiting with another piece of his sushi.
She held it out and fed it to him, watching him chew it with a look of satisfaction on her face. “See? Good, right?”
He picked up his glass and took a sip of wine. “It’s actually surprisingly edible. Rose, listen. I don’t want to interrupt your life. I don’t want to be a complication. The thing is, I don’t just want you to be at the compound for protection. I really do want you with me. But I can see why you’d want to stay here. You’ve worked hard to build a life for yourself. I totally get that. Whatever you decide, I promise I’ll try like hell to make it work. Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
When they were finished, Rose brought the plates downstairs. Her hands started to shake as her thoughts began racing once again and she promptly dropped a plate on the floor. She stared down at it. It had broken into four almost perfectly even pieces. In Japan, the number four was considered very unlucky. The Japanese used the same word for both four and death. Rose sighed. Perfect. She picked up the pieces and threw them away before taking up the sponge to wash the lone surv
ivor. The whole thing with Xavier was such a huge risk. She had no idea what he would think of her after she told him. What if he shunned her? As the male, it was his right, no matter how archaic the tradition was. Oh, God. If he did, then she would be left with nothing. Her job long gone. Nowhere to live. The truth was, she wanted so badly to be with him. She had no idea how she could deserve such a worthy male. For whatever reason, the Goddess wanted them together. She needed to trust in her. She had to tell him tonight, for both their sakes.
Goddess, give me strength.
When Rose she came back in the room, her energy was somehow different. She sat down on the bed facing away from him. Xavier reached over and moved her silky robe a little farther up her leg before lightly stroking her smooth thigh. “What is it?”
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she loosened the tie of her robe and let the top fall off her shoulders so that he was looking at her bare back. She swept her hair out of the way to reveal markings on her right shoulder blade. They were coal black and patterned. They were unlike anything he’d ever seen before.
She turned her face to the side and a tear fell onto her shoulder. “I’m a hibakusha.”
Hibakusha. He knew that reference. World War II. Japan. Oh, Goddess, no. Please, no. When he tried to speak he found his voice barely worked. “You were there.”
“Nagasaki,” she whispered.
He looked at her back and suddenly realized what he was seeing. It was a flash burn. The dark pattern of her kimono had been burned into her skin like a brand when the bomb hit.
She gathered the front of her robe together. “I understand if you don’t want me. Really. It’s okay.”
“What? Rose.”
It physically hurt to see the look of shame on her lovely face. The hibakusha had been ostracized from Japanese society—rejected by their own race. He could only imagine how she would have been made to feel. And on top of all that, she was a shifter. Heat hit behind his eyes as they welled up.
Her voice trembled as she spoke. “I mean, I was five when it happened. So that makes me seventy-five. I know in human years that would only make me a little over forty, but you don’t need an old lady like me around.”
“Rose, stop. Look at me.” He lightly took her by the chin and turned her face to his. “I want you.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
He leaned down and gently kissed her burns. His female put her hands to her face and began to sob.
“Oh, my Rose.” He draped her robe back over her shoulders and pulled her in close, tucking her against him. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
He covered her with his body as much as possible, like he could somehow shield her from her past. If only he could.
Ana was at a full-out run with Dimitri at her side. She pointed left down an alleyway and her partner continued on his own. She turned in and when she hit the end, she hopped the fence and went flat against the brick wall of the building. She looked down at her torn sleeve and swore under her breath. Brand new leather. Fuckers. She should start sending Toltec the bills from her tailor. At that moment, she picked up on the soldier and hellion. She gleamed to the building’s roof and looked over the side. They had a young female shifter with them and from the look of things, she wouldn’t be around much longer. Damn. If she was fast enough, she could still save the nagual.
Quickly, Ana drew her crescent knives and gleamed behind the mutant. In one sure blow, she took off its head and it burst into a shower of sand. She turned to the Tolie who had just capped his evil little bottle and was replacing it around his neck. She could see the nagual spirit glowing inside it. The Tolie drew his nine and she kicked it out of his hand, pushed all her weight forward, and decapitated him. She caught her breath for a moment. Time to release the spirit energy and dump the bodies. She sheathed her knives and bent down over the soldier’s body. She could see the shining coyote inside the vial and she bent down to release it. She unscrewed the top and watched as the nagual took to the air. It seemed confused somehow. Usually they were gone in mere seconds, but this one kept to the air, buzzing around like a firefly. Why wasn’t it crossing into the Otherworld?
“Elanh.” She encouraged in Mayan. “Go on.”
Instead, the tiny form began to glow brighter as it came toward her. It leveled its flight in front of her and flew straight into her body, vanishing from sight. What the…? She checked first left, then right, panicking. Where the hell was it? A warm sensation filled her chest and she tried to swallow past the lump forming in her throat. She slowly turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Reyn was standing at the entrance to the alley, his mouth agape, his eyes wide with shock.
Oh, Goddess. What have I done?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Seth stood outside his old crib. He was about to put the key in the lock when he froze.
She shouldn’t still be here.
He’d shown Grace how to take enough k’ul for survival. Sure, she’d taken too much, but they all did that at first. Personally, the only reason he didn’t drain them dry was because it left a trail of bodies all over town. But she’d been so upset over the killing, even though it had been accidental. So, he waited a couple of nights and convinced her to try again when the hunger was becoming intolerable. Things had gone fine. It was time to give her the key and let her make her own way.
Except he couldn’t. Instead he was risking everything to help her. What a total jackass. If Batiste found out he’d started skimming money off the top of the payments for the rogues, he’d be ganked for sure. But it was the only way he could make enough cash to get both of them the hell outta Dodge in less than maybe a year.
He turned the key in the lock and went into the apartment. Grace was in the kitchen making coffee. It was funny. Until he met her, he’d just assumed all of the day to day normalcy of his life was gone. Even after he had escaped from the Tolies, he still mainly went out at night. What was he, a vampire or some shit? Slowly, as the days went on, he’d started to think maybe he could have a normalish life. Then he remembered he didn’t want that. Grace did. And that was fine. He could really see her getting what she wanted. Maybe it was just the fact that she still believed, but something inside him wanted to help her get it. That meant he needed more cash. Fast. Before they got caught by Batiste, the Tolies, or the Order.
Grace looked up and smiled. “Oh, hey. I didn’t think you were coming tonight.”
“Yeah, I guess I really didn’t either.”
“Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?”
“Yeah, sure. Why not. Did you hunt tonight?”
“Nope. I’m doing just what you said. I only got a delivery from the grocery.”
“Good. I know you’re going crazy around here, but it’s safer.” He reached into his pocket. “Here’s another couple of benjamins. Hide it in a different place.”
“Okay. I will.” She handed him a mug of coffee and he leaned on the counter.
He looked into her bright blue eyes. “Hey, Grace? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
You really believe we’re going to get out of here, don’t you.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
That was the glaring difference between them. She thought she’d get outta Dodge and make a life for herself, while he was going to consider himself lucky if he made it to Tuesday.
Ana walked up Washington Street, her arms wrapped around her body. She looked down at her feet as she went, her mind reeling. Was the spirit still inside her? She couldn’t feel anything. She knew what it felt like when SE shared his nagual with her. Maybe this was different. Oh, God. She’d known something was coming. What if she was the… She couldn’t even think it. Ts’unu’un had never been afraid of her. Not ever. But he hadn’t exactly gone where he should have either. Not even when the Goddess had returned to the Otherworld. She could tell the Goddess thought it was strange and it weighed heavily on her.
She felt a presence materialize b
eside her, but she didn’t look up. “Hey.”
“Hey,” her mate answered. “Where you headed?”
“I figured Reyn wouldn’t want me around. I thought I’d beat him to the punch and head to Dimitri’s condo. I mean, that’s where I started out when it wasn’t safe for me to be at the mansion. I guess he probably told you, huh? What I did?”
“That’s not why we were there, Ihkweea. And Reyn has no intention of asking you to leave. He came to me because he’s worried about you.”
“Look, I’m taking naguals. I’m just like the aj k’o’ol. Shit, maybe I am the aj k’o’ol.”
SE stepped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Ihkweea, stop this. You are not the aj k’o’ol. You’re not willingly taking them and you’re not using their power for evil.”
“We don’t know enough to say that. We have no idea what’s going on.”
“Okay, then let’s get some information.” He took her hand and they gleamed out.
James materialized just outside the apartment where Troy had found Evy. He had a good view of the inside, but he’d been there on and off for half the night and all he had seen was a female. It was a bit of a coincidence that she was a rogue just like Seth. But was he really supposed to believe the male was shacked up with some blond while he was working for Batiste? It didn’t fit. He’d known Seth a long time. He was ambitious. The guy was working some angle with the Batiste thing, and it did not include a live-in girlfriend. Maybe she was just staying there on her own.
Jesus, he was frustrated. The apartment was all he had to go on. Although the Order knew the location of Batiste’s main warehouse, he wasn’t about to just show up there, introduce himself, and ask if anyone had seen Seth. The place was crawling with thugs and underlings. He’d be placing both himself and the Order in danger. Not an option.
He turned and walked down the road to Commonwealth Avenue. It was only his first night. It was still possible the bungalow was the link he needed. Seth wasn’t going anywhere. He was all hooked up with a cushy, super illegal job and shit. Somehow the guy was going to use that sitch to his advantage. But how?
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