Troy was seriously hauling ass as he followed his partner across Main Street in Cambridge. He looked up at the giant space-age building in front of them. It was a slim triangle of silver and gray, and featured seven floors of nothing but windows. Looked like someplace you could get felt up by a bunch of bobble headed douchebags from Mars. “You sure this is the right place, X?”
“According to the online directory, this is where that Stokes dude’s lab is.”
Oh, man. He’d never seen X worked up like this. Any of the warriors of the Order could be lethal in a fraction of a second, especially if it came to a mate. But X—the dude was on a whole other level. He was death personified, and you did not want to get on the wrong side of that shit. He followed him through the front doors and into the lobby. That’s when his partner sped up and he knew he’d caught Rose’s scent. God help X’s alma mater if she was up in that lab with that Ben guy. He wasn’t a big fan of the architect, but the building looked brand new.
His partner stopped so fast, Troy almost walked right into him. The male reached up and touched a plaque next to the door that said Stokes Lab.
Fuck.
Rory entered the back stairwell leading from the compound to the second floor of the mansion and stopped. Evy had told her how to get to her room in case of an emergency, but she’d never been upstairs before. Her heart was beating way too fast in her chest and her body felt like she was floating. Could she get in trouble? No, Evy and Troy wouldn’t let that happen. And this was an emergency—kind of. She started up the steps and was relieved when she didn’t see anyone else along the way. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she peeked into the upstairs hallway.
The house looked like a palace. She swallowed hard and looked to the top of the huge staircase. Okay. Evy and Troy’s room was the first door to the right of it. She took a deep breath and ran to the opposite side of the balcony and past the top of the stairs. She looked around and knocked on the door lightly. “Evy,” she said into the heavy wood door.
Evy thought she heard a knock. She untangled herself from the text books she was looking through and went to get the door. “Rory. Are you okay?”
The girl’s bright blue eye’s brimmed with tears. Evy put her arms around her and brought her inside. “Come on over to the bed and sit down. What’s wrong, honey?”
“I’m so sorry, Evy. Everyone has been so nice, especially you and Troy. But I didn’t want to get Christian in trouble.”
Evy brushed her long brown hair behind her back and handed her a tissue. “Shh. It’s okay. Whatever has happened, I’m sure we can fix it.”
“Are those my books?”
“I’m not sure yet. Maybe.”
Rory’s tears started up again. “He only did it to protect me. I’m not a shifter and he wasn’t sure if you’d let me stay in the beginning. He would have done anything to keep me from being put back in the system.”
Evy took her hand. “We would never let that happen.”
“Oh, I know.”
“What is it Christian’s done, Rory?”
“You’re gonna be mad.”
Evy waited. In her experience, you never answered that one. The next sentence was usually the confession, and there was no way she could know how she would react anyway.
“Chris lied about my age.”
“Your age? Well, how old are you?”
“Twelve.”
And then it all clicked. Evy looked at the books on the bed. They were no doubt the wrong ones. “You were going to start tutoring soon and you knew the books would be for seventh grade.”
She nodded. “Chris was going to tell you. I think he just didn’t want to let you down. I probably could handle the work. I was in advanced. But…”
“Go on.”
“The thing is, if he doesn’t become a New Breed, he’ll probably go on to college. Did he tell you he got into Columbia? He’s really smart. I didn’t know if I could stay here if he left, but if I did, I didn’t want it to be on a lie.”
Goddess, Rory was a great kid. Evy put her arms around her and rubbed her back. “Thank you for being honest with me.”
Rory nodded. “You’re not mad then?”
“No. I understand why he did it and so will Troy. Rory, I think that if your brother goes, you should stay. Troy and I would want to know that you’re safe. But the decision would be between you and Christian.”
“Evy, do you think I’ll phase and be a shifter like my brother?”
“Well, there’s no way to know for sure. It definitely runs in some families. All we can do is wait and see.”
“I hope I do.” She glanced down at the bed. “Hey, maybe I can help you look at the books. I can tell you what I’ve done. These might be okay and then I can start with Rose soon. I really like her. She’s nice.”
Evy smiled and handed Rory a book. What a kid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Pax took the tiny army-guy sized pistol Ana offered in his hand and looked up at her from his annoyingly short new body. “You want me to carry this?”
“Well, you can’t be fully armed.”
“Give me my pistol.”
“Pax, Blue Eyes wouldn’t be packing.”
“Dame mi pistola, Ana,” he said in their native Spanish.
“Fine. But if you get me killed, SE’s gonna murder you.”
He hid his Beretta under the dwarf’s clothing. “Looking like this it’d be a favor. Let’s go, sis.”
“Okay. Remember, I’ll be above you the whole time. I’ll be hard to sense at that size, so focus.”
Pax waited for the female to phase to Cobra and gleam herself above the drop ceiling. That was actually a really cool move, but he wouldn’t have much use for it as Stallion. As they moved slowly down the corridor, he worked on getting comfortable with his new body and persona. Ideally, he would have had some time to observe the asshole, but he only worked with a certain female—the one whose daughter was right above his head.
Troy swore as his partner held the male against the wall. Which, in the case of a mated male, would have been perfectly acceptable behavior if the scientist wasn’t three feet off the ground. Jesus Christ. “X! Put the nice man down.”
X lowered the shifter to the ground. Actually, the Ben dude didn’t look all that shaken up, considerin’. “My apologies. My partner here is lookin’ for his female. Her name is Rose. Rose Sato.”
The sandy haired scientist looked from one to the other, then took his glasses off. “So, you’re mated then.”
“Damn straight we’re mated—”
Troy rolled his eyes. “X, you graduated from here. Pull it together, for Chrissakes.”
That did the trick.
X’s brain seemed to catch up with his hormones. Wait a second. Had he just held a member of MIT faculty up against a wall? “Ah, excuse me. I apologize. Yes, we’re mated. Just recently. My name is Xavier.”
“Then I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this. You’re in my lab at the Koch Institute. My name is Benjamin Stokes. I’m a cancer researcher. I’ve known Rose for almost fifteen years. She came to me in 2001 with a diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia or CML.”
“Nagasaki,” X mumbled.
“What?” he heard Troy say.
The male continued, but X couldn’t focus.
Oh, Goddess, no. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.
“As you know, the incidence of cancer in shifters is all but non-existent. However, under the circumstances of a radioactive blast at such a young age while she was still human, well, that changes things. She developed the cancer over fifty years later. She came to me after reading about a new treatment, STI571, a drug we now know as Gleevec. The trials went incredibly well. Rose went into complete remission, as so many others did, but in her case, I honestly thought she was done with it as long as she stayed on it. I expressed as much. That’s most likely why she hadn’t told you yet.
“I should have realized it could
continue as unpredictably as it started. When Rose was here earlier, she told me about fainting, some fatigue, and loss of appetite. This morning she woke with a night sweat and sent me a text. I can’t say for certain, but these are symptoms of a possible relapse. I’m sorry.”
Troy cleared his throat. “So, does she take the same medicine again?”
Stokes shook his head “CML is chronic. Rose has never been off the Gleevec. There are newer, even more effective drugs now. They haven’t been tested on shifters, but then, neither had the Gleevec. Xavier, Rose has told me that you have a surgeon who works with the warriors. She can do the appropriate testing.”
X was numb. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t feel. He knew they were probably looking at him, waiting for him to say something. Suddenly, his gray matter came back online. Rose. She was alone somewhere dealing with this. He turned and headed out of the lab.
“We’d appreciate it if you could keep this to yourself. Thanks a lot, Doc,” Troy said from behind him.
His partner caught up and moved in unison beside him. “I need you to check the house for Rose. Let me know as soon as you find her.”
“You got it, chief,” his boy replied and vanished.
X thought for a moment, then gleamed out. He materialized in the living room of his mate’s condo and found his mate sitting in front of the cold fireplace. He bent down behind her.
“I wasn’t keeping it from you. I swear, my male. I just thought it was over. I thought I was tired from everything that’s been going on the last couple of weeks. And then this morning I just…I panicked.” She looked up at him, tears falling down her cheeks.
He pulled her into his arms. “I know. It’s okay.”
She pulled her head back and looked into his face. “Did you get my note and follow me to Ben’s?”
Note? “Um, yeah. In a manner of speaking.”
Her eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“Ah, we just had a little chat.”
“Xavier.”
“Everything is fine, Rosie. Trust me. The guy’s got nerves of steel.”
“Oh, no. You went all mated male on him? Xavier,” she began just before he gleamed them out.
Hearing about Victrixa and standing in front of the actual horror was another thing entirely. Pax just stood there hoping he wasn’t staring too much at the female’s scar. Jesus.
“I asked you where the hell you’ve been, Cerberus. I’ve been waiting for half an hour.”
“I was detained.” Was that too snide? Not snide enough? He had no idea. He didn’t speak dumbass.
She leaned across her desk and her yellow-green eyes bore into his. “You’re my demon. No one else matters.”
He was a fucking demon? Looked like Ana had been right all along. “Of course.”
“I’ve been called away this afternoon. Do you think there’s any way I can convince you to do your job and meet with Batiste? The car is waiting.”
“Fine.” Was that too snide? Not snide enough?
“Remember what we discussed. He’s not to know anything except what is absolutely necessary.”
Well, that wasn’t going to be too difficult, seeing as he didn’t know dick shit. Damn it. They were getting nowhere like this. There just wasn’t enough time. On a Hail Mary, he threw out the pitch. “When do I get rid of him?”
“I haven’t decided yet. It’s the rogues we want, not him. But all the same, I want to be sure we can kill him without alerting the human police or the Order.”
“When it’s time, I can make it look as though he was taken down by a human rival. Make it appear part of their drug war.”
“Hmm. I’ll consider it. Now get going.”
Pax walked out and closed the door behind him. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Was he nervous or were demons just sweaty? Of all the things he thought Blue Eyes might be, he had to admit that one hadn’t even entered his mind. He started down the hall and thought about what the hell he was going to do. With him going to see Batiste, their exit strategy was blown to hell. He had no idea how long it would take to get out on his own.
Helen looked from X to Rose and back again. Dear Goddess. Everything they were telling her was such a shock. Rose was such a gentle female and the two of them were newly mated. When Helen had worked at the hospital, she had genuinely cared for all of her patients. But practicing here was different. It was like treating your family. She was concerned not only for Rose, but for X as well. The two of them had shared some things while she was training him to be Diesel’s back-up medic. She knew his mother died of leukemia some years ago while he was at MIT. She wasn’t sure who else even knew.
“When was your last bloodwork done?”
“About four weeks ago.”
“Okay, let’s get you up on the table. Have you had any symptoms other than the fainting spell and the night sweat?” Helen asked.
Rose sat up on the table and her mate moved back behind her. “Some fatigue. My appetite is down a little.”
“And the night sweat this morning. That was the only one?”
Rose nodded.
“Any fever?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“Stomach pain or shortness of breath?”
“No, no pain.”
She took her patient’s temp while X rubbed the female’s back. “You’re running a fever, but it’s mild. I’m not surprised you didn’t notice it. Now, let’s have you lay back. I’m going to check your spleen.”
X took his female’s hand as Helen placed her fingers on her patient’s right lower quadrant. “Okay, deep breath now.”
She waited for Rose’s spleen to palpate her fingers. It was enlarged. Damn it. “Okay, lady. I’ll have the results of your blood work this afternoon. By then I’ll have seen your records. Let’s plan to meet later on today. Try to get some rest. Maybe have some lunch, okay?”
The female nodded. “Okay. You’ll let us know?”
“I’ll text Xavier right away. I promise.”
Pax closed the car door and stared up at the warehouse housing the endless illegal activities of Emanuel Batiste, one of which was running a dog catching ring for Toltec. Shit, it was probably his boys who had captured James in the first place. What a cocksucker. He suddenly wished Victrixa had ordered him to gank the fucker.
He walked up to the guarded door and the two rogues stepped aside. Huh. Looked like Blue Eyes carried some weight.
“The boss is waiting for you on the third floor,” the one on the right announced.
How special. Pax entered the building, found the stairs, and took them all the way to the top. He followed the smell of fresh cigarette smoke around the corner. Expensive brand. Figured.
“Cerberus,” Batiste said in way of greeting when he saw who he thought was the demon.
“Batiste.”
“I have put together the information you asked for.” He handed Pax a manila folder. “If you have time, I will go over it with you.”
Not really. The real Blue Eyes was lying in a room at the Toltec compound ready to wake up at any moment. He figured Ana would keep a lid on that end of things for the time being, but a two hour operation had already been expanded to six. Not good. He could feel his energy beginning to ebb. He’d never held onto a second form other than Stallion anywhere near this long. Much less a demon. He had no idea how much longer he was going to last. It would be pretty freaking inconvenient if he changed back during the meeting with this asshat. Not to mention he had no idea if fake Cerberus or real Pax needed to piss, but somebody had to go. Awkwaaard. “You may proceed.”
“In our last conversation, you mentioned Victrixa has a particular interest in the number of rogues under my direction. We estimate the number to be around two-fifty.”
Pax actually choked when he heard the number. He coughed a couple of times, then cleared his throat. Oh, my fuck. They were so royally screwed. “Excellent.”
“They are assigned to perform various duties, but many of them are
trained as guards.”
“So they would be trained to use firearms.”
“Certainly.”
Make that double screwed. “Victrixa will be pleased.”
“May I ask what she wants the rogues for?”
“How about I let you know when you can ask a question. Now, let’s move this along.”
Xavier and Rose held hands as they walked down the compound hallway to their room. He unlocked the door and followed her in. “Do you feel like you could eat some lunch, Rosie?”
“No, I think I’ll pass, my male. I’m actually a little tired.”
“Why don’t you take a nap? I’ll wake you when I hear from Helen.”
Just then, Cool appeared from under the bed. And didn’t she just have a post-it stuck to her little black butt. X plucked it off and looked at it. Sure enough, it had Ben’s name and number on it. He rolled his eyes before picking her up and handing her to his female.
Rose got them both settled in and he covered her with her quilt. She was asleep almost before her head was down. She was so lovely when she slept, so peaceful. Her long hair fanned across the pillow, her chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths. He sat down on the desk chair opposite the bed. Man, he wished he could relax, but shutting his head down wasn’t an option. No one was saying it, but Rose was symptomatic. She was out of remission. The Gleevec had somehow lost effectiveness. He rubbed his goatee. None of it made much sense. She was being monitored regularly. She’d just had routine bloodwork done about a month ago and now the CML was back and possibly aggressive? He turned the chair around to boot up his computer. He wasn’t about to meet with Helen unarmed. He needed to know what the next steps would be. He needed a plan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ana stood atop a factory roof and looked across the empty lot at Batiste’s building. The windows were blackened, but she could pick up on the demon’s energy. Pax was still inside. Damn it. She’d spent an extra hour in the ceiling above her mother’s office only to ultimately watch her leave for wherever she was headed. She’d checked on Blue Eyes and he was still out cold. From where she was standing that’s about the only thing that had gone right so far. “Hang on, Pax.”
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