James smiled. “First, second, or third?”
Pax smiled. “Ah, Dimitri. How about second?”
James nodded. “Sounds good.”
Pax got up and headed for the door.
“Thanks, Pax.”
“Anytime. Night.”
Pax headed down the back stairs and into the compound’s living area where he started to mix the stiffest drink he could. Then he stopped himself. What the fuck was he doing? His mind immediately went to his conversation with James. Suddenly it hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. I certainly wouldn’t mind being the one to do it? Oh, my God. That thought was so unholy. What the hell was wrong with him? It must be the protective instinct. It would make sense for him to feel that way about someone under his protection, right? He was his camzah for Chrissakes. He took a vow. He shook his head and went back to mixing his drink. On second thought, he did himself a favor and made it a double.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Evy walked down the hallway at the center on her way to pack up her shit. She was so tired her eyes were actually closing while she walked. She stopped by the drink machine and bought a Coke. She needed to slam some caffeine and sugar down before she even considered driving.
“Hey, Evy?”
She forced herself to focus. She was walking by Chris’s office. Therefore, it must be Chris. That made sense. She stopped and poked her head in.
“Hey, Chris, what’s up?”
“I just wanna let you know that a bunch of us are going out tomorrow night after work. We’ve all been putting in crazy hours. Everyone’s exhausted.”
Tell me about it.
“Anyway, we thought it would be good to blow off some steam. Any chance I could talk you into it? Even Liz is going, if you can believe that.”
Liz was going? “Uh, sure. Why not.”
“Slammin’. Should be fun.”
Evy tried to convince herself to let go of the door jamb. “See you tomorrow.”
She headed back down the hallway. Wait. What did she just agree to? Ah, crap. Not going to a club. She hated clubs. They were way too hot and so damn loud. You couldn’t even have a conversation, not that anyone there would be interested in having one. Ugh. She should be home catching up on work for class tomorrow night. If she’d only been half awake she would have said no.
It took her another twenty minutes to pack and drag herself to the car. This was getting ridiculous. Something had to give and obviously class wasn’t it. Cutting back her hours at the center was gonna kill her, but so was keeping her schedule at three days a week. She needed to drop a day. She had a ton of time to get experience in her field between now and getting her Master’s. Liz was always telling her that she was too hard on herself. Maybe she was right. This was just not cutting it. Maybe she could break the news to Chris while they were out damaging their brain cells together. Party on. She backed out of her space and started the drive home.
The music at Velocity was pumping so hard, Evy could feel it rattling in her body cavity. She hated that. This was so not her scene. She walked up to the bar and got in line for one beer and a requisite, girly drink. It was a good excuse to get up and walk around. Her crew was occupying a little alcove toward the back and she needed to move after sitting for so long. She pulled at the hem of her mini dress for the tenth time since she got up.
“What can I get for you, little lady?” the bartender drawled.
She raised an eyebrow and his smirk disappeared. She ordered her drinks and stood watching the people on the dance floor. You had your usual contingency: those who were good and were showing off, those that could get by, and those that totally sucked but didn’t know it. She rolled her eyes.
When her drinks came up, she paid and walked carefully back to their section, so she wouldn’t spill Liz’s pink thing. When she got there, her seat was gone. Now there was gratitude.
“Liz, weren’t you supposed to save me a seat if I got you a drink?”
“I know. I’m sorry. I was talking.” The guy is so cute, she mouthed.
Evy leaned against the side of the archway and rolled her eyes again. This second beer was her ‘get out of jail free’ card. She tried her best to make it look like she was sipping it.
Troy crossed the dance floor with X following close behind him. Completely ignoring the dancers and where their body parts were going, he rounded the back of the bar and found a spot that let him see most of the place. They were on a rogue hunt tonight. Since they seemed to like the club strip, he and X had decided to check a couple of them out. Man, the clubs were such meat markets. He looked up and checked out the go-go dancer up on a platform next to him. She was blocking his goddamn left view. He scowled.
X shook his head. “Man, I hate this shit. Why are we here on our night off again?”
Troy nodded. “Boredom. Maybe we’ll get lucky and bag ourselves a rogue in the next ten minutes.”
He looked around go-go chick’s legs. That’s when he saw her.
Evy.
She was hanging out at the back with Chris and some other people he’d seen at the center. She picked up her hair and tossed it behind her shoulders. When her scent hit, Troy just about fell over.
“So you see her, huh?”
Troy looked up at X with a warning glare and the big male just shook his head and sighed.
He turned his head back to Evy who was sitting down next to Chris. Good. At least he could focus on the matter at hand. Chris would make sure she was okay. He went back to letting everyone in the club bounce off his radar. There were no rogues or hellions of any kind. There were a few shifter civilians, one of which was making a beeline right for X. There’s a surprise.
The little blond smiled up at X like he was an Adonis, which he basically was.
“Hey.” She cooed.
“Hey there, little lady.”
“Wanna dance?”
“Actually what I’d really like is a drink. Wanna get me one?”
“Sure. What would you like?”
X handed her a twenty. “I’ll let you pick.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
X grinned down at Troy. “Let’s move.”
Troy barked a laugh and the two of them got lost somewhere on the other side of the club. At least as much as you could hide the male. It wasn’t easy at six foot seven. You had to hand it to the brother. He was nothing if not a gentleman. He never told them to get lost. He asked them to get him a drink, with a twenty, and let them pick it out, on the off chance it was something they themselves might like and probably even want when they got back and discovered he was gone. Troy had once seen X go through three C-notes in one night.
Of course, now they were standing directly across the club from Evy, which wasn’t helping his concentration any. There wasn’t much he could do about it except hope his goddamn eyes didn’t light up like fucking Christmas trees. Now that’d really clear out the room.
Seth walked into the club with Nick at his side. This was supposedly a big hangout for a major human dog catcher in the area. He cursed. He hated those words, even though it was shifters who started calling the Tolies that kidnapped teens by that name. Apparently it didn’t penetrate their tiny, pea sized brains that they were calling themselves dogs. Duh. The human male’s name was Batiste or some shit. How he got into the kidnapping business Seth could only guess, but he definitely ran an operation. He was also one of Boston’s major dealers. That was all he cared about. They didn’t have the cash or manpower to buy themselves in yet, but when they did, they would have enough so the guy couldn’t refuse the deal. In the meantime, Seth was hoping to get a gander at the filth.
Jesus, he hated clubs in Boston. Fucking hotter than hell and of course you couldn’t smoke. Damn. They wondered why nightlife was so dead in this town. They needed to stop making it so much like work. Who the hell wanted to come off a long shift at Dunkin’ Donuts and get all dolled up only to feel like you were back at work again? Shit. They had to be kidding.
He remembered when he and his friends had first checked out the club scene using their newly minted fake ID’s in high school. He smiled. Man, one look at a go-go dancer and they all just about came in their shorts. Classic. Man, high school was the worst. For a moment, he let his mind go to James and then he caught himself. That New Breed scumbag was dead to him. Hold up. Looked like there were two New Breeds in the club right now. Probably looking for them. Unless…. Why the was the smaller one with the knit Sox cap staring at the hot little human number across the room?
Evy leaned in so she was sure Chris would hear her. She practically had to yell. “I have to cut back to two days a week until things at school let up.”
“What? Really? You’re kidding.”
“I wish. I almost fell asleep in your office doorway last night.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that. I’m afraid we’ll never get you back. I don’t think things at school will get any easier.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But if my grades fall, I lose my scholarship.”
“I hate to see you cut back, but school comes first. I’ll miss seeing you around though.”
And then it happened.
Chris gently touched the side of her face leaned down and kissed her. As his lips hit hers, the strangest thought came into her head. Not for you. Like she was somehow breaking an unwritten law or something. She backed off and stood up.
Holy. Shit. Seth stood there a moment not sure what he was seeing. His head went back and forth from the black guy kissing the hottie to the New Breed across the club. His eyes were lit up like it was the freaking Fourth of July. He was into her. Really into her. Had to be. He watched the human female grab her coat and start toward the exit and the New Breed launch himself toward the guy who’d been kissing her. He sensed opportunity. Big time.
He grabbed Nick’s shoulder and high tailed it out the front entrance. If he was gonna use this situation to his benefit, he needed to act fast. He had no way of knowing if the New Breed was going to wail on the guy or not. But if his hunch was right, that shorty was his winning Powerball ticket.
Troy’s body felt like it was moving forward of its own volition. He couldn’t stop himself if he tried. Which was actually a non-issue, since he had one huge-ass male riding his heels.
X grabbed him by the back of his jacket and steered him toward the side exit. “Not tonight, motherfucker.”
As the door opened and cold air hit his face in a rush, Troy shook his head and tried to get his shit together. It was only seconds later that the rogues hit his radar. He looked down the alley toward the street just as an old beat up Chevy pulled up. The back door opened and Troy watched in horror as Evy was dragged in. He could still hear her screams as they pulled away from the curb.
Holy fuck. His whole body went icebox. That couldn’t have been random. What would rogues want with a human? They had to have been in the club. They had to have seen what happened. Oh, God, they’d taken her because of him. He felt a strong hand latch onto him and then he was standing in the mansion’s foyer. He looked up at X and the truth of it was right there on the brother’s face. But the look was far from I told you so. He looked as shocked out of his gourd as Troy felt.
He started to walk down the hallway, numbness setting in, first in his chest and then pushing outward. By the time he got to the study door, he couldn’t feel his toes.
X wasn’t far behind. “Troy, where the fuck are you going? Troy?”
“To tell Reyn I need James to take my place while I look for Evy.”
“Shit. Troy, hold up.”
He stopped and turned around. Seriously? The brother was going to give him a lecture now?
“I’ll go with you, man.”
Troy shook his head. “Naw, X. I can’t ask you to do that. They need you here.”
“Then you let me know when you’ve found her and I’ll go in with you. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, sure. I can do that.” He looked into the male’s big, dark eyes. “Thanks.”
Troy pushed the study door open. Fuck. Reyn wasn’t the only one in there. Richard and SE were sitting across from him. Richard. Great. They were dressed for duty, so they had to be on their way out.
Their leader looked up. “What’s up my brothers? Troy you look like hell.”
“Sorry to interrupt, boss, but this can’t wait. I’m pulling myself off rotation as of now.”
“What?”
X spoke up from behind him. “A close friend of his was taken tonight by some rogues. He’s going to look for her.”
Reyn shook his head. “No way. Not gonna happen. We know almost nothing about them. It’s too sketchy.”
“It’s just until he locates her. Mainly surveillance,” X continued, “I’ll provide back-up once we know where she is.”
Richard spoke up. “Well, James is more than ready, but, listen, there’s something you should know before you go.”
He gave a nod to SE.
“I had what we think was a premonition.” SE began, “There was a brother in trouble. All I remember at this point is that he’s in the dark and in pain. I wish I knew more, bro, but please be careful. At this point, it could be any one of us.”
“I will. I’ll stay in touch with X.”
“You’d better. That’s an order.” Reyn sighed. “Good luck.”
Troy turned and walked out. Thank Christ they went along with it. He would have gone anyway, but this made things a hell of a lot simpler. ‘Course if they knew she was human. No way he was stupid enough to go down that road.
X followed him back to the foyer. “Troy, look. They don’t know how you feel about Evelyn, but I do.” He lowered his voice. “You’re as close to being mated to her as you can get without having actually consummated the thing. You know what happened to SE when he lost it and went after Ana without back up. Please let me know when you find her and wait for me. We’ll do this together, you dig?”
“I promise.”
Xavier put his fist to his chest. “In lak'ech.”
Troy returned the gesture. “Ala k'in.”
And gleamed out.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Diesel was alternately working on a song and contemplating throwing his guitar out the window when there was a knock on the door.
“It’s open,” Helen called.
X and Pax walked in.
“Got a sec?” X asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
Helen smiled. “Let me take this to the lab and give you some privacy.”
X shook his head. “No, it’s okay, Helen. This’ll just take a minute. Listen, ah, Troy has taken himself off the duty roster for the time being. We were out at a club last night when a female was taken by some rogues. She was basically kidnapped because of her connection with him, so he’s gone to look for her.”
“Are they involved?” Diesel asked.
“No, they know each other from high school.”
Pax leaned back against the wall. “Jesus. I wish we could spare the manpower to help him look.”
“That’s actually why I wanted to talk to you. I’ll be helping him all I can along the way, but I asked him to let me know when he found her so I could help with the rescue op. I was hoping I could count on you guys as well.”
Diesel agreed immediately. “Of course, bro. Whatever you need.”
Pax clapped X’s arm. “Just let us know when and where.”
“Thanks. Let’s just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid. He has a tendency to do shit and think never. Hey, by the way, did you hear about SE’s vision?”
Diesel made a low whistle. “That is some freaky shit.”
X laughed. “You ain’t kiddin’.”
“You never know though. My power totally sucked for months and now it’s fine. It’ll just take some time,” Pax said. “I’m gonna crash. Night all.”
“Yeah, I’m spent. Thanks again, my brothers.”
“Night,” Helen said.
An hour and a half later Helen was lyin
g in bed alone after night two of sex without Diesel’s second soul connecting with hers. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take. Between that and her mate sleeping next door without her, she felt totally and utterly rejected. He said he loved her and there hadn’t been any change in the way he was treating her. None of it made any sense. She wanted to talk to him, but if he was throwing in the towel, shouldn’t he be the one to tell her? That made sense, didn’t it? Oh God, she didn’t know what to think anymore.
She wound up not sleeping ‘til daybreak. The sound of her mate’s guitar woke her around noon. She lay in bed listening to him play. She had never felt this way before. She was a fighter. So, why the hell was she letting herself feel so defeated? Usually, the feeling that she was out of control was enough for her to grab the bull by the horns. Why not this time? What was holding her back? Her mating was the most important thing in her life. She had to get past this thing, whatever it was. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, drowning out the lovely sound of her mate’s voice.
Ana materialized just inside the door of her room. SE was sitting on the bed, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. She tiptoed into the closet and took off her coat and boots. She didn’t want to disturb him, so she decided to take her laptop over to the chaise and check in on Mommie Dearest. It was interesting that Victrixa hadn’t discovered the mini cam hidden in her wall, although she didn’t have a reason to suspect anything yet. The Order had only used it for gathering Intel. Still.
As her mother and Roman came on the screen, she plugged in her earphones and turned the sound up.
“Even so, Roman. We plan to house twice as many hellions at the Roxbury address than we did at the warehouse. We can’t risk anyone finding out about it. To make matters worse, the Mayor has declared war on vacant buildings throughout the city since the warehouse collapse. This must stay between the two of us until further notice.”
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