Pax laughed. “Yeah, it is.”
James walked over to where Pax was wiping off a window. He looked out. “Wow. Look at those stars. We would see them like that at home, you know? But it’s usually harder here in the city with all the lights.”
Pax clapped his back and they headed toward the stairs. “Let’s check the basement and get the hell out of here, Dies.”
“Right behind—”
There was a sickening tearing sound followed by a huge crash. Pax turned around and Diesel was gone.
What the…
“Dies! Diesel!”
He ran toward the middle of the room and stopped himself just in time. The fucking floor was gone. All that was left was a gaping hole. “Diesel!”
He gleamed to where James stood by the stairs. “I need you to call X. Tell him Diesel fell through the floor and give him the address. Tell him we need the Navigator and a stretcher and anyone he can find. No one should gleam into the building. It’s not safe. Wait out front for them.”
Without waiting for an answer, he ran down the stairs to the next floor down only to be horrified by what he saw. Diesel wasn’t there either. Just another huge tear in the floor. “Oh, my God.”
His heart lurched in his chest, his adrenaline pulsing through him. He ran down to the first floor only to find that he’d fallen all the way to the basement. Carefully, he made his way toward the whole in the floor. “Diesel!”
“Pax! I’m in the basement somewhere! You did want to check that out, right?”
Thank the Goddess.
“Hang on, Dies. I’m going to get you out!”
Diesel inhaled a bunch of dust and coughed. “I’m pinned under a bunch of shit! You’re gonna need help!”
Like a wrecking ball and a backhoe. Son of a bitch. Another shot of pain jumped through his right leg and he grabbed onto anything near him. He moaned and tried to catch his breath after it passed. Fuck. He heard a door creek open and a moment later Pax was making his way toward him.
“I’m totally buried over here.”
“Can you breathe okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s on my legs.”
“Pax!”
Pax looked up through what used to be the ceiling. “Dimitri! We’re down here!”
Dimitri and Ana made their way through the cellar door and started to help Pax get through the debris.
X materialized beside them with Helen’s bag. He put it off to the side and started to help unbury him.
Diesel gritted his teeth and sucked in his breath. “Where’s Helen?”
X shook his head. “I’m not sure. She wasn’t answering. Richard and SE are on their way with the truck. Are you in pain?”
“Right leg.”
“What about your back or neck?”
He shook his head.
X looked underneath the pile of wood, metal, and fuck knew what else. “Okay, we’re getting close now. As we take off the last layer, we need to be real careful of his right side.”
“X, as soon as you get that last layer off, I want you to take a pic with your phone so I can see what we’re dealing with. Then I’ll talk you through it.”
“You got it.”
Dimitri leaned down. “Okay. This board is the last substantial piece.”
X bent down and the two of them picked up the board from the ends while Ana balanced the middle. As the wood came up and was moved away, X froze.
Diesel closed his eyes and exhaled. This wasn’t gonna be good. He avoided looking at the faces of the others. “Get that picture for me, X.”
With a nod, X took out his phone and took a few shots before handing it to him.
Diesel woke up the screen and swallowed hard. It was worse than he thought. He quickly started to go through all the medical shit his mind was throwing at him, but X was already on the job.
“Okay, I read it’s better to treat the pain in more than one way, right?”
Man, did he pick the right guy to train. The brother was like a teacher’s wet dream. They hadn’t even covered this yet. “Uh, yeah. Let’s do morphine and an NSAID. Then…” Whoa. He was starting to get woozy. Loss of blood. Okay, X new how to apply the tourniquet. Son of a…
“It’s okay. I got you,” X said.
He felt Ana wipe the sweat off his forehead. “Stay with us, Dies.”
Green Jacket pushed Evy onto the couch and locked her chain around the leg. She’d looked as many times during the ride as she could. No glowing eyes. Who the hell were these guys?
“So, why do we have a human chick on the couch again?”
The one who drove the car answered. “Shut the fuck up, Joey.”
“Relax, ladies. She’s here because she knows someone who can get us something we need,” Green Jacket said.
“Like who, Seth?”
Seth. Okay. Green Jacket was Seth.
“Like a New Breed.”
She looked from one to the other. “A new what?”
“Don’t fuck with me. I’m not in the mood. I know you know a New Breed shifter. I saw him watching you suck face with the guy at Velocity.”
“Look, I don’t know how to convince you. I don’t even know any shifters.”
Seth sat across from her on the coffee table and spit on the floor. “Bullshit. Let me lay this out for you. There was a New Breed watching you at the club. You know how I know? Because his eyes were glowing out of his fucking head! So, you can skip the shit about not knowing who he is!”
Wait a second. He saw someone watching her at the club? Holy shit. This guy wasn’t the thing with the eyes. He was after the thing with the eyes. This new shifter thingy must be some kind of shifter that was different from the others. Well, that explained why she never came across it in her research. Damn it. So, just exactly how many stalkers was she dealing with here? She’d lost count. “Look, I’ve known something was following me for a while, but I didn’t know who or what it was until you told me just now. Isn’t that possible? That someone’s been watching me? Someone I don’t know? Think about it.”
“Or you do know him and you’re trying to protect him. The reason I know that is because a New Breed’s eyes glow in battle and with seriously major emotion. So unless he was planning on meeting your cute little ass on the battlefield last night, he has feelings for you. Not I wanna do you feelings because he just saw a cutie in a club. You know him!” He slapped her so hard across the face, she thought her cheek would implode. “And either you stop lyin’ or figure it out, because it’s the only way you’re gettin’ out of here alive.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Helen took one last look around and tried to think of anything she might be forgetting. God. The room looked so empty with her things packed. It was almost as though they’d never been there. But they had. She sighed as she walked into the bathroom to do one last check. There was a knock at the door.
“Helen? Are you there?”
Pax.
She turned out the bathroom light on her way out and opened the door. Pax was dirty and covered in sweat.
“Pax, wha—”
“We need you right away, Doc.”
She didn’t ask. She didn’t have to. All she had to do was look at the male’s face. Her chest clamped down and she could hardly breathe.
“Where is he?”
“Surgical ward.”
She shoved past him and bolted down the hall.
She ran by the waiting New Breeds, pushed through the swinging door, and didn’t stop ‘til she was by his side. He was filthy, his hair matted with dirt, his face more brown than white and full of cuts. But as soon as he saw her, his eyes lit up. Literally.
“Doc.” He coughed.
X mumbled something about privacy and left the ward.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m just going to check you out, okay?” She moved down his upper body, feeling for broken bones and dislocated joints.
And then she lifted the sheet.
Oh, God. Her mate’s right leg was cru
shed from almost the knee down. Okay, pull it together, Helen. You can’t fall apart. That is not an option.
She felt his hand on her arm and turned to face him.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.” He coughed. “I’ve seen it.”
She held back a sob. “Oh, Dies…”
But his face was set. “You have to take the leg.”
“No, I can’t. I can’t. There must be…”
He took her hand. “There isn’t. We both know it.” Tears came to his beautiful pale green eyes. “I’m not gonna survive any other way and I wanna live. I’ve been so wrong, Doc. All this time I thought that I should have died in that Humvee. I couldn’t see past it. I just assumed since I didn’t die in that war, I’d die in this one. But the way I was living was worse than dead. I just couldn’t get out of my own way long enough to see that there was a reason I was still alive. I survived so I could find you, Doc. I love you so much.”
Tears were streaming down her face. “I love you, too.”
Saying those words brought such a release that she actually laughed. It all became so clear. He had never been pulling away from her. It had been her all along. That’s why she couldn’t tell him she loved him until now, and why she freaked out when he wanted to sleep away from her. And she’d bet the farm that she’d been holding back her nagual from him and not the other way around. All this time she thought the only real legacy her father had left her was a love for corny movies, when in reality, he’d left her with something far worse—a fear of abandonment that had almost cost her the most amazing thing she’d ever known.
He reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. “Then you cut that son of a bitch off.”
She nodded and kissed him gently. “X, let’s move! We’ve got some surgery to perform.”
Early the next morning, after she shooed away the members of the Order so they could all get some rest, she curled up next to her male in the surgical ward. X had been kind enough to bind two beds together so she could get some rest right next to her mate. The surgery had gone very well, but he was still out from the anesthesia. She’d changed into some clean scrubs and crawled in.
She woke a couple of hours later when she heard a soft moan. He opened his eyes and searched until he found her right next to him.
“Hey, female.” He managed before he coughed.
“Hey, how about some water?”
He nodded and she passed him the cup and straw. He took a few sips and passed it back.
“Oh, man. This feels so good, waking up next to you. I missed it.”
She sighed. “Me, too. How’s your pain, my male?”
“I’m good. I’d be better if you were…” He gave her a come here with his first two fingers.
She scooted over and put her head on his shoulder.
He leaned his head against hers. “Much better. Who rigged the beds? X?”
She smiled. “Yeah. He was totally solid during surgery, by the way. And he did a really great thing treating your pain the way he did. Although, New Breeds heal so fast, I don’t know what to expect.”
“Sounds like him. I’m still gonna kick his ass outta here when I’m ready to come back.”
She grinned. “Yeah, you are. Do you want something light to eat?”
“Naw, not yet. I just wanna chill. How did the surgery go?”
“Without a hitch.” She kissed his temple.
“Save the knee?”
“Yep.”
“That’s my female. You’re damn good, Doc.”
She laughed. “I think you’re going to end up with a bionic leg.”
“X?”
She tucked her arm around him. “Uh-huh. He’s already researching.”
“Maybe he can find one that’ll make popcorn.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” She grinned.
He touched her hair and kissed her forehead. “I don’t care what I end up with. Just so I’m here with you.”
“Um, I have a confession.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m the reason our naguals seem to be slightly allergic to each other lately.”
He raised his brows. “Really? I’m shocked and appalled.”
“Stop, Dies. I’m serious.”
“I know. Look, it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together.”
She ran her hand gently along his stubble and kissed him gently. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. But I wouldn’t kiss me like that again with all these tubes and shit in me. It’s probably not safe.”
She giggled. “Hey, I’ve got a pretty good trade off.”
“What’s that?”
“How about if I wash your hair this afternoon?”
His eyes popped wide open. “I worship you.”
“I had a feeling.”
Evy gingerly touched the side of her face. It hurt like hell. She could only imagine what it looked like. She’d been wrong about Seth. He wasn’t throwing out empty threats. He meant business and he wanted information she didn’t have. What the fuck was she going to do? Make some shit up? She’d never even seen the New Breed thing that was following her. Not really.
But she knew someone who had.
She looked over at Seth. He was busy texting.
“Seth?”
“What? I’m not taking you to the bathroom again. Learn to hold it.”
“No. I was just wondering. This New Breed you saw at that club. What did he look like?”
“What did he look like? You want me to describe a male you already know.”
“Look, just humor me, okay?”
“I dunno. He was about six foot four. He was wearing a knit Sox hat and shit kickers. He was with some huge, black dude.”
Evy froze. Was it possible? Troy was with that tall, really polite, black guy in November. She didn’t know about the boots, but he was wearing a Sox baseball cap. Well, he had it on backwards, but she was pretty sure it was the Red Sox. That would mean Troy was a shifter or New Breed. It would also explain the eyes. How did the donations to the center fit into all this? Maybe this was all a big coincidence.
But what if it wasn’t?
She couldn’t tell Seth this. Not any of it.
He interrupted her thoughts. “Well, ring any bells in that melon of yours?”
“No. Only that I remember seeing those two guys at the club like you did.” She lied. “These New Breed things, what’s their deal, anyway? Why are they different from other shifters?”
Seth rolled his eyes. “Look, there’s a civil war going on between shifters that humans don’t know about. One side wants world domination; the other side is trying to stop them.”
Keep him talking. “Okay, so how do these New Breeds fit into all that?”
“They want to stop the domination. There’s only like, ten of them. They’re much more powerful than shifters. Incredibly strong and gifted with powers. Shifters are pretty much human. These guys are practically immortal.” He shook his head. “There I go again. Telling you shit you already know.”
“No, you’re telling me shit you assume I know. And I don’t, Seth. This is the first I’m hearing about any of this. This…world you’re telling me about. It’s not a part of my life.”
“Don’t matter. I saw the look on his mug. He’ll come for you. And when he does, we’re gonna make a little deal. And if he’s not down with it, we’ll kill him.”
Her mouth went dry. If this was Troy, she couldn’t let that happen. She had to find a way to warn him. But what if it wasn’t him? What if there was some crazy-ass immortal out there who was as bad as Seth? What, they were just going to pass her back and forth? Think, Evy, think. She spent the next hour combing through everything she knew about Troy Thomsen, wondering if it could really be him or if it was just some kind of adolescent fantasy.
Diesel grinned as his partner in crime came through the door. “Hey, my brother.”
Pax walked over and the two of them locked hands.
/>
“Hey, how are you, Dies?”
“I’m good. Looks like I screwed the pooch on yet another mission though. Sorry about that.”
“No worries. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
He ran his fingers through his damp hair. “Thanks to you.”
“Naw. Everybody pitched in. I hear you’re going to be in here a while.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Maybe a week. X is setting things up for PT and I’ve got exercises and shit.”
“Well, the brothers and I were feeling kinda bad that your movie nights with your female were going to be interrupted.” He walked over and opened the door. “So, we thought we’d move this in here, you know, temporarily.”
Dimitri and SE wheeled in the large screen from the compound’s rec room.
“Holy shit!” Diesel laughed. “Oh, my God. Pax, if I were gay I would so do you right now, man.”
Pax barked a laugh. “Oh, sure. Now, when I bring you high-end electronics.”
Dimitri snarfed. “We thought you might get a little bored.”
Pax put his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight for movie night, bro.”
“What are we watching?”
“Godzilla versus Mothra.”
Diesel put his arms above his head. “Yes!”
After Dimitri and Pax left, SE stood alone at Diesel’s bedside. “I, ah…”
“Whoa. Hey, what’s up, SE?”
The brother looked down at the floor. “I just wanted to apologize. I’m basically certain it was you in my vision, and I just couldn’t…”
“Naw, it’s not like that. Look, if you had known it was me and warned me off, maybe, maybe, I would still have my leg. But, in a weird way, the accident gave me my life back. You know those gifts you all have work in strange ways sometimes. Maybe you weren’t meant to see more than you did. Either way, there’s nothing to forgive, bro.”
Diesel offered him his hand.
SE looked up at him and took it. “Thanks, man.”
“No thanks needed, SE. We’re cool. Say, after my female gets over here with my meds, I’m gonna watch Lost reruns. You up for some viewage?”
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