by AM Halford
“I what!” Freddie slammed on the brakes.
“Fuck.” Juaquin and Roy both jerked forward with the sudden loss of momentum. Juaquin was quick to react though, beating Freddie out of the car and pointing his gun at him. “Get back in the car.”
“No way, Juaquin.” Freddie shook his head, his hands up in front of him. “I agreed to a rescue mission, not a fucking kidnapping! I don’t want any part in this.”
“Fine, you want out?” Juaquin sneered and pressed the gun to Freddie’s head. “You sure you want out?”
Roy, using their discord as an opening, went for the door. With a deep breath, he made a dash for it. A gunshot rang out, and pain blossomed in Roy’s leg. Falling to the ground, he wrapped his arms around his stomach, hoping to protect his babies. How had he been shot? Wasn’t the pendant supposed to protect him from harm? Now that he thought about it, Juaquin shouldn’t have been able to hit him either.
Reaching for the pendant Roy shivered when he realized it wasn’t there. Looking back to the van he caught sight of a bit of metallic sheen folded up with the hood.
“Where do you think you’re going?” It was a cruel, cold female’s voice this time.
Roy looked up and felt a whole new dose of dread run down his spine as he gazed into the eyes of his sister-in-law. “Maria.”
“You just got here.” She leered at him, an expression devoid of any feeling. “Surely you wouldn’t leave so soon. As for those pests…” She turned and headed back toward Juaquin and Freddie who were both freaking out now. “We don’t need any witnesses.”
Roy screamed as Maria put a bullet in both Juaquin and Freddie. Their bodies fell to the damp pavement, lifeless.
“Now.” Maria returned her attention to Roy. “Let’s get you to your new home.”
* * * *
Nexus, limping, tried to give chase after the van, but he’d taken some serious damage when he’d fallen. He wasn’t giving up though. He made it to the end of the block when Danyal arrived on the back of a motorcycle. He jumped off the bike and handed Nexus a set of clothes, instructing him to shift back.
More bikes and cars pulled up, and Danyal sent them all off down the intersecting roads. “We’ll find him,” Danyal promised as Nexus shifted and dressed.
“You’d better,” Nexus growled.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nexus roared, his paws eating up the ground as he raced through the forests just outside his territory. It had been four days since Roy was taken and nothing! They’d found nothing! No clue. No trace of Juaquin or that van. Nexus didn’t even know how a fucking human had gotten close enough without them noticing to do something so elaborate.
That was all changing though. Finally, after four days, they had a lead. Iago had caught the same scent that had been around the house when the brick was thrown through the window. It led off the mountain and deeper into the forest. Nexus was personally leading the hunting party.
The farther he went the stronger the scent became, except something was off. It smelled rancid almost, mixed with smoke and chemicals.
A small break in the trees revealed an old access road, unkempt and seemingly forgotten. There, still smoldering, was the van used to take Roy away from him. Two bodies were in the front charred beyond recognition.
Shifting back into his human form, Nexus looked on in disbelief. Their one lead had just gone up in smoke, literally.
Falling to his knees he screamed, tears of frustration and sorrow falling to the ground. Pained howls, yowls, and wails echoed his anguish as the hunting party joined him. Now where did they go?
* * * *
The door opened, and Roy backed away from the men in white coats that entered. One grabbed him and forced him to stand still while the other approached with a syringe. “No, please no,” he begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as they had since he’d arrived.
Roy cringed and looked away as they drove the needle into his arm, and drew his blood. They’d done this twice a day since he’d been thrown in this padded cell.
After being released, Roy curled into the corner of his cell as Maria stepped inside once the two men were gone, a tray of food in her hand. “Breakfast time!” she said cheerfully. She set the tray in the middle of the room and backed up to the wall where she leaned against it. “You need to eat, brother, to keep up your strength and heal.”
“What do you want, Maria?” Roy asked for what had to be the dozenth time. “How did you get Juaquin involved in this? Why are you doing this?”
She just smiled at him. He had known it the moment he’d laid eyes on her, but she was completely insane! Anyone that could kill two people without a blink, shoot a pregnant person, and then imprison that same person couldn’t be all there in the head.
Ever since she’d locked him in here, he’d been trying to get an answer out of her, and she had so far said nothing. He figured, by the times he was fed, the amount of meals he’d gotten, and the blood draws, he’d been locked up in this cell for at least three days. Of course, he could be off by a day or two. The cell had no windows, just a tiny air vent too high up for him to reach, and a door leading out. He’d been provided a blanket and pillow to sleep with, but no bed. Maria figured the room was padded, so that had to be enough.
“Maria, please, answer me,” Roy implored. “What did Nexus do to deserve this?” She flinched, and Roy flashed back to that picture Tyrese had shown Nexus and him. “Is this about Lane?”
“Don’t you dare say his name!” she screeched.
So much for Nexus’s firm stance on Maria and Lane not knowing each other beyond their acquaintance through him. There was a definite history there.
Maria looked ready to tear his throat out for a moment before she smiled, straightened, and waved her hand to Roy’s food. “Come on, eat.”
“I don’t understand.” Roy stood and faced his crazed sister-in-law. He ignored the throbbing in his leg from the gunshot wound, which had been dressed expertly and was healing surprisingly fast. “What do you hope to gain from all this? Revenge? Nexus didn’t want to fight him!”
“Shut up,” Maria snarled. “He killed him all the same. Lane had no intention of fighting to the death, and yet Nexus killed him without a second thought.”
“That’s not true!”
“Enough!” Maria shouted.
“Maria.” Miguel appeared in the door. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“I’m not,” Maria growled at her uncle. “Just go prepare your challenge speech.”
“Challenge speech?” Roy frowned.
Maria smiled sweetly again. “Since my brother has lost his mate, it’s obvious he’s too weak to be Regulus. We’re going to use this moment to remove him, once and for all.”
“Revealing our plan so soon?”
Roy’s eyes widened at a voice he hadn’t heard since being taken, and one he didn’t expect to hear. Silhouetted in the light spilling in from the door Roy looked upon the refined frame of one of Nexus’s closest friends.
“Maria, I thought we agreed not to discuss anything with the incubator,” Tyrese scolded her. The snake shifter’s icy gaze locked onto Roy’s, and he couldn’t help but shrink back, at least until his spine kicked back in.
“Tyrese! What is this?” he demanded. “You slimy, conniving snake!”
Tyrese grinned coldly. “Why thank you, and I need you to have those twins here under my control. My reasons are my own.”
Roy’s arms wrapped around his stomach. “Was it you that got Juaquin involved?”
“Yes, actually. Getting that pathetic human involved was surprisingly easy.” Tyrese laughed. “I just kept an eye on you. Once I realized your ex’s unstable obsession with you, I fed him a few lies and bam, a willing pawn to manipulate. I dropped him off on the mountain the day he tossed that brick through the window and left you that cute little present. He also dropped all that peanut dust down the shaft upon my instructions.”
“Why?” Roy growled. “To remove Nexus as Regulu
s?”
“Oh, that’s just the start.” Tyrese waved his hand dismissively. “For now, don’t worry your pathetic little head about it. Just eat and keep your strength up. I’m going to need those twins healthy.”
“Did Itri know about this? Was he in on it?”
“My brother’s mate?” Tyrese scoffed. “Please, neither of them would have the stomach for what it is I am going to accomplish.”
“Tyrese,” Miguel growled. “Why are you here? I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t interfere in this part.”
“Yeah, well, Nexus found your sloppy cleanup job,” Tyrese said calmly. “Now that he knows Juaquin wasn’t working alone, he’s going to be harder to control in his search for Roy. We need to accelerate our plans. Where is José?”
“He went on a supply run,” Miguel said arrogantly.
“As soon as he gets back, be ready to head out. We’ll leave him here to watch Roy. You’re to challenge Nexus today.”
“Wait!” Roy stepped forward. “I don’t understand. What is going on! Why are you doing this, Tyrese? Why do you need my babies? What is it you are hoping to accomplish with all of this?”
Tyrese just smiled at him as he turned and left. Maria and Miguel followed him, the door closing and locking behind them. Roy, terrified, fell to his knees and wrapped his trembling arms around his stomach. What was going on? How was it that Tyrese was involved in this? How did Nexus not know about this? Was there no one around them that they could trust?
* * * *
Standing in the doorway to the nursery, Nexus watched as the light cast rainbows through crystals hanging in the windows. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again he could see Roy flitting about the room making changes here and there, placing things in just the right place only to go back and move them again. His memory turned and smiled at him, holding out his arms for Nexus.
Unthinking, Nexus stepped forward and the illusion melted, leaving him alone.
Tears stung his eyes.
His hands curled into fists, his nails biting into his palms. Blood pooled and trickled out as he tore through his own skin.
This was supposed to be the start of their lives, the start of their family. Now it only served as a cold reminder to what he’d lost. A cruel taunting image of what he needed to get back.
“Roy,” Nexus whispered into the frozen picture before him. “Minha alma.”
That’s exactly how he felt. Frozen. Without his mate at his side, without knowing his fate, Nexus didn’t think he could move forward. It was like he couldn’t take another breath until Roy was back in his arms.
The ringing of his phone jostled Nexus from his thoughts. Wiping the blood off his palms the best he could on his pants, Nexus pulled the phone from his pocket and quickly swiped across the screen to answer the call.
“Where is he?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you. I can tell you they’re coming. They’re planning another challenge. They’re going to use Roy’s disappearance as an excuse to claim you’re unfit to be Regulus,” José informed him.
“Let them try,” Nexus growled. “I’ll tear their throats out and then I’ll take Roy back.”
“Nexus.” José breathed deeply. “I know who Maria has on the inside of your circle.”
“Who?” Nexus demanded.
“Tyrese.”
“What! Impossible.”
“No, it’s not. Also, he’s the one pulling the strings Nexus, not Maria.”
Nexus growled. “I’ll kill him.”
“I promise Roy is safe. They’re keeping him alive so they can get the twins.”
“Why?” Nexus’s stomach dropped with that news. What did Tyrese, that treacherous snake, and his lunatic of a sister want with his cubs?
“He plans to use them in some experiment. I’m not sure of all the details. Tyrese is completely off his rocker.”
“Fine, I got it.” Nexus headed for his bathroom. He needed to bandage up his hands before those traitors arrived. “Find a way to get Roy out of there, José.”
“I’m already working on it.”
The line went dead, and Nexus was left to his own thoughts again. Turmoil fought with his rational. He wanted to hunt Tyrese down and tear his scaly hide from his body. How dare he fucking betray him like this! And what did Tyrese have planned for their cubs? That unknown detail terrified him.
Roy’s phone started ringing, and Nexus closed his eyes to the sound. He knew that ringtone by heart now, thanks to Roy’s mother calling three times every day since Roy had been taken. Nexus had no idea what excuse to give her for Roy’s absence, so he was ignoring her.
“Nexus.” Danyal knocked on his door before stepping in and pulling Nexus from his own thoughts and guilt. “I smelled blood. Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine.” Nexus’s voice sounded like he’d smoked two packs of cigarettes every day for twenty years as he finished bandaging his hands. “We’re going to be having company. Maria and Miguel are on their way. They’re also bringing Tyrese with them.”
“Tyrese?” Danyal stood there shocked, his eyes wide and mouth agape. “Why is he with them?”
Nexus snarled and punched the vanity. Several items jumped and clattered about from the force of the impact. “He’s fucking behind all of this! Tyrese, I’m going to kill you.” He growled the promise of his false friend’s demise at his own reflection.
“What do you want me to do?” Danyal came to attention, his eyes staring forward at nothing.
“Let them in,” Nexus instructed. “Don’t let on that we know it’s them that have Roy, and that Tyrese is a traitor. I want them unaware of our leverage. Finally, I have something and I’m not letting it go. By tonight I will have my mate back in my arms.”
“Yes, Regulus.” Danyal bowed and hurried out.
After a few minutes of just breathing deeply, Nexus headed downstairs. He made it halfway down when his front door opened and Stylianos entered his house. For a second Nexus’s warning bells went off. After just learning one of his closest friends had betrayed him, and had been for some time, he allowed himself to consider the possibility of the Imperator as an enemy. He quickly pushed that thought away. Stylianos had faced similar if not worse when he’d mated Calisto and taken up his throne.
“Nexus, I’ve come to lend my aid.” Stylianos waved his hand, and in walked two of the largest most imposing men Nexus had ever seen, and that was saying something! “Let me introduce to you Krax and Lucius, my best warriors.”
“Thank you,” Nexus replied. “But I don’t believe I’ll be needing their help. Seems my enemy is coming directly to me to issue a challenge.”
“And you plan to accept it?” Stylianos demanded. “If they truly are the same people that have taken Roy, then they have no right to challenge you.”
“I have no physical evidence to support my beliefs,” Nexus explained with irritation in his voice.
The Imperator didn’t look happy, but he nodded and took a step back. “Fine, then consider us as witnesses. If anything happens that I deem outside our laws, I will take action. Don’t think for a moment I won’t.”
Nexus smiled mercilessly. “I have no problems with that.”
“Regulus,” Bram called as he entered through the back door. “They’re coming.”
“Perfect.” Nexus stepped past Stylianos and his two men and out to his front porch. He watched as the single black town car pulled up and parked in front of his house. His uncle Miguel, followed by Maria, stepped out from the back seat. José wasn’t with them. Tyrese was though. Nexus had to fight back his instincts to attack as he watched the three of them walk confidently up to him.
“Regulus.” Tyrese gave him the usual smile and tone as he bowed. “I present your sister, Maria, and Uncle Miguel. They have come to me to present a formal challenge.”
* * * *
Roy didn’t want to—after all, who knows what they were putting in his food—but he had no choice but to eat. So, after he was lef
t alone, he’d grabbed the plate and devoured the simple beef stew. Now, with his appetite curbed, he leaned back against the padded wall and stared at the door.
How had things gotten so fucked? Tyrese was one of the bad guys? He did not see that coming! And Juaquin, poor misguided Juaquin. Sure the man was an idiot and an ass, but he didn’t deserve that fate.
“Nexus,” Roy whispered into the empty room. The twins, as if reacting to his voice, kicked and moved around. “It’s okay, babies.” Roy set his hand over his stomach. “Daddy is coming to get us. I’m sure of it.”
The clicking of the door handle had Roy looking up. It was too soon for another meal or blood draw, and those were the only reasons that door was opened unless he said he needed to go to the bathroom. Maybe this was his chance? Clearing the dishes from the tray, Roy gripped it and moved to the side of the door. He held the tray above his head as the door opened and José stepped inside. Roy waited until the man was fully in before he swung the tray down, only managing to hit his shoulders and neck.
The large shifter hissed and turned slowly, his piercing eyes pinning Roy in place. “Stupid human.”
Fear unlike anything Roy had ever felt filled him as he backed himself up against the wall, slowly inching his way to the door, and then ran for it.
“Wait!”
Yeah fucking right!
Chapter Twenty-Two
Roy raced down the halls of what seemed to be an underground bunker. He could hear José following behind him, shouting for him to stop. Thankfully he wasn’t stupid. Seriously, why did people shout for those running away to stop? It never worked. The point of running was to not get caught.
Turning left he frantically searched for any kind of sign that would point him in the direction of the exit. The problem? There was nothing! The walls appeared to be painted cinderblocks. No discernable marks or even a pipe to follow was in sight. Whoever built this place must have done so with the goal of getting people lost.