by Ophelia Bell
“You’ve been studying us this entire time. It’s hard to miss, but don’t feel bad. Javin’s the same. He’s been like that as long as I’ve known him.” She shot the doctor a hesitant smile and Val couldn’t miss the hint of wistfulness in her gaze.
“We don’t get many pure-blooded shifters on Earth. I admit, the fact that you’re here presents an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the drug’s effects, if the test proves it really is the same one I created. It’ll at least allow me to confirm my original test results.”
Astra frowned and shook her head, then bared her teeth. “The only opportunity you have is to make things right. People have died, and we don’t even know how much of the shit is still out there. Once we have working counteragents, it should be destroyed.”
Val wasn’t sure how to frame his response to avoid sounding defensive. Setting his utensils down, he placed his hands flat on the table and took a deep breath. “You don’t understand. The drug I created wasn’t intended to be used the way it was. Its true purpose is for healing. When the worst of the side effects are dealt with, life on Earth will change for the better. I can’t simply abandon it. It’s my life’s work.”
Astra tossed her napkin on the table and leaned toward him. “The arena is my life. Your fucking drug has taken that away from me and Simon, and we may never get it back. So forgive me if I’m a little unsympathetic to your plight.” She shoved out of her seat and stalked off, leaving Val tangled in the mess of emotions that had taken over his appetite.
The rest of them finished their meal in silence. After insisting on paying the bill, he handed Javin a business card with the address of the lab on it. “You can come now if you wish. I imagine you don’t want to waste time while you’re here.”
Javin nodded. “We do have the luxury of time dilation. Less time passes on Nova Aurora while we’re here, but every second we’re gone, more potential damage could be done.”
They exited the restaurant and paused at the valet. Astra was leaning over a railing and staring down into a large koi pond the restaurant had in a nearby garden.
With a sigh, Val said, “You understand why it’s not as simple as destroying the drug. If there’s been a breach, there’s nothing stopping whoever stole the formula from making more.”
Javin held up a hand. “I know what your work must mean to you. My work as a league doctor is everything to me. That’s why I’m here. Astra’s brother was also my best friend, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have emotional investment in this as well. But I’m more than aware this is no simple task. We plan to stay until it’s resolved, however that happens. Whatever it takes.”
Their sleek limo pulled up then and Simon and Javin climbed in, Astra trotting over and sliding into the dark interior as well. Their eyes met a split second before the door closed between them, and in that second fire flashed within her dark-blue irises.
His panther offered another rumbling purr, even though Val was more than certain her look had been a warning. That if he didn’t do as she wished, she might burn him alive. Yet if he couldn’t fulfill her desires—all of their desires—he very well might beg for such a fate himself.
16
Javin
After giving Bruce the card with the address to drive them to Carver Labs, Javin sat back in the limo and scrubbed his hands over his face. Jealousy still burned his insides at the sight of Val’s lingering grip on Astra’s hand when she’d helped him up off the floor. Not only that, the cat’s pheromones were in high gear, causing all kinds of conflicting feelings within him too.
There were too many damn alphas in the mix, and oddly enough, the largest male among them was the least of his problems. Simon was giving Astra a concerned look and when he reached out a hand to her, she slid close with a sigh, resting her head on the hyena shifter’s thick shoulder.
Javin frowned, but when Astra shot him a challenging look, he just sighed and shook his head. “I know you two fucked last night. It’s really none of my business though, so do whatever you want.”
“Do you even know what she wants?” Simon asked. “Or what you want, for that matter?”
It was apparently Simon’s turn to challenge him now and Javin narrowed his eyes at the other man. “I want to get to the bottom of this drug, get it out of fucking circulation however we can. I want you two to have your lives back.”
His voice had gone tight and he clenched his teeth against the burn of desperation in his throat. Seeing Simon’s tender deference to Astra made him realize there might be more hope for the pair of them than he’d thought. He needed to keep his wits around them, because even if nothing came from this search, if they became close enough to mate each other, that would at least solve two problems.
He turned away and stared out the window, fighting off fresh pain at the thought of losing them both to each other. Not that he’d exactly been hospitable to Simon over the last few months, but he’d grown to crave the other man’s company in ways he never could have predicted.
Then last night, Astra’s unexpected closeness, followed by her whispered wish, had left him reeling. “Why can’t it be you?” she’d asked, and he’d responded by reflex, pushing her away. Now that Astra and Simon were becoming even closer, Javin wished he’d said something different, though he didn’t know what.
What he did know was that it was too late for him. All he could do now was make sure that look in the panther shifter’s eyes didn’t mean what he feared. Astra didn’t need an Earth shifter confusing things for her while they were here. She needed someone like Simon who understood her life, her desires, her loss, and who clearly understood how to behave as a dragon’s mate.
Javin also hadn’t been blind to the excited look Val had given all three of them when he’d believed Gerri had set him up on a date. There was no lack of attraction, so perhaps Javin could run interference. Distract Val from Astra with his own attention, then perhaps use their mutual attraction to gather information, because despite Val’s insistence that his lab wasn’t responsible, Javin was sure it was.
He returned his attention to the couple sitting across from him, the desperation in his gut easing to a warm sense of purpose. They would be all right if he had anything to say about it.
They continued out of the city, and Javin realized they were headed back into the hills toward the house. Before he could ask Bruce about their heading, they turned. They paused at a security checkpoint, then drove through a heavy-duty gate. When they stopped and got out, Val was waiting for them at the entrance to a sleek, low-profile glass building that stretched across the hillside overlooking the city.
“Welcome to Carver Labs,” Val said, greeting them, then turning and heading to a set of glass doors. He produced a key card and swiped it across a reader. “You’ll observe we have tight security just to get in, and it only gets more secure the farther in you go. Let me get you visitor badges before we head to the lab.”
They paused at a security desk with a uniformed guard seated behind it. Monitors lined the area, displaying a cycling view of various sections of the building in black and white. After a moment, each of them were handed lanyards to loop around their necks and Val gestured for them to follow him to a bank of elevators.
“The visitor badges won’t get you into anywhere but the community areas. The lounge and cafeteria, the restrooms on this level. Visitors need to be accompanied by an employee at all times.” He swiped another scanner by the elevators and they dinged open.
Once inside, they descended for several moments, the lift taking them deep underground. Javin’s interest was piqued, his faith in Val’s honesty rising, though if the drug didn’t come from this lab, that would leave them at a standstill on their hunt.
They exited the elevator and passed through several more doors secured by either keypads or card readers. They passed a multitude of cameras before reaching a sleek lab with equipment that rivaled the League Medical Center’s facilities back on Nova Aurora.
“Welcome to m
y humble home,” Val said, a slight crack in his voice as he glanced between the three of them, his gaze remaining on Javin for a few seconds longer as he slipped into a white lab coat that offset his black hair and tan skin.
Javin nodded and blinked slowly, aware that the panther that slinked within Val’s consciousness was more likely to respond to subtlety than any overt show of interest. He smiled then, and said in a low voice, “Very impressive. Show me what you can do with this.” He reached into his jacket and retrieved the sample, handing it over to Val.
Val reached for the container, his eyebrows twitching and his scent spiking when Javin deliberately let their fingers brush.
A spike of longing shot through him then, and he cursed silently as his wolf paced, rebelling against this game. His animal wanted what it wanted, and now Javin was dangling another enticing option in front of it that the beast likely believed he’d never follow through with.
Val cleared his throat and turned toward a bank of equipment against the wall. Simon shot a scowl at Javin, who just scowled back at him, but it was Astra’s level, accusatory stare that made him dip his head and shrug.
“Whatever it takes,” he mouthed at her. She pursed her lips and shook her head, a flash of hurt in her eyes that he didn’t understand. She had Simon now, if she wanted him. What the fuck did it matter who he slept with?
Val inserted the cartridge with the drug into a slot in one of the machines, then flipped a switch and settled on a stool to stare at a monitor. He tensed after a moment and cursed, prompting Javin to move to the man’s shoulder and look at the screen. Two sets of data were displayed on the wide screen, split by a stripe down the middle.
“Those look like the metrics for the drug,” Javin observed. “Why are they doubled?”
“This side is the original formula from a year ago,” Val said, pointing at the left side of the screen. “This is your sample. Looks like you were right. This is my formula.” He tapped some keys and a new set of data appeared. “This is the newest version of the formula. I don’t suppose you’ve got a sample from the person who attacked Astra, do you?”
“Not with us. The woman wasn’t exactly cooperative when she was caught,” Javin said.
“Can you use my blood to test against?” Astra asked.
Val frowned. “It won’t match once it’s metabolized, but I can check it against the simulation. See if there are any markers that correspond to the algorithm’s predictions. It’s best if I take the sample from the wound site for the highest concentration.”
“Her wound site isn’t an option,” Javin said. “It’ll be too diluted from the serum treatment she takes every night to prevent the toxin from spreading.”
“My equipment can differentiate between the toxin and any outside treatment. It may take a little while though. If you’re okay with it, Astra.”
Javin gritted his teeth when she stepped forward and settled on the stool beside Val. “Tell me what to do,” she said.
“Can I see the wound first?”
She gave Javin a smirk as she stood and unfastened her pants. Val shifted in his seat and reached out to halt her hands before she unzipped.
“I can get you a gown if you’d prefer,” he said.
Astra rolled her eyes. “It’s on my thigh, not my pussy. Cripes.”
Under his breath, Simon muttered, “It’s practically on her pussy.”
Javin grunted in agreement.
“He’s a professional. I’m sure he’ll behave like a gentleman.” Astra shoved her pants down to her knees and sat again, spreading her thighs to display the pale bandage over her wound and, above it, the sheer black lace of her panties.
“Goddammit, Astra,” Javin said.
“What?” She shot him a wicked smirk. “He can handle it, can’t you, Val?”
Beside him, Simon took a deep, steadying breath. Javin resisted the impulse to shove Val aside. She was testing him now, just like she had with Simon last night, and it was working.
Val cleared his throat and turned, muttering something about grabbing his sample kit. He walked off with a stiff, awkward gait and didn’t return for several minutes. The entire time, Astra held Javin’s gaze, challenging him to rise to the bait.
“You two are hopeless,” Simon said. “You really should just fuck and get it over with.”
“I guess my pussy is a little too taboo for the doctor, which makes no sense, considering he hated you before he started fucking you, Simon. No offense.”
“I didn’t—” Javin began, but Simon barked a laugh.
“Don’t even try it, man. I knew how you felt, but I guess I liked the angry sex. It helped that I hated myself every day back then too. In my mind, I deserved what you dished out. Probably still do.”
Val’s clearing throat announced his return, and Javin’s face heated beneath the other man’s scrutiny. Shit, he hadn’t wanted to come off like a complete asshole, but leave it to Astra to paint him in that light.
But Val refrained from comment, settling back on his stool and snapping on a pair of exam gloves.
“I’m going to remove the bandage now, if that’s all right.” He glanced at Astra’s face with a perfectly placid, professional expression.
“Knock yourself out,” she said, shifting toward him.
Simon moved to stand behind Astra, arms crossed like he expected Val to misbehave. Javin’s nostrils flared with the rising scent of Astra’s arousal as the panther rested a hand on her thigh and began to peel back the bandage. But Val’s scent didn’t change, which was unusual. Either he wasn’t as attracted to her as he’d seemed earlier, or he had far better control over his animal than any Earth shifter Javin had ever met.
All he and Simon could do was watch.
Val glanced up at Simon once and said, “I’m not going to hurt her. Not beyond the prick of the needle anyway.” When he revealed the wound, he tilted his head, touching the series of tiny puncture marks surrounding it. “The serum is injected straight into the wound site, isn’t it?”
“That’s why I said it would be diluted.”
“No, that’s good. But I’m assuming the serum you’ve been using is based on the old formula. I can give you something more effective for now, something she can take orally. It’s only experimental, but it’s based on the new formula so it should work better.”
“A counteragent?” Astra asked, her voice perking up with hope.
“Not exactly. Effective counteragents would take time to create because they’d have to be designed specifically for each patient. The chemical makeup of the toxin changes when it reacts to your blood the same way the drug is altered when metabolized by whoever takes it. No single counteragent will work for everyone, though it may be somewhat effective at first, and give a patient’s animal a boost to enable quicker healing. I could create a permanent counteragent for you, given enough time, but it would only work for you and may need to be adjusted periodically until you’re fully healed.”
He took a syringe out of a sealed package and prepped it, then swabbed Astra’s wound. The sight of his hand so close to her practically bare crotch made Javin flex his fists until his knuckles cracked.
Astra chuckled. “You might want to hurry. I think Javin’s getting pissed. You’d think he’s had a taste of me the way he acts like he owns me.”
“You aren’t an item with either of these men, I take it?” Val asked conversationally as he leaned closer and pierced the skin with the needle close to one of the claw marks.
Astra barely blinked, tilting her head to look between Javin and Simon. “I really don’t know, to be honest. Maybe ask me again in a week if we haven’t killed each other by then.”
“Astra and I are only friends,” Javin said. “But Simon is more.”
“Don’t put words into my mouth,” Simon snapped. “It’s up to her.”
“Why do you ask, anyway?” Astra asked. “You want a shot at either of them? Because I’m willing to bet they’re game. So am I, if you like girls.” She g
ave Val a flirty smile and his lips twitched.
“I like women,” Val said, meeting Astra’s eyes for a beat. “And men,” he said, his gaze sliding up to Simon, then over to Javin. “And especially other scientists. But I think it’s safest to keep this professional. Don’t you?”
“Let’s just see what your tests show,” Javin said, ignoring his wolf’s growl of impatience as it reverberated inside his mind. “But I’m guessing it’ll only confirm what I already suspect—the new drug came from this lab too.”
Val didn’t answer, focusing instead on the slow extraction of a sample of the tainted blood from Astra’s wound. The claw marks were nearly black and scaled over, as if her dragon had thrown up armor to seal them rather than her blood coagulating to close the wound. The angry red tendrils still fanned out around the marks in a sinister web, reminding Javin how dangerously close she might have been to dying if the wound had been any worse.
Val set the blood sample in a small rack, then covered Astra’s wound with a fresh bandage.
Astra glanced up at Javin. “You could take a few lessons from Val on bedside manner, you know. See how nice he’s being, not critiquing my choices?”
Javin pressed his lips tighter. “You know taking a mate is a viable solution, Astra. It’s been demonstrated to work at least half a dozen times. I don’t understand why you’re so resistant to the idea.”
Simon cleared his throat and lifted his eyebrows at Javin.
“Mating is a cure?” Val asked. “Do you have any studies to back that up? If so, I’d love to see them.”
“Not as such, but among our community, it is a commonly understood fact that when grave injuries result in a shifter losing his or her connection to their animal, mating can revive that connection. And with champions especially, that connection can mean the difference between life and death. Champions are fast healers by their very natures. But even with a viable counteragent, there’s no guarantee of a link returning. Mating is the only way to guarantee that and Astra knows it.”
