True Claim

by Marie Johnston

  “Ronnie?” Bennett asked. “Is that his real name? And what’s your real name?”

  “My name is real, to throw people off. They expect me to be a guy. Yes, Ronnie must’ve have kept his first name and changed his last, to draw attention to him instead of me by making it look like he was hiding. He’s younger than me, so he’s lived most of his life trying to protect me.” All her family at risk because she dared to be born. No kid should have to go through that.

  “Sigma’s story is bullshit, Ronnie was right.” Bennett turned to his commander. “I mean look at her. She’s not going to bring down both species. No offense, Spencer.” She waved it off, totally agreeing with him. “Sure she can blend with humans, has some of our strengths, but as far as a dominant new paranormal species? Nah.”

  The commander rubbed his neck thoughtfully. “She might represent a threat to both vampire and shifter councils. A hybrid species that neither can completely control and might even make them have to cooperate, I could see if one of those entities wanted her dead.”

  Spencer’s stomach bottomed out. She was in more danger than she thought.

  “But,” he continued, “many of us would be boosted by the widening mating pool and the chance to decrease the war between vampires and shifters. Much of the younger generation of both species wish to live in peace.”

  “So,” Mercury posed the question, “why would Sigma want her dead?”

  All three males turned their heads back to her.

  “Parrish said it was her they were looking for, but they had the wrong girl. Spencer’s not pure enough.”

  “The fuck you say?” Mercury’s words tilted the corner of her mouth. These males had some foul language, but she was warming to them rapidly.

  “We’ve been on this planet for millennia. Shifters have been mating humans for centuries. Vampires haven’t mated with different species…that we know of, but it wouldn’t be a terrible stretch to assume there are more hybrids than just Spencer and her family.” The commander said it so matter-of-factly, not much must ruffle his feathers. “We need to have a long talk with Parrish. He must be referring to her human blood.”

  “You threaten somebody.” Bennett directed his statement to her.

  “Besides you?” She was poking the bear, but he couldn’t do what he did to her body last night and then treat her like a suspect this morning. And she was hungry, darn it!

  “A few more questions and then we’ll eat.” Commander Fitzsimmons heard her stomach growl, too.

  She was embarrassed, but she was starving for real food now since her blood hunger was cured last night. “All right. Let’s finish up then. I’m famished and I’ve got a lot of planting to get in.”

  “You can’t go back to your house, Spencer.”

  “Sigma only thinks it’s the Guardians who keep intercepting their Agents. But it doesn’t matter, I need to get the planting done today. The next few days are going to be dreary and rainy, then I’ll need to tend to my mushrooms.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” Bennett said it with a tone of finality.

  “It is dangerous,” she agreed, “but I’m not running and hiding anymore. That’s not a life. Bennett, I appreciate your help, but I can see your past leaves you fearing a future with me. If you can’t commit completely, we’re done. I don’t want to mate you until your heart’s in it.” Not true, she’d love to have his body at her disposal. But she’d want more and there was the rub.

  “That’s not true.” Everyone in the room raised an eyebrow at Bennett. “Mostly. Fuck. It’s still new and a shock, and yeah, mating hasn’t been a good experience for me. There’s been three attempts on your life since we met, so we need to focus on that first and find out the real reason why they want you.”

  “Fine. I need to protect my livelihood. I sunk my money into that land and only have enough to get by on for so long.”

  “Fine.” Bennett echoed her word, but threw in more attitude. “Then you’ll stay at my place, and I’ll help you during the day.”

  Her belly heated at the thought, and wasn’t that inconvenient. Sitting in a room, getting hot and bothered over having sleepovers with Bennett, and all three males in the room would notice.

  “Before we start searching for answers, there’s one more issue we need to take care of.” The ominous tone of the commander didn’t bode well. “Your brother.”

  Spencer frowned. “What about him? I’d love to get him out, but he’s safe in the psych ward, right?” At least until she could figure out how to talk to him without getting each of them killed.

  “You’d leave your brother there?” Mercury sounded incredulous.

  “Of course I don’t want him there, but I’d rather have him safe while we’re figuring this out. The key to our hiding is to not know where each other is, so it can’t be used against any of us. It’s safer for him to not know I’m living here, too.” Her brows furrowed. How did they end up in the same area? “Plus, you don’t know Ronnie. If he didn’t want to be there, he wouldn’t be.”

  The commander pinned her with a hard look. “Yet, now he’s at a disadvantage. He thinks he’s staying in there to protect you. Sigma knows exactly where he’s at and how to get to him.” He paused to let those words sink in, but she still didn’t understand. Sigma already knew Ronnie was in there. “Your brother doesn’t know you’re here, right?”

  Oh snap! Spencer sucked in a breath. “They could use him against me! And he’d just sit and wait until they abducted him, thinking there was no way they could use him to find me.” But they could use him to get to her. She’d jump into Sigma’s arms in a heartbeat if it would save her brother. He’d already gone through enough for her.

  Bennett cut his hand through his hair, the ruffled style no longer so manicured. “Looks like we need to bust out Ronnie Newton.”

  Chapter Nine

  “What’d you mean she’s living in West Creek?” Ronnie Newton, a.k.a. Ronnie King, spewed in disbelief. He was in the same gunmetal gray scrubs as their last visit, his hair sticking up in several directions.

  “Hell of a coincidence, now let’s go.” Jace’s voice was strained. After they achieved access to Ronnie several months ago, security had gotten tighter. Thankfully, Jace’s powers had gotten stronger, but influencing his way past administration and the nurses had been taxing, and they still had the hardest part coming up.

  “I’m mean, I knew she was close, but not actually living here. How did Sigma find her?”

  “Not the time Ronnie. We need to go.” Bennett was dressed in black slacks and a white lab coat in an attempt to make Jace’s persuasions easier to buy.

  Jace himself was dressed in scrubs, but both Guardians were strapped down with various weapons under their clothing. Surely recruits, or Agents, surveilled Ronnie and the hospital, especially after their last visit.

  “Oh look! She drank from you.” Ronnie squinted at Bennett’s neck. “No wonder she was drawn to the area. I mean, the voices said you’d be the one who could find her, but I didn’t realize…”

  “What voices?” Oh great. The last time they talked, Bennett could’ve sworn the young male was putting on a show, but hearing voices set him firmly on the crazy train. “Never mind, we’ll talk later. Let’s go.”

  Gesturing to Jace to lead the way, using his voice and pale eyes to circumvent any trouble, the three males made it all the way to the ground floor, heading toward a lesser used exit closer to where Mercury sat in the Denali.

  A burly security guard and a male in a suit came out of a side hallway, blocking their exit.

  “This is gonna be good,” Ronnie clapped his hands together and giggled. The kid was insane.

  Jace spoke, his voice developed a vibrating timbre. “You need to move and let us keep going.”

  The men stayed where they were, the three males aimed for the door. Bennett’s mind calculated how long it would take to neutralize the threat (only seconds), where the security camera feed went so they could tamper with it, and how man
y other Sigma plants were in the hospital when Ronnie stopped short. Bennett pulled up behind him, Jace halted as well, waiting to take on the two men.

  Ronnie held up his hands. “Guys, allow me.” He moved his hands around in a flurry, he fingers waggling, drawing the attention of the guard and the suit. They frowned, tensing, waiting for Ronnie to run. “Guess how many fingers I’m holding up?”

  Ronnie whipped each hand up in the air, fingers spread. The men didn’t move. At all. Almost like they were statues.

  “What the fuck?” Jace’s deep voice spoke the words running through Bennett’s head.

  “It’s my thing.” Ronnie shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “We’d better get going, yo. We’ve only got another minute or two.”

  Circling around the frozen men, they exited into the sunshine. They had talked with Spencer only that morning. The commander agreed to help Spencer in her garden so Jace and Bennett could snatch Ronnie in broad daylight, hopefully before Sigma set their sights on him after another failed attempt at grabbing his sister.

  Loading Ronnie into the SUV, Bennett remembered that Spencer had said he could leave the hospital when he wanted to. What a handy talent, freezing people. Handier than talking to animals, Bennett thought bitterly. Although talking to animals was pretty damn handy back when horses were the main mode of transport. The mighty creatures weren’t too willing to have a creature that smelled like wolf hopping onto their backs. Bennett had been crucial to the team just for his talent back then.

  After Abigail had almost destroyed them, until cars had become more prevalent, Bennett worked hard to assure his team didn’t make a mistake by saving him. He became second in command after his talent was no longer in as much demand and dedicated his days to the safety of his species. It was working fine until darkness crowded his mind, refusing to be driven away by fighting or sex.

  He hadn’t thought about the darkness since the night he had Spencer in his arms in her truck. It hadn’t bothered him since she was in his life on a daily basis. Hell, even that one orgasm that wasn’t even inside her tight, willing body would’ve held him over for months, just because it was from her. It would’ve held him over, if he hadn’t spent each day and night with her, but even during those days in a haze of lust, the darkness hadn’t bothered him. Her scent called to him, her oppositional attitude made him want to kiss her into compliance. Her ass bent over while planting made him yearn to strip her down and make her his in every way possible. She was under his skin and he didn’t want to face it.

  “It’s not your fault.” Ronnie spoke up from the back where he sat with Jace. If the kid tried to run, or jump, or attack, they’d stop him.

  “Who the fuck are you talking to?” Jace grumbled.

  “Benji.” Bennett tensed as his old nickname came out of Ronnie’s mouth. “The voice in my head said Abigail wasn’t your fault. The Sweet Mother thought you needed gentleness and innocence for balance. She was right, but she will not be wrong again.”

  Bennett’s breath stalled like he was suffocating. Focus on the mission and ignore the ravings of a madman, became his mantra.

  “Voices?” Mercury grunted. “You really crazy?”

  “Nope,” Ronnie said, his face pressed up to the window. “The voices are real, they aren’t mine, and they guide me.”

  “And they’re from who?” Jace asked.

  Ronnie swiveled his head to gaze at the shaved-head Guardian. “Dunno. One’s a woman. She’s been in my head all my life. The other’s a dude, on the young side. His voice is pretty recent.”

  “Do they give you real-time advice, or is it random FYI for you to file away?” Mercury eyeballed Ronnie in the mirror, fascinated with the young male—another shifter that said random shit.

  “Whatever they feel like.” Ronnie was back to staring at the passing scenery. Poor bastard had been in a padded room for months, no wonder he was like a puppy wanting to hang his head out of the window.

  “What other talents do you have?” Jace asked. Bennett was glad the other Guardian was on top of it, asking pertinent questions and getting answers that would either save them or prevent them from being destroyed. “Cuz that freezing people is some cool shit.”

  “Thanks,” Ronnie said absently. “Just that. And my voices.”

  Great. Voices.

  ***

  Agent X pulled down the barely there skirt of her dress. At least she didn’t have to find her panties. Her mission tonight had called for going commando. As Demetrius, one of the vampire leaders of Sigma’s Freemont chapter, zipped his pants, she leaned back against the tiled wall of the club’s private bathroom and crossed her arms. Her center still thrummed from Demetrius’ pounding, and she needed to give the bite marks on her neck time to heal before walking out in public.

  “Your information was lacking,” she informed the tall vampire, who gave her a smug smirk.

  “Now love, do we need to barter for more thorough information?” He bared his fangs and eyed her long, bare legs sticking out of the dress.

  There were worse ways to get information regarding her personal vendetta, and worse people to bang while getting it. Although she and Demetrius had settled into a friends with benefits type scenario, she would’ve preferred just friends. She would’ve preferred not to have to use her body with any male other than her mate. She would’ve preferred not to have had her family slaughtered and become enslaved by a mad woman leading an evil organization. But alas, life sucked.

  “Hey, I held up my end of the deal. Quite well I might add.” His gaze heated at her words. Gah, the guy was a horny bastard. “You plan to let me down? Or do I have to spread the word you finish early?”

  Demetrius threw his head back and laughed. They both knew she would be utterly lying and he was hawt with his shoulder length amber hair and pale green eyes, the girls would line up waiting to take their chances.

  “X, I hope you don’t get yourself killed. I’d miss that sass.” His eyes crinkled with mirth and there was that wistful moment she often felt in his company—the one that showed her what life outside Sigma could be like, where she could actually have trusted friends she joked around with.

  Her life fucking sucked. But she had a job to do. Right now, the best thing she could do for a friend was get them as far away from Sigma as possible. It worked for Dani, a former recruit; a gentle mental suggestion and Dani ran right to Guardians. Good girl.

  “Spill it, vampire. You said you suspected how Madame G gets her inside information? Some kind of seer?”

  “Ah, yes. I’m afraid I don’t have much more than that. I thought it would be enough for one of our…meetings.” He flashed a sexy pout and that irked her. Having sex with him might give her some level of protection within the organization, but it didn’t mean she was looking for reasons to drop her pants.

  “Demetrius, I hope your true mate is a virgin.”

  Completely aghast, his chiseled face paled. “Agent X, why would you say such a thing? I thought we were friends.”

  She smiled cruelly because that was just fun. Not much could get under the lothario’s collar, but vampires were solidly bound to their true mate. There was no stepping outside that union, even after just meeting their treasured eternal partner. The thought of a shy, virginal bride needing gentle persuasion to be bedded with the promiscuous male was satisfyingly hilarious.

  Tapping her thigh-high stiletto booted foot with impatience, she needed to get back and talk to her partner, Agent E, or Biggie as she called him. “We assumed Madame G was getting some sort of prophecy or visions, but whether it from was a person or crystal ball, that part we don’t know. Seriously buddy, if you don’t know who, when, or where, it does us no good.”

  Taking a deep breath to shove the thought of dealing with virgins out of his mind, he turned serious. “I went up to her lair and before I got off the elevator, I thought I heard women talking. One was the madam and the other one sounded scared. Scared, but firm. I heard the unknown woman say, ‘the girl
from my vision is near, I promise you.’ Yet, when the door opened, it appeared as if Madame G was alone. But love, I will give you this free of charge.”

  X stopped her foot tapping, intent on Demetrius’ words.

  “I smelled shifter.”

  Interesting. “Recognize her?”

  “No, but I need to investigate. I suspect Madame G has her own goals that soon won’t match up to Sigma’s ultimate goal.”

  “Wiping out shifters, or making us your own personal blood slaves?”

  Demetrius shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much,” he said cavalierly. There it was, the reason why she chose the big vampire to play these information games with. She suspected that much like her, he had his own agenda, and it was not to the benefit of the Sigma organization.

  “Hmmm. She’s been sending Agents and recruits out to find a female she thinks is a vampire-shifter hybrid. We’ve lost them all.” Not that it bothered X, good riddance. There weren’t many at Sigma she hated to see die, and die they would. Madame G used to take her time and groom her recruits before they reached Agent status. Now, she was giving them physical enhancements and kicking them out into the field before they were ready.

  Again, totally fine with X. The main problem was that soon Madame G would send her two best Agents, Agent X and Agent E, after the girl. That couldn’t happen. It would jeopardize everything X had worked for the past twelve years.

  Demetrius’ snort interrupted her musings. “A vampire-shifter hybrid. Like that would ever happen.”

  Yeah, right.

  “It’s not so much whether or not a hybrid is possible, but why the girl would pose a threat to Sigma. Madame G wants her dead, not studied.”

  “That’s my confusion also,” Demetrius interjected. “Sigma would want to study a hybrid. The councils of each species would fight over her. So why kill her?”

  Sigma would want not just her, but her brother as well as the parents, but if Demetrius didn’t know about the rest of the family, X certainly wasn’t going to mention it. She trusted Demetrius as long as their individual agendas aligned. As far as she knew, Madame G monitored the brother in a psych ward, and as long as he was safe, X stayed as far away as possible.