Forbidden Call (New Breed Novels, Book 1)

by Martha Bourke

  “But how did you—”

  “Know what you were thinking? I’m a telepath. You see, some New Breed shifters have extra abilities. I’m sure you’ve already noticed that Pax can take the form of any shifter or human. That’s his special gift.”

  Huh. “So how did you get these abilities?”

  “That’s a good question. We just have a little more k’ul. We don’t know why, exactly, but they come in handy when we need them. As I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  James fidgeted with the duvet. Should he tell him about his own power? The male had felt very free to share his. Plus, he was a telepath. He probably knew anyway. “I have a power, too,” he said. “I can manipulate electricity with my mind.”

  He focused for a moment and made the lights in the room flicker on and off.

  Richard smiled again. “Really? That’s interesting. Is that how you’ve been getting into the school at night?”

  James nodded. “Yeah. I shut down the alarm for a few seconds.”

  “Clever.”

  “Hey, uh, I’m not in any kind of trouble am I?”

  Richard eyebrows came together. “Trouble?”

  “For, uh, you know, breaking into school and all. I planned to pay it all back.”

  The male laughed. “Look, when my own parents found out about me, they threw me out. Same as you. I know what it’s like. Your secret is safe with us. Actually, I came by to make you an offer.”

  “What kind of offer?” James asked cautiously.

  “The thing is, James, I know about your plans to play hoops and go to college. What you’ve been able to accomplish in spite of your circumstances is very admirable. I just don’t think they’ll let you play once you’ve gone through the transition.”

  “The…but, I’m already a shifter.” It took James a minute to put together what Richard was saying.

  And then it hit him.

  He was going to be a New Breed.

  Victrixa walked down the back corridor of the old mental hospital, seething with anger. How was it possible that her daughter had escaped? No one escaped from Cerberus. She had the proof on her own face, for Christ’s sake. There was no use denying it. She knew exactly how Ana had managed to get free. She had been rescued by a New Breed. Based on Cerberus’ account, a mated male. It was the final insult. Her only daughter mated to that filth. She could feel the hatred coursing through her body as if it were her very blood.

  But no one in Toltec must know.

  She had worked too hard to get where she was, and she’d be damned if she was going to let an abomination like this destroy what she had spent a lifetime building.

  Obviously, I’ll have to take care of Ana myself.

  She bent down and pulled up the trapdoor. Jesus, she hated this place. The smell nearly made her sick. It was insulting that she even had to put up with it. She was the goddamn Director of Operations and the head of the Initiative. She stood at the foot of the stairs and crossed her arms. Her demon was nailed to the wall.

  “Cerberus, what the hell happened?” she barked.

  “What does it look like? The New Breed nailed me to the wall.”

  “Impaled to a wall by your own sword.” She let out a harsh laugh. “Now there’s something I never thought I’d see.”

  “Just get me down, goddammit.”

  Getting a good grip on the hilt and using her strong legs for leverage, Victrixa pushed the sword the rest of the way in. As Cerberus screamed, she laughed again. “That’s for my face, you demonic piece of shit. Now you listen to me. You may be his right hand man, but I’m his middle finger. Understand?”

  Cerberus nodded.

  She yanked the sword out.

  The demon bent over, trying to catch his breath.

  “You’re sure the New Breed that came for her was her mate?”

  “No New Breed’s eyes are going to light up like that just to save any old female.”

  So it was true. Her head started to throb like hell. “Get me the body of that little rodent techie she loved so much.”

  Cerberus stood up straight. “The gay one?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “No problem.”

  “Morning, my male.” Ana set the breakfast tray she was carrying on the bedside table, then kissed her mate and helped him sit up against the pillows.

  Soaring Eagle laughed. “Why does all this seem so familiar?”

  She smiled. “Having a little déjà vu, huh? No Starbucks this time.” She eased the tray over his lap.

  “Mary’s Belgian waffles kick Starbucks’ ass on their best freaking day.”

  She crawled carefully up from the foot of the bed until she sat beside him. “Happy to be back in your own bed?”

  “Absofuckinglutely. But I gotta to tell you, female—sleeping next to you all night without being able to take you is getting old real fast.”

  Ana grinned. She knew exactly how he felt. “Well, only one more night. You’re almost healed.”

  “Want a bite?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  SE forked up a bit of waffle, dipped it in whipped cream, poured a little syrup on it, and fed it to his mate.

  “Oh, my God. That’s, like, the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten.”

  “I told you. Want some more?”

  She licked her lips. “Yes, please.”

  “Come here.”

  “I’m not going to sit on your lap, my male. I’ll hurt you.”

  “I won’t let you hurt me.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Ana crouched over him and then gently sat down on his knees. SE put a strawberry in his mouth and she leaned forward and bit off the end. And then their lips met. Oh, God. It felt like centuries, not days, since she’d felt the warmth of his mouth against hers. He leaned into her, took her face in his hands, and deepened the kiss. Suddenly, she was on fire. Not good.

  She felt around on the tray next to them, scooped up some whipped cream, and spread it down his nose and cheeks. They both started to laugh.

  He sighed. “All right, Nurse Ana, you get your way till tomorrow. Then you’re all mine.”

  “God, yes,” she said, as she licked some of the whipped cream from his face. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I teasing you?”

  SE spread some whipped cream on her nose and she giggled. “You tease me just by breathing.”

  There was a knock at the door. Ana reluctantly went to answer it.

  “Oh, hi, Geoffrey. Come in.”

  “Pardon the interruption. I’m just back from town. I picked up the few things you needed.”

  SE smiled. “Thanks, Geoffrey.”

  The male put the bags down on the Victorian table. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “I’m on the mend. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. If you need anything, Dr. Sussman asked me to let you know that she’s in the library with Diesel.”

  SE chuckled. “Diesel’s in the library? I didn’t even know he knew where it was.”

  Geoffrey picked up the breakfast tray. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

  Ana smiled. “I think we’re all set.”

  “If you think of anything, just call.”

  She closed the door and started to go through the bags. “Hey, there’s a package here.”

  SE frowned. “That’s odd. It’s not like we actually get mail.”

  “It says it’s from Cesar.”

  “What?”

  She carried the box over to him. “Look. I think that’s the right address for the compound in Mexico, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Let me get the scissors to cut the tape for you.”

  She smiled to herself as she worked on opening the box. This was amazing. She knew Cesar pretty damn well. They had been at the compound together in the Yucatán with Adriana and Richard for almost ten years. That is, until they’d figured out she was a spy. Cesar was an amazing male. She knew he would contact SE, but she
didn’t expect it to be so soon. She fiddled with the box some more until she realized the tape was stuck to something inside. She didn’t want to break anything, so she gingerly worked the sticky tape off the rough material. Suddenly, the box opened and the room was flooded with the worst scent imaginable.

  “Ana, wait! Don’t!” SE yelled.

  But it was too late.

  In the box lay Bastian’s severed head.

  Ana did not scream. She just stared down at the box. It was as if her brain couldn’t process what her eyes were seeing. When it finally clicked, the truth cut her to her very soul. They had killed him because they’d seen Pax in Bastian’s form on the security cameras. They’d thought it really was Bastian. Oh, my God. This is all my fault. It hadn’t even…how could the fact that she was incriminating her friend not enter her mind? Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

  She felt SE’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Ana—”

  “No.”

  She didn’t want to be comforted. She didn’t want to be told that it wasn’t her fault, because it was her fault. She put her face in her hands, and gleamed out.

  “Fuck!” SE yelled. The damn house phone was across the room and it was going to take him a fricking hour to get to it. He leaned toward the nightstand, picked up his cell, and dialed X’s number.

  “SE? Where are you?”

  “In my room. Listen, Ana’s really upset. She just took off. Can you track her cell or something?”

  “No problem. I’ll check it out. Give me a sec and I’ll call you back.”

  Jesus Christ, being stuck this room was driving his white ass crazy, especially with his mate out God knew where. She’s out there somewhere…alone. After everything that went down, she may as well have a target on her head. She was easily at the top of Toltec’s most wanted list, just above his name. The protective instinct roiled in his gut. Finally, the phone rang.

  “X?”

  “You got your TV remote handy? Turn it to Channel 2.”

  SE picked up the remote and clicked the TV on. He was looking at an image from a security cam. There was his mate, sitting alone on a bench by the pond in the garden. She was throwing rocks at the water and watching them skip across the half-frozen surface.

  Tears came to his eyes. “Thanks, man.”

  “Anytime, my brother.”

  He turned the TV off. She was safe. That was all he needed to know.

  He thought for a moment, then reached for his cell again and punched a number. “Mary? It’s SE. Listen, my mate is sitting by the pond out in the garden. Would you bring her a coat?”

  Ana looked out past the pond to the whited-out landscape. As the December wind blew, she shivered and pulled her coat around her shoulders. She could have been sitting on the fucking tundra, and the weather wouldn’t even begin to touch the cold inside of her. Where had she gone wrong? She went through it over and over in her mind. Why had she ever made such a shitty decision? By choosing to use Bastian’s form, she had signed his death warrant. She might as well have pulled the trigger herself. He wasn’t even going to get a proper funeral pyre.

  Sure, shifters went through this kind of shit all the time. Commanders made bad decisions. Circumstances changed. They lost warriors on their watch. This was different. She had put a friend in danger. Someone who cared about her. The Ana of a few months ago might not have noticed or given a crap, but she wasn’t that female anymore. Was she so desperate to make up for past mistakes that she’d made another one? She had totally let her emotions cloud her judgment.

  Now wasn’t that just too fucking ironic. One of the first lessons she had been taught as a kid was not to feel. It had been drilled into her again and again. It turned out bio-mom had been right about something after all. Emotions had no place in the field. She had learned that lesson the hard way. And she would remember that lesson when she stood over her mother’s cold, lifeless body. Mommie Dearest was so going down.

  And not by any other hand but hers.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Reyn paced across the drawing room, the muscles in his face visibly tense. “How’s Ana?”

  Richard shook his head. “She was pretty shaken up. She’s upstairs with SE now. I think she’ll be okay.” At least as okay as you could get when your mother sent you a decapitated head. Christ.

  “What I wanna know is, how the fuck did that package get in Geoffrey’s car? They’ve known the location of the compound in Mexico for ages, but how compromised is this facility? We need to know how much they have on us. X, how bad is this?”

  “I don’t think they have our location, but it’s possible they’ve got something on Geoffrey. They may have hacked into Adriana’s health records and found Helen’s office. It’s easy enough to do.”

  Diesel came through the door. “What about Helen?”

  Richard rubbed his forehead. “That’s a good question.”

  “Listen,” Diesel said, “I’ve been thinking about it. She can’t go back. Helen’s a target now and so are her patients.”

  Reyn shrugged his shoulders. “So, what do you suggest?”

  Diesel sighed. “I think she should stay here for the time being. Eventually, Toltec may lose interest in her. She was never the real target. Then maybe we can move her out of state somewhere.”

  “She’s gonna love that,” Xavier said.

  “No, he’s right,” Reyn said. “She’s in this mess because of us, so it’s our obligation to protect her. We just don’t have the manpower to do that anyplace but here.”

  X stroked his goatee. “Holy shit.”

  Richard looked over at the brother. “Pretty much.”

  Ah, hell. This was all because his mate was pregnant and needed a doctor? First they’d gotten Helen kidnapped. Now they were totally rearranging her life. A heavy weight descended on Richard’s chest. The Order was starting to leave casualties in its wake and not just in battle. A new phase in the war against Toltec was just beginning. Shit, it had only been months. How many would be injured or killed in the brothers’ quests to live normal lives while fighting in the war?

  Diesel cleared his throat. “I think I should be the one to tell Helen.”

  Reyn nodded. “Agreed.”

  SE put the TV on pause and looked down at his mate as she stirred in her sleep. He’d suggested a nap after she came in from the garden, exhausted and practically frozen solid. As she turned onto her back, he could see how tired and pale she looked. Deep shadows showed under her eyes. She’d been through a hell of a lot, including the lovely gift from her mother. The Return to Sender that bitch was going to get when he was out of that fucking bed was going to be a killer. Literally.

  Ana sighed in her sleep and his thoughts returned to her. He wondered if there was something else in the injections that torturer had given her. The thought that it could be the mutant serum crept into the front of his mind. He quickly pushed it aside. It was rare for a shifter to catch cold, but it did happen. Maybe she had been outside too long. He gently brushed her hair off her forehead.

  There was a knock at the door.

  Shit.

  “It’s open,” he said as quietly as he could.

  “Hi, it’s just me.” Helen said. “Want me to come back later?”

  “No,” Ana groaned. “I’m awake.”

  Helen came over to the bed and touched SE’s forehead. “How do you feel?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Fine. To be honest.”

  “Good. I’ll just take a quick look at your incision then.”

  SE watched as Helen peeled off the layers of surgical tape and gauze.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said.

  Ana moved closer. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s healed. I mean, it’s completely healed. Even the scar is almost gone.”

  Soaring Eagle sat up and looked down at his chest. Fucking A. Welcome to being a New Breed.

  Helen smiled and walked toward the door. “Well, kids, it looks like I�
��ll be seeing you both at dinner.”

  SE grinned. “Thanks for everything, Doc.”

  “You’re very welcome.” She closed the door behind her.

  Ana brushed her lips against his cheek. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Oh, my God. I want to crawl in the shower for a week. Then I’m going to make love to you until we both drop, female.”

  “I’ll be waiting right here,” she called after him. “And I’d better not be waiting a week.”

  But when he came out of the bathroom, she was fast asleep.

  He covered her with the duvet, got dressed, and headed downstairs.

  Diesel walked into the compound’s medical facility. “Packing up?”

  “Yes,” Helen said, “I have to get back to my practice now that SE’s all set. I thought I’d stay for dinner, then head out.”

  “Helen, I…” Dammit. He just couldn’t tell her that her life as she knew it was over.

  She looked up. “Diesel? What is it?”

  “Ah, Helen, the thing is, your office isn’t safe for you anymore. They know where you are now. It’s likely they’ll go after you again. To get to us.”

  She went back to her packing. “So I’ll move it. It’ll be a pain in the ass, but¬—”

  Diesel put his hand on her arm. “No, I’m not talking about moving your office.”

  She took off her glasses and looked up at him with her beautiful, intelligent gray eyes. “What exactly are you talking about? Moving out of state?”

  He shook his head. “The only way the Order can guarantee your safety is if you’re here at the mansion. At least for the time being.”

  “Well, I’m not afraid of those bastards. Besides, my patients need me.”

  He should have expected this. She was so goddam tough. He’d felt her strength the moment he first met her. “Helen, if you go back, you’ll be putting your patients, your family, virtually everyone you care about at risk. Is that what you want?”

  She moved forward until she was almost touching him. “Look, you can’t force me to stay here. I have a right…” Her voice trailed off and she took a step backward and turned away from him.