by AM Halford
* * * *
“What do you think they’re talking about in there?” Nexus looked over his shoulder to the door of the conference room for what had to be the dozenth time. Thanks to the basic soundproofing, he couldn’t hear the conversation inside. Cupid assured him that if someone yelled he’d hear them though.
“They’re probably just bitching about their improved lives and being ungrateful,” Danyal said maliciously.
“Seriously, what is your problem?” Nexus demanded.
“Nothing.” His friend grumbled something else under his breath, but didn’t say anything else directly to Nexus, which only served to piss him off.
“Are you that fucking upset with me for allowing Roy to come out tonight?”
“It’s your choice to put your family at risk. I’m just here to follow your orders and give advice. Advice you obviously no longer listen to.”
“Oh for the love of god, are you really going there?” Nexus turned to face his friend. “You know why I can’t just lock Roy up. He needs these classes, just as much as the other mates do.”
“Why?” Danyal demanded. “Why do they need them? They’ve never needed them before. Our fathers never had such things to help them, and they did just fine.”
“Do you remember your childhood properly? I can count on one hand, off the top of my head, the amount of times my human father was unsure or uneasy around me as a child. I remember him asking my dad why he couldn’t just talk about it with someone. You know what my dad would tell him?”
“It’s a private affair,” Danyal retorted evenly.
“And that’s fucking stupid!” Nexus exclaimed. “We should not require our human mates to be isolated and alone during such a sensitive time. Humans celebrate pregnancy and are fully open about most of it. Why is it that we don’t do the same? Celebrate our coming children and embrace the gift that we’ve been given?”
“It’s not how things have been done.” Danyal stood firm.
“When you get a mate, you’ll understand.” Nexus sighed, unable to keep up the fight.
“No, I won’t,” Danyal denied. “I would never allow a powerless human to control my actions.”
Nexus just shook his head. His friend was so stubborn. He seemed to forget that in a pride of lions, it was often the females—the child-bearing members of the group—that did most of the work and called a lot of the shots. Nexus didn’t doubt that as soon as his friend was mated he’d do a quick about-face and eat his words. Until then, he could only hope Danyal softened his view on the changes Roy was making. Changes Nexus saw as for the better of the western clan.
Iago poked his head out of the room and gave Nexus a thumbs-up. With the crack in the door came the sound of Dr. O’Hare’s voice explaining puberty in mammalian shifters, in broad terms. Within seconds though, the door was closing behind him and Nexus was left alone in the hallway with Danyal.
Bram was in the conference room with Iago watching over Roy. The group was used to Iago being present, and Roy had reluctantly agreed to Bram’s vigil beside Iago. If the others noticed the increased security, Nexus hadn’t heard any comments.
Actually, from what he’d seen, the human mates were excited to be coming to this meeting and getting to talk with each other. It was refreshing and uplifting to see so many of them at ease with the situation.
“I’m going to get some coffee,” Danyal said, stepping away and heading down the hall. “You need any?”
“I’d love some,” Nexus admitted.
“Got it.” Danyal waved. As he rounded the corner, one of Cupid’s hired guards came over and took up Danyal’s position. As this was the only entrance to the room, Nexus wanted him and one other on it at all times. Something everyone had agreed on.
Four minutes later Danyal returned with two cups of coffee, and the other guard left to retake up his original position. Danyal handed Nexus his cup, and the two fell back into silence as they drank their coffee.
* * * *
Roy called an end to their talks, which marked the beginning of the end of their class. The next half hour or so they just hung out, talked amongst themselves in a non-formal setting, and of course ate!
Looking to the table, Roy’s stomach grumbled. His eyes zeroed in on some tuna and cucumber sandwiches. With determination, he made his way over and snatched up two of the halves. Thankfully everyone here was also pregnant and understood that party-sized portions weren’t going to cut it. No cute little tea sandwiches or tiny sliders. Nope, they were all normal-sized portions, if not slightly larger than need be.
As he bit into the sandwich, he damn near moaned as the fishy goodness hit his tongue. If someone had told him a few months ago that he’d be eating a tuna sandwich, and loving it, he’d declare them insane and run as far from them as possible. Now, he’d probably ask if they had one on them.
Oh, the difference being mated to a jaguar via mystical contract with a god and becoming pregnant with twin cubs would make in a man. Okay, yeah, Roy frowned, that was probably not a normal thing people experienced on a regular basis to change their taste buds.
Finishing the sandwich, Roy reached for his second one when he felt like his throat was closing up. He tried to take several deep breaths, but couldn’t seem to pull air into his lungs.
Panic overtook Roy in less than a second as he realized what was happening. “Nexus,” he gasped before collapsing to the floor, his body starting to seize up.
Chapter Twenty
Nexus heard Calisto scream Roy’s name before Iago opened the door for him. He didn’t even wait for an explanation. He dashed to his mate’s side, and his jaguar roared in fury at the sight of Roy on the ground convulsing.
“Minha alma.” He knelt beside Roy. “What is wrong with him?” Nexus asked the doctor as he crouched down next them.
“He’s having an allergic reaction,” Dr. O’Hare said. “Quick, Calisto, get his bag! There should be an EpiPen in there.”
Calisto, not even hesitating, snatched up Roy’s bag and dug through it, pulling the much-needed EpiPen from a case at the bottom of the bag. He rushed over to the doctor and Roy, handing him the drug. Nexus, holding Roy steady in his arms, growled at anyone that tried to come close as Dr. O’Hare pulled Roy’s pants down, and injected him in the thigh.
“We need to get him to my clinic,” Dr. O’Hare said, standing and moving to grab his own bag. “Now!”
Looking at everyone present, Nexus wanted to tear all of their throats out. Someone in this room had intentionally poisoned Roy. Everyone knew he was allergic to peanuts. He looked to the tuna sandwich Roy had in his hand and growled, the sound rumbling out into the room. The mates shrank back in fear, all but Calisto.
“I brought the tuna,” the Imperatrix declared as if he knew what Nexus was about to say. “If you think I would intentionally poison someone I consider a friend, you better start regaining your sanity, Regulus Nexus.”
“Then who!” Nexus demanded, throwing the sandwich to the wall. He wished it was glass so when it hit it could’ve shattered.
“We need to go!” Dr. O’Hare shouted.
Calisto met Nexus’s wrath head-on, not wavering a step. “It wasn’t anyone here. I suggest you go with Roy. I’ll fi—”
Nexus cut him off with a wave of his hand and took a deep breath. “Peanuts.”
“What?” Calisto frowned and looked around.
Following the scent, Nexus found himself at the air duct. The air itself reeked of peanuts. “Danyal.”
“Yes, Regulus.” Danyal entered the room and bowed.
“Find Cupid and have him show you to the access for the central-air units,” Nexus ordered. “I’m going with Roy.”
“Of course, Regulus.”
“Get them all home.” Nexus pointed to the mates as he left the room. “Now!”
The room flooded with security, all of them rounding up the mates and escorting them to their awaiting cars. Nexus himself climbed into the back of an awaiting van, and gripped Roy’
s hand. The sight of an oxygen mask over his face and his watery, half-lidded eyes tugged at Nexus’s heart like nothing else could.
So close. He’d come so close to losing his mate, because of an allergy. Whoever it was that had released the peanut dust into the air knew exactly what they were doing. A chemical attack aimed directly at Roy. One that would bypass the necklace Cupid had given him, as well.
“We’re lucky he had an EpiPen,” Dr. O’Hare was saying in the background. “It’s helped slow the reaction. He’ll be fine.”
Roy looked down to his stomach, fear in his eyes. “And the cubs?” Nexus asked. “What side effects did that drug have on them?”
“As he’s not in labor, the effects should be minimal,” the doctor explained. “I’ll run a complete exam on both Roy and the twins once we get to my clinic. I promise.”
Nexus just nodded. Kissing Roy’s hand, he continued to hold his mate’s gaze. As they drove Roy’s eyes started clearing up, but when he brought this to Dr. O’Hare’s attention, he told him to remain lying down and keep the mask on. Roy’s free hand rested over his stomach, rubbing in small rhythmic circles. Freeing up one of his hands, Nexus laid it over Roy’s stomach. Their little ones were moving quite a lot, most likely due to the stress Roy was experiencing.
They arrived at the back entrance of the clinic, and Dr. O’Hare was out of the van and getting a gurney instantly. They moved swiftly, getting Roy on it and wheeled into the clinic, up to the third floor via the elevator, and to a room. Nexus had only been in the upper levels of the clinic once before, after the Regulus Rites. He’d spent two days up here, healing. Now he watched as his mate was placed on one of the beds and wires were attached to him and his stomach. The breathing mask stayed in place.
Taking a seat in a chair beside the bed, Nexus waited until Dr. O’Hare was done prepping Roy before reaching for his hand again.
“Okay.” The doctor said calmly, and smiled reassuringly at them. “Both your pulse and the babies’ pulses are strong. We’re going to keep you here overnight though, for observation.”
“I thought it was only a few hours.” Roy frowned, his voice muffled due to the mask.
“Normally, yes,” Dr. O’Hare conceded. “In your case though, I want to be extra careful. If you should have a secondary reaction, I need you here so we can treat it. Furthermore, you’re pregnant, and I have to admit you’re one of the few mates ever to have an allergic reaction while pregnant. The unknowns are too numerous right now, so please, humor me and let us keep you over night.”
“Of course,” Nexus answered. “Right, minha alma?” He smiled softly at Roy.
His mate nodded and closed his eyes. After a few minutes ticked by, Nexus realized Roy had fallen asleep. The gentle rise and fall of his chest and the steady beat of his pulse had him calming down.
When his phone rang he hissed and stood up, leaving the room so as not to wake Roy. Looking at the screen, he growled low. “You had better have found the source, Danyal,” he answered.
“I did.” His friend sounded upset. “Someone dumped a shit ton of peanut dust down one of the primary air shafts. They also removed the air filters.”
“Allowing it to come through.” Nexus cursed. “Do you recognize any scents? Familiar? New?”
“Yeah, the same one that left you that package in your nursery,” Danyal said. “Whoever the fuck it is, he knew exactly what to do and where to do it. Nexus.” Hearing his name caught him off guard. “Get Roy back to the cabin. I have a bad feeling about all of this.”
“I can’t.” Nexus leaned against the door. “Dr. O’Hare needs him to stay overnight, for observation.”
“Fine, then I’m bringing the security unit to you,” Danyal declared. “I’m locking that clinic down tighter than a fucking prison. No one gets out or in.”
“Do it,” Nexus agreed.
“Do what?” Dr. O’Hare asked, coming back to the room.
“I’m locking your clinic down, until Roy is released,” Nexus explained.
The man didn’t look happy, but he didn’t say anything against it either.
* * * *
A cool breeze woke Roy from his nap, that and the sound of people talking just outside his door. Glancing to his left he watched as his own heartbeat beeped smoothly in green across a cold screen. Below that the faster pulses of his twins. Wires connected all over his body made it damn near impossible to find a comfortable position, which lying on his back wasn’t. He’d give anything for his body pillow at the moment.
The breeze picked up, drawing Roy’s attention from the readouts to the window. His eyes widened, and he went to shout when someone moved in the shadows. A gun, aimed at his stomach, stopped him, only a strained squeak escaping. The intruder raised his free hand to his mouth, and with one finger gave the signal for Roy to be quiet. Yeah, like he hadn’t figured that out already!
His pulse was spiking, and he silently wondered if the ones outside his door could hear it. He really needed Nexus to hear it.
Roy watched, barely breathing, as his intruder stepped out of the shadows, light spilling across his face. Out of everyone he thought could be behind the attacks on him, the man standing before him now definitely was the last one on his list of suspects.
“Juaquin?” Roy whispered.
“Time to go.” Juaquin smiled, his voice as equally soft.
“No.” Roy shook his head and scrambled to get out of the bed. Juaquin was far quicker, his arms wrapping around Roy and dragging him back toward the window. His mask came off along with the wires, sending shrill alarms through the room.
Instantly the door opened and Nexus stood before them.
“Nexus!” Roy shouted and struggled against Juaquin’s hold.
It was like hellfire had taken up residence in Nexus’s eyes. They bore into Juaquin to the point Roy was certain that if possible he’d be engulfed any second. “Let. Him. Go.” Each word was a gravely growl, a threat promising pain.
Juaquin brought the gun around and pressed it to Roy’s stomach. “Don’t move, monster,” he demanded. “You wouldn’t want anything to happen to your demon spawn, would you?”
“Juaquin, don’t,” Roy gasped, tears collecting in his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Oh, yes I do,” Juaquin snapped. “I’m rescuing you from this demon and his imprisonment.”
“Nexus is my husband! Not my capturer,” Roy tried to explain without revealing too much. “Please, Juaquin, let me go!”
“You’re brainwashed,” his ex-boyfriend argued. “Look what he’s done to you! You’ve been implanted with his spawn. It’s unnatural.”
“Roy,” Nexus called to him. Roy met his husband’s golden-brown eyes, the intensity in them softening just for him. “I promise, it’ll be okay, minha alma.”
“No, it won’t,” Juaquin snarled, yanking Roy backward, sending them tumbling out of the window.
Roy screamed as he held out his hand for Nexus, who didn’t make it in time to grab him. Yes, they were only three stories up, but he was pregnant! Roy had no idea what a fall would do to his twins.
Instead of impacting with the ground with the dooming thud he’d been expecting, they were set down gently and Juaquin disengaged a harness as Roy was passed off to another person, a hood thrown over his head, and then forced into what he could only assume was a vehicle of some sort.
“Roy!” Nexus’s voice was pure animalistic rage, a deafening roar that split the air and shook Roy’s ears.
“Nexus!” he shouted back.
“Stay down,” Juaquin ordered. “Get us out of here!”
The engine cranked as the vehicle jerked forward. They didn’t get far before a hard impact rocked them.
“What the fuck!” someone shouted. It wasn’t Juaquin. “What the fuck is that?”
Roy bent at the waist and managed to remove the hood—yay, gravity—and looked around him. He was in a minivan. On the hood was Nexus, in jaguar form.
“Nexus!”
Roy smiled and tried to get to him only to be pulled back against the seat by Juaquin.
“Shake him off!”
“He’s a fucking giant cat!” The driver sounded terrified, as he should be. “What’s a leopard doing in California?”
“Maybe it escaped from a zoo?” Juaquin provided, though Roy could tell he was just skirting the topic. He knew exactly what Nexus was. “Just get rid of it.”
The driver made a hard right, and Roy had to hold on to the oh-shit bar for fear of hitting his head. Bracing himself in the seat, he tried to think of a way to assist Nexus, but with Juaquin holding him down and the other man driving like a lunatic, he didn’t have a chance to do anything.
The van careened to the left and then to the right over and over, and each time it did Nexus was dislodged a little more each time. Finally, the large jaguar came loose and spun off the hood.
“No! Nexus!” Roy cried as he watched his husband topple to the concrete and skid down the road. “Nexus!”
“Shut up.” Juaquin forced him to look forward. “Stop worrying about that thing. He doesn’t care about you. He only wants the monsters he’d implanted inside of you.”
Roy, tears spilling from his eyes, turned and glared at the man he’d once considered having something with. Oh, how happy he was that he’d called it off. Swiftly, he raised his hand and punched Juaquin, splitting his lip and cutting his own knuckles on Juaquin’s teeth.
“Bastard! You killed him!”
Juaquin grabbed Roy’s hand, “I said”—he smacked him—“stop it.” With a hold on both of Roy’s shoulders Juaquin forced him forward and kissed him, roughly. Roy bit him. “Little bitch,” Juaquin snarled as he pulled back. “You and I both know that wasn’t enough to kill that monster. Now, I suggest you start acting grateful. I just saved your life.”
“You mean you just abducted me!”
“Abducted?” The driver sounded worried. “Dude, what is going on? You said your friend was in trouble and we were rescuing him. What was that cat?”
